Friday, March 27

On Friday, I tried taking the kids back to the Plaza de Alfalfa to play at lunch only to find that the playground was surrounded by temporary wooden walls as the ciy prepares for Semana Santa. Semana Santa is a HUGE deal in Sevilla and throughout Spain.  It feels as if the entire city is preparing for a huge party.  The sidewalks have been washed (most dog poop is now gone) and the streets have been cleaned.  Some graffiti has been cleaned.  And now the barricades and stands and chairs are being put into place.  Plus, the city is being inundated with people.  It's quite festive already, and the processions don't even start until Sunday.

After lunch on Friday, Scott was able to join me for another date.  Work is starting to ramp up, so Scott was taking advantage of his time working from home to do more exploring with just the two of us.  The exploring started with dropping off my 2nd phone at the phone store where we bought it as I was still experiencing phone problems.  This made trip #4 for me to the phone store in 8 days.  I had to leave it for 24 hours for the staff to figure out what was wrong with it.  Thank goodness for the phone warranty.  Both Scott and I are getting our use of it.

From there, Scott and I wanted to just meander.  Here's a view from a main street showing the barricades and chairs ready to be set up.  Earlier in the day this section had been closed to traffic.  

In our wanderings on some of the pedestiran-only streets, we stumbled upon "Taste of America".  Of course we went in to check it out and found that Fruit Loops cost 9 euros (~$9.80).  Ouch!  Other items were similarly expensive.  Luckily if we need our American items fix, Scott can just pop into the store on the air base.  

Notice the royal red and gold banners along many of the balconies. We're seeing these throughout the city and we imagine they're up to show where people plan to view the Semana Santa processionals from their balconies.

More banners

Interesting wall decor - some sort of skinned fish or ray

We stopped for a drink and here's a view from our outdoor patio looking down the street.  There were ~7 restaurants that we could see from our seats plus all the vibrant buildind colors.  It was lovely.  The service was not.  We seem to either get great service or very slow service.  

Here's a view from our table looking the other direction up the street.

Another street, another cafe.

Another beautiful church

Check out the huge snake ring of churros outside this cafe.

 After our date, we met the kids at school and Scott took the boys home.  He had some more work to do, and then they went on a date to the train station and the McDonald's there while I accompanied Rosa to her first Spanish birthday party.

I wish I'd had my phone to take pictures of the party.  The party was for a classmate and she had invited all of the girls in the class (9 total including the birthday girl).  The birthday girl is a twin and her brother is in another class.  He'd also invited a number of friends.  And another 2nd grade boy also had a birthday that day.  So, it made for a 3-person birthday party.  The party was held at a restaurant that is owned by the other birthday boy's grandparents.  And the restaurant is out by the airport.  While it's closeby, it's not walking distance.  So, the party planners had reserved a private bus to take the children to the party.  Rosa walked with 4 other classmates (including the birthday girl) the 4 or so blocks to the big bus stop where she joined the rest of the partygoers on the bus.  The other classmates did a wonderful job of including Rosa and trying to speak some English with her.

Once at the party, there was a bounce area set up to provide 4 walls for a soccer area on the inside.  It was primarily the boys who played soccer (futbol) the whole time.  There was even a referee hired for the party to help with the games.  The girls bounced around on the edges of the bounce house, played hide and seek, played a game with boas, played catch, etc.  And then there were loads and loads of parents and grandparents and siblings.  As the party went on, the numbers kept on increasing.  Meanwhile, food after food after food was set out.  The first food included various donuts and muffins and flavored milk drinks and water.  Then the pizza came out.  And that was followed by another sweets course.  This was all before the 3 birthday cakes plus additional pastry cakes were passed out.  There seemed to be a ladies table and a mens table where people ate and drank coffee or water and just hung out.  The ladies were very welcoming to me.  And while I can understand more and more, I understand 1-on-1.  I can't yet follow conversations with multiple people in a loud setting.  Still, it was nice to sit and snack.  Oh yes, this was just merienda (afternoon snack) food.  This wasn't dinner.

