Iñaki gave me a very accurate description of what my Spanish is like the other day and I have to share...
He read my blog and was a little confused about the description of his grandmother so I explained that I just loved her because she was so sweet and has the stereotypical look of what a United Statester like myself might think a Spanish abuela looks like. I felt comfortable around her because she spoke slower and louder and not as much. Iñaki laughed and said, "that´s because you´re like her." I said, "huh?" He explained, "well, she can´t hear and you can´t understand what is going on. So, both of you just sort of sit there and shrug your shoulders and smile a lot when you´re around groups."
I no longer have the Spanish level of a 2-year-old, but that of an 86-year-old abuela. Love it.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Losing effort
Hiya folks. We had a big game last night. We lost. But it was a good fight. I hate that term "losing effort", don´t you? It´s like you made an effort to lose, not that you made an effort to win and then lost anyway. So, I used it as my title to address it.
The last time we played this team we lost by like 30. I wasn´t playing yet, Pau was gone for some reason and someone else wasn´t there I guess. This time we lost by like 10 I think. It was closer than that though.
This team had 3 girls over 6 feet, and not just a little. One was 6'1" and American, one was 6'2" and a big freak, and one was 6'4" plus about 3 feet worth of arms. What I mean by "a big freak" are those posts who yell all the time and try to get fouls called by talking to the refs and always fall over. I wanted to hit her. The American girl was pretty good, but didn´t play much. I said I´d trash talk her before the game, but I didn´t. After the game was over I said, "good game" to her instead of "muy bien" o algo asi. She turned around really quick all surprised. She´s from the Chicago area she said and I told her I was from Oregon and that was it. Now, I wish I´d have talked to her more and asked how she likes it here and if she was getting paid or going to school or something.
The 6'4" wasn´t a PLU big Johnson type, she was strong. Also a bit of a freak and played some super aggressive defense ala the 3rd grade when you just stick your arms out and sort of trap the girl you´re guarding between them and stare right at her, no idea where the ball is. But, thanks to my experience in the 5th grade against King Elementary School, I kept my head together and just grabbed her arms and threw them away when the refs weren´t looking ; )
We struggled in the first half and caught back up to go into the half only down 5. The thrid quarter was a battle, but we may have still been down 10 or so when we finished it. Maria drove me nuts! She was yelling at everyone to do things and would never take responsibility for the fact that she made a mistake, but justblamed it on someone else. Then, during huddles, she´d yell something and then walk away, like she was disgusted to be on the same team with the rest of us. I wanted to drop kick her to Madrid. Then after all that, as soon as the game ended, she whips out her cell phone and is totally fine. So was that just a big show? Who knows, it´s just nice to vent about things like this sometimes.
Pau was in foul trouble so I got to play a bunch, which I liked. Sara, my favorite guard, and I had a nice little 8 point run together to tighten the game up to 3. No one on the team seems to like her much, but I like her and it´s hard to deny the power of a guard/post connection where you can pass and catch without looking at eachother. It´s inherent I think. Don´t get me wrong, it´s no Fitch lob pass or "money" play, but it´s a good one. I guess I have it a bit with Pui too, but Sara always gets it to me when I´m in a good position. No sé, es especial.
The 8 point run was capped off with a putback that I hit and got fouled on (toot toot on my own horn!). It was the first time I´ve felt really jacked up here. I had to give a teeth clenched, fist pumping, gutterul, "yeah baby" as I walked up to the free throw line, slapping hands way too hard. Anyhow, it was fun even though we lost. Plus, I scored more points than their American after being told, many times, by my coach no less, that I was going to get my ass kicked by her. I didn´t really guard her much, so who knows how the one on one would have gone... whatever, shut it Iñaki!
Sorry, long basketball blog... today I went to Iñaki´s mom´s birthday party, which was also sort of a losing effort. Habla Darb, habla! It was a nice lunch at her house though, with her family. Their grandma is so cute. She looks like a flesh-toned prune, total Strega Nona, and wears long sweaters and polyester skirts that hit below the knee. All her extra wrinkly skin sort of gathers in a puddle at her ankles and spills out above her orthopedic shoes. She´s always doing wonderful things like grabbing my forearm and squeezing it just a little bit or looking at me and smiling or making a little cooing giggle like she´s just glad I´m there. Who knows if she is.
