Jamon, jamon and more jamon

When it comes to "jamon" here in Spain the Spaniards DO NOT MESS AROUND!!!!!!  "Jamon" is basically cured ham, but there are many types and characteristics that put all these "jamon's" into different categories.  According to Spaniards...and Wikipedia...the best of the "jamon's" are called "Jamon Iberico" which is made from Iberian pigs.  Often these pigs are specifically black iberian pigs.

Here is what Wikipedia says:

The black Iberian pig lives primarily in the south and southwest parts of Spain, including the provinces of Salamanca, Ciudad Real, Cáceres, Badajoz, Seville, Córdoba and Huelva. It also lives in the southeast parts of Portugal (Barrancos), where it is referred to as porco de raça alentejana.
Immediately after weaning, the piglets are fattened on barley and maize for several weeks. The pigs are then allowed to roam in pasture and oak groves to feed naturally on grass, herbs, acorns, and roots, until the slaughtering time approaches. At that point, the diet may be strictly limited to acorns for the best quality jamón ibérico, or may be a mix of acorns and commercial feed for lesser qualities.
The hams from the slaughtered pigs are salted and left to begin drying for two weeks, after which they are rinsed and left to dry for another four to six weeks. The curing process then takes at least twelve months, although some producers cure their jamones ibéricos for up to 48 months.
In particular, the ibérico hams from the towns of Guijuelo in the Salamanca province and Jabugo in the Huelva province are known for their consistently high quality^{[citation needed]} and both have their own Denominación de origen. Almost the entire town of Jabugo is devoted to the production of jamón ibérico; the biggest producer is 5J Sánchez Romero Carvajal. The town's main square is called La plaza del Jamón.

The hams are labeled according to the pigs' diet, with an acorn diet being most desirable:

• The finest is called jamón ibérico de bellota (acorn). This ham is from free-range pigs that roam oak forests (called la dehesa) along the border between Spain and Portugal, and eat only acorns during this last period. It is also known as jamón ibérico de Montanera. The exercise and diet have a significant impact on the flavor of the meat; the ham is cured for 36 months.
• The next grade is called jamón ibérico de recebo. This ham is from pigs that are pastured and fed a combination of acorns and grain.
• The third type is called jamón ibérico de cebo, or simply, jamón ibérico. This ham is from pigs that are fed only grain. The ham is cured for 24 months.

Jamón ibérico on a jamonera

Additionally, the word puro (pure, referring to the breed) can be added to the previous qualities when both the father and mother of the slaughtered animal are of pure breed and duly registered on the pedigree books held by official breeders.^[1]
The term pata negra is also used to refer to jamón ibérico in general, and may refer to any one of the above three types. The term refers to the color of the pigs' nails, which are white in most traditional pork (Sus domesticus) breeds, but black for the Black Iberian breed. While as a general rule, a black nail should indicate an Ibérico ham, there are cases of counterfeits, with the nails being manually painted.
Bellota jamones are prized both for their smooth texture and rich, savory taste. A good ibérico ham has regular flecks of intramuscular fat (marbling). Because of the pig's diet of acorns, much of the fat is oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid that has been shown to lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol.
The fat content is relatively high compared to jamón serrano, thus giving a rich taste.

Okay...so there is a little background on this treat that Spain is so famous for.  Now that the holidays are upon us this commodity is a hot one.  This is a common gift given during the holidays or common just to have ready for guests.  We noticed these legs of ham hanging on the walls of the supermarkets when we arrived this summer.  We were a bit awestruck at the bizarreness, the smell and the number of these hanging on the walls.  Depending on the category these "jamon's" fall into depends on the price.  These things run from about $40 per kilogram to about $170 per kilogram.  This is crazy.  This all brings us to today.  We had to run to the Carrefour (similar to Walmart) and they have tons of salespeople roaming around with their "product" they are trying to sell...just like Costco, because it is the holidays.  Well their was a representative there today from 5J, which is the biggest producer of these glorious hams.  The sales rep shaved off a little slice of the leg and it literally melted in your mouth.  This was so incredibly delicious that we had to bring some home.  So...of course...just like everything else there are a gazillion choices.  We, obviously, took a packet of the one we just tasted and decided we wanted to see if price "really" did make a difference or were they selling a name.  So the packet we knew we would love was 129 euros per kilo...we only bought a .9 gram packet which was around 12 euro.  We had to pick another kind so we could conduct our test...so we also bought a packet that was 99 euro per kilogram.  I think we got about the same size packet for around 9 euro.  Trying to make our choice was very difficult because of how many types there are.  We decided to stick with the jamon iberico de bellota category.

We got home super excited to conduct our own taste test.  Hands down the pricier jamon took the cake.  The other one was good, but you really can tell a difference.  We like to eat our jamon with queso (particularly manchego...which is another thing Spain is famous for).  The pricier jamon we discovered, that we didn't want to eat it with anything, but itself for fear of masking the awesomeness that it was all alone.  Tanner even had his conclusions.  He loved the expensive one by itself, but admitted that he liked the second one with manchego versus all by itself.  I love that they are starting to understand and distinguish some of these cultural differences.

Now, this is mostly a Spain and Portugal treat, but for those of you in the United States I believe you can order this at latienda.com or maybe you may get lucky in a local Spanish or international type marketplace.  The price truly reflects the quality and is just amazing.  I hope that you get a chance or opportunity to try this lucious appetizer and it would be worth a trip to Spain just for the jamon alone.  Some jamon iberico, manchego, baguette and a glass of red wine...now that is a spanish slice of heaven.

The jamon's line the walls.  There is actually the equivalent to an entire Walmart size aisle dedicated to all of the jamon's.

You can sort of see the "goo" on the outside of these legs.  This is basically a greasy mold type substance.  You obviously cut that off, but they smell terrible.  They have special canvas bags that they place these in when purchased.  They are bags shaped like a ham leg with a handle.

Here are a few legs that have been partially carved.  After speaking with some Spaniards these really don't go bad.  Because of the curing process they can last for months in this state.  The Spaniards say that it really isn't a problem, becuase they don't last long.  Once you start cutting on the leg you just cover it with plastic wrap so that it doesn't dry out.  The key is to shave off the meat in paper thin slices.  This is a true art form and is just amazing to watch.

Challenges, challenges and more challenges

Well...I have been terrible about blogging lately.  I believe it has been two months since I have blogged.  I suppose there is a good and a bad to this.  The bad part is that you all don't get to read about our experiences, but I suppose the good part is that our experiences are feeling a bit more normal and less overwhelming and I hadn't felt the need to rush and blog about it.  As I was chatting with a friend today about how terrible I am at blogging, I thought, I need to be better about this because we can laugh at our experiences here and that may also give all of you a good laugh as well.  So I decided to talk a little about some of our challenges lately where we have had to insert said sense of humor.

We have been here in Madrid now for about 4 months.  We are far from "settled", but definitely feel like we are functioning pretty well.  There are many, many challenges that we face each and every day.  Being 4 months into this these challenges certainly don't feel as strange as they used to and we pretty much accept the fact that whatever we are about to do is certainly not going to be easy.  My friend here always says, "Living here is the good life, but not the easy life".  This is soooo in your face true that we have concluded that if we do not have a sense of humor here we will be eaten alive. :-)  I am going to talk a little about such simple things that become so difficult and our "experiences" along the way.

