Awe of Emily

Warning: Completely biased opinions expressed in this post.

Since her grandmother is my number one reader, I thought it wouldn't be totally inappropriate to spend a short post bragging about the most astounding little creature I have ever known: my daughter.  Emily amazes me daily.  She is talking up a storm in both languages and it seems like at least once a day she pops out with a new word that makes me pause and think, "Where did she hear that!".  I don't mean swear words, so far so good, on that front, just precise vocabulary that surprises me.

She continues to be an observer (like all kids, I suppose), but it is sometimes shocking to realize how much she sees in so little time.  Yesterday we drove up to a place for a coffee and in the parking lot were several truck trailers (without the truck attached).  We drove passed them and she says, "Mommy, this truck broken".  My jaw dropped.  On the way out after coffee, we passed a semi truck hooked up to it's trailer and she commented, "This truck not broken. Have lights."  Wow.

Last week we went to Málaga for a doctor's appointment.  The hospital is next to the metro station and I think I've posted about how much Emily loves the "train".  We couldn't leave without riding the train so we took the metro into the center just for a coffee. ;)

On board, of course, Emily always makes friends--people who smile or wave or playfully stick their tongue out.  I always encourage her to say hello and ask their name, etc.  We met a woman named Vicky on the way in and when we got back on the metro after having our coffee about half an hour later, the first thing Emily did was look around at the empty car and ask, "Where's Vicky, Mommy?"

Also on the in-bound metro ride, another "friend" asked her where she lived and she paused for a moment and then answered, "Poona Phoonah"  (that's "California" in Emily speak).  I guess she's got California on the brain ever since my parents left.  When she asks about them, I tell her they've gone home to California...

Unfortunately, I do not always record these little gems down as my mother is always heckling me to do--you'll forget it some day! And I know she's right, but sometimes it's hard to find the time to write it down.  Now it seems imposible that I'd ever forget all of this intrepid adorableness...but when I think back to when she was a newborn, I just have fuzzy memories and that was just two years ago!  Time flys, that's the truth, so maybe you'll be getting more Emily anecdote updates in the days to come. ;)

The Man from Minnesota

Nine years ago I was repeating my experience as a language assistant here in La Roda and found out there was going to be another auxiliar placed at my school.  My heart went out to this poor soul, landing here in the middle of rural Andalucía without a plan or a place to stay.  I remembered my first weeks in La Roda trying to decide where I'd be living for the next nine months, and immediately decided he should move in with me and Angelines.  At the time we were living in our tiny piso, but there was an extra bedroom and I convinced Angelines that sharing our appartment with this tall, Minnesotan boy, would be a great experience for all of us.  She had never lived "away" from her parents, so she was understandably wary, but my instinct was right on and the three of us forged a wonderful friendship over that year.

Adam moved to Madrid the following year and has been there ever since.  We have seen each other nearly every year since he moved away.  He's come back here more than we've gone to see him, but no matter, it's always wonderful to be together laughing and sharing stories about out year together in La Roda.  He was here in the beginning of my relationship with Angelines and he came to our wedding.  Two years ago he met baby Emily in Córdoba and let us crash at his place when I defended my capstone project to finish my Education degree.  The biggest moments of my life in España have been shared with him.

Last week we got a lovely package in the mail from Madrid: a handmade quilt for Emily from Adam's mother!  It is gorgeous and Emily loves it.  In a card with the blanket came the news that Adam and his partner, María, will be moving to Denver in May!  I was completely shocked; it felt like abandonment.  Yes, that is dramatic, but when I read the news a wave of emotion rolled over me and I wanted to cry.  It's true we don't see each other much and we rarely speak, but somehow it's been comforting all through my years here in Spain to know that he was just a quick AVE ride away.

I have wonderful friends here in Spain.  I have a life here in La Roda; but all that doesn't change the fact that I am American.  I'm not saying that my friendship with Adam is only a matter of being two Americans in Spain.  I am sure that we would have been good friends had we met in any other circumstances (or country, for that matter).  But the truth is that we do share a common culture, and sometimes no one can understand you the way someone from your own country can.

I remember my first year in La Roda I went to Granada to visit my host family.  At the time they had a young African American student living with them.  She was from Louisiana.  She sang gospel in her Baptist church back home.  Her life and upbringing in the States was radically different from my own, yet we stayed awake into the wee hours talking and sharing and venting and laughing about life.  I remember being amazed by how much of a connection I felt with that girl, a complete stranger, and knowing that 90% of that connection was a shared culture.

