I´m not even going to apologize for not writing. So much has happened since my last blog. The biggest and saddest is that my first boyfriend/love/best friend that was a boy passed away this month. Of course, anyone who reads this blog knows him as Dave. He was only 28 years old and it is a tragedy. I can´t believe he´s gone, but at the same time, it´s hard to know he is because I haven´t been home yet. My feelings about him and how special he was are too personal to write in a blog, but I will always love him and miss him. Really, I don´t think he´d want me to write anything about him on the net, as he hated it when someone could type his name in google and get a hit, but I had to put something because it would be disrespectful to the time we spent together not to recognize it and let you all know.
Moving on, as he´d have liked... mom and dad and Whit just left from a week long visit with me. We were in Barcelona for a few days and then in Pamplona. I lost my camera just before they came, so Whit has all the pictures on her camera and I forgot to upload them. Mom took a bunch of video too. One of my favorite clips includes dad giving us a spanish lesson. It came up because before they left for Spain from Norway, dad mentioned to Whitney that he knew some spanish and remembered taking it in high school. Whit sort of laughed and said, "oh yeah? Like what?" dad says to her, "cómo está?!" And, it goes on from there.
Whitney and I also discovered that our beds were those adjustable kind with a remote when we went to sleep the first night. We had races with them and pretended to be invalids, which is also on video. We saw so many things! Here are some links for more info and pictures: Park Guell, Sagrada Familia, Mercado Boqueria, The Picasso Museum, all the Olympic stuff... I dunno, links lists are sort of lame. It was a fabulous time though.
When we got home to Pamplona, My French family met my American family and it was all wonderful. Whit and I went to practice together Monday night and left mom and dad to Catherine and her French champagne. My coaches and teammates enjoyed watching me get pissed when she´d kick my ass. Yosu wants Whit to come play here next year so he had a huge talk with us about character and good people and how the club is such a family. He must have pinched my face and grabbed the back of my neck like 5000 times! Don´t touch yoyo!
I took the folks and Whit to San Sebastian on Tuesday and we walked all over in the rain and had pinchos. It was a nice day other than the weather. Tuesday night we went out and had a beer with Kim and Iñaki and played some pool, that was fun. Wednesday was sort a late start and we mostly just shopped around the mall and had lunch. Wednesday night I had a game and everyone got to come! It was so fun and we won big time. Yosu tried to work his magic again by buying mom and Whit a tortilla at halftime and giving Whit a few armpit hugs... didn´t work. On Thursday I went to class and walked the fam all over downtown Pamplona. Mom did some mother of the groom dress shopping and we had lunch at Bar Iruña, which is a cool old one where Hemmingway used to hang. He actually mentions it in The Sun Also Rises. Thursday night we had beers at the Australian bar with alligator stools. Friday morning, it was time to get ready to go. I dropped mom and dad at the bus station at 1. I still don´t know if their travel was seamless. I dropped Whit at the train at 6:30 ish and that was that.
I was a little stressed while they were here and it made me a little grouchy. I hope they had fun even when I wasn´t being so fun. Now that they´re gone, I can´t believe it, too quick. But, it´s good to have some catch up time now.
Next week I´m heading to Cadiz, maybe a day in Sevilla and then on to Valencia, during Semana Santa. I´m hoping for lots of sun and a nice tan by the time I get back.
I hope all is well back home. Give mom and dad a call for a private viewing of our trip on mom´s new camera. Who knows, you may all be getting a DVD of it in the mail, knowing mom and her excitement for new electronic gadgets! Love, love, love you all!
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Free at last! Free at last!...
... Thank God almighty, I´m free at last! I, also, have a dream... anyhow, the kids are gone! I thought these last two weeks would mean more blogging because I couldn´t go out and hang at night, but no. I searched for tickets home in July and did a little research on a trip to Sevilla and Valencia, but that´s it. I had dishes to clean, snacks to make, and kids to take to school in the morning. Catherine called yesterday and said that Max (their older brother) would be taking the kids to France Saturday night for some time togetehr Sunday. I´m so glad I get a surprise day off!
First, I attempted to make grandpa Jim´s potatoes, but they´re just not the same without him. I used red onions and yellow potatoes, because that´s all I had. Honestly, anything to do with potatoes, salt and oil, is usually pretty yummy in my book. I also tried to fry an egg, which I´m usually pretty good at, but I didn´t have a clean spatula and was forced to use a cake froster to try and flip. The yoke broke and I wanted it runny, so I just slapped it on my plate really fast. The color is nice though, huh? Grandpa always tells me he married grandma Mary because she can fry an egg better than anyone. I guess I´m out of luck. Next, I made up a new juice. I mixed the rest of the Sanguina with Ruby Breakfast and it was delish. I added a banana and a few handfuls of spinach for luck, and that was my meal.
As the added Oregon State created maraschino cherry on top, I watched a Las Chicas Gilmore, otherwise known as The Gilmore Girls. The sun was shining in the window and it was totally silent in the house except for the girls, me breathing and the soft clink of my fork against my plate. Lovely. Here´s how much I enjoyed it...
Since this somewhat of a holiday for me, I decided to create the perfect Sunday morning. It all began with a great wake up on my own and feel snuggly morning. I didn´t have to get up, but I could if I wanted to. I was eventually coached out of bed by the sun and went to work in the kitchen. It must be past 10 a.m. for this too work, or it´s too early. Here is the picture of my boons first and an explanation will follow...