As a military family we have had our fair share of living in different states, different cities, different military posts and many different houses.  Usually when we get to a new spot we have to "cruise" our current city for all of our favorites.  You know, like our favorite stores, favorite coffee shops, favorite salons, favorite restaurants and really anything that we can "relate" to or "recognize".  Well when you transplant to a foreign land there are certainly no familiarities and definitely no "cruising" the city to look because we would surely get lost.  Then add the language barrier and you are certainly set up for disaster.  So let's take a look at what sorts of challenges that we run into.  Imagine the simplicity of these things in the States and you might be able to understand our frustrations.

Imagine for a second what you do in a day...now imagine doing this in a place where nobody speaks your language and you don't speak theirs.  Here is where you absolutely must have a sense of humor, not only at yourself, but also with the situation.  The grocery store...now this is actually getting much, much better.  I can recognize so many more items on the shelves, have found our favorite olives, favorite jamon and favorite cheeses.  This week, for the first time, I was actually successful at getting a certain cut of meat that I needed.  You don't find as many meat choices that are already cut for you out on display for you to just grab and go here.  There are pre packaged meats, but it doesn't compare to what our grocery stores have.  Plus you really need to know what the cut of meat you want looks like because you aren't going to find a chuck roast anywhere, well no roast for that matter, but that is another blog.  For some reason the pork chops here are paper thin with shrapnel.  Shrapnel, you say, ahhhh yes, shrapnel.  The meat seems to be cut with a bit of wrecklessness.  I have to warn the kids before eating their pork chop that they may find little bones in their meat.  I cannot stand this, but it is what it is, so we just deal with it.  Well...yesterday I ran to my local mercado and went back to the butcher and found the cut of meat I wanted.  Well here comes the hard part...I needed to tell him what I wanted.  I wanted that cut of meat cut thicker and I wanted 6.  So....here it goes.  Hola, Buenas Tardes.  Now remember...I have complete survival spanish...I sound like the local village idiot, but at this point if I can get my need across to them then it is a win win. :-)  Esta. Gruesa. Seis.  Well he cut me the most lucious pork chops that we have gotten yet and it was absolutely AWESOME.  Now you can imagine my pride as I just ordered meat from the butcher in a language that I am not even close to native at speaking.  I was on cloud 9.  It sounds so silly to want to call your husband as you leave the store to tell him that you just got pork chops.  This is just a funny situation that if we were home in the States...who cares...do you want some sort of medal because you bought friggin pork chops...well actually in Spain, yes a medal or girl scout patch of achievement would ROCK.

As a girl this next situation is one that I have been thinking about since we got here.  I am not going to lie.  I am extremely high maintenance and I usually have my new salon in my new city picked out before my new curtains go up.  Again...not here.  I went to an Aveda Salon back home in the States and had looked up the local Aveda Salon pretty much as soon as we landed.  I have been telling my husband for the past 4 months that I need to either go down to the salon or attempt to call to see if anyone speaks English.  This is actually a situation where I absolutley NEED the hairstylist to speak English because there can be no miscommunication when it comes to cutting my hair.  We already had this happen to Ellie and that is a whole other story, but she is 6 and I am not and if my hair is cut way shorter than I had expected there will be tears.  Each week I get an email that talks about recent events and goings on in Madrid.  Well each week they have the Aveda Salon in downtown Madrid highlighted and they talk about one of their services they offer.  Last week in this email it said that a brunch had been organized at this Aveda.  At this brunch you got a consult with a stylist, a free manicure and a mini shoulder massage.  I was certainly ALL OVER this one.  I had been wanting to get my foot in the door of this salon since we arrived and what better way than with a group of other people.  Perfect...this was going to be fabulous.  I drop the kids off at the bus and head into the location to catch the light rail into the regular metro station to take the metro into the city because Lord knows you don't want to drive into Madrid at 10 am, plus there probably wouldn't be anywhere to park.  I arrived at the salon a few minutes early so I popped into the Starbucks right across the street.  Just a little side note, I was so excited when I saw Peppermint Mocha on the menu.  I, of course, ordered myself a Peppermint Mocha and just sat in a little bliss of familiarity as Christmas music played in the background.  It was certainly my happy place for a few moments.  It was now time to head over to my brunch event at Aveda.  I walked inside and was greeted by a Bonjour.  What the...I must admit I sort of froze.  All I could think to say was Hola.  Holy Crap why is she speaking French...wait a minute...THEY ALL ARE SPEAKING FRENCH.  I am bad enough with getting by in Spanish and now I am surrounded by people speaking French.  The coordinator of the event, whom I corresponded with in English, did speak English to me as she checked me in.  Come to find out, this was actually a French Club that had arranged this.  I am not sure how I was included in the original email about this event, but I had to look at it...with a sense of humor.  These ladies did speak Spanish, but not English.  Well, a few spoke English, but they all knew each other and were all speaking French.  It was just one of those moments where I thought, "How bizarre".  The positive that came out of the whole thing was that they were able to get me hooked up with a stylist that does speak English and I was able to make an appointment with him for next week to actually get a cut and a color plus I got a free manicure and shoulder massage.  So again a win win.

I will leave you with one last challenge that is sooo super easy to do in the States that you don't even think twice, but now we are going to figure out how to order a pizza. This should be fun.  Ellie and I were leaving girl scouts and we thought it would be great to bring home a pizza.  So we put Domino's in our GPS and go.  Well, you know how GPS's are.  After the fact we find out that there was a Domino's much closer to where we were to start with, but such is life. So it is pouring down rain and Ellie and I are on an adventure.  Any where you go in Madrid parking is a nightmare.  I am sure this is the same scenario in any major city, but a new one for us to deal with and you certainly must perfect your parallel parking skills. Ellie and I find a perfect parking spot.  I attempt to "fit" into in the spot with my super American Honda Odyssey....ummm yeah...if you see a Honda Odyssey it is a 110% that it is an American driving it seeing as they don't make this Honda model here...even when the Guardia Civil sets up check points...they wave on through the obvious Americans...aka Honda Odyssey's.  So I am trying to parallel park the van into a spot I knew for sure we would fit into.  Well I kept running into something.  So I asked Ellie to jump in the back and look out the back window to see what I was hitting.  She, so politely, says, "Mom, you are hitting the car behind you".  Well that certainly explains that.  I think we will just mosey along to a new spot.  We did find a parking spot and now the real challenge begins...to order the pizza. Now, of course, the toppings are pretty similar, except for the fact that it is all in Spanish and the lady taking your order only speaks Spanish.  We were able with not much trouble to order our hawaiian and bacon pizzas or jamon con pina y bacon.  Whenever I do something new for the first time I swear I feel like I have a mini anxiety attack trying to get through it.  I just freeze up and forget all that I know. So after I placed my order she asked me for my nombre.  Well in the midst of my feeling overwhelmed I responded telefono, because I thought she was asking me my number...nombre/number...they sound the same to me. :-)  Well it wasn't until she called the name of the other lady waiting for her pizza when it donned on me that nombre was name.  I totally knew this, but totally had a brain freeze.  If Chad would have been in this situation his response is always, "No speako the Mexicano," which he totally stole from our friend Ashleigh. You can imagine how far this gets him.  Let's just say I do all the speaking when possible.

Until next time...

