Red cars

For the past two years I've joked about wanting a red card. Well, it's not really a joke. I do want a red car one day. Nothing snazzy. A point A to point B car is fine by me. So far during my time living in Spain, I've found a couple that I want!

Also, can you see that my bangs have finally grown out! air punch!

Okay. Thinking about changing my blogging name to "The Lazy Blogger". Cause I am. Here are some quick updates to my life happenings:

Last day of school! With my 6th graders.

Friends came to visit me from the U.S.!

Date night with asymmetrical dress. and boyfriend. :)

Meet Don Quixote's Giants.

And that's about it! Moving back to America (99.9% sure) in 3 weeks so I'm trying to soak up my last little bit of Spain for a while! :)

Here Comes the Sun

Summer finally arrived to central Spain a few days ago! It came in the most extreme of ways. The highest temperature I have seen for months has been 50 degrees F. (up until last week!) And simply put one day it went from that to 90+ degrees. And there's been no looking back.  I'm a very happy girl. Jorge has noticed the change in me so much that he finally fully understands that for me to be me I have to be surrounded by warm weather.

I do think I'm the only person in Spain enjoying this abrupt change in temperature. All the Spaniards are crying and whining and running for the shade. Which is hilarious because if they were in Southern Georgia I know they'd be dead for sure because unlike being in the shade in Spain, the shade in Georgia doesn't help the heat one bit.

Patio at Jorge's Uncle's house where we ate Sunday lunch.

Happiness = not being under 4 layers of clothing.

Homemade Gazpacho

I love gazpacho! There are 1000 different recipes so I'm on a journey to try several until I come up with my own.  Here's the recipe I'm doing today. I'm not going to follow the ingredients exactly because I know a few gazpacho secrets that a couple of Spanish friends have shared with me. :)

Recipe here

Spring?

Dear Spring,

I'm more than a little sad that you're so cold, windy and rainy. And why are you dropping hail on my head almost every day? Are you confused? Because you're supposed to bring tons of flowers and warm weather and singing birds. I'd like some sunny and warm weather so I can wear my sundresses (because it's the middle of April you know). I was really happy in the picture below when you came for a visit. But that was a month ago and now I'm ready for you to move in with me for real. At least until July.

Love,
Stephanie

Snail Mail = Best Mail

I love receiving mail! It makes me feel like I won a prize. Especially since I'm thousands of miles away from family and friends. Thanks always and forever to my Mom for mailing me necessities and presents. And thanks to Kassie, Majorie and Alex for being frequent pen pals. It means so much to me! And now I am finished with my Golden Globe Awards speech. 

Migas

So Migas is a typical dish from the region of Spain that I currently live in which is Castilla-La Mancha. "La Mancha" translates to "splotch", like that splotch of ink that got on your shirt. It got its name because that's the shape that the region makes on a political map. Creative Spaniards, I know. Anyway, Migas is a dish with the main ingredients being breadcrumbs and oil. It originated back in the day when times were hard and families only had bread and oil to eat. But these days people serve it in a variety of ways...with a egg sunny side up on top, or with with lots of fruit, but mostly with meat. 

In my picture I'm stirring tons of Migas (bread, oil and sausage) for my school's picnic. It fed over 200 people...but not me cause I'm as vegetarian as Little Foot!

I love this picture because we're all laughing.

Semana Santa (Holy Week) and Paris for Easter!

So I'm in my boyfriend's hometown (Almagro, Spain) to celebrate Easter. And no, there are no Easter bunnies or chocolate eggs involved. (Much to my dismay.) Semana Santa consists of a lot of parades depicting the days leading up to the capturing and crucifying  of Jesus Christ. It's all really beautiful but it also goes on day in and day out and even at night. For one week straight. After day one, I'm done. I blame that on either my short attention span, my need for constant  variety or the nasty, cold weather. Or just all three of those things together. Anyway, here are some pics of the 'floats'.

Night parade. This is Jesus being captured by the Romans. And no this is not the kkk.

This is Mary crying after the capturing of her son Jesus.

Jesus

Mary

* * * * *

Also, I'm headed to Paris tomorrow to meet up with good friend Heather Buskard! Here's a link to her very French blog: http://heatherbuskard.blogspot.com.es/

Paris here I come! Treat me well.

