Another Check on the List of things to do in my life.

(Okay quick disclosure: In spain at midnight New Years Eve they end the year/begin the year by eating 12 grapes, one for each 'dong' of the clock. Puerta del Sol is where the big DONGING clock is. It would be the equivalent of Times Square.)

Last night I fulfilled a dream of mine in the best way possible. One of my life goals was to Eat grapes in Puerta del Sol on New Years Eve. You know.... like the Mecano song.

However, since I will be spending NYE with Javi's family and eating grapes with them this year I thought that SOL was not possible. WELL it was. We went to the practice round on the EVE of New Years Eve, aka Dec. 30th, aka last night.

It was rainy and cold and not really NYE, but I am completely satisfied with the event. Although we could not hear the gonging of the clock over the shouts of the crowd, we chowed down on approx. 12 grapes in approx 12 seconds and then we threw the remaining grapes at innocent bystanders in the crowd.

The plus side of going on the eve of new years eve is that there was probably 1/4 of the amount of stumbling drunks and 1/2 the amount of people that will show up there tonight. As Tania (my roommate) put it "It was like the very happy unbirthday, but for New Years." I feel like we beat the system. I get to celebrate NYE with the family of Javi and go to Sol, both in the same year. Magical.

So thats that story. As usual, I promise pictures will come. Javi ended up going home with my camera so I have to wait to see them as well.

Onto my next life dream: A mission trip to Africa.

This is the clock:

Feliz Christmas to Everyuno.

After saying that the concert was great, I would like to take the opportunity to inform everyone that I have a very Domestic side. In fact, I think I am going to make a chicken cassarole later this week.

Per the shouting and unyielding nagging of this domestic side of mine, I made lots of christmas cookies this year. As would be expected my number one favorite cookie was the peanut butter balls. The sugar cookies also turned out as expected every year... lots of hype, but honestly we know they will linger around longer than desired.

Umm so christmas. Well Christmas eve was wonderful! We had dinner at Javi's Aunts House and sang along to an ablum called something like 1oo golden classics or something. It included classics such as "what a wonderful world" "Stand By Me" "Say A Little Prayer" etc...

Christmas I woke up with a bug and have been on a strict diet of soup until now. Okay not sooooo strict, but everytime i eat something else it does a funny dance in my stomach that is not very fun.

Anyways here I am in "puerta del sol" With a giant christmas tree thing that was featured in an email Sweetie Pie sent out to all my family. (If you are not on Sweetie Pie's email list, don't worry and dont feel left out- Its not very important. )(Sweetie Pie, yes it is important- I just said that so the non-members would feel better)

So now I am on Christmas break. What is gonna happen.........?????????????????????????????

Getting all ready for Christmas

Last week I bought 8 different kinds of tea. I can't say that I even drink that much tea, but I am going to start. Tea is nature's "wonder drug." There are many benefits. Not sure all of them, but i can tell you that it keeps me warm, is healthy than coffee, and fun to dip cookies into.

On Monday we had a dinner party, it lasted until a breakfast party. (I did not last till breakfast, I am officially too old.) The menu: Potato salad and other various appitizers including samon & cream cheese, tuna salad, gula (i think its imitation baby eels), and shrimp. The main courses were pasta and Chicken rolled with bacon and cheese and carmalized onions. And for dessert tiramisu. As usual pictures will follow.....

Anyways, tomorrow we are going to a concert that I am really excited about: "Playing to make a change"

Charged up

Alright. Here we go. Coffee. Cookies. A positive attitude. (that was a lie)

Time to make tests. I hate working from home. I dont know if teaching is my calling. I think I am gonna look for a library near my home where I can do work. Discipline booooo.

Oh yeah, i am coming off a four-day weekend :)
I met the parents of Isa (my roommate), trained at the gym, did a private class, went to the movies, and DIDNT plan tests.

The movie I saw is a spanish movie called Celda 211, Cell 211 in English. Its the story of two key persons in a prison riot: 1) The inmate leading the rebellion 2) a young guard trapped in the revolt, who poses as a prisoner in an attempt to survive the ordeal.




