Oct 2007

September 10, 2007 to …today, October 20, 2007...no news is great news!

~As of September 16, 2007, I’ve been in Spain for two months. Two of these days produced a little rain…the other 59 have been sunny and blue skied. It’s because I brought an umbrella. If you have an oily complexion, this is a great country in which to dry out!

~Of course, the day I wrote the above entry we had a wild thunderstorm in the middle of the night. Living in a valley amongst mountains creates an amplified sound effect. Carb who is a “scaredy cat” in the normalest of storm conditions…well, I don’t know the technical term for “fear of thunderstorms” or “fear of loud noises like vacuum cleaners”. Gas, on the other hand, suffers from “fear of plastic shopping bags”.

~Carb has taken to liking showers…we have no bathtub here. He also likes to be vacuumed with the quiet, hardly-sucking, low wattage vacuum like appliance.

~Good news…I found part-time (7 hours/week-he he he) TESL work (Teaching English as a Second Language) and Baking Soda (in the soft drink section of the remaining grocery store to be explored in Jaca)! Finding work and cooking/baking are truly like a scavenger hunt here!

~Clay floors are wonderfully easy to keep clean…if you can tell they are dirty in the first place! My floors are a mottled terracotta colour, the same colour tone as regurgitated dry cat food, that’s no longer dry. Gotta watch where you’re stepping amongst two hairball-proned cats though! Clay is slippery when wet!

~Haven’t had to buy a can opener yet…not because I can’t say it in Spanish (abrelatas), but because most canned goods here have the pull-off lids! How cool is that!

~So Mac, my buddy, accepts Spanish formatted DVDs. I’ve now memorized the 1st three Harry Potter movies in both Spanish and English. Words like witch, spells and magic are practical when you live in the heart of a Gypsy neighbourhood. I don’t know about my control of the Spanish language…but my British accent is certainly improving!

~One of my greatest adult desired goals in life has been to be or become wise! My mom was probably the wisest woman/person I have ever known. I know wisdom does not arise from formal education, but from practicing life, picking up common sense and the ability to rationalize. Experiencing various lives by changing its familiar patterns, taking calculated risks, and making mistakes make one wise. Being observant through all the senses, an efficient listener being utmost. I have been called a “wise woman”, and this is the most distinguished compliment I could ever hope to receive…but I know I still have a lot more experiencing to do before I feel I have truly achieved my goal. Part of the reason why I’m here!

~I have no real “To Do” list here this year. I’m not accustomed to wandering aimlessly…but I like it!

~I love countries that promote Siestas!

~Canadians take note…the Spanish have designed a plastic grocery bag that can successfully later be used for a garbage bag! (No holes!)

~Towels hung to dry on a clothesline are excellent defoliators!

~If you’re not “on” Facebook (www.facebook.com) and you don’t want to be…then you can read both Lauren and my Blogs or updates on www.travellerspoint.com. This is a very cool information sharing utility for anyone who likes or wants to travel anywhere, anyhow, anytime. Even if it’s simply a 2 week holiday somewhere, just put it “out there” and you’ll receive oodles of feedback of great places to eat, stay and/or visit. Fellow travellers will share their experiences, the good, the bad and the funny. You’ll discover the stuff not found in travel books. Lauren doesn’t email her updates so Facebook or Travellerspoint are your route of reading about her journey! She also bought herself a cell phone: +44 799 090 31 54 and her email address is: lauren__mccormick@hotmail.com (2 underscores).

~Have you ever played the memory game? You know, the one where a bunch of objects are placed on a table, something is removed, then you have to guess which object isn’t there…well, a friend just asked me for a list of grocery items that I can’t purchase here, things she could possibly send me…and now I’m trying to remember what’s missing in this country’s grocery stores!

~I’ve got to stop cooking and especially baking so much…my clothes are starting to fit again!

~As I age, I find if I don’t wear my glasses when I clean mi casa, then I don’t have to clean as hard!

~Carb has a new cat toy…it’s a rug. It’s quite pathetic to watch actually. He sits on his mat and flicks up the edges with his paw…for hours on end! It cost me 60 centimos…cheaper than those fake furry mice that accumulate under the sofa that I’m forever having to move in order to retrieve them. Gas’ favourite pastime is jumping out of my bedroom window, in the middle of the night. He can’t reverse the jump, as the terraza is substantially lower than my bedroom…so he meows at the backdoor until he disturbs my sleep. He likes this game! As screens don’t exist in windows here, my choices are few. So, the first night I closed the window, I awoke to the sound of Gas’ head reverberating off the window pane! He only played that game once! His other favourite pastime is sitting in the bathroom and staring at the ceiling which is mirrored, and meowing at his reflection. It’s apparent they are quite missing the freedom of the great outdoors…and that they are quite psychotic!

Besos y abrazos xoxo Dana