Irene and I did some dancing and singing to the Chicago soundtrack beforehand. It was great, she´s a sass-box.
Really the whole family seems quite nice. They love to talk and just be near eachother, which is nice to be around, but also makes me want to go and just be with my family. I could use a Cave family bbq or and Fullerton family brunch hosted by socialite Ky Ky today. Anyone feel like taking a quick flight over? We could have jamón...
Dori, Iñaki´s mom, has a bunch of siblings, one of which has two little boys, Itor, 5 (sp?) and Jon, 2. Itor is the bomb. He´s always trying to do something a little mischievous. Iñaki and I call him cabroncete, which literally means "tiny bastard". We´ve shortened it to "Tiny B" and it serves as a great nickname. Anyhow, I met Itor for the second time when I came for a visit the other night. Dori had the boys for the evening and I was talking to her as she changed Jon. She said, "this is Jon, and over there is Itor." I turned around and this skinny little blonde boy comes running out of the kitchen with his pants down, flashes me his butt, slaps it, and says, "hola!" and runs back into the kitchen cackling with laughter. It was pretty great.
All right, I need to call everyone at home now and catch up so my heart feels more full. Right now it feels a little dilapidated. I just miss you guys!
Group hug!
The last time we played this team we lost by like 30. I wasn´t playing yet, Pau was gone for some reason and someone else wasn´t there I guess. This time we lost by like 10 I think. It was closer than that though.
This team had 3 girls over 6 feet, and not just a little. One was 6'1" and American, one was 6'2" and a big freak, and one was 6'4" plus about 3 feet worth of arms. What I mean by "a big freak" are those posts who yell all the time and try to get fouls called by talking to the refs and always fall over. I wanted to hit her. The American girl was pretty good, but didn´t play much. I said I´d trash talk her before the game, but I didn´t. After the game was over I said, "good game" to her instead of "muy bien" o algo asi. She turned around really quick all surprised. She´s from the Chicago area she said and I told her I was from Oregon and that was it. Now, I wish I´d have talked to her more and asked how she likes it here and if she was getting paid or going to school or something.
The 6'4" wasn´t a PLU big Johnson type, she was strong. Also a bit of a freak and played some super aggressive defense ala the 3rd grade when you just stick your arms out and sort of trap the girl you´re guarding between them and stare right at her, no idea where the ball is. But, thanks to my experience in the 5th grade against King Elementary School, I kept my head together and just grabbed her arms and threw them away when the refs weren´t looking ; )
We struggled in the first half and caught back up to go into the half only down 5. The thrid quarter was a battle, but we may have still been down 10 or so when we finished it. Maria drove me nuts! She was yelling at everyone to do things and would never take responsibility for the fact that she made a mistake, but justblamed it on someone else. Then, during huddles, she´d yell something and then walk away, like she was disgusted to be on the same team with the rest of us. I wanted to drop kick her to Madrid. Then after all that, as soon as the game ended, she whips out her cell phone and is totally fine. So was that just a big show? Who knows, it´s just nice to vent about things like this sometimes.
Pau was in foul trouble so I got to play a bunch, which I liked. Sara, my favorite guard, and I had a nice little 8 point run together to tighten the game up to 3. No one on the team seems to like her much, but I like her and it´s hard to deny the power of a guard/post connection where you can pass and catch without looking at eachother. It´s inherent I think. Don´t get me wrong, it´s no Fitch lob pass or "money" play, but it´s a good one. I guess I have it a bit with Pui too, but Sara always gets it to me when I´m in a good position. No sé, es especial.