France

One day I will live on the coast. 

Matchmaking... just a little.

I have a beautiful niece, Anna Lynn, who will turn 1 on May 22. This photo is of her and her daddy (my brother of 23 years). Also, the photo credit goes to Amber Foster Photography. 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Amberly-Foster-Photography/114034271989812

Anyway...I have found the cutest Spanish boyfriend for her! (hypothetical of course. I don't want everyone to get all excited). His name is Alonso and he will be 2 years old this summer. I teach his older brother and sister English.

Who knows? Maybe they can meet up one day!

Asians and Asymmetric Feelings

One of my favorite things about living in Toledo is ALL the Asians that flock to tour the old city. They come in troves with their petite bodies, over-sized sunhats, and smiling faces. The first thing that always catches my attention about this group of people is that Asian girls have got mad fashion skills. Like, I don't know how they pull of what they wear because it's always a weird combo of things, but they always look so darn cute. I know I'm overstating things a bit, but if I were to have to define 'cute' in Webster's dictionary I would paste a picture of a typical Asian girl walking the streets of Toledo. I'm that serious. 

Group of cute Asians.

But now I enjoy this group of people for more reasons than fashion. Jorge and I have noticed that the Asians that venture to Toledo are funny to watch and interact with. They walk around snapping pictures of everything with a big dreamy smile on their face. And their movements are quick and exaggerated as if they're acting in a silent comedy film. I personally like being near them when they're walking around in their tourist groups because I LOVE when they ask me to take their pictures. They throw up the peace signs (is that what it means to them?) and do a bent knees/slightly squatted pose...as if they're not already short enough.  And usually they fall in love with me a little bit too and we take a picture together. GOSH, can I just put all of them in my pocket to keep me happy forever? Like Polly Pocket style?

* * * * * *

On a different note, the fact that Toledo's cathedral is asymmetrical bugs me. 

Why is bugs me I haven't quite figured out. Heck, I own and wear asymmetrical dresses all the time. 

New Years Eve Dec. 31, 2011

I just wish the short tower was a tall tower, that's all. Someone told me that the reason why the two towers are different is because during the course of the 200 years that it took to build the cathedral, tower fashion changed.  So tall went out and short came in. Or at least that's how I translate the story. I should probably be using words like Gothic and Barroc. But I'm not, sorry!

* * * * * * * 

Don't be fooled, the grass isn't real. 

(And dogs still use it as a bathroom...)

Segovia and Spring Snow

Saw some beautiful places in Spain this past weekend. Also, our hotel was next to a pastry shop so we made a promise that every time we walked by we would buy a sweet. I think we ended up eating a total of 12+ different pastries in the span of 3 days. And I'm not even guilty about it and my pants aren't any tighter because we walked A LOT. 

Favorite pic of the Segovia Cathedral at night.

(yes that's little me)

And our hotel was great! It had an Arabic spa that we enjoyed to the fullest.

http://www.lacasamudejar.com/

And after this adventurous and relaxing weekend, 

spring welcomed us home to Toledo with this:

Playground at the school I teach at.

A Trip to Welcome Spring

My first year in Spain, I did a lot of traveling. Like every other weekend. I had lots of good experiences but also I spent lots of money. This is my second year in Spain  (7 months and counting) and I have only traveled twice. What can I say? Life catches up to us all...even when you live in an exciting foreign country with beautiful places to go to that are right next door. 

But finally Jorge and I have decided to go 'right next door' to visit some must-sees. This weekend we're going to Segovia and Avila.  Here are some Google pics of what we'll be seeing. My pics will, of course, come later. And by later I mean in a few months because I'm a lazy blogger. 

Segovia Cathedral at night.

Water aqueduct in Segovia that's centuries old.

Natural Park in Sepulveda

City wall in Avila

Happy St. Patrick's Day weekend!

Star Bright

This is a little painted cubby hole I found at a monastery I visited this weekend. Magical.

.

"Dream...dream. Right here, right now. Anything you choose. Crack the sun open and paint your face with its yolk. Cast the fragments from you and turn the world to smoke. Pull the tacks from the night and roll the sky up...Bid your curled body goodbye, and come with me."