First, I attempted to make grandpa Jim´s potatoes, but they´re just not the same without him. I used red onions and yellow potatoes, because that´s all I had. Honestly, anything to do with potatoes, salt and oil, is usually pretty yummy in my book. I also tried to fry an egg, which I´m usually pretty good at, but I didn´t have a clean spatula and was forced to use a cake froster to try and flip. The yoke broke and I wanted it runny, so I just slapped it on my plate really fast. The color is nice though, huh? Grandpa always tells me he married grandma Mary because she can fry an egg better than anyone. I guess I´m out of luck. Next, I made up a new juice. I mixed the rest of the Sanguina with Ruby Breakfast and it was delish. I added a banana and a few handfuls of spinach for luck, and that was my meal.
As the added Oregon State created maraschino cherry on top, I watched a Las Chicas Gilmore, otherwise known as The Gilmore Girls. The sun was shining in the window and it was totally silent in the house except for the girls, me breathing and the soft clink of my fork against my plate. Lovely. Here´s how much I enjoyed it...
Not to put a damper on this highly upbeat blog, but my team lost again last night. Except, this time, we expected to lose. No details necessary, just to tell you we lost.
Right now, I´m in a wonderfully hazy state of knowing I don´t have to pick anyone up or cook any dinner or hear anyone say, "why?" or "can´t you do it?" I´ve got a lasagna luncheon at 2 to say goodbye to our friend Anna who´s heading home to Minnesota for the summer and school. Until then, I´ll be continuing my lovely Sunday with another GG, perhaps a bath, or maybe just some sitting silently time. Love you!
Sunday, February 25, 2007
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.
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.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
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.
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 ; )
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.
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...
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.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
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!
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!
Monday, February 05, 2007
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.
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.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
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 
Friday, February 02, 2007
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.
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...
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!
Thursday, February 01, 2007
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.
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...
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?
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...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.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Alive but not well
Hi folks!
I´ve been a bit under the weather since Saturday and haven´t felt much like sitting in our cold office and blogging for you, sorry. Now I´m in the computer lab at school, so I´m a bit warmer, but lacking all my pictures to post from San Sebastian.
Hence, I´m writinga note to let you know I am still here, but with a deep cough and runny nose. Alexis was sick last Friday, which is how I caught it. Then, the rest of the family came home from France sick and Alexis was getting better. Louise and Patrick have stayed home for the last two days, yikes. We are a house of ill folks. I feel more tired just being there.
Last week I got my spanish test back and received a 7. It was all because of my past tense conjugation choices, which I´ve been working on and think are getting better, but when I speak it still all goes back to thinking hard and not spitting it out fast enough. But, I feel better about spanish as a whole. I feel like it´s something I will get if I work hard, rather than this big road block in my way.
I took a little tour of SE Navarra with Iñaki and Kim on Saturday. Half way through the chills hit, but I got some pics in I think. OOOhhhh, and, last Thursday we went out to an Arabian restaurant and they had a belly dancer! She was amazing. Luis and Iñaki both got pulled out of the crowd to dance with her, it was hilarious.
We won our game on Sunday night, woo hoo! I scored a little more and feel a bit sheepish for that last blog entry. I just need to keep having fun and let things roll like water off a duck, eh? I´ve got practice tonight and a full weekend with the kids. Emily, the dear, is babysitting for me on Saturday night so I can go to the game.
So, I´m not sure when my next action packed blog will be, I just need to get totally well first. Good luck with the sick season in your neck of the woods. Kisses.
I´ve been a bit under the weather since Saturday and haven´t felt much like sitting in our cold office and blogging for you, sorry. Now I´m in the computer lab at school, so I´m a bit warmer, but lacking all my pictures to post from San Sebastian.
Hence, I´m writinga note to let you know I am still here, but with a deep cough and runny nose. Alexis was sick last Friday, which is how I caught it. Then, the rest of the family came home from France sick and Alexis was getting better. Louise and Patrick have stayed home for the last two days, yikes. We are a house of ill folks. I feel more tired just being there.
Last week I got my spanish test back and received a 7. It was all because of my past tense conjugation choices, which I´ve been working on and think are getting better, but when I speak it still all goes back to thinking hard and not spitting it out fast enough. But, I feel better about spanish as a whole. I feel like it´s something I will get if I work hard, rather than this big road block in my way.
I took a little tour of SE Navarra with Iñaki and Kim on Saturday. Half way through the chills hit, but I got some pics in I think. OOOhhhh, and, last Thursday we went out to an Arabian restaurant and they had a belly dancer! She was amazing. Luis and Iñaki both got pulled out of the crowd to dance with her, it was hilarious.
We won our game on Sunday night, woo hoo! I scored a little more and feel a bit sheepish for that last blog entry. I just need to keep having fun and let things roll like water off a duck, eh? I´ve got practice tonight and a full weekend with the kids. Emily, the dear, is babysitting for me on Saturday night so I can go to the game.
So, I´m not sure when my next action packed blog will be, I just need to get totally well first. Good luck with the sick season in your neck of the woods. Kisses.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Tempest Storm the math major (ask G.P. Jim)
I played in my first home game on Saturday and we won, yay! I´m still feeling a little strange in games, but it´s getting better. I think I need to get used to the team and them to me...