The 8 point run was capped off with a putback that I hit and got fouled on (toot toot on my own horn!). It was the first time I´ve felt really jacked up here. I had to give a teeth clenched, fist pumping, gutterul, "yeah baby" as I walked up to the free throw line, slapping hands way too hard. Anyhow, it was fun even though we lost. Plus, I scored more points than their American after being told, many times, by my coach no less, that I was going to get my ass kicked by her. I didn´t really guard her much, so who knows how the one on one would have gone... whatever, shut it Iñaki!
Sorry, long basketball blog... today I went to Iñaki´s mom´s birthday party, which was also sort of a losing effort. Habla Darb, habla! It was a nice lunch at her house though, with her family. Their grandma is so cute. She looks like a flesh-toned prune, total Strega Nona, and wears long sweaters and polyester skirts that hit below the knee. All her extra wrinkly skin sort of gathers in a puddle at her ankles and spills out above her orthopedic shoes. She´s always doing wonderful things like grabbing my forearm and squeezing it just a little bit or looking at me and smiling or making a little cooing giggle like she´s just glad I´m there. Who knows if she is.
Irene and I did some dancing and singing to the Chicago soundtrack beforehand. It was great, she´s a sass-box.
Really the whole family seems quite nice. They love to talk and just be near eachother, which is nice to be around, but also makes me want to go and just be with my family. I could use a Cave family bbq or and Fullerton family brunch hosted by socialite Ky Ky today. Anyone feel like taking a quick flight over? We could have jamón...
Dori, Iñaki´s mom, has a bunch of siblings, one of which has two little boys, Itor, 5 (sp?) and Jon, 2. Itor is the bomb. He´s always trying to do something a little mischievous. Iñaki and I call him cabroncete, which literally means "tiny bastard". We´ve shortened it to "Tiny B" and it serves as a great nickname. Anyhow, I met Itor for the second time when I came for a visit the other night. Dori had the boys for the evening and I was talking to her as she changed Jon. She said, "this is Jon, and over there is Itor." I turned around and this skinny little blonde boy comes running out of the kitchen with his pants down, flashes me his butt, slaps it, and says, "hola!" and runs back into the kitchen cackling with laughter. It was pretty great.
All right, I need to call everyone at home now and catch up so my heart feels more full. Right now it feels a little dilapidated. I just miss you guys!
Group hug!
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Dos Cosas: My first uff and a ponder
The other day I was sitting down to a super American dinner of crappy pizza and beer and Iñaki asked me some question, I don´t remember what. But, the question perplexed me a tad, so I thought about it for a second and then started my response with the word, "uff..." which is sort of a nonsense word here that has lots of different uses. In this case it meant, "that´s a hard question to answer." Iñaki sat up all straight and opened his eyes wide and said, "wow, you said 'uff'". I had, and it was one of my first. I´d noticed it coming out of my mouth a few times before, but this was the first time someone else noticed.
The truth is, I´ve been wanting uff to be in my vocabulary for so long. Everyone here uses it and it sounds, for lack of a better term, so Spanish. Since I want to be so Spanish, this is a little step for me. I also have the word "oi" in my daily speech now. It´s used sort of like oops, or when someone misses a shot in basketball, the girls say it all deep and long, like "ooooooiiiiiiiii." Mom noticed my oi´s while she was here. She said she thought that must be Spanish too because one of our cab drivers used it. Most often, it comes out when I run into someone accidentally, as I do a lot since I´m so tall, and I say, "oi, perdon." Basically, "oops, scuse me." Anyhow, I´m excited to be saying uff and oi and I´ll keep you abreast to any other Spanish mannerisms I pick up.
Now, a short ponder for you... I was watching a bit of TV today, which I never do, but I need to listen to more Spanish. A commercial came on for a new type of beer that has tea in it. It showed a mom and a baby, like 8 months, at a pool. The mom looks at the baby then takes a big swig of this beer. The next scene is of the mom and the baby swimming together, both underwater and the baby is sort of freely floating in front of the mom. I´m not sure exactly what the tagline was, but something like, "enjoy your time."
