The baby was born!

In other parts of the world, Jan, would be a girl's name, but here in Spain, and I am sure in other parts of Europe, it is a boy's name and pronounced the same way as Jon in the States. Either way, Jan was born this morning at 8:38. Apparently it was all Ferran could do to find a doctor and even then I guess Jan was already born. Ferran and Glòria had only been in the hospital for 10 minutes. As you can tell it was a very fast labor. Both baby and mother are doing very well and should come home from the hospital on Monday. Jan is absolutely adorable and I believe he was around 3.6 kg (which I believe is about 8 lbs). As soon as I get pictures I will be sure to send them out. It is all very exciting and so far the kids have been doing very well with the whole event.
In other news I have had a very busy past couple of weeks, but I finally managed to fall into a schedule and routine. Ofcourse, now that Jan has been born that will all change. oh well, you wouldn't want to get used to anything in life, then it might get boring, right?
The first weekend in October I went hiking again with Meritxell and Sergi. This time the hike was guided by a different group and was all in Catalàn, but I was able to understand a little bit. The week after that was kind of a mess as I lost my house key (in the end it was ok because they were getting the locks changed anyway, but it proved difficult for a couple days), got caught in a torrential down pour without an umbrella or anything. I ended up staying over at Eleni and Xiaoni's that night which was pretty fun. The next morning Eleni made me Greek coffee, which she claimed was really very light, but I have a feeling it was pretty strong. One day I also learned how to make Tortilla Española. It is really quite easy, except for one crucial step. You basically sauteé onions and very small pieces of potato. Next you beat some eggs, add some salt and then you add the potatoes and onions. Next you pour the whole thing in a frying pan. When the egg is pretty much cooked you turn the whole thing over to cook on the other side. Since it is filling the whole pan, it is rather difficult and it involves putting a plate over the top flipping the whole thing over and then sliding it back into the pan and letting it cook some more. Personally I think it would be easier just to put it in the oven and bake it like a quiche, but to each his own.
The 12th of October was a holiday here, so the kids didn't have school Thursday or Friday last week. Thursday the kids' cousins came to visit and it was a pretty laid back day. The highlight of Friday was going out with Eleni, Xiaoni and a couple others to a local coffee shop/bar (a lot like Rico's in Colorado Springs if you know what that is) and listening to a jazz trio. I didn't stay out too late though because I had a big weekend planned.
On Saturday I went to Barcelona with Miren (a french au pair I met in my Spanish class) where we met up with Dyvia (actually spelled Divya, but I must mispell it with Tom because we both like it when "y" is a vowel, luckily Dyvia doesn't mind) a friend of Tom's from Rice and her friend Dave. And then Miren knew another au pair in Barcelona, so we met up with her too! It was quite the international gathering as Dyvia, Dave, and I were from the states (Texas and Colorado respectively), Miren was from France, and Ester was from Germany but was actually Hungarian. We all had a great time and didn't actually see that much but shopped around the Rambla, grabbed something to eat, took the metro, and saw Park Güell (a neat outdoor space designed by Gaudí). That was pretty much it. (photos : http://drexel.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036994&l=9f97d&id=10500847)
On Sunday Miren and I met up again and went to Cambrills. A small touristy beach town about 30 minutes from Reus. It was pretty dead on Sunday and it was kind of a cold day. So we only sat on the beach a little bit. But we got a map from the tourist center and walked around town and found an old church and some other old buildings. After taking the bus back to Tarragona we went to the Medieval Festival that was being held in the old part of town near the Cathedral. It was quite wonderful because the setting was just perfect as the streets were all cobble stone and the buildings were all old and stone.
This week has gone very well, even the works on the house may be finished by next week. I had Spanish class three times this week and I am learning a lot. The days I have class are actually very nice and relaxing because I have a fair amount of free time after I get back from class and before I have to get ready to pick up the kids from school. Catalàn class is going wonderfully as well. I always have lot of fun because the teacher is really fun. The entire class is in Catalàn though! I can count, ask what your name is, tell you mine, same with my phone number, and I even know a couple verbs now and how to conjugate them. Drawing class is always a nice time as it is very relaxing and good to do something creative each week. So far I have drawn a flower, an eskimo girl (although in my rendering she looked more like she was from China, oh well), and some trees. The flower and the girl were in pencil and the trees were in charcoal. We just choose drawings the teacher already has and then try to reproduce them. The teacher doesn't really say much but just lets us draw for two hours. This Thursday I started a contemporary dance class and I love it! Reus really is a small town and when I got there, one girl in class looked extremely familiar, but I couldn't place her. It turns out she was thinking the same thing and after we all went around and made introductions she remembered how we knew each other. I met her in the bathroom in La Palma in the beginning of September, we were all really surprised. The class was pretty much in Spanish, but I didn't have any problem understanding and it feels really good to be in a dance class again.
