EXPLORING THE OLD PART OF THE CITY 7/28

6/28

We walked the whole day and ended up at the La Plaza de Castillo where we had a late comida. Callie loved the food!  She had crepe with vegetables.

 Afterwards we met a peregrino from Boston walking El Camino de Santaigo (the road to Santiago de Compostella).  More on that later, but I was able to do a quick interview of him!

Later, when we met up with The Voltas we went to a pastry shop called Beatriz that is famous for its treats. 

Then, we  walked to Saint Ignacio church and the sculpture of El Encierro created by Rafael Huerta in 1994. Later the kids played a pick up game of fútbol with random spanish kids and had a blast! 

There is usually a long line!

Sam loves this guys so much and the feeling is mutual!

One of my favorite memories...they thought Sam looked like a famous soccer player from Barcelona!

The story of St. Ignacious both inspires and fascinates me.

SENDAVIVA

This morning La Familia Voltas picked us up in their two cars (because our group was so large) and we drove an hour or so to the desert to a remote park called Sendaviva.  This park was created about 11 years ago by the spanish governement and is an example of  the impact of the "Crisis" on liesure activities.  When we arrived, there was no line.  We were practically the only people in the park besides the employees.  Despite this, the park was well run, very clean and we had a BALL!  The terrain was dry as the park was in desert mountain area. There were rows of almond trees, olive trees and bacharan bushes (they only have this fruit in Narvarra to make a certain liquor).

Imagine that the park was on a mountain and we spent from 11 opening to 9 closing walking up and down the mountain. Great exercise! We rode bobsleds & zip lines from the peak to the base of a maitain.  We saw trained vulures, eagles and other bird species and were part of a very "guay" demonstration.  There was clean drinking water at every turn (which is the case all over Spain) and the grounds which were rich in wildlife were very well kept.  I especially enjoyed strolling next to the random peacock which are all over the place!

It took all day, but Jaime finally joined us on the Caída Libre, which revealed spectacular vistas.

We got to ride for about 10 minutes each time and we just continued to get on for up to an hour!

And I did this!

When we arrived at home and the first thing Sam & Callie wanted to do was put in a Muzzy Spanish DVD so they can improve his spanish.

DAY 2 SPAIN

     Today we were up at 11:30. Carlota and Pablo, her 17 yr. old brother ( who Sam loves) came to get us to go to the pool. I made sandwiches so that we wouldn't spend too much money there. We walked about 2 miles and my kids were dying! They are so not used to that much walking! Sam required a time out on the way which proved fortunate because I told the others to continue without us and it forced us to find our way around a little and ask for directions. Any opportunity I have to speak Spanish is a good thing! 

 We got to the pool and the kids got right down to the business of fun! Bella was a little grumpy, but I think she was still sleepy. We charged the devices in the sala de social (wifi room) where others were using iPads and texting friends. I got to connect with Jay and send word that we are all well and miss him. 

 After a little time, Carlotas parents joined us at the pool and we spent lots of time talking about which specialization Carlotas should consider in medical school.  She attends the University of Navarra, a private college that is the best in the area for medicine.  Carlota is very studious and had to take and pass several exams, including english proficiancy exams in order to get into college.  She scored so high that she really could have gone to any college she chose, but this one is the best for medicine and walking distance from her house.  She spends hours there eachday after classes studying.  Her parents admit that she truly spends all of her free time studying during the school year.  Carlota comes from a long line of medical professionals.  Her parents are dentists with medical degrees, her grandparents were surgeons and her Uncles also practice medicine.

I talked a lot about working on the psych unit at Children's Hospital in Boston and I noted that all of my conversations with Paquita seem to show our similarities rather than cultural differences. She explained in greater detail about the economic crisis in Spain. Apparently, it has been many years that government officials have been misusing (stealing) funds, even the ones without much power such as the local mayor, but it's been the past five years that it has been so noticeable. 

