Spring!

 Sunday Emily was invited to a birthday party.  As restrictions stand there are only 4 people allowed to gather in closed spaces.  This party was going to be at a local indoor park with a ball pit, etc.  Only children from her class were invited and they are together all day every day in school, but of course they are wearing masks.  When Emily realized it was at an indoor park she said she didn't want to go...and really, it's just as well.  Angelines and I had pretty much already decided that it was better not to risk going as Emily wouldn't have stayed without me and that is just one more person added to the mix.  The police could easily come by and fine all of us.  We've had enough of run-ins with the local law thanks to the bar and the riddiculous restrictions.

In the end, Emily asked if we could picnic in the sierra.  Although a picnic wasn't possible because Mamá had to open at 3:30pm, we did go up to the sierra in the afternoon to "walk" the dog and enjoy the countryside with abuelita.  We were there for about three hours just enjoying the sun and the flowers and all the green that this winter's endless rains have brought us.  It was the perfect way to inaugurate the new season!

I have never seen so many flowers in bloom up there.  It was like a whole different place!

I just had to share a few pictures:

My favorite photo :)

We've decided that a family gathering at San Pancracio is definitely in order during the week of Semana Santa (next week--Easter) since we are on holiday, cannot leave our provinces, and all processions are cancelled!  That's what I call making lemonade from lemons. ;)  We are even concocting a plan to smuggle my sister-in-law over the boarder from Málaga province to be able to join in...  I'll keep you posted, 

Sunday was a spectacular day.  I am so glad we opted for a day out in nature rather than a party indoors, COVID-19 aside, this was hands down the best choice.

Prolific

This is the only adjective to describe Emily's incredible writing. On more than one occasion she has taken all of our scrap paper cut for shopping lists and gone through the whole pile writing notes, warnings, signs, names and then taping them on the walls around the house. A few of my favorites have been a warning message to Norte: "No me comas los juguetes" (don't eat my toys) hung strategically at his eye level in the corner where his water bowl is; and another made for her mamá whose been having lower back pain recently: "Mamá, me siento triste cuando te duela la sintura (sic)". This was accompanied by a picture of a person with little lines shooting from around its waist and exclaiming: "¡Au! Me duele la sintura." (Mama, I feel sad when your back hurts.) 

She writes in my agenda, she writes on her chalk board and on the white board in the kitchen. Thankfully, she is beyond the age of writing on the walls! She writes labels on her pictures, and even notes of apology. When we had a small gathering of friends at the house, she wrote up the house rules and hung them by the door just to be sure everyone saw them. She went through a phase of showering me with written affection upon my return from work. My favorite was a paper on which she had taped a leaf. When she gave it to me, she asked me to lift up the leaf. Underneath she had written the following message: "Wen the last leef fols yoo wil bee may momy forevr." Translation for those of you, less skilled in phonetic reading: When the last leaf falls, you will be my mommy forever. So you can see, she's definitely got a poetic streak coming through. And most recently she wrote a wonderful story stapled as a book. 

It is thrilling to watch her obvious pleasure as she dives head first into this new form of self-expression. María Montessori described this phase as the writing "explosion" and I must say, that this is certainly the case for Emily. I was a little concerned this past summer, when she was barely able to crudely write some simple phonetic words in Spanish. She didn't show much interest in writing at all and her handwriting left much to be desired. She had been exposed to all of the letters and letter sounds through her school in Granada, but was never interested in much more than writing her own name. During the quarantine, probably mid-April, she wrote her first word with no assistance: "California". It was a picture she'd drawn of of the bar and she put the name on the outside. Angelines and I were shocked by how without prompting or apparant "teaching" she had written this all on her own and with actually quite good handwriting--a mix of cursive and printing. 

Montessori claims that young children (0-6) absorb their environment rather than actually being receptive to "active" teaching. This is why proper modeling is so important for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. Adults most often learn by listening and reading; observation and action usually take a second plane. This is partially because adults have moved on to learning more abstract concepts. Our brains are different. Montessori argued that reading and writing were just as natural for a child to learn as walking or talking, so long as they were provided with an environment rich in stimuli and opportunities to observe and practice. A baby in normal circumstances will walk and talk without any instruction other than the daily interaction with the adults around her. To Angelines and me it seemed like magic when she wrote that first word, but the reality is there were years of observation and practice beforehand. 

