the after 30 part...

Thanksgiving was a hit!  Trying to find the right ingredients or the brands I trusted in Spain was near to impossible.  Did you know that Spain doesn't have cranberries, just the juice (not very common though) and in one grocery store we found cranberry sauce, but they put it with the tobasco sauce?  I had given up looking when I just happened to look up on the top shelf and there it was next to mustard and spicy sauces.  Random. I prepared a story in Spanish to read to my family (see below for my Spanish readers), skipped school on Friday and cooked up a storm.  Turkey, home made gravy, carrots, home made mashed potatoes, hot rolls (store bought and microwaved because Pillsbury doesn't exist here), my marshmallow yams, cranberry sauce, black olives and two hand made pumpkin pies (literally, i mashed the pumpkins!).  I started the day with Lola, Marcos's mom.  She was nice enough to pluck the few remaining feathers that we...

Last weekend I went to Seville for the night with Marcos, Vane, Mikki, and Paco.  Last year I studied here for a week and just loved this city.  This is where one of my favorite artists lives, Maria Ortega Estepa .  I missed her art show in October but she is going to have another show in Jan, and I am definitely going to go see it!  We left Cadiz on Saturday morning and arrived to miserable weather.  It wasn't just raining, it was Ketchikan pouring.  Parking is really bad in Seville.  We parked a good 30 minute walk away from our hostel, so by the time we got there, I was drenched.  The boots I was wearing leaked water into my socks and I didn't bring an extra pair of shoes!!  I walked the city with cold wet feet.... :(.  I planned  on buying some new shows in Seville, but no such luck.  I think I'm too picky.  Anyway, the rain finally eased up and we were able to roam the city.  We visited shops, walked by the Cathe...

Every day after school, I come home, have lunch, study, go to the gym (some days), study some more and go to bed.  Marcos decided I needed a break from this monotony and he took me shopping in Jerez!  There is a huge shopping center there, including Ikea, H&M, and cute clothing shops.  We left Cadiz a little later than we had hoped.  We walked through some of the down town area, which on some streets reminded me of a fake movie set up because of how old and cute it was.... and then on to the bus to get to the major shopping area.  Upon our arrival, we realized we didn't have much time to eat a snack before we shopped, so we shoved two donuts down our throats (not one but two each) and started  in H&M.  The last store we were in was called Primark.   Primark is like... well the craziest store I have ever been in.  Jodie, if you feel overwhelmed sometimes in Target or Fred Meyer, you would have had a heart attack in this store.  Me...

Just a few pictures of my life in Cadiz. Sign reads: For the employment in the bay of Cadiz (Cadiz and surrounding areas) For the compliance of the agreements (contracts) They were walking down the main street setting off fire crackers. Lola enjoying her hobby of painting. So orderly and neat.  I love the little kid undies in the upper right corner. Boys stealing internet to play games online.  They do this quite often.. Sometimes they even move it down on the walkway instead of the hallway. Daily sounds outside my window. Vane's building

Marcos is extremely loyal to his friends.  He is the type that has a few super close friends and he sticks with them for life.  He reminds me of a wolf with his pack, forever together.  Saturday we had a 6pm snack (since dinner is at 10pm) at his house and those really close friends of his came over for SMC candies, peanut butter on toast and tea/coffee! Lucia (Paco's girlfriend), Ana (Jesus's girlfriend), and Vane (Miki's girlfriend) Vane is shy and currently learning English.  She gets super nervous around me when trying to speak English but she is getting more brave.  She is my closest girlfriend here.  I try and tell her that I am just as nervous speaking Spanish but that in order to learn you have to try!  Lucia is what I think of as a typical Spanish woman.  She is super expressive with her face and hands when she speaks, so much that I usually understand her the most because she is practically acting out what she is saying. Left to Ri...

This weekend was full of fun events!  Spain is definitely very social, and people are always coming and going in Marcos's home.  Friday night we went to "Swedish Night" at some of my fellow classmates apartment.  There are a lot of Swedish students at my school because SIC (Spanish in Cadiz) has a contract with the University in Sweden (or something like this) that puts all Spanish learning students at SIC.  The night consisted of singing Swedish songs, eating meat balls and drinking a lot! I brought brownies and cookies (in the white bag!) Frankie from Seattle!!  He is studying Spanish through Univ. of WA. Elin, Swedish, pouring drinks All the deserts Elin had food coma! hahah Teachers, students, friends = fun!

