At Home

So as you've seen, our exchange student's stay has been a great excuse to get out and about sight seeing, but there have also been some changes on the home front.  Most notably, the addition of a new car to the family!  Yes, we now have two vehicles.  For some time now we have been considering the convenience of being a two-car family, but living in such a small town it seemed excessive to my mind.  Plus you have to think of expenses like maintenence and insurance, etc. 

Anyway, we had been holding out; but as winter draws nearer (short days and the posibility of a little rain) having another car for when one of us is at work really began to feel like a necessity.  Angelines especially wanted another car to be able to ferry her mother to and from the house--she has a very bad knee and shouldn't walk so much, but is a help in the afternoons when Emily and Angelines are home alone.  It will also be really nice for me on weekends because this way Em and I can go exploring without inconveniencing Mamá (in the past she'd have to ride her bike home at 3 or 4 in the morning!).   

We are pleased with the purchase: a four-door, five-seat, 2001, Citroen Xara.  It's bigger than we were originally looking for and the price was slightly over what we wanted to pay, but it's in very good condition with only 150.000 km.  Angelines knows several people who have the same car and are constantly singing its praises, so it is also supposedly bomb-proof.  So far, so good. ;)

Aside from the big purchase of our second car, we've been stocking up on and stacking firewood.  Every year we get caught mid-winter with no wood for the fireplace and so have to buy green wood from this year's olive trimming...yuck.  The green wood doesn't burn well, as you know, and also really gunks up the fireplace.  So we've bought three cartloads of wood this year plus what was leftover from last year's mid-season purchase.  We have A LOT of wood.  Being the good little mountain girl that I am, I set to stacking it neatly...no small task when you're talking about uneven, usually round olive branches/trunks as opposed to neatly split pine or fir!  I was so pleased with my work that I decided to take a picture, because I knew that my dad especially would approve.  So here it is:

 

Emily saw the camera and jumped in the pic. ;)  Yes, she's wearing a tutu on her head. 

Now the question is, "Winter, where are you??"  The nights are getting chilly and we've got frost a few times, but day time temps are still quite often reaching the low 80's!  ...And we have yet to have a good rain. :(  But Spanish homes are extremely unequipped for cold and so even when it's warm outside, the house remains cold.  We have been lighting the fireplace nearly every night for a little over a week now.  I'm sure we won't regret having stocked up on firewood.

Granada

I'm a bit behind with posting (surprise, surprise...), but here I am diligently back-blogging and playing catch up as it seems I am with every other area of my life at the moment.  Work has been crazy, perhaps I'll get to that in another post.  For now, however, I would just like to focus on the wonderful, beautiful day we had in Granada two weeks ago.

Our cousin Montse came along, too!

The day after Emily's birthday we had booked tickets to see the Alhambra, it's become such an attraction that even in the low tourist season you must book several weeks in advance because there's just no way to get day-of tickets unless you're in line at 6am (out of the question in our situation).  This was actually Natalie's second trip to Granada since we went once in October naievely believing that we'd be able to get into the Nazari Palaces arriving at the ticket booth around 12am.  That day we ended up just enjoying the city, getting ice cream in the center, tea at a typical tea house, and souvenir shopping in the medina next to the cathedral.  It wasn't a wasted day by any means and in fact it meant that this second visit was less rushed (to an extent).

Saturday night had been unexpectedly crazy at the bar and Anglienes got to bed around 6am!  We woke up early and even Natalie came to clean with us, but it was so filthy that we took much longer than expected.  Angelines, having fallen asleep so late/early, also over-slept some and so by the time we got out of the house we were about 40min behind schedule. 

View of the Alhambra from the Albayzín.

Our plan was to mean up with my host family from Granada.  Their American student was away for the weekend and so they had no obligations at home.  I had hoped to have tapas and wander around a bit with them before heading to the Alhambra for our scheduled entrance to the palaces at 5:00.  However, my plan was thrown off course somewhat, when I decided to check in at the ticket booth to get our tickets printed (the ones I'd printed online had got water spilled on them in the car!).  The woman informed me that the entire Alhambra closes at 6 and so we needed to be there sooner if we wanted to see the gardens of the Generalife and the Alcazaba. :(  That mean we had precious little time to eat and be with my family because we didn't end up meeting up with them until around 1 o'clock.