Okay enough procrastination.................

Random Thoughts on a Rainy Day

When you see homeless people every day your perspective on things changes. I dont love teaching, but I'm happy about the decisions I make and life I am making. Life's really not as difficult as it sometimes seems.

I try to eat 2 mandarin oranges every day. I am positive I am not gonna get sick this year.

I am glad that spain has a health care system that is gonna take care of me. I feel much safer and less afraid of cancer or other diseases.

My little niece and nephews are the best, I am already gonna start saving for my next trip to see them. (next christmas)

The number one thing on my christmas wishlist is a new coffee maker. We have a little italian one that I love, but it only makes coffee for one person at a time. Number two: a scooter

The climbing gym has a huge ongoing competition during months in which your points accumulate. I am in red this year, the top level, and I am gonna smash it.

This guys are from my old climging group. They all decided to dress up for the comp. I believe they are climbings from like the 40's. Next competition session they are gonna be from the 50s, then the 60's and so on. hmmmmmmI dressed as an American.

Above are two girls from my new training group. Elena and somoa. I think that is how you spell thier names? Elena always says that I am her (climbing) idol. Somoa is from another country, but i dont remember where. (In the background on the left is "the guy that ALWAYS climbs and comes to the gym with a stopwatch around his neck." hmmm)

Last week Javi did a slideshow presentation in the climbing gym about his trip to Kentcuky. The next day everyone in the gym told me that I had a really pretty house. :) Apparently my dad also looks nice. I dont really know how my DAD showed up in a climbing presentation.......

Barcelona beat Madrid 1-0. (but thats old news) My bet was 2-1 Barcelona.

Tuesday

Use imagination photoshop to insert me sitting in the chair typing this blog......

I don't know how to unhide that Vista toolbar on the left of the screen, but If it wasnt hidden I would tell you all the temperature here. I think its about 40, at least in the morning.

Anyways I am back to sleeping and being a somewhat normal functioning human being. Yesterday I got home from work at 4:30ish. AWESOME. I was able to do tons of stuff, like sit on my butt and watch television.

The other day on the bus a woman came on with her toddler and baby in a stroller. She put the stroller in the handicapped section proceeding to sit in the seats right next to it with her other son. Woman two enters the bus and stands next to the baby in a standing spot. Looks down at the innocent little creature and apparently notices that his hat is not on correctly? Not sure, it looked fine to me. So woman two proceeds to adjust the babiy's hat, remove his scarf and put it back on, zip and unzip his jacket, and adjust the hat even better all the while talking to the infant. I thought this was an unusual scene. How would you react if someone just comes up and starts doing all this stuff with your baby? The toddler and I both looked at the mother of the child. Confused. The mother just looked back at her toddler son and gave him a reassuring smile. Woman 1 and Woman 2 didnt even talk? At least not while i was on the bus.

Thursday I am going to see the family in Las Rozas to celebrate Thanksgiving. :) I am gonna attempt to make a pumpkin pie.

Oh Happy Day

So the light at the end of the tunnel is finally here. NOT the one about death, but the other one in the expression "at least i know there is light at the end of the tunnel" Okay, I hear ya CONFUSING. I think by teaching english, my english is getting worse everyday. I start speaking in really wierd, made up phrases. By the way, and honestly I am looking for feedback on this..... What does "to get the short end of the stick" mean? According to one of my textbooks, I have misunderstood this my entire LIFE!

Anyways, back to my original thought. The intensive course (6-10pm) is ending TODAY. This means I can get home before 10:30 at night and go back to a somewhat normal life that involves sleep and a little more happiness. I can say it has been a good experience on account of not only the money, but also I have learned a ton. For example, yesterday I taught them the 3rd conditional- BET YOU HAVE NO CLUE WHAT IT IS. Well I do. I have also learned lots about many different random topics, do you know what a pit-crew does in the pit during a pit stop? Okay, maybe you do know this, well now I know too. I can break down the 30 seconds before the car stops, as well as the ten seconds during the stop.

