Lomo y Queso

Vinya Nova

2012-02-16T15:52:00.002+01:00

We went here.

In search of a firmer butt.

2012-02-16T15:51:00.000+01:00

Alas, I have reached that point when it has become clear that I either:
a) accept my sagging butt, hamstrings and squidgy middle or
b) work out (a little)

I have chosen option b. Mostly because I'm actually pretty thin, but pregnancy has made a few bits of me hangy....and no one, NO ONE, likes the look of a skinny person with saggy bits in a bathing suit.

If I'm to enjoy the beach without being self conscious this year, I must get to it.

Thus, the other day I walked up and down our 11 flights of stairs 5 time. This really only made my calves burn the next day.... But was surprisingly an enjoyable way to start the day. Monotonous task that got the blood pumping.

Am currently working through some butt firming workouts on Fitness Magazine's website. Had to create a free account to view them....but thus far, no spam.

This one seemed to do nothing for my butt but made other things burn.
The Booty-Camp Workout

This one made it burn a little.
The 15-Minute Bootylicious Butt Workout

Still have to try this one.
The Short Shorts Workout

Idea is to pick the best one and do it and the stairs often. With hope, you who live in Barcelona will be able to bounce coins off my bum come June.

PS! The impressionists leave on Sunday! Go, go, go!

2012-02-09T23:01:00.000+01:00

The impressionists exhibit at Caixa Forum ends this Sunday Feb 12!

Go see it and stare at this Boldini painting and love it.

Sigh.

Refotografiar Barcelona: If you like Barcelona, go see this

2012-02-09T22:37:00.000+01:00

Went to this Refotografiar Barcelona exhibit today at the Barcelona Photo Archive.

It's a one-room affair, nicely organized around how a few key areas of the city have changed over time. Simple and cleverly done, a nice combo of history and art. Was satisfied by the end, not overwhelmed. Thumbs up.

Added bonus, the archive is located above the Chocolate Museum and to enter, you must pass a glass-enclosed classroom of pastry chefs in training.

We painted

2012-02-08T22:31:00.000+01:00

Lili got a bunch of cool new pots of paint from various friends for her birthday. I had bought a bunch of nice fat new paintbrushes for her birthday party craft. And we already had a big roll of paper. Thus, fun sloppy painting.

Lili recently learned about Picasso at school and went to the Picasso museum here in Barcelona. She was inspired to paint this cup and two flowers into our mural. I can't figure out which painting of his it is...but she swears she saw it...a cup and two flowers in these colors. ?

The blocks in this one are inspired by a painting I bought in Seattle that hangs in our bedroom. The doodles in between were meant to be Miró-esque (Lili sudied him last year and likes copying his doodles).... but we ended up with a Picasso cup and BIG flowers once we opened up that pink and saw how great it was.

Baby for sale

2012-02-08T22:17:00.001+01:00

In which after some shouting and tears, we cook.

2012-02-06T23:34:00.001+01:00

Ugh. I'm getting a bit nervous about how things will be when I go back to work in a month....or 4 short weeks. I'm just capable of showering and getting dressed, feeding us all, getting children to where they need to be and meeting up with friends here and there as it is. Add 20 hours of work per week on top of that and where does that leave us?

Had a minor meltdown when at 8pm I knew I was too tired to cook all the meals I had planned to prepare for the week. Oli tried to keep things cool and prevent me from starting an argument. Josie woke up after just an hour of sleep and while breastfeeding her and ruminating about all the things on my plate, I started crying when I got to 'get a hair cut', because on top of everything else, I'M SUPPOSED TO BE PRETTY?! Eck.

In the end, Oli cooked two dishes and I cooked two and we talked about his struggles with learning Catalan.

Sigh. Some Colbert Report and then bed!

2 cottage pies, chicken and carrot pesto pasta, Morroccan-style chicken, fish pie. Violà.

2012-02-04T20:51:00.001+01:00

Make gif

Lili's 6th birthday, take 1

2012-01-26T14:07:00.000+01:00

Lili seems to have multiple birthday celebrations each year.

This year party one was a get together with her best school girlfriends to make 'stained glass' candle holders from recycled glass jars and tissue paper - which I messed up by accidentally buying crepe paper...that was being sold in tissue paper shape. Boo.

Oh well, the girls didn't care and we all had fun.

After the activity, chocolate-filled croissants and juice, we headed downstairs and outside to our patio where the girls, each dressed in one of Lili's princess dresses, skated around on the in-line skates and scooters they had all brought along.

Despite some histrionics from Lili when I let her best friend wear one of Lili's favorite real dresses, which she had forgotten she owned (we were one princess dress short), and the general complications involved in managing 9 little girls and moving them from outside, to the 11th floor, and back out again, fun was had.

xmas and new year

2012-01-24T21:59:00.001+01:00

Skeleton

2012-01-23T15:01:00.004+01:00

Lily drew this the other day. Why a skeleton? Don't know.

I liked that he had knees and elbows.

Those things between the two 'Lili's are hearts, by the way.

I'm back (?)

2012-01-23T14:55:00.003+01:00

2012 is the year I start blogging again. A bold statement, but let's see if I can stick to it.

Reason: Looking back at old blog posts from when Lily was small, I realize that they are invaluable! There are memories of things we did, worries I was having, phases Lily was going through, that I had completely forgotten!

To keep the blogging achievable and non-boring, I'm aiming for short, sweet blog nuggets.

Let's do this.

Scooting Lily

2012-01-10T22:00:00.001+01:00

tells it like it is

2011-12-01T20:46:00.000+01:00

josie

2011-11-15T14:21:00.001+01:00

Baby girl

2011-11-12T00:23:00.003+01:00

Jordi

2011-05-17T23:59:00.003+02:00

Yo -

This is Jordi. She or he has been living inside of me for 13 weeks now. That is sooooo Jordi.

Jordi is the Catalan version of George. As St. George is the patron saint of Catalunya, everyone here is named Jordi. Thus, this is the in-utero name we have applied to our child in order to avoid calling him or her 'it' and also because we like poking fun at Catalunya.

Colònies 2011

2011-05-17T23:42:00.003+02:00

So colònies is like camp in Catalunya. Kids as young as 4 go on overnight camp trips (staying in buildings, not tents!) with their classes. Lily will be going on her first one next week, to a seaside camp.

There are a vast number of companies that have rural or coastal houses or complexes where schools can take these trips. Sometimes they include 'monitors' or camp counselors that can lead the kids on different activities, sometimes the school staff do this. They also usually have a cafeteria with staff who provide the food.

Some of these places also let families pay to come for weekends or weeks and hang out/meet other families. Think Kellerman's in Dirty Dancing.

Some of the parents in Lily's class thought it would be fun for a bunch of us to go do this....and we did.

We went to Pou de Glaç (Ice well), one of may complexes run by a company called Rosa dels Vents.

The kids went off with a monitor in the mornings and afternoons to do things like bake pastries, go on a zip line and do an obstacle course in the woods. Parents did a higher zip line, wall climbing and archery. It was all very laid back, so if a kid wanted to stay with his or her parents, or if you preferred to go on a walk instead of doing the activities....it was just fine.

We ended day one with a post-dinner birthday party for some of the kids from Lily's class, and a dance party hosted by the camp monitors. Lily had some MOVES out there on the dance floor with her little friends. I was having fun dancing, too, but at 10:40 she stopped dead and said quietly, 'Mom, I just can't dance anymore. Can I go to bed?'

Check out all the Colònies 2011 photos here.

A weekend with Sika (Cap de setmana amb la Sika)

2011-02-27T22:34:00.004+01:00

This weekend we had the class mascot Sika spend the weekend with us. Each kid in Lili's class gets a weekend and draws a picture and writes a sentence about what Sika liked doing with them. You can also add a sheet with some photos and descriptions, and then on Monday the kid gets to talk about what they did with Sika. Is nice.

Here is Sika:

Here is Lili's picture about what Sika liked:

'I liked playing with Lili's cars.'

And here is the longer version of what we did. Click for full size.

Translation:

On Saturday my dad, Sika and I went to Sitges. We had a lot of fun on the train. We wanted to build a sandcastle but it was too cold, so we ate roast chicken and french fries instead. I was really tired and fell asleep on a bench, so Dad and Sika played alone.

That night I made Sika a little table and she ate her dinner under our table. I also made her a bed with my dolls' pillow and blanket. Before bedtime we read a Charlie and Lola story.

On Saturday Dad showed us how to make paper airplanes we we threw them off our balcony.

Later we went to Nora's house to play and have lunch. Nora, Sika and I really like cous cous!

Angela's Saturday afternoon paella recipe

2011-02-20T22:11:00.004+01:00

Start with lots of fish broth and non-long-grain rice. (Rice not pictured.)

Heat some olive oil and grated garlic in a pan. Paella pan preferable. After a minute, add rice and fish broth. 1x rice to 2x broth. Med-high heat.

Add some tomato slices.

Add small prawns. (If you learn that rice takes 900 years to cook on your stove, as we have learned on ours, you can add these guys later so they don't get over-cooked.)

Add saffron.

Add frozen peas. Or regular ones.

Have a beer.

Like this.

Go do some laundry.

Keep adding fish broth and rotating the pan until the damn rice is almost ready. Add mussels. These are open because they were leftover from dinner the night before and are just being re-heated by the steam. Not sure how advisable that is.

Add cockles.

Cover and when your shelled items are open, it's ready!

Feed to undeserving but cute people.

Fin.

2011-02-08T08:30:00.001+01:00

it's gonna gonna gonna rain from Oliver Seeley on Vimeo.

Lili is 5!

2011-02-02T09:26:00.005+01:00

Today our baby is 5. Five years ago today, Oli was at London getting grilled by the US government in the embassy, I was in Oak Lawn, IL at Christ Hospital and Lili was getting born!

To recall all the gory and cute details of her first two weeks, read these blog posts.

Otherwise, today we've had a pancake breakfast and will have her favorite dinner (spaghetti!) with a special dessert of her choosing from the bakery, tomorrow Oli's parents are coming over from England, on Friday her friend Violet will go with Lili to an indoor play place, on Saturday we're staging a pirate treasure hunt birthday party with neighbors (Oli will be the pirate - what a dad!), and next Saturday there will be a co-party at her school with other classmates who are turning 5 around now.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILI!

2011-01-30T00:24:00.001+01:00

Lili's Christmas concert

2011-01-09T21:37:00.002+01:00

Lili's group start at 3:20. Look for the blond pony-tail in the center of the top row.

xmas 2010

2011-01-09T15:47:00.002+01:00

Untitled from Oliver Seeley on Vimeo.

Christmas Cookies 2010

2010-12-03T22:02:00.004+01:00

Lily vs. Paintbrush

2010-11-28T19:53:00.003+01:00

Lily draws on the computer using Paintbrush.

Letter to Santa

2010-11-28T16:47:00.001+01:00

Some home movie footage of Lil and Angela writing their Christmas list, with a special guest appearance by everyone's favorite log.

Taller de camisetas

2010-10-30T21:18:00.003+02:00

Lily and I were invited to this event (It's a shirt-making workshop):

It involved everyone buying or recycling blank shirts and bringing buttons, cloth scraps and fabric paint to spend an afternoon making improved shirts. There was some awesome stuff made (I await images via Facebook).

I mostly supported Lily as she made this:

...while intermittently speaking to people and trying to focus my thoughts. Very late in the game I came up with this:

It's not so amazing, which was difficult for me to bear since everyone was making such cool things, and it's not even finished, but, I ripped up an old stained shirt of Lily's that had a print I liked in order to make the white arrow. So, it's sentimental. And recycled. At the same time.

PS - I want a sewing machine for Christmas, Santa.

Carretera de les aigües

2010-10-24T21:08:00.005+02:00

A great Barcelona outing that we don't do as often as we'd like is walking Carretera de les aigües.

For thse who don't live in Barcelona, the city is trapped between the sea and a small mountain whose peak is called Tibidabo. A big flat path called Carretera de les aigües runs along the face of the mountain that overlooks the city. We've done it a couple times since it is pretty easy to get to, but next time, we definitely want to rent some mountain bikes, with a kid seat :)

For those who do live in Barcelona but have never tried it out:
- Take the ferrocarril L7 to its last stop, Avinguda Tibidabo.
- Walk up Avinguda Tibidabo, or take the blue trolley, to the base of the Funicular de Tibidabo.
- Don't take the funicular, but rather, head right, round the curve and further up 'til you reach a parking lot. This is the beginning of the path.
- If you walk south for about an hour, you'll reach the Funicular de Vallvidrera and can go up to Collserola or down into BCN where the funicular will drop you at the Ferrocarril stop Peu de Funicular.
- From the main flat path, there are a number of small windy paths that go off up and down in the scrubby woods, up to Tibidabo or Collserola.

Calamares

2010-10-15T21:52:00.005+02:00

Lily loves calamares. But for some reason, we haven't made them at home for a really long time. Bought some from the market and put Lily to work. Last time we put breading on fish she loved making it, so now if we bread things, she does it all on her own and I just have to throw it in the pan or hot oil. Noice.

Word wall -or- Oh my gosh, a post!

2010-10-05T10:15:00.008+02:00

It's been a while...and is time we post something here!

What's new is the Word Wall. Funny thing about living in another country is that even though Lily will come out of this thing speaking three languages, if we don't help her out, she won't be able to read or write English :(

Thus, the Word Wall.