I think I have finally hit a milestone with Biel...he is no longer upset when I pick him up without Glòria or I have him at home alone for lunch or he wakes up after his nap and Glòria is gone. Now he wakes up and is perfectly happy, which is really nice. It wasn't that we didn't get along, he just wasn't ready for them to leave and I was new. But now he is very happy and comfortable with me.
I have also had a lot of time in the past couple weeks to do a lot of baking, which I always enjoy. I made banana muffins, apple cinnamon muffins, carrot muffins and yesterday we all made a chestnut cake!

And now the music...

It is hard to believe I have only been in Spain for a little over a month...I feel like I have been here much longer. Not in a bad way. Just because I seem to meet new people every week and do something new and exciting each weekend, that I have done so much it doesn't possible that so little time has passed. Either way, I have done a lot since I last wrote. The last two weeks at Absenta have been a blast as always. After meeting on the 21st I went with Meritxell and some of her colleagues to La Palma and we heard Makumba Beat which involved a lot of people with drums and other various traditional and interesting instruments, dancing, and generally a good time. I managed to tear myself away around 11:30 and miss the second group because I just had to get some sleep. The next day I met Marta for coffee and our language exchange. She is very sweet and we always have a nice chat...I feel bad that I can't meet longer with her, but right now my schedule is crazy and I always seem to be running late and then running off to do something else right after I meet her. That night I met up with Meritxell, Sergio, and some of their friends to hear another concert (at this point we were still having the festa major here in Reus). The group was Mesclat, and one of Meritxell's friends new some of the members and said they were really good. After driving to where we thought the concert was to be held due to the rain and then finding out it was going to be outside and if it rained be cancelled, we drove the car back into the city and parked pretty much where we started and walked to Plaça Libertat. And ofcourse after about 10 minutes of the concert it started raining and it was cancelled. We were all fairly upset and annoyed by the lack of organization and planning done by the city and decided to head to Absenta to console ourselves. We had a wonderful time as always and ofcourse when the bar closed at 2 we couldn't call it a night because, well, who knows why? so we went to Saua, which is open till 4 and really very unimpresive. Luckily it is right by my house so I didn't have far to walk at 3 in the morning. Needless to say I was exhausted on Saturday. But I went out in the morning rain and ran errands. I didn't mind because I love going out in the cold or wet just so I can come home and curl up with a blanket, book, and a mug of hot water. I had a nice relaxing day, spent some good time with the kids and was asleep by ten. It felt good to get a real nights sleep...but it didn't last long. Sunday was very relaxing and I didn't do much but make dinner and read. But then I met Xiaoni, Eleni, Alejandro, Rafiel, Andres, and Marta for dinner at 9:30. We had a lot of fun and at midnight Xiaoni and Eleni went to go meet Carmen and Tatyianna at Absenta and invited me to come, but I was determined (at the time at least) to get another good nights sleep (I got up early the next morning to go hiking) and planned to go home shortly after they left, so I politely said no thankyou. They made the rest of the group promise to walk me home since they wouldn't be, which was very sweet. But ofcourse after dinner we had to have a drink. So I ended up going to The Green Dog with everybody else and didn't manage to get home until 2, so much for an early night.
But hiking the next day was wonderful anyway and due to all the adrenalin and excitement being tired thankfully didn't hit me until we were in the car on the way back home. Monday (the 25th)was a holiday here so Meritxell and Sergio came to pick me up at 8:30 we drove out to d'Ulldemolins, about an hour away from Reus. We had to stop in a small village for them to pick up some papers for a hike the following weekend, so we didn't get started until around 11. d'Ulldemolins in an area called Montsant and we were hiking in the parc natural del montsant. I took pictures and will put them up soon. It was actually a fairly flat hike with a very well marked trail...until the second part when we decided to find this cave and we practically entered a jungle along the way. And after making our way through the dense growth (there was a small single track trail which was practically overgrown) we couldn't make it up to the cave because it involved climbing up a rickety ladder and using a rope to climb up the rock wall that was completely flat and almost vertical, not to mention wet. So after some partial attempts we abandoned the cave and made our way back through the jungle to the other trail and the car. The rest of the hike and scenery was very interesting because it seemed like a mix of Colorado and New Mexico to me. There were a lot of pine trees and gravel trails and what not, but it was also dry and there were cactuses and other such plants. It was a wonderful hike and it felt good to get out of the ¨city¨and into nature, because there really isn't any to speak of in Reus. I am very lucky to have met Meritxell and Sergio because it is impossible to go hiking without a car as all worthwhile spots are at least an hour away.