September 11, 2011

Today is the 10 year anniversary of events that changed us as a nation.  As I sit in my home in Madrid, Spain I have found it a bit of a difficult day.  Difficult because it is just a regular day here in Spain.  Difficult because this date 10 years ago defines us now and my children will not be taught any of this in school here.  Difficult because as an American in a foreign country I feel that I want to keep that fact hidden.  I don't want to draw attention to myself, but I really want to hang a U.S. flag out on my house to show my pride for my country.  Being an American in Spain is such an incredible opportunity and adventure and I would never want to offend a Spaniard.  As September 11 is just about over here in Spain I wanted to have a post in remembrence.  I read a facebook post yesterday that said. "I don't remember what I was doing last Tuesday, but I can tell you exactly what I was doing on September 11, 2001".  This struck a chord with me.  This is so true.  I love hearing people's stories of where they were and what they were doing and how their lives have been affected by such tragedy that I thought I would share mine.

On September 11, 2001 we were stationed at Ft. Lee in Virginia.  Hubby was attending the Captain's Career Course and I was working just north of Richmond, Virginia in a town called Glen Allen.  I was not at a computer that had internet capabilities nor near a television.  I sort of heard co-workers talking about what was going on, but truly was caught up in my work.  I kept getting updates from co-workers and couldn't believe what I was hearing.  I stepped out of the office to call my mom on the West Coast to just let her know that I was ok and to hear her voice.  Just after lunchtime Hubby called me at work to let me know that he had been released early and to fill me in on the details.  He then told me that Ft. Lee was on lockdown and to try and get a hotel room outside of base because I probably couldn't get on.  I left work early that day and was able to get on base, but waited hours in a line to get on.  Once on post there were soldiers with weapons walking up and down our streets.  There were tanks rolling up and down our streets.  It was just crazy.  Once I got home I was able to see footage for the first time and I just couldn't turn it off.  Hubby and I waited to hear President Bush speak and after President Bush's speech Hubby turned to me and said, "We are going to war."  At that moment I knew our military lives would be drastically different.

In the weeks that followed I struggled with so many emotions.  I would take my lunch break to drive to a parking lot and just sob.  What was going to happen?  What did this mean for us in the military?  How would our country heal?  I felt so much patriotism all around me.  It brought tears to my eyes to see every single house on our street waving the American Flag.  People, for the first time in a long time, put their needs and wants aside to help others.  It was just truly amazing yet so sad that it takes such tragedy for people to come together.  There were people on our street whose husbands were sent up to ground zero to help in the recovery of bodies with a Casualty Affairs unit.  We had another schooling scheduled after Ft. Lee, but which of our friends would be sent away from their families?

We headed to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida for EOD school and then to Ft. Knox, Kentucky to fill a Company Command position of an active EOD Company.  About the time we got to Kentucky the first wave of Marines deployed to Iraq.  By this time we had given birth to one child.  Not sure how many waves came before ours, but in September of 2003 Hubby deployed to Iraq...and I suppose the rest is history.  We now have two children, been through 2 deployments, too many memorial services to count and Hubby wears a bracelet with 2 special names engraved on it representing two of his soldiers that were killed in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom.  We are a changed nation and we are a changed family.

I pray everyday for God's protection of our "family" and our military "family".  So many lives lost this day 10 years ago and many more lost since then.  Though we aren't seeing coverage on tv this day, that is probably happening in the States, we do remember.  Terrorists act in evil all over the world and this is one thing that we as Americans share with Madrid.  In 2004 Madrid was attacked with bombs in their commuter train system.  I look forward to mourning with them on the anniversary of their tragedy and knowing we can actually relate.  Because of their terrorist attacks we are here today.  Spain wanted to host the Counter IED Center because of this incident. 

I raise a glass to 10 more years of rebuilding this great nation and pray that Americans everywhere remember how we all treated each other just hours, days, weeks and even months following this great tragedy and to remember that we don't need another tragedy to come together as one.

SEGOVIA!!!!!!

A few weekends ago Hubby's work organized a trip to Segovia.  Segovia is an easy day trip from Madrid and I would say is a must see for anyone visiting here.  There are many things that Segovia is known for.  The few that we saw were the Aqueduct, the Alcazar, the Segovia Cathedral, the Walls of Segovia and Suckling Pig.

The Aqueduct:

The aqueduct is an incredible piece of architecture and engineering.  This was built in the late 1st century or early 2nd century.  The aqueduct is 9 miles long and up to only a few years back was functional.  It brought water from the mountains to the city.  I think the most amazing facts about this structure is that it was built by hand with around 25,000 granite blocks and held together by pure engineering.  There is no mortar whatsoever in this structure.  There are over 170 bows (arches) in the structure.

Incredible.

The next sight we saw was the Segovia Cathedral.  We weren't able to go in because we weren't Catholic and they were having mass.  We went on a Sunday.  You can pay to go in when there isn't mass and we will certainly do that next time we are there.  I must say that buildings here are just so impressive.  When you think about the construction practices back when these buildings were constructed you just stand in awe of what was produced.  These were all done by hand and the detail is just amazing.

After being mesmerized for a bit looking at the Cathedral, we walked through the incredibly tiny streets where you wouldn't think people could walk and drive down...but this is Spain...so they absolutely do.

These incredible streets took us past little shops and vendors and ended at the Alcazar of Segovia.  They say that Walt Disney was inspired by this castle and created Cinderella's castle through this inspiration. This castle was first documented in 1122, but it easily could have existed earlier.  Again...we didn't go inside the castle this trip, but do plan to go in next time.  We were with a big group and we didn't want anybody to feel obligated to pay the entrance fees.  This castle was the residence of many royals and was devastated by fire in 1862, but was rebuilt.  This sight now houses the sight of an Artillery Museum.

Our final destination in Segovia was to have the famous suckling pig. Now...I probably shouldn't have read about this before we went, but I was determined to try it.  A little background...A suckling pig is basically a piglet that is fed strictly on it's mother's milk until slaughtered at about 21 days old.  Oyyyyyy... here we go.  This appeared to be a specialty in Segovia.  It was offered on many, many of the menus here and 2 of the most well know suckling pig restaurants are here. 

The meat of the suckling pig is extremely tender. They say that when these come out of the wood ovens that they cut them with a plate because they are so tender.  I would agree the meat is this tender, but the skin was extremely crisp so I don't know if that is true.  We didn't see them cut the little piglets. It was very tasty and an experience to say the least.

We had a great day in Segovia and hope to go back soon when we are not with a large group and can just wander without losing anybody or worrying about places we need to be by a certain time.

Until we meet again...

More rules of the Spaniards...

I am sure throughout the next 3 years here there will be many postings depicting things/actions that I come across as bizarre/inappropriate/just plain strange that the Spaniards do.  Because I have noticed on more than one occasion these behaviors I have dubbed them as Rules of the Spaniards...such as their driving...here are a few more.

Our stay thus far here in Madrid has required/allowed us to get around using public transportation.  The great thing is that the public transportation here is incredible.  You truly can get anywhere you need to go without any trouble.  A consequence of using public transportation is that you are around other people all day long as you travel to where you need to be.  I posted a post a while ago about the women of Spain.  How smartly they dress and how you don't see them running errands in their pajamas.  This is still true, but as the weather has turned extremely warm a trend of wearing white has emerged among the Madrilenos.  Now...here is where their rule comes in...It must be a Spanish rule that if you wear a white shirt you MUST wear a black bra and if you wear white bottoms, such as slacks, skirts or shorts that you MUST wear some brightly colored underwear.  Being the fashionista that I am (hehehehehe) I find this totally bizarre.  Am I the only one that knows when wearing white you wear nude colored undergarments, not even white undergarments.  It just boggles my mind...do they not see themselves in a mirror before walking out the door.  Now, you may be chuckling, but I am stunned at how many women I see in a day abiding by this RULE!!!!!!  Stacey and Clinton...Madrid needs a What Not to Wear - Undergarments show.