It is extremely gratifying to see how her writing is blosoming now and know that she is experiencing this new endeavor as real self expression rather than an imposed external necessity. It is true that in her new school she is required to do a lot of copying and in the beginning it was very hard for her to accept that obligation versus the invitation to work that she had become accostomed to. I was worried that the change of pedagogy/methodology would throw her off track or suddenly make her an unwilling student. I know that a large part of her resillience and persistent curiosity is obviously fostered at home; but it was also the time she spent from 3-5 in an environment that respected her and her personal developmental rhythms, with teachers who genuinely loved her and showed her as much every day that has made this breakthrough into literacy and life-long learning possible. Our time in Granada was stressful on many levels, but when I see the little person she is becoming and the way in which she takes on new challenges, I feel vindicated for the sacrifices we made. It is true that she can still be very reluctant to do homework, but I don't push. She does it in her own time. How can I justify forcing her to sit down with a school book when it is so incredibly evident that she is learning and beyond that, thriving?

The title of her book: Story of the Really Pretty Castle.

In a really pretty place there lived a really pretty castle and in that castle there lived a really pretty princess.

which (the princess) had a unicorn that was surrounded of magic and hearts and when she rode it her dress of silky pink it swirled around her.

She's written part of the lyrics of the anthem of Andalucía.  Feb 28th was Andalucía Day.  In big writing: Somos Andaluces "We are Andalusians".  The three figures are us, obviously. ;)

This is the story of Swan Lake: Sigfried falls in love with a pricess but one bad man named Rothbart threw Sigfried in the lake.  He called the swans.  The swans saved him. :)

"Zoom, the horse went.  Cowgirl rat Emily zoomed instructions.  She is a cowgirl.  The police choosed her to study cowgirl."  The policeman in the right hand corner is saying, "You should study cowgirl!"

This is the cowgirl rat in action! ;)

A little note she left me one day before school.

A birthday message for her cousin. "Cumpleaños feliz, cumpleaños feliz.  Te deseamos un cumpleaños con paz y corazón.  Te queremos toda la familia.  De Emily"
Happy birthday, happy birthday.  We wish you a birthday with peace and heart.  We love you, the whole family.  From Emily.

Ya vienen los Reyes Magos!

It is the eve of Epiphany or as called in Spain Día de Reyes (King's Day).  For those of you who with little Bible study under your belts, Epiphany is the celebration of the arrival of the Three Wise Men who gave their gives to the new-born baby Jesus.  The famous tweleve days of Christmas are the tweleve days between Christmas Day and Epiphany.  Living in a Catholic country you pick up these kinds of biblical tidbits without need of catechism. ;) 

As you may have guessed, if you didn't already know, King's Day is the day that Spanish children traditionally get their presents.  The Three Kings come on camel-back from the Orient bearing gifts for all the children.  Normally, there is a huge parade through town, candy and cheap gifts are thrown from the Kings' floats as well as those of other participating associations.  Traditionally, most of the town follows the parade in one gigantic crown all through the town...of course, COVID-19 changed that.  This year, each King came in his own mule-drawn carriage.  There was no candy and there were no crowds, but I must say it was a classy tour around town; not the garish show that it usually is, but much more regal, if you ask me.

This year, for the first time ever, I decided to try my hand at making the traditional King's Day dessert: roscón de Reyes.  I was only sorry that we started on this endeavor so late that Emily didn't get to help deccorate them for the oven.  We have made one big one and one little one for abuelita.  It is tradition to hide a tiney baby doll and a bean in the dough.  Whoever gets the slice with the baby will have good luck for the New Year and whoever gets the bean has to pay for the roscón.  I wasn't about to bake any plastic goodies in my cake (even if they were "oven safe") so I opted for a garbanzo bean and a white bean... I think I'll make the garbanzo the "baby". 