Ok, the more fun, less positive version: my team doesn´t like to pass to me during games! And, to be fair, it´s not just me, it´s just the post passing in general isn´t great. Rueck, get over here and do some yelling and make up some odd metaphors on the spot please!
[SIDENOTE: My favorite random Scott Rueck on the spot analogy/rhetorical question was when he asked us: "Do you think Jesus would let you just drive to the hoop if you played him one on one? Do you think he would just let you shoot?... No! Jesus would rip your freakin´ throat out!" Now that´s some motivation baby!]
Anyhow, I was told that my defense and rebounding are really going to help the team. This is a wonderful thing, yes. But seriously, isn´t that sort of an oximoron? My defense? My rebounding? Do I do that? I can equate this to someone watching Pamela Anderson (Rock?) act and saying, "Wow, she must be in this movie because she´s so smart." I always thought the jump hook was really all I had in my pocket. Apparently not. I think this will be a good life lesson for me. I´m still a total black hole in practice, don´t worry. I gotta do what the team needs and for the first time in my life, it´s not really what I want to do. But, I think it´s cool that I get to contribute in a new way. A new adventure.
Also, a classic Darby freak out. We were getting hammered inside and this damn girl wouldn´t get off me. So, a well placed elbow to the breastbone and down she went. Oops, not the right moment as we were the only two in the backcourt at the time... :) I got yanked for that one and grumbled my way to the end of the bench, in english. Can you imagine how strange that must have sounded? It´d be like hearing a chinese player get pissed off in the NBA. Sarah came down to the end of the bench and gave me a little calm down speech that I only understood 3 words of: "tranquila" and "no falta." That means, calm down, don´t foul. That´s when I had a moment... "Darb, you´re in Spain playing basketball... that´s awesome." I was pretty calm after that and hope to remain that way. But, sometimes the frustration crawls up my throat and grabs my chest and wants to bust out of my elbow on someone´s face! Tranquila, darb, tranquila.
Half the girls thought we´d lose the game beforehand and we kicked butt. We were up by 20 or so in the 4th and let them back in at the end, but won by 11 or so. Plus, one of the better teams in the league lost and we are now in 2nd place, sweet!
Afterwards, I grabbed my stuff to head home and shower. Kim and Emily were there and I needed to take Kim home I thought. Everyone else was showering at the gym and Yoyo (what I now like to call Yosu) grabbed my arm and in front of a large crowd of people scolded me for not showering. Which would be fine if I could fling it back, but he was talking in Spanish and I´m not quick enough with it yet! So I basically nodded and agreed that I was a dirty American girl and was on my way. The weirdest things stay with me and bother me sometimes.
So, that´s how it went. I´m looking forward to this weekend´s game and will be interested to see if they only want me for my "mind" again. San Sebastian entry to come soon...
Ok, the more fun, less positive version: my team doesn´t like to pass to me during games! And, to be fair, it´s not just me, it´s just the post passing in general isn´t great. Rueck, get over here and do some yelling and make up some odd metaphors on the spot please!
[SIDENOTE: My favorite random Scott Rueck on the spot analogy/rhetorical question was when he asked us: "Do you think Jesus would let you just drive to the hoop if you played him one on one? Do you think he would just let you shoot?... No! Jesus would rip your freakin´ throat out!" Now that´s some motivation baby!]
Anyhow, I was told that my defense and rebounding are really going to help the team. This is a wonderful thing, yes. But seriously, isn´t that sort of an oximoron? My defense? My rebounding? Do I do that? I can equate this to someone watching Pamela Anderson (Rock?) act and saying, "Wow, she must be in this movie because she´s so smart." I always thought the jump hook was really all I had in my pocket. Apparently not. I think this will be a good life lesson for me. I´m still a total black hole in practice, don´t worry. I gotta do what the team needs and for the first time in my life, it´s not really what I want to do. But, I think it´s cool that I get to contribute in a new way. A new adventure.
Also, a classic Darby freak out. We were getting hammered inside and this damn girl wouldn´t get off me. So, a well placed elbow to the breastbone and down she went. Oops, not the right moment as we were the only two in the backcourt at the time... :) I got yanked for that one and grumbled my way to the end of the bench, in english. Can you imagine how strange that must have sounded? It´d be like hearing a chinese player get pissed off in the NBA. Sarah came down to the end of the bench and gave me a little calm down speech that I only understood 3 words of: "tranquila" and "no falta." That means, calm down, don´t foul. That´s when I had a moment... "Darb, you´re in Spain playing basketball... that´s awesome." I was pretty calm after that and hope to remain that way. But, sometimes the frustration crawls up my throat and grabs my chest and wants to bust out of my elbow on someone´s face! Tranquila, darb, tranquila.
Half the girls thought we´d lose the game beforehand and we kicked butt. We were up by 20 or so in the 4th and let them back in at the end, but won by 11 or so. Plus, one of the better teams in the league lost and we are now in 2nd place, sweet!
Afterwards, I grabbed my stuff to head home and shower. Kim and Emily were there and I needed to take Kim home I thought. Everyone else was showering at the gym and Yoyo (what I now like to call Yosu) grabbed my arm and in front of a large crowd of people scolded me for not showering. Which would be fine if I could fling it back, but he was talking in Spanish and I´m not quick enough with it yet! So I basically nodded and agreed that I was a dirty American girl and was on my way. The weirdest things stay with me and bother me sometimes.