Another rule that I have observed is that when out in public you MUST show as much PDA (Public Display of Affection) as humanly possible.  This one just makes me uncomfortable.  If I knew how to say "Get a room" in spanish I might get to the point of yelling it out at the top of my lungs.  Just today on the Metro ride home a young couple were totally going at it.  Now, when I say going at it, I don't mean a little peck here and there, but full blown, noisemaking, making out.  I find this terribly disturbing.  I try to appreciate that they are in love and expressing that, but I really feel there is a time and a place.  That place is certainly not sitting next to me and my two children on the Metro.  Almost everyday we ride the Metro we experience something of this nature.  Whether it is making out on the escalators, as they wait for the Metro, in the parks...EVERYWHERE!!!!  This, again, may be one of those European things, but I really don't like it and I certainly don't appreciate this RULE.

Until next time....

The Woes of Moving...

Our experiences thus far in Madrid have been over the top incredible.  We are so blessed to be able to have this experience and we have been trying to "stop and smell the roses" and appreciate all that is around us here.  We have been successful in seeing as much as we can see, and do as much as we can do.  With two young children there are times that you are pinched back to reality over things that, as adults, we try and push through in order to make each of our "homes" the best that it can be.  As I mentioned in a previous post, "Every place is what you make of it."  Well, the kids have a harder time embracing this concept.  They cannot always appreciate the age of buildings, statues and fountains.  They don't care to understand, at this point, the history of how a city, such as Madrid, became a city.  All they know is that they have been pulled away from everything that they have ever known, or known for a really long time, and there are days that they just want to go back to what they know. 

Being a military family can sometimes be a double edged sword.  We "get" to move every few years and experience all new places.  Hubby and I have moved many, many times and we always try to look forward to our new locations as an opportunity to see something we have never seen before.  We would even start to get "the itch" when we have been in one place longer than normal.  Some moves are more welcome than others, as the location we were leaving weren't the most ideal locations.  Now, with children, this moving business is a whole new ball game.  We had been very fortunate in our last duty station and had been "stable" for just over 6 years.  Our littlest, LuLu, was born there and our oldest was almost 3 when we arrived to Fort Carson, Colorado.  So having been in that location so long was really all our kids had ever known.  In previous moves our oldest was too little to really understand what was going on and we hadn't yet had the little one.  So this move has been especially tough on LuLu.  She has been torn from, literally, her whole life as she knows it.  There are many days where she wakes up in tears.  She just wants to go back to Colorado and all her friends and everything she is "comfy" with.  As a parent this just breaks your heart.  Hubby and I miss the friends that we have made as well, but we are "old hats" at this moving business, and since most of our friends are also military they know the old Army saying, "See you later".  We NEVER say goodbye...only SEE YOU LATER.   We hope and pray that at some point down the road we do cross paths again with the many special families that we have been blessed to get to know.

There are many more "kinks" put into our moving routine when moving overseas.  As I mentioned before Hubby and I are "old hats" at this moving business, but neither of us have moved overseas before.  In our many, many military moves, we have never had the right conditions to have gotten a door-to-door move.  A door to door move is one that once the movers pack out and load your household goods on their semi the timing works just perfect that you get to your new location and have a house that they can literally drive your things from the home they packed it to the new home and not have to unload the truck in government storage.  This has never happened to us.  Our stuff always goes into storage and is delivered when everything else is in order.  Now...throw an overseas move into the mix.  By the time we get our stuff delivered here in Spain it will have been exactly 2 months since it left our residence in Colorado.  Now, of course, an overseas move is a differnent sort of beast in itself.  Our stuff must ship over on a boat versus being driven in a semi-truck.  Again, for Hubby and I, not that big of deal.  We are certainly looking forward to getting our things, but now think of this whole thing through a childs point of view.  The kids have not seen their toys, beds and all the things that are special to them for 2 months.  Imagine for a moment...leaving your home of 6 years, 2 months ago, with essentially only what you could carry onto an airplane.  I am not going to lie and say that the limited clothing items that I having been wearing for the past 2 months may have to be burned when my other clothes arrive because I cannot stand to look at them anymore. :-)  The kids could really care less about their clothes, but they have really been troopers under the circumstances.  They are confined to this little 2 bedroom apartment with only the toys and things that they could carry in their backpack on the airplane.  Military children are especially resiliant and can adapt very quickly, but the reality is that they are still children and don't yet have the coping skills that adults have.  As a parent we certainly try to "soften the blow", as you will, with all that is going on.  We try to encourage all the great things that they are getting to see and the new people they will meet.  The reality is...sometimes it isn't that easy for the little ones.

We have just about a week left before we can begin to really "settle in" to our new home.  We move into the house next week and will be able to receive our household goods at that time.  We are certainly looking forward to getting our routines and schedules back in order and hopefully with familiar things surrounding us, the kids can start to feel like this is "home" and begin to make new memories and friends.  I never want them to forget all their past experiences, but hope and pray that they can embrace and appreciate where they are in the present.  They truly are a unique breed from other children and probably once they are grown and have their own families will they truly appreciate those past experiences.  Here is to praying that each and every transistion our children go through they feel the Lord's presence as comfort and familiarity.

Until next time....

Spanish Drivers Make their own Rules!!!!!

On the eve of us receiving our car I thought it would be appropriate to talk a little about how the Spaniards drive and park around the city and for you to gather a bit of an understanding as to why I am terrified to drive here.

Now I consider myself a pretty experienced driver.  We have driven through too many states to count.  I have driven through major cities such as Denver, St. Louis, Seattle, Louisville and many, many others.  I have driven in weather of snow, ice, blizzards, rain and flash flooding rain.  Through all of this experience, I realized the moment that we were passengers in a vehicle headed into downtown Madrid that I was certainly going to get a run for my money.

One of the things that I am not experienced at driving in is these crazy roundabouts.  We had a few in Colorado Springs, but they were tiny compared to the ones here.  I also am not sure if it is a European thing or a Spain thing, but the roundabouts are everywhere.  They certainly don't believe in a 4 way stop sign or stop lights for that matter.  They use these roundabouts at just about every intersection.  Now...in the Springs we would have 4 streets come into a roundabout.  Here they have like 8-10 streets coming into a roundabout.  The roundabouts in the Springs had basically one lane.  One car would enter after yielding to the right away car.  Here...all friggin 8-10 lanes come in at once and it becomes a free for all.  There are no lane lines painted in the roundabout.  Literally the cars come in and do as they please.  You would think that if you are going to exit at one of the next streets coming up, you would be in the closest lane to the exit.  Ummmm...not so much.  These people literally exit from the inner most lane closest to the ginormous fountain or statue that usually sits in the middle of these roundabouts.  It is just crazy.  You have to be on your toes at all times.