Does anyone else think this is a bit of a WTF? I really don´t think mom should be throwing back cold ones while she´s supposed to be watching the baby. Swimming no less! I mean baby had no one to hang on to and mom was just sort of doing her own thing in the pool. Plus, the fact that mom looked at baby and then took a huge drink makes me think she should really get an au pair or be checked out by child services. I mean if the au pair gets hammered, it´s one thing, but mom, no. Jokes, bromas, chistes. Plus, what´s the deal with that tagline? Swimming with the kid is so stressful that it´s totally understandable that you need a few beers beforehand? Ha ha! I just thought it was so funny and such a strange juxtaposition of items.
It´s another pretty day here and I got in another good run. My knee is really sore for some reason, but I just have to run on days like today, so I did. We have a big game this weekend. There´s another American on the other team, la di flippin´da. She´s supposed to be pretty good. As I am not very good at the moment, we´ll see how this all goes down. I really want to win though, hopefully that counts for algo.
Kisses and hugs and love to all!
The truth is, I´ve been wanting uff to be in my vocabulary for so long. Everyone here uses it and it sounds, for lack of a better term, so Spanish. Since I want to be so Spanish, this is a little step for me. I also have the word "oi" in my daily speech now. It´s used sort of like oops, or when someone misses a shot in basketball, the girls say it all deep and long, like "ooooooiiiiiiiii." Mom noticed my oi´s while she was here. She said she thought that must be Spanish too because one of our cab drivers used it. Most often, it comes out when I run into someone accidentally, as I do a lot since I´m so tall, and I say, "oi, perdon." Basically, "oops, scuse me." Anyhow, I´m excited to be saying uff and oi and I´ll keep you abreast to any other Spanish mannerisms I pick up.
Now, a short ponder for you... I was watching a bit of TV today, which I never do, but I need to listen to more Spanish. A commercial came on for a new type of beer that has tea in it. It showed a mom and a baby, like 8 months, at a pool. The mom looks at the baby then takes a big swig of this beer. The next scene is of the mom and the baby swimming together, both underwater and the baby is sort of freely floating in front of the mom. I´m not sure exactly what the tagline was, but something like, "enjoy your time."
Does anyone else think this is a bit of a WTF? I really don´t think mom should be throwing back cold ones while she´s supposed to be watching the baby. Swimming no less! I mean baby had no one to hang on to and mom was just sort of doing her own thing in the pool. Plus, the fact that mom looked at baby and then took a huge drink makes me think she should really get an au pair or be checked out by child services. I mean if the au pair gets hammered, it´s one thing, but mom, no. Jokes, bromas, chistes. Plus, what´s the deal with that tagline? Swimming with the kid is so stressful that it´s totally understandable that you need a few beers beforehand? Ha ha! I just thought it was so funny and such a strange juxtaposition of items.
It´s another pretty day here and I got in another good run. My knee is really sore for some reason, but I just have to run on days like today, so I did. We have a big game this weekend. There´s another American on the other team, la di flippin´da. She´s supposed to be pretty good. As I am not very good at the moment, we´ll see how this all goes down. I really want to win though, hopefully that counts for algo.
Kisses and hugs and love to all!
Monday, April 16, 2007
Bar-ba-qwa
Yesterday I attended my first Spanish BBQ, pronounced bar-ba-qwa. It sounds sort of French to me with the "qwa" and all. It was pretty much just like at home but the food was different, and like most things in Spain, it was an all day event. I love that about Spain. The party never has a start and an end, you just get there when you can and stay as long as you like.
I was actually having a bit of a shy reflective day, so hanging out with a bunch of people I didn´t really know didn´t sound too appealing. But, Iñaki gave me a petite pep talk and I went. It was a post-season barbaqwa for Irene´s team and half of them were already there when I arrived. I sort of drifted right back to the corner of people I knew and some guy I didn´t know started talking to me and all I could do was give him a confused look. It did not make me feel very social, I can tell you that much.
Everyone just sort of sat around outside, drank beers and chatted. It was nice, like home. Luis was there and totally rocked my world by speaking english to me. At the same time, I was disappointed in myself for not making him speak Spanish. The big groups are when I have the most trouble because there are so many conversations going on at once and a lot of noise. I guess I have dad´s ears.