So, that´s how it went. I´m looking forward to this weekend´s game and will be interested to see if they only want me for my "mind" again. San Sebastian entry to come soon...
All things white
No. 1, Snow: Well, today a piece of Portland was sent to me right here in Pamplona, which I am believing more and more are secret sister cities. It snowed! I came down to eat breakfast before my final and there it was, pouring out of the sky like powdered sugar onto french toast. The ground wasn´t cold enough to hold it too well, but it was gorgeous. Here´s the view and a picture of my skylight when I got home from class...
Can you believe that I walk out my front door and see this every day? Well, maybe not with snow, but the basics... wow. 
Can you believe that I walk out my front door and see this every day? Well, maybe not with snow, but the basics... wow. I sat beneath it for a little while and felt snowed in. It was so cozy. Yes, I´m a tad strange, but when do most people ever get the opportunity to feel snowed in? Not this Oregonian.
No. 2, test paper: Now, back to my test this morning. I think I did ok. A big chunk of it was writing and I got a good grade on my little two page book report, so I feel ok about it. I don´t want to say good because that could be a jinx. I was wished "mucha mierda" last night ratehr than good luck. This means "much shit." Here´s the reason... back in the day when people rode horses to get to events (not too long ago in the 3rd world : ), people who worked as actors in the theatre would wish each other much shit because when you have a lot of horses parked outside you have a lot of dookie to clean up and a lot of people in the theatre watching. I think this also works in Darbonics because if you do well at something, I might call you "the shit." Don´t you love language!?
No. 3, bleach: I think that I might slowly be getting poisoned to death. Well, not death, but maybe immunity. Our dishwasher sucks and I think it´s leaving traces of bleach on the glasses. I keep tasting it in my water and smelling it when I take a sip. Blech. But, if I ever get bombed by bleach, or am tortured with drops of bleachwater on the tongue or bleachbalm I know I´ll make it.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Memories, in the corner....
...of this office.
Alexis and Louise got some See´s candy suckers for Christmas. There are 4 types to choose from: Butterscotch, vanilla, chocolate and cafe latte. Every chance I get, I ask for one and the sweeties always oblige. Really I´ve only had 2 or 3.
Today, Alexis gave me a cafe latte, which he doesn´t like, and as soon as I popped it in my mouth it made me think of grandma Mary and grandpa Jim´s house. I thought of watching Rugrats on Sunday mornings or Anne of Green Gables. Fried eggs and their famous toast and potatoes suddenly sat on my tongue. Beads and needles sticking out of the couch and the huge guest bed and watching games in the basement and barbeques and the smell of dove soap in the bathroom all came to me.
I couldn´t figure out why for a minute and then I realized... grandma always had See´s cafe latte hard candies in her candy drawer and I used to eat about 10 every time I´d go over there when I was a wee teen (yes, I watched Rugrats when I was a teenageer, shut up). Isn´t that amazing. A familiar taste in my mouth makes all sorts of memories pop up and a whole time in my life jump to the foreground. A warm and fuzzy for sure. There´s something to be said for conditioning. Now, how can I use that on the kids... ; )
Alexis and Louise got some See´s candy suckers for Christmas. There are 4 types to choose from: Butterscotch, vanilla, chocolate and cafe latte. Every chance I get, I ask for one and the sweeties always oblige. Really I´ve only had 2 or 3.
Today, Alexis gave me a cafe latte, which he doesn´t like, and as soon as I popped it in my mouth it made me think of grandma Mary and grandpa Jim´s house. I thought of watching Rugrats on Sunday mornings or Anne of Green Gables. Fried eggs and their famous toast and potatoes suddenly sat on my tongue. Beads and needles sticking out of the couch and the huge guest bed and watching games in the basement and barbeques and the smell of dove soap in the bathroom all came to me.
I couldn´t figure out why for a minute and then I realized... grandma always had See´s cafe latte hard candies in her candy drawer and I used to eat about 10 every time I´d go over there when I was a wee teen (yes, I watched Rugrats when I was a teenageer, shut up). Isn´t that amazing. A familiar taste in my mouth makes all sorts of memories pop up and a whole time in my life jump to the foreground. A warm and fuzzy for sure. There´s something to be said for conditioning. Now, how can I use that on the kids... ; )
1st cooking class
Yesterday was my first cooking class at CitiCan with Kim. Well, it was not what I was expecting. My ideal was I´d walk in to a bunch of squaty, loud, busty older Spanish mamas and a ton of cooking stations with food for us to work with and long chats to (attempt) have. Wrong, oh, wrong.
We´re in a basement kitchen, all white tiles and a large stainless steel cooking station in front of a few rows of desks... yes, desks. Our fancy, but sweet, chef Antonio, stands in front with a tall chef hat on and tells us about what he´s cooking, how to cook it and gives tips on how to cut things. For example, yesterday he told us not to hold a sandwich while you cut it because you might cut through it and into your palm. Big flippin´duh Tony! At the end, we get the recipe and get to taste the food.
Kim and I spent part of the time listening and part of the time discussing trips we want to plan to Morocco and London. The food was good, but not all typically Spanish or anything. Antonio kept trying to get these beans to cook and they just weren´t right for him. I said, open a can and heat the beans up in a pan! (not actually out loud, just in my brain) But, he had to add things and use a fancy pot that took 2 hours. Well, it was almost time to go and he was getting so frustrated with these beans. He grabbed the pot hastily and it tipped all over the stove and the bean goo flew everywhere.