Last week was pretty much a blur of cooking and walking back and forth to the kids school and going to the market highlighted by yoga class, my two language exchanges, and officially registering for Spanish class. Yoga was wonderul as always and completely relaxing. I met Marta for coffee and was terribly late but tried to make up for it by offering some of the cookies I had baked...but she didn't care I was late in the first place...next time I meet her I'll be ontime. She even offered to give me a ride to Tarragona on Friday because she was going as well. Absenta was new and different as always, each week seems to bring new people. We met two more guys from Reus. They found out about the language exchange because they were puting up an add in Tarragona to have one there when they saw Meritxell's add and decided to come check it out. One of them seems to be very into bike riding, which is good for me. So I got some tips about where to go and books to get and all this. I am hoping to ride to a little village near here one weekend...we'll see. Registering for class was surprisingly easy and I managed it without any disasters. I was in Tarragona much earlier than I needed to be and so I was able to find the sewing store my mom found there online and look at all the sewing machines and see what they had to offer. I still can't decide if I should get one... I can't imagine that I would have that much time to sew...but maybe on the weekends I could...I really would love to make more skirts...we'll see. Friday night I met up with Xiaoni, Eleni and a couple others because they weren't at Absenta on Thursday...ofcourse we just ended up going to Absenta as always...but it is a great place, so oh well. Saturday afternoon I walked around with Glòria and the kids.
Then Meritxell and Sergio took me hiking again this weekend! Only this time we went to Margalef, which about is an hour and a half away and stayed the night at a ¨refugi, a kind of rural house with rooms to rent (see this url, it should be in english: http://www.indicerural.com/cacalbet/index_eng.htm this is the house we stayed in, if that doesn't work, let me know and I'll give you mored detailed instructions about how to find it) so we wouldn't have to get up as early on Sunday to go hiking. We left at 5:30 on Saturday and had a nice drive on windy narrow roads. Luckily Meritxell enjoys this kind of driving since it is necessary in order to get anywhere good to hike here. The refugi was really neat and I don't know if there is anything equivalent to it in the US...not anything that I know of. Margalef is a small village...kind of like Matajudaica, maybe a bit bigger though. The refugi is a bit like a bed and breakfast. A large house with rooms to rent out. But the owners cook every meal for you...or at least the ones you want. So we had dinner Saturday night, breakfast sunday, and stayed for one night for 40€ each, a very good deal, especially considering the portions. Meritxell and I were so full we had to go for a walk after dinner. I was absolutely exhausted though because I hadn't slept much the night before. Just before leaving for our walk we had been sitting on the couch having tea and coffee (well I was having hot water of course) and I was falling asleep. We didn't get to bed until 12:30 but we weren't getting up till 8, so it wasn't too bad.
This weekend's hike was more work than last week because it was up the side of a mountain and there were very few switchbacks. Unfortunately I forgot to charge my camera and it was completely dead, so I have no pictures. But it was a wonderful hike and there were actually a lot of people. Meritxell and Sergio were actually working for a small company and were guides, so there were 16 of us total hiking. They plan to offer hikes in English and German next year, but this one was in Catalàn. Here is Meritxell and Sergio's webpage about the hikes they want to offer: http://www.excursions.cat/ it is only in Catalàn right now, but they are working in getting it in english and german.
In other exciting news I am going to be cooking for the family every night and I am very excited. So I made a menu for october so Glòria woulnd't have to think about it...because it is just too much right now...and when you have all the rules and different limitations to follow about when you can eat what...it isn't that easy to figure out what to have for dinner. So I finished the menu last night and hopefully now that we know what we are going to eat I can go to the market just once a week instead of everyday.
Luckily I have caught up to the present because there is more than enough for now and it may well be the longest entry I have ever written. Hasta luego!