Lily and I started working our way through the Dolch Word List a few weeks ago. To get her psyched, we started by making a pretty mosaic poster for our wall. Then got down to learning.

A few days a week, sometimes before school, sometimes after dinner, we pick a word from the current group we're on, sound it out, then cut letters and pretty colorful things out of magazines to make a card for that word. It then gets stuck on the wall.

Then, from time to time we'll randomly ask Lily to grab a word off the wall and bring it to us, and we ask her to sound it out to prove it's the right word. She can also send us to get words. We've also started making silly phrases by putting the cards on the floor and changing their order.

Lily was not initially impressed by the 'learning something new' aspect of the task. The first time I tried to get her to sit down and look at the word list and sound things out, she was pissed. I actually had to be all mean mom and say "You're going to sit here and learn letter sounds or go sit in your thinking chair!" - I'm sure that's standard practice in pedagogy. In any case, as soon as she worked out the first word ('cat'), she was so pleased that we've rarely had to revisit that phase. In any case, I try to keep the 'sessions' to 10 minutes or less, and often to just a few seconds so she doesn't get bored and resentful...though I'm sure we'll have to keep varying the activities every few week, or she will anyway.

Any other ideas on teaching phonics, reading or writing?

We haven't really ventured too much into writing because my Lil gets hot headed. I can remember my sister trying to teach me borrowing in Math and how I screamed at her 'No, you CAN'T DO THAT!' when she 'took' 10 from one column and put it in the next....so really, have no idea where Lily could get this stubborn thing from.

Anyway, she can write all the letters, but getting her to make words is like [insert simile about how difficult something is here].

2010-09-22T07:54:00.003+02:00

Wales from Oliver Seeley on Vimeo.

The Marker Prince

2010-08-23T23:37:00.002+02:00

The Marker Prince from Oliver Seeley on Vimeo.

The Freedom Hater

2010-08-23T21:03:00.002+02:00

The Freedom Hater from Oliver Seeley on Vimeo.

Wisconsin Summer 2010

2010-08-23T18:53:00.001+02:00

Wisconsin Summer 2010 from Oliver Seeley on Vimeo.

Loft bed

2010-03-12T14:33:00.003+01:00

I've changed Lily's room...AGAIN.

This time, there's a loft bed involved.

See photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=202282&id=659342526&l=46bab63edf

Christmas 2009

2009-12-26T09:05:00.013+01:00

VIEW THE PHOTOS HERE

Christmas morning

Santa's boot

Christmas lunch

Opening presents

Lily dances to The Clash

2009-12-06T08:42:00.003+01:00

One Sunday morning, Lily was really in the groove. I had just put music on and she got inspired to "Suit up" in her dance gear. With each song that came on, she changed style and got really into the music.

See what I mean?

Next time, we'll really take bets

2009-12-04T21:13:00.002+01:00

The original

The sequel

Good day

2009-12-03T12:16:00.003+01:00

POINT NUMBER 1: Caga Tio

Yes, I already posted this Caga Tio video on Facebook. Now I post it on my blog (not everyone is on Facebook!) with extended detail.

Talking to a neighbor the other day, I finally got what I think is the straight dope on Caga Tio. Why a log that we feed, then beat until it shits out presents?!!?!

Well, back in the days of the pagès (pah-zhes), the peasant farmers who populated the valleys of northern Spain and Southern France, etching out a living where no invading Moor bothered go, leaving behind massive stone houses (masias) that have endured 700+ years, man's dependence on and subjection to nature was foremost on the collective mind.

So, at Christmas time, or possibly pagan holiday time, families took to wandering the woods to find a hollow log to love and care for as a way to give back to Nature. On the big night, they may or may not have hit it, but certainly would have filled the hollow log with dry fruits, nuts, bread and other simple foods that "Nature" would then give back to them, possibly by shitting, as a reward for their weeks of care. This was Christmas dinner.

I like this tradition more and more each year, and this year, for the first time, we plan to get our own Caga Tio (today in the Christmas market near the cathedral!) which we will take to England, hide and the woods, and take Lily and other to go find. Yeah!

POINT NUMBER 2: What a great day.

It's confirmed that I have the job with this indie record label, correcting their English lyrics and artists accents when they sing. Sweet.

I spent the morning making pumpkin/carrot cream soup and egg croquetas (so we can stay out late as a family later and have food to warm up for dinner), am off to work to collaborate on developing a resource wiki (fun!), and then to meet Oli and Lily at the Christmas market.

Life is good.

~

Wah-wah

2009-11-30T14:09:00.005+01:00

I write about what Lily does a lot, but what about meeee?

Today I worked on some online inscription and payment forms for work, in preparation for a meeting tomorrow.
Tomorrow I will work on an online job board and an html email with tips for our students preparing English certificate exams.
Oh, and will meet with colleague about setting up the term end party which is also a film fest.

Lately, one day a week I work on learning MySQL and PHP for me, you know, for kicks. (Thanks Marty for suggesting that; it has worked out perfectly since a friend is doing a degree and her current course is with experts in database driven websites, so we can study together.)

I think you all now see why I write about Lily.

:)

My glasses!

2009-11-24T22:55:00.001+01:00

Glasses broke. Until I can afford new ones, had to figure out a way to mend them enough so I could at least still wear them at home at night when the eyes are tired of contacts.

In the end, I resorted to melting them back together.

The old poop and talk

2009-11-23T12:03:00.001+01:00

Recently Lily has taken to reading while on the toilet. This means that she will often disappear for up to 20 minutes when doing a number 2. Generally about 18 minutes of that is reading time, during which she might call me twice to show me a magazine photo.

Yesterday Lily was on the toilet when her cousin Hannah called from England, having very recently returned from visiting her mother's family in South Korea. Lily was thrilled to be reading, pooping and talking, though most of the conversation consisted of "No Hannah, YOU'RE a stinker bum. No, you're a WASHING machine! Ha ha, ha ha."

After about 10 minutes, the conversation moved on to our front hallway where Lily carried on like a 13-year-old. Incredible.

In other news, Lily still loves Santa in a deferent, worshipful sort of way. She calls him Christmas because the British call him Father Christmas, and she doesn't quite get that you're supposed to say Father and Christmas.

We walked past a bakery yesterday with this jazz-playing Santa and in typical Lily-loves-Santa style, when she spotted him, she stopped abruptly and gasped in a quiet, serious, awe-struck voice, "Christmas."

We stayed 10 minutes watching him play jazz. She hugged him. She gently held his hand. Amazing what a big bit of dancing plastic can summon from the depths of a child.

3-year-old therapy sessions

2009-11-23T11:46:00.001+01:00

I've said it for 10 months now: I hope with the next kid, I can just birth a 3-year-old.

Lily's just so fun, inquisitive and thoughtful. Using Stephen Covey's old "talking stick" method really works on her and if I just shut up, it's amazing the deep thoughts that come out.

The best recent example relates to her school life. I try to encourage Lily to talk about "nice kids" and "naughty kids" to get her thinking about what actions she likes people to do to her and which she doesn't, if the "naughty kids" are "bad" or just having a bad day, what she can do to help the "naughty kids", and when to just leave them be. Usually when we're snuggling in bed, or at dinner, I'll ask who made her happy and who made her cross today at school.

Observations she has made on her own include,

"Marcel gets sad when his mummy isn't there. He's scared and then he hits. I don't like it, but he's just not happy."

"Gerard (her best friend) hit me today on the playground. I was playing with Valeria (her friend from music class), so I think he was just jealous. I told him no and he went away."

A commonplace event on the Spanish playground is that kids shout "malo!" or "mala!" at each other, which means "BAD!". I really don't like this one and Lil says it from time to time when someone commits a minor transgression against her. When she was talking about Marcel, I brought this up, asking:

"If Marcel is feeling sad about his mom, so he hits someone, what will he feel when someone calls him "malo"? Will he feel better, or sadder?" I mimed sad body language, slumped shoulders and sad face when I did it, and got even slumpier at the "malo" part.

This seemed to drive the point home and her face went really serious. "No, he'd feel sadder," Lily responded grimly. We left it at that, so I suppose it will stew until the next time it's relevant.

Things to make you smile

2009-10-22T20:59:00.001+02:00

Paintings made by Lily while she grooved along to Actium by Aphex Twin:

Apple cider we made the other day:
(3 cups nice apple juice, boil for 5-10 mins. with the following things set in it either in a strainer or a cheesecloth:
- slices of one orange's peel
- slices of 1/2 a lemon's peel
- 6 whole cloves
- 2 cinnamon sticks)

Amazing rainbow that appeared around 6:30 this evening after 2 days of typical wild change-of-season Barcelona rainstorms (the sky was also filled with fantastic orange light):

Mas Peras - FAT II

2009-10-19T14:34:00.001+02:00

Some friends here have a 700-year-old house in the country. I visited for a party in the summer and knew that Oli and Lily had to go there.

Luckily, last year they started an annual Festa de l'arribada del tardor (Arrival of Fall Party), which is a weekend-long party inculding a film fest called FAT, and required guests to bring an under-5-min home made video, so they got their chance to visit this past weekend.

Here is a taste of what the Baix Empordà region of Catalunya is like:

And HERE are even more photos.

Malibu gecko

2009-10-19T14:16:00.002+02:00

We found a lizard in our house and since our contract says we can't have housemates, we made him his own Lego house.

Efforts

2009-10-19T13:32:00.002+02:00

As I still live life on the academic calendar, now is New Year's resolution time for me.

As I look back on years gone by, my regrets always center on not having realized how fleeting the lifestyles I have passed through would be. That is, my life tends to completely change every few years - city, house, work, friends I see regularly, day-to-day tasks, restaurants I frequent, etc. I would always think I had time to "perfect" how I operated within those lifestyle - being a better friend/sister/daughter/worker - and that I'd have plenty of time "later" to take full advantage of the place I lived. And then something would happen or I'd make a decision that eliminated all the usual day-to-day stuff and replace it with new stuff....before I ever got a chance to perfect my rhythm and really enjoy myself!

I'm often too busy trying to organize my life into manageable chunks that I don't live it.

My blog posts illustrate this perfectly: Instead of regular quick posts about a single recent noteworthy thing, you get infrequent tomes of evaluation. Perhaps this can be the last of those....at least for a while.

A new effort has been put in to play to enjoy Barcelona and the friend group that has been forming over the last year. One day we may not live here, all these friends will likely move away at some time, and Lily will certainly not be this age forever, but it doesn't mean I shouldn't invest in now.

Recent efforts include:
- Go to lunch/have coffee with co-workers (most of whom are my regular friends anyway) regularly
- Play with neighbors in our building's garden a couple times a week
- Do fun girly things with female friends like "clothing exchange" dinner occurring next week
- Make commitments that require us to be creative like friend's parties to which attendees must bring a short film they have made
- Trying out new marketing angles at work that require me to get to know people who work for magazines and social event planning organizations around BCN

Clearly, I'm still organizing....but things seem more fun this time, and life seems to be getting richer faster. Instead of thinking of what I want to do and then trying to make it happen, I'm just trying out what's right in front of me.

Times

2009-10-01T21:41:00.001+02:00

Am fond of these pics recently added to facebook by friend Jarad.

Those Gaspar Project days were fun ...even though I was generally sick to my stomach with anxiety pre-show Wednesdays. One evening sticks out for some reason. It must have been fall and was already completely dark at like 6pm. I was nauseous with the usual nervousness and walking over the knolly grassy area leading from the six pack, past the McDonald's (What was that McDonald's building called again? Something with "Orange" in it, right?), on my way to practice in Lincoln Hall, before heading over to the Channing-Murray for warm up and the show. I was thinking, "Why?! Why do you do this? Why are you in improv if it makes you so crazy? Aren't people who do this supposed to be psyched and fun with it?" I was trying to calm myself and get excited at the same time. Then I suddenly just thought, "Man. You are so lucky. This is awesome. Go have fun, you big douche." And I started whistling, totally happy walking through the crispy cold autumn air. I think one of the guys "smoked" from his "vagina" in the show that night. Or maybe it was the night of "Sugar Cookies". Or maybe the night in which during practice, I forgot I wasn't really on a trampoline, just jumping on a classroom floor, and I did a somersault flip onto my back. All that class just runs together in my mind.

In any case, I'm glad to still be friends with those/you guys. Only wish I'd spent less time stressed and more time having fun! Although, really, there was quite a lot of fun. Remember that terrible gig at the posh dorm?

Things here are good. Lily's in her third week of big-kid school and is liking it. She's coming out with full sentences and explanations in Catalan and Spanish with us now, not just her teachers. I always wondered what it would be like if our kid did really end up speaking another language. It's as enjoyable and weird as we thought it'd be.

And that's about all I can must. Man, I am tired. I actually can't type any more. Woop.

~

Lily wrote a story

2009-09-23T22:32:00.001+02:00

Lola and Lisa are playing princesses and kings and queens and doctors in Lola’s room. Charlie comes into the room. Lola and Lisa scratch and pinch and bite him. Charlie jumps.

They all go downstairs and eat breakfast. It’s pasta and salad and carrots. Lisa’s favorite food is water. Luckily, there’s water for breakfast, too. During breakfast, the kids get down out of their seats and run around. The daddy runs after them and puts them back in their seats. But the kids run away again.