Well, he was in the right place... immediately, two Spanish mamas jumped out of their seats and went to work. They found the paper towels, stopped the bean juice from making it to the floor, cleaned Antonio off with the magic lick the thumb and wipe combo. They fussed and fussed until I think the whole kitchen was cleaner than it had been when he started. It was adorable.
I don´t have my recipes on me, but I´ll post the names for you soon so you can check it out. I´m pondering searching for another cooking class and asking for my money back on this one because it´s just not what I want. I was thinking tortillas and pallea (sp?) and Antonio´s all about coffee custards and frufru beans.
Others... I just wrote an entire two pages in Spanish on some books I read for class. We have our final next week which I have no idea how I´ll study for yet. We´ve got a big game this weekend against a team we are tied for 3rd, I think, in league. Sunday will be my first trip to San Sebastian if all goes well.
Yesterday I had practice which was nice. At one point we were playing a game where if you get the rebound you get points as well as for scoring. So, I got a rebound and everyone sort of stood and looked at me and stopped playing. So, I just tossed the ball into the court because obviously there must be some big reason no one was moving. As soon as I did this my whole team yelled at me, "Darby, no, Leyre no está en tu equipo!" Well, I knew that Leyre was not on my team but no one was even moving. I wish I could have said to them in Spanish, "well, why´d you all stop playing? I figured we were done. I´m not a freakin´ idiot, you´re just lazy and I confused it with being done!" Anyhow, I said this in english, in not so many words, and everyone started laughing. It was weird. I know from now on if practice needs to be lightened (which it almost never does) I´ll just blurt out my true feelings in english and laugh because I could say almost anything and no one would know what I said, except maybe one person there. I wonder if they´ve ever done that to me?
Good times abound and time for a run. Loves and misses!
We´re in a basement kitchen, all white tiles and a large stainless steel cooking station in front of a few rows of desks... yes, desks. Our fancy, but sweet, chef Antonio, stands in front with a tall chef hat on and tells us about what he´s cooking, how to cook it and gives tips on how to cut things. For example, yesterday he told us not to hold a sandwich while you cut it because you might cut through it and into your palm. Big flippin´duh Tony! At the end, we get the recipe and get to taste the food.
Kim and I spent part of the time listening and part of the time discussing trips we want to plan to Morocco and London. The food was good, but not all typically Spanish or anything. Antonio kept trying to get these beans to cook and they just weren´t right for him. I said, open a can and heat the beans up in a pan! (not actually out loud, just in my brain) But, he had to add things and use a fancy pot that took 2 hours. Well, it was almost time to go and he was getting so frustrated with these beans. He grabbed the pot hastily and it tipped all over the stove and the bean goo flew everywhere.
Well, he was in the right place... immediately, two Spanish mamas jumped out of their seats and went to work. They found the paper towels, stopped the bean juice from making it to the floor, cleaned Antonio off with the magic lick the thumb and wipe combo. They fussed and fussed until I think the whole kitchen was cleaner than it had been when he started. It was adorable.
I don´t have my recipes on me, but I´ll post the names for you soon so you can check it out. I´m pondering searching for another cooking class and asking for my money back on this one because it´s just not what I want. I was thinking tortillas and pallea (sp?) and Antonio´s all about coffee custards and frufru beans.
Others... I just wrote an entire two pages in Spanish on some books I read for class. We have our final next week which I have no idea how I´ll study for yet. We´ve got a big game this weekend against a team we are tied for 3rd, I think, in league. Sunday will be my first trip to San Sebastian if all goes well.
Yesterday I had practice which was nice. At one point we were playing a game where if you get the rebound you get points as well as for scoring. So, I got a rebound and everyone sort of stood and looked at me and stopped playing. So, I just tossed the ball into the court because obviously there must be some big reason no one was moving. As soon as I did this my whole team yelled at me, "Darby, no, Leyre no está en tu equipo!" Well, I knew that Leyre was not on my team but no one was even moving. I wish I could have said to them in Spanish, "well, why´d you all stop playing? I figured we were done. I´m not a freakin´ idiot, you´re just lazy and I confused it with being done!" Anyhow, I said this in english, in not so many words, and everyone started laughing. It was weird. I know from now on if practice needs to be lightened (which it almost never does) I´ll just blurt out my true feelings in english and laugh because I could say almost anything and no one would know what I said, except maybe one person there. I wonder if they´ve ever done that to me?
Good times abound and time for a run. Loves and misses!
Monday, January 15, 2007
The bind that ties
I had my first game with the first team on Saturday. It was a 2 hour trip to Getxo, which is just outside of Bilbao. If you wanna check out more on my hoops club, have a looksee, Ardoi Baloncesto.
It was an interesting first go. I haven´t been in an actual seriously comptetive game for a while. Suddenly I was putting a lot of pressure on myself. I should own this (I thought), I need to make the people who helped me get this opportunity see it was worth the work they put in, I need to represent America well!!! Ok, Darb calm down. That´s what I needed to hear.
We won our game, but it wasn´t pretty. I had a few theatrical moments that I wasn´t proud of and I was getting frustrated. The last thing I need to do is freak out. I missed some easy layups and made some crappy passes, got yelled at by a few teammates in Spanish and travelled... twice. It didn´t feel good. By the end of the game I was disappointed and embarrassed, not in my team at all, but myself.