Our lunch was a little rushed and in the end we had to go quite quickly through the Generalife and skip the Alcazaba altogether, but every minute with the family was 100% worth it for me, and I think Natalie wasn't too disappointed to miss the Alcazaba (it's the least impressive in my opinion--just some great views of Granada).  I hadn't seen Isa, Baldo or either of the boys since last March!  "Little" Isa is home now from a year living and working in Czech Republic and we met up with her on our first visit to Granada in October.  This time she brought along her boyfriend. :)  They were all duely impressed with our little Emily, and she in turn was very impressed with Fernando's ponytail and Antonio's long dreds.  That evening back at home she began calling herself "Princess Fernando".

As I mentioned, our table talk over lunch was cut short and I was sorry to say goodbye so soon.  I think though that little Isa is planning a surprise for her mother now that she has a driver's licence and is going to just put her in the car one day without telling her where they're going then show up here in La Roda.  I think it's a fantastic idea!  We hugged and kissed and said (as always) that we really must see each other more often.  Then we hit the narrow cobbled streets of the Albayzín heading downhill to the center to catch a bus back up to the Alhambra (you can only walk so much with the whole family in tow).  On our way down the hill I realized I hadn't taken a single picture with my family!

Emily and Montse LOVED the fountains.

With the time change the sun goes down so much sooner.  The wind was picking up as we waited in line for the palaces and we were thankful we'd brought our coats.  This was the first time I'd been back into the Alhambra since my exchange.  I think I went around ten times that one year, but I haven't been back since--it was as amazing as I remembered it and more.  They've, of course, continued to do so much restoration on the plaster work, painting and wood work.  The Patio de los Leones was running and I'm pretty sure that wasn't the case on my exchange, in fact, I think on one of my visits the lions were "fakes" as the real ones were being restored. 

 

I had a great time pointing our the shapes and colors to Emily, showing her the intricate tile and woodwork and marvelling at the architecture.  She was most impressed by the Generalife gardens since she loves to smell flowers.  We walked into the Patio de la Acequia and she just took a deep breath through her nose and sighed. :)  Indeed, the moors planted their patios with all kinds of aromatic herbs and flowers to make them a sanctuary for the senses.  Once again, visiting with Emily was a whole new experience.

All of us, especially Angelines were worn out by the end of the day, but poor mama came home and had to go to work at the bar.  The rest of us climed into our PJ's grubbed up some dinner and went to bed early.

Typical Islamic geometric decorations...the center of the star has been replaced by Emperor Carlos V emblem "Plus Ultra"

The time of day made for amazing shadows through the celosías (decorative window shutters).

I don't remember so much painting.  They've been restoring this little by little--amazingly intricate.

 

Is it any wonder this city stole my heart?

An Extra Hour

Last weekend was daylight savings here in Spain and never before have I been more grateful for a 25-hour day!  So many times you hear the complaint that there aren't enough hours in the day for everything that needs to get done...well it turns out that with just a mere 60 minutes more in the day, you can accomplish quite a lot. ;)

The nave adjacent to the main altar--stark contrast

Sunday we got up "early" (around nine o'clock old time), walked Bela, had breakfast, cleaned up at the bar and then hit the road for Córdoba.  Natalie is leaving on the 25th of this month and so the pressure is on to see as much as we can over the few weekends we have left.  Córdoba is an amazing city.  The center is a labyrinth of stone-paved streets and white facades bearing potted flowers and painted plates.  The cathedral/mosque is absolutely amazing, in my opinion.  I know I've written about it before on here, but just as with the Alhambra, I never get tired of visiting it.  This time I was particularly struck by the beauty of the Islamic geometric decorations and the beautiful contrast between the upward, luminous gothic architecture of the Christian cathedral, and the dim, mysterious, more personal and less grandiose, which isn't to say less beautiful, Islamic mosque.

Any of you reading this out of context are wondering what on Earth I'm talking about.  As is the case with many (if not all) cathedrals in Andalusia, the Córdoba cathedral was built at the site of the old Islamic mosque. However, unlike other cases across the state where the mosques were completely razed and then built over by the Christians, in Córdoba nearly all of the original mosque is preserved.  The main altar was built in the middle of the mosque so the sudden high ceilings and gothic arches contrast, rather than hamonize, with the typical horse-shoe Islamic arches. 

A forest of columns and red and white double arches

Rose window floods the mosque with rainbow light.

 Although it is a functioning Catholic sanctuary today, the cathedral is referred to as "La Mezquita" (The Mosque) and it is the finest remaining example of Omeyan architecture in the West.  The Omeyans in al-Andalus were descendants of the Caliph in Damascus, Siria.  Córdoba became the capital of the Omeyan Caliphate in the year 929 and the mosque had to be enlarged three times in its history due to population growth in the caliphate city.

