I love Spain but...

Today it rained for the first time in about 5 months. I was also doing a ton of laundry today because we are getting ready to go out of town. I was feeling frustrated because although my laundry room is attached to my house I have to walk outside to get to it and it was pouring. This got me thinking about some things I miss about home that made my life a little easier and that I probably took for granted. Don't get me wrong I love living in Spain. The opportunity we have to travel is amazing and we are taking advantage of it. The girls are in Spanish school...loving it and becoming bilingual! We live in a beautiful house with a pool that is a five minute walk from the beach. I can shop at the local stores for fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables but can also go to the commissary and get my "American" groceries. With that being said there are things I really miss about home...

I miss drive thru coffee...or even coffee to go. There is no such thing here. The Spanish like to sit down and slowly drink their coffee in the morning. They have to drink it slow, it's only the size of a shot! They also don't eat breakfast...so if you're looking to have bacon, eggs and pancakes you better be willing to make it yourself!

I miss restaurants being open for dinner during American dinner hours. The Spanish don't eat until 9 or 10pm. Most restaurants don't open for dinner until 8:00...my kids are already in bed by then. The same is true for lunch...I want lunch at 12:00 not 3:00.

I miss central air conditioning in the summer and central heat in the winter. Marble floors get cold when it's 45 degrees outside and you don't have heat!

I miss DVR. I know I must sound shallow but we get 11 channels on AFN and we have to take what we can get. How am I suppose to watch my favorite show at 7pm...that's bath/bedtime?!?!

I miss fast, reliable Internet!

I miss things being easy. When you need to get something done like run an errand here it is never easy. Either you can't find where you're going or if you do your car doesn't fit down the street. You get to the errand to find out they are closed just because they didn't feel like opening that day or they are closed for siesta. The person you would like help from has no idea what you're talking about because Spanish is not your first language. Aaahhh!

I miss talking to my family and friends whenever I want and not having to worry about the 6 hour time change!

Birthday Girls!

Rebecca loved her gift from Lily!

Yay! I'm 5!

September is a time for birthdays in our house! Rebecca turned 5 on the 14th and Lily turned 3 today (the 27th). The girls were so excited this year and the best part was that they were excited for each other. Lily was so happy when it was Rebecca's birthday and the same for Rebecca. They just love each other so much and are too cute about it! This year both girls wanted a scooter for their birthday. We gave Rebecca her scooter on her birthday and too be honest I was a little worried about how it would go without Lily getting one too, but it was fine! Rebecca shared and they took turns. When Lily opened her scooter today they both yelled, "We don't have to take turns anymore!"

We had a joint birthday party for the girls on the Saturday in between their birthdays. I'm always a little sad when birthdays come around for our family because we are never with our families back home to celebrate. We can't have the usual family party where grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins get to come over and celebrate with us. However, we are very fortunate to have made some wonderful friends in Spain that made the girl's birthday party special.

Luau themed party -
Too cute not to include!

Happy 3rd Birthday Lily!

Although a very exciting month for us...I'm glad it's over. I made 25 cupcakes on both girls' birthdays for them to take to school. I also made a cake for each one on her actual birthday as well as a cake for the party. So if you're keeping track that's A LOT of baking for a short period of time. I do not care to bake/eat cake for awhile...okay maybe I will only need a few days to recover from the eating cake part :)

 

1st Day of School

Today may have been one of the most stressful days I have had during my time in Spain. Maybe I should say I was more anxious and nervous than stressed. Rebecca started kindergarten today and Lily started pre-k. Although they went to a spanish preschool (they call it a guadaria) together this past year, the teachers spoke both English and Spanish and there were American's as well as Spanish children at the school. Today the girls started public school out in town. School starts at age 3 in Spain so they will both be going to school full-time this year, which is only 9-2. To say I was nervous is an understatement. I think I always knew that dropping Rebecca off at kindergarten would be hard but I never thought it would be this hard. I've also always had a picture in my head about what the first day of school would be like for my kids (especially since I'm an elementary school teacher) and it didn't involve being in a foreign country where they didn't speak the language. What if she didn't know what the teacher was saying? What if the other kids didn't play with her because she was American? What if she was sick or had to go to the bathroom and didn't know what to say? These and a million other questions were running through my head. I was especially nervous that I wouldn't be able to communicate with the teacher because I'm not fluent in Spanish.

It turns out I had nothing to worry about. Eric said Lily didn't even turn around when it was time to leave. As it turns our there was a girl in her class that she knew from the guadaria and she was very happy. Rebecca had a little more of a tough time and cried a little but was fine once she went in the classroom and saw the other kids. Of course as soon as I left I started crying...all I could think was I hope I'm doing the right thing by not sending them to school on base. There are no other American's in Rebecca's class but her teacher speaks a little bit of English. When I picked her up she said she had a great day! I was so relieved. She understood everything the teacher was saying (I guess she learned more spanish this past year than I thought) and has already made new friends. Lily didn't really have much to say about the day, I don't know if she understood the teacher or not, but her teacher doesn't speak any English so she must have figured it out. She also only went for an hour...the 3 year olds go for an hour or two a day leading up to a full day to adapt. The hour must have wore her out though because she passed out in the car!

I still can't believe that my baby is going to be 5 on Saturday and is in kindergarten. I know that every parent says this but I really can't believe how fast the time goes by!

San Lucar de Barrameda

Getting ready for the race

And their off!

Betting booth - LOL!

Sanlucar is a town about 30 minutes from where we live. We have been there twice this summer. It is located on the beach and is known for beach horse racing, flamenco music and manzanilla (a type of sherry). The first time we went to Sanlucar was to watch the horse races in the middle of August. They usually happen two weekends in the month of August. We weren't really sure what to expect so we got a sitter and went without the kids. We got there a little late so it was already really crowded. The horses race right on the beach so the races begin at low tide. Although it was crowded, we were able to walk right up to the front to see the race. It looked as if most Spanish families had been at the beach all day. Definitely for next year we will take the kids and make a day of it! 

Lily not wanting to hear
about sherry!

Rebecca during the tour.

We went back to Sanlucar this past weekend. Our plan was to walk around, tour a sherry bodega, visit the castle and get some lunch. After parking and visiting the tourist office for a map we found our way to the Barbadillo bodega where we were just in time for the English tour followed by a tasting. I have tasted a few different kinds of sherry's since living in Spain and I think this was one of the best. We even bought a few bottles. If you are thinking of going here you can get more information at their website: http://www.barbadillo.net. The castle in San Lucar is right next to Barbadillo, however we could only look at it from the outside because it wasn't opened. After the sherry tour we were ready for some lunch. We hadn't done any research on places to eat and at this point were really hungry and hot so we settled on a place called Cerveceria Internacional. The food was okay, I definitely wouldn't go back here to eat. However, if you are into beer they have beers here from all over the world that you can try and they are reasonably priced. At this point we decided to call it a day. The kids were getting tired and we were all hot. We decided to head home and hit the pool for the rest of the afternoon.

Wine barrels.

Since Sanlucar is only a 30 minute drive away we can go back anytime! 

Adios!