Siete horas

Hello darlings! We lost our second game in a row tonight. Grrrr. I hate losing. It´s one thing when it´s a hard fought battle, and this was, to an extent. But, it´s another when you could have won. We just couldn´t make things work tonight. No flow on offense and the other team didn´t seem to want to miss many shots. There were moments where we didn´t block out or made stupid fouls or rushed decisions (my hand is up on that last one), but really, it just didn´t feel like we played our game tonight. There were about 6 minutes at the end of the second quarter where we went hard and came back to take the lead before halftime, but we ended losing by 6 or 8. I don´t wanna lose anymore, no fun!

The kids came to the game and Kim and Em and Jessica as well. I had quite a fan club, which was nice. Right after the game, the kids came running up to me and said, "Darby! You lost, ha ha ha!" Aren´t they precious? I think the next time Alexis has a game I´ll go and heckle him or run out and block his shot in the middle of play. Or maybe when Louise has a concert, I´ll bring some really crunchy chips and chew them while she sings or make fart noises with my hand and armpit. Seriously though, it was nice to have them there. I´m glad they got to see me play and at halftime Louise yelled down that I was doing well.

It´s been about a week alone with the kids and I have one more to go. They´ve been pretty good, but it´s draining. I never knew how much it takes out of you to tell someone to do something so many times before they actually do it. Mom, I´m sorry I didn´t rinse and load better or take my basketball bag upstairs like I was supposed to. Kim even asked them if they missed their parents today and they said no. That made me glad because I feel like I´ve been firm this time, but it sounds like they have had enough fun to forget about missing their parents too much.

The Oscars are tonight. How I will miss them! The 5 hours of red carpet interviews and the most important question of the night, "who are you wearing?" Joan and Melissa will be in my heart. Joan is such a bitch about how everyone looks and Melissa tries to be professional, but we all know she´s trashy too. I mean damn ladies, you don´t look so great yourselves. Especially Joan, her clothes always seem to be sagging off like frosting melting off of a cake. I´ll miss all the awards being handed out and the speeches and the happy faces. I hope there´s another Adrian Brody/Halle Barry moment this year, I loved that. Dip kisses are the best! I wish I could have seen more of the films this year, but it´s a small price to pay, since I´m here. I hope I can find some clips on the web. Let me know how it goes if you watch.

I have a blog I want to do on SE Navarra still, sorry it´s taking so long, but I just want to veg in my free time. Wow, I hope I´m not like this when I´m a mom... yikes stripes! Lovins all around.

Sidra: Nothing like cider

Saturday night we had a basketball game. In Gernika. And no, it does not look anything like this.

I played better, so I feel better about contributing, but we lost. My first loss with this team. One of my secret goals was not to lose a game with this team and have us go undi from the time I could play. Oh well. It was a battle the whole way and really physical. The horn wasn´t working for most of the game and not going off when time ran out. It was 53 to 53 with 3 seconds left and the other team had the ball. A girl shot from the middle of the key and made one, but we have no idea if time had run out or not because the buzzer didn´t go. Lame-osa. Everyone was pretty disappointed. Here´s a blurb about it in Noticias de Navarra. We are Valsay-Ardoi under 1a Femenina on the right hand side. The article´s pretty general, so maybe not worth getting your Spanish speaking friends to translate for you.

The more important part of my night actually came after the game. I went to my first sidreria. It was up on a hilltop, away from most things, near San Sebastian. We had to walk a quarter of a mile to get there because our bus couldn´t make it up the hill. We seemed to be in a neighborhood until the street opened onto a big parking lot with a huge, stucco building in the center. All was quiet until we opened the door and light flooded out on us and the loud clanging of plates on forks and the scraping of chairs on floors greeted us. The inside of the building looked like what I imagine the mead hall in Grendel might: midevil, thick, long, wooden tables and low hung chandeliers; people laughing and hugging everywhere; costumes... the costumes were actually because it´s carnival in many pueblos around here. Anyhow, it was quite the beer hall.