Emily and Natalie at Madinat al-Zahara

Our tour of Córdoba began at the ancient city ruins of Madinat al-Zahara (The Shining City).  Unfortunately the interpretive video wasn't being shown, I guess the projector was broken so Natalie didn't get the full tour.  We did wander through the museum though and that was helpful in appreciating the ruins.  It was boiling hot...even on October 29, so we didn't dally among the shadeless ruins.

After lunch in the city center, we visited La Mezquita and then wandered down to the roman bridge across the river Genil for a photo op.  In our wandering around after lunch and before the cathedral, we found a turrón (Spanish nougat) shop and Natalie was shopping for some things to take home for family.  They had samples out and I saw some little chocolate balls which I took to be chocolate covered rasins.  I grabbed two and gave one to Emily, which she promptly began to eat, and then bit into my own.  It took me about 2 seconds to realize that I was eating a chocolate covered peanut--remember Emily is allergic!  I screamed at her to spit it out, which she did, and gave her some water to clean her mouth...but the damage had been done. 

As we were waiting in line to buy our tickets to the cathedral she began to cry complaining that her stomach was cramping. :(  She hung in there and I thought she was going to be fine without throwing up, but just after our stroll out over the bridge she threw up as she was skipping along the street holding Natalie's hand.  Poor baby.  Thankfully, we had extra clothes and since I knew this wasn't the stomach flu, we got an ice cream to get the flavor out of her mouth, which of course made her forget all about being sick.

I was exhausted by the time 8pm rolled around, but we certainly fit a lot into our day.

Emily is obsessed with smells, and LOVED this tea display on the street!

Three years

Three years ago today at around five in the evening, I set off on a long walk with my mom, my dog and a belly that added around 20 lbs to my own weight.  We walked around 4 miles, I think, and that night I went into labour.  At just before 3pm the following day, November 4th, our Emily Alejandra joined us in this world.

I can hardly believe that three years have gone by.  The time seems both long and short all at once.  I can confidently say that motherhood is the best thing that's ever happened to me.  Watching my little girl grow and discover, explore and learn as the days go by is a gift I am thankful for daily; although it is true that parenting does not come free of frustration and challenges. ;)  Still, the balance at the end of the day is positive and it seems that more and more I am in awe of this wonderful little person who calls me mommy.

Wednesday we celebrated her birthday early because the 1st is a holiday and so it was easy for guests to come to the party.  Unlike other years, this year we celebrated at the bar and in general it was so much better.  There was all-in-all less prep and clean up than when we've celebrated at home; but on the down-side, Angelines sort of automatically went into work mode and spent the whole evening behind the bar (!).  She really wasn't able to enjoy the company or play with Emily or even really be a part of much of anything. :(

You may remember that last year I was adamant about not handing out the typical candy bags or having lots of junk candy around for the kids.  Last year we had a craft prepared, but this year I decided to make up a game that I'd seen on a Peppa Pig episode: Pass the Parcel (it's an English programme ;)).  You wrap up a gift then wrap another one over that and just keep layering gifts. Then the kids pass the parcel around a circle to music.  When the music stops the child who's holding the package opens a layer and takes the gift. :)  It looked like a lot of fun and so I ordered a bunch of little bubble blowers as party favours and started wrapping.  It was a huge hit with all...except Emily!  She began to cry because she wanted to open a "green one" (I had wrapped each layer in a different color).  Oh well, as the song says, "It was her party..."

I had also prepared Pin the Tail on the Donkey to play, but when the time came, I couldn't find where we'd put all the twenty tails I'd drawn and cut out!  Of course cleaning up we came across the bag, but I was so disappointed in the moment because my donkey, which I'd drawn on the chalk board, had come out so nice, and I know the kids would have had a lot of fun playing.  In the end though they were satisfied with bubble blowing, face painting, races and a little bit of hide-and-seek. ;)

I was even quite pleased with the gifts Emily got.  Those of you who have been reading for some time know how I feel about junk gifts and/or sexist gifts.  She got several puzzles, some clothes (which weren't too prissy), crayons, an animal encyclopedia, a care bear and a back pack.  Then there was the princess dress and a little pricess doll...but what can you do??  Anglines and I gave her a "real" bike (electric blue and black).  It's a little big for her still, but she's beginning to get the hang of peddaling after just a few trips around the cul de sac at the end of our street.  She'll be flying soon, I'm sure.

Tomorrow on her actual birthday we don't have anything special planned but Sunday is our scheduled visit to the Alhambra and her mama decided to join us too!  So the whole family (minus Bela) will be going on an outing Sunday and I think that's probably the best gift ever.

I'll leave you with a few more pictures:

She calls this little fireman puppet "Pappa" ;)