The way we ate our way through Spain

We started in Madrid, where we took a cab which was driven by a bat out of hell taxi driver who spoke no English (we are now experts in mangling the Spanish language, pointing at things and waving our arms around). Our hotel was very close to the prostitution area AND to a police department, as evidenced by the really good looking Madrid policemen who were hanging around on every corner. I love the English police with their cool uniforms and their old school hats, but the Madrid policemen are muy caliente. But I digress.

Although our hotel was near the prostitution area and above a party square (most active at 5am or so), the windows were double glazed and it was very centrally located AND it had a laptop in the room, which was a nice treat.

As soon as we settled in, we naturally went to eat something, because that is what we like to do the most lately. We pretty much ate the whole time we were in Spain with a couple of breaks to take naps during siesta in the afternoon. Our first food experience was a "cocido" which is a typ of stew with lots of meat and cabbage--a vegetarian's nightmare.

Our waiter was very helpful and signed to us (with Spanish), how we should eat the stew. First you eat the broth with some vermicelli type noodles in it:


Then, you eat the huge amounts of meat, potatoes and cabbage:


Complement the meal with Spanish wine, decline dessert and go take a long walk around a park to aid digestion. Lucky for us, Madrid has a lot of parks.

After unsuccessfully trying to break into a huge palace, we made our way down a very steep hill into a park that was abandoned except for us, some peacocks and ducks and some old ladies.



It's probably a good thing that there weren't many people around because we were having fun taking silly pictures.

One makes you grow taller and one makes you grow smaller and one makes you lie on the ground in the middle of a park in Madrid:


Bamboos provide great shelter from frequent rain:


My life as a statue:


A lot of places in Spain had incredibly beuatiful stained windows. This was a falling down hut in the park. I took the picture from under the door.




A moment of serinity (and really bad Spanish)


After our walk around the park, we went home for siesta. When we came out again at around 8:00, everything was deserted. But by 9:00 it was hopping again and we had our first tapas in Spain experience. We stopped into this taverna, where we had delicious and very cheap sangrias (and, for those of you who have experienced Jim's sangrias, these were tame in comparison...which was a good thing).


In a lot of places, they give you free tapas with your drinks and in most of the tavernas there are pig legs hanging from the ceiling. It's kind of rustic (unless you are a pig).


Even with our siesta, we still can't hang like the Spanish, so we went to bed relatively early our first night in Madrid and were up before everyone else in the city the next morning. We decided that we didn't want to pay 6 Euros for a cup of coffee and piece of toast, so we wandered around until we found a cafe where we were ignored for a while and then got some delicious coffee and croissants. The coffee in Spain is REALLY good. After breakfast we headed off into the questionable weather with no rain jackets and only one small umbrella and proceeded to get soaked and grumpy.

Early morning Madrid.


An Arch (there is some historical significance of this arch, but I can't remember what it is. Something cool though, is that there are homes within it.)


Jim hides out from the rain.


After a little bit of a tiff because we were cold and wet and one of us had a cold and the other was being insensitive to his needs, we made up again and tried to find some nuns who sell bread that they make through a grill in the wall, but had no success, so instead we went to the Museo de jamon, where the walls were hung with pig legs and there was a vast selection of chorizo, cheese and bread.

In awe of the ham:


The rain let up and we took a picnic to a large park--Retiro Park--which was really beautiful and full of people trying to enjoy the sun while it was out. Here is Jim at the entrance of the city:


There was a lake
with teens in paddle boats (splashing each other with their oars and protecting themselves with umbrellas, racing from one end to the other and laughing and screaming) and not very skilled musicians playing the same songs over and over again and panhandling.




Jim shared his chorizo with a one eyed cat:


And then tried a more natural look:


There is a giant greenhouse in the park, within which there was a really cool sculpture exhibit. We couldn't take pictures inside, but we took some through the windows:




This was outside the greenhouse museum:




We came upon this Alice in Wonderland type hill. I woudln't want to be the person who has to mow it.






Once we got out of the park, we happened on the contemporary arts museum, outside of which there were some giant men and some giant lips.



After all that walking we needed a nap! Hooray for siesta!