Lets jump to the topic of lane lines.  Lane lines here...mean nothing.  I am not even sure why they bother.  They are sort of a suggestion, but people drive wherever they want to.  A car can easily be taking up multiple lanes for no apparent reason.  What you don't see here is people on their phones or texting while driving.  Truly, the reason for this is that they really don't have time to do such a thing.  Because you never know what the person in front of you or beside you is going to do, you have to be both an offensive and defensive driver at the same time.  Drivers here use their horns all the time.  I feel like in the States we only use our horns when we are ticked off. Either somebody has cut us off or done something totally stupid.  Here, they really use their horns as a form communication.

Just as oblivious whilst driving they also just park wherever they want to whenever they feel like it.  They do put on their flashers and that seems to make it ok.  You see people stopped in the most bizarre, most unlikely and obvious non parking places.

Here is an example.  This is a roundabout and this black Mercedes just parked on a tiny curb within the roundabout.  We watched her park, put on her flashers and jump out.  You think to yourself...Why on Earth would she park in such a bizarre spot.  Ohhhhh...Because all the tiny curb space on the other side of this street were taken and she needed to get to the ATM machine.  Are you kidding me????  This is just CRAZY!!!!!!

Here you can see cars entering and exiting the roundabout around where the Mercedes is parked.

Another view of the car.  I am standing on the sidewalk where the lady was running to the ATM.  The Land Rover there...Yep, just parked.  It just boggles my mind.

Talking about parking space.  People not only park in these bizarre tiny curb spaces, but they also double park...ohh...and put on their flashers.  I swear, they think that if their hazards/flashers are on they can do whatever they need to do.  This same day we were having a coffee and watching a driver next to the cafe totally double park.  The owners of the car that he blocked in just honked their horn when they were ready to leave and the driver of the double parked car ran out, backed up his car, the blocked car went and he took their spot.

Parking spots - WOW this is a whole other challenge.  We own a Honda Odyssey and lets just say that we probably will not be able to park that van anywhere on the street in Madrid.  The streets are tiny and we would stick out to far.  Parking garages can be hit or miss.  Our parking spot here at the apartment is basically between a wall and a cement pole.  There is absolutely no way the van could maneuver to get into that spot.  There just isn't any clearance anywhere.  Plus, you have cars parked behind you, in front of you and next to you.  Hubby was able to get a borrowed car equivalent to a Dodge Neon in the space.  He did, however, have to do about a gazillion point turn and I truly didn't think he would get in.  Once he did get in I was for sure he wouldn't get out.  He did get out, but I wasn't there to witness the fiasco.  It was just too much to bear. :-)

So on the eve of us taking possession of our vehicle after 2 months of no car, we certainly have mixed emotions.  We are excited for the freedom to have a vehicle to travel around, but I think we will still depend on the Metro system when it comes to travelling within the city.  People here have warned us that it won't be too long until we have "earned" our Madrid racing stripe, which translates into a huge scrape down the side of our vehicle.

Until next time....

House Hunting in Madrid

House hunting in Madrid...this has been quite the experience.  Being Americans in Spain we started off this process knowing that we not only wouldn't get what we were used to in America, but also that we didn't really want anything like we could get in America.  We are in Spain for 3 years and want to fully experience Spanish living.  We wanted a home with Spanish character and charm, plus a pool never hurt anybody, right? (hehehe)

We started off the hunt a little closer to the Madrid city center with homes that were more of a row house style.  Now don't get me wrong...these homes were huge compared to what we could get in the States.  Our first house we looked at was a row house (so connected to other houses on both sides), but it had about 4,800 square feet of living space.  Are you freakin kidding me?  Even though there were houses on either side of us and we would share walls...would you even hear them in 4800 square feet?  I don't know, but it was incredible.  This particular one had been completely renovated inside and was absolutely gorgeous.  The downfall was that though it had a huge pool, the yard was just a tiny strip and with two children this just would not fit our needs.  We saw a gamut of homes ranging from old and dated to ultra modern and made completely of cement with state of the art appliances and amenities.  After the first couple of days we quickly realized that with children and our lifestyle we did need a little bit more outside living than the city type places offered. So we headed to the burbs.

On a side note...we have a friend who is living in downtown Madrid.  They actually have an apartment just next to the opera house in an incredible location.  They look out one window on the Opera House and another window is the Royal Palace.  Don't be fooled when you think of downtown like you would a downtown apartment in New York City.  Their apartment is just over 3,000 square feet and has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms with a formal dining room, formal living space with a salon type area off of that.  Tons of storage, built ins and 10 foot ceilings.  Amazing...but again not a place we would be comfortable in with 2 smaller children and no yard space.  Just an FYI.

Some interesting features in just about every home we looked at was the servant quarters.  Most homes in Madrid have many floors or levels, they range from 2-4 floors and the basement area is never really factored in.  The basement level is strictly for storage and service employees.  The service quarters usually have a bedroom and bathroom connected, but are just at the lowest level of the home so the service isn't really seen.  In many of the homes we looked at there were actually service employees not only living in the space, but cleaning and such when we were there.  I thought it was very awkward, but the realtor explained that this was not only completely normal, but a pretty good deal for the worker.  They had a place to live, free of charge, and got a small wage to go out on the town on their days off.  All these homes would also have a service entrance, usually into the kitchen area. 

The kitchens....this is a whole other issue.  In the States we are so used to having huge kitchens that open up to the rest of the house so that we are always connected to our guests and the family areas.  Well in Spain...this is definitely not the case.  Hubby and I were discussing this issue and came to the realization that because the service or chiccas, mainly do the cooking, or that is how it used to be, the kitchens are a bit isolated and not open to anything.  Again, so they wouldn't be seen.  So strange to me, but a much different way of life here. 

The bedrooms were pretty normal size.  They were a bit smaller, but that is because instead of a closet per se they would have wardrobes.  Now a wardrobe is sort of a closet/dresser in one.  There was closet space to hang things, both short and long, and then built in drawers.  This totally eliminates the need for dressers and that sort of bulky furniture.  Brilliant if you ask me.  We now just need to find space to store our dressers because we really won't need them.  This would be a piece of advice that I would pass along to somebody coming here.  The storage is just unreal.  It seems like in every wall they put closets.  They definitely embrace the season they are in.  They use all the storage closets to put their winter clothes when it is summer and so on. Again...my sort of style.

The Spanish really focus on family and friends and use their homes to live like this.  Bedrooms are not the size of living rooms and kitchens are not connected to the social areas, but they don't live in the kitchen or isolate themselves in their bedrooms.  They live in their common areas and treasure their time with each other.  Children are right in the middle of everything all the time, they are not shunned to a playroom or to their bedrooms.  We look forward to embracing this in our new casa.

If you ever want to look at homes abroad...just for fun...a website called www.idealista.com is what we used in Madrid and it is just fun to see how other countries live.

Until next time....

Every Place is What you Make of IT

"Every place is what you make of it."  This is a phrase that a wise woman once told me when we first got stationed at Fort Knox in Kentucky.  This is the best piece of advice I have ever gotten and I try to live by those words each and every day.  When the going gets tough those words are sometimes hard to say, but I still try.  These words also take on different meanings depending on the situation and/or location.  Fort Knox for instance is just south of Louisville and there is absolutely nothing around you (at least when we were stationed there, there wasn't).  We had a Wal-Mart out one gate and a road leading to Louisville out the other gate.  Fort Knox turned out to be one of my favorite experiences because you had to make the best of it or you would for sure shrivel up and die.

