Let's Make This A Real EuroTrip

Joan and I want to take full advantage of the perks of working for a major airline company. Beginning in Janurary of 2009 we are going to try our hardest to visit all the cities/countries Ryanair flies to. This includes Gothenburg City, Fes, Stockholm, The United Kingdom,Marrakesch,Brussles,Prague,Paris,Frankfurt,Dusseldorf,Budapest,Bari,Florence,

Pisa,Rome,Cork,Shannon,Dublin,Venice,Verona,Malta,Eindhoven,Bratislava,Ibiza,Alicante,Madrid,

Malaga,Glasgow,Edinburgh and tons more. The first few months our budget will be quite small as I'm planning to go to the states for two weeks and I know I will need money. Hopefully we can squeeze a budget trip sometime in Feburary for our Anniversary/Valentines and after March begin our weekend expeditions. Although Oslo is one of the places I'd love to go first while the powder is fresh on the ground (pictured above).

Work is always getting busier but I have more responsibilities now as does Joan so let's hope better pay goes along with it. I am very lucky to have a job now, we both are. Times are tough and a lot of people are out of work. A few of my friends here don't have jobs because they aren't EU Citizens. I thank God everyday for the blessing of work. Elizabeth reminds me of this often. So, whichever job you have hold on to it!

Anyway, traveling is a big goal I have for this year as well as many others but I won't get ahead of myself, I will need a New Years Post after all.

This weekend I'll be "traveling" to Lloret for Joan's mother's birthday festivities and will probably spend time with Shabir and Albert. Poor guy is going through a lot right now, more than any person should have to deal with: and I haven't seen him in quite awhile so that will be nice.

Kind Regards to all of you in the states

Ciao Bellas

photos courtesy of visitoslo.com and ryanair.com

Internet

Joan and I have been waiting almost a month for our internet to be installed. I long for the days of sitting on the couch with the laptop and researching things like, how to bake apple pie, celeb gossip, news in the states or searching blogs. It's a love hate relationship though. I would love to have internet to surf the web, use skype to talk with friends, check my email at night etc but also I hate having it because either Joan or I are glued to it. Since we haven't had it, I read more, we do more around the house or we go out of the house. Besides, being on a computer all day at work doesn't exactly make me want to jump one another once I'm at home. However, I would be able to upload all my photos from the last month if I had internet-I'm way behind. I also wouldnn't have to write quick blogs inbetween my work during the day, I really do hate having to steal seconds to check my email and well, write this post.
If Joan's calculations are correct, we will have internet sometime next week. I will try to set boundaries on time alloted to blogging, surfing and facebooking but I realize in the beginning I will be like a moth to the flourescent light of a bug zapper. Blogging is like breathing, I've heard another wise blogger state, I feel that same way. It is my relaxing moment in a not so relaxing day.

Ciao

Me Encanta

GRACIAS
DeNADA

was wonderful. I learned a lot, drank some of the best wine in the south, walked all over the city, shopped in the best boutiques in the city, spent quality time with my sister-in-law, relaxed in the Arab baths, visited the Alhambra and had experiences to last a lifetime.

More to come.

Granada...Flamenco...Fiesta

This weekend I am going to Granada. I don't think I could be more excited. Maribel, Pepi, Adriana and I are going to have a wonderful time. The first night we will land late so we will just have dinner, walk around the city and get our rest because tomorrow night is the fiesta.

We will go shopping at the markets for most of the day, see the sites and go out for lunch. For dinner we will go to a Flamenco show and after out for drinks. Saturday night will be a late night. Pepi is from Andalucia and loves to party. She is crazy, hilarious and loves to have fun. Sunday we will (try) to wake up early to see the Alhambra. We already have our tickets so everything is ready. I arrive a bit late but Joan promised he would have the house clean, laundry done so I could just go straight to bed although I have a feeling I will be up all night telling him everything that happened. I will take as many pictures as Maribel allows....and post them when I can!

