Tomorrow's The Day

Joan and I are moving tomorrow!

A fun day of packing is ahead of us.....

Wish us luck!

Ooobama

Lou Reed was on television last night, I quote:

"Obama, Obama,Obama,Obama,We need to vote for Obama. If you can't vote for Obama. We all just need to move to Barcelona."

Abeja Occupada

Yes, Joan and I are busy bees. At least I am. At least I feel like one. Luckily Joan and I had a day off last Friday and a few days coming up at the end of this month and the beginning of the next. Unfortunately we won't be flying off to France. We will be moving those days but the festival of St.Narcis will be going on for 10 days so I hope we will have time to enjoy it. I will post more about that once I experience it all first hand. It is Girona's most famous festival, one known world-wide!

Until then, I'm working five days a week at Cavok, two days a week teaching English, also making time to study the presentation for work, Spanish lessons, and be the amazing woman I am by preparing dinner, keeping the house clean, packing each night for the big move and making time to call the family. I suppose it is better to be busy than bored!

My main focus is Oct 30th, the day Joan and I move in. I will be up all night unpacking. Luckily for me I will just have to unpack clothes, books, movies and a few dishes. Everything else is ready! Joan will unpack the electronics and get the speaker system set up. So by the 31st we can enjoy the festival and our new piso!

It is midnight here already, my goal was to be in bed by this time so I should probably go. I've done well up to this point.

Hope all is well and I hope to update with some exciting news soon!

I'll leave you with a picture of us. Me in my new glasses and Joan being guapo as always! ha!

Barcelona Will Never Get Old

Yesterday I went to Barcelona to see Alison. She came to visit David and since America's Health care System is absolutely terrible get her medicines as well. Joan and I arrived at 1:00 and went to see Xevi at his office and then met David and Alison for lunch at this amazing Japanese Restaurant near La Ramblas. I want to go again soon, they had section where your food could be cooked on the wok or a la plancha, as well as sushi, salads and desserts. After lunch Ali and I walked with Xevi back to La Rambla and David and Joan went and did their own thing for a few hours. It started raining so we ducked inside a nearby Starbucks and had our cafés and talked about everything possible. I love to just soak up the time with her and the city of Barcelona, there is always something new to see. We made it into H&M and Mango, drooled over all the amazing clothes and felt terrible about ourselves while seeing the beautiful Spanish girls pull off any look so effortlessly while the same shirts on us made us look pregnant. We walked in and out of shops, went to the top of La Pedrera and had a coffee at another Starbucks later.

The boys were supposed to meet us at 6:30, well, Joan called and said they were on the way. At 7:00 they were still with their friends across town. At 7:30 they still weren't on the way. So, we decided to walk to them.

Asking the woman at La Pedrera, "Donde esta Callé Arago?" "GOING DOWN" she replied. First of all, thanks for the great directions, secondly, if we asked you in Spanish please don't insult us by speaking in English. whatever. So, we made our way down and decided to do an experiment and ask random people and see if they responded in Spanish. The rest of them did. An old man in a suit said "bajo" A well dressed Spanish woman at a bank didn't know but spoke Spanish with us and finally a very nice woman pointed us in the right direction, spoke in spanish, slowly and wished us luck. And who says the Spanish aren't nice? We called Joan and told him were by the big Burberry store on Callé Aragon and were on the way, Ali talked to David and he told her to take a taxi. We didn't want to spend the money so we started walking.

Fifteen minutes later we get a call and the boys are at Burberry! Seriously? So, after they told us to take a taxi (which we could have and would have had to pay for) they walked to where we were instead. We finally made it to them and hopped in the car to go to see the fountains of Montjuiic.

The fountains weren't working last night. Just our luck. So, we called it a night and dropped Alison and David off at his home. I hate saying goodbye to her so much but I also love that I get to because that means I was able to see her again and she was able to visit Barcelona, a city she loves. I have no doubt one day she will live here. She would appreciate every second of it.

Here are some photos of Ali and I in Barcelona.