Okay so back to life besides work.... last week I completed my participation in a particular climbing study that is being conducted in Madrid. It was pretty cool. The pictures tell the story, except they dont emphasize the fact that the man drew blood from my ears like 483670348 times, leaving them bloody and bruised. Okay, I suppose the pictures dont tell the whole story, but since my technical spanish is not very good, they tell you as much as I know about the story. Anyways, the man doing the study is Jorge, he's a champ and a firefighter.

This is a mask with oxygen tanks used to make you feel like a cross between a ninja turtle and darth vader when you are climbing: (It might also have something to do with monitoring your breathing)This measures your strength.... I dont know what the numbers really mean, but I got a 36 with my right and approx a 30 with my left. I am very right hand dominant:

This is a device used to poke your ear and make you bleed. Then you put the blood on a little ticket thing that goes in the machine. The device gives you back numbers. For example 6.8

Javi's been injured so we havent been climbing very much.

A plague went thru my house, but i didnt get it... I am healthy and stronger than ever. Sleep deprived, but super strong.

I broke the mailbox yesterday. Now I have a way of getting mail. This means I can now post my address........

C/Sisebuto 7, 1D

28011 Madrid, ES

Anyways, things here are on the upswing and starting to get cold. Check back soon, as usual I am making the resolution to write MORE often. I miss everyone. :)

Where do i go from here....

I took the weekend off to realign my inner chi. This included ordering out chinese food, watching some movies, (the strange case of benjamin burton and another one with Heath Ledger and some horses) and of course another trip to Ikea. It is becoming one of my favorite restaurants.

Anyways I finished my room. As usual, I will give out the disclaimer that the picture doesnt do it justice. The camera adds 10 pounds....

Anyways, I have to give out a special shout out to Javi. When I say that " I finished my room." We all know what that really means. Javi workd almost in a slave like manner. But not really, there was any whips or unruly orders or anything like that. I am a very kind-hearted order giver.

So sweet, right now I am sitting in my room at my little makeshift desk. When you come to visit, and you know who you are, you will be able to see it in person.

On that note, the one about persons, as you will notice there are some empty picture frames hanging on my east bedroom wall. I have a seperate set for the 3 little babes, but am taking entries to decide what will go in the frames. The deadline for submissions is Dec 25th. Well if they babies have thier picture taken together again this year, that would automatically win a spot in one of the frames.

Anyways, I am gonna get on with my life. Hello to everyone and thank-you for enjoying my blog.

My first paycheck.

The norm in Spain is to be paid monthly. This means a week ago I had one BIG FAT check..... what has happened to it? Well, you know how it goes.

I have been to Ikea 3x since this paycheck and to the "home depot" type place at least 2 times. Some highlights are my microwave, down comforter, full length mirror.......... You'll see the decked out pictures soonish.

On another note classes are going great. Last week I took one of my classes to a supermarket. I have also been able to watch a little bit of 'friends.' I also learned about the 10 seconds that a race car is in the pit....... and lots of other random stuff. Anyways between all the teaching I am busier than ever.

I am taking this weekend off to relax, organize my life a bit and catch up on work. Javi is also injured, which makes climbing less of a possibility anyways. Oh by the way, he is giving a big presentation in his gym about Red River Gorge. Pretty Cool.

Hmmm well a shout out to my mother because it was her birthday about a week ago and to my Nephew and Godson Henry because his baptism will be coming up here.


As usual.... pictures are on thier way.

The overdue pictures from Toledo

Roommate Tania :) And this is Isa (From Isabel)

Being an English Teacher

I am not really a good English Teacher, but what I am good at is Bs'ing. I am paid to do this everyday. It is wonderful. Anyways I have a more than fullish schedule and feel guilty rejecting the extra classes that my boss has been offering me. Money is great, but I need to make time for climbing and living. This whole working thing can really get in the way of life.

The kitten's name is Hamlet. Its a smart cat. It was just chewing my shoelace. I hit him.

Um well Pizza just got here. Its a rainy day.