Ciao

Rockstars

Saturday evening Xevi stopped by to see the apartment. The Montessori School that Xevi, Shabir, Lain and Joan went to were having a dinner at The River Cafe near our home. So, Xevi came by and hung out for awhile. Joan and I weren't going to the dinner because Shabir was coming over to have dinner with us. Pizza, we decided. So, around 9:30 we met at the Lion's Ass in Girona and showed Shabir our place of residence while the rest of the Montessori alums got personal. Shabir loved our place (who doesn't?) and we ordered Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut was terrible. Nothing even close to the states at all. I'm sticking with Telepizza or Dolce Vita. Anyway, it was quite a scene. Shabir, Joan and I on the couch in our reasonably posh piso, eating pizza and drinking Moet & Chandon. Shabir said it perfectly, "We're like junkie rockstars eating pizza and drinking Moet."

After dinner we walked to The River Café and joined Xevi and Lain for the festivities. I even made a couple friends that actually Joan didn't even know. Virginia and MariaRosa. Virginia goes to Lloret on the weekends so we might meet up one day, very nice girl and great English which is a plus for me. After the River we went to a club, the name escapes me at the moment but it was huge and packed. I remember having a good time. I also remember asking Xevi to walk me down the aisle should I ever have a wedding in Spain. He was honored and agreed on the spot.

It was a great weekend that ended with Joan and I having a great lunch with his parents in Lloret on Sunday. It was Adriana's 26th birthday so we had a mini celebration for her as well.

I can happily say things are going well. Besides Joan and I not feeling 100% lately, being incredibly busy and often tired-life is good.

A Scoop of London

The last few days have been pretty crazy but Friday was amazing. Joan and I woke up at 3 a.m. to drive to the airport and catch our flight which was at 6:25. We were able to board the plane first-very V.I.P and we chose the first row of seats, the best ones I think. So, we were sitting the plane, I was looking forward to buying my books and drinking my Starbucks when Joan asked the flight attendent if he could buy tickets for the STN Express. "Are we going to London?" "Yes" I started crying immediatly. I've been wanting to go to London my entire life and now I would be. I was laughing and crying and kissing Joan and giving him hugs. It was such a nice moment. For Joan too, he actually suprised me and I had no idea it was coming. Except for this morning when he told me to bring the camera for "taking pictures in the airport." I was a bit suspicious but only for a second and I brushed it off, we couldn't be going to London, right?

After going through security we went to see Tom, the Supervisor for the IDs we make. I got my Security Pass and we went through the employee tunnel, underneath the airport to not have to go through Security. We arrive and Joan's pass is "parked" as they call it. Deactivated. He hasn't used it in awhile and that's what happens. So, we walked back to the office which is a few meters away from the airport. We waited and waited until Tom activated it and we took the tunnel back to the airport. Getting through security in the employee area is exhausting. They checked everything. They even turned on my camera. I was felt up by a woman and Joan was scrutinized as well. After 15 minutes of that nonsense, we could finally get through to Tom's office, have him sign the papers and our work was done. We had to go back to the ID office to return my pass. Joan warned me to make sure it was with me because if I lost it and we were in the restricted area-the police would come. The police in the airport walk around with machine guns. Scary.

Finally we were boarding the train to go to London. Arriving to Liverpool Street Station was an incredible feeling. We took the metro straight to Westminister Abbey. As soon as we stepped out I saw Big Ben. Not as big as I thought honestly. It was beautiful though. I saw the London Eye as well. The weather was amazing not cold at all and incredibly sunny. We walked over to Buckingham Palace and watched the changing of the guards. We practically ran across the way to the gate when we noticed they were doing it. We took pictures by the fountain, walked through St.Jame's Park and dreamed of owning a nice flat overlooking the park. We only had four hours so we took a taxi to Piccadilly Circus. Once out of the cab I saw Dolce and Gabbana, Chanel, everything. We had to eat so we found this posh restaraunt next to Starbucks and enjoyed a great meal. I actually had a proper cesar salad and cranberry juice! I miss cranberry juice. After we walked around a bit, I went to Cinnabon as well and we just enjoyed it. We soaked everything up and Joan promised we would return one day very soon. He told me, "Think of today like a scoop of London-just a taste before you decide if you want the whole sundae." We decided we want the sundae. London was brilliant and we will return soon and for the weekend.

We made it back to the airport with plenty of time so I bought two books, "Second Glance" by Jodi Piccoult and "The Book Thief " by Markus Zusak, I believe. I'm almost through with The Book Thief and it is an incredibly amazing book. I also bought a Good Housekeeping Mag that came with a recipie book for the holidays-I'm in love. Before we boarded the plane, Joan got me a Gingerbread Latté, the perfect ending to the perfect day.

