Mistakes and misadventures

Every day is an adventure over here. Whether doing simple shopping or venturing out to a new area….

Free tapa with every drink

·         Just discovered that I have been using bleach instead of laundry detergent in the washing machine. It’s no wonder Colin’s new red shirt was looking so mottled.

·         Nat bought hamburger buns at the mini market the other day except that when he brought them home he discovered they were actually donuts. And that was only after toasting two of them. Doh.

·         The bacon we cooked recently was not a hit and tasted suspiciously just like the pork cutlet from the night before. On the flip side, a tapa is served (free) with every drink purchased.

·         The boys have started watching cartoons in Spanish and just found Phineas and Ferb (one of their favorites in the US).

·         One of the canaries has died. Very sad to watch it shiver and struggle for 18 hours or so before succumbing.

·         I’m still getting lost but at least now I can eventually find my way home.

Aguaola

We were fortunate to arrive in Granada just in time to enjoy the last day of the season (último dia) at the local waterpark, Aguaola (see: www.aguaola.es) which we visited with our Icelandic neighbors. They were kind enough to take the boys ahead on the bus while we finished up with our Spanish lesson in the morning and then we met them there by car (see below). It has definitely been the highlight of the boys stay so far.

Driving

We live on top of a hill in a neighborhood that is very difficult to drive to, particularly because you are only allowed to drive on certain streets. You must go up one way and come down another. We decided to venture out by car the other day to drive to a local waterpark that was about 20 minutes away by bus. It took us an hour. Each way. And not because we didn’t know where we were. Well, we knew where we were but we didn’t exactly know where we were going. And when coming home, we knew exactly where we were but couldn’t figure out how to get where we wanted to go. 

Poco a poco

That is our motto when it comes to learning español. Poco a poco. Little by little. Los verbos son muy difíciles! Every day we practice speaking with our tutor and then do some written homework (deberes).

Friends

The boys have had a few “play dates.” I took Colin over to a neighbor’s house the other day who has a 9 year old boy and they bonded over the Wii. Then I dropped both boys off at another neighbor’s house where 4 (count ‘em – 1 -2 -3 -4) girls were playing. I hope I am forgiven for this one as they weren’t too happy when I left (update: they were happily playing hide-and-seek when I picked them up an hour later). Yet another neighbor just stopped by with news that his 11 year old son is looking for playmates (and thankfully not from that magazine—yet).

Independence

We sent the boys out solo for the first time to buy us bread at their favorite panaderia (bakery). They came home with a fresh loaf of O bread (pan) as well as some sort of chocolate covered pretzel thing. The bread was gone within the hour and the pretzel several hours later. I’m certainly not losing any weight over here.