Look What I Got!

Yep. Believe it.

Still doesnt have a name.

Not sure if we will raise him in English or Spanish. Probably bilinguel.

Pictures are to come.

SOOOOOO things just keep moving along at the speed of light. My roommates are great. We are getting everything all settled. I really love them and we all get along great. The other day Javi took all three of us to Toledo for the day.... (check back for these pictures)

Yesterday my boss called me to let me know that my full work schedule starts today. A surprise, but I can't complain. Today I will meet a total of 36 NEW students. I have a class from 2-3 (8 students), 3-4 (8 students) and 6-10pm (10 students). I am excited to meet them all. All the classes today have a very low level of english, something different for me.

Tomorrow (tuesday/thurs) are my higher level English classes. The schedule is the same, with the addition of 1 class from 8-930am. LOOOOONG days, huh?

I am salivating and counting down the seconds until I can go to Ikea!

And for those of you that are waiting, my address has still not been disclosed to the public. I will let you know soon enough.

I wish I had something exciting to say.

I got nothing. Everything goes the same. I have one class I teach two times a week. Monday I will start with kids. (a brother and sister) I have been going to the climbing gym and trying to cram everything into my room in a neat and organized manner. Kinda like my college dorm room again!

Hopefully I will be able to start some private classes or groups soon. :)

Home Sweet Home

Sigh. Really BIG Sigh. Really really big sigh. I just finished moving into my new place. I am alone. The other two 'companeras de piso' (roommates) are gone for the weekend. Isabel went home for a wedding and Tania went on a little vacation up north. Hold on I'll snap a shot or two so you can see it.

My room..... I'll be sure to get another shot when it is all pimped out.

This is the living room. There I would be sitting on the couch with the computer writing this blog, but I am taking the picture. There is one random piece of furniture in the middle. It looks like a table, but it is really an old-fashioned sewing machine. I took it out of my room cuz I dont want it there.


Bathroom... This is where we shower and wash up and put on make-up and go to the bathroom. There's even one of those things that i STILL don't know what it is for. I will just say to wash your feet, like Jesus.

Here is the itty bitty kitchen. Door leads to itty bitty porch.

Entrance/Exit Hall.

Anyways I spent all day Monday searching and searching and searching and searching. After this epic search, which lasted until 10 pmish, I quickly made a decision. Apartments go fast aroudn here, especially the good ones! So far I am pleased with my decision. I choose it for 2 main reasons: 1. neighborhood, near, but NOT in city center 2. Roommates, two girls that seem to be full of sugar, spice and everything nice.

So the next question to be answered is work. I started on Tuesday with an 8am class. I teach some strapping, young, hot-shot sales men for electrolux. Apparently the entire world knows what electrolux is. If you are like me and not included in 'the entire world'.... Electrolux is a vacuum company. Okay so vacuum salesman has a bad connotation, but actually thier office is totally posh. There are only three students in the class. Can we say EZ PZ JapanEZ. I will have to get back to you about the rest of my work schedule........

i think i have the swine flu. What are they calling it these days? Flu A or something?

House hunting full force

10:30 am Saturday morning I am in bed sleeping when a loud voice over a megaphone blows through the window: "MONA LISA POTATOES 5 kilograms half-price.... Come and get them, dont pass up this deal! And we have garlic and onion. All brought by the man in the van with the blonde girl straight from the farm this morning." I wasn't planning on waking up quite yet, but since the pitch will probably last another half hour, I might as well. Oh sweet Spain. Its not that uncommon to hear people selling or chanting random things over megaphones. Last year I never understood them, but yep theres no doubt: the dude was determined to sell those Mona lisa potatoes at half price. :)

Well, I just finished Sunday dinner and am all pysched for tomorrow. I'm gonna go with javi's sister Isa (Isabel) to run an errand in the a.m. and then I have 5 dates to see different apartments. I'll report later.

This is a picture from Thursday night, the Birthday of Javi AND give everyone their gifts from America night. I am gonna go ahead and say it was a success, except that everyone was confused by all the "made in china" stickers on their American gifts.

