the after 30 part...

Every year I make new years resolutions.  Some people think they are stupid, booo on them!  I love them.   Last year I had five.  Before I wrote them, I had the mindset that 3/5 would be good enough.  I somehow, miraculously, accomplished four of them.  They were: Start the introduction to my book - didn't finish. Study Spanish weekly - mastered Find a way out of Skagway - Plan made. Do a pull up - Conquered Fall back in love with fitness - Did and then fell back out of love. (it's a love/hate relationship) This year I have five simple ones.   I will not use the escalator or elevator for one year, even if I have to go to the 25th floor. (unless it's an emergency and I am running late to catch a plane for example).  I will finish the research for my book.  (Maybe that is why I didn't get last years resolution finished.) I will read a book in Spanish from beginning to end and understand it. I will start my year round life in Seattle (most likely fall of 2011), op

Today I purchased my first pair of prescription sunglasses.  Usually I buy $10 sunglasses at Target, and within a month they are so scratched you can't see anything except a foggy haze.  In the last year, wearing my contacts lenses has been a bit annoying.  My eyes dry out, and my vision blurs more often when I wear them.  I talked to my doctor about this in the states, but the problem is still persisting.  Being able to see is crucial, and when the sun is out glaring into my eyes, I'm either squinting because it's too bright, or squinting because my contacts are no good.  Lasik eye surgery?  I've been told I am not a good candidate.  So when Marcos told me his sister was an optometrist and that she could offer me a good deal on vision wear, I decided to invest in my first pair of sunglasses that I will actually need to care for. Veas Opticos is located in Arcos de la Frontera on Avenue Miguel Mancheno, 6.  Upon entering the shop, you are approached by either owner, M

Traditional Christmas in Spain is nothing like the United States.  They have a Santa Claus but they call him Papa Noel and he doesn't come down your chimney at night with a bag of gifts.  Instead, he is more of a mascot for the holidays.  No reindeer, no sleigh, no Christmas cookies and milk.  There is no gift giving, stockings, no early morning surprises.  On Christmas Eve, traditionally, families get together for a big dinner.  This generally starts around 10pm at night.  They dress up in their nicest clothes and sit with each other's company to eat tapas, such as:  shrimp , fish patae , ensaladilla rusa , ham, cheese, green olives, bread and chips.  I absolutely love the fish patae, and the ensaladilla rusa, but not so much their shrimp.  It tasted like low tide. After tapas, comes the turkey.  They cut it up into pieces, with white wine sauce and potatoes.  Desert was pineapples, cheese cakes and traditional wrapped candies. By midnight the kids are buzzing with sugar h

Tuesday morning we woke up to more freezing weather.  Frank and Geraldine say that the weather here is record breaking cold.  I have to admit, even from Alaska, it's unbelievably cold here.  I thought my toes were going to freeze off and I had two pairs of socks on and my warm shoes!  It doesn't help either that my fleece lined wool hat and gloves were stolen! Following up on my return flight, we left early in the morning on the train to Manchester airport from Atherton.  The trains are even a mess because of the weather.  Standing in the freezing cold waiting for delayed trains, just to have them announce it's been cancelled or on another platform.  The thing is, it's not even snowing.  It's just cold!  I saw people with their suit cases and children on their hips bouncing up and down as they run to try and catch any train to the airport.  This country does not know how to function in the snow.  Once to the airport, which I might add is a bit of a maze between eac

So... remember how I mentioned earlier that I have been having bad luck? hahahahahhahahahahhahahaha haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahah.... it continues (although in the bad luck I have gotten some luck). I woke up Saturday morning to an email saying my flight from Madrid to London was cancelled due to snow.  I became frantic and immediately got on Skype and tried to contact the airline. Was I supposed to stay in Cadiz?  Should I fly to Madrid from Jerez?  The line was busy constantly.  When I finally was put on hold, I waited an hour but then needed to go right away to catch the bus to Jerez.  Once to Jerez, they told me to fly to Madrid and see what happens. Upon arriving to Madrid, I was informed my flight was cancelled.  Iberia was amazing and put me in a nice hotel, with dinner and breakfast.  I couldn't believe it, all for free! The next day I went back to the Madrid airport to be informed that my flight was cancelled again and I needed to stand in a line for two hours to get re b

Life is getting better in Spain.  I got a 9/10 on my 5 page test today in class.  YES, 5 pages!!!  So I am feeling like a Spanish speaking Goddess right now.  YIPPEE!!! QUE BIEN! This is my first Christmas ever away from home (Dad or Moms).  So far I am doing okay on the homesickness front, but being in Spain has made me appreciate my family so much more.  There has been holiday seasons where sometimes I feel like I want to runaway from my family, but being away, reminds me of how special my family really is and what an amazing place I grew up in.  Because I am in Spain, where the cultural is so different than American homes, I am finding that I am one of the luckiest girls in the world, with the best parents, siblings and friends who have been my main support my entire life.  I am feeling perfectly blessed right now, with many lessons learned here in Spain. Lessons like being grateful, taking it little by little, letting go, and patience. Tomorrow I am on my way to Manchester until Ch

I don't like to think that I have a pessimistic attitude or that I think  negatively but I haven't been having the best time here in Spain.   Don't get me wrong, there have been amazing moments, but all the little stupid crap is making those amazing moments feel small.   It started the first week I got here, one thing on top of another.   Little things, like bug bites, getting drenched by random rain storms, leaking boots, to bigger things like bladder infections, colds, being demoted (read below)....crap just has just been piling up and piling up to one big fat pile of pissing me off.    Last week  was the cherry on the top.    As I was leaving class on Wednesday, my teachers asked me to come talk to them.   They asked if I wanted to move down to the lower class.   After six weeks of studying, I have been demoted.  I told them this the second week I was there, that I had a horrible time understanding and that when everyone laughs in class, I didn't get the joke because