Not just a European vacation!

Monday, November 9

We have some good news here and I'm a whole week late in posting it. Bad me. My hubby, the professor (aka Dr. C) received the news that his paper, "The Use of the Hue Parameter of the HSV Color Space as a Quantitative Analytical Parameter for Bitonal Optical Sensors" (whew, that's a long title) is going to be published in the journal, Analytical Chemistry. So, congratulations to Dr. C and his Spanish collaborators! When telling people that you are doing chemistry research in Spain for a semester, sometimes you get the response of - uh huh, suuuure. Well, this just proves that it was not just a European vacation. Speaking of Spain, let's see a couple photos of Granada.

When's the next sabbatical?

24 hours

Sunday, December 14

OK, we leave Granada in less than 24 hours and we are trying not to dread the two day trip to the States. First we catch a train to Madrid, then quick catch a taxi to the airport and fly to Paris, hoping that none of our bags are over the 20 kilo limit. Then we have to spend tomorrow night in Paris, but at least we'll have all morning to find an eclair. On the way to North Carolina we have a layover in Detroit, I forget how long, but at least I hear they have a really nice airport. Then Kevin's mom will pick us up at 11pm, so glad it will be time to sleep when we arrive. Three out of four suitcases are packed, but I don't think everything else is going to make it into the last one. I foresee some repacking in our futures and leaving more used, but maybe not so useful items to my friend Antonia. It's a good thing I'll be gone as she'll probably be cursing me while sorting through all the great things I've given her. I'm hoping it won't rain today so we can have one last farewell walk around the neighborhood and I won't get wet working on the recycling. Farewell to new friends and we'll see you soon old friends and family.

Time's flying, but we're sailing

Sunday, November 16



Wow, we just got home from a beautiful sunny afternoon at the Alhambra. The girls were reluctant, but they didn't have a choice. In the end they decided it was worth it to leave the apartment and visit the most famous castle in Spain. So glad we finally made it - I will try to get some pictures posted soon. The week flew by and I haven't even posted about our trip last weekend to Córdoba. It made Kevin and I ready for more traveling after taking a two month hiatus. We head back to the US exactly one month from today! It seems like it will be here before we know it - the girls will be so happy. We wanted to take a little vacation now that Kevin has accomplished a lot with his research, but where to go? How can we see more of Europe and convince the girls it will be fun and not have to worry about cooking or finging the right restaurant? Have you guessed - we're going on a cruise? (see itinerary to the right) It's a first for us and I sure hope they don't charge too much for laundry because we don't have enough clothes to last us that long. We'll also be skipping any formal dinners, hopefully hubby's tan tennis shoes will blend in with his slacks for the dressy dinners (or whatever they call the ones between casual and formal). I'm going shopping for some black shoes that I can wear with slacks and skirts. I only have three days to shop and do laundry. Ahhhhh! I sure hope Sydney goes to school this week. On Friday I bought my first Barbie to give to her as a reward for going to school five days in a row. Sometimes y' gotta do what y' gotta do.

Exploring Accents

Wednesday, November 12

You thought I was going to talk about Spanish accents didn't you? Well the accent here can definitely be a challenge at times, but there is this setting on my camera called "color accent" which I like to experiment with. Sometimes the pictures don't turn out that great, but it's still fun to try. Here is a picture of Kevin with his then new grill up on the terrace of our apartment building. This pics a little blurry - it was getting dark out.

Cooking is always a challenge for me, but even more so in a foreign country. I'm not good with meat and would rather avoid selecting, buying and cooking it all together. I really miss you Trader Joe's, no gourmet, frozen dinner's for the cooking impaired. You really have to plan ahead because there are no stores open on Sunday and the nearby markets close at 2pm on Saturday. Kevin had quite the adventure with the grill - they don't really have briquettes here, just real pieces of charred wood, kind of like cooking on a campfire. Why were we on the roof you ask, well we didn't want to offend the neighbors with our smoke so it seemed the most polite thing to do even if it was four flights up. It's a good thing he grilled for several hours - four different kinds of meat that kept us fed for a week. I don't think we'll be trying it again though. OK, back to the pictures. Too bad you can't see her face in this one - what a cutie.

OK, here are some color pics of Sydney wearing a flemenco dress while mopping the kitchen floor. Hmmm, the name Cinderella comes to mind. If any Spanish people are reading this, please don't be offended. (I think they tend to save these dresses for special occasions, but how could a girl resist all those ruffles).