Scott and the boys met us around 8 and we headed back to town.  We parked the car in the garage (level -1) and went straight out to dinner from there.  We figured that if we stopped in the apartment that we'd never get the kids to stay out late.

We found a restaurant, Taberna El Panduro, just a few blocks away on Calle Baños.  For me it was the best food, by far, that I've had since I've been here.

Here's what the menu looked like - a chalkboard with options.  This is in English, though still hard for us to know what to expect.  We ordered 4 or 5 items and were thrilled with our selections.

While we didn't think that any Semana Santa processionals started until Sunday, while we were at dinner, a small processional went by.  

Here ar e a nuber of people in the processional holding candles.  This processional didn't have a "paso" (float).  

The kids were all falling asleep in the restaurant.  We got home around 11pm and they all (and I) crashed.

For our McT community

As you all probably know, we absolutely love the kids' puclib school in Denver, McKinley-Thatcher Elementary (McT).  The school is very small with just one class per grade and has both a 3yo and 4yo pre-school (ECE) and then grades Kindergarten - 5th.  That equates to about 200 students.

Here, the kids are enrolled in what we hear is the best school in Sevilla, Colegio San Francisco de Paula.  We chose it because:

• we wanted the children to be in a bilingual school (so they'd be surrounded by English half the day as they learn Spanish like the little sponges they are), 
• private school was the way to get the bilingual education, 
• we heard from multiple independent resources that it was an excellent school, and
• we first inquired with them if they had space and they did.

While we are extraordinarily happy with the school and we expected a lot of differences, perhaps the biggest difference is the size.  The school has preschool (called Infantil) all the way up to 12th grade.  And, there are 3-4 classes per grade.  The class size seems to be about 25 students.  Thus, there are well over 1,000 students.

Here's a video of student pickup in the Infantil area.  This is nothing noise-wise and craziness-wise compared to the pickup in the elementary school (Primaria) area.  Will try and capture a video of that one day.

Thursday, March 26

Thursday was another typical weekday.  I did actually pack a picnic lunch for the kids and I, but it still wasn't enough food (and we needed a bathroom), so we popped into a cafe for more food and the facilities.

And, we had our picnic lunch at Alfafa Plaza.  There's a nice playground there and we met our American friends to play.  All 5 kids played beautifully together.

Jennie has been learning so many things from her amazing landlord including the fact that there are restaurants that deliver in Sevilla.   Also, she's having her girls try a flamenco dance class next week and she invited Rosa along.  It's spring break (Holy Week/Semana Santa) and the kids are off of school all week.  And Scott will be off Thursday and Friday as he's now observing the Spanish holidays (rather than the American ones) while he's onsite for the project.

She found out about the classes through the Website Not Just A Tourist.  I look forward to looking at more of what it has to share.

I contacted them and the Website Karen D. shared from her trip to Sevilla, Sevilla Walking Tours, as I'm interested in learning more about the architecture that surrounds me.  In fact, on Thursday as I was meandering, I came upon 3 ancient Roman columns.  My camera battery was out so I don't have pictures yet to share.  Anyway, I want to learn more and so I've contacted both companies to find out if there's a walking architecture tour of the city.

Here's a picture I do have.  I don't remember which restaurant it was taken in.  But, it's a typical view from the inside of a restuarant showing the tile floors, bar-height tables and stools, and some various colors.  Outside you can see bars on the windows and a speed limit sign (the red circle with a number on the inside).  

Here's a picture of a bike shop near our apartment.  Notice the half of a bike hanging outside in the upper-right-hand corner.

After dropping off the kids at school after lunch, I stopped in the basement of El Corte Ingles for groceries.  I had a big list, but just bought what I thought I could carry home in my new backpack and with the one reusable grocery bag I had.  I bought most of what we needed.