The deal at sidrerias is that you pay a lump sum and get a huge meal and as much sidra as you can drink. I´ve linked to sidra before, but here´s another one to refresh you with some info. It´s basically super fermented apple juice that has a hint of olive juice, to me. But, it´s all apple. Anyhow, our table was right near the door to the sidra room, which is kept there in 20 foot high barrels and given out through a tap that shoots it across the room. Pic time...

These are the huge kegs. It was near the end of the night, so there weren´t many people back there at this point. When we first came in, we had to push and shove our way to the tap. There´s a little man who stands in there working the tap and shoots it out for you when you hold your glass up. Of course, sidra gets in your cup, on your hand and on the floor. If I was more experienced, maybe not my hand.Here´s is one of the sidra flying from the tap into the glass. As you read, it needs this air to be in fine form. I know, it looks like pee. And, I´m not sure what pee tastes like, but this might be close to that flavor. Sadly, it grows on you ; )

The meal was great too! We started off with a bacalao tortilla (basically a fish omlette) and then they brought actual fried bacalao with onions and peppers. The big part of the meal was the chuletón which is just a huge ass steak. We ate two of them between the me and the three other girls sitting near me. So delicious and the soppy was to die for. Here´s a picture of Maria getting the last few pieces of meat off for Leyre (notice: no soppy on the plate because I had already gotten it all!!!)...This next one is my favorite picture of our whole team. At the table clockwise from the left/front: Ruben (ass. coach), Edurne, Leyre, Leyre (there are actually 3, but just 2 here), Anna, Garazi, Iñaki (head coach and king of awesomeness), some girl I don´t know, Patri, Maria, me, Pui (she wasn´t ready for this one...).We had such fun! In the middle of chuletón, some of the costumed folks busted out drums and played drumline music for like a half an hour. We all went up and watched and danced around. Garazi got right in the middle and shook her thang. It was hilarious. By the end of the night Iñaki had her trying to break walnuts on the table with her forehead. I got a shot of that on my phone, but not one for the blog, sorry. But, here´s one of the drumline...

I really want to tell you all more about the night, but I´m afraid I´m going to have to stop here. I´ve been getting too many comments about being the new family drunk. Just know that I think I have a true bond with my team now and it was so much fun to hang out with them all night and get to know them better. I understood a lot of spanish and spoke a lot too. I´m not gonna curse myself by saying it´s so much better but it was a great night. Besos.

Nah much

Hi fam and friends!

I´m still a little ill and have been resting up most of the week, so my posting still isn´t great. I went to the doctor and they told me to take this drug called "flutox". I´ve been on it for two days and I just feel worse: more stuffed up, achey chest. I was talking with Iñaki today and he informed me that flutox makes it so you have more mucus to clean out your system. So, that´s why I feel worse I guess. Sort of like a flu shot, huh? Well this better work.

I also bought an orange sweatshirt this week. This may seem like small potatoes to you, but when I find something in a shade of orange that I don´t own and it has a hood, I just can´t stop myself. Plus, it fits great and it makes me feel cheerful. I´m wearing it now. Dad, it´s that same color as the Starter one that you have with the pockets in it. You´ll have to bring it when you come and we can orange sweatshirt it together in Darblona. Mine has a joey pocket though and says "Amberton -99-07- Property" on it. This makes it a little extra great because that statement doesn´t really make sense. At home we´d have "Property CCHS" or something, so that´s backwards and who is at a school for 8 years except dum-dums? So, maybe they did it on purpose and it´s a sweatshirt for dumb people who can´t finish high school. I dunno. More research must be done.

I bought a bunch of OJ, some spinach and cough drops yesterday and rented a bunch of movies. Other than my game today, I´ll be here, orange sweatshirt on, drinking OJ, eating spinach, taking shots of flutox and watching flicks. A great day with or without being sick I think. Accept maybe for the flutox. Kisses!

Doo-dads and such

This weekend it was just the kids and me. Emily was a saint and babysat two nights in a row so I could go to practice and then my game on Saturday in Logroño. We won (yupee!), but I´m still sort of sucking it up. All that talk about me being so good at basketball in Spain is coming back to bite me in the ass. Why must I be so high strung... WHY?! As it turns out, I´m ok at practicing basketball, but not too fabulous playing in the games. Still getting used to things.