She was really hamming it up with the mop, but I really love these next pics.

I'll conclude with an old favorite from summer '07 when the cousins got together for a camp out on Gma & Gpa's "farm".

Note: This post was written in response to the theme "Exploration" proposed by TotalMomHaircut. It seems like that could be the title of my every post since I started it in preparation to keep my friends and family informed of our summer travels in Europe and living for a semester in the south of Spain. If this is your first visit to my blog - Welcome!

Getting Closer

Wednesday, November 5

We spent the first month settling in, the second one working and studying Spanish and now I feel like we only have a few weekends left to make it to the Alhambra castle, shop for souvenirs and hopefully travel to some nearby or not so nearby places for our last chance at some sightseeing. Last weekend we walked up to the Alhambra, but didn't have time to go inside - you have to buy your tickets in advance.

All that rain last weekend made some beautiful snow on the mountains. It's starting to get cold here, thankfully the heat magically started coming on Nov. 1 even though we could have used it the week before. On October 11th there was a high of 82 degrees and on the 30th the low was 32. Crazy. Please send my winter coat!

The Dragon

Tuesday, November 3

A new Chinese school just opened at the University of Granada and there was a Chinese dragon complete with drums to help celebrate. Kyla was so excited when she came home from school because her class got to go outsise to watch the show.

Today I am home with the girls. Kyla has a fever and a sore throat and Syd is pretending to be sick so that she can skip school too. I have given up on trying to make her go now that my class is over. I passed to the next level and it feels strange not to be going anymore. Thank goodness I have the internet and laundry to keep me busy.

This year..

Saturday, November 1
The costumes were simpler, the pumpkins were smaller, and there was no trick-or-treating, but girls had a wonderful Halloween in Spain. They don't really celebrate it here, but of course some of the kids at school dressed up and I'm sure there were Halloween parties. I can't really say for sure what they do here since we had our own little party for a couple of friends and stayed in for the night. So glad we did because it was raining pretty hard by the time it got dark. We worked on Halloween decorations, bobbed for apples and played pin the tail on the cat. We usually make soup for Halloween, split pea with ham & potato/leek/broccoli, but I had to give up on that this year since I couldn't find dried peas at the grocery store and we don't have a slow cooker or a blender. Luckily everyone was happy with turkey vegetable. At the end of the night we handed out a few pieces of the good stuff - I found mini Snickers, Twix, Milkyway and such that I found at the fancy department store in town. Which is where Sydney and I had to walk down the hill in the rain just to buy 2 of the last 5 pumpkins in town. One thing about small pumpkins is they only take about 15 minutes to carve - now that was nice. Just in case you were wondering - yes, Sydney is the ghost.

The Flush

Monday, October 27

I apologize in advance for the following video, but don't worry there is nothing gross and I promise that I had just cleaned the toilet.

Is it a volcano or a toilet? Most of the toilets in Europe have this two part button on top. One side you push for a small flush and the other when you need a bigger flush (you know what I mean). I think it's a great system for saving water. Our toilet doesn't care about saving water. Did you see how Sydney ran away as soon as she pulled the flusher? Sometimes the water actually comes out of the bowl or splashes the seat. OK, I hope you were entertained. I'm busy going to teacher conferences for Kyla, studying for my final and getting ready for a Halloween party.

El Realejo

Sunday, October 26

A few weekends ago there were some festivites in our neighborhood. I'm sad to say I missed the kiddy pool sized pan of paella. Here are a couple pics from the small & spendy carnival.

Thursday, October 23

Last weekend Sydney had a fever and I needed a little exercise, so Kyla and I hiked up the hill to the park Carmen de los Martires. We took turns taking pictures of each other.

Kyla spent most of her time feeding the geese,which were very practiced at catching the bread in mid-air. Watch for the tail wag.

School

Wednesday, October 22

Wow, a whole week without posting. I'm going to blame it on school - taking up all my free time. I only have one more week to go. In the meantime I'll just try to post random pictures so you'll have something to look at. Here is the building where I have my class.

Here is a picture of my class. It's a bit smaller now since four people were only there for two weeks. It also means that the majority of the "grown-ups" are gone and now there are mostly "kids" (under 25) there. I miss you guys! I tried to get everyone into the shade, but it didn't quite work out.
Here is Sydney keeping herself busy while Kyla is learning Karate.