Daily Schedule

My Schedule

Wake up at 7:00 a.m. get ready to go to work
Joan and I leave the house and are in the car at 8:05
We arrive in our parking garage at 8:55 almost exactly
By 9:05 we are in our favorite cafe to have breakfast which is a great start to the day
We're in the office by 9:25
I leave for Spanish class at 11:30 and return to the office at 1:45 when class is over
At 2:00 Joan and I go to lunch and spend 30 minutes to an hour on our break
At 6:00 we leave the office
If it's a Monday or Tuesday I teach English after work from 6:30-7:30 or 8:30 depending.
If it happens to be a Wednesday or Friday Joan and I head home or do something fun around town
Thursday he has class at the University so I do other things until 8:30 when he's done and we go home.
Once I'm at home ( any night of the week) I make dinner, do laundry, clean a bit, try to study Spanish, prepare lessons for the English classes, work on my other things such as researching universities, call the family in the states or watch our favorite shows via computer downloads.

The weekends can be pretty busy as well but Sundays are reserved for a long lunch with his family and relaxing afternoons.

Some of you ( my family in particular) have been asking about a "normal day" for me, well there's an example of a normal week. My resolution, Our resolution, (forget waiting for December 31) is to spice up our life. Sure we have responsibilities and such but everyone can get stuck in the monotony of everyday existence. I've been looking into Salsa classes, if we can manage to fit it into the schedule somewhere. I also want to find a good church to go too, I know I won't find anything like what I'm used to in the states but if I can find a place where I feel comfortable that would be a great blessing.

It is true though, you have time for what you make time for. It's about prioritizing and organizing my life in the way I need or want it to be. I know once we are living in Girona it will be easier to work with the time, the hours I would be spending in the car driving to and from work, can be spent on important things.

Only two weeks until the big move!

El Niño Con El Pijama De Rayas

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Cargado por coolvibesinfo

I'm sure that this film came out in the states ages ago as Spain gets the movies almost always five months later for some reason but incase you haven't seen it. Stop reading my blog, check the movie times and make plans to see it. I read the book before, actually I read the book in two days. I couldn't put it down. I suppose that's why I could watch the movie dubbed in Spanish and understand almost everything.

Without giving anything away I must say how powerful and moving this movie is. Seeing the Holocaust through the perspective of a child is incredibly heartbreaking. I've read numerous books with the child being the protagonist but never telling such a tale as this. Without a doubt the book is much much better so perhaps I should be urging you stop reading my blog and go to your nearest bookstore and read this tale instead. Perhaps you should. The book takes you through the thoughts as Bruno, it weaves you into his life and captures your thoughts so that you feel as if you are right there with him. The book has won two Irish Book Awards, The Bisto Book Of The Year and The Qué Leer Award in Spain.

Check out the trailer and then go see for yourself whether in the cinema or between the pages of John Boyne's novel.

Una Habitación Nueva y otras cosas

I have a few pictures of the new flat but I will just post four. The place isn't finished yet so the other pictures aren't that great anyway. Besides I want you all to see the finished product once Joan and I have moved in. The first picture is looking down from the loft into the living room. The second photo is of the sofa in the living room that also serves as a bed if we need it to. The living room looks small in the photo and not that it's big but it definetly is more spacious than the picture shows. My favorite part is the different textures, the stone, the brick and the hardwood floors. The third is of the main window in the living room. The last one is of the sink and mirror area in the bedroom. You can see the shower is to the right of the mirror and to the left is the bathroom which isn't in the picture. Nothing much to see, just a toilet surrounded by mosaic tile, nice but a boring photo. Those are the only pictures for now but like I said, I'll add more in a month or so after we've moved in!



In other news, I drove today. This is a big deal because I haven't been behind the wheel in 10 months! I don't know why I never took the car out before but we never had time or we did other things...but today Joan made me basically. We went to his parents to see his brother and pick up a few things. I ended up driving the quad around the property for awhile and it felt so good driving again, driving something. Joan asked if I wanted to take the Volkswagen around the property a bit, so I did, I felt comfortable so we drove around Lloret and to Fenals Beach to have a coffee. I was so nervous, I almost hit a cop on a motorbike ( he didn't notice but I sure did) went through the crazy roundabouts and managed to park fairly well. I used to be so confident, I've always been a great driver but I had to get back into that mindset. Joan's mom was happy I finally took the car out and said I could anytime. Now that Adriana has her new car, I'll have more opportunity to take it out if I need/want to. Joan will call the consulate Monday to see about my license and if it's valid here as well. I hope so, if I have to take the test that will be a major drag. First of all the written test will be in Spanish and the driving test will be with a manuel car and it will be 1200 euros or something ridiculous. I think I'd rather drive illegally. Kinda.

Tonight Albert is coming over for a bit and when Shabir gets home we're going to go out for alittle while with him. He will be returning from the Paris Auto Show so I'm expecting a lot of car talk.

