in no particular order...
1. BBQ chicken wings
2. Reese´s Peanut Butter cups (implied = peanut butter in general)
3. Gallons of milk instead of liters
4. Family and friends
5. Garage Sales - Lyss
6. Buying in bulk to save money
7. American sports - Robin
8. Our new place on Lake Michigan
9. Church in our first language
10. Using all of our wedding gifts
11. BOOKS!!!!!
Thank you all for reading our blog. We hope you enjoyed it!
Besos,
Robin & Alyssa
Alyssa and Robin in Spain
Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand. -Mother Teresa
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Monday, June 2, 2014
Spain: The Season Finale
Our week of lasts is over. We said our final goodbyes today
at church, and we are four days away from landing in Chicago where our new
lives await us. There are so many
exciting things to think about, but for now we're content just sitting on our
ocean view balcony enjoying the 10:10 p.m. sunset that turns the ocean into a
mirage of deep purples, pinks, and oranges. ¡Que preciosa!
I don’t know how teachers do it—how do they form
relationships with kids all year and then say goodbye? Let’s just say there was some
waterworks. In my sixth grade
class, the students played a sentimental One Direction song for our last class
together and all of a sudden, these SIXTH GRADERS (including boys) started
crying....balling even! I couldn’t believe it although I do remember being
pretty emotional at that age. I think it was the song haha. I will definitely miss that class. I
have never met such kind and sweet sixth graders.
Here are some pictures of the less emotional four year olds and
Robin.
We were so blessed to have had a great church community here
in Galicia. On Sundays, we helped
with the youth group and last Sunday they decided to surprise us with a big
feast. We ate paella and tortilla
española to our heart’s content.
The Last Tastes of Galician Culture...
We learned how to make homemade Tarta de Santiago (cake made of 4 ingredients: almonds, sugar, lemon, & eggs) |
|
Zamburiñas |
A Galician fashion show. They sure did wear those outfits with pride! |
Saying goodbye to our wonderful American friends! We were so blessed to have met these Washingtonians :) |
As sad as it is that we have already eaten our last bite of Arzua cheese and enjoyed our last big Galician meal, the good news is that we don’t have to leave Galicia behind forever since our teachers gave us a traditional porcelain necklace AND a 3-D Galician famous sites book haha!
Sunday, May 18, 2014
What We Will and Will Not Miss...
In less than three weeks, we will step off our plane and
land in the U.S.A. where baseball games, barbeques, and sweet freedom await
us. Just kidding! Really, it is
crazy to think that our time here is winding down so quickly. Like all seasons of life, when we think
back to our first jet-lagged days in Vilagarcía, it seems like an eternity
ago. Fast forward to the present,
and we don’t understand where the time went. After all is said and done, it was definitely time well
spent. The best part is that we
feel like we learned just as much during this post-college year as we might’ve
during one more year of formal education.
We feel so much healthier, although it wasn’t too difficult to improve
considering our former college eating habits. Up on the wholesome food adventure for next week is goat’s
milk. Apparently, it’s super good
for you! We can’t wait to see what a year of “real-life” teaches us.
Since we’ve had more time than we’re accustomed to having
back in the U.S.A., we’ve had the opportunity to reflect a lot about our lives
here versus our lives in the U.S.A.
Thus, we present our grand list of what we will miss and what we won’t
miss about our Spanish life. In no
particular order...
We will miss:
1. The fact
that we can buy all of this fresh produce for less than 5 Euros.
2. The ability to walk everywhere we need to go. Sure
those grocery trips can be a bit rough since we have to carry our grocery bags
about half a mile, but everything is located so conveniently close. We even started walking to the business
where we teach English three miles away.
How can we not? It’s been beautiful outside and we are able to walk
through rolling green hills while passing country houses and sheep along the way.
3. The delicious cereals. Yes, America has a
fantastic cereal variety. I can’t
complain. The one cereal America
is missing is rellenos de leche (basically chocolate pockets filled with milk). I know I said we were eating healthy,
but this is a rare treat. Maybe
this already exists in America, but granola cereal with chunks of dark
chocolate is a pretty wonderful combination.
4. The fruit culture!
I feel inspired to seriously up my daily fruit consumption here after the
twelve-year-old girl I tutor told me she eats at least six fruits daily. Also, the businessmen told us that it
is not uncommon to eat six to eight different fruits during one day. We have been taking advantage of the
super cheap fruits here, but I do miss cantaloupe!
5. Our sweet students and their funny personalities. They
all watch American T.V. shows and movies, and it’s just so funny to hear their
thoughts and impressions about American culture. The third graders were doing a special arts and crafts
project with the Mona Lisa. The
teacher showed the painting and asked the students what they knew about the
painting. One third grade girl
shot her hand up and enthusiastically shouted in Spanish “Her name is Mona Lisa
and she was a virgin.” Clearly, this was an innocent remark influenced by the strong Roman Catholic tradition here in Spain. The
teachers on the other hand have even sillier thoughts. One of the teachers thought (or maybe
joked...Spanish humor is hard to detect) that we were from Missouri just
because we’re twenty-three and married.