I will always remember our four hours in London. Our little scoop of British life.

Oh Shucks

Have you ever heard someone under 85 use that expression? I don't think I have and I really don't recall ever using that in my life. However that's what came out of my mouth this morning when I slipped on the bridge on the way to work. "Oh Shucks." I then quickly threw in a Spanish curse word to make myself feel better but really? Where did that come from? At least no one was around like the last time I let a "Golly" slip out. I think I may be possessed by a 90 year old woman at times like that. That can only explain the lingo from 1940s and my falling on the bridge this morning. A man on a bicycle gave a very enthusiastic "oh whoa whoa" as I was mid-fall. He kept on going. I then called Joan and woke him up and told him my new boots sans heels still weren't good enough for slippery bridges in the morning-so the hunt continues. I also spilled my coffee this morning once I arrived to the office, I did manage to squeak out a decent "whoops" which I think anyone can say as long as it doesn't have "a daisy" attached. My new obsession with words is growing as I'm teaching new vocabulary to my students and each week they pick up the things I say. I feel responsible for choosing the best words before sending them out into the English Speaking world. So, phrasel verbs have been my life lately.

Tomorrow I am going to Stanstead with Joan for work. We're only on English soil for a few hours and then we're heading back in the evening. I hope to find a couple more books for my Jodi Piccoult collection and get a Mocha Frapp from Starbucks. Ah, simple dreams.

Sundays are Fundays

Today was a really wonderful day. Joan and I were up early enough to give the piso a good clean and to go to mass at St.Feliu church. I understood only a bit as it was in Catalan but being a Catholic church, it translates. At 1:30 his parents and brother came from Lloret to see our place and then we went to a great place for lunch. The dishes were very catalan but delicious. I had a mousse of eggplant with four cheese sauce. I thought I would hate it but it was like nothing I've ever had-delicious. We had dessert, wine and lots of laughs. Joan's mom loved the area, the gardens and all the little shops. She plans to come again one Saturday so I can show her more of Girona as she is more familiar with Barcelona.

Sergi's birthday was yesterday so we had a mini celebration at our place after lunch. I loved that his parents came today, they were so excited to see our place and for us it was a nice change to lunch in lloret at the house. We had a feeling that his parents were very proud of us. We're living in the city, in a very modern,very posh area in a beautiful apartment, working hard and just doing well. We did work hard to get to this point. Anyone can see that we've come along way from last December when I arrived. With only 1000 euros in my account, we didn't have jobs or a place to stay and look at us now. In 10 months we'ce grown a lot.

Tomorrow will be a busy day as usual, I'm working and teaching three English classes. Tonight I want to relax with a glass of wine and watch a movie with my sweetie. It's going to be a long week.

Hope all is well where you are.

Ciao

Why Friday Is Great

Here's the scoop:

1.I found out I'm going to Madrid with Moises on November 20th for Recruitment-yes!
2.The girls in my English class are doing very well and one of them wants private lessons
3.The boss and I are getting along well and she told me I would be doing Recruitment and IDs from now on which is great news
4.I'm doing a bit of shopping today which is a long time coming! My extra money from Acadomia really helps!
5. My grandmother is sending me Christmas things from home, bath and body works scents, baking goods, music and I'm thrilled!
6.Joan and I are getting our new plasma t.v. today from the man that designed our piso!

Hope you are having a great Friday as well!

Back to the Blog

I'm currently in the library at the School of Languages here in Girona, my class was cancelled until tomorrow so I am making use of my time to catch up on my correspondance.

First, OBAMA! I woke up at 7 a.m. on November 4th, ran downstairs, turned on the news and I saw the best thing to happen to the white house since JFK! A young, open-minded leader full of hope to change our country for the better. Every station was covering the news, the newspapers today all have pictures of Obama and his family, polls, just about everything and anything to do with the election. People may not realize that the rest of the world (Spain specifically) was also waiting anxiously for the results. Right now, the states and Spain do not have good relations since the President of Spain decided to pull out the troops in the war and Bush disagreed. Obama wants to ( I have to say it) change that and that is something people here really care about.
I don't want to talk politics anymore so...