My all time favorite artist has launched her new website and I feel the need to share it with everyone. Every year I buy her calendars, and I also have three of her prints up on my walls (two in Skagway, one in Seattle!)  Janeen creates art with words, and I absolutely love her work.  Check it out:   www.koconewyork.com (hompage) www.kocoecards.com (e-card service) 2011 koco calendar (now online)

I finished my second week of school.  I probably should have been put in the beginner class.  My grammar is intermediate, but my conversation level is beginner.  There is nothing more frustrating than to sit in class and everyone be laughing at something the teacher said, and me not understand any of it. Most of these students have been here for two months, but this week we got a new French boy and he seems to understand everything perfectly fine.  I have three Swedish girls, a Norwegian man, a Russian girl and the French boy in my class.  They are all really nice and can speak Spanish beautifully (or so I think, because really I can't understand them!)  Today I insisted they test me again to make sure I was supposed to be in this level.  After my test they said I could choose which class I wanted because I was sort of in between.  Next week the beginner class is starting past tense verbs, (which I have already studied), so I am choosing to stay i...

October was a crazy month.  If you thought for one second that September was busy with sales in Skagway for me, ha! October was three times that busy.  I jammed three months of work into one month (though I still have more to do), as well as, recruited 25 plus volunteers and helped raise more than $54,000 for  Get Hitched Give Hope .  I would love to do an entire blog just on GHGH, but I will leave it to the  blog website  to fill you in.  The entire month I didn't stop.  I had Sarah and Jared in town, then right after Terry and Drew in town.... a short trip to Ketchikan, and then Mom and Michelle in town in Seattle.  My birthday weekend was a blast.  Valerie came to visit and we enjoyed every minute of it.  Thank you Ketchikan weather for being so amazing! Here are a few pictures of my October. Hike with Matt (and Valerie) in Ketchikan Home town, view from 3rd avenue trail Beautiful Carol, Michelle and I at GHGH Soooooo ...

Willie, one of my employees, is always wearing ridiculously funny t-shirts to work.  I tried to take a picture of all of these shirts, but only got a few, as I can barely remember my water bottle for work in the morning, let alone my camera.  The last picture is my favorite.  Willie was wearing his Santa t-shirt to work, when lo and behold, Santa Claus himself walked into the store.

I don't know who Gina Rene is but she posted a picture on her facebook that blew me away.  As of recent, I have been involved (donating money and writing letters mostly) for  Ric O'barry  and his fight to end dolphin slaughtering in Japan, as well as whale slaughtering in other countries.  His fight is amazing.  For those of you who don't know Ric O'Barry, remember the show Flipper?  He was Flipper's trainer .  One of the five dolphins used for Flipper, Cathy, had looked at him in his arms and stopped breathing, Ric believed it to be a suicide and from that day has done a 180 and become the biggest freedom fighter for dolphins today.  This picture is just another testament of how beautiful dolphins and whales are.  They have feelings, our gracious, helpful , appreciative, and try to  communicate with us.  If you want to help, please visit Ric O'Barry site for letter writing recommendations and also watch his movie, The Cove ....

     Last weekend a tourist walked inside "The Caboose on the Dock" (coffee and gift shop operated by White Pass) reading his tour-instruction print-out, and asked the barista, "If I keep walking down this street (pointing towards town from inside the caboose) will I eventually see a red caboose that has a gift shop and coffee bar inside?" *****      From the shore ex front:      "When I get off the ship...how will I know where the dock is?      "How will I know which side of the ship the dock is on?"  (Shore Ex: Well... one side will be really wet and one side will be cement!")      "Where do they (Skagwegians) put all the wildlife in the winter time?" *****      A woman, pointing at the Alaska Highway on the map, asks, "Is this a real road?" *****      A boy was looking through a store's bulk rocks showcase which has the name of each kind of rock.  As he was look...

Okay, so tourists are my livelihood.  They are the reason my business is successful.  They are the main source of my income.  I love them!!  They are awesome!!!  There are, however, a small % who just either don't get it or are super grumpy!  I would like to point out some good tourist etiquette, as well as, some of my pet peeves, that not only goes for tourists, but anyone shopping in a store. 1.  If you insist on picking up every folded shirt, in every size and design, please do not leave them on the floor, in a random section such as the candy bins, shoved in corners (we once had a tourist shove one in our toilet, why?!?!?) and at least TRY to fold it back into place.  I understand the need to open a shirt up and look at it, but I have actually witnessed people just kind of pick it up half way and flop it back down and move on to do that to 13 more shirts...... are you really interested or just wanting to annoy me? 2.  When I tell...

I hiked AB Mountain today.  The weather was nice, I wanted to get outside, so why not AB?  The way up was nice until it got to the straight up part.  Man that's tough, but I conquered it!  I brought my journal to have some nice writing time up at the top, but no such luck.  The bugs were relentless.  If I stayed still for more than 5 seconds I was being bitten on every part of my body.  So I got to "my summit" and headed back.  On the way down, I picked a bowl full of blueberries!  YUM!!                     A tree on the hike that appeared to be alive.  I found many trees that seemed to be telling stories.  Trees hugging trees.  Trees growing out of other trees.  Have you ever been to the Trees of Mystery in California on highway 101?  There were many similar trees today on my hike that resembled some of those at that park.  Trees trees trees. Glacier vie...