6. The small town feeling. We feel like we’re getting to know all the neighborhood dogs on the
paseo. If we go out for a walk,
we’re guaranteed to see at least one person we know. When I get a ride home with one of the businessmen, he beeps
at literally every person jogging or walking a dog. He says families here go way back.
fishermen (or mussel-men) |
7. These views. It’s unique to live near the ocean and
open green pastures. This weekend,
we ventured out into the country and saw baby horses, sheep, and goats!
8. The evening walks. It seems that time has not affected
Spain as much as it has American culture.
What I mean by this is that technology and the all the other
pressures of modern life don’t seem to have changed daily life here as much as they
have American life. Sure, there are
still kids texting and playing videogames. Yet, we see so many more kids being active, having fun
outside, and just being kids here.
It’s like clockwork. At 5
o’clock, families pour out into the streets (grandparents, parents, and kids). Everyone slows down at this time. We might even struggle to find a bench since
they’re all taken up by grandparents hanging out together. It’s nice to see people just be still
and spend time with one another.
9. Cheap olive oil!
We’re trying to use up all of our awesome olive oil made with olives right from
Spain before we leave. I’ve even
been putting it on my skin. This stuff
is great! It’s been the sole reason why I’ve been able to eat heaping servings
of spinach salads. Robin doesn’t
need any help. That crazy man can
eat a bowl full of dry spinach leaves.
10. Sunsets at 10:00pm!!!!!
WHAT WE WON’T MISS
1. Inefficiency
2. All the smoking!
3. Wearing flip flops isn’t appropriate unless you’re at the
beach
4. Saying goodbye instead of hello upon passing someone on a
walk...never got used to that.
5. Business hours/ multiple closings. I can agree with everything being
closed on Sundays. In fact, I like this.
However, there are many random closings. Yesterday, for example, all the
stores were closed to remember Galician writers. The bank is only open until 2:00pm!
Next up: What we look forward to in America :)
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Os Maios (A Celebration of Spring & New Life)
On Thursday, we went to the center to look at all the Os Maios displays. In Galicia, there is a tradition of making displays out of all things nature to celebrate spring and new life. Most of the displays use flowers and greenery. Some of the displays use fruits such as oranges. Other displays even add eggs!
Pictured above are the displays from Vilaxoán (Alyssa's school)
A girl dressed in her typical Galician outfit |
My favorite display! |
Saturday, April 26, 2014
The Cinque Terre
Well, it appears that Robin has left the big Cinque Terre blog post to
me. I think Cinque Terre might be
the most difficult to write about since so much of the experience involved
eating and taking in all the wonderful scents. The Cinque Terre is located on the north west coast of Italy
in the region known as Liguria.
Besides being known for the best pesto anywhere which I have already
stated on here millions of times, the Ligurian area is also known for its
abundance of lemon trees and vineyards.
Combine this with the great variety of flowers in bloom, and you have
yourself quite a delightful mountain hike. The five villages of the Cinque Terre are basically carved
out of the mountains. There are
many trails that allow you to walk from city to city and escape into
breathtaking nature where the ocean meets wild flowers, vineyards, and
cliffs. Unfortunately, there was a
terrible flood in this region back in 2011 and many of the trails are still
closed due to landslides. At first
we were a little bummed, but after hiking two of the more serious trails, our
feet and legs were thankful for a rest.
5. The Culture
Are we in Galicia? Sure looks like it! |
Encouragement on the hike! We spy the next town of Corniglia! |
The sore legs and tired feet are worth it for these views! |
For our Italy travels, we decided to take advantage of the
website Air B n B that allows people to post their spare rooms for tourists to
rent out. A few of our trustworthy
friends had nothing but great experiences using the website. We also had unique and memorable
experiences staying with real Italian families. In Florence, we stayed in the apartment of a graduate
student and his sister. They were
very helpful with suggesting great, local eats and with avoiding tourist
traps. In the Cinque Terre region,
we stayed with the sweetest and most thoughtful Italian family. We had such a memorable experience
there! We cannot speak highly
enough of this family. They
even prepared us breakfast in the morning, and their entire house smelled just
lovely! Perhaps this is because
the father takes great pride in his garden. I would’ve been perfectly content spending the entire day in
the garden. It smells like
paradise with the lemon trees and great variety of flowers. They even had
tortoises in the garden. Their
cat, Yuvi, surely appreciates it, too!
Top Cinque of the Cinque Terre (Top 5 of the Five Lands)
1. Seafood in a Cone
Ok. This one is not for me but for Robin of course. All the seafood is fresh since the
Cinque Terre is right on the ocean.
Everybody was walking around with their seafood in a cone, and Robin had
to get one. I even admit that the
smells coming out of the food stand were enticing. I almost wanted to try the calamari. Next time, Cinque
Terre. Next time.