The daddy catches them again and says, “No, bad, I’ll throw you in the bin!”

The kids respond, “No, we’ll throw you into the sea!” and they throw the daddy in the sea.

The daddy yells, “No, no, no! Water, water, water! I’ll throw you into the sea!” And he does.

The end.

Fall flight sale Chicago - Europe

2009-09-16T18:34:00.000+02:00

Yo, Punks.

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/offerus207/public/en_us

Check out above link to British Airways flight sale on flights from Chicago to Europe. Maybe do a little searchy search on flights to BCN - El Prat?

If you're going to get a sale, may a well be with a non-US air carrier (personal TV, decent food, reasonably nice staff who don't bite your face off every time you ask them something because they're preoccupied with how they're going to get laid off preeeettty pretty soon.)

Do it. Go on. Do it.

~

Chug a choo choo

2009-09-13T13:11:00.001+02:00

Must....begin....school and work.....back to grind stone.

Actually quite desperate for routine to return to life! Three months of vacation (with some working) can be quite overrated. Sorry. I know that's an annoying thing to say.

Despite yearning for return of routine....can't....quite....seem...to get back on the....ball.

Lily starts school proper tomorrow and had summer camp all this last week. I am hoping that school will kick us all back into gear. C'mon, School!

I can't really be asked/arsed to write more. Until I can get my act together, here's a link to our non-Slovakia summer photos of activities with the Seeleys and Ruiters in France, Engand and Spain:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=152337&id=659342526&l=bde3476caa

Found a lizard on my bedroom ceiling last night. Don't know how he ended up on an 11th-floor ceiling. But, he's awesome, with little gecko-y feet. Think we'll keep him a few days, then release. I forgot I had bought my brother two little lizards when he was younger and that it was super fun playing with them. Lily had him running all over me this morning. Was cute, 'til he tried to wedge himself between the kitchen cupboard baseboards. Oh, instincts.

Balloon Fiesta...of death.

2009-08-10T16:09:00.001+02:00

Back in the UK for another gray summer.

To be fair, we've had sun at least half of each day, except for that day it rained all day.

Slovakia was great. Like a rugged England where the people speak jibberish. Making my way from the airport to the country house was humorous. Nothing like being in a place where you can't even guess what the scribble on the bus ticket machine means to put you right back in your place. But through the international appeal of Spanish and English managed to get from airport to train station to Zilina. From there, handed mobile phone to taxi driver, and Slovak friend Stani told him where to take me in Terchová. Taxi driver got somewhat confused at one point and we had fun speaking loudly and slowly at each other in our respective languages, trying to determine where exactly my friends and family might be. An old lady on the side of the highway eventually sorted us out. Then I told the driver I liked his music and he let me use his phone to call Oli to alert him of my arrival, since my Spanish phone gave me a message that more or less translates to, "No, loser, we will not let you use our Slovakian network, even though we never give you problems in other European countries where you can better speak the language". Gah.

Besides that, was weird and nice reuniting with Oli and Lily. Lil ran across a road when she saw me and held on in a tight hug for a full two minutes before letting go. That was nice.

Otherwise, it was all catching up with friends, climbing mountains, scootering down mountains, drinking beer on mountains, and barbecuing in stone pits (near the mountains). See photos.

Our first weekend in the UK we were excited to use the VW. She worked well in France, but then started acting up with a similar problem to the previous one. Basically, on a full tank she's happy. Under 1/2 tank and she starts shuddering and stops. We thought, let us not take her to Wales in this condition (mechanic hasn't had time to look at her yet), so instead, we went to Bristol to do some simple camping. This weekend happened to also be the annual Balloon Fiesta (Why "Fiesta"?). What luck, we thought.

WRONG. WRONG WRONG WRONG.

Bristol is known for bad traffic. Think Chicago but with roads the width of capillaries. Add a hoard of hot air balloons taking off on a big hill and you get traffic chaos of the most heinous proportions.

So, the bus broke down just as we entered Bristol, but no problem, there was a gas station just on the other side of the road. Oli and our friend Sam added more fuel, bus was happy and off we went. Then we made the terrible decision to proceed to the Balloon Fiesta, rather than leave the bus at Sam's place and somehow make our way to the Fiesta. Entered the most ridiculous single-file line of cars and in a most non-de-script moment, we ran into the car in front of us. They were fine and so was their car, but their tow bar had completely nailed the bus' face :( Her VW symbol even fell off. Sam rescued it from the pavement and within 5 minutes we sadly proceeded. But now, all the other VW drivers wouldn't wave at us (there are lots of buses in Bristol). As Larry David would say, "No wave? Where's the wave?!"

After 40 more minutes of moving nowhere, we decided to park where we could and walk the rest of the way. Of course, from that point on, there were no turnoffs. Then the bus broke down again, most likely due to all the idling, and now we were blocking the second lane that had just opened up. Now the traffic jam was worse, it was our fault, and the balloons were set to take off in an hour. All we had wanted was to get some time-lapse footage of balloons. Actually, no, all we had wanted was to CAMP...there had just happened to be a balloon fiesta. How did we end up here when all we wanted was CAMPING!!!?>£:e

Lil and I jumped out with a book bag and a stroller and went to a nearby park. This was fun, until in a moment of looking at the camera to make sure I knew how to work the time lapse function (I was determined to get Oli his footage!), Lily somehow managed to fall off the play equipment, and when I looked up, she was hanging upside down with her foot caught in a ladder, holding on for dear life with her hands, blood dripping out her nose. Shit. Luckily, the trauma passed quickly, like less than 40 seconds quickly.

In the next hour Lily and I made our way up a monstrous hill through crowds the likes of which I have never seen and in a desperate moment of crowdedness, I spied a teeny patch of green on a hill above the balloon launch site. It would be ours, if all the day's events were to not be in vain, it would be ours!!!!Lkgoprs@kisortu7isrtu!

And it was.

The only other casualty was my eye, which got savagely elbowed by a drunk in a crowd while trying to get the hell away from the god forsaken balloon fiesta. Fortunately it only hurt for a few minutes, but I have this silly little bruise next to my eye such that it looks like I perpetually have makeup smeared there. Blurg.

Now we're chillin' in England 'til the 25th of Aug, and the bus will most certainly not be heading back to BCN with us. But it could be worse. We could live in Bristol.

Fickle

2009-08-01T21:32:00.001+02:00

I'm over my funk. (Man, I mis-type that word every time.)

Today was a lovely last one in BCN, for three or so weeks anyway.

Clearing up my apartment since the Americans left and the French were arriving. Welcomed Franck (a French student who lives in BCN) and his parents who are visiting him, and they were such a cute little family I ended up staying for a long time with them. The parents spoke no English or Spanish, so it was sort of a Spanish-French free-for-all, with lots of gesturing and smiling. The dad Claude was such a dad: "Where can I buy a French newspaper? Where can I buy tobacco?" And the mom Regina was such a mom: "How does the washing machine work? There's a market up the road?!" It was all that much more cute because when Franck had come to see our house a couple months ago, he was specifically pleased that we had a big balcony with a view ("For my father to smoke his cigarettes and look at the sea.") and were near the Hostafrancs market ("My maman hates supermarkets.")

Met up with Rodolfo for a final coffee before our respective vacations. Reading material exchanged.

Then zoomed off for one last clothes shopping session (We've entered segunda rebajas, people! Super low prices on great stuff. Wrah!)

Then to Adam and Leeann and Violet in Barceloneta....where Leeann mended two articles of my clothing on her sewing machine, fed me gorgeous homemade food for the third time in as many weeks, and was pleased to see I was wearing the earrings she had made me (They are perfect for my head! I wear them every day almost now.).

Now at Antoni and Marta's café using their internet and drinking their coffee....then it will be home to shower off my many bike-rides' worth of sweat, two episodes of Entourage, and bed.

Have received a little email from my monkeys and am in the quiet happy pre-viaje mode. Mmmm.

Like four seasons in one day

2009-07-31T23:24:00.002+02:00

Or 3 blogs posts.

I was bored and googled myself and found out that The Chicago Flame did publish the angry letter I wrote them while working at UIC. Haha. I think I make the original article sound much more respectable than it was. It was pretty douchy, man.

http://media.www.chicagoflame.com/media/storage/paper519/news/2006/08/28/Opinions/Letter.To.The.Editor-2241675.shtml

Peace.

Details

2009-07-31T22:01:00.001+02:00

Sunday I'm off to Slovakia. I just need to take a 2-hour bus ride to Girona, fly to Slovakia, take a bus to a train station, catch a high-speed train for 2 more hours, get picked up by someone there in a car, drive 35 km, and then I'm on vacation.

Shweet.

Awash in space and time

2009-07-31T20:32:00.001+02:00

I'm all stuck in the funk of the last week of a life.

I've got that same feeling as right before I left for Spain the first time. It started with me and Brian hanging out getting drunk afternoons in the half-empty Francesca's apartment. Then Brian left and it really made me nauseous being alone those last few days. Right between one thing and another. Not sure if the one thing will ever happen again.

I'm in that floaty space, right before coming in to focus. Being on my own, with new people, in a different place, rips away all the outside stuff and leaves me just me. I like these times because they're tough and I'm pretty masochistic, but also because they leave me feeling solid, simple and chill....with a really long "i".

This morning I hung out with some Brazilian thugs on the train out of town, right after they boarded in the heart of the ghetto of Bellvitge. They were drunk and guards had just threatened to pull guns on them for not wearing shirts (True story - In Brazil it's normal to not wear a shirt in most public places. My friend Paulo, the one with a PhD in Political Science, did it throughout his first year in BCN before realizing people were staring at him.). But once all that blew over, we struck up polite conversation in which they hopelessly tried to guess where I was from and asked me how much money I'd give them to hit each other hard in the face. 5 weeks ago I would have been way too deep in the zone to just go with this. Today, I was just like, "yup".

Being alone for a prolonged period invariably brings up Chicago. Being out of my element just makes me want to jump right onto a sofa in pajama pants with friends in pajama pants, engorging myself like a crazy squirrel with Cherry García ice cream (I completely forgot about my three-year-long love affair with that stuff until right now! Aw, Cherry Garc ía.), or gratuitously dance to offensively lyricked music with wrecking-ball hips Edwards, or barbecue. Yeah, barbecue.

Chicago will forever be on a pedestal in my psyche, a metaphor for feeling 100% comfortable in my own skin, a perfect place where even when I do dumb stuff, the people around me just ruffle my hair and say, "Oh, Angie. That was silly".

Remember that time I thought I was getting fat because of the estrogen in European water? Then I remembered that I had recently gone back on the pill? So really, the fat was due to the estrogen I was directly ingesting in large quantities once a day? That was funny.

So far this all sounds pretty positive, not funky at all.

The funk is sort of like that Fitzgerald story (name?) where this guy has always felt a connection with a girl acquaintance from back in high school. It's been years since they've seen each other but he has a hunch that she feels this connection too. Some unexpected circumstance brings them together and they spend a whole day chatting about old times. He feels like all this confirms his hunch until it all comes crashing down when she takes out some old photos, says, "Look, here's you," and points to someone who is not him. She thought he was someone else the whole day and doesn't really remember Mr Protagonist at all. Oh dear.

Sometimes I think I fall back on that version of Chicago and let it into the core of my self definition and what makes me happy, let it become a mark on a measuring stick that other experiences can't quite reach. It sort of weirds me out that something as intangible as my perception of a time and place forms a fundamental piece of me and my identity and my happiness.

So I guess the funk is a combination of feeling so far away, in space and time, from some fundamental part of me, and at the same time wondering if that thing is not just something I've built up in my mind, that might actually be interfering with my operation in reality.

And it's thoughts like these that remind us of why women should not be allowed out of the kitchen.

Take it back, Brad! Take back what you said about Thor.

2009-07-12T23:56:00.001+02:00

Just watched L'auberge espagnole again and it was awesome. I take back what I said about it being shit. It's actually brilliant.

Highlights:
- Filming and writing are actually good.
- Xavier telling Anne-Sophie that it's racist of her to say Barcelona is dirty. Love the theme about certain people not seeing past Barcelona's scruffy crust to how great it is.
- Wendy's brother, clearly
- The pissing and puking in the street. It really is just like that.
- The American
- Xavier walking among tourists in Paris at the end. They perfectly captured that realization that you are no longer defined by your surroundings.
- Cheesy as it may seem, Xavi saying he doesn't want to disappoint his younger self, I love it. I've thought that so many times when wondering for what reason I'm doing the things I do.
- The film also gets points for geographical and airport accuracy.

So there you have it. It's actually really worth watching. Oh, and I forgot Audrie Tatou was in it.
Tonight I watch Russian Dolls.
~

Single days

2009-07-12T21:00:00.001+02:00

Greetings.

This week I come to you from l'auberge espagnole.

That’s a cheap reference to the 2002 French film about coming of age in a Barcelona apartment filled with young Europeans (you can watch it on YouTube). It’s actually a pretty shit film, but since young Europeans, unlike young Americans, have few coming-of-age films to latch on to, some people really cling to this one and its sequel Russian Dolls. To be fair, it has its awesome parts, like how the only American is a real dude who has a guitar and when all the main characters are drunk in a plaza one night, he leads them in singing No Woman, No Cry…thus seducing the British girl. I have actually seen this happen…twice….*shudder*.

Anyway, I find myself in just such a flat this month.