Waiting for Spring. Not Patiently.

 I can't wait for spring. And summer. Mainly summer. I'm just soooo cold. But thank God it's not horribly cold here in Spain like the rest of Europe. Spain is at the bottom of Europe after all. But I'm from South Georgia and Spain shares the same latitude as New York which means I'm freezing my butt off all day every day while winter decides to stick around. 

But I have something wonderful to look forward to!!!

Jorge and I are going to this beautiful city in northern Spain for our Spring break. (which happens to be the first week of April and the highs will be in the 50s but I'll take it)

A picture says a thousand words.

You can google San Sebastian La Concha and lots of photos like this one come up.

We're slowing planning our itinerary. I know we're going to this Spa:

http://www.la-perla.net/ingles/laperla_fotos.htm

You can click on "Health and Beauty" at the top and read the list of all the relaxing choices we have to choose from.

And I want to buy beautiful sundresses to wear but I'll still be in my sweaters and boots!

My Kids

In addition to teaching at the primary school during the day, I give private English lessons in the evenings. The age range varies from 3 to 40. It's an odd life schedule because I teach from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the school, come home, have lunch, and a little relax time, then I have to get ready all over again and go out and teach for another 4 hours. Ooooo how I dislike this very Spanish schedule. But it helps when I adore the people I teach. Here are some of my very favorite students.

This is Carolina and Rodrigo. We made Valentine's butterfly necklaces. :)

Valentine's Day

So in Spain Valentine's Day is no big deal/doesn't exist. Now as much as I dislike how America brings to life a holiday 3-4 months before it happens. (bringing out Valentine's gifts/decor immediately after Christmas is over for example) it's sad that none of the stores here have any Valentine's Day items. That's right. No cute teddy bears. No big heart balloons. Some stores are catching on, but it's pathetic! Anyway that didn't stop Jorge and I from having a special day. 

We're both super sappy and romantic everyday anyway so Valentine's Day is a piece of cake.

So this is a heart I painted for Jorge. It says "I love you a lot my love!" AND it's also me being super surprised that he got me toothpaste for Valentine's Day. You see, we're buying only ecological products these days and I've been looking for natural toothpaste for a couple of months now. Being the thoughtful sweetheart that he is, he finally found some and ta-da! It's definitely an unforgettable present.

Dinner at an Egyptian restaurant. They have an outstanding vegetarian menu.

And the surprise Valentine's cake was the best! It also came with a single white rose, but white roses are not photogenic. We also planned to watch Romeo and Juliet (Yes the one with Leonardo DiCaprio) because it's romantic, a classic, and Jorge had never seen it. But we stayed late at the restaurant last night talking and laughing (until 11:30 pm) so we're watching it tonight!

Workmates

For Christmas (yes I realize it's Valentine's and I'm posting about Christmas) everyone got together for a big dinner for an opportunity to celebrate the holidays as nicely dressed human beings and not as stressed-out teachers. I was the only one who ordered the vegetarian menu thus seeming more foreign to everyone, including myself. But the pumpkin soup was awesome and the tofu hamburger surprisingly tasty.

And now to introduce you to some workmates... 

This is fellow workmate (that's British for co-worker) Julia. Normally when we're together we're dressed in gym attire and freezing our butts off outside because yes, you've guessed it, we're P.E. teachers.

These are two other English professors.

(Yes I'm always the whitest one.)

And this is fellow workmate and good friend Ana. She's also an English teacher and once lived in Texas and Washington D.C. She gives me lifts to and from school and sometimes we swap recipes and food. :)

And lastly, the principal. He's not scary like most principals are. In fact upon my first visit to the school this past summer he kept singing Ray Charles 'Georgia On My Mind'. 

And these aren't workmates, but they are ducks Jorge and I see lots of days as we're getting into the car on our way to work. They're just super spoiled ducks always asking for food. I think Jorge gave them garlic bread one day and they turned their noses up.

Game night with John and Whitney while we were stateside in January. We played the Wii and Jorge and I ate one of our last southern meals before heading back to Spain. Looking forward to more playtime this summer.