Emily has been beside herself with excitement all day.  She is a lucky duck indeed, getting gifts from Santa as well as the Wise Men!  Although, more and more Spaniards celebrate Santa these days because it allows the kids more time to play with their toys before going back to school.  It's back to school on January 7th.  Anyway, Emily has carefully picked some grass for the camels ("Do they come in the house, mommy?  Or do the Kings tie them up outside?), roscos de vino for Their Majesties, and her letter specifying that she would like a giant stuffed teddy bear and an electric scooter.  The scooter (not electric) ended up being a gift from Santa, if you'll remember.  These four obviously have to divvy up the gift-giving during the holidays.  Here at the house she has two gifts under the tree--a few more puppets, and a pair of inline rollerskates--and at her tita's there is a giant stuffed teddy that she is going to LOVE. :)

Yesterday, as a sort of early Reyes, we ventured out of La Roda for a bit of Christmas shopping with Emily.  Abuelita always gives her money for her birthday and for Christmas.  Emily HATES it.  I think that our trip to Málaga yesterday, however, may have changed her mind. ;)  We decided she could spend her money on what she wanted.  This trip was exclusively for Emily.  We went to the beach just quickly to take a little stroll along the shore.  Emily dipped her feet in and ran through the surf.  Then we caught the metro into the center, had a lovely lunch and did some quick shopping at the mall.  Emily bought herself a beautiful princess dress costume, a pretty purple pegasus horse, a little stuffed doggie and a big jiggly "koosh" ball ("It's a coronavirus, mom!").  She was on cloud nine.  We have never taken her shopping like that and she loved every minute of it!  Although, I'm pretty sure we're never going to be able to just walk by a toy store with her again.

The holidays are coming to an end and today I was a little blue.  I think this year's Chirstmas holiday has been one of the best ever.  We have opened the bar more than usual, which means more work for me cleaning, disinfecting and mopping, but Angelines is home every night by 11pm and we can just sit and enjoy our dinner and an episode of our TV series.  It's been a relaxing holiday; a real break.  I will be sorry for it to end.

And so this is Christmas...

This year has been topsy turvy for all of us.  Christmas time just makes it blaringly obvious all over again.  Honestly though, things are a little more "normal" around here than for some people now that the government has loosened restrictions a little bit and the bar can be open until 10:30pm.  Of course, at Chistmas that's ridiculously early...but we are happy and relieved that we have a few more hours to do business.  In an attempt to save some money, I am on-call for Angelines to help out (except for Christmas Eve and probably New Year's Eve either).  

Yesterday I spent cooking from about 3pm on.  It was a little like a mini Thanksgiving.  Every year for Christmas Eve my mother-in-law comes over and the three of us (Emily usually passes out before mama gets home from the bar) have a nice quiet dinner together.  In that respect, this year was completely normal.  We didn't make my mother-in-law eat in the garage, we weren't wearing masks.  We see her often enough that it would be silly, honestly.  Yes, Angelines is working now, but that doesn't actually put her in close contact with people and she wears a mask (as does everyone else) so we felt it was okay.  Most importantly, my mother-in-law felt comfortable with it and I think we were all happy to be able to carry on with our Christmas Eve tradition--Emily most of all.

She had her abuelita all to herself all evening and was thrilled.  I think abuelita thought she was being unhelpful, but of course, just keeping Emily occupied and allowing me to carry on in the kitchen was the most helpful thing she could have done!  They played games, danced, abuela gave her a shower (Emily refused otherwise!).  It was a fun-filled evening and Emily reluctantly went to sleep at about 10pm.  She really wanted to catch Santa, but... ;)

For dinner I made my first ever stuffed pork loin.  It came out quite well, if I do say so myself.  When I asked Emily if it was good (she ate before we did), she said, "No, mommy.  It's DELICIOUS!"  So that was pretty high praise, I thought, even though Em really isn't a very picky eater.  It was very tasty, although because I couldn't forsee Angelines's arrival time, and when she got here we were just hungry, our meal was luke warm at best.  Still, it was yummy and so we enjoyed our leisurely meal and chatted until close to midnight.