Last year when Lily and I were in America and we rented out our home in Barcelona, Oli stayed in a room usually rented by a girl on his football team who would be away during the summer. The only other person living there was a Spanish (I think) guy who owned the place. He was nice, but not really a riot. Oli taught an intensive English course to teens for the duration of July, which included teaching all day and grading papers all night. Add to that that we didn’t have as many friends as we do now, and you can understand why he had a pretty lonely month.

Flash forward to this year and oh my, have things changed. I’m having a ridiculous blast.

As mentioned in a previous post, our friend Daz is away teaching in a summer camp, so I’ve rented his room for July. The apartment is rented by two guys who happen to live abroad at the moment. So, their other flatmate, Kristina, who is Czech, manages the place, keeping all the rooms full with renters. Right now Kristina and her boyfriend Roni (from Bangladesh) have one room, I have Daz’s, and Raúl, a Spanish guy from Cáceres just moved in. There’s one more bedroom, but it is kept free for friends to crash in. Also, the people who are the contract-holding renters but live abroad tend to come by every few weeks and use that room. They’ve both been here this week.

The apartment itself is one of the great 1930/40s ones with high ceilings and tile floors. A bit crumbly, but someone has taken care to paint every doorframe and door a different bright color, and that mostly makes up for any crumblies. My room is a nice sage green, and today Kristina and Roni are painting their room lilac. Kristina will be back to studying full time for her master’s in a few weeks, so they thought it important she have a nice happy place to work in.

I’ve been here two weeks now and man, does time fly. The night I moved in, I arrived at about 9:30pm with a big suitcase. Kristina, who I had only met once for 5 minutes, opened the door, shouted, “Hola, guapa!”, grabbed my suitcase and dragged it to my room. Then she asked me if I had eaten. When I said no, she showed me the massive platter of curry Roni had made (he’s a cook), made me a plate, poured me some juice and sat me in front of the TV with her and Roni, as they had just started watching Bend it Like Beckham, in English with English subtitles on an 8-second delay. I was home.

Kristina talks more than I do. I feel a bit bad for the neighbors who have to listen to two foreign broads talking at a ridiculous pace in ridiculous Spanish about things like if Brüno’s dancing penis in the Brüno film was really Sacha Baron Cohen’s. We think so. Still have to check on the Internets.

Yeah, the one down side to old buildings in the Eixample neighborhood of Barcelona is that you can absolutely hear everything happening in every other apartment that opens onto the interior light wells. I’ve never known what a blessing my 1970s apartment on the 11th floor is. Here, I awaken in the morning to the two children across the way and their cartoons. Sometimes mom yells. Sometimes she sings. There is an obnoxious American who lives over one and down one. Another guy speaks cute foreign English on the other side and up one. There was a party the other night over one and down two, and they were lucky I was drunk when I went to bed, otherwise I’d never have been able to fall asleep with them singing along to George Michael and La Bamba (although, it was the first time I understood the words to La Bamba).

Otherwise, I’m living the sweet life. I wake up late. That’s pretty fun. I go to the beach. Also good. I buy foods I don’t normally, like delicious steak, and take silly amounts of time preparing Mediterranean salads for myself, in addition to buying myself Bifidius yogurt drinks (intestine bacteria drinks) like a proper middle-aged woman. When I’m good and ready, I grab a Bicing bike and ever so leisurely ride to work, being sure to enjoy the view and give pedestrians who stray into my territory quick drive-bys from behind. Shopping for clothes is also a high priority. My wardrobe sucks and this month is sales month in Spain, so that has worked out well. I’ve not bought too much yet, but consistency is the key. I stop into shops regularly to have a peak, and only buy things I love. There’s too many thing in my wardrobe that are just OK, but don’t really grab me. They’re going.

Work-wise, I do 20 hours a week of work for Oxford House on a completely open schedule. I’ve published the new homepage and site design. I’m organizing a language workshop on Common Errors of Spanish Speakers for this coming Saturday. I’ve gotten digital frames up in reception, advertising courses, activities and other things, and have made some more online forms for various staff members who need them. Also am getting a new domain special for our business courses and services and have to get that site up and running.

I’m running “technology sessions” two days a week for two hours for the kids doing our summer courses at the school. As I said before, I have 5 to 15 year olds, so I ultimately asked for an assistant and was awarded one: the owner’s 18-year-old son. Everything has gone well. The little ones love digital camera scavenger hunts and posting photos of their favorite things on our course web site (“Somos famosas!” shouted the girls when they learned that indeed, the site was viewable anywhere in the world, except China) and the big ones like playing on Facebook, building Google sites and making Walls (www.wallwisher.com). Is cool.

Besides that, I cover reception sometimes when they need me, which is good practice since I’ll be doing that 15 hours a week starting in September when one of the receptionists goes on maternity leave.

And beyond that, I’ve been hanging out with Kristina and Roni, going dancing and beaching with Sara (the Italian) and her crew of Colombians, and had Matt visiting (our old flatmate from 2004 – from Oli’s hometown) who currently lives in London but is moving to Hong Kong in a week (!). His visit was three sloppy days filled with drink, pursuing Japanese girls on the dance floor (she got away, but not before falling on her butt in front of everyone else in the club), street-fighting with Moroccans (Matt saved me), visiting Lawson in his bar, and searching for Czech beer at 10 in the morning in the back alleys of the Born (a hostess gift for Kristina). We also had a lot of deep conversation, but it doesn’t make for very good blogging.

Fin.

(PS - The only photo I have of any of this is one of Matt and me taken by the Japanese girl using Matt's phone. It's not flattering. My neck is super stressed and Matt's doing a peace sign...)

Oh, June, you wicked month. You're lucky we know how to have fun.

2009-06-28T11:31:00.001+02:00

June, june, june june, june.

I tell ya, if there's one downside to living your life on the academic calendar, it's that June is a killer. If there were a second downside, it'd be that September is a rapist. (You know that's funny.)

Of course, June is only further complicated by the fact that we Ruiter Seeleys think we're entitled to travel the world in the summer, and therefore rent out our apartment, and make all sorts of crazy arrangements in order to have fun and make money at the same time.

So here's what we've been up to/will be getting up to:

- I've finished my Bàsic 1 Catalan class. I can now string together sentences and speak crazy common-man-Latin with Lily. I'm supposed to be doing a Bàsic 2 intensive in July, but I think I'm going to have to cancel because of other engagements.....(Read on). I wish I had learned Spanish how I am learning Catalan, speaking from day 1, focusing on talking and using everyday phrases rather than on conjugating verbs. I still translate Spanish from English in my head, but speaking Catalan stuff just seems to be popping out of my mouth and in retrospect I realize it comes out right 70% of the time. Sigh.

- We are not living in our home right now. Three ballerinas are there (2 girls and a boy) ho study at the California Institute for the Arts are taking a dance class at the center next to our building, we found each other online and they are there. They are all cool and we've actually been hanging out since they arrived.

- Oli, Lily and I are staying with my friend Rodolfo for a week until Lil and Oli fly away to England, and then pick up our VW (IT IS FIXED) and will make the maiden voyage (without me! SOooooo jealous!) to Prèfailles in France (Brittany) to spend a couple weeks with Oli's family there.

- I am staying in my friend Daz's apartment in July. He will not be there. He and everyone else from OH will be in A Coruña being teachers at English summer camp. His flatmate Cristina, from the Czech Republic is there. I will be continuing my role as Communications Coordinator at OH throughout July, doing search engine optimization on the website, putting together new promotions, redoing the homepage and web site stylesheets, refurbishing bulletin boards, and getting digital picture frames installed in the school, for publicity. I will also be teaching technology sessions to kids doing the OH summer course. It's like Little House on the Prairie up in there in that I will have 5 - 15 year olds in my sessions. Still don't know what that will be like, especially since Spanish kids suck. (You know I only half mean that.)

- Also will be working on a personal project in July, an idea for a web site I would like to build that will make us very rich and able to travel the world and see family at will (when Lily's not in school). Will be meeting with a woman in BCN who set up a similar site, with a different theme, a couple years ago that has been very successful. Watch out, Internet.

- In August I get vacation. I meet Oli and Lily in Slovakia, along with other British friends, on August 1st....right after the ballerinas move out of our house and I welcome in the middle-aged French couple who will be staying there in August, visiting their son who is doing an internship in BCN.

- After a week in Slovakia, back to UK. Hang out. Take VW to Wales. (Finally I get to use it!!!!!)

- Return to BCN 20-something of August, put house back together, welcome my parents who are visiting from the 27 Aug - 5 Sept. (Yeah!!!!)

- Commence with Lily's week-long summer camp, new school meetings (she starts at bigger kid school in Sept), and swim lessons.

Otherwise, we've spent the last few days at a "Welcome to new school in the fall" picnic, a "goodbye school" party, and a "goodbye for the summer, workmates" dinner.

Photos from Lily's school party:

We will miss her pretty school. Sigh.

People really get into the dancing at the school parties. It's cool. Here's Lily's second-favorite teacher, Mireia.

And there's Enriqueta. The love of Lily's life.

Joan, Joana and Ani.

Arlene, Gerard and Oscar.

After the party, there happened to be a painting workshop for kids at the center next to the school. It was organized by Hippies. They're good at this sort of thing. You can see a clear escalation in the painting frenzy and level of comfort with the paint as the photos progress. I got my legs and arms painted and then had to meet a French guy on the street later to pick up the deposit money for him to reserve our flat for August, while covered in red hand prints. I looked like a psycho. I bloody psycho. It was awesome watching the old people pretend not to stare. Take that, Catalans.

On Saturday we spent the day in a central park with Gerard, Oscar and Arlene. It was great to do very little except eat, drink coffee, lay in the grass and play ball. As usual, it all ended with naked children.

(Look! More Hippies in the background. They're everywhere.)

Lily lines

2009-05-26T22:42:00.001+02:00

Lily is interested in old people and is always asking me question about them. She sees lots of old people in our neighborhood who have "helpers" so they can get around. She knows that when we get older, our bodies don't work as well, but wonders what else happens when we're older and often asks for clarification. For example, after listening to my heartbeat the other day she asked, "Do old people have hearts?"

Another great recent line requires a bit of prior knowledge: the word for 'milk' in Catalan sound similar to 'yet'. Oli is fond of saying to Lily, "The Force is really rather strong with you Lil, but you're not a Jedi yet." The last time he said it she responded, "Milk?! Does Darth Vader speak Catalan!?"

~

What we've been doing lately

2009-05-18T23:34:00.002+02:00

I went to Madrid and saw Colin and Kristen. It was cool, especially because the institute in Madrid gave Kristen lots of money, and I got to help spend it.

Our friend Sara (a real Italian) made pizzas for us, with Lily. Making the dough was the best part. Lily was ecstatic and Sara more patient than I ever am.

Daz and Oli waited in desperation.

The boys found a way to amuse themselves while the cooks were busy, water balloon throwing, which has very much become a Sunday ritual.

Putting the pizza topping on was the second best part. Unfortunately, never got a shot of the final pizzas (4 of them!) because I was busy eating them.

This week it was our turn (though we didn't plan it that way, a dinner just sort of happened) and we made paella, for the first time, for several people (Daz, Stephanie, Sara, Mikey, Lily and ourselves). Oli got in this one publicity photo, but I'd like to take credit for the paella that ensued.

Hunger and chat.

La poderosa.

Also this weekend, we attended La Nit dels Museus during which many Barcelona museums had free entry and concerts a'happening. We went to the National Museum of Catalan Art, where Lily discovered painting and sculpture, as well as a new friend. Watch for the surprise ending.

New Lily videos

2009-05-13T21:26:00.001+02:00

Bicing with Lily

2009-03-31T12:28:00.002+02:00

Done.

2009-03-06T13:49:00.001+01:00

Another blended learning workshop completed. Yeah.

Currently building contact with schools who are interested in contracting our services, crafting a 20-hour extended course that OH will offer for those interested in learning more about BL, considering filing the necessary paperwork to become autonomous business people in the government's eyes, and contemplating building our own website or resource group that participants in our workshops can join. Can you say Google AdSense?

But for now, we're just thinking about Lily's school enrolment for the Fall (paperwork due at the end of the month - need to visit schools!), eating and watching music with friends tomorrow night (Matt, can you babysit???), and going on a group bike ride up the coast on Sunday.

Sweet, lovely weekend.

Carnaval

2009-02-25T11:29:00.001+01:00

The past week Barcelona has celebrated Carnaval (the party before Lent, like Mardi Gras) and it has reminded me of why we live here.

Throughout the week I would see funny bits of clothing spotted among the people on the street. A funny hat on a lady going to work, a polka dot bow on the fruit and veg vendor.

A confusing thing to a person brought up Halloween is that there is no set day to wear costumes, although it seemed many people did on the Fri/Sat of the week. If you do something carnaval-y (attend a parade or party, or just want to have a fun day at work) then you have the option of wearing a costume, but there's no one time. Ultimately, this moved from confusing to enjoyable.

Each day leading up to Lily's school party day, the kids were told to bring or do something funny; they had to bring a yellow bow, wear a hat, wear mismatched socks, and bring a green balloon. The school carnaval theme was the jungle and woods. Each class was assigned a story related to forest theme and the kids chose characters from the story to dress up as for the party. Lily's class had Little Red Riding Hood (Caputxeta Vermella in Catalan) and they could choose to be her, the grandma (L'àvia), the wolf (en llop) or the hunter (el caçador). Lily chose the caçador, or rather, caçadora.