After the immediate impact of the news passed, I was of course excited and happy for my friend and his upcoming move.  He's given me new incentive to get to Madrid before May and also another city to visit and explore in the States!  We'll miss him.  I will miss him especially, but I know we'll see each other on one side or the other of the Atlantic in the not-to-distant future.  Good friends make the world smaller.

Cheers, Adam!

Portuguese Praias

The last weekend in February was a holiday weekend here.  The 27 is Andalusia Day.  We had Monday off work and Tuesday was the actual holiday.  You may recall that I have Wednesdays free, so it was a great break for me!  We decided that February was a fine month to skip out and close the bar for the weekend so we were planning to take about five days vacation...in the end it was only three.  At the last minute some people asked to "rent" the bar for a baptism celebration the Saturday before so we couldn't leave until Sunday after all the aftermath was cleaned up.  Still, it ended up being a much-needed get away.

We booked an apartment in Olhos de Agua, Portugal.  It was about a four hour drive (that's about our max. as far as driving goes--yes, we are admittedly wimpy in this regard).  We arrived at about 5 o'clock Sunday evening and once we got our things out of the car headed out to explore the beach nearby.

The decision to go to Portugal came about after my boss suggested it to me one morning when we were discussing plans for the long weekend.  We had wanted to go explore some of the more beautiful beaches around--Cádiz or Huelva--since there's not a chance we'll ever go in summer.  For one thing it's quite a drive: at least two hours each way; and of course in the summer those beaches are usually absolutely packed with people.  Not my idea of fun.  Still, they are famous for their huge expanses of beautiful, fine, yellow sand.  Huelva is also very well known for its gambas blancas (white shrimp).  But as the weekend drew nearer we were unable to find anything that looked acceptable and also allowed dogs (what's a family vacation without the dog?!).  Marisa suggested Portugal and when she showed me pictures from the beaches in Albufeira, I was sold.

On Friday morning I booked the apartment (!).  And Sunday we were on the road headed west.  The beaches did not disappoint.  They were amazing: great long streches of pristine, fine, yellow sand bordered by impressive multi-colored sandstone cliffs.  Knotty costal pines bent by the ocean breeze off the Atlantic covered the hills and the waves crashing on the shore were an enticing saphire blue.  It was very picturesque indeed.

Emily had just as much fun playing in the sand and the waves as she did sledding in the snow, and of course, so did Bela.  So in that respect, too, the holiday was a big hit.  Although the weather wasn't sunny, it also wasn't cold and we let her run around in just her onsie.  As the waves would aproach she'd squeal with delight, waving her arms up and down saying, "Water's coming, Mommy!" :)

We were a little disappointed with the apartment just because it was annoying to have neighbors who sounded as though they were right there in the room with you.  In general it was pretty quiet, but in an apartment building noise is inevitable.  We are very spoilt by the silence here in our home in La Roda (with the execption of the ocasional train) .

Most of our days were spent at one beach or another, but we did venture into a nearby village to experience their carnaval (mardi gras) celebration.  It was pretty cute/hokey and reminded me of the celebration in La Roda for King's Day in January.  Lots of people dressed in costume having a grand time on homemade floats pulled by very old tractors.  The highlight of the little parade were the donkeys that Emily got to sit on for a bit!  She was pretty cute, and as I crouched to take the picture telling her, "smile!" I could hear a whole gaggle of Portuguese women swooning over her. ;)

Wednesday morning we packed up our little apartment and hit the road as early as possible.  We wanted to stop in Huelva on our way home for a lunch that would include some white shrimp.  Just accross the boarder we stopped for café and had a little run along the beach.  It was the shelliest beach I have ever seen!  My mother, shell hunter extraordinaire, would have been in heaven.  The shoreline was covered with the most beautiful, interesting shells, and nearly all of them were whole!  Emily and I hunted around for a bit, but we couldn't stay as long as either of us would have liked.  After about another 45 minutes of driving we stopped for lunch and the famous gambas didn't let us down--they were delicious.

It was tough for all of us to get back into the routine of being back at home.  Emily was very sad when I had to leave for work Thursday morning and had several melt-downs throughout the morning.  I went to work dragging my feet, of course...but the break from our routine and the chance to spend some prolonged quality time together did recharge our batteries.  And of course, there's noting like a trip to make you appreciate your home.  It's good to be back.