Joan and I are settling better into our new home. There have been some surprises such has the power going out when we turn on the oven, building my closet (this was quite and adventure that involved Joan borrowing the truck from the furniture store to bring back the what they gave us because it was wrong and then getting home to realize only two pieces were the wrong color and we could have fit them in the car) moving furniture, getting into a routine and getting organized, as well as getting locked out of our house last Friday.
We are so close to having everything in its place. What we really need though is a desk. I am teaching six english classes a week and need a place for all my lessons etc. I'm still in Spanish class and would love a place tp study. Hopefully this weekend we can search around.

Next week Joan has to drive from here to Reus which is almost two hours with Casandra and then take a plane to Santander for Recruitment. He will be going overnight which means take-out and movie night for me! We will also be going to Stanstead next week as well. I will have to meet the Ryanair people, learn my way around the airport so next time I can go by myself. I wish we had time (and money) to go to London, sometimes being so close is worse than not going at all. Although I do love buying books in English, eating "more American" like foods including Dr.Pepper and Joan and I always stop at Starbucks. It isn't a bad time at all.

All in all things are going well. I am always busy but I am working full time at Cavok and teaching, I will be obtaining my TEFL certificate through a accredited online course so I can be more informed about grammar, lesson planning etc and be able to get a better job teaching English as a second language if I want to in the future. Early next year I also plan to finish my degree through a distance course with Dublin University. After all that happens, Joan and I want to move back to the states. I've said this before but after two or two and a half years here we may want to give New York a try or perhaps in Kansas City. Time will tell.

Joan ordered our internet package today and they say it could take up to 30 days for them to install everything. I will have to resort to short time periods at the library to blog and check my emails.

Until next time-

A moment to spare

We still don't have internet. After work Joan and I will go start the process of getting Internet a landline and digital t.v. in our new home. I am forced to check everything at work and don't have much time to do so!

I look forward to speaking with all of you soon! I will definetly have more stories to tell!
Ciao


------So happy that Barack Obama will be President-----

One Moment of Bad Luck equals 50 euros

I've never believed much in "luck" bad or good but lately I have been wondering if it is possible. Yesterday, Joan and I had an extremely long day. We slept in our old place the night before so we could get up early and pack the car; as I stated in my previous post. Well, after a few hours of walking up and down 5 flights of stairs carrying heavy things we were finally done. We drove his father's truck to our place, Elizabeth came to see the place and to keep an eye on the apartment while we carried everything in and out. We also had to make a trip to the furniture store to buy a big closet for my clothes, our place came with a very small one; perfect for Joan, not me. After that, Joan had to drive the truck back to Lloret so I stayed home and unpacked everything. Stress was high as I was overwhelmed, Joan was in a mood and later we were supposed to meet Carlos and Gemma to go to los firas and watch the castells that were taking place in front of the Cathedral. Something I had been waiting years to see. The castells were taking place 5 minutes walking from our home at 9:00 so everything was perfect.

8:15 that night Joan was just entering Girona. 8:25 he had parked and was walking from our parking to our place, a good 30 minute walk on a normal day. Last night was one of the biggest nights of Los Firas so there were tons of people and a bit of rain. So, 45 mintues later he was home. Tired and wet but jumped in the shower for us to make it there on time.

At 9:05 I recieved a text saying that the castells had started and we were going to miss it if we didn't hurry. At 9:10 I walked out the door, 9:11 Joan shut the door and at 9:11 and three seconds we realized we were locked out.

Rewinding back to 8:45 when Joan had arrived and I had unlocked the door for him-the keys were left in the door. We didn't think anything of it afterwards. When Joan closed the door at 9:11:03 he realized when he check the lock that he couldn't turn the key. I remembered my keys on the other side and that was that. We borrowed a guide book from the neighbor, I cried and eventually we found the number for a locksmith. We missed the castells, it was raining, and once the locksmith came we would be out 50 euros. We tried and tried to open the door by sliding a piece of plastic through, anything but it took the locksmith two seconds to open our door. He had a special piece of plastic, thinner than a credit card and much stronger. Our single moment of bad luck was very expensive.

Carlos and Gemma arrived a bit before the locksmith had and waited with us outside. We showed them the flat, which they loved and we went to get a bite to eat. It was the end of a very long day.