They also had to hunt for Sa Majesta Carnestoltes, the king of carnaval (the jester), who just so happened to be hanging out on the school patio in a work vest and boots (a stuffed scarecrow clown, which may sound like the scariest possible thing to leave around a school, but they somehow managed to make look kind and loveable). I didn't get a photo but will see if he's still hanging out tomorrow.

Another positive thing about carnaval was the fun of preparing and the homemade quality. The teachers emphasized just using what we had the house to put together the costumes, and the people I saw on the streets mostly just donned funny things they probably already owned. Teenage girls wore big cowboy boots and raggy old dress-up clothes and looked down-right dorky but it was cool because it was carnaval.

Of course, there is a drag-queen element to some parts of the celebration. Sitges, a nearby town with a gay citizenry is famous for its carnaval parties and parades.

One of my neighbors also explained that in the small towns carnaval is celebrated more than in Barcelona because there are more tight-knit communities and during Franco's time, such celebrations were suppressed in larger cities.

We went to Sitges on a day full of kid-friendly events when our friend Dan was visiting from Wales. We really enjoyed his company especially when he ran after us with a camera trying earnestly to snap a picture of Lily in front of her favorite float. For ages she made us follow a Star Wars float filled with young Jedi paduans led by Darth Vader. She loved him so much that the only way we could get her to let us stop following him was to promise we would have him over to our house. Luckily, Dan has Vader's mobile number. She also wants him at her birthday next year. Do I smell a party theme...?

Need to get photos from Dan.

The Sitges day ended with us meeting a bunch of friends on the beach, playing frisbee, dancing and playing monsters with Lily (who was dressed as a fairy princess) on an empty stage that had been erected in the sand. Dan, Mikey (our friend from New Zealand - the only thing we have in common is Flight of the Conchords), his lovely Italian friend Sara, and our roomie Matt came back to our place where we ate pizza and threw water balloons at people on the street.

The day of the party, the school was transformed into a jungle/forest:

Later that day, parents came for the big fiesta and there was cake, and a couple dressed up crazy playing guitar and singing all the songs the kids do at school. They were utterly impressive, as was the participation of parents in kids in silly dancing and general fun. Lil was a bit grumpy/sensitive and just wanted to sit and watch the "concert". That worked and eventually she went to chase some of her classmates and danced with me. I forgot my camera because when I went to call the elevator, my neighbor was there and we got talking, so I never went back in for it and my tutu :( Just imagine the images above filled with happy people enjoying themselves, and lots of cute kids in funny clothes.

I played Caputxeta Vermella to Lily's caçadora on the way to school that day.

I've cut my hair.

It was done by the man himself. An awesome experience. It seems like Europeans cleverly get nice hair cuts that work with their type of hair. As opposed to using a curling or flattening iron to make your hair do something it doesn't want to. I think Megan Edwards was enlightened to this phenomenal alternate approach to hair life while she lived in London. Love the hair, Meggers.

What we big people are up to

2009-02-16T15:26:00.001+01:00

Incredibly, Oli and I sometimes do things without Lily.

Lately in addition to Oli teaching and me helping OH with their website and other technical needs, we've been putting together a 5-hour training on blended learning for a group of teachers coming in from another school. We're also doing another version for a 90-minute free training OH will be offering. We're being paid for our time and learning quite a bit in the process, so all-in-all a positive move. If things go well, we'll also be collaborating on OH's blended learning development and training the staff accordingly.

We're also trying to plan a trip to Madrid at the end of March to see Colin and Kristin, and a flight to the UK at the beginning of Holy Week in order to grab our VW and drive it back to BCN.

That's about it.

Third birthday party, number three

2009-02-13T21:34:00.002+01:00

We spent the last weekend in Milford and Godalming celebrating Lily's birthday, again.

Oli's dad rented the Masonic Hall for the party and his mum organized the cooking and transport of food and amenities for the guests. There was indoor jungle gym equipment and crash mats, Oli in a bear costume, and a bear hunt.

The party people who brought the equipment were a couple and they played with the kids on the equipment for the first hour of the party, which was great because I actually got to speak to the guests. This was also possible because Lisa handled all the food and beverages. Also helpful was the fantastic mood Lily was in all day. She's been a lot more relaxed and playful with other kids and adults lately and it showed in the good time she had at the party.

Young people without children. Very good sports.

We led the kids on a bear hunt using the equipment to recreate obstacles from the book We're Going on a Bear Hunt. At the end we draped a parachute over some ladders to make a cave where Oli hid in the bear costume. The kids were pretty thrilled with him, although there were two shock cases. After playing with the kids a few minutes, he led them out to another room where we had piled loads of teddy bears that Oli's mum had found on super offer at the supermarket.

I liked this party because it was fun planning it and working with Oli's family to make it happen. It was nice to have a party centered around a fun silly thing to do with your kid, friends and family. Lily seemed to love every moment of the party, from decorating the cake with Lisa, to helping us putting up decorations, to climbing on the equipment with her cousin and little friends, to giving everyone their party gifts as they left. Yeah.

Side note: Lately Lily shows everyone, including all kind-looking strangers on the street, her wounds. Before bedtime two nights in a row she walked Lisa through her roadmap of boo-boos. Here she is showing her cousin Baby Sam.

Lily and Hannah dancing in their dance class.

Also had a nice time seeing friends in Godalming. Thanks to James for cooking us a lovely meal, and to Cammie and Ben and Caroline for having us 'round, and to Verena, thanks for that midday, pre-flight beer.

The VW camper is ready to go. The plan is for us to fly to the UK at the beginning of Holy Week, which we have off work, and to then drive back to Spain in the VW, likely through France. More on this later.

Now comes to a close the Lily's-third-birthday-chapter of our lives.

Third birthday party, numbers one and two

2009-02-02T13:11:00.002+01:00

We began the third celebration of Lily's birth, which will be a week-long event spanning two countries, on Sunday evening in Mantra, our friends Antony and Marta's tea house.

Bad weather made us call off the beach picnic we had originally planned, and illness and busy schedules kept the attendance small, but Lily had a very very good time, and looked nice, too.

It seemed like everyone enjoyed her antics ad playing with her. There was coloring in an anti-conformist-coloring-book that we found on the café game shelf,

creating bases on a cushioned platform (the coolest feature of the tetería),

decorating the house-shaped cake with raisin windows and doors, knocking Lily down and covering up with pillows, and so much more.

Good gifts were received: a piggy bank we can paint and necklaces, one of which is so cool that I want it.

Antony and Marta were so thoughtful, bringing us munchies, staying on top of the drink orders and serving Lily a Cacaolat that she was very pleased with.

We ended up singing Happy Birthday four times (English, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese) and each version received a big hooray from the hippies populating the café. (Note: the cake had a chimney, but Lily ate it just before we sang.)

Paulo was the one who introduced us to the Portuguese version, and man, it definitely beats all other birthday songs. Lots of increasingly loud chanting of the birthday person's name = good fun.

Things went so well, that Lily even put herself and her doll to bed at the end of the party.

All in all, a very good time, a party where I actually got to speak to everyone and felt like Lil had a great time.

This morning we awoke and Lily was very excited to wear a dress to school and bring a copy of one of her favorite songs "Aire de fiesta" to class for her party. On each child's birthday, his or her classroom photo goes on a big birthday poster, the class works together to decorate a paper crown and the child's dining chair, and there is singing, dancing and a balloon for each kid to take home. Although she looks a bit serious here,

she took off dancing as soon as the photo was over.

Side note: This morning after dropping Lily at school, the fog on Tibidabo was amazing:

When I got Lil from school, she was well happy, especially because of her paper crown and green balloon. She and I had a lovely afternoon together and when we got home,she got to open her presents from us (an elephant dining set), Matt (sticker book), and Oliver's Uncle Iain and Aunt Wendy (small squishy baby whose diaper you can change - a big plus in Lily's book).

After dinner, she, Oli and I meant to go on a bike ride, but the rain and a looooong game of Monster on the Bed held us up. To be honest, I think we all enjoyed that even more because it just sort of happened.

Thursday night we're off to the UK for the big Bear Hunt birthday party.

50's housewife, more fish and storm chasing

2009-01-24T22:32:00.001+01:00

Some days Lily just wants to wear a dress. She'll come home from school, happen upon a dress in a laundry pile or in a cupboard and ask me to put it on her. Then it gets worn until bedtime, when we invariably pass through a tense, albeit brief, moment of strife when the dress must come off. On her last dress donning occasion, she also rediscovered the cooking gear she got for Christmas. The result was June Cleaver.

Having left arrangements to the last moment, Matt ended up kindly passing Mr Fish onto our friend Claire for safekeeping while we were away in the UK for the holidays. Upon our return to BCN, we took about a week and a half to finally go pick him up. Claire had offered to keep him if we didn't want a fish anymore, but in the end, we thought Lily would miss him. We then bought two more fish and a bigger aquarium. Lily cannot be happier. She hugs the tank and sighs, "I loooove my fish sooo much."

The lighter orange fish is the original Mr Fish, the new orange one has been named Kankro, and the black one is Emro. These last two are from a cache of weird names Lily uses lately.

We've been in the international news the last couple days. Or rather, the deadly hurricane-force winds ripping through southern France and northern Spain have been. Howling wind has sounded on and off for for days. It raged all night Friday and Saturday morning we awoke to a wounded city.

Before Oli and Lily arose, I went out to get pastries and fruit. Our courtyard was a sandstorm, I could just barely move forward into the wind, motos were strewn about and a massive quantity of garbage and recycling dumpsters was piled up at the end of the road. Elderly couples clutched one another and some turned back, abandoning their plans. On my way home, with the wind pushing at my back, I was actually blown past our gate and had to clutch onto the garden wall to drag myself back to the entrance.

Things calmed down later and we went for a walk to assess the damage.

Later Matt went with us to the center and we walked past Port Vell to see how downtown and the beach had fared.

It ain't right

2009-01-19T11:30:00.002+01:00

On a weekday morning a few weeks ago I was waiting for my friend Carlos in the central plaza in Barcelona. Suddenly a loveably scruffy guy with a small notepad came up to me and told me he was with El Periódico de Catalunya, a major newspaper. What did I think of President Zapatero's announcement the day before that he would create a new Ministry of Sport?

I said that while I had heard the announcement, I really didn't have much of an opinion about it.

Yes, but what do you think?

I don't know. I guess because I have a child I think physical activity is important? But really, I repeat, I have no opinion about this.

*Furiously scribbling* So you think promoting physical activity among the public is positive?

I guess. I guess it's important that people stay active. But really, I haven't given this announcement much thought.

Ok, my photographer is just going to take a photo. *Other man rushes in from side. **Click** *

It comes out Sunday. *Runs away*

---

No joke, it really happened that fast.

I didn't remember to get El Periódico that Sunday, but Carlos remembered that I had told him about this encounter, and as his mother keeps all her copies of El Periódico for weeks, he rooted around and surprised me with this clipping this week.

My repeated "I have no opinion" comments were edited out, and my Spanish kindly made more eloquent. I am pretty pissed that I'm on the lame minority "pro" side. Jeez, if he was going to jump me like that because he needed to fill some page space, he could have at least made me look cool.

HmWha? A post about Lily? That's cwazy.

2009-01-15T22:17:00.002+01:00

Lily and I went to see El Show de Barrio Sésamo at an old theatre downtown tonight.

She got a big kick out of the performance but for me, the highlight of the evening was Lil dressed in a lovely gown topped with a ruffled jacket, walking down a dimly lit red velvety passageway in the theatre, looking at me with a delicate smile and saying, "I'm farting right now, Mummy."

She giggles and tells me her fart status quite often these days.

She's begun a really great new stage which has seen her eating meals without any fuss (we give credit to us and a new approach we tried on the meal problem but it could be that she just got older), taking great interest in the physical workings of the world, being easygoing, and just generally being cool and adorable.

She had the first dance class yesterday at the civic center next door. Quickly obvious that we need to wait at least six months before she'll be ready to do it, but it was a positive experience for her over all. Also positive for me because the fee was refundable. In all seriousness I was very proud of Lil for how well she conducted herself during the class even though she was nervous. She never joined the group, nor did the other three-year-old who had turned up, but was really interested and talked a lot about what she watched. Humorously, a common question was, "Why are they doing that?" I guess it would be pretty hard to get how flexing and pointing your toes 50 times or pretending to be dogs on all fours is somehow related to the ballet she's seen in books and on TV. Anyway, Lily agreed that she didn't want to continue for now but wants to try again when she's bigger.

Has anyone else noticed all my recent posts are only about Lily? I need to diversify.

~

Streamlining

2009-01-10T22:31:00.001+01:00

The house has been needing some tackling: removal of junk we don't use and general washing of surfaces. Today I went at the family room and Lily's bedroom, hotbeds of straggling superfulous toys and craft materials. Surfaces were wiped, un- or mis-used things were recycled or binned. Furniture was rearranged. The end result was a much cooler room for Lil, I think.

Yesterday, before the cleaning began, Lily and I strung up some string and used mini wooden clips to hang some first-word flashcards all around her room. I stole this idea from Simon Hartrich's bedroom in the Kedzie apartment, where, if I remember correctly, the alphabet was strung around the room.