Now that we have been in Madrid for just over a week this phrase, yet again, takes on a whole new meaning.  We realized well before we arrived here what an incredible experience this was going to be and were excited before we got here.  Having moved many, many times in our 14 years being in the military we are old hats at getting to a new location and immediately exploring to see what the new city has to offer.  In the States that is much easier than here.  In the states you get in your car and explore.  Here...not so much.  We have explored most everything on foot via the Metro, which is great, but I realized today that it makes it a bit difficult to know where exactly you are located within the city.  Now, I of course can read a map, but when we are out and about we haven't had a city map with us, just the metro map.  This will probably change once we are truly sort of on our own, but we have had the luxury to be with a "guide" most of the time or at least when it is necessary. 

Those of you that have had a European experience can relate to this next part.  Every place is what you make of it also can translate to making each place work for you in a manner of comfort.  I am sure that it isn't only Spain, but we have to remind ourselves each and every day that this isn't America and the amenities that we don't think twice about being able to get are not here or are very, very different and we have to be able to adapt.  In all the Army wife type classes that I would take part in, myself and other spouses would joke that our personalities are adaptable with notice and not one of these fly by the seat of your pants type personalities.  This has been a challenge for me.  I am all about trying new things and making my surroundings work for me, but I have gotten to the point a few times where I miss the conveniences of American living.  Because things here are different it doesn't mean that it is a bad thing, just a point at which I need to adapt, which takes time. 

Some examples of where adaptation is needed and that make me miss America.  Let's start with one fresh on my mind because I am right in the middle of it...Laundry.  The washing machine that we have in our apartment is a combination washer/dryer.  There are separate dryers, but we don't have one yet, but in either case it takes forever to do a load of laundry.  In our machine it takes an hour and half to wash a load and an additional 2 hours to dry it, most of the time you need to dry it for a bit longer because the clothers are still damp.  A bit of a side note...a load of laundry consists of about 3 or 4 pairs of shorts and a couple of t-shirts...that is it.  They are extrememly small.  I think of the fancy washers and dryers in the States that can wash a load the size of a king size bed comforter in about 20 minutes and then dry that super large load in another 20 minutes.  Well my personal washer and dryer in the States wasn't that efficient, but I could wash a good amount of clothing in one load.  You certainly could not plan a week's worth of laundry here to be done in a Sunday afternoon.  You have to do a few loads each and every day.  Items such as heavier cottons, like khaki shorts for instance, come out of the dry cycle bunched in a ball and extremely wrinkled...so you have to turn around and iron items like this on top of the crazy long dry time.  This might be different once we get a separate dryer...I hope. 

Yesterday was a day when I was having an off feeling.  We decided to go for lunch, which I was a bit reluctant about because I just wanted some familiarity.  We came across a diner.  It was called Peggy Sue's American Diner.  Praise God...a little piece of USA just one street over.  I, of course, ordered a hamburger...another item that I am missing so much.  Well, let's just say, it was nothing like an American hamburger.  It was delicious, but not an American burger.  That brings me to my next item I am missing...BEEF.  Now we haven't been here that long and have not really "looked" around for beef, but you just don't see it in the grocery stores or on the menu in restaurants.  I am sure there are restuarants that specialize in steaks and such, we just have not located them as of yet.  The food here is delicious...it is just different.  Again, not necessarily different in a bad way, but different in a way that requires adaptation.  We walk through the grocery store and have to just identify items that we recognize and figure out what other items we recognize that will go with each other in order to make a meal.  Because lunch time is really the big meal of the day we are finding ourselves eating much smaller and simpler dinners.  Which we really enjoy.  When in the grocery store you actually use a glove to get your fruits and vegetables and you have them weighed and marked with the weight and price before you get to the check out.  Soda...well this has been a sore point from the get go.  I knew they didn't have Dr. Pepper here before I came, but didn't really find out what they do have.  Their soda selections are very limited.  They basically have Coke, Diet Coke, Orange Fanta and Lemon Fanta.  That be it.  The lemon Fanta is really yummy and refreshing and is usually my choice if we are out to eat.  Being military we have the extreme advantage of being able to use the Navy Exchange within the US Embassy.  Thank goodness for these little gems.  The Navy Exchange has many of the items that we as Americans in Madrid would be missing.  Lets take peanut butter or salad dressing for instance.  These are items that are not readily available in many of the little stores that we have been in.  We did find thousand island dressing in another store, but I haven't seen ranch or anythink like it as of yet.  Again...we have been here just over a week and certainly have not been everywhere.

House hunting is another adaptation process.  We know where hubby is working and where the kids will be attending school.  That opens up several neighborhoods or suburb areas that we could live in.  We haven't decided if we want to live completely different than we would live when we are in the States or fall back on our comfort level and get a huge compound type area which includes its very own mcmansion.  There are pros and cons to both of these.  Being emersed in a more local community or being more isolated with a huge house and a huge yard with a huge fence that surrounds us.  We have not seen the mcmansion type properties as of yet, but are leaning towards full emersion.  We want to learn this language and culture and become a part of it and what better way than to plant yourself right in the middle of it and be forced, in a sense, to adapt very quickly.  The house hunting process will certainly be another post once we get a few more areas and houses under our belt.  The homes here are huge, even within a closer quarters community.  We looked at a home that is around 4800 square feet and is considered to be a row house type or town house, meaning that it is connected to other homes, yet the inside is so huge I am not sure you would know it.  Who knows.

With each and every day we adapt a little bit more to new experiences and what our life will be like for the next three years.  We look forward to growing in ways that we would never have had the chance without the military.  With any type of growing there has to be room for some growing pains.  We will certainly make the most out of this place and I challenge you to always remember that every place is what you make of it.

Until next time.....

The People we have Encountered

Yesterday was just an incredible day all around.  We did all the touristy type sightseeing plus some other gems here and there.  I will learn more about all the locations we went and blog separately about those individual places.  We saw many of the plaza's, historic buildings, statues, parks and so much more.  At the end of our day yesterday we stopped in a little yogurt place and were again awed by how the people we have met thus far are just so incredible.  So I thought I would take the time to explain what we have encountered.

The very first day we arrived at the Headquarters the kids and I were sort of sent to this community room to wait while hubby started the in-processing process of basically getting us checked in to yet another location. The kids and I played some games and just waited until we were to meet up with hubby for lunch.  We went to lunch at the chow hall or what is similar to a DFAC (dining facility).  The lunch room was decked out in French colors, French cheeses and champagne.  I was thinking to myself...well they don't mess around here.  Well it turned out that it was Bastille Day and the French were sharing a piece of their culture with everyone.  Apparently on the 4th of July the Good Ol US of A threw a big BBQ with hot dogs, hamburgers, watermelon and so on.  So we got our food and sat down to eat.  We weren't there but maybe a half hour or so when this sweet little American boy came up to our table and asked us if we were new.  Not sure if it was that obvious (hehehehe) or if it was (as I can imagine) seeing another potential American with young children and getting so excited to have something in common with someone else and oh yeah...we can actually communicate.  Well it turns out that this little boy was LuLu's age and also going into the first grade.  He had a little brother and we all chatted about where they had been stationed and of course met his mom.  It was so nice to find another mom and get some insight into neighborhoods to possibly live and so on. 