I better go do my homework now.

On the inside

Wednesday, October 15
I finally made it inside the cathedral that I mentioned in the last few posts. Can you see Kyla walking away wearing a yellow shirt in the center? Compared to the other cathedrals I have visited in the last few months it's not that impressive on the outside, but it's surprisingly beautiful and light on the inside. It doesn't have a lot of stained glass windows, however there are several clear windows up high that do wonders. I love cathedral ceilings, but it always makes my neck sore for a while. Click here to see a few more pics.

Columbus Day

Tuesday, October 14

In honor of Columbus Day here is picture of the statue/fountain of Queen Isabella and Christopher Columbus in Granada. I'm not much on history, but I did a bunch of research on these two. OK, it was only a couple of pages on Wikipedia, but it was very educational since I've never given much thought to Columbus day. It's a national holiday here called Día de la Hispanidad and commemorates the start of relations between Europe and the Americas. October 12th is the day that Columbus landed in the Americas, somewhere in the Bahamas. Queen Isabel was the one who commisioned Columbus (Cristobal Colón) and this statue depicts that moment in history. I'll confess I never new Columbus was Italian. In 1492 Granada was the last unconqureed Muslim kingdom within Spain, and Isabella and her husband Ferdinand were the rulers at that time. Later they were givin the title Reyes Catolicós (Catholic Kings) by Pope Alexander VI. Eventually they were buried in the cathedral here in Granada. That's probably as much history as you'll ever have to read on this blog. We enjoyed having a three day weekend.

Where's my wide angle

Friday, October 10

Wow it's already Friday and I never even got around to posting pictures from last weekned. We took the girls to check out a nearby neighborhood called the Albaicin. It's the old Arab quarter, all white houses climbing up the hillside with a great view of the Alhambra. There were some neighborhood festivies going on and the weather was perfect. We basically just walked around hung out at some cafes and let the girls play. I really need a wide angle lens. I just can't seem to get far enough away to fit in the tall churches here.

The girls spent some time climbing up and sliding down this semi-circular brick stucture. Not really sure what it was, but all the kids were enjoying it.

Click here to see a few more pics of the Albaicin.
The next pictures are of the cathedral in the center of Granada. I haven't been inside yet, but the light was so beautiful as Kevin and I were walking home alone that I had to take some shots. Yes we got a babysitter for the first time in over three months. There wasn't much open on a Sunday afternoon, but we had a peaceful time cafe hopping until we were full. The best was Cafe Futbol where Kevin had churros con chocolate and I had some iced coffee drink with cinnamon ice cream. Mmmmm. Back to the cathedral - it's big and there are a bunch of other buildings close by, so once again found myself unable to fit the whole thing in. Use your imagination to piece it together.

Will the real ham please stand up

Tuesday, October 7


Can you guess which one is a plate of thinly sliced ham and which one is my marble floor?

Doesn't it seem like a marble floor should be something beautiful and fancy, not like meat? I don't know how long it would have taken me to realize it, not long I'm sure, but ever since Kevin mentioned the similarities, I think it crosses my mind at least once a day. My floor looks like meat. Today my Spanish teacher said, "Spain is ham". I bet she's seen my floor.

You can see how is also has some tan and grey in it. Maybe it's moldy meat. I almost forgot to say that the one redeeming quality of my floor is that it hides the dirt extremely well. By the way the real ham was on the left.

Pics for the week

Saturday, October 4

Here are a few pics of the girls playing in various parks and plazas in our neighborhood. Actually this first one was taken on our patio. That's our bedroom window you see in the background. That white rack is usually where we hang our laundry out to dry - that's right, no dryers here.

Some new stuntwork at the playground.

Here is a little plaza about two blocks from our apartment that our friends just showed us. It's well hidden by a surrounding cement wall. Kyla found a tree to climb and harvested a big pile of seed pods. Anytime they find something that fell from a tree and ask what it is, I always tell them it's a seed pod. I assume that 95% of the time I'm right.

The decking really cuts down on the dust, but we made up for it by playing with the chalk. Here's Sydney trying to finish the blue line. Here she's looking a little smurfy. I guess you shouldn't mop your brow when covered in blue chalk.

