February 13 - Travel Plans

This morning, after a quick grocery store run, I made stir fry (Albert had his first chance to use the Mongolian Fire Oil that I started before Christmas - it takes 6 weeks to develop.)  By the time we were finished with lunch, the water on our street had been turned off (they were doing some routine checks and clearly had  a problem - it was off for hours).  Luckily we had finished showering and doing a load of laundry.  Sadly, we had not done the dishes.

Then, before we headed out to school, Albert and I made plans for a weekend on Mallorca.  It is a little cooler there than here, but the weather is supposed to be nice enough for some walks outside along the beach.

Class was pretty normal except the home work... In addition to the exercises that we would normally have.  I have to write a paper (using a very specific verb tense sequence) that tells a story of a first kiss - nothing like a difficult assignment with verb tenses to make you appreciate the romance of St. Valentine's Day.

While I was at school, I found a flyer for a student trip to northern Africa.  It looked interesting and I bookmarked the webpage to show Albert when I got home.

After class, I met Albert and we made a trip across to Tomares to IKEA to pick up a lapdesk that I had found on the web.  It is a cute town - sadly it was pretty dark so we didn't get to see much. 

Thought about having Sweedish food in the IKEA for a late dinner for me - but decided to just head home.

At home, I showed Albert the Africa tour that I had found at school, and he thought is sounded good - so we are booked for the first weekend in March.  After the travel plans were finalized and booked - I did a little Spanish so that I can actually finish my homework in time for the cultural activity tomorrow.

I wasn't really planning to go, but I convinced one of the students in my class to try out intercambio on Tuesday night and she had a great time - now she wants to try the cultural activity and asked if I would go - so I am going to give it one more shot.

February 12 - Is that a Sumo Wrestler Costume?

I am always exhausted on Tuesday nights.  I leave for school at around 3:30 and then don't get home until around 10:30 (after class and intercambio), have a quick dinner, maybe read a little and go to bed.

Tonight will be no different.  I did some Spanish this morning and finished reading Mouse and the Motorcycle (in Spanish) and watched a half hour sitcom in Spanish - then took a break for a couple of hours to do our taxes with Albert's help collecting electronic copies of documents.  I haven't submitted them yet, but they are close.

Then off to school - with classes of only two students yesterday and today, I felt like my head was going to explode after three hours of class. But, I feel like I am making pretty good progress this week. 

Then after my class, my partner messaged me that he was going to be a few minutes late to intercambio.  So, I took the opportunity to walk for about 45 minutes between class and intercambio.

With the seriously warm weather, lots of people are out and about.  Some of dogs are even out without sweaters.  Seems like all the strollers still have sleeping bag attachments though.

It is almost Valentine's Day, which is not a big celebration here - mostly, like Halloween, it is a borrowed excuse for a celebration.  Speaking of Halloween, there are at least two (that I know of) year round costume stores here.  I never see people out and about in costumes, maybe themed parties?  Carnival?  Not sure... how do they stay in business?

Today, I also found a store that sells the figures for your nativity year round.  Of course they also sell models of the paseos (floats) that get carried through the streets during Holy Week before Easter....again, hard to believe there is a year round market - but then again, we have stores that sell only batteries and lightbulbs in the US.

After my walk, it was time to get to intercambio.  My partner and I arrived at just about the same time and spent the next two hours practicing - me in Spanish and he in English.  Of course we also talked to some of the other 20 or so people that were there.  

Now I am home, have eaten and read a little and am about ready to wrap it up and head to bed.  Tomorrow, there are supposed to be four people in class - hopefully everyone makes it.

February 11 - Indoor Incense

After school today, I took a walk around the city.  Instead of heading toward the cathedral (probably my most popular after-school route), I walked out toward the large waffle structure.  I tried to use roads that I had not been on before.

I noticed this shop selling incense and incense burners.  I am not a big fan of incense, and I particularly don't like that there is often a guy selling it from a table near our house - whenever he is there, the block where he is set up is a haze of smelly (I am sure some like it but to me it just stinks) smoke.  This tiny shop has all of the burners set up for folks who are interested, and because the smoke ventilates out through a chimney in the store, the sidewalk is blissfully smoke free.  I am not sure what the apartment above him smells like, but I was just glad for my own clear air.

Of course I passed all types of other shops selling everything from candy to first communion finery.

I did make a quick trip around the waffle structure - tonight it was lit up with blue lights.  I hadn't really checked it out after dark since the Christmas lights had come down.

After walking another couple of miles, I stopped off at the large round Mercadona to pick up some bread.  The moon was visible just above the roof.

Then it was time to head home.  I did stop off for a minute to check out this vertical garden.  These are popular here.  The new mall has large walls of them - they were all just tiny sprouts when the mall opened this fall, but they are filling in pretty well now.  This particular one is not at the mall - it is near the bus station and is more mature.

After my walk, I came home and had a light dinner and did some Spanish homework.  I have a lot, and I didn't want to leave it all for tomorrow.  But now it is time to read a little and get to bed.  

February 10 - River Walk

Today was pretty quiet - some cooking and reading and Spanish...

This afternoon at around 4 o'clock, I decided that I had been in the flat long enough.  It was overcast but still warm - so I headed out to the river.  I don't usually walk along the river.  It is lovely, but I actually prefer the city walking.  I have been wanting to walk along the small floating bridge that of course Albert has walked many times but that I have not.  So, today was the day.