The next day while we were at the Headquarters hubby and I were in a meeting with the housing office and the kids were doing a music class there and we met yet another American family with kids.  These are the moments that I long for.  Somebody I can chat with and they totally understand where we are at this point in the process because they have also been here.  On the train ride home that night we ran into a Spanish civilian that works at the Headquarters.  He knew English because that is the official language of the Headquarters so we must have looked like we were confused because he asked us if we needed any help.  We were looking at the Metro map, but we actually were not confused.  On the train he began chatting with us on our story...essentially.  We talked to him about where we were temporarily staying until we found housing and he gave us the run down on what we need to see in the city while we are living down there.  Again...just so nice to take the time to tell us what his city has to offer. 

Now we fast forward to last night and after our stroll in the Retiro Park we stopped to find ice cream or something.  We took a new route back to the apartment just to broaden our horizons on what is all around us.  We found this cute little yogurt shop and popped in.  We of course asked the gal working if she spoke English and she spoke just about enough English that we spoke Spanish so it was perfect.  We ordered our yogurt and she was just so sweet.  The price was for a "natural" yogurt with 1 topping and she let the kids get 3 toppings for the same price.  I actually have not had a frozen yogurt in the States so I don't know the tastes, but this really was like plain yogurt just frozen.  It wasn't vanilla or anything like that.  It had that zing or tang that plain yogurt has.  Like I said this could totally be how it tastes in the States, but I have never had it.  We sat for a bit and were reading all the different ice-cream flavors, which are in Spanish, and we were trying to decode them.  There were two other ladies in the shop as well.  We came across one that said Turron.  We looked this up in our dictionary and it wasn't in there.  So we asked her what it was.  She proceeded to just give us a sample and ask the other ladies if they knew the English word for it.  She put it into her phone and he phone then spoke "nougat".  Well that is exactly what it tasted like.  This started a whole lesson on what the flavors were and we tested each one.  She was just so sweet and wasn't put off that we didn't know the language or what these flavors were.  She even brought out two flavors for the kids which ended up being their versions of Bubblegum and Cotton Candy.

These are the moments that make me fall in love with this city more and more.  I hope that by sharing our experiences with our friends and family that we light a fire in each and everyone of you to step out of your comfort zone and embrace those situations.  We are embracing this situation and are eager to learn all that we can.  I challenge you to do the same...or come to Spain and let us guide you out of your comfort zone.

Until next time....

Las Mujeres de Espana (The Women of Spain)

It is morning time here in Madrid and I am the only one up...so I have brewed a cup of coffee and thought that I would talk about one of my observations here.  Forgive me if I have spelled a spanish word incorrectly here and there.  I know some words and once they go plural I am not exactly sure how they are spelled.  I am totally winging it here. :-)

The women of Spain are such an interesting thing.  Unlike the States, the women here, well at least the ones I have seen thus far, are extremely sophistcated and put together.  They seem to have a respect  and confidence for and about themselves that American women do not have.  Even on the metro on a Saturday afternoon they have their hair and makeup done, they are wearing an actual outfit and not their pajamas or sweatpants, they have a fancy shoe and fabulous handbag.  I love this.  For those of you that know me, you know that I wouldn't be caught dead outside my house in anything more than put together.  Occasionally I would take the kids to school in my yoga clothes or if we were home cleaning or what not I would be in "grubbies", but I would NEVER go to the store like that.  I wish American women would embrace this.  I think if they did they would have such confidence in everything that they do.  There is just something that happens to you when you have "the look".  It will be interesting to see if they have the types of crimes against women here that they do in the States, such as domestic violence.  They probably do, but I would like to bet that it isn't as common.  The reason I think this is becasue when you feel confident and look it you are less likely to have self esteem issues and feel dependent on what another person thinks about you.

The clothing that I have noticed isn't much different than in the states.  They seem to have the same sort of styles, but kicked up a notch.  I have only noticed a few items that seem a bit strange to me.  I also have noticed, though the younger generation does go for items a bit on the short side, I haven't found myself saying, "She SHOULD NOT be wearing that".  I felt like everytime I went out in the Springs there would be many people that have squeezed in to things that just were not flattering.  I also really haven't noticed any "weight" issues.  You have the "plump" grandmas, but not to the point where they have scooters at the Carrefour for those that cannot walk through the grocery store.  Now, again, we have not even been here a week and I certainly have not been everywhere and seen everything, but just found it so interesting this little lifestyle aspect.  I am not sure why these women are so fabulous, but I love it and I hope someday that this "way of life" can make it to the States, even if just in little waves.  I would love for American women to have a sort of "control" because of the way they feel each and every day.

Until next time...

Restaurant retaliation

Yesterday we chatted a little about the food here in Madrid.  I mentioned that there are beautiful meats and cheeses.  We had been here 3 days and the meats and cheeses is really all we had eaten so last night we decided that we were going to be brave and try out a little cafe/barra just downstairs from our apartment.  These little neighborhood bars are everywhere.  They are not what you would think of when you think bar.  These are family establishments where you could sit for hours and chat and eat tapas or pop in for a quick coffee, tea, beer or whatever.  We decided that it looked cute and it was close.  It was around 8 pm so restaurants are not quite open yet.  Dinner time in Madrid starts around 9 pm.  They tend to eat huge lunches between 2-4 in the afternoon and then little bites (tapas/bocadillas) in the evening.  Every meal here is a social event.  We were not looking for a dinner type meal, but just a little snack.  The bar looked open because there were a few people in it, but I didn't notice anyone with food.  When we walked in I immediately asked, "Habla usted Inglais?"...the waitress replied, "NO".  We sat down anyway and thought that we could certainly figure this out.  I was trying to ask her if we could eat, but had no idea how to put a sentence together asking this.  I found a phrase in my Spanish/English dictionary that basically asked if they were serving dinner.  Well she said no because really that type of place doesn't serve dinner.  She tried to explain to me that on a certain street we would find dinner and possibly English speaking establishments.  We were totally deflated that we absolutely could not communicate with her at all.  It was very awkward, but we got up and left.  We walked a few blocks and found a place that looked to be a chain of some sort.  I was able to get my thoughts together a bit and when we went in I was able to ask if they were open for us to eat...sort of...abierta come. :-)  She said, "Si". I asked her if she spoke english and she said, "so-so"...oooo I can so relate.  We sat down and were pleased to see that under the Spanish menu items were those same things in English. Praise God for that find.  We successfully ordered dinner and drinks.

Now we will fast forward to today.  We were meeting our co-sponsor this morning so that he could show us the embassy and we had to share our previous evenings experience at the little cafe/bar downstairs.  He said, with vindication in his eyes, that we would run around a bit and go eat at that cafe/bar for lunch.  After our embassy trip and some other little bits of excitement we made it back to that little place and went in for lunch.  Our co-sponsor was able to tell us what to say, "Este es cocina abierta?"  Is the kitchen open?  The waiter said, "Si" and we sat.  We ordered our "refrescas" or sodas and we decoded the menu.  We have potentially cracked the code at one little bar/cafe and maybe next time when we try it on our own we will succeed.  Chad even asked for the bill, "La cuenta, por favor." Oh and by the way the food was super yummy. 

On a bit of a side note, one of my observations at this little place is that couples young and old would literally stop in, order a coffee, leave the money on the table and just go. We had two couples "pop" in while we were there and they ended up sitting right next to us.  They had a quick bite and went.  It was like they were on a walk or heading home from shopping or something like that, felt like grabbing a quick bite or drink and off they went again.  I just loved this.  It gives a whole new meaning to "fast food".  So much healthier than your local McDonalds and with such character.  Love it.

