Goodbye Spain, Hello USA

We came to Spain with many expectations, some were met and some not so much.  We expected that the kids would become more unified but based on this picture the day before returning where they chose to sit at separate tables while waiting for our dinner we still have some work to do.

We've learned many things by living in Spain besides the obvious Spanish, Spain and Europe history and geography, we've also learned to hold our breath for long periods of time through lengthy tunnels, over long bridges and past countless smokers.

I've learned how to bag my own groceries while fumbling through my deep set purse that I bought to discourage pick-pocketing. to pull out bags to bag with, to get out the shopping card, the store coupons, and money all while the cashier is just standing there waiting for me to pay.  I will not miss that!

We've also learned that we can leave our doors and windows open all night and our house won't be full of bugs. We can dry our clothes without a dryer, eggs can sit out for days and still be safe to eat, and about the same with cheese and yogurt.  We've also learned how to make many things from scratch that we could conveniently pick up at any market in the US.  The choices are very limited in the pre-made, frozen meal sections in Spain.  Frozen pizza and croquetas are about it.  

We've had to learn the metric system; liters at the gas tank, our speed in km, cooking with grams and liters etc.  It isn't so bad except when you are following a recipe that calls for Tbs, cups, fractions etc. and you're dealing with butter without measurement lines. I will not miss that!

Another thing we won't miss is the lack of a kitchen disposal or double sink or even one large enough for the faucet so the water wont splash all over when fully turned on.  




Although I am learning to enjoy olive oil and vinegar on my salads I am looking forward to at least having the option of Ranch style dressing.

We won't miss the lack of ice cream choices.  I've never been a fan of cookies & cream until moving here since it tastes a heck of a lot better than the alternatives- lemon, raisin, coffee, popcorn, nube or tutti frutti.   There are not a lot of soda choices either, just orange, lemon, lemon-lime and cola.  

I've never been tempted by the Spanish bakeries and thus will not miss them with the exception of the croissants and the fresh baked baguettes.

I will not miss the closing of the stores and businesses for 3-4 hours in the smack middle of the day. That time is often the most convenient time for me to go grocery shopping and it has been hard to get used to.  Also we will not miss the restaurant hours.  Lunch often isn't served until after 2 and dinner not until 8pm or later. 

Although it makes a great backdrop, the graffiti we will not miss!

We will not miss having to walk around all the dog poop. Considering the number of dogs, i guess it's not as bad as it could be.  I swear there are more dogs than kids here.

We won't miss the huge and complicated round-abouts.  Instead of traffic lights and street signs above and center when entering intersections and roundabouts, the traffic lights are lower on the right of the lanes; and the street signs on the nearest buildings are hard to see and often obscured by trees or people.

We won't miss these.  This represents just a handful of the adapters and transformers we used on a daily basis.  

I will not miss having to take the laundry from the lower level kitchen to the upstairs balcony to put it in the dryer even through rain, heat, wind or darkness.  



I will not miss the patio bar customers in our back yard late at night nor the construction going on in the early hours of the morning.  

This construction has been going on for months.  It began as a 5 story building and withing weeks it was turned to dust. Now they are rebuilding, which has meant months of pounding away so far.

There were only 4 bedrooms in our apartment so Kamree and Mason were sharing a room.  We lived in the top two floors of this apartment.  Kamree and Mason don't do so well sleeping in the same room so they took turns going to sleep on our bed and then being moved to the couch when we went to bed and then back to our bed  when Brent left for work.  It worked out okay but I will not miss it.  We are looking forward to more space.

We will not miss the lack of parking in Spain.  This is a government building where we have to go for our residence cards every year and even though they have room for plenty of parking, there is only a half empty parking lot just for employees.

Instead we have to walk twice the length of this building to our car. And this is just one example.

We never got accustomed to the main meat supply and will not miss the smell that it brought to each local grocery store.  

Will not miss this!

Or this!

I'm a little on the fence on this one.  In a way I won't miss seeing the homeless on every street making me feel guilt for not helping them all, but also it was a good daily reminder to be grateful for what we have.



The street performers were fun and so were these guys selling items attached to them with a string for quick getaway when the cops approached.  Sometimes we would see them standing there selling and other times darting across busy streets each with a white Santa bag.    They all became part of Spain; and we won't miss thinking about them when we remember Spain.

I will miss being able to walk to just about anywhere.  I just wish not everyone else in Spain always seemed to join me.  During the school year I spent a couple hours a day on my feet just walking to and from school 12 min each way and up to 4 times a day to pick up and drop off kids for school and lunch.  

As driving is scary in Madrid, I didn't drive, and I won't miss relying on Brent to drive us to the farther away places such as large parks, large shopping centers etc.

We (mostly the kids) will miss having Christmas Vacation til the 7th of January and getting to celebrate it twice with the addition of Three Kings day on the 6th of January.

I will miss the cobblestone streets found in the old area of every town, village or city even if some have been covered up.   

I will miss the architecture in Spain, including inside the gazillion churches.  They clearly don't spare expenses.

I will absolutely miss seeing history almost everywhere we go including these Roman ruins down in the subway.