Anyway, it has taken away some of the bareness caused by the high ceiling in a room filled with small-person furniture.

Other new features include:

A revised kitchen area, that now has a baby's bed on the kitchen counter. Not sure about how that works, but....it does. Note the string with clips for Lily to hang artwork. That moon is her symbol at nursery school.

Bedside trinkets - IKEA lamp, souvenirs Georgia and Mircea brought Lily back from China, a Mentink original stencil, and a plant recovering from our time away at the holidays.

A closeup of the Mentink.

Fun hangy things: A felt mobile from IKEA and a wooden spinner found in a shop in the old section of town. Two faithful friends, Elmer the Elephant and Bouncy Black Sheep top the bookshelf. They're waiting for the right tallish lamp to come along to sit behind them.

A cleaned up Marmite jar to hold the marbles and bouncy balls that populate the corners of our home.

I quite like the boudoir I've created. Oli found that little chest of drawers in the street on his way home one evening. The mirror was left by the girls who lived in our apartment over the summer, the musical jewellery box came from Santa, and the dreamcatcher was purchased for one euro today in Barcelona. All-in-all, a good space for a Lil to get herself in order.

My favorite part of the room: the bookshelf flanked by a reading chair and baskets of bags, baby clothes, aprons, ballet slippers and tutus. Ask yourself why you don't currently have these things in your bedroom. Consider the improvement they might make.

Looking ahead to February...

2009-01-09T20:53:00.001+01:00

It's been so long since I've blogged that I wrote no pre- or during holiday posts. We're already planning Lily's 3rd birthday party, which will take place in the UK.

Oli's mum has hired the Masonic Hall in their hometown as the party location and rented Tumble Tots, a group that bring an indoor bouncy castle and other gym equipment for the kids to play on. Using this equipment, some packing bubbles, a giant parachute and blowing bubbles, we'll create an obstacle course on which the kids can recreate the events in the books We're Going on a Bear Hunt. Add in bear-themed party gifts and a quiz about Lily for the adults to compete in (bottle of wine for the winner), and I think we've got the makings of a pretty cool party.

I did it!

2008-12-18T05:36:00.002+01:00

Been up all night publishing changes to the website.

The pages that have not been made pretty will be in Jan. I'm only paid for a set number of hours a month. ~

In which after many days of irritation and hormones, we go to Tarragona

2008-12-08T07:46:00.001+01:00

Saturday and Monday were holidays (Constitution Day and the Immaculate Conception), so we had today, Monday, off work and school. Most locals were disgruntled that Constitution day fell on a Saturday. Sometimes it will fall on a Wednesday or Tuesday and the Immaculate Conception on the Thursday or Friday, resulting in numerous days off work. Just a sorry ol' 3-day weekend this year, folks.

All week Oli brought up how he wanted to rent a car and drive up north to a Pyrenean village and ramble in the woods, which is what most people do to get away from the city at this colder time of year. in the summer, you go to coastal towns and beach it up.

For various reasons (money, lack of proper preparation, Oliver not having his driver's license here in Spain, me being very hormonal, etc) we kept going back and forth about this plan. In the end, we did a fair amount of research and have pinpointed a couple places we'd like to go (Olot, Llívia, Parc Nacional d'Aigüestortes)....in Feb, March or April, either with the VW if it's here, or in a rented car.

This weekend, we took a sensibly priced day-trip by train to Tarragona, and it was just what the doctor ordered.

As usual, we left our house running like maniacs, throwing stroller, coats, bookbag, shoes, Lily, into the elevator ten minutes before the train left the station next door. In the end we caught a train that left 30 minutes later, but still made it to Tarragone for noon.

The train station is on the sea, so we hiked up a big hill that took us to the top of the New Rambla, the main thoroughfare of Tarragona, which dead ends at a cliff overlooking the sea. Then we rambled down he rambla, quickly getting off it and wandering up little side streets, coming across tiny plazas where Lily rode a merry-go-round and we found a reasonable place for a tapas lunch. Luckily, it was 57 degrees F so we sat out on the terrace in the plaza. We were ignored by the waiter, normal treatment for guiris, but it was particularly annoying this time since Lily was getting tired and cranky. Eventually, after many waves indicating we needed service, I went inside carrying a crying Lily and guilted the waiter into coming to serve us....8 more minutes later, about 35 minutes after we had arrived.

At this point Americans and British might say, why didn't you just leave? Well, they probably would have done that to us anywhere; even in BCN you come across plenty of restaurants where if you look foreign you get ignored because the proprietors know they don't have to cater to you because there are enough local clients. We were in a proper Catalan city, thus the ignoring only increased. We already had drinks and the food looked good, so why bother changing to start the same process over?

Anyway, the food was good. After lunch we went searching for a warm sunny place to lay down and rest. Siesta fever had set in. We headed toward the Roman amphitheatre, which we thought would be perfect, but never made it since we had so much fun wandering and playing in the crumbly streets behind the cathedral. I cannot stress how quiet it was here, we decided due to a combination of people being out paseando as it was Sunday, resting during siesta, and being away in the countryside for the long weekend. The silence, coupled with the fresh air was enough to make the trip worth it. I kept taking deep breaths and feeling my nerves healing themselves. Ah.

Eventually we came upon the cathedral itself, at which point Lily attacked Oli, pinning him on the ground. As street vendors packed up boxes of junk into their cars, my husband and child rolled around their plaza in the sun.

Check out Oli's face and body in these close-ups. I have not laughed out loud, and so hard, in a long time. Wow. Wowy wowza.

From the cathedral, we went in search of a good place for coffee. Oli and I got caught up in discussion, Lily fell deep asleep in her stroller, and we were enjoying walking too much to stop, so it was a good hour or so before we ever got that coffee, which turned into an overpriced Irish coffee for Oli and a weak yucky tea for me at a cheezy place on the rambla.

Lily awoke cranky, but some walking along the rambla, past the Christmas tree and main fountain helped, as well as reassurance that we were indeed on our way to the train station, which we were.

We caught a cramped express train home, but Lily made it all fun by wandering between Oli and I, who were sitting in different parts of the car, asking Oli for permission to play with a noisy fold-down chair, receiving an answer of 'no' because many people were sleeping, walking to me to tell me why she wanted to play with it, that Daddy had said 'no,' and that she didn't understand why because he likes noise, then returning to start the process over. Everyone around us was amused to see a little blonde thing speaking ever so seriously in an English/Spanish mix to her mom, responding to mom's Spanish questions, and reporting back to Dad. Made it hard to read the interview with Clint Eastwood I was sooo in to (sarcasm) but easy to pass the hour ride.

From there, home, found bookshelf outside on curb, took it in and added it to Lily's room, dinnered, and bedded.

Worky

2008-12-02T22:16:00.001+01:00

Check out what I've been working on:

Old page
Draft of new page (New photos are being taken this Friday and when on the homepage, will fill the space next to the text.)

School's YouTube channel

How Mondays (ought to) roll in Barcelona

2008-11-24T13:12:00.001+01:00

Having one of those rare Mondays when I feel on the ball.

Lily came into our bed some time in the night and since she didn't kick or roll, she was permitted to stay. At 8 the alarm went off and we let it do that a few more times. I can drop Lily off at and pick her up from her daycare whenever I want, but I used to stress about getting her there as close to 9 as possible. We now have a 'between 9 and 10 at the latest' policy, although she generally gets there by 9:20.

Anyway, the three of us had oatmeal and whizzed through the rest of the morning routine, I dropped Lil at school then went off to the market with my trusty canvas shopping bag from England. The walk from school through the sunny old streets to the market at 9:20 is one of my favorite things, period. The fruit/veg stand I go to in the market is run by a man, wife and his sister. We're now at the stage in our vendor/client relationship that if there is no line of old biddies waiting their turns, we chat for a while. Today I had a nice long talk with the wife who had many reassuring thing to say about not letting Catalans or children get me down.

From there, I took the bag of produce home, grabbed my shopping trolley (the big bag with wheels that old Mexican ladies use in Chicago) and went to the supermarket to load up on water, juice and milk, stopping on the way to leave a load of laundry with the wash lady down the road, since our STUPID washing machine has broken again. I've sent an email to the agency indicating it were high time we get a new one up in here.

Back home, phone Telefónica to contract a new service in which I can make unlimited phone calls from our home phone to mobile phones for 4 euros a month, research People Agency, a modelling agency I'm taking Lily to later this week (read more later, I promise we won't turn her strange), warm up homemade chicken soup and eat it with lots of buttery crusty bread.

Go pick up laundry. Have loooong chat in building foyer with my nextdoor neighbor Paco. Return home and hang wet clothes out to dry.

Make tea.

Write blog.

Now will do a couple hours of work for Oxford House, then make Lily's snacks, go pick her up, go to the park with the swings, pick up my blood test results from doctor (just routine stuff, folks), and swing by the library.

How I do LOVE that I can walk everywhere. All of these things above, within 10 minutes walk. Ah.

Marriage counseling (featuring Lil Wayne)

2008-11-18T11:00:00.001+01:00

Okaaaaaay.

What a week. What a week.

I flew to Chicago via Munich for Brian's wedding last week. I've never flown from Germany before, and so didn't think about the fact that we'd be further north when crossing the Atlantic. Got to see lots of icebergs as we approached and passed Greenland, and got to see Greenland, which was a most impressive desert of snow dunes. Wowza. The elderly German man sitting next to me took this photo of the icebergs. I didn't have the heart to ask him if I could try it myself after seeing that this one didn't turn out so well. Anyway, I'll always have the memories, or at least until I go senile.

I arrived in Chicago on Wednesday afternoon where my parents picked me up from the airport. They're cute. We had a nice dinner at home with my bro and I enjoyed hanging out with them without Lily and Oli. We actually talked. Whoa.

Dad and mom are now unemployed. They are no longer partners in Family Security Door and Window and, man, the difference in that household is PALPABLE. Mom is still giving yoga classes most days of the week, but it's more dramatic to say they're unemployed. Anyway, they're collecting government funds and will be ok for some months. In the meantime, Dad is investigating an idea he's had for a looong time: opening a healthy hotdog restaurant, basically, somewhere you can get a beef sandwich or a garbanzo bean salad. The name he's had in mind for a long time is Yoga Dog and Oli and I LOVE this. Oli does a great impression of my dad saying 'Hm, I'm just a yoga dog.' Although, I don't think my dad has ever uttered these words.

For those of you who don't know, my dad can COOK and he's learned his skills almost exclusively from watching TV. It's pretty awesome. Anyway, his thought is to have a place with a limited menu, half Chicago meat stuff and half lighter healthier fare, plus some soup-and-sandwich-of-the-day. If he can offer people something healthy, fresh, homey and inexpensive in these poor economic times during which places like McDonald's and WalMart are thriving, he thinks he'll have filled a niche. He's found the location below near my sister's house. It looks a bit crazy now but is actually really perfect in that it's like a little old cottage with indoor and outdoor seating. It's fully equipped, he can rent to own, and the owner is keen to help him out in this poor economy. Dad's also been out picking the brains of other area restauranteurs. Who knows what will come of it, but my niece and nephew already picture themselves working there weekends.

Thursday afternoon I went with my sister to pick my niece and nephew up from school. They're little adults. Jeez, old people are right when they say time flies. It's pretty cool actually because Jake and Marisa are adult-like in their conversational abilities, a mixture of adult-like and childlike in their reasoning, and childlike in their propensity for jumping on me. Overall, a good mix.

Thursday night it was off to Brian's for the bachelor/ette party and to reconnect with everyone. The whole gang was there! It was just like that song. A great part about Thursday was getting to know Liz better and listening to her and Brian's baby plans and concerns. Megan and I both teared up when at the end of a long list of concerns, Liz sighed and said offhandedly something to the effect of, 'Oh, but Brian's said we'll just do whatever we need to...that everything will be ok." Such a little statement, but to find out your friend is a good husband is really quite touching.

Liz also humored us by drinking a lot (Hey, the woman had an intense week!), the highlight of which was when she couldn't remember her hotmail password so several of us girls could see the photos of her wedding dress. She kept saying, "I'm working so hard!" and finally Megan gently suggested, "I think you're looking for the 'Have you forgotten your password' link?" By the end of it, there were like five of us cheering her on, letting out a big "Hoorah!" when we finally got to take a gander. Well worth it since Liz chose a truly flattering gown.

After the party it was off to MegaMart's where Dave and Mendy were also staying, having taken some time out from their round-the-world travels to attend the wedding. Megan and Marty are living in a highrise downtown for the following very good reasons: 1) They've just returned to Chicago from living in London and hope that moving to a different part of the city to where they lived before will make it not feel like a step backward (I hear you!), 2) Why not when you don't have kids, and 3) They don't want a car and in fewer and fewer neighborhoods now in Chicago can you live without a car; surprisingly it's like downtown or 53rd and the Dan Ryan. This fact seriously depresses me since it is a MAJOR deterrent to my return to Chicago. I understand big box stores bring big tax revenue, but man, even if we can't allow mom and pop corner supermarkets that people can walk to from their homes to survive, can Jewel and Co start developing small store-front supermarkets within neighborhoods? If they don't soon, I hope Tesco will and will teach 'em all a lesson. They're already opening some Tesco Metros in California.......