I called mom and dad right when I got home and gave themn the low down. They said, Darb don´t be silly and have some fun. Dad said, "Darb, remember, basketball is the bind that ties..." mom and I laughed right away, because of course, he was a bit backwards. Oddly enough, it fit for this situation for the phrase to be backwards. I felt bound by the fact that I thought I should be kicking ass and it tied my hands behind my back and made me play less effectively.
By yesterday afternoon, I felt better. I had given the game more thought, rather than just how I played. We were running plays into the ground, going through one screen and quitting, not really running anything that gave me a good opportunity to score, not scoring from the outside... it was the first game back after Christmas and people were shaking the rust off. I mean the final was 51 to 43, no one was really scoring.
So, on to the next one, which I think is on Sunday. It´s supposed to be a big one. We´re tied with the team and we´ll have to go hard to win. Those are always the games that are the most fun.
Now, I must read a book in Spanish that I´ve been putting off for way too long. Sorry for the short/serious update, but I´ll send some laughs back home soon. Love you!
It was an interesting first go. I haven´t been in an actual seriously comptetive game for a while. Suddenly I was putting a lot of pressure on myself. I should own this (I thought), I need to make the people who helped me get this opportunity see it was worth the work they put in, I need to represent America well!!! Ok, Darb calm down. That´s what I needed to hear.
We won our game, but it wasn´t pretty. I had a few theatrical moments that I wasn´t proud of and I was getting frustrated. The last thing I need to do is freak out. I missed some easy layups and made some crappy passes, got yelled at by a few teammates in Spanish and travelled... twice. It didn´t feel good. By the end of the game I was disappointed and embarrassed, not in my team at all, but myself.
I called mom and dad right when I got home and gave themn the low down. They said, Darb don´t be silly and have some fun. Dad said, "Darb, remember, basketball is the bind that ties..." mom and I laughed right away, because of course, he was a bit backwards. Oddly enough, it fit for this situation for the phrase to be backwards. I felt bound by the fact that I thought I should be kicking ass and it tied my hands behind my back and made me play less effectively.
By yesterday afternoon, I felt better. I had given the game more thought, rather than just how I played. We were running plays into the ground, going through one screen and quitting, not really running anything that gave me a good opportunity to score, not scoring from the outside... it was the first game back after Christmas and people were shaking the rust off. I mean the final was 51 to 43, no one was really scoring.
So, on to the next one, which I think is on Sunday. It´s supposed to be a big one. We´re tied with the team and we´ll have to go hard to win. Those are always the games that are the most fun.
Now, I must read a book in Spanish that I´ve been putting off for way too long. Sorry for the short/serious update, but I´ll send some laughs back home soon. Love you!
Friday, January 12, 2007
Whitney the Weige
This entry is a late one. I visited Whit a month ago and now I´m getting some pics up for you. This is Whitney on her favorite street in Bergen. Why is it her favorite?... she doesn´t really know, she just likes it.
This is my favorite street in her town. I just liked the colors. Plus, I saw that green car coming and had to get that in the shot too for some extra colorfulness.
Let´s see, here are a few more details... I arrived in Bergen after a day of travelling and waiting in airports. I was so glad to see Whit waiting for me when I walked into the main part of the airport. I chatted her ear off about what I was doing and how I was and all about Spain. It felt so strange to tell her these things and not have her actually know how it is here. Hard to explain I guess, you just have to be here to know.
And here´s the after.
As you can see, we attacked it. Beer was a better match for the fish than water... or most any food really ; )
Whit has a few more of these. The park was a highlight. The statues are beautiful. Ok, I´m off to practice. By the way, I am officially a jugadora, I can play with the team I practice with now, it´s a for sure thing. Yay!
This is my favorite street in her town. I just liked the colors. Plus, I saw that green car coming and had to get that in the shot too for some extra colorfulness.Let´s see, here are a few more details... I arrived in Bergen after a day of travelling and waiting in airports. I was so glad to see Whit waiting for me when I walked into the main part of the airport. I chatted her ear off about what I was doing and how I was and all about Spain. It felt so strange to tell her these things and not have her actually know how it is here. Hard to explain I guess, you just have to be here to know. Anyhoo, we went back to her apartment and talked until the wee hours. We took the tram up to the top of Bergen on our first day. Whit has that story and pics in her blog. Here´s the first pic we took together for the trip.
Whit had a training session with her little ones that night and I went to watch. She has 5 little girls who she says know english, but really only one does and then she translates for the rest of the team. One of them wore a skirt, one wore hiking boots and wool socks, and all had the manditory messy ponytail for that age group. A snap.
It was fun to see Whit work with them. She really thinks through how to get them to have fun and still learn.
Here´s one of my favorite pictures from the trip, Whit with her confused face on.
Yuck, I know I´m being so short with all these descriptions, but it was a while ago...
Fast forward to day 2 and we decided to try the salmon we´d heard so much about. Remember the guy who gave us the taste? Well, we bought his salmon and ate it with cheese and crackers for dinner. Delicious! Here´s the before picture.
As you can see, we attacked it. Beer was a better match for the fish than water... or most any food really ; )After a movie, some expenssive sushi and a trot over to the aquarium, we were off to Oslo for Whit´s games. Here is Whitney in her travelling outfit.