A win is a win and I´m so glad we´re doing well. The game in Logroño was interesting. The gym was sooooooo cold. During the 3rd quarter, I looked up and saw some of our players´ breath clouds as they jogged down the court. We started off slow, but got rolling during the second quarter and held the lead for the rest of the game. At one point a girl from the other team went down with an injury (which I probably caused because I always seem to!). It wasn´t funny at the time, but when I think back about it, she was yelling, "mi culo, mi culo!" Which means, "my butt, my butt!" I think she was charlie horsed by a knee yet to be named.

Afterwards we got to go to a huge dinner. As you know, dinner is not just a quick thing over here, we were in the restaurant for almost 2 hours! We had bread with various jámons and pátes followed by a mista (I think) salad, which has tuna, an egg, tomato and white asparagus with some lettuce. It´s yummy. Then some croquettas, which are just fried things. These ones were chorizo, sort of a creamy hush puppy type thing, jámon and cheese and calamari (which, mom and Whit, are better here than at the place we had them in little Italy).

Then came the main course, which was just some type of meat with fries. I had the pork. The girls asked me how to say lomo (pork) in english and I told them. They said I sounded like I was talking with a ball in my mouth. That´s quite an accurate description I think. I sound like I have a ball in my mouth during my "r" pronunciation and they sound like their tongues are made of springs when they pronounce it. It´s so funny, when they immitate what I´m saying, I always sound a little mentally challanged from their perspective. I know they don´t know they´re doing it, but American english does sound quite clunky when you think of all the rolling "r"s and throaty "j"s they´re throwing out over here.

Anyhow, it´s still tough to follow conversations in restaurants, so my dinner was fairly quiet, but nice. Sarah´s 4-year-old sister Elena was there and I got to play with her a little bit, so that was entertaining. Kakun kept trying to get her to say "Hi, how are you?" to me and she did a few times, it was cute. But then she got comfortable with me and started talking to me in full Spanish sentences. A couple times I just had to look at her and smile widely and nod because I had no idea what she had said. How great is that? A 4-year-old would beat me in a Spanish-B. Maybe she could come to practice and we could strap her to my back and she could translate things for me before each play?

I did get to have a short little conversation with Pau, our awesome center who´s only 19 and I can´t tell if she gives a crap if she does well or not sometimes. She´s a sweet girl, but lazy and it drives me insane on the court. Especially because she´s pretty good and if she worked harder in practice, there´s no telling what she could do. But, I dunno, basketball is a whole different game in Pamplona. Hard work in practice might throw her off. Anyway, we just small talked it up. She now knows I have a brother and sister and that I´m an au pair, etc. I found out she´s actually in beauty school right now. I think that is so cool. How fun would it be to do people´s hair and chat all day? And, she´s learning massage techniques as well. I think that would be a fun job, as long as you didn´t get weirdos coming to your massage parlor, which is probably inevitable. Anyhow, I´m getting to know them one player at a time.

The rest of the weekend was spent with the kids. I was more of a hard ass this time and made the kids do the things I told them like loading their dishes and cleaning up after themselves more. Last night Alexis came up to my room, the second night in a row, saying "I had a bad dream, can you help me fix my bed?" I was terrified both times that he´d peed, but no, his covers were just messed up and he´s too small to make his bed back up again. But, last night, he came upstairs twice and the second time he was all shaky and just said, "Darby, I´m scared of something and I don´t know what." I love how he can be so honest sometimes. I made him a little bed next to mine on the floor and he slept upstairs next to me for the rest of the night. He better not get used to it though!

So, not such an exciting weekend as those passed, but that´s how it goes sometimes. I hope all is well back home. I´m thinking of you all everyday. Peace, Love, Darbo.

Make it pink... make it... red?