When abuelita had gone home, Santa had to get busy.  If you remember last year there was a slip up and Emily discovered her present ahead of time because I thought I was so clever assembling before Christmas Eve.  Not this year.  We weren't going to risk it again, so last night we busted out the screwdrivers and wrapping paper and got down to it.  I was terrified Emily was going to wake up and catch us!

This year Santa brought a beautiful puppet theatre with hand puppets.  She also got a few books and a new watch.  Santa left a few things at her tita's house, too and so Emily got a huge box of 80 markers and a new scooter to top off the morning.  She was pretty excited.  We got to open our stocking with my parents on a video call at about 11pm PST and later this evening we got to be a part of their Christmas morning, too.  I guess having video call gift-opening is something we've been a little ahead of the curve on. ;)

This year, however, was the first year that Emily was really interested in watching my family in the States open their presents.  At first, Emily started to moan about wanting more presents, but once we got on the video call, she was rapt watching how they all took turns opening and admiring each other's gifts.  Finally, as the evening wore on she whispered to me, "Mommy, will you wrap my presents back up so I can open them again?"  How could I resist??  Fortunately, I did have enough wrapping paper (not my mother's daughter in that department!).  So I re-wrapped a few of her presents and she got to have a turn for about three rounds of gift opening.  It was adorable how much she wanted to be a part of it all and I thought it was quite an ingenious solution to ask me to re-wrap the gifts, most kids would probably throw a fit or just get sad and mopy about not having more presents.  She is a Christmas kid, through and through.

It's been a wonderful day.  I feel so grateful for living where I do; for a job that gives me the same holidays as my daughter; a wife who works so hard in the time she's given and for my most amazing little girl with whom to share this magical holiday.  I am so happy, too, that Angelines wasn't too worn out to participate in the fun of preparing for and partaking of Christmas morning.  This year is all about taking stock of what's truly important.  We aren't making the money we usually do this time of year, but I am certain that I am one of the wealthiest women on the planet.

Merry, merry Christmas to you all.

(...and to all a good night!)

The face paint was also a Christmas gift. ;)

Happy, happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!  I'm only a little late...We celebrated, as always, the Saturday after Thanksgiving since Thursday obviously is not a holiday in Spain.  So this post is just under a week late. ;)  Not bad.

This year is a strange year (understatment of the century!), but I'm sure now that Thanksgiving has passed you'll all agree with me that it is so anti-natural to have to think about distancing and masking and quarantining or just flat out NOT celebrating with the people you love.  

About a month ago I warned Angelines that whatever the situation of the pandemic, we would be eating turkey and celebrating Thanksgiving...even if it was just the three of us.  In my mind, I had decided to make up little Thanksgiving day baskets of food to leave at my friends' doors and we could maybe zoom for a bit to toast.  The week before Thanksgiving I was talking with a friend about it and she reminded me that the current restrictions allow for gatherings of up to six people, so why not invite a few friends.  One good friend who always attends Thanksgiving lost his father just two weeks before and I wasn't sure he would feel up to getting together to celebrate.  Another good friend lives with her elderly and diabetic mother and I thought maybe she would be concerned about coming over to the house.  But in the end, I thought I might as well ask, worst case scenario, they would say no and I'd take them a basket of turkey and pumpkin pie anyway.

I decided to call my friend who lost his father first.  When I asked if he thought he and his partner would be up to coming to celebrate his answer made me cry: it's not about what I feel up to, it's actually something I need.  Now, more than ever, I need to be with the people I love and the people who love me.  Of course we'll be there.  I was in tears on the phone.  My friend who lives with her mother also accepted the invitation immediately.  And really, except for Emily, who is in school, and I guess myself, teaching in Estepa, none of us have really been socializing or seeing anyone.  So it was relatively safe.

When I hung up that morning I was overwhelmed by grattitude.  I was so grateful that I could offer this "excuse", or perhaps opportunity is the better word, for us to all get together and soak up the love and friendship that we are all starved for lately.  I was so happy and so proud that the most beautiful of American traditions has also really become a tradition here in La Roda; that my friends are all so willing and excited to partake and share with me in my traditions turned theirs; and above all that I could do this for them.