 We spent some time playing cards outside and afterwards left the pool to explore more of the city.

The kids were not thrilled with more walking, but we went to see the citadel and took some fun pictures. 

We also went through the old part of he city again to trace the route of el encierro to the Plaza de Toros. There we snapped more photos of things like the statue of Ernest Hemingway who wrote The Sun Also Rises (which I am currently reading). There are stores with his name, a street names for him and many more things. 

 In the old section of he city, we stopped for pinchos. We had croquetas which were so yummy, but of course Bella didn't even try. The rest loved them.  We had a wine and moved onto other sites. We saw ancient churches, schools and plazas and at one we saw a pug! Callie was so excited! When I asked in Spanish how to say "pug", the owners didn't know. The child of the owners knew though that it was "carlino"...I think that is an Italian word. We did some more walking and we went home, but despite all the walking, the kids weren't tired! They are watching the book thief on my iPad. And hopefully will be asleep soon because tomorrow we are up and out at 9am for an excursion to a small amusement park and zoo called Sedaviva. ¡Que divertida!

El Primer Día 7/23/14

Today the kids slept until 11:30am. They did very well with the time change. Carlota came to get us to go to the pool for the day with her family at that time and we rushed to make the appointment at the pool to get ID badges. Miguel and Paquita insisted on paying for this. Afterwards, we took a tour of the club. It was gorgeous! Three beautiful outdoor pools with waterslides and fountains. One could sun bathe on the pool deck or on lawn if they preferred shade. The kids were swimming all day and LOVED it! The weather was perfect, breezy and sunny at about 85 degrees, no humidity. Paquita said that tomorrow will be better...hotter.

The club is private and they pay to belong. Paquita said that there used to be many public pools just as beautiful except that now during the economic crisis, the government cannot maintain them. She also showed me business after business that were forced to closed due to the crisis. She has been explaining to me that in the past 5 or so years, the government has been stealing so much money from the people and that there are no jobs and the country is severely suffering because of it. Many young people are leaving the country for work.

Paquita said that since this is the week after San Fermín, many from Pamplona have left for the month to begin their vacation. She said that most people have a second home in Spain to go to during the summer months, but they are here because of us and to work.

During our time at the pool, we had an informal comida. I had the kids order in Spanish (with assistance from me). They ordered chicken fingers much to my disappointment. Sam had a bocadillo de pollo con queso. In Spain, the chicken is pretty fresh, therefore delicious. Paquita shared a tortilla chistorra, which is what I used to love as an exchange student many years ago.

The children are doing extremely well with their Spanish. I am speaking so much (and am much better now that I am rested) that I forget to speak to them in English and Callie sometimes gets frustrated, but the rest of them are tolerating and trying out the words, especially Sam who I predicted will learn fastest. Jaime is surpassing my expectations. She is very confident and tries to use Spanish a lot!

Paquita and I spend a lot of time taking about everything from children to politics to food and family. It has been so nice. Although she speaks fast, I understand all that she says and again, my own Spanish is emerging nicely. 

 
After the pool we strolled through the city. It was awesome! We went to the older part that was surrounded by murallas (walls). It was there where we got to retrace the path that the bulls during the running of the bulls. We saw the posts where they put in fencing to guide the people and the bulls. We saw beautiful 12th century churches and convents that are no longer in operation, that were purchased by the government and are well maintained. We stood before the ayuntamiento building where the rocket is lit to begin the festivities de San Fermín. 

When Paquita was explaining the bull run (El Encierro), I was translating for Sam. He started to get very emotional and he asked, "Why would people do this if it means they could die?". He did not enjoy the stories, as it bothered him, the danger.

The children tried helados y churros and we visited a gorgeous park (Taconera) where there were many varieties of chickens, pavos reales and ciervos. The deer were not skiddish and looked before the tourists to be fed. There was even a black swan in the water. The grounds were so pretty and clean! 