Another picture, because everyone loves pictures..... This is -left to right -me, Dani and David. Dani and I were talking because we weren't quite sure if we were in the picture or not.... Javi's dad has the same shoot at random picture style as my dad :)

Back in the Game

So here I am, writing to you all from Spain. Sigh. My flight and trip was great and flawless. I watched a total of 5 movies. My favorite was... ¨´Away we go.´¨ Something like that. Super cute. I like watching mindless movies to pass time and learn more English.

Speaking of English, today I will be meeting with my boss at 4:45 pm. I am going to get the low-down on my work etc. For those of you that did not get the connection - I will be teaching English.

Anyways nothing exciting to report. In about 15 minutes I will be back in full-swing and busy doing really important stuff. Aside from meeting with my boss, I will be going to the climbing gym, and celebrating Javi´s birthday. Pictures to follow.

The Procrastination Game

Alright so here we go again. After a quick summer at home, 1 niece, two nephews, a wedding and a Happy Birthday to ME (26), I am getting all geared up to fly back to Madrid. We all know I will be singing a different song in about a month, but Im gonna put this on the record anyways: I think I am ready and excited to get back to working.

The transition back goes hand in hand with all those typical 'fresh start resolutions' including writing in my blog more often, climbing more, loving every day I work, being organized, on-time, and reading every evening before I go to bed. I know, all of you are asking- What bed? True, I don't have a home yet, but per the above resolution you will all be updated soon enough.

Okay so jog back up to the top... NOTE: 2 nephews? Yep, the last nephew came early... and looking on the bright side of him coming about 4 weeks premature...I actually got to meet him! Okay now here's the icing on the cake... Henry Alexander (great name isnt it?) is my godson ;) I leave tomorrow and will spend the night in Chicago with my dearest friend Bonnie, on Tuesday she'll take me to the airport and after a short stop in Toronto the title of my Blog will again make sense.

That's how things stand in the latest news, as well as the fact that I am NOT gonna be able to fit all my stuff in my suitcase. time to go solve that problem.....

These are the 3 latest additions to the Collins lineage..... Amaya (July 2), Henry (September 8), Roman (July 31)

East Coast Tour

\Just got back from a two week long East coast tour that included Phily, New York City, Boston/Canton, and Washington D.C. Each trip included both sightseeing and friendseeing. I had a blast with both, but I feel like I should have trained more for the tourism. We probably put on a at least a good 20 miles.

Philadelphia is home to my one and only sister, her husband and their new little bundle of joy: Roman. It is also the birthplace of the constitution. If neither of those interest you, you will probably find the Rocky Steps as a more appealing highlight of the city. If you are still not impressed.... think Philly Cheese Steak or Water Ice :)


New York City is New York City.
It has also been the home of our friend Santi for the past 8 months. We couldnt have had a better tour guide! Javi went ahead of me to see New York City with Santi and one day later I caught up with them. (Luckily THEY did a 15 mile tour the day I wasnt there.) Once I got in we went to see Times Square (which was my favorite part), Central Park (which was my other favorite part), and crossed to see the city from the other side of the Manhattan bridge (which was also my favorite thing in the city). Although Javi was not that impressed with New York, I am glad that he got to see what everyone in the world seems to be talking about......


I didn't realllllllly go to see Boston, and it was never my intention, but of course once we were in Canton (20 minutes outside of Boston) we HAD to see Boston. Boston is maybe the birthplace of America? more or less. Anyways it's a nice crisp city that will always have a special place in my heart (and many childhood memories). Back to the important place.... CANTON. That's where my mom's family is centralized. I saw my Aunt, Uncle, two cousins and GRAMMY :)


The Last stop on our trip was to our nation's Capital. I love it and can always repeat a trip walking around and seeing all the stuff. So we did it. We saw from the Capital building to the Lincoln Memorial and stopped by Barak's home. Javi's favorite site was the Korean War memorial. I got to have dinner with the one and only Kate Deiss and Becca Horvath along with her lovely two little babes. :)