I have a question for all you folks who sometimes peruse my blog. What color do you think the fabric in this picture is??? A simple "pink" or "red" will do. Your input is more important than you know... email me: darbycave@yahoo.com

The compliment

Last night the kids and I were around the dinner table as usual. Catherine was up and about pouring, serving and making sure bellies were being filled. She said something about how the kids had to get their homework done this weekend while she and Patrick are gone. Alexis immediately said, "that means Darby too!" Catherine said, "no Alexis, Darby is an adult." Alexis said, "no, she´s a kid... in her head!"

I answered with, "well, I´m a kid in my heart," but that´s basically what he meant. Not that I have the IQ of a kid, just that I think like one. Adults have commented that I´ve got a "childlikeness" before, but I´ve never heard it from an expert, a kid himself. I´m so glad he thinks of me as one of his own, on his level. I´m in! Just wanted to share... Lovies.

Mascara

For some reason the mascara here in Spain costs a million and a half dollars a tube. Since it´s pretty much the only makeup I wear, this is quite unfortunate for me. A wise old owl told me it´s because of the brand name... ie: Loreal. "It´s from France!" the makeup knowledgable said. Hmm, Loreal? Not so fancy. It doesn´t have a counter at Nordstrom I don´t think.


Well, here´s a shot of a tube of sooped up Loreal mascara from Spain...

17.25 euros translates to 22.46 dollars. Can you believe that?!? If anyone gets a chance, feel free to send me some sort of volumizing black mascara. I think I got my last tube at Target for like 4 bucks. It´s Loreal too, not this one, but Panoramic Curl.

Anyhow, I had to vent. Pics from my little trip around SE Navarra, I hope to post next week after my weekend alone with the kids, dun, dun, duh!

San Sebastian

I started writing this last week...

I had a fabulous Sunday. I woke up late after a night out with some of Kim´s government friends. Great folks. I understood so much of the conversation at dinner, I was shocked at myself. And, a gal named Mercedes and I talked about old American movies for a long time... in Spanish baby, yeah. Eres muy buena Darby!

So, Sunday, we headed to San Sebastian and spent the day. They are famous for their pinchos, so we got there around 2:30 and hit the bars. The pinchos, basically fancy little snacks, are laid out across the bars and you just take what you want to eat and tell them how many you had after and pay.

They have two typical drinks there, Chacolí and Sidra. I think the Sidra tastes like olive juice and isn´t terrible. I looooooove the chacolí though. Depending on the pincho you choose, either could be great.

I´m trying to remember all the snacks we had... there were lots of slices of baguette with various fish salads on them, hot peppers with anchovis and olives on a toothpick, hushpuppies stuffed with different meat mixtures, octopus, pork and beef scewers and tiny tiny desserts that came with the tastiest little baked apple thing. It was quite an experience. Here´s a shot of me standing at one of the bars. For some reason I looked faded, but I swear, this time, I wasn´t...

Now, some pictures I took after our bellies were about to pop... this is a gazebo in town that I liked. I think making sure the purple flowers were in the shot really makes it pop, don´t you?

Here are a few of the coastline along the Bay of Biscay...

Gorgeous huh? We caught it on a grey day and I still thought it was beautiful. I´m going back this summer for sure! Here´s a shot of the city´s saint. A huge statue of Hay-soos watching over from a hilltop...

Here´s me fishing with some pros on the beach. Can´t you tell i´ve done this before? Once...

Here´s me again (wow I´m egocentric) in front of a gaggle of boats... can you imagine how pretty it would be in the summer? Well, I´ll let you know when I come back...

These little geisers you see shooting out of the ground are from the sea. There are 7 holes in the stone boardwalk (stone boardwalk, I know) and they sort of give the water a little air and a fun spritz for anyone who walks by at an opportune moment...

We also checked out a men´s professional basketball game. It was neat to see the stadium and the differences between fans here and at home. Here´s a shot from our seats...

This was way before the game even started. It was packed by gametime. It was interesting that Iñaki thought these were terrible seats because at home at a pro game, these are pretty good. I´d say the skill level was about that of a D2 college team, lower level D1.

Sorry this is mostly pictures, but I´m not my usual fast talkin´self with this damn bug in my bod. I hope you enjoyed the slide show anyway.