After that, we went to Carlotas home for cena and had hamburgers (which the kids did not like, they taste different), salad and yes, more frozen treats. Their house is on the top floor and the backyard is actually a huge roof deck. The kids love playing ping ping out there. 

It is now 1:09am and they kids are finally starting to settle, but they are fighting it. I had to give some if them Benadryl.

I was telling Paquita that because my kids feel so comfortable here, that they are behaving as they would at home...which includes less than stellar manners at the table, arguing with siblings and talking back. It's very embarrassing, but she seems to understand. 

 


New words: 
Kanguru: babysitter


Funny moments:
Bathing caps
Callie without a swim top 

One more day!

We leave for Spain on Sunday and the checklists have been made, the tickets printed, passports found, and the spanish workbooks packed.  We Skyped La Familia Voltas yesterday and told them to GET READY!!!  Once The Craft's land on spanish soil those Spaniards won't know what hit them!  Señor Voltas made an expression of horror which lets me know me that they understand American humor.  Señora Voltas reassured me that we will be well cared for and she promises not to kiss Callie our youngest (who cannot tolerate kisses of any kind, even from her parents).  She also invited any of our kids to stay with them for a year to attend school in Spain and we all laughed because there's no way at this age any of our kids would leave us or that we would allow them to go.  The interesting thing about this is that in Europe,  it is quite common for kids to do foreign exchange starting at a young age.

I have decided that when I get to Spain, I will blog in both languages to get my mind to switch into Spanish mode.  The tricky part of this is that I will stumble on words in english.  Yesterday during my Skype session with La Familia Voltas, I was so excited and was talking so fast that my spanish was coming out like gibberish.  I took a deep breath and spoke more slowly and things got better.

I will also start documenting the developing language acquisition of my children at various ages via video clips.  Bella age 12, recognizes and can come up with many words and phrases, however she doesn't initiate conversation…yet.  Jaime age 11, is surprising me with her understanding.  She is using a lot of context cues and picked up a lot from getting spanish once a week in grade 4.  I would say she is in the lead.  Sam age 9 seems to know the least, but I predict that his spanish will surpass all of his siblings because he exudes confidence and is very sociable and uninhibited.  Finally Callie age 7, is very close behind Jaime.  Callie's accent is excellent.  Because she was introduced to spanish at such a young age, she was able to mimic the phonetics well and she absorbed some of the language as a opposed to trying to remember it.  We shall see!

I am trying to budget well as things will cost more in Spain.  Today, $1 converts to .74 euros.

The jeans would be $109.77.  I just ask Siri on my IPHONE and she gives me the most current rate.  I also using this app to convert measurement as well.  I exchanged $700 US  to 518.57 euros to start us off in Spain.

San Fermín is going on right now in Pamplona!

Carlota, our exchange student from 2 years ago who we are going to visit has been sending me photos of she and her family and friends celebrating the festivities of San Fermín.  It looks as though they attended an amateur bullfight with smaller sized bulls and some party where she is drenched in something yellow (I am waiting to hear what that is).  Partying in the streets….so Spain!  We are communicating through the WhatsApp app from the iTunes stores.  It easy and free to use.  Skype is difficult because the microphone over in Spain doesn't project the voice loud enough!

Click here for live action on The Running of the Bulls! 

Our last minute exchange student from Spain.

Once again we find ourselves for the third summer in the road taking in a foreign exchange students from Spain.

We were not going to do it this year because we are headed to Spain for a month this summer but they were really short on families and the program promised my family a night away in a hotel in San Sebastian Spain. We felt like that was worth the effort!

So Leire arrived yesterday and the kids welcomed her with open arms!

She appears to be somewhat quiet but that could also be fatigue.

 We know that she is from Bilbo and that she has a twin brother. She's 16 years old. She likes to run but like many students in Spain she is not doing so much of it anymore so that she can focus on her studies.

Her mother is a high school history teacher like my husband Jay and her father is a journalist this is a first time in the United States. Her English is excellent!