Gardening, ziplining, hiking and changing schools

Antonio's Garden



Nat holds up our first head of lettuce

Nat has been a rock star keeping Antonio’s garden up to snuff. Besides trimming back the trees and grape vines, a few weeks back he planted lettuce starts that we are already enjoying and last week he added potatoes, onions, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, basil, sunflowers and mint. Just (remember) to add water and voila, we’ll be able to feed the neighborhood. He’s also been to the hardware store to get parts to fix the aljibe pump (very clever but finicky watering system located underneath the garden and created by our landlord to catch rainwater).

Excursión al canal de la Espartera

Clark walks along the path

With our friend Wolfgang

We enjoyed another group hike with the boys’ school, this time exploring an area not too far from town. About 25 people showed up (not bad given the early start time and the daylight savings time clock change made the night before). It was a lovely hike with beautiful vistas and great company but once again on the return trip, the "leader" lost his way (this seems to be a theme) so we freestyled our way back up a very challenging cliff to the trailhead. Lots of trips across a small river where many feet got wet and the kids were pretty worn out by the end, but it was adventurous for sure and we very much appreciated the always necessary stop for a cold beverage on the way home.

Paella and more paella



Adding the rice



Grilling the veggies

As part of a Spring celebration at the boys’ school, I signed Nat up to be sous chef (or pinchar in this case) to help cook a paella for 80 or so at a school fundraiser. Now Nat has cooked many a paella in his lifetime, but never in Spain, and never for so many Spaniards who know a thing or two about this very special rice dish. He went the night before to help prep the food (lots of chopping) and then several hours ahead to help create the dish overseen by a fellow dad who is a French chef. It turned out absolutely delicious although we didn’t tell the kids there was rabbit in there, even though I ended up with an entire head skeleton on my plate, teeth still intact.

Paella: ready to serve



Paella en nuestra casa

Friends from Malaga stopped by last weekend and Nat tried out his paella technique at home (see photo). These are fellow Americans who moved to Spain 7 years ago and are still awaiting their residance status (they've already built a house here). Although only
"friends of friends" they were very welcoming in getting us here, sharing lots of information and putting me up for 2 nights when I visited last May.

Ziplining

Colin on the ropes course

We’ve recently discovered Aventura Amazonia, a new zipline park located in the national park not too far from our home. With visitors in town recently, the boys really enjoyed the ropes course as well as trying out some new outdoor skills as they spent 3 hours climbing thru the "jungles" of Granada. Be sure and watch the video to get a better idea.

Time for a change

After several months of re-attempting to communicate with the boys’ school about Clark’s dyslexia issues (it appears to have been overlooked from day one as well as many subsequent communications thereafter), we really haven’t gotten Clark any help at school, or any changes in his routine there. He’s spent countless hours copying text from the board, had “hands-on help” trying to correct his script (the worst thing you can do for a kid like him) and has listened to hours upon hours of lectures he can’t understand. We even asked if he could skip English class and work with a private tutor which we’d pay for but they were not amenable to that either.

So we finally took some fellow American’s advice and went out to look at the local bi-lingual private school, Granada College, located across town, thinking it might be an option if we were to extend our stay. After being quite impressed on the tour (the facilities alone are amazing compared to any school our kids have ever been to) and quite frankly felt like a bit of a country club with the extensive campus, access to the arts and sciences (drawing, drama, science lab and best of all 2 hours of PE a day. And did I mention uniforms? Sheesh.).

Although we are very staunch democrats and big advocates for public education worldwide, things clearly haven’t been working for Clark. At the end of the tour, we were told that we would receive a call the next week if there was any room for next year, but one hour later we were contacted via our tutor/translator and were actually offered two spots, to start immediately. I’m guessing they are interested in having English speaking natives around. And of course the influx of cash doesn't hurt. Whatever the reason, we feel fortunate to get the opportunity but are also torn to be leaving a school community that welcomed us so warmly. They’ll start there the Monday following Easter. 

Coming up next, our trip to Cabo de Gata...