it makes me laugh...

Some random thoughts and observations again...

- The other day I was going on a run and this woman was walking her dog down the street. The street, of course, is lined with parked cars. That's normal... until the proceeded to lift its leg up and full out pee on this new-ish looking silver car. Oh... she just watched it. We're not talking just marking territory here... we're talking inundation.

- So there is drama in my "turno de coches" aka my carpool. First of all... the fact that I am part of a formal carpool makes me laugh. But I can tell you that Javier likes to listen to talk radio in the morning while María Jesús likes the M80 (pronounced em-mey ochenta) radio morning show where at 8:20 every morning they do a custom rap. Anyway... the drama is that one of the professoras that I happen to work with in the English department, Mercedes, quit the carpool. (I don't want to say too much, but apparently that was A.O.K. with everyone else.) Then, she asked me "how the carpool was going" without her behind their backs.

- I am getting very good at telling military time. (My dad will be proud.) And I'm getting super good at understanding degrees in celcius. And let me tell you... when I say it's 10 degrees leaving Sevilla in the morning... that's cold... but when I get to Almonte and it's 2 degrees that's FRIGID (keep in mind that 0 degrees is freezing)... also keep in mind that those temperatures make no sense considering that somehow it is sunny with blue skies outside... keep also in mind that these temperatures are outside AS WELL AS inside because insulation does not exist here. You know where this is most noticeable... is actually in the bathroom. Sitting on the toilet seat is like trying to pee while sitting on a block of ice... forever proving that it is tougher to be a girl than a boy. Forget that childbirth stuff... the true torement lies in being forever condemned to sitting on a bum-numbing surface while peeing.

- Well... I was gonna wait to post this until I had photos from my friend Leila's visit, but I think a post where I successfully mention peeing twice can stand on its own without photos. Those will be on later. :)

round two...

So after a lovely Christmas break in the United States during which I constantly doubted the reality of the legitimate existence of my life in Spain because from my impregnable plaid couch in Lexington, KY it only seemed a fleeting dream. But now that I'm back here... I'm questioning the veracity of my time spent back home. If it weren't for the presence of a few new American articles littered throughout my piso, I wouldn't be so sure. But, de verdad, time at home with family and friends was precious beyond words.

After successfully making my passage through five aiports, I arrived in Sevilla late Saturday, January 6th without luggage or a euro to my name and no way to get any considering the cash machines were out. Problem solving process... long story short... grace of God I got to my piso that night. Thank God that jet lag is worse traveling west rather than east, so I wasn't too bad.

A couple of funny things... going back to school was actually such a joyful thing... Spaniards are so warm, and I've never received so many "dos besos" and "feliz años" as I did that first day back to school. Also, a group of professors confessed that they "googled" my name over the break and stumbled across this blog with pictures of me and Sevilla. Haha... awkward.

So... although, not gonna lie, I had a decent bit of a break down before heading back... I am enthralled to be here now to "take the bull by the horns" this spring. I feel like when I first came to Spain, I arrived on my knees with the rug having just been pulled from under me not knowing where I would live or what my job would be like... but now that I have much more of a grasp on my life here... I am meeting it head on. Bring it on, life. :)

But... this had an absolutely wonderful start. The Monday night after I arrived, Mari and Sylvia came home and we had our own Christmas from which we took this photo. Note the Kentucky t-shirts we are all wearing and the matching coffee mugs bearing our names which I painted for the liters and liters of café and té which we drink on a daily basis. Gaaa, I can think of no other word aside from precious to describe our time together as it definitely ended in tearful expression of our gratitude of one another... cheesy, yes perhaps admittedly yes, but completely authentic and from the depths of our little hearts. I know I say it a lot... but I honestly don't know where I would be without Mari and Sylvia... their encouragment... their advice... their ears... their abrazos... their LAUGHTER... beyond words they are... at least those in English. They are una pasada.

Sylvia told me that every time she returns to our piso after being away that it feels more and more like home. I couldn't agree more.

I like this. It's only just begun.