Chamonix, France

I'd skied the Swiss Alps.  I'd skied the Italian Alps.  Heck, why not ski the French Alps?  While Zermatt still reigns as my favorite ski destination in Europe (and Beaver Creek still tops the entire list as my favorite place in the States), Chamonix has a lot going for it -- if only we hadn't been there when the rest of Europe was on ski week!  Nevertheless we had a blast exploring the town, meeting tons of people, eating excellent food, and getting a few runs of early-Spring skiing in.  My first snowshoeing experience was also amazing, I can't wait to do it again!

It was a great 5-day getaway with a wonderful group of ladies but I can't say I'm sad to be putting away the ski gear.  It's beach time now!!

Chamonix

Au revoir, Linds

London

Every so often I get an intense urge to be around English speakers.  Not that I'm not around them daily at my job... but once I leave the confines of my workplace I'm bombarded with Spanish.  Loud, fast, obnoxious Spanish.  The lisp is starting to drive me bonkers (you all know why the Spaniards talk with a lisp, don't you?  If not, google it).  I thought Puerto Rican Spanish with their dropped letters and slang was bad... wow.  I've picked up a ton just through listening but needless to say I can't wait to get home at the end of the day and get out of the Spanish madness. 

So, with that being said, I jumped at the relatively cheap tickets to London one weekend and made it a 36 hour trip.  To say it was a whirlwind is an understatement.  Dana and I literally traversed the entire city, saw every major sight, stopped more than enough for a pint (or four) and even caught a show in the West End.  It was tiring, it was crazy but it was so much fun.  And the Brits didn't disappoint.  More than once we found ourselves saying, "Wouldn't life be so much different if we lived here?  I think I could actually live here permanently!  The people are so nice!  The men are actually attractive!"  None of those phrases are ever uttered in Madrid  :) 

London



Cheers!

Linds

And Happy Valentines Day!!

Real Madrid Game

Although I find watching soccer to be right next to eating vegetables and reading science fiction on my list of least favorite things to do, I got the opportunity to go to a Real Madrid game and couldn't pass it up.  Not only are tickets to games extremely hard to come by, if you do they are super expensive and typically in the nosebleed sections.  A coworker of mine has season passes because his wife works for Real, so she had a few extra tickets and I was able to go along.  It was quite the experience.  Not only is the stadium bigger than anything I've ever been in (I think it holds 80,000) but the people are insane!  Since it's Spain, we went to the bar for a few hours before the 10 pm kickoff.  Our seats were on the goal line about 20 rows up--- incredible.  While it wasn't the most exciting game (Real scored their two goals in the last 4 minutes of the game) I thoroughly enjoyed watching the people heckle one another, yell at the refs, and laugh at the "injured" players.  And in true Spanish style, we went to the bar during half time and after the game.  Not a smart decision on my part considering I had to get up for work 3 hours later...

 The Stadium

 My coworker Juan Carlos and I

 The view from our seats... amazing!

 The beloved Ronaldo

Our crazy crew, out way too late!

Now that I've seen both a bullfight and a futbol game, I feel I've truly had the full Spanish experience. :)

Ciao para ahora, L

A New Beginning

For the first time in my life, I've entered a transitional phase where I am not only hopeful but fearful.  Never before have I quit a job without having another job already lined up.  The ease with which I've found finding a job internationally makes it all the more frightening to attempt to move back to the States in the recession and poor economy.  At times I find myself thinking, "What the hell am I doing?" but am quickly reassured that I'm making the right decision when I think about all I'm looking forward to come summertime and beyond. 

But needless to say,  it was hard to resign from a job that I enjoy so much.  In Puerto Rico, I loved my life on the island and my ability to go to the beach at whim, but I didn't love my job, per se (there were definitely things I enjoyed a great deal but I didn't jump out of bed eager to go to work on a daily basis).  In Spain, it's quite the opposite.  I love my job, the challenge and stimulation it provides me everyday, how much I learn from my coworkers and my students, but I don't enjoy my day to day life in Madrid.  It's hard to live in a place where you constantly feel as if you have to be "on" in order to communicate, protect yourself, travel from one place to another, etc.  I get home after a nearly 12 hour day, each day, mentally and emotionally drained.  To be honest, I think I might go crazy if I didn't know I was leaving in 5 months (exactly!). 

Who knows if I'll ever get to a place in my life where I love my job and love my life simultaneously but I will be constantly seeking it out until I do!  I should be hearing back about grad school acceptances in the coming weeks, I have applications in to a few public school districts, I have a head hunter looking for jobs in the private school sector, and I'll be coming back to Portland the week before my spring break (April 9-16) to attend a 2-day job fair and hopefully set up some interviews and/or look for an apartment to move into July 1.  It'll be a very busy next few months, so keep your fingers crossed!