We will sorely miss the beach and our endless possible road trips. We could drive to most parts of the Cantabrian or Mediterranean Sea within 3-4 hours.  

We will miss many amazing, unforgettable people.

Morgan has made many exceptional friends that he will miss.  I'm sure they will also miss him including muchas chicas.  

The parents of Kamree's two best friends have both said their daughters have cried since she left.  

Goodbye Spain, and- I will not miss their automatic locking doors, but I already miss our younger selves that arrived in Spain 3.5 years ago.

P.S.  Kamree will miss this!

The Start of Summer 2016

We began our summer (21st of June) with Morgan's graduation from 6th Grade.   Morgan's teacher has been quite impressed with Morgan's Spanish and character, he even mentioned him in his speech.   

The last day of school, all but Kaiya had their big class field trip. Kaiya only went to collect her books. Morgan and Mason both went to a multi-adventure park.  Kamree chose to forego her field trip to a farm to go to Faunia, an urban zoo, with me.   

Kamree and I rode the subway, which we nearly had to ourselves.  

 

Faunia is an interactive zoo and botanical garden organized into areas representing different ecosystems like the jungle, the Poles, African forests etc. 

Many of the exhibits could be entered to experience a more natural setting.

Some animals were able to be fed, and most were small.

They did boast of a large animal that is not often found in zoos. The Manatee on the right is the newborn.  

They had several interesting birds wandering the grounds along with us.  

Fortunately for Kamree and the birds she nearly had the place to herself.  

Cartegena and La Manga Spain

We decided to fit one last quick trip in before returning to the US.  (Flowers filled the center of the roadway for several kilometers)



We chose the Southeast corner of Spain since it was the only corner left untouched by us.  This picture is of the Mar Menor which is a sea that connects at the end of this several kilometer long peninsula to the Mediterranean Sea.  We could see the Mediterranean on the right and this sea on our left from our balcony.

In the background is our hotel with the beach just outside.  It may look empty but it wasn't for long.  

This is what it looked like most of the day.  

The water was great because it was shallow quite far out compared to most beaches and the temperature was perfect, not too warm and not too cold.  Kamree and Mason normally spend most of their time playing in the sand, but this time they joined us out in the waves.  

The first evening we watched fireworks from our balcony and the next morning an airshow from the beach.




And when the kids had had enough sand this is where they would go.

Cartagena

The first afternoon we drove from our hotel in La Manga to Cartagena for our last chance at seeing some good ole Spanish history.

Cartagena has been inhabited for more than 2000 years being re-founded around 227 BC by the Carthaginians from Carthage.  I'm not sure if the jet was meant to appear to be aimed directly at that ancient wall running along the hilltop. 

The city was well known during the Roman Empire when it was known as Carthago Nova meaning the new Carthage. Pictured are the remains of Roman baths, banquet rooms etc. 

Cartagena had long been a coveted defensive port, being one of the most important in the western Mediterranean, but it's biggest claim to fame is the connection with Hannibal who left from here with his 40 elephants to cross the Alps in a strategic move to surprise the Romans in Rome.  



After parking in the center of Cartagena we rode up this elevator past an old bull stadium to a castle to get some views of the city.  

The castle was not photo worthy, but this beauty was.

This is the 2nd largest Roman theatre (the one on the right) found in Spain. Thanks to the strategic position this port has on the Mediterranean coast, it has been inhabited by several cultures including the Phoenicians, the Byzantines, the Romans, the Carthaginians the Visigoths, the Muslims, Gypsies, and the current Spaniards.   

It amazes me how many ruins are buried under modern and other historic buildings in these historic towns. 

Like most kids, our kids love to climb trees, branches to clarify, but in this case the roots were just as fun.  This tree, near our car, was in the minds of our kids as we wondered through Cartegena, We made them wait until we were on our way back to the car.    

Near our hotel was this ginormous ceramic shop that had a plethora of ceramics. I was standing in the middle of the store taking this picture there was room after room in each direction. It seemed endless. 

We had planned to visit one last Spanish castle on our way home and chose the Belmonte castle constructed in 1456. 

We got to experience our last drive up an old narrow winding, cobble stone road to the top of the hill where the castle sits.

This 15th century castle is situated in the midst of "Quijote's Road". In the distance on the other hilltops you can see a couple of the many windmills surrounding the castle.  


A close-up.

Once paying the fee to enter, we were giving access to nearly every corner of the castle which is not generally the case.  The red brick walls are 19th century additions.

We climbed to the highest tower and descended to the dungeons in the deep. This castle is one of the best preserved castles in Spain and has seen historical battles, was a royal lodge to the catholic monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, and has been the setting for several movies including "El Cid" with Charlton Heston and Sofia Loren

From the ceilings to the flooring it was extravagant from room to room,

...with the exception of this room.

Morgan's way of saying goodbye.

Goodbye to likely our last European castle ever!

Well it is Spain so we can never be sure until we are physically out of Spain!  This was about 1/2 hour farther along our drive home and we would have driven up to it had our car's turbo not been going out.