Megan, Marty, Mendy, Dave and I certainly broke lots of stereotypes about married people. Do married people start fires?! The morning after the bachelor/ette party Megan was going to make us some blueberry pancakes. While heating the oil in a pan, it burst into massive flames. Mendy was in the kitchen with her and while Megan lifted the flaming pan off the stove, Mendy uttered a quiet, "Help." All they knew was you don't put water on grease fires, but what do you put? In the end pancake mix was used and Mendy and I later divulged that we both felt a little weak at the prospect of wasting pancake mix. Megan made another attempt and this one, too, almost caught fire. I went to the bathroom to do my hair thinking I wouldn't interfere and tell Megan to quit while she was ahead. She was a big girl who would probably come to that conclusion on her own, but wasn't ready to at the moment. To my surprise, 30 minutes later we had the most stunningly exquisite blueberry pancakes, made with real blueberries! We engorged ourselves while Mendy and Dave regaled us with tales of Russia. Ah, Russia.

Friday night was the rehearsal dinner, which Brian and Liz were cool enough to invite key non-wedding-party members to. This little gesture, and about 50 other things, all indicated that Brian and Liz have a firm grasp of what will be important to them later, when looking back on the wedding. I did NOT have a firm grasp on what would be on this list when we planned our wedding. My mother and mother-in-law tried to help, but I was a stubborn pregnant child. Sigh. In any case, well done. Such a good job on their part.

On the way to the dinner, we were listening to 103.5 and the Lil Wayne song Mrs Officer came on, and man, did we take to it. We worked out the lyrics so that by half-way through the song we were already singing along and we were really pleased with ourselves when we worked out how appropriate it was, being in town for a cop wedding and all, to listen to a song about a guy who fantasizes about sleeping with the female officer that just pulled him over. Definitely the theme song for the trip.

After the dinner, it was off to I-Bar, a most appropriate choice hatched by Kevin and Megan. It was really nice to see everyone together, although I got a bit grumpy because I get overwhelmed at big gatherings now (you know, in my old age), finding that I get caught up in the usual jokes thrown about amongst our friends and forget to ask people real things and listen to them. Sometimes when I leave I feel like I've not actually spoken to anyone. Oh well, it was I-Bar and the night before Brian's wedding; what more did you want, grumpasaurus???

"It's the day of the show, y'all!" Remember that classic line uttered by Parker Posey in Waiting for Guffman? No? Well it was really appropriate on Saturday morning. After a sloooow morning complete with Marty Omelettes, the married people got prepared to induct two new members into the club.

I have almost no pictures from the wedding! Had too good of a time. Quickly decided it wasn't worth it. What I do have are the photos the already-married people took in the photo booth at the reception (what a cool idea!) and pasted into a memory book for the bride and groom. Motivations for photos: Surprised, confused, kicked in the crotch, happy.

I cried on Brian on the dance floor. The night before the wedding I was up from 3:00-6:00 (By the way, yeah, I stayed on Spanish time during the visit so each night I got about 4 hours of sleep made up of 3 hours crashed out, a 2-3 hour awake gap and then another hour or so.), watching the lights on the top of the Wrigley Building change color, thinking about how I didn't want to leave without making sure Brian knew how happy I was for him and Liz, what a good job they're doing, what an important friend he is even though we hardly see each other, and that as we get older and need more from our friends, I'll be there. I know we're all friends, but I also know I rarely say the mushy stuff, and as I get older, it seems more important to say it than assume it. Thus, a slow dance Brian invited me for turned into happy waterworks, and I promise, I wasn't even drunk! In any case, this little episode made me feel reaallllly good.

In fact, the whole trip was like therapy, therapy made possible by Liz and Brian's wedding. I know this post should be all about the newlyweds, but this visit meant a lot to me personally, because I felt like I actually listened to people, asked them the things I wonder about them when I'm away, and felt understood by people who know where I'm from. It's enough to make one feel truly alive. It's a shame I didn't get to really talk with everyone, and I am bummed I saw the Hartrichs for what seemed all of two minutes, but I'll put a lid on it. In a nutshell, we're all changing and trying new things in our lives, but I think it's official: we weren't just college drinking buddies, we'll actually be there for each other in all the ways adulthood requires, despite the change and challenges ahead. Sounds obvious, but it doesn't hurt to say it.

Sunday after a farewell brunch with everyone at the hotel, it was off to a lunch with my family, including all grandparents, and my dad's sister and brother-in-law. We ate at Mama Luigi's in Bridgeview. Talk about old school, but that's how the Ruiters do things. My grandpa (mom's dad) and uncle (dad's brother-in-law) are incorrigible. My aunt and grandmothers, lovely.

14 or so hours later, it was back to these faces:

The cost of freedom

2008-11-11T21:56:00.001+01:00

I depart for Chicago via Munich today at 7:55am (It's 5:50 right now). I've spent the last two days cooking, buying gifts, cleaning and writing instructions for Oli regarding Lily's school routines. Here you see some unappetizing photos of:

Roast chicken (good for sandwich making or slathering with mashed potato);

Sweet potato and pork stew (A Hartrich Family Cookbook find) in an unappealing plastic container;

At the end of the two days I have left a fridge o' food: In addition to the above, includes Minestrone soup (Best with crusty bread and butter. Mm. Had some tonight.), mince for shepherd's pie, mountains of Greek yogurts (for Oli) and fruit puree cups (Lily), serrano and cooked hams for sandwiches, peach juice boxes for after school. There's also some warm apple/carrot cake on the counter.

Notey McNotersons.

Gifts and things to share at parties, comprised of Spanish/Catalan cava, wines, canned seafoods, and baked goods, as well as Kinder chocolates.

Thusly, through household preparation, I buy myself 5 days in Chicago celebrating Brian's wedding with the rest of the extended Taylor Street crew.

---

Lily got some new clay today when we went to this learning toys shop Abacus with another mom and kid from school (Arlene and Gerard, we've been spending our afternoons with them regularly). Here she is 'cooking' it while wearing an improvised apron of bib and tea towel.

---

Went for a nice cycle ride to Plaza Tripi on Sunday on the Bicing bikes.

My child, the genius.

2008-11-07T15:47:00.001+01:00

Lily and I were just brushing our teeth when she said, "Mom, I speak Catalan at school. And I speak Spanish." And after a few more brush strokes and a thoughtful look, "Hm. I speak English."

Happy parent sigh.

runaways!

2008-11-06T22:32:00.001+01:00

Thanks, Yaya.

2008-11-03T22:51:00.001+01:00

My mom sent Lily a cool Halloween card in an envelope filled with tons of random stickers her house has collected over the years.

Halloween

2008-11-02T20:06:00.001+01:00

Halloween isn't really celebrated in Spain, although notably, there was a special aisle of decorations and costumes added to our supermarket in the last couple weeks. In any case, All Saints Day is much more celebrated here in Catalunya with the traditional preparation of roast chestnuts (castanyas), sweet potatoes (moniatos) and small marzapan balls rolled in pine nuts (panellets), all eaten at chestnut parties (castanyadas) - all high-energy foods for staying up into the night with spirits, though most people don't practice this part of the tradition any more. For weeks Lily's been learning about autumn (tardor) and castanyas and how they are often carried in a basket with handkerchief by an old lady (la castanyera!). Almost every day they've sung chestnut and autumn songs and they recently sent the words home, so I've been trying to coax the melodies that go with the lyrics out of Lil, to little avail. Consider that your Catalan lesson for the day.

So as not to completely forsake Halloween, Lily and I decided at the last minute to attend a Halloween party thrown at the Hard Rock Cafe in the center by some American social league of sorts. Lily, of course, went as a ballerina, a costume we threw together from her play clothes. It is not much to boast about as far as costumes go (we'll go all out next year!!!), but the kid was thrilled to be able to wear such a combination of things, especially play jewellery, out into the world. (Look, Mrs. Hughes, I'm wearing the tutu you sent Lily!)

There was an all-you-can eat breakfast buffet, adults dressed up leading activities and enough multilingual semi-American children in costumes to make your head spin. Due to the loud music, general mayhem, and witch that greeted us as we entered, Lily wouldn't let me put her down for the first hour. Even before the event I knew there would be a cling risk since things like this can be overwhelming for little ones, especially Lil. But I decided to risk it, even without Oli (who was away all day Fri, Sat and Sun competing in an international Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Castelldefels), because if she did like the party, it would totally be worth the gamble.

In any case, I made it through a buffet line somehow managing to get us food and drink with only one arm available. After food time, the two adult leaders (the ladies in costumes in the photos) started teaching the kids a dance to Thriller. There was one dad dressed in drag and he pretty much became one of the leaders as well. Watching the older kids lightened Lil up, and when it was free dance time, we got down.

Balloon animals helped her even more, and when there was only half of an hour left, we made our way to the foyer where various children were chasing and beating each other with the balloon creations the ladies had made them. Lily and a cheetah boy proceeded to chase one another gleefully around the Hard Rock Cafe, the cheetah attacking with a balloon sword and Lily alternately with a balloon flower and her magic wand.

From there, we poured out into the sunny midday havoc of Plaza Catalunya (the centermost plaza of Barcelona) on a Saturday. It rained almost constantly this entire week right through today, so there were massive puddles everywhere. We ballerinas proceeded to splash in them, since we cleverly wore boots, as ballerinas do. This became wildly more fun as we grew bolder and bolder in our splashing, until thirty minutes later the smaller of us was soaked from bottom to toes. I had extra clothes but she declined to change, so we grabbed the metro home. When Lil sat with her feet up on the seat, giant rivers poured out of her boots filling the seat with water. It was pretty funny. We laughed.

Once back in our hood we stopped in the frutería where it was very funny so see a small wet blonde ballerina wandering around with this celery she insisted on holding for me.

--

Last night Matty babysat for Lil while Oli and I attended our friend Eddie's (aka Edwin, Eddie-san, Eddie Wong, Eddie Chang) goodbye party. We know Eddie in a roundabout way: We once lived with Timo in Barcelona who once went to high school with Eddie back in Bristol and later reconnected with him by accident in Barcelona and ended up living with him. Eddie's Chinese by heritage but grew up in the Barcelona area and went to high school and college in the UK, so he speaks Spanish and Catalan like he's one of them and English as if he were British. It's funny. Alas, though, his Mandarin ain't what it ought to be and he's bored here, so off to Hong Kong he goes tomorrow where he'll live with his older sister for a bit before breaking out on his own in the China (That's right, the China.). It was sad to say goodbye to Eddie, especially since he cooks really well. He made so much food last night (with help from others): rolls of all kinds, tempura, dumplings, ahhhhh. People pitched in and got him a journal that we all wrote in and when it was presented to him, we all laughed about what a crappy journal it was, being made in China and all. (Ha.)

--

Today Lil and I attempted to go to a castanyada and kids' play at Poble Espanyol, this replica Spanish village about a 25-minute walk from our house. Many events, particularly for kids, are held there so it is nice being close to it. We made it out the house just in time and it wasn't even raining, so I ran pushing Lily in the stroller all the way there, uphill! Just as we arrived I realized Lil had dozed, so I talked to her to see if she would reawaken. She did and smiled so paid my entrance fee and got into the village with 2 minutes to spare. But, Lil was once again out and this time for good. After several useless attempts to elecit a response from her, I got my money back and began walking home in torrential downpour. Thank goodness for massive umbrellas and stroller rain covers. Both walks, to and from, were really nice so I didn't mind the change in plans, although it was disappointing that Lil wouldn't get to see the performance. Of course she woke up just as we arrived at out building, rather than staying asleep for a decent amount of time, and was instantly shocked that we were home (last she remembers we were about to see the performance). Angry tears were shed in a way that broke my heart for the poor kid, but it was nothing that couldn't be put right by cuddling in bed with a cup of warm milk. Thankfully it's theatre season and there's plenty more on next weekend.

2008-10-29T09:12:00.002+01:00

What we're doing

2008-10-28T14:17:00.001+01:00

Living without a computer for one thing. I left Lily in my room for one minute while I went to the bathroom before we headed out to shop. When we came home I opened the computer to find the keyboard moist. 'Why is this wet?' I said aloud. 'Because I cleaned it!' came the joyful reply from Lily. She later divulged that she had poured a bit of water on the keyboard, which no longer worked at this point. Computer has been in the shop for a few days and will be fixed tomorrow.

This all came two days after I took on a web maintenance job at Oxford House, one in which I can work from home on my computer. It's a nice job which seems like it will develop into a larger position doing marketing for the in-center and in-company classes. I'm excited because the position will let me do lots of things I like: redesign and maintain websites, come up with activities and on-line attractions to promote the school, and generally help foster the nice community spririt at OHC. Nerdy organizer meets technogeek meets social butterfly. Plus I get to use Spanish.

Our VW is en-route to Barcelona, being driven by Oli's brother Dave and his girlfriend Laura. Only problem is the van broke down in Versailles and has been there since Saturday. Here's hoping Fergy makes it to BCN.

Lots of things are breaking: computer, van, refrigerator door (fell off on me - fixed with hot glue gun), electric kettle, glass jar we keep tea in (later gashed my finger open on one of the shards in the trash - probably should have gotten stiches; will likely have massive scar).

Lily is in to everything. She picks things up from around the house, puts them in various bags she owns and takes them to cupboards or drawers in other locations in the house. Also likes using scissors, glue and stickers.