And it wouldn't be life in Europe if I wasn't traveling!  I've tried to plan a trip every few weeks to keep my mind off of things and to see the last few corners of Europe that I've been dying to get to before I move away.  As I always say, if anyone is ever in this neck of the woods or if you'd like to do some traveling in the next few months and Spain is part of the intinerary, please let me know.  My tour guide skills have gotten quite good over the past year and half, and my home is nice and cozy, just waiting for visitors!

Here's a few pictures of some of my closest friends in Madrid... the very reasons (and pretty much only reasons) it will be really hard to leave.

 Watching the Seahawks

Celebrating Birthdays

 Our favorite bar

 Blondies

 Don't know what I'll do without these two

Streets of Madrid



Flamenco aprons

 Good friends and good times together

Hope all's well in your corner of the world.  Until next time... ~L

Swiss Alps

I love sun.  I love warm weather.  I love the beach.  I dislike winter immensely.  But I love to ski. 

Since there isn't much warm weather to be had in Madrid in the near future and the beach is a long haul, I decided the best way to beat the winter blues was to indulge in a bit of snow.  And considering that a friend of mine lives so close to the Swiss Alps, I figured, why not?  Aside from one week spent in Zermatt last January and a 5-day trip planned for Chamonix-Mont Blanc this February, I haven't taken advantage of the proximity of excellent skiing here in Europe nor have I made lugging my ski gear across the world worthwhile. 

While there wasn't too much skiing that was done throughout the weekend (due to going out Friday night which caused everyone to sleep in, due to multiple beer pit stops on the slopes on Saturday, and due to an impromptu sledding adventureon Sunday), the thought and effort to put the ski gear to good use was not lost!  It was a wonderful 48 hours spent in a gorgeous country with pristine weather and great friends.  What more could one really ask for?

Skiing the Swiss Alps

~L

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Boy, was 2010 a good one!  I don't think I could feel more lucky for all that happened in the past 365 days--- this truly has been one of the best years of my life.  The monthly highlights include:

January:  Rang in 2010 at one of the craziest New Years parties I've ever been to in Madrid, then spent a week skiing the Swiss Alps.

February:  Collin and Erin's gorgeous wedding in Puerto Vallarta (we are so lucky to have an amazing new member of our family!) and a solo, weekend trip to my favorite city in the world, Rome.

March:  Turned the big 2-7 and visited my friend, Carol, in Lugano.

April:  Spring Break in Ireland with my best friend from grade school, Calli.

May:  Beer drinking in Belgium (one of my favorite trips of the year)

June:  Springtime in Munich and many, many parties in Madrid marking the end of our first year.

July:  Greek Isles... the most relaxing 4 weeks of my life (aside from Spain winning the World Cup!)

August:  PNW!  Also, a cruise to Alaska, one of the best family vacations we've ever had.

September:  Another school year-- an extra class, two additional job titles, excellent students, and a brand new apartment.  Lots more work but lots more money, too (insert sarcasm...).

October:  Oktoberfest.  Enough said.

November:  Conference in Tunisia and Thanksgiving in Istanbul.

December:  Winter break in Prague then HOME for 3 weeks. 

If there's anything I want to do in the early part of 2011, it's to appreciate Spain more.  While living in a foreign country has its perks, when you aren't fluent in the language and the culture just isn't the same that you grew up with, it's hard to really love a place.  There are soooo many things about Spain and Spanish people and the Spanish culture that really tick me off and I feel I have a right (whether deserved or not) to get ticked off because I deal with it on a daily basis--- I'm not just there on a week-long vacation.  But, aside from all our differences, I want to leave Spain on a good note because whether I like it or not, the country has opened my eyes to so many diversities, has brought together some of the best friends of my life, and has given me opportunities I never thought possible.  I feel I'd be doing myself a disservice if I didn't leave Spain on a good note, loving (or maybe just liking) the place I called "home" for two years (although you won't find a happier soul at Madrid-Barajas airport the day I leave, June 28-ish!)

Although it will be bittersweet to leave my family, the TV, Mexican food and the golf course this week, I go back to Spain knowing, without a doubt, that I want to move back to the US.  Many of you know the anxiety I've had in recent months about wanting to move back, not wanting to move back, where do I go, what do I do, etc. I wanted to use my time home to really figure out if uprooting my life is something that made sense right now when I love my job so much. While I still don't have the answers to many of the those questions, I at least know with confidence that living abroad has lost its luster.  So..... the teaching test has been passed. The teaching license has been applied for. The grad school applications are in. Now, I play the waiting game. Here's to hoping Lindsay gets a job in 2011!!

Christmas 2010 in AZ

Here's to another great year--- Salud, Sláinte, Prost, Salute, Santé, Na zdravi, Cheers,

Linds