OK, this isn't one of the girls, but I couldn't resist a picture of such a content little cat napping at the plaza. We've been having terrific weather, 70's and sunny. We did have to dig out the comforters this week, it's really cooling down at night (50 degrees).

While you were sleeping...

Thursday, October 2

well, those of you living in the USA anyway, I was straining my brain. Yesterday I took the level test for my month long intensive Spanish course. I'm happy to say I test well in Spanish. In fact they wanted to put me in the first advanced level! I think I must have done some good guessing on the multiple choice grammar. I was saved by the schedule, since the advanced class didn't get out until 2:30pm I went down a level so I could pick up the girls from school at 2:00pm. (Whew! I don't mind a little challenge, but there is no need to overwhelm myself). This brain of mine is not as young and agile as it used to be and it's not just the brain - it's the whole body. After taking a two hour test and lugging home groceries yesterday I think I need a massage. Anybody know a good PT? (hehe) I was a little nervous about going to my first class. It's been a long time since I've studied my Spanish. I just missed my 20 year high school reunion this summer, so you can guess how long it's been since I was a college exchange student in Costa Rica. I never got very fluent there, so I'm feeling pretty rusty. Class went well though and I could understand almost everything the teacher said. It's weird to be in school again - I even get to do homework. Wait until Kyla finds out, she'll be so jealous. I've decided to start speaking a lot more Spanish at home so Kevin and the girls can benefit from my class too.

Tearless Tuesday!

Tuesday, September 30

Yay! Sydney has accepted her fate of going to school in Spain. All of the sudden she is acting like she loves school again and not once did she whine, cry or yell about not going to school in Spain. Everyone is very relieved and happy for her. I think she new her time was up. Tomorrow (actually today for me) I am starting a month long intensive Spanish course, starting with a test of course. Wish me luck!

Up the hill

Monday, September 29

Sunday we were anxious to get outside after being trapped inside all day Saturday due to rain. We met up with our friends and climbed up the hill behind our apartment and went to a park called Carmen de los Martires (Carmen of the Martyrs). The park is right behind this hotel. If your wondering why such a change in the sky, I actually took this picture last Friday while killing some time before I picked up the girls from school.
Despite the name, the park was really lovely and we had a wonderful time walking around and exploring.
There were gardens, mazes, fountains, duck ponds, peacocks, great views and more.

Click here to see a few more pics.

One month...

Friday, September 26

I can't believe we've been in Granada for a month already. It doesn't seem like we've done much, but getting settled takes time. It just seems weird that we haven't even been to the famous castle that is just up the hill, the Alhambra. I am happy to say that I can now walk around town without looking at my map. I love offering my help to English speaking tourists, not that I know where everything is, but I usually know where I am on the map! I know where to buy most things that we need, although Kevin just found a grill and now we're on the search for some charcoal. I've heard they sell it at the hardware stores - I don't think I would have ever looked there.

I'm hesitant to write about Sydney, but I thought an update was in order. Things started out so well regarding her total immersion by going to school in Spain. Well, the honeymoon is over.

Here are a few things Sydney has said in the last 48 hours regarding going to school in Spain:

"If you let me go to Spain school, I'm not going to be your daughter!"

I like how she says I'm letting her go, not making her go. That makes me feel a little bit better.

Kevin's response: If she goes to school in Spain she won't be your daughter, she'll be your hija (pronounced ee-ha and means daughter in Spanish). Luckily Syd didn't hear him say this.

"I'll go to school today so I can go to the playground, but this is my last day, OK?"



"If you stay for the songs, I'll go to school another day."


OK, here is one that will make you feel a little better. Or maybe not. After school Friday she said:

"Guess what mom? I didn't cry today!"

As you can guess the last few mornings have been rough, but the teacher assures me that she is doing fine and even Kyla said she was a lot better at going back inside after recess on Friday.

Thanks goodness it's the weekend. Let's hope things will only get better, because starting Wednesday, I will be starting a Spanish immersion program that requires me to be in class from 9-1pm Monday through Friday.

On a happier note, they had a great time at the playground Friday and we even took them to Burger King. If you are wondering about Kyla, I almost forgot to say that she is doing great. She has started going to a Spanish tutor while the rest of the class does their reading. She seems happy to practice her new vocabulary words and has even signed up to start some extracurricular activities soon. Yay!