I walked along the low bridge which offers a good view of a couple of traffic bridges from below and of the park along the river.  At the end of the bridge, I continued to walk in the park.  It was lovely, of course, but after a few miles of walking, I was ready to head home.

I could have redone my walk in reverse or taken another park path, but I was a little concerned about rain and so I headed in and walked along the streets where there are bikes every few blocks in case I needed to make a fast trip home.

The rain never came, and I enjoyed a nice city walk.  Once home, I ate the pizza that I had made before I left, read a little more, did a little more Spanish - and I am about ready to call it a weekend.

Tomorrow, back to school for both Albert and I. 

February 9 - Digital Roots

If you want to find the digital root of a number, you just need to add up all of the digits, and then take the sum and add up the digits of that, and continue in this way until you get a single digit.  For example for the number 2019 the digital root is found by first summing 2+0+1+9=12  and then by summing 1+2=3.  So the digital root of 2019 is 3.  Whenever two numbers differ by a multiple of 9, then have the same digital root.

Since I am 50 years old, my "digital root" right now is 5.  Since Rachel is 23, her digital root is also 5.   This is not surprising since I was 27 (a multiple of 9) when she was born.  Of course, in June, when I turn 51 my new digital root will be 6, but hers will still be 5 until September.

For Albert and Emily - they always have the same digital root because she was born on his 27th birthday.  So today, exactly 25 years later, they both celebrate again as he turns 52 and she turns 25.  This flip of numbers also happened when she was 14 and he was 41; it won't happen again for another 11 years until she is 36 and he is 63.....


I stayed up later than Albert and left his small gift and a card on the table (and one bottle of a Mexican beer which he likes but is hard to find here in the fridge) to find when he got up.  Beyond that, it was a pretty normal day...except for the large singing group below our window (unrelated to his birthday, of course, but festive nonetheless).

Went to the store this morning and got the things to make Beef Goulash and Gnocchi.  Then we came home, ate lunch, and I put together the goulash to "stew" for a few hours.

Then, we went to pick up Albert's Amazon package (woohoo new shoes)!

I kept an eye on the goulash and read while Albert went out running and tried his new shoes.  After dinner, we celebrated with the brownies from yesterday - no new desserts until we get rid of the abundance of sugar already in our kitchen.  Birthday cake will have to wait!

This evening, when we took out the trash, we took a couple of things (including Albert's old shoes) out with us and sat them next to the dumpsters while we separated the recyclables.  Everything had been claimed before we even finished separating.  We don't really know of a formal equivalent to goodwill, but this informal system seems to work just fine.

February 8 - Sweet Friday

Holy Cow - another week in the books.  I can't believe how fast time is flying. 

This morning I made some caramel, roasted some pecans, and then baked some brownies with caramel pecan topping- it has been a while since I brought treats to class, and everyone was very appreciative.  Since I knew there would only be two other students in my class today, I only brought a dozen brownies (one for each teacher, one for each student, and a couple of extras).  They were gone quickly, and another dozen probably still wouldn't have been too many if I had brought them...which I should have.  Because now it is the weekend, and we have a dozen brownies tempting us.

After class, I took the metro across the bridge to the Carrefour to pick up a couple of things (like pepperoni) that I can't get anywhere else.  While I was there, I picked up everything to make a pineapple upside down cake for Albert.  (Even found a small jar of cherries to decorate the pineapple rings.)  The original idea was to make a pineapple upside down cake for his birthday tomorrow, but with the brownies and the milk duds that Kathy sent for his birthday, I think we have plenty of dessert for a while.  Maybe in a week or so....

I have a couple of small things for Albert's birthday, but all in all I expect it will be a pretty quiet day.  

February 7 - What Happened to that Room Full of Computers?

This morning, I finished up my homework.  I had to write a short paper.  I am not fast at the textbook style exercises, but I am really slow at this type of assignment.  In the end, it turned out ok.  I am definitely starting to use more complex grammatical structures and my vocabulary is improving - I just wish I could do it in real time  - that is to say, at the speed that normal people talk.

I left home at about 1:30 to attend the cultural event before class.  Today's event was a "tour" that highlighted the stories and legends of the Santa Cruz neighborhood.  The teacher really pushes for an interactive experience (ie not just listening, but speaking, writing, and reading as well).  There were a few really beginner students and a few basically fluent students (who are just brushing up) and a few of us in the middle.  I personally find reading, writing, listening, and talking with this very mixed group while navigating the narrow streets - too stressful.  I really like the woman who leads these, but I don't feel like I am getting much out of the activities.  I am not sure if I will go back next week....

On the other hand, we did see lots of interesting things....the orange tree growing out of the side of a palm tree, the crosses built into the side of a building, some interesting plaques, decorative squares, narrow streets, and romantic balconies...

And of course the curved corner stops to discourage drunks from urinating in the corners...

Back at school, there were only two students in my class again.  Class was difficult, but I enjoyed it very much.  However, about 20 minutes into class, one of the other teachers burst into our small class to let the teacher know that someone had just stolen all of the laptops (they had just been set up this week) out of a classroom.  They had a camera in the room, and when the police came they figured out by showing the thief's picture around that he had entered through the gym behind the school.  I guess there have been other burglaries in the building recently and there is some evidence that it was the same guy.  Nobody seemed too optimistic that they would catch the guy nor retrieve the laptops....  With the news, we only stopped class for a few minutes and then our break lasted about 5 minutes longer than normal as the teachers all met with the police - but all things considered, it didn't seem to affect people much.  I think property crimes are pretty common in Spain - but, of course, since nobody has guns - violent crimes are much less common.