Holla! Está para mojar pan! This is not an optical illusion folks, Whitney´s legs do actually fit in those jeans.
You already saw her sweet game video. Oslo on our own was a bit traumatic for us, as you can also see in Whit´s blog. Here´s a picture of me imitating one of the statues in Vigeland Park.
Whit has a few more of these. The park was a highlight. The statues are beautiful. Ok, I´m off to practice. By the way, I am officially a jugadora, I can play with the team I practice with now, it´s a for sure thing. Yay!
Catching up...
The most recent news in the Life of Darb is that I can now play with the first team at the club in Zizur! Each new year the board of directors, I guess, goes over old rules and modifies or changes them. The rule keeping me from playing with the good team was stretched enough so that all I have to do is prove I live here and that I take a class at UPNA. I just have to make sure I have the right paperwork to prove I´m a student and it´s a go!
Here´s an example of the awesome parking in Spain that I captured a few weeks ago. This is actually in quite a large parking lot, but I guess someone really needed to get inside the mall!
This one is a shot taken just before Christmas break. It´s of my Spanish professor (Javier), my Polish friend from class (Magda) and myself. I´m just throwing it in here because it´s a random entry...
I´m so excited! First game is tomorrow, hopefully, woot woot! Yikes, I need to wash my uni.
Here´s a Christmas picture I took way back when for all of you to enjoy (NOTICE: my winter attire to make things look extra Christmassy)...
That stocking I´m holding says "darby."
Also, a few weeks ago, I learned how to make a Spanish tortilla! They are soooooooo good. At first, I couldn´t tell the difference, but now my tortilla palate is quite mature and I have a favorite spot to go for them. I have a video of this, but can´t get it to upload well to youtube, so this high action shot of me slicing potatoes with this cool tool will have to do for now...
I got signed up for a cooking class with Kim on Wednesdays too, so I´ll be a professional Spanish cook by the time I get home and you will all gain 10 pounds.
Here´s a pregame photo of Alexis and I. We´ve had some epic matches of PIG and HORSE and ALEXIS in the backyard on the 6 foot hoop. He always takes the "prove it" upon himself with the final letter. I love that. And, he usually makes it. He´s a clutch baller...
I know, I look like crap, but it´s a 9:30 class. I know, that doesn´t seem bad, but remember my newly acquired night-time outting schedule and then look at it again. About right huh?
Last night was another wonderful Thursday night dinner for 6 followed by drinks with Luis and Iñaki. We (mostly they) got so into talking about basketball and what type of offense we might run now that I can play and me drawing up "Triple" for them (dad: it´s just a screen the screener in the middle of the key right?), that we busted out the white board in the middle of the bar. I had to capture it. I like to call it - "Brugal, Beefeater and Baloncesto"...
Honestly, these are some of my favorite times. They remind me of talking about basketball at home with the fam.
Anyhow, I gotta meet Emily for coffee and read a book... in Spanish! So, I hope to update again soon, but as you see, I´ve been a busy girl. I hope everyone at home is well. Give me an update when you can. Loves!
Sunday, January 07, 2007
An Ode to Alexis
Alexis is 8 and also a boy. Sometimes, he puts on footie pajamas that are a bit too small for him and get all tight like a tent when zipped up. He does little acrobatic break dance moves and spins around and pauses on the floor, just to make me laugh.
After school everyday he has to take a poop. If you don´t know where Alexis is and you call out his name, usually you´ll here a muffled, high pitched "yes?" from behind a bathroom door. When you ask, "what are you doing?" he´ll shriek back, "pooping!"
Sometimes, Alexis fakes a poop. Yes, he FAKES a poop. There are lots of comic books in the bathroom and he loves to read them. He´ll jump around and hold his butt and say, "ooooh, ugh, I gotta poop, I gotta poop!" He´s realized that no one can deny you a poop. So, we let him go. 15 minutes later, we say, "Alexis, hurry up." And he responds, "I´m pooping."
Catherine has to bust the door open sometimes and Alexis will be sitting on the toilet, seat down, and reading a comic book. When he sees her he screams and she starts yelling at him in French. It´s hilarious.
Once I called him out when Catherine was gone because he was taking so long. I said, "Alexis, hurry up!" He said, "just a sec!" When he came out a few minutes later, I said, "You weren´t really pooping were you?" He said, "Yes!" I said, "No!" he said, "Yes! Then how come it smells so bad?"... : D
He always wants to win. When we play ping pong he always says, "but I´m to small to reach that," or he´ll botch the score. I taught him the "our team is boom, dynamite!" cheer and he sings, "Alexis is boom, dynamite!" all the time. I also taught him the Muhammad Ali quote, "I´m so fast, and you know I´m so pretty." So now, I´ll say the first part and he, in his best husky Ali voice says, "and you know I´m so pretty."
Once Louise was writing with a marker on some paper and the sound of it drove him nuts. All the sudden he yelled, "Louise, stop! Stop, stop, stop!" I said, "Alexis, relax, she can write if she wants," and he eyed her nervously as she put pen back to paper and the noise started again. Again he yelled out, "stop, no, stop!" I said again, "Alexis, she´s just writing," So he yells, with a look of complete desperation on his face, "no, no, mom doesn´t let me!" Apparently, the noise really bugged him. We all started cracking up because of course, Catherine has never said to me, "oh, and Darb, please don´t let Alexis listen to Louise writen with markers on paper."