Now it's Sunday and we just finished lunch with Joan's parents. We have to go to our old place and clean up. Thankfully we have Monday and Tuesday off.

Hope all is well and remember to check the doors before you leave.

Crazy Turn Of Events

It is officially official, Joan and I are moved in to our new place! However, I am at our old place this morning. We moved in Thursday evening after work, first stopping by the IMO to get the keys and sign the contract. Joan read through it as if he were a lawyer and asked a few questions to our realtor, Joanna. In the end, everything seemed fine and we were in a hurry so we signed and that was all. As this was happening, Joanna told us that the washer wasn't exactly finished and if Joan could just attach the tube "muy facil" she said. Joan shot back with a, "If I can't do I'm not touching it because then it's my fault and you'll charge me for it." 1 point for Joan. Then she said that legally they didn't have to attach the accessories, the toilet paper holder and the wrack for the towels. Other than that, everything was ready. So, with that in mind, we left the IMO wondering what we would find.

It was a little after seven when we arrived to our piso. It really is a beautiful place. Hardwood floors, completely new kitchen; gorgeous. Upstairs we noticed the bed still wasn't made, the plastic was still on the mattresses (two twins pushed together by the way) so Joan got busy working on that. After a couple hours we walked three minutes to our favorite restaurant Konig. Joan, the wonderful guy that he is, suprised me by taking me to the festival that is in Girona now. I didn't think we would be able to go until this Sunday so it was a great surprise. Los Firas have games, great food, not- so- great-but-delicious-food, lots of white tents with different drinks and even castanyas or chestnuts. Roasted Chestnuts! Joan walked me over to the Ferris Wheel and we went on a ten minute ride and from the top we could see all Girona, the Cathedral and St.Feliu, really romantic and amazing. We walked around the fair, ate chestnuts and people-watched. It was so much fun after a long day of work and moving. So, thank you again Joan for the wonderful surprise!

Friday we had to work but it's only a 20 minute walk from the piso which saves us so much time! The hours d r a g g e d on as we worked and waited to get to our flat again. In the end we decided to stay in Lloret since our piso, at the moment, has no television, radio, or anything-it's too quiet. We relaxed a bit at the piso and Joan then decided to try the oven. As soon as it was on, the power went out. We did it again, power went out again. Everything is so new that it is normal that there are some problems. Joan called Joanna and let her know of the new situation. We have free days next week and are hoping and praying that the telefonica man, the man with the t.v. and the man to fix the oven and washing machine will be able to come one of those days. Que lio!

That brings me back to now, Joan is at work and it is pouring! It has been windy and rainy since last night. Which is terrible because today we were going to move the rest of the things from this piso and go to buy another closet for our place. Now, we're not sure what to do. Elizabeth is coming over to see the piso at 3:30 and I had hoped to be there before but now I don't know what is going on. Joan is very stressed which is completely normal. The poor guy doesn't need any more stress. We did have this picture-perfect idea that we would move in, with sunny weather, everything working and it would be so easy. Life is never that easy, is it?

I feel good about everything though because we fought so hard to get this place. Saving the money, making all the arrangements, getting my job, etc. So, I know we can do it-we can fight our way through any situation.

Speaking of "getting my job" I do have some great news on that. Here, they are big on contracts. You have a contract for 1 year, 6 months etc. This means you have this job and it is harder for the boss to fire you, basically she can't unless there is a major reason. Anyway, it is good to have a long contract, you can quit if you want but it means the boss wants to keep you for as long as she can. I have had two month contracts that have been renewed a few times, a three month contract and now-an indefinite contract. How wonderful is that? I'm so happy, I don't have to be a waitress or work in a department store, I get to work for Ryanair making good money and I get to be with Joan, travel and live in Girona. I know it won't be forever but for the next couple years I will stay and just soak up this great experience.

I miss the states so much of course and I do want to go back but it's so much more complicated than just picking up and moving. Jobs, money, the economy, a place to live, bank accounts, a car, Joan's paperwork for him to live there and be able to work-many things. We have to decide where we would want to move as well!

Anyway, it is only 9:30 a.m. here, still raining hard, but all the same I should start packing and be ready for when Joan arrives!

I hope you have a lovely day wherever you live

Ciao