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!)