Tomorrow Joan's uncles and cousins will be there for lunch so I'm pretty excited about that. It's nice to have big family gatherings. I also have a lot to do tomorrow, study for Spanish a bit, prepare the lessons for my class Monday with Pablo and Carlos, pack and do laundry. Hopefully I can get everything done. Today was such a lazy day, I slept in until 12 then laid around the couch for an hour and after watched an episode of Prison Break with Joan. I didn't even leave the house until 5:30 today. Lazy Saturdays are good now and then.

I better end this post and get ready for tonight. Hope all is well in the states, as well as it can be right now.

Ciao

History Old and New

Joan and I will be moving to Girona in a few months and some of you have been asking what it's like and so on so I found some great articles on Lonley Planet about Girona for you to read.

"A walk in Gerona's exceptionally well-preserved old town, or Barri Vell, is like a vivid retelling of long-past events by the city's streets and buildings.

While there's little trace of the ancient settlement called Gerunda, visitors can still follow the path of Via Augusta, the Roman highway that passed by that Iberian city - just by walking down Carrer de la Força in the old town.

From Gerona's impressive defensive towers and walls - lovingly restored following demolition in the name of 19th-century progress - it is easy to picture the relentless attacks and occupations that shaped the history of this city.

The Romans had a fortress here long before the city wall protected Gerona. Visigoths also held the ancient city until it was captured by Muslims in AD 714. Twice the Moors were driven out by Charlemagne - the second and last time in 797.

Charlemagne made Gerona a countship of Catalonia and, in the 9th century, the alarmingly named Wilfred the Hairy, Count of Barcelona, ruled Gerona as capital of one of his counties.

Wilfred's time is sometimes said to be the wellspring of Catalonia's distinctive, proud spirit and its desire for political and cultural autonomy. But Catalan's early independence was dealt a blow by a royal wedding in 1469 - Isabella of Castile to Ferdinand II of Aragon. The match all but made Spain into one powerful kingdom and, from that time, Catalonia's prized self-government slowly trickled away.

The cobbled streets around Carrer de la Força tell another story from this time. El Call, the Jewish quarter, made Gerona Catalonia's second most important medieval Jewish community after Barcelona. The people stayed until 1492, when all Jews were expelled from Spain. The neighbourhood was famous for its cabbalistic school - one of Europe's foremost.

The old town's historic buildings speak of Gerona's medieval prosperity and themselves sit on long-destroyed ancient structures. The cathedral sits on the site of another, once used by Moors as a mosque. Climb the current cathedral's 86 steps and pass through its majestic facade and you'll discover a history of building and rebuilding in successive Romanesque and Gothic styles. It's no surprise, after 25 attacks and seven successful invasions, that many of the old town's buildings are a pastiche of architectural periods. What does surprise is the old town's almost complete survival.

Gerona rocketed into the modern era, becoming industrialized along with the rest of Catalonia. The region's capital, Barcelona, is an Art-Nouveau wonderland; Gerona's own Rafael Masó did his best to modernise the city with a host of fantastically decorative buildings that are well-preserved today.

Politically, Catalonia was a hothouse. In the fiercely independent region that's claimed Gerona since the 8th century, socialists, anarchists and Catalan nationalists waged their struggles.

Two revered Catalan presidents of the 1930s, Lluís Companys and Francesc Macià, fought to make the region a nation. They fought with armed revolts as well as elections, and gained and lost autonomy of varying shades. Complete independence was elusive.

The Spanish Civil War (1936-39) crushed hopes of a seperate state. Catalonia opposed General Francisco Franco and the region was brutally punished when the dictator came to power. Franco quashed Catalonia's political autonomy and suppressed its culture; use of the Catalan language was forbidden in public life.

Catalonia suffered for forty years until Franco's death in 1975 freed the region to seek independence once more. Autonomous again, and with an elected parliament, Catalonia was on the path to nationhood.

Recent History

Today, the city feels like a busy and prosperous centre - although 'human sized' as its local government boasts. New parks and historical reconstructions grace Gerona, which is surrounded by a still-industrial region producing paper, chemicals, food and machinery.

Tourism has become significant for Gerona and visitors flock to the beautifully preserved old town. This tourist precinct's charming streets - easily explored on foot - are also lively with students from the local university, who make the town's nightlife."