Lily is also speaking lots more Spanish and mixing the languages. She peppers her English with Spanish nouns and inserts English into her Spanish responses to people. She wanted some water at the park yesterday (we stay in the park after school 2-3 days a week with a boy from her class and his mom) and I wanted to know if it was for playing in the sand or for drinking. I asked, 'Para beber o para jugar?' and she replied, 'For jugar.' I love it.

I start free government Catalan classes tomorrow. Language normalization, here I come (The department that runs the courses is the Consorci per a la Normalització Lingüística).

Oli has an ultimate frisbee tournament this weekend. He can tell you more about this.

Had an OHC picnic over the weekend, organized by Matt (our flatmate!). Was good times playing rounders (fake baseball) in unseasonably warm weather. Lily pooped in a hole on the beach and buried it.

And yes, my family is coming to the UK for the holidays, so we won't be in America this year. I suppose I'll see most people for Brian's wedding, though.

Consider yourselves updated.

Mr Fish

2008-10-22T13:40:00.001+02:00

Lily has a new roommate called Mr Fish.

Here she is getting to know him

and showing him the temporary tattoos on her hand.

Hopefully Mr Fish will be a good roommate and not leave wrinkled clothes and empty teacups all over the place. Meanwhile, we're working on teaching Lily not to shout into his bowl.

2008-10-21T18:14:00.001+02:00

Bogging

2008-10-20T19:26:00.002+02:00

More photos of recent visits here.

It seems like I'm all about back-log blogging (bogging?) these days. Here's a nice shot Oli coordinated while Megan and Marty were in town. Flatmate Matt and the rest of us are on the steps of a the Santa María church in the Born. We had a nice day just walking the streets, eating ice cream and eventually beaching.

More recently our former flatmates Matt and Morgane were about. They got a big kick out of seeing the child that was made in said former flat. Matt had met Lily before on our visits to the UK, but Morgane, being all French and living in Paris, hadn't.

We had a great weekend that started on Friday with us all going out to lunch with Lawson (another member of that infamous household) and later that same day, sharing a nice meal at our place. On Saturday we went up Tibidabo and rode some of the rides at the amusement park. Matt and Oli almost died of fright on the Ferris Wheel. Lily had to reassure them each time around, "It's ok, Dad. It's ok, Matt." To be fair, it did move very quickly and when on it, you were faced with the prospect of tumbling out of the swaying cart and down a mountain precipice to your death thousands of feet below. Morgane and I had a really good laugh at the whole scene. That night, Oli kindly stayed in and let me go out with Matt and Morgane. A night begun with all three of us at a tapas joint in the Born progressed into one of Morgane and I out dancing in Mix Bar, and later, in the wee hours of morning, dancing at a place called La Macarena in the old town. Sunday was dreadful.

Obama jokes about his identity

2008-10-18T09:59:00.002+02:00

Here.

the bus is ready to rumble

2008-10-11T22:41:00.002+02:00

She now has number plates and tax. Sweeeeeet.

Bicing

2008-10-09T11:50:00.002+02:00

Stole this photo from Caleb's awesome blog post:

Oli has taken to biking Lily around on Bicing bikes when we're out paseando. Have no fear, they don't go in traffic, just on bike paths along the port or beach. Lil loves it and when not riding around, has taken to kissing and hugging all the Bicing bikes at each rack we walk past.

Happy belated birthday, me

2008-10-08T10:47:00.001+02:00

I realize that I have some blogging catchup to play at.

My birthday was almost a month ago and I was under the impression I had written about it somewhere. I might have mentioned it, but not properly.

In any case, Oli and Lily returned to Barcelona from England on the 16^th of September and my birthday was the 18^th. Amid pre-work and pre-school rituals and taking care of all the little odds and ends that come with returning to a place, the night before my birthday Oli suggested we just take off the next morning and go up the coast to Tossa de Mar. After some grumpy wondering about if this were a good idea in light of all the things we still had to take care of and Lily just beginning to settle in to BCN, I agreed.

We took a late morning train to a small town the name of which I now cannot recall, and from there caught the wrong bus so then had to catch another and then another to finally end up in Tossa de Mar for mid afternoon. We went right for the beach, which was disappointingly pebbly and housed queues of German tourists waiting to go on a glass-bottom boat, but all the same was a beach with a view of the town’s castle and walled city upon a hill. I accidentally threw the Frisbee into the sea and had to strip to underwear and tank top in front of a boat filled with tourists waiting to embark upon a cave and grotto hunt in order to dive into the deep chilly water and retrieve it. Happy birthday, me. In any case, I adjusted to the temperature quickly and enjoyed a nice swim.

From there it was off to check into the hostal, where Lily was thrilled because we were given a room with a double bed and a small single bed all for her.

Then we made our way to a beachside greasy spoon café for classic Spanish and Catalan fried foods of the most average sort. We ate on guiri (white folks’) time so no one else was there and the head waiter gave us, particularly Lily, all his attention. Paper umbrellas and other drink stirrers abounded. Since everyone at the neighboring restaurant was bored as well, they kept tabs on Lil, and when she had a fall right before we left, a waiter from there ran into his café and came back out quickly with a chupa chup to make it all better, which it did.

After that it was dark and therefore, a perfect time to explore the castle. The lovely thing about Spain is that we are often surprised to find that things that would normally be closed to the public at certain hours or be highly regulated in the US or UK are not. ‘A castle on a hill overlooking the sea? A walled city where people still live? Heck yeah. Have a look around. Climb on it. We’ve put some lights in so no need to lock the doors at night. Have a good run!’ And we did. And it was fun. We met an Italian family with a girl Lily’s age and they chased cats around a little square in the walled city. That was fun, too.

The night rounded out with us sitting on the front porch of a local, sipping red wine with Lily asleep on me wrapped in her blanket, while we watched the night life slowly pick up around us. A waiter we had talked to earlier in passing, and who had given Lil a balloon, passed by on his way home and ended up chatting with us for ages. Turns out he lived in Barcelona as well and had a house in Tossa and runs a big company, but likes to come be a waiter in his friend’s café from time to time, you know, for kicks.

In the morning the old couple that ran the hostal made us breakfast and then we meandered through the town, past the ‘secret beach’ and back to the bus station to commence the journey home.

Guinbó

2008-10-07T21:15:00.002+02:00

One week into her new nursery school year at Xip Xap (which she started two weeks late), we received a call from city hall saying that a place had opened up at the municipal nursery school we had applied to get Lily into back in the Spring. We hadn't gotten a place in the lottery back then but were next on the waiting list, and someone had just dropped out. All anyone can say now is how lucky we are and that such things never happen.

We had to weigh our options:

- Lily was comfortable at Xip Xap, had already started there and was into the groove of things.

- Xip Xap's director and teachers were all nice and liked Lily and she liked them.

- The municipal school was gorgeous, has larger classrooms and a huge play area in the school courtyard.

- The cost to send a child full-time with all meals included to the municipal school cost only slightly more than what we were paying to send Lily mornings only with no food included.

- The municipal school allows parents to drop kids off and pick up whenever they want BUT requires a 5-hour minimum stay a day (Lily only went 3.5 at Xip Xap).

After meeting with the municipal school director, the choice was pretty clear: send here there, to Guinbó (that's the name of the school; it's pronounced geen-bó, with a hard g). So the next day we took Lily, after a morning at Xip Xap, to Guinbó for a meeting with her new teacher. Actually, Oli and I spoke to the teacher while Lily took full advantage of the other kids being asleep to take over the playground. She was joined by Oli shortly thereafter.

We really love the school facilities: the classroom is huge and well equipped, the playground is lovely, and there's a large glass rotunda that doubles as a gym area and overlooks a pond. The head teacher Enriqueta (Henrietta) is also lovely. I want her to be my teacher. She's so calm and, well, just lovely. There's also a younger girl Sonia who's doing her teacher training, and even though she's no Enriqueta (who is?), I'm happy to have her in Lil's classroom. A final positive is that the curriculum they do with the kids will lead up to what they will start with in real school next year at age 3. This is a benefit, in addition to Lily simply being around Catalan, but I'm not really bothered since the girl is only 2-and-a-half and curriculum is not really a major concern of mine at this point. But, we'll certainly take it since it's part of the deal.

Today marks Day 3 of her time at Guinbó. We're easing her into a schedule of 9-3 (they eat at 12:00 and nap from 1-3 and I didn't want to interrupt that, so she'll be going 6 hours in the end!!!) On Day 1 I went in as playtime was ending, so all the kids in her age group were running about. I spied her hogging a swing and checking out all the other kids from that vantage point. Since she did well on Day 1, Enriqueta and I decided to have her stay through lunch yesterday. She was psyched about this since on Monday as we left we watched the lunch ladies wheeling the carts of little glasses and plates into the classroom. She did well, and as we left she watched the kids taking their little mattresses out of the cupboard, and asked where hers was. Thus, today we brought her sheets and she's going to take a stab at staying the whole time.

View of our local park from behind our building. The school is the orange and blue building at the back.

More of our park, the chiringuito/cafe and the school at the back.

The front of the school. You can see the glass rotunda and the lake that is usually full of water and ducks but hasn't been since the water restrictions went into effect in the Spring.

The lovely school courtyard.

Lily after her second day. She's all greasy and smells like children.

Go back in time

2008-10-05T21:50:00.001+02:00

Follow the link and explore the internet January 2001 style.

De-bate! De-bate! De-bate!

2008-10-03T01:52:00.001+02:00

At 1:27am we found out that the BBC would stream the Biden-Palin debate live at 2am, so we knew we'd be staying up later than usual. It's 1:53 and Oli's making tea.

lily and daddy ballerina

2008-10-01T11:19:00.001+02:00

Truuuuuu-cooooh!

2008-09-30T16:19:00.001+02:00

After dropping Lily at school this morning, we adults went for pastries and coffee in the park. Soon thereafter, Marty and Megan had to catch a bus to the airport, so we said our goodbyes and they departed for Rome.

It was nice to have good friends here during this last week. It's always nice to share this city with people from our hometowns, knowing that they'll appreciate the things we do. Additionally, as we are all hammering out what the next phases of our lives will be like, it's nice to be around people who know who we once were and provide a personal check-up.

As previously mentioned, our flatmate Matt made a curry for us, Marty and Megan, and Claire and Paulo on Saturday night and we stayed up into the wee hours playing a card game named Truco.

Oli crashed out early and the rest of us battled it out on the dining table, me and Matt vs. Megan and Paulo vs. Claire and Marty.

It went down like this:

social butterfly season

2008-09-29T15:12:00.000+02:00

Been really enjoying ourselves these last few days.

On Wednesday, Cassie and Caleb arrived. After settling in at their hotel, we shared a snack at our place, then all went to the center to walk around. We stopped at our favorite cafe in Plaza Tripi (Plaza George Orwell) for a real meal. We like it there because there's little traffic, good people watching and room for Lily to roam. It also made for a good place for Cass and Cal to recover from their transatlantic journey, and prepared them for a walk through the Born. From there, headed to Barceloneta, stopping in a plaza for Lily to play in a park and the big kids to play frisbee. Walked past the sea, then headed home for the night.

Met with them at the beach on Thursday evening and enjoyed watching the sea change color as the sun set behind us and the city.

Megamart arrived on Friday night so we had everyone over to ours for a hangout. On Saturday we all went to the Sagrada Familia, sat in the sun drinking coffee for a half hour squinting up at the face of the church, contemplating whether or not to go in, then decided to just walk through the city and get lunch. Lily made a friend in the park outside Sagrada Familia and we played 'bomba' with balloons.

Had a long leisure lunch in a plaza in the Born. Introduced our guests to the clara (a shandy-like drink made by mixing beer and lemon Fanta). Lily enjoyed dancing with her parents on a platform in the plaza. Then headed down to a chiringuito by the beach for warm milk (Lily), coffee and more beer.

After bidding Caleb and Cassie farewell (they were off to visit Cass' uncle in Paris) Megamart passed out and we did Lily's dinner and bed. Matt (our new roommate - been here a week and are loving having him around - from Shropshire and is fellow teacher at OHC) made a curry and we had our friends Claire and Paulo (Australian coarse director at OHC, her Brazilian man who's here doing his PhD) over to share it with all of us, including Megamart. We had a great night, eating Matt's curry, trying the champaign/vodka/lemon sorbet dessert drink Claire made using a really nice sparkling wine she recently got in Italy, and playing a Brazilian card game called Truco that Paulo taught us. We stayed up late.

On Sunday we ate a big breakfast then went with Matt, Megan and Marty to meet Timo in Plaza Tripi as he's moving back to London in a few days. From there it was off for ice cream, and then to the beach for burying Lego men and picnicing. We all passed out last night after watching The Prestige.

Lily's been doing really well in school, had fun walking, eating and beaching with friends this weekend, and in general is pretty funny right now. She's been telling us about school and told me the other day, "Mom, Eva says 'seieu'." Eva's her teacher and 'seieu' (say-oo) means 'sit' in Catalan. 'Yeah," Lily said," She says 'seieu' right here". I thought it was pretty funny that she said 'sit' in Catalan but translated the rest to English. She also has told me that Pau cries for his yaya (nana); she asks Nil, "Whatchyou crying 'bout?; and that she enjoys dancing with her jacket in class but sometimes Eva says 'No, Lily'.

Photos to come soon - have to get them off Matt's camera, but he needs to buy a card reader for his computer first.....

~