And we went out again...and stumbled upon a really funky little bar, where there was live music. This is where we met LUCAS...and even though we didn't know what he was singing about (except when he sang a Bob Marley song), we really enjoyed the music. There was a little too much sangria in my life that night:




Lucas was very passionate and got everyone singing:


He also gave us words so that we could sing along:


We bought a cd and listened to it while we drove through Spain. It was good background to the beautiful scenery.

April snow brings May flowers?

It snowed today! We took Finchley out to see how he liked it. He kind of didn't.


Then we went for a walk. I was looking my snowy dorkiest..

There were quite a few snowmen along the way:




And trees with flowers and snow:



We figured out how to get into this huge cemetary, where the snow seemed to be extra thick.

By the time we got home, the snow was almost gone.


We like snow, but are ready for spring.

New taste sensation of the week: Marmite

So, the English like this yeast spread called Marmite. During my week away, I came face to face with Marmite for the first time and, being adventurous (and anyway, how can so many people be wrong about the taste of Marmite?) I tried it. And it was good (although it's not advisable to smell it before tasting it). I did not manage to be open minded enough to eat baked beans for breakfast, but beans on toast was the hit breakfast this week, so I just might be missing something... I was glad that the tunnel challenge was cancelled for my group and we were in the open air on grass sleds instead. It could have been a bit "windy" after all those beans and it was a relief not to be trapped in dark tunnel behind some of those kids.

In memory of Oscar

We didn't have him for long, but he was a sweet and loving cat. Oscar ran away a couple of weeks ago and has not come back home. We miss his purring and his hoarse meow and how he curled up in our laps any chance he got. We also miss how he would hide under the chair or the bed but as soon as there was any movement towards his food bowl, all timidness disappeared. But he ran outside into the rain and the darkness and never came back. Maybe he is somewhere else where people love him. We hope so.

My week at a residential adventure camp

I have a general rule of not talking about work on the web, but my past week just can't go unmentioned on this blog. I went with 12 of my students and 6 of my co-workers to Stubbers Adventure Centre near Upminster where we stayed for five days and four nights in a dorm and helped the kids learn how to be more independent and work together as a team. It WAS an adventure!

Each day we participated in two activities and had three meals together in addition to down time where we encouraged the kids to play games and interact with each other. One of the biggest problems our kids have is with socializing, so there was an emphasis on communicating with each other and building social skills throughout the week.

I was very skeptical of this week away, but it was an incredible experience. I wish I could put the pictures of my amazing students on this blog, but you'll have to settle for pictures of me.


Adventures on the high ropes course! I thought I was so brave, but when I got up higher on the course, I was really scared. I managed to get through all the highest levels...but not without my legs shaking, my stomach sinking, and much bear hugging of the telephone poles in between scary parts.

Ben coached me through the course and I managed not to fall!

It was really windy, which didn't help with the fear factor.

We discovered that it was much easier to balance when holding onto the rope that was tied to our harnesses.
Only one of the kids in our group went up to the higher levels that day. She was a star!

The kids and the men were thrilled by the 4x4 driving. Because I grew up on a farm and learned how to drive on a 4x4 diesel pick-up truck and because I have been driving for the past sixteen years, driving the 4x4s didn't really excite me that much. But I discovered that my friends never got their licenses which is such a foreign concept to someone from America, the land of cars. I think the driving test is much harder here in England. Despite not being that excited about driving in the mud, I did have fun driving an English car. It was my first time to drive on the other side of the car. The tricky part was shifting.

I can drive!


Archery was another fun activity. While we were at archery, one of my students who tends to speak in a high, babyish voice said, "I want to be Maid Marian!" (we have been reading Robin Hood). Upon being told to please use an adult voice, she repeated her statement in a low, mannish tone...it was funnier, I think, to those who actually experienced it.

I got one bullseye!


I also drove a VERY SLOW Powerboat. So slow that I didn't have to open my eyes, apparently.


And, I discovered that I'm a pretty good soccer player, for someone who has never played in her life. I scored three goals during my first game!

On the last night, we had a fancy dinner with roast chicken. Ed is used to getting his own chicken. HILLLLAAAAARIIIOUUSSSS (that was the banned word of the week)


It was a great experience and now I have two weeks off! HOORAY!!!