-LonleyPlanet.com

Joan and I will be living in the Barri Vell and I will take photos and video of our "neighborhood" when we get a chance. Next week will make two weeks until we move in. We're not completely packed but we have a lot done. I will be sad to leave our place but I'm positive we will feel the same about the new place. Below are some photos of Girona that I've taken over the last few months.

Visit us soon!

HIGHlights from Shabir's Party

This isn't normal.

Amigos

Shabir, his Father and Joan

Go Barça!

Barcelona Duet de Guitarra

Joan surprised me last night with tickets to see The Barcelona Guitar Duo. Xenia Axelroud & Joan Benejam have played together at the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, one of the most famous concert halls in the world. Here is a link to a webpage I found of the duo. You can listen to their music by clicking the red box under thie photo. They were absolutely amazing, they played Operas and compositions meant for an entire orchestra on just two guitars. The concert was held in the church in Lloret, it was peaceful, beautiful and something I hope everyone has a chance to experience. At the end of the concert, they played a last song on one guitar. Xenia sat on her stool, Joan stood behind and they both played the same guitar. It was amazing. Joan and I would love to see them again but next week Lloret is having another group of Spanish guitar players so we will probably go to that concert as well. It was really refreshing going out on Saturday night to do something else other than go to dinner or go out with Joan's friends.

Tomorrow is a big day, I meet the two children I'm teaching English to and giving the presentation to the boss. I need to be reviewing it and memorizing what I need to know but I can't bring myself to read through it all again. Wish me well, I am very nervous!

I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

-Hoping everyone has a great Monday.

Explicaré todo

Joan and I are going through a lot of changes, we've been very busy and I just haven't made time to blog. I missed it though so I will try to post every other day if I can ( or if I have something blog-worthy to write about) and keep you updated on mi vida.

Joan and I put the deposit down on our new piso in Girona. It's beautiful and exactly what we were looking for. We will move in at the end of the month and we just couldn't be more excited about it. It is a duplex, which in Spain means two stories. The second story has our bedroom and a bathroom and overlooks the living room. A loft, I suppose is what you could call it. It's spacious and has a very nice, modern kitchen. This was the deciding factor for me because not only is it bigger than the kitchen I have now, it has a four top stove, an oven, and a washer and dryer. The piso isn't finished yet, they still have to put in the appliances, but that should be done before we move. I can't stop dreaming up the fab dinners I'll make for Joan and our friends. The only issue we have is closest space. There is one closet and a small one at that. We will have to go to IKEA-no complaint there-to find a solution. The hard part now is packing. I'm planning to start today but need Joan to get boxes. We really will have to downsize as I don't want to fill up the place with random junk. I will miss our views. Even now, I'm sitting at the dining room table, writing this and looking at the sea and the mountains. It is beautiful day. In the new flat, we are on the first floor and our window faces a street, so not nearly as much sun, no balcony, no views. We get instead, the city. Two minutes walk and we are right in the heart of the Barri Vell (The Old City or Jewish Quarter) of Girona. St.Feliu is only meters away as is Elizabeth and Liza.

Also, I am working full time now. I'm new and learning everything now but Joan and I have faith that this job will be great for us and really give us the financial help we need. With me working, some of the pressure will be off of Joan to be the provider and the sole income and I can feel like I am contributing something to the household financially as well. I also have another job, a side job, teaching English. I signed up with this company, Acadomia, in Girona. This company provides teachers in all subjects to people and sends them to the student's home. So, this Monday I am teaching English to 5 year old Pablo and 7 year old Carlos. Joan and I will call the parents this afternoon so I can find out a bit about the boys. I'm a bit nervous as I am the one who plans the lessons and I'm not sure how to teach a 5 and 7 year old English, but I have found a lot of great resources online on the subject and am feeling quite confident about it.

As far as school goes, I really want to go back. I miss it so much. However, I know that now I cannot do it. Not realistically. I did come across Dublin City University and found out that they have a distance program for obtaining a BA in Journalism. It isn't nearly as expensive as the states and I would just have to fly to Dublin to take the exams at the end of the course. I need to speak with them but it is something I would love to do when I can pay off Northwest and obtain my transcripts. Possibly next year, in the spring, I will start school again.

I suppose that's all for now, I really need to get the house cleaned up and begin the day.
I hope all is well where you are. For those of you that read regularly and asked what happened to the blog, I appreciate it. Feel free to leave comments, I didn't know I had so many readers!

Ciao bellas

Change

I'm back. I've been gone for awhile but things are returning to normal. 

I'll be writing more, updating each day, and taking you on this new journey that's about to start.