2. Easter Mass in Riomaggiore
We went to Easter mass in one of the villages. Mass was in Italian of course; however,
I think Italian and Spanish are pretty similar. We were able to catch a few words, and we even attempted to
sing in Italian. Good times. Fun
fact: the very young priest happened to be the doppelganger (look-alike) of a
St. Norbert friend. I read that
the true residents of the five villages maintain very close relationships one
another, and it was fun to observe the families that probably grew up together
interact. Another fun fact: little
Italian kids dressed in their Easter best are adorable!
So many cute nuns in Italy |
3. Friends from Around the World
Like Robin mentioned, meeting friends from around the world
was a common theme during our trip and it continued in Pisa and Cinque
Terre. We walked with an
Indian/English couple from the train station to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We met a family from Austria. We talked for a while with a man from
Hungary who was actually traveling to Galicia to meet friends. Finally, we asked a girl to take our
picture and she was from none other than BURLINGTON, WISCONSIN! She was studying abroad in Milan and
she says she frequently goes to Kenosha for Buffalo Wild Wings. Haha the world
keeps getting smaller by the day :)
The girls who took this picture was from Burlington, Wisconsin |
4. The Bike Ride
Our kind host let us use her bikes to get around the way the
locals do. Italians sure do love
their mopeds and bicycles. It
seemed like there was at least one bicycle or moped on the road for every
car. Maybe this is an exaggeration
for Cinque Terre, but Florence was dominated by mopeds. We rode bikes to the nearby town of
Portovenere. It is not officially
a part of the Cinque Terre, but it is just as beautiful. It felt more resorty than the rustic
Cinque Terre fishing villages. We
don’t mind, though. We walked
around the town, bought a little jar of pesto, some bread, found a bench, and
then watched the boats until it was time to ride back.
5. The Culture
I know we only skimmed the surface, but there is something
special about that place and those people. Perhaps, all the uphill walking and hard work builds
character. I felt a lot of pride
for my Italian heritage while in Italy.
Robin jokingly made fun of me for telling our hosts that I was a quarter
Italian, but I am very excited to learn more about this ancestry. One of my new summer goals is to grow
fresh basil and try to remake some of the foods we tried. If nothing else, we will definitely keep
the culture alive through food!
everything is so fresh! |
this is what they use to go up the mountains and hills |
We hope you had a blessed Easter! Rejoice! He is Risen! :)
Blessings,
Alyssa & Robin
Saturday, April 19, 2014
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
We look like a couple of teenage mutant ninja turtles enjoying the Leaning Tower!
A fashion disaster... shorts with a poncho.
Big Lyss back it up! Lyss doing a Hulk impression while doing the wobble.
A fashion disaster... shorts with a poncho.
Godzilla attacking the leaning tower of Pisa.
Eating Our Way Through Italy
Buongiorno! We landed in Milan at 11 p.m. and waited until morning to head to Florence. The night went by somewhat quicker because we were able to chat with a friend we made from Slovenia. So far making friends has been a theme during our trip to Italy.
Priority número uno after arriving in Florence was finding
something to eat. We headed to
All’ Antico Vinaio, for some authentic Italian sandwiches. Lyss got Italian ham with Pecorino
cream. The man at the counter said
to me, “I bet you like everything, I will make you best sandwich in
world”. He is the expert after all
so I gave him free reign to make the best sandwich and he didn’t
disappoint. As we were sitting in
the plaza eating our lunch, we heard some people speaking English next to
us. Alyssa asked where they were
from, and what do you know they were from Wisconsin visiting their daughter who
goes to St. Norbert and is studying abroad in Italy. Alyssa had predicted we would see a St. Norbert student in
Italy and she was right!
mozzarela and spicy salami |
Gusta Pizza for the second time |
As one tourist put it “You eat your way through Italy.” Most of our time has
been spent walking and taking in the sights until it is time to eat again. Then the whole process repeats itself. We walked through the flower gardens of
Florence, visited a number of old churches, and saw many different versions of
the David statue. There were so
many artistic sights to take in around us that Alyssa walked right across a
man’s painting while she was looking up at a bell tower. Mi dispiace...
We hiked to Michelangelo's viewpoint to get a better view of the city. The dome of the church was the world's first dome. |
We spent the night in a room we are renting in an Italian grad student’s
house. We chatted with the Israeli
family across the hall that is also visiting Florence. The next morning we walked through the
market and shared a panini. Then
we took the bus to Chianti. It was
a great change of pace to spend time in a city that is 100% Italy. Chianti is a small Italian village in
Tuscany known for their wine. We
walked through fields of olive trees, visited a small stone hamlet in the
hills, and saw the house of Amerigo Vespucci (who America is named after). We returned to Florence ready for
dinner, but first we helped an Austrian family find their way to one of the
churches. Then it was off to Gusta
Pizza, our favorite restaurant here in Italy! We ate delicious pizza and calzone two nights in a row for
dinner. We followed it up with
Gelato on the bridge. Tomorrow we
are off to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
In front of Amerigo Vespucci's house in Montefioralle. The moth symbol above the door was the symbol of his family. |
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