casacollins

Hi there! Here are some photos of some things we thought you might like to see.

The top photo is on the highway after our car broke down while Mark was in Tokyo. Tricky thing to remember to ask the gas station man for diesel when you're concentrating on how to say 30 euros in Spanish. Anyway, the car rolled to a halt on the highway to Malaga. Luckily (as is always the case) Sandra, Tony and family came to the rescue. We were behind them anticipating a great trip to the beach when all this happened. Tony called for the tow truck and everything went smoothly from then on. I'm telling you, he and Sandra are like Batman and Robin--Our own personal superheroes. They teach us everything and seem to come to our rescue whenever we're totally lost (literally and figuratively!).

Anyway, we made it to the beach a couple of hours later and had a great time with the Lozanos! The second photo is at a hog farm with the Lozanos and Sandra's dad. We went there (for fun!) to pick up Alina from a birthday party. Notice Lucy holding her nose! It was a stinky operation, but really cool to see. We saw two sows giving birth and we saw the 10 male pigs who artificially "sire" the hundreds of females to produce the thousands of pigs they raise for...you guessed it...JAMON!
This gives a whole new meaning to ham for all of us, I think!

Next we have our friend Susan who came to visit while Mark was in Japan! Our first house guest! We had a great time and the kids and I were so thrilled to see her. We were glad to hear about news from Evanston and to hear that everything at home is going along as if we were never gone. This is a pic of her at the Alhambra Palace overlooking the Albaycin (old arab neighborhood). She and I had a great time sightseeing and shopping together. Nothing like a terrific friend to lift our spirits while Mark was away.

The photo of the maze looking fort is the Alcazaba fortress part of the Alhambra Palace complex. Of course, the Moors and then the Catholics needed to protect their palace so here's where the guys did that. The "walls" on the interior divided the various types of buildings according to their use: residential, storage, etc. Very cool.

Then we have a photo of Wynne with her special fan. Women seem to use these a lot in the warmer weather (100 degrees in the summer). The weather here has been excellent. We've probably had only 7 days of rain since August and the skies are usually clear and blue. Here it is the end of October and it gets up in the 70s every afternoon still. We love it. The nights are cool and perfect for discouraging too many insects.

In other news, Mark comes home tomorrow after a fabulous experience in Japan! He met a famous architect that he has studies and whose work he has taught, Yoshio Taniguchi, who did the new MOMA in NYC. Pretty special. He also had a great home say with a nice family. The Fulbright Fund Japan Program brought 100 teachers from all over the US to Japan to learn about their culture and educational system. We hope he learned a lot and can't wait to see him!!!

We are gearing up for a Halloween Party we're having with some friends here. Sandra, kids and I planned it and the kids are pretty excited. Halloween is not usually celebrated here, but yesterday at school they had a big day of costumes and parties. The 31st promises to be more of the same with apple bobbing and gore and blood. Spoooooooooooooooky! We do miss all the fun we have at home during this crazy holiday, but trying to learn to appreciate what we have/had.

All for now, we're off to make waffles because Resa sent Aunt Jemima syrup and Susan replaced our burned out converter with a new Radio Shack model...nothing like fresh waffles on a Saturday morning!!!

TTFN! (Tata for now!)

The first photo is of the "canyon" in Alahama de Granada. So beautiful!

Photo 2--Mary and Kids in Cave in Nerja. Tricky flash work. The caves looked like something out of a fairy tale or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!

Photo 3--Beach near Nerja. Awesome vistas. So relaxing. The Mediterranean!

Photo 5 (out of sequence)--Sailing area/club near our development where Ian took Mark, Lydia, Alina and Lucy (2 of Sandra and Tonio's girls) sailing.


Photo 4--Jenny, Blair, Mark, Wynne, Lydia and Reed outside our front door. So glad to have visitors!

Can't seem to figure out how to turn those vertical photos. Hmmm...Anyone?

Wow! Sept 20 was a long time ago. Thanks for checking in again. I had a little lapse in concentration, but I'm back and raring to go...

Okay, so what's been happening since the whole Squids entry? Well, the kids are doing a great job adjusting. Lydia and Reed are eating all their food at lunch (dinner at school) and that is a significant topic of conversation for all of us after school. Wynne still picks and picks, but has actually come home with reports that she has eaten all three "platos" (courses--consisting of a soup/salad, main dish and dessert of fruit or yogurt). I love that her kindergarten teacher has a little report book for each child and writes a few sentences about how their day went and has a special section just to report on food consumption! I'm telling you, the food here is a big deal. I'm not sure if it's because it's so different (the food culture) from the US or if they're just into food. I guess food is a big deal in the US too. It's just that meals and mealtimes are an important gathering time for people. I love it!