On Saturday I took the kids ice skating and after about 15 minutes, Alexis skated right up to me and said, "Darby, thank you so much for bringing us here." Like he´d just realized this was the best day of his life or something. My heart smiled.
One of my favorite moments with him of all time occurred about two weeks ago...
We were driving back to Tajonar from school, just the two of us, I don´t remember where Louise was. Alexis asked me to put in a tape that a past au pair had made with Eminem on it. He loves Eminem. I always thought it was because of his older brother Max, but it turns out that´s only part of it.
As the song played, he piped up from the back seat, "Darby..."
"Yes, Alexis," I answered.
"Darby," he continued, "do you know what I asked for for Los Reyes?"
"No Alexis, what do you want?"
"I asked for the Sean Paul CD and the Eminem CD."
"Oh really? I knew you liked Eminem, but Sean Paul too, how come?"
"I just do," he said softly, like there was a bit more to it.
"Do you like to rock out when you hear them? I know I do to my favorite songs."
"Well," he started shyly, "when I hear their songs, I feel like I´m on stage, like it´s a dream and I´m singing on stage like them."
How do you respond to that? I think that´s one of the best things that´s ever come out of his mouth. I just said, "That´s awesome."
He got both CDs for Los Reyes and last night he asked me to sit in his room with him and listened to Sean Paul as he tried to learn the words and rap softly to himself. I think the story of a poor white boy growing up in Detroit trying to make it as a rapper is just as inspirational as a rich French boy trying to rap in another language in Tajonar. We could call the movie "8 Kilometer." Alexis is boom, dynamite!
After school everyday he has to take a poop. If you don´t know where Alexis is and you call out his name, usually you´ll here a muffled, high pitched "yes?" from behind a bathroom door. When you ask, "what are you doing?" he´ll shriek back, "pooping!"
Sometimes, Alexis fakes a poop. Yes, he FAKES a poop. There are lots of comic books in the bathroom and he loves to read them. He´ll jump around and hold his butt and say, "ooooh, ugh, I gotta poop, I gotta poop!" He´s realized that no one can deny you a poop. So, we let him go. 15 minutes later, we say, "Alexis, hurry up." And he responds, "I´m pooping."
Catherine has to bust the door open sometimes and Alexis will be sitting on the toilet, seat down, and reading a comic book. When he sees her he screams and she starts yelling at him in French. It´s hilarious.
Once I called him out when Catherine was gone because he was taking so long. I said, "Alexis, hurry up!" He said, "just a sec!" When he came out a few minutes later, I said, "You weren´t really pooping were you?" He said, "Yes!" I said, "No!" he said, "Yes! Then how come it smells so bad?"... : D
He always wants to win. When we play ping pong he always says, "but I´m to small to reach that," or he´ll botch the score. I taught him the "our team is boom, dynamite!" cheer and he sings, "Alexis is boom, dynamite!" all the time. I also taught him the Muhammad Ali quote, "I´m so fast, and you know I´m so pretty." So now, I´ll say the first part and he, in his best husky Ali voice says, "and you know I´m so pretty."
Once Louise was writing with a marker on some paper and the sound of it drove him nuts. All the sudden he yelled, "Louise, stop! Stop, stop, stop!" I said, "Alexis, relax, she can write if she wants," and he eyed her nervously as she put pen back to paper and the noise started again. Again he yelled out, "stop, no, stop!" I said again, "Alexis, she´s just writing," So he yells, with a look of complete desperation on his face, "no, no, mom doesn´t let me!" Apparently, the noise really bugged him. We all started cracking up because of course, Catherine has never said to me, "oh, and Darb, please don´t let Alexis listen to Louise writen with markers on paper."
On Saturday I took the kids ice skating and after about 15 minutes, Alexis skated right up to me and said, "Darby, thank you so much for bringing us here." Like he´d just realized this was the best day of his life or something. My heart smiled.
One of my favorite moments with him of all time occurred about two weeks ago...
We were driving back to Tajonar from school, just the two of us, I don´t remember where Louise was. Alexis asked me to put in a tape that a past au pair had made with Eminem on it. He loves Eminem. I always thought it was because of his older brother Max, but it turns out that´s only part of it.
As the song played, he piped up from the back seat, "Darby..."
"Yes, Alexis," I answered.
"Darby," he continued, "do you know what I asked for for Los Reyes?"
"No Alexis, what do you want?"
"I asked for the Sean Paul CD and the Eminem CD."
"Oh really? I knew you liked Eminem, but Sean Paul too, how come?"
"I just do," he said softly, like there was a bit more to it.
"Do you like to rock out when you hear them? I know I do to my favorite songs."
"Well," he started shyly, "when I hear their songs, I feel like I´m on stage, like it´s a dream and I´m singing on stage like them."
How do you respond to that? I think that´s one of the best things that´s ever come out of his mouth. I just said, "That´s awesome."
He got both CDs for Los Reyes and last night he asked me to sit in his room with him and listened to Sean Paul as he tried to learn the words and rap softly to himself. I think the story of a poor white boy growing up in Detroit trying to make it as a rapper is just as inspirational as a rich French boy trying to rap in another language in Tajonar. We could call the movie "8 Kilometer." Alexis is boom, dynamite!
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