This year was the first year in 14 years of celebrating that Angelines wouldn't have to rush off after "dinner" (actually lunch) to open the bar.  It was also the first year that I didn't have to clean the bar the morning of our celebration while the turkey was cooking in the oven.  For the first time, Angelines and I could prepare together, cleaning, washing dishes, setting the table.  Everything was ready and set before our guests arrived...I think this is a first, too!

Emily helped too, of course.  First thing she said in the morning (her eyes popped open at 6:50am) was, when can we go put the oil on the turkey??  She LOVES Thanksgiving and was especially excited this year to have our friends come: "I haven't seen them in so long!"  It warmed my heart to see how much she loves our friends.  She made each of them a little present and was in her element as the center of attention throughout our feast. 

Our Thanksgiving menu has become it's own tradition.  We don't usually get too creative when it comes to the food prep because we all love the food we've always made.  My pinenut-raisin stuffing is a classic at this point, a friend always brings the mashed potatoes (amazingly good!), another brings a gorgeous green salad.  We always have some kind of cooked veggie, too.  This year, I asked Angelines to make her grilled mixed vegetables--soooo good!  Then of course we have turkey, gravey, cranberry chutney and pumpkin pie with whipped cream.  We did branch out this year with the desserts: in honor of my good friend Adam, we made tapioca pudding (a tradition he shared with us when we celebrated together 13 years ago).  It was delicious!  I made it with coconut milk rather than cream...and it was fabulous. 

Even amidst the strangeness of having to limit our invitations and worrying about things like having windows open despite the cold, this was one of my very favorite Thanksgiving celebrations ever.  We were so starved for each other's company that we didn't even really eat turkey, but just feasted on stories, laugher, friendship and love...really what Thanksgiving is all about. 

Sunday Escape

COVID-19 may be ruining the economy and collapsing the health system, but I'm not complaining about having Angelines at home 100% over the weekend.  We were able to spend Saturday and Sunday as a family--such a gift.  No late nights at the bar, which translate into late mornings for Angelines; no bar to clean for Emily and me.  We were all up together and had pancakes for breakfast, walked the dog, did chores around the house that we couldn't get to during the week...  It was fantastic.

Sunday was especially great.  We are confined to our towns under these new restrictions, but technically the sierra out of town where we celebrated our wedding is still city property so...  After a long walk on the converted train track with Norte in the morning, we came home and quickly threw everything together to make migas in the countryside.  With the car loaded, we picked up my mother-in-law and headed out.

It was the perfect day: no wind, just a light breeze and sunny cloudless skies.  It was actually downright hot in the sun.  Emily even ended up taking off her shirt at one point.  We set up "camp" and spent about five hours cooking, eating, exploring and just enjoying each other.  Laughing in the fresh air, seems to me to be about the best remedy for all the craziness going on around us.  

This weekend, weather permitting, we are going to spend another day up in the sierra, :)

Migas: fried bread with chorizo, morcilla, potato and garlic.  It's eaten with pommegranet and other juicy fruit (grapes, melon or orange).

Abuelita rocking her baby.

On our morning walk with Norte. :)

Successful Six

November 4th has come and gone...we've been celebrating through the week with a grand finale yesterday.  And don't worry, this has nothing to do with the elections. ;)  Emily turned six this year in the midst of masking and coronavirus madness, we still managed to have a very happy birthday.  The night of the third we hung balloons in the kitchen so she'd have a surprise in the morning and after a pancake breakfast and leaving her at school, we set about decorrating, wrapping/assembling gifts and baking a cake.  Her biggest birthday gift was a giant sandbox.  We're still waiting on the last bags of sand to fill it, but there is enough in it at the moment to play and enjoy--she LOVES it.  

For the past two months...but really since the beginning of quarentine in March, she's been digging in our flowerbeds and making mudpies around the patio; busily baking for her "bug restaurant" (co-owned, I think, with my mother). ;)  She was becomming more destructive than Norte, who has also taken to digging...  So it dawned on me (after we'd already made some birthday/Christmas purchases) that a sandbox was the perfect gift for her.  I was right.