We are slowly adjusting to the Spanish timetable of eating a small dinner late at night and bigger lunch at around 2. That's actually been easier than we thought. All we do is hang around, chatting with whoever is around and then all of a sudden we realize we haven't eaten and it's 8 pm. We put something simple together and we're off! The biggest challenge is to get the kids to bed at a decent hour so they can get up in time for a 9:20 start at school.

Speaking of school, it has gotten better. Everyone has made friends and has begun to learn some Spanish words and phrases. The teachers know more now about the kids' levels of understanding (Spanish) and are accommodating them well.
The hardest part really is the long day. The kids walk out of school pretty wilted. Wynne especially. After having played on the dusty playground for a good hour, she looks like some character right out of the "Grapes of Wrath"! Poor thing. The kids have to wear these lab coats (in the upper elementary grades) and smocks (in kindergarten) to protect their clothes. It's strange for us at first, but actually a great idea! (less laundry) We're measuring Wynne's happiness right now by the amount of dust and dirt on her little smock. By the looks of it, she's having a blast.

The kids are all making friends--even with kids who don't speak a lot of English! All three kids had birthday parties to go to a couple weeks ago, which was really nice. The birthday parties were similar to many in the US--lots of kids, sugar and presents. Some things are universal. We've had two very social weekends with friends over to inaugurate our ham leg (I'm working on getting a photo with Mark and Antonio), a visit with Wynne's Evanston day camp counselor here for study abroad, and a spontaneous gathering at our casa last Friday with Sandra, her parents visiting from England, 2 of Sandra's daughers, Ian (British neighbor) and his wife, Margarita (English teacher) and their two kids. We lucked out because we had just been to Al Campo (huge Wal-mart type of place with a gigantic supermarket) and bought enough food to feed an army! Whew! Plus, because it was "dinner" time here no one ate a big meal because presumably everyone did that at 2 p.m. Ian and Margarita brought a fair amount of food as well! In any case, the company was by far more important than the food and drinks, but we were so happy to be with our new friends. Another time that weekend we went for a great walk with some Granada College friends (Californians-Jenny/mom and daughters Sasha and Amanda) nearby and down by the lake adjacent to our development. Really fun to get out and walk and chat! We are so lucky to have the friends and family we have in our lives--"es verdad" (It's the truth).

As far as excursions go, we have had some good ones lately. Mark and I went to a little town called Alhama de Granada. He found it in some guidebook and decided we should go exploring. It was beautiful. We went while the kids were in school, which was actually nice! The main attraction is this church that is made up of several different kinds of architecture (gothic, romanesque, baroque) because everyone had to make their mark. It's a small town situated on the edge of this picturesque canyon. Lots of little cafes and houses, winding streets and plazas. Then last weekend we took the kids to the caves in Nerja which is about an hour away on the Mediteranean coast. The caves were discovered in 1959 by two boys who were chasing bats! The caves have these enormous stalacmite and stalagtite formations that stretch to about 32 meters in height! Really impressive! The whole cave complex is 4 km long! Can you imagine accidentally stumbling upon a 5 million year old cave while running around with your buddy?! Very cool. I guess one of the boys grew up to be the owner of a nearby restaurant.

After the caves we had paella at a restaurant on the beach and then went for a swim. October 2 and we're swimming in the ocean! Love it. The kids (Wynne and Reed) were really "impressed" with the topless sunbathers they spotted! It was great to be relaxing on the sand, building sandcastles and feeling like summertime!

I started Spanish class this week and really like it a lot. My teacher, Pilar, is in her 30s, very animated, uses non-verbal communication well and only speaks in Spanish to us! I can't believe I understand her. The other 2 students are 23 years old and from Finland and Oklahoma. Wow. I'm 16 years older than my classmates! Oh well...We're all beginners. We talk about politics, food, roommates (kids and hubby) and restaurants--of course! It's 3 hours a day for 2 weeks. By the time this first class is over it will be time for our wonderful friend, Susan, to visit!

In the meantime we've had our first visitors! Jenny and cousin Blair Collins are here from California! How great is that? We've mostly enjoyed hanging out. They're at the Alhambra tonight and are here for a few days whilst on a whirlwind tour of southern Spain. We're all so happy to see them and spend time with family. Nothing like it. See the cute photo. We laughed a lot with them. They seem to be liking ham enough to be comfortable here. I think they are well adjusted to the low-key lifestyle and appreciate the pleasures of walking on the bustling streets of Granada! So much to see!

Big news for all of us...Mark left for Japan this morning. He's in Evanston for 2 days and then Japan for 3 weeks then back in Evanston for 2 more days. Pretty nice. We'll see him again in the end of October which is a long time for all of us, but this Fulbright Fund program is so awesome for him. We can't wait to read his e-mails and hopefully talk to him a few times (a week?) while he's there. We'll keep you posted.

All for now. It's 8 pm and the kids and I are going to the restaurant in our development with Sandra and Antonio's family and grandparents for a little something.

I'll write more this coming week.

In the meantime, hope you are well, happy, and having a better day!