The food was really good. Irene brought out a bunch of chips and salads and stuff and the meat was a typical sausage from here, I can´t remember the name, and basically bacon steaks. We just ripped off pieces of a baguette, split them in half, stuffed some meat in and chowed down. Really yummy. At one point, we were passing around a 40 and drinking from it. This is a passtime I´d have loved to participate in at home, but haven´t until coming here. I plan on having a couch on my front porch when I get a house, just for special 40 occassions.
It got sort of cold in the shade, so the English group and Spanish group meshed at one big table in the sun and became the Spanish group. In doing so, I found out that one of the girls on Irene´s team is an English teacher! I think she was just being shy, but she didn´t really want to speak English much. But, if I get a visa, she will be a great contact in the future.
So, everyone just chatted the evening away. I understood some of what was going on, but I had to focus and wrinkle my brow to do so. Everyone must have thought I was having a terrible time or that I was mad or something, but it was just concentration. At one point, one of the player´s baby was sort of the center of attention. She was standing in the middle of a circle of chairs and the adults sitting around her were shouting out words for her to say and yelling, "muy bien," each time she succeeded. I´m guessing she couldn´t have been more than 1 and a half. Super cute too. But, like all tiny moments, it made me think. I was sort of envious of her. I wished I had a bunch of people sitting around me in a circle telling me words and shouting muy bien at me every day. Not bad for the old confianza.
Really, I guess that´s sort of what my team does anyway. They tell me some bad word, or slang term and then I say it and they all laugh. Yep, yesterday, I realized I´m 1 and a half. Just kidding. Actually, I don´t feel terrible about my Spanish, there are just bad moments. I know I need to improve though and I can be doing more.
This is shaping up to be a nice week so far. Getting back into the swing of work and hopefully the nice weather we´re having will hold out so I can run. I went today and almost got bogged down in the mud on top of the hill. I´m sure people could hear my shrieks from kilometers around.
That´s all I got, time to go take a stroll and then recoger mis niños. Kisses and llaves.
I was actually having a bit of a shy reflective day, so hanging out with a bunch of people I didn´t really know didn´t sound too appealing. But, Iñaki gave me a petite pep talk and I went. It was a post-season barbaqwa for Irene´s team and half of them were already there when I arrived. I sort of drifted right back to the corner of people I knew and some guy I didn´t know started talking to me and all I could do was give him a confused look. It did not make me feel very social, I can tell you that much.
Everyone just sort of sat around outside, drank beers and chatted. It was nice, like home. Luis was there and totally rocked my world by speaking english to me. At the same time, I was disappointed in myself for not making him speak Spanish. The big groups are when I have the most trouble because there are so many conversations going on at once and a lot of noise. I guess I have dad´s ears.
The food was really good. Irene brought out a bunch of chips and salads and stuff and the meat was a typical sausage from here, I can´t remember the name, and basically bacon steaks. We just ripped off pieces of a baguette, split them in half, stuffed some meat in and chowed down. Really yummy. At one point, we were passing around a 40 and drinking from it. This is a passtime I´d have loved to participate in at home, but haven´t until coming here. I plan on having a couch on my front porch when I get a house, just for special 40 occassions.
It got sort of cold in the shade, so the English group and Spanish group meshed at one big table in the sun and became the Spanish group. In doing so, I found out that one of the girls on Irene´s team is an English teacher! I think she was just being shy, but she didn´t really want to speak English much. But, if I get a visa, she will be a great contact in the future.
So, everyone just chatted the evening away. I understood some of what was going on, but I had to focus and wrinkle my brow to do so. Everyone must have thought I was having a terrible time or that I was mad or something, but it was just concentration. At one point, one of the player´s baby was sort of the center of attention. She was standing in the middle of a circle of chairs and the adults sitting around her were shouting out words for her to say and yelling, "muy bien," each time she succeeded. I´m guessing she couldn´t have been more than 1 and a half. Super cute too. But, like all tiny moments, it made me think. I was sort of envious of her. I wished I had a bunch of people sitting around me in a circle telling me words and shouting muy bien at me every day. Not bad for the old confianza.