I think especially after the unnatural way they are required to distance at school with their masks on at all times, contact with nature has become even more important.  I can actually see Emily "decompressing" after lunch as she's running the sand through her fingers or building sand castles.  She spends hours in there all on her own building and playing, happy as a clam.  It is therapeutic for sure. Now more than ever, with the chance of another full lockdown looming over us, I am grateful that we have this new way to reconnect with ourselves and our senses.

Emily came out of school bubbling about the gifts from her teachers.  Her PE teacher and head of school gave her a pen, and her teacher gave her a cut out crown that read "feliz cumpleaños".  Her friends sang to her, and she was definitely made to feel special.  At home, she was thrilled by her birthday surprises and even wrote us a thank you note in the evening.  She is an amazing little girl and certainly deserved every bit of the attention she got/gets. 

COVID restrictions don't allow for gatherings of more than six people, so I was on my own with Emily and four friends yesterday at her birthday party.  All of the kids are from her class at school, and we celebrated outside in the patio.  As party favors we gave each child a letter (first in their name) to paint and take home.  They had a blast digging in the sand, jumping on the trampoline, throwing balls for Norte, singing danceing and just being together.  It was a lot of fun, and once again Emily was just so happy.  

It makes me feel so much more confident about school seeing how her teachers and friends have shown their love and appreciation for her this week.  Thursday, the day after her birthday three different children brought her homemade picture/birthday cards to school for her, and we got several voice messages with birthday wishes, too. :)  Emily is also feeling more comfortable with friends and last week went into school without too many tears holding hands with some of her classmates.  I am afraid she's coming around just in time for them to close schools...although so far schools remain 100% open.

Schools are the only thing continuing with "normality" these days.  Restrictions are tightening weekly it seems (though I guess it's actually every 14 days).  Today it has been announced that all non-essential businesses must close by 6pm and curfew has been extended an hour on either end.  It used to be 11pm-6am and is now 10pm-7am.  The state will continue with closed borders and no one can leave any town or city in Andalusia without justified cause.  I have a certificate from work so I can travel to Estepa.  These new restrictions will be in place two weeks...That means Thanksgiving week, we'll be looking at extentions or a further crack-down.

Some people are theorizing that the government will really tighten up now to try and ease the situation in hospitals and ERs nation-wide, then open back up slightly at Christmas time to give the economy a little shot in the arm with the intention of shutting down again in January.  The truth is that the Spanish economy has been the hardest hit by the pandemic out of all European nations.  Our heavy reliance on tourism for income has meant that things have taken a severe nose-dive.  I can't imagine that they will lock us all away at Christmas (economic suicide for sure), but at the same time, it seems wildly irresponsible to mess with people and jobs the way they are right now: slowly strangling things and drawing out the agony more than necessary.

Your next question is, "So, how's the bar faring?"  I have told all my friends and family, and any of you who have visited me know I am not exagerating when I say that Spaniards are die-hard bar-goers.  This means that business is doing pretty well, all things considered; but the intesity of work has been ramped up tenfold.  Angelines now has to play police on top of serving drinks and sanitizing tables and chairs.  She's the one reprimanding those people who are milling about without stools (new law requires you be seated to be drinking), people who forget to pull up their masks between sips, people who are socializing between tables, people who are gathering in groups >7...  She says that while she is forcibly working fewer hours and actually is able to have a steady sleep schedule (which is certainly beneficial), the psychological exhaustion is extreme.  People no longer have time to linger over drinks so they come and pound them down one after another, which means that reasoning with them about social distancing and masking is virtually impossible...

Anyway, this post was supposed to be about Emily and her wonderful birthday...not the ineptitude of world governemts to deal with coronavirus. 

I'll leave you with some pictures.

The thank you Emily wrote.  Sometimes when she is sounding out words she adds extra vowels... ;)  O and she wrote my name with Spanish spelling: biola (mommy or momi is easier!).

Ready for her birthday party!

 

Letter painting

We even got Ga's birthday card in the mail ON her birthday!  This was the table she found when she came home from school.