More to come on so many situations and experiences. 

Until next time...

Boots on the ground

Well it has been just over a week since I have posted anything. As you can imagine a lot has happened in a week. We arrived in Madrid on Wednesday July 13th.  We arrived around 0730 Wednesday morning, which would have been Julu 12 @ 2330 Colorado time. So basically at this point we had been up since 0700 Tuesday morning.  Our first plan of attack was to keep everyone awake as long as possible. We did pretty well with the help of our incredible sponsors and co-sponsors.  I realize this is how things work here, but the Americans that we have been "assigned" to have just been beyond incredible. The kids crashed finally around 3pm.  Hubby and I made it until around 8pm, with little dozes here and there. The first night certainly could have been worse, but wasn't too bad. After we crashed, the kids, of course, woke up at 11pm thinking it was morning. We were able to put on a movie for them and they slept off and on throughout the night. We had to get up the next morning and begin the in processing process through the place where my husband will be working.

Our first order of business was getting to the place where we needed to in process.  This began our extensive Metro system lesson. The Metro, really all public transportation here, is just incredible.  Those of you in big cities are familiar with this sort of thing, but we have never really experienced it.  This leads to yet another incident with our littlest child.  A little preface about our little one, she is an extreme drama queen, her belly always seems to hurt and we have figured this is partly because she worries about everthing.  So, as usual, we were in the middle of this whole Metro process and had only a few stops to go when she informs me that her belly hurts and she thinks she is going to be sick. Praise God we were off the actual Metro and waiting for the next train when she puked in one of the trash cans. Oh dear...what could I do, but wipe her face, get her something to drink and forge on. We had places to be and with a co-sponsor with us I didn't really want to hold up the whole process. I thought about sending them on, but I had no idea where I had to go, so we had to put on our big girl panties and just go. By the time we made it to the Headquarters she was doing just fine and was able to sit and just get composed again. The kids and I hung out in a community room and played games while Chad did all his running around. We left the headquarters around 5pm for the next adventure.

Next on the agenda was to get some groceries.  One of the big supermarkets here in Madrid is the Carrefour.  This is very similar to a Wal-mart.  It has electronics, sporting goods, clothing, household items, food and other little odds and ends.  Food here in Spain is really nothing like the States.  Items that are more luxury items for us, such as: chorizos, cured hams, salamis, various cured meats, a gazillion types of cheeses are standard everyday items here. The meat/cheese aisle is similar to the size of our frozen food section. There were 4 huge aisles of these goodies for like 1 euro for a package of salami or chorizo or whatever.  Totally incredible.  There were even whole cured legs of pig just hanging in the aisle.  Depending on the type of pig or "jamon" was how it was priced. So neat. We stocked up on some meats/cheeses and some other little things. Not sure how the cooking will go just yet.  Because of the language barrier things got a little sticky checking out. Thank goodness our co-sponsors spouse speak spanish as she is from Puerto Rico and is seriously a god sent.  The checker asked me a question and they speak so fast that you just sort of freeze up.  Our co-sponsor saves us (0nce again).  She was just asking me if I had a Carrefour discount card...who knew.  We survived yet another Madrid experience. After our Carrefour run we headed back downtown to see our co-sponsors apartment and we had to get our Abono (Metro pass).  The apartments downtown will have to be another post, because they are just incredible. 

The Metro pass (Abono)...these little creatures are your ticket to the underground rail system and depending on which areas you choose,d you get unlimited rides to the areas that you have specified an paid for the month.  Some interesting things on this process...the only place to get these...you would think the Metro station...that would make sense, but oh no, you get them from Tobacco shops.  The particular Tobacco shop that we went to didn't speak English...again thank God for a bi-lingual spouse.  This language things is truly extremely overwhelming and intimidating.  I have never felt at such a loss.  The language barrier really makes you think twice with what you really need or don't need.  Right now I am to the point that if I can figure it out on my own I will try that before I try and stumble through a conversation. This is certainly unexpected in one of the top tourist spots in all of Europe, but it is true, the people of Madrid DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH.  We finally made it back to our apartment.  Completely tuckered out. 

I will end with this, but have so many things to tell you all about.  The women of Spain, our first Restaurant experience, more on the grocery stores, the wonderful people we are meeting, the driving and the list just goes on. 

So until next time...

The birth of Touching Trees in Spain name

After we received orders to Spain back in February of 2011 I had thought about starting a blog as a way to keep in touch with our friends and family and as an outlet to document all of our lessons learned, travels and whatever else Spain decides to throw our way.  At about a week out of from our flight I decided to actually sit down and figure this blog thing out.  As I was trying to come up with a clever name for my blog my husband blurted out Touching Trees in Spain.  My little family got quite a chuckle and decided that this would absolutely be the name, but we would have to preface what the title actually means.  So for those of you that have not heard this story here it goes:

Back in March of 2010 my husband was returning from his year long deployment to Iraq.  My husband was with a unit that traditionally flies with their own equipment which results in flying on Military aircraft.  Well it seems inevitable that Military aircraft always breakdown on the return flight, but some how have no issues for that initial flight to Iraq.  So, of course the aircraft has to land in Spain for one reason or another.  Upon my husbands unit's landing in Spain they were briefed on a situation that occurred in Spain.  They were told that in Spain the King owns all the trees and because the King owns all the trees you are not allowed to touch the trees.  If you touch a tree you might just get an "extended/indefinite" stay in Spain.  Once my husband returned home from the deployment and we were having breakfast the next morning he told our family this story.  I thought it was just ludicrous that this was real, but it apparently was an issue since they had a briefing on the subject prior to landing.  This story pretty much scarred our 4 year old daughter.  She sat at the table and just sobbed and sobbed.  Through the hysterical crying we could barely make out, "I never want to go to Spain", "You can't touch the trees in Spain" and this went on for several minutes and whenever we told this story to anybody else.  My husband calmly sat at the table and reassured her that there was absolutely no way we would ever go to Spain.  Explaining to her that there were no jobs in his field in Spain.

Now we fast forward a year or so.  In December of 2010, while my husband was attending a school, he found out about this new position that was opening up in Madrid, Spain.  He of course mentions it to me in passing.  One of the things you learn very quickly as a military wife is that you never get your hopes up on any location until you have orders...and even then it isn't guaranteed.  In February of this year we finally got our assignment and lo and behold it was to Madrid.  Even now being the week that we are leaving it still seems a bit surreal.  After we found out where we were headed we had to "break" it to the kids.  They were not excited at all.  This was for several reasons, but that story told just a year ago came back to bite us as one of the reasons why the kids did not want to live in Spain.  As we tried to explain the great opportunities and adventures that lie ahead the kids still were not excited.  This started a mad search for touching trees in Spain.  We checked out numerous books from the library and did countless Internet searches.  In all of our attempts we turned up nothing whatsoever that stated the King owns all the trees and/or that you are not allowed to touch them.  I guess we will find out in just a couple of days if this is in fact a "law" in Spain.  I will be sure to keep you updated on that status. 

The kids have come around and are excited for this adventure, but in all military situations it is hard to leave where you are, at the time.  In this instance we had been in our last location for 6 years.  Our daughter was born in that location and had never moved.  We look forward to this incredible adventure that awaits us in Spain and we might just touch a tree or 2. :-)

Until next time....