Really, I guess that´s sort of what my team does anyway. They tell me some bad word, or slang term and then I say it and they all laugh. Yep, yesterday, I realized I´m 1 and a half. Just kidding. Actually, I don´t feel terrible about my Spanish, there are just bad moments. I know I need to improve though and I can be doing more.
This is shaping up to be a nice week so far. Getting back into the swing of work and hopefully the nice weather we´re having will hold out so I can run. I went today and almost got bogged down in the mud on top of the hill. I´m sure people could hear my shrieks from kilometers around.
That´s all I got, time to go take a stroll and then recoger mis niños. Kisses and llaves.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
cientodoce
My team scored 112 points last night! It was so fun! Everyone had a hand in it and got to score, everyone got to play a lot and, like mom said, who needs to play defense when you score 112 points? So, we didn´t.
This is just a quick note really. I have an application that needs to be postmarked by tomorrow for a job being an assistant in an english classroom over here next year. I have to send a bunch of things in triplicate and ask mom to mail it for me and lots of things.
Valencia and the rest of the south was a good time. I´ll get some pictures up for you guys when Iñaki and Whit send them to me. Speaking of Whit, today´s her birthday, happy birthday little Whitty!
I think she´s either in Florence or Pisa right now. She said her plan was to stay in a nice hotel and treat herself to good things all day long. I told her to blog once to let everyone know how she is, but she hasn´t yet.
I hope all is well back home, see you in 2 and a half months!
This is just a quick note really. I have an application that needs to be postmarked by tomorrow for a job being an assistant in an english classroom over here next year. I have to send a bunch of things in triplicate and ask mom to mail it for me and lots of things.
Valencia and the rest of the south was a good time. I´ll get some pictures up for you guys when Iñaki and Whit send them to me. Speaking of Whit, today´s her birthday, happy birthday little Whitty!
I think she´s either in Florence or Pisa right now. She said her plan was to stay in a nice hotel and treat herself to good things all day long. I told her to blog once to let everyone know how she is, but she hasn´t yet.I hope all is well back home, see you in 2 and a half months!
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Another moment with Alexis
Last night after dinner Alexis and I went upstairs kind of early. We sat on his bed and lately he likes to just sort of chat with me and tell me a story about someone from school, that always begins, "there was a guy..." So, we´re sitting there and he says, "will you give me a massage?" Immediately, my mind goes into American mode and how that would be not ok in the States. So I said, "um, what do you mean by massage?" (keep in mind, he´s 8. I didn´t even know what a massage was when I was 8). He says, "I lay down on my stomach and you move your hands like this on my back" and he motioned like he was doing a bunch of quick karate chops up and down.
He laid down and tucked his arms under his body and I starting doing the little karate chops. His whole tiny body was moving everytime I hit, but he acted like it was the best thing in the world. It was hilarious. I only did it for about a minute and then he said, "ok, now you lay down and I´ll do it. " So he karate chopped my back and then added some rubs up and down my spine. It was so sweet and weird at teh same time. He wanted a foot massage next and I made him put socks on. It was too funny. Here´s this 8 year old treating a situation that is highly odd for me, with the utmost maturity.
Finally, we read some. Our evenings together get bette all the time.
He laid down and tucked his arms under his body and I starting doing the little karate chops. His whole tiny body was moving everytime I hit, but he acted like it was the best thing in the world. It was hilarious. I only did it for about a minute and then he said, "ok, now you lay down and I´ll do it. " So he karate chopped my back and then added some rubs up and down my spine. It was so sweet and weird at teh same time. He wanted a foot massage next and I made him put socks on. It was too funny. Here´s this 8 year old treating a situation that is highly odd for me, with the utmost maturity.
Finally, we read some. Our evenings together get bette all the time.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
A lot of stuff
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!
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!
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
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