School pickup took about 40 minutes.  Rosa told me that she needed to buy 2 books to read (and do exercises in).  I learned that the books were for sale in the school courtyard.  We headed there and asked which books her class needed, but they weren't sure.  We saw the mom of one of Rosa's classmates (she also works at the school) and we waited to talk with her to find out what Rosa needs.  She directed us to the school papeleria.  There, not only did we find the 2 books that Rosa needs, but also her other school books have arrived.  I didn't have enough money to pay for them, but they let Rosa take them home knowing that I'd be back the next day to pay.  It's wonderful the trust and the help.

On our walk home, the kids fought the whole way about who got to hold my hands.  Usually the boys sneak and Rosa is starting to get jealous.  And this is now becoming a constant complaint which usually ends up with the child who's not holding my hands stopping, cowering in a doorway, and often crying and sulking.  We all wish I was an octopus, or at least a tri-pus with 3 hands to hold all 3 kids' hands at the same time.

Scott had dinner waiting for us when we got home, then it was shower time for the boys, homework time for Rosa, and we finished watching the movie "The Nut Job".

Wednesday, March 25

On Wednesday I got the kids fed and ready for school (since Scott had to be at the base at 8am) and walked them to school.  At dropoff I met an English-speaking mom at the boys' dropoff door. She's originally from Holland, had recently lived in Darwin, Australia, and she's now happily in Sevilla. She said that her 4yo daughter picked up speaking Spanish after about 3 months.  We're hoping our kids do the same.  All 5 of us seem to be learning more everyday.  In the meantime, I'm finding the school to be incredibly international with tons of English-speaking people.  It's certainly helping with our adjustment.  I left the school and found this happening at the corner.

This is the corner from which we usually approach the kids' school.  There's a pharmacy there.  We've noticed that a number of pharmacies around the city have the green and/or red fluourescent plus sign showing where they are.  It's a differen green plus than those seen throughout Denver nowadays.
Notice the red armchair with rope tied securely around it.  More to come as you scroll down...

Notice the men with wheelbarrows.  They're working on the street, unrelated to the chair movement.

And here's a view of what's happening with the chair.  Parents - remind you of Amsterdam?  There's someone on the 4th floor (called the 3rd floor here as the main floor is floor 0 or Planta Baja).  He's hanging out of his window and helping to pull the chair up to his apartment.  Meanwhile, the workers with the wheelbarrows do their thing, these ladies are strolling doing their thing, and a parent is pushing a stroller along the street.  And that's all on one tiny street corner.
This city is amazing with all of the activity.

After enjoying this, I headed home, grabbed my gym bag, and headed to the gym for muay thai.  I clocked the walk and the gym is 1.25 miles away from the apartment.  After the workout, I showered at the gym and then walked the 10 or so minutes to the kids' school to meet them for lunch.  It was Devon's day to choose where to go and he chose a new place that's around the corner from the school called Tapa Olé.  We all really enjoyed it there.  It's an all you can eat tapas restaurant, but rather than there being a physical buffet, you keep on ordering food from the waiter and the kitchen prepares it for you fresh.  As we try to learn about the various food options here in Spain, it was a great way to try different foods and order more of the ones we liked (the kids loved the mini hamburgers) and not feel obliged to eat the ones we don't like just to make sure we ate enough.  Plus, the meal came with a drink (the kids all had Fanta soda, probably the 2nd soda they've ever had in their lives), and a token which the kids used on the candy/toy machines at the front of the restaurant.

We've been eating out more this week, and it's been wonderful.  Often I'm out an about in the morning, and I don't pack lunches before leaving for multiple hours before lunch.  With food being inexpensive here and us wanting to try out different restaurants and places, I'm finding this justifiable.  In fact, Scott's a bit jealous as he's busy working while we're trying out new lunch time restaurants.
.

So, instead of a typical night of snuggling up on the couch (see Rosa and Scott above), or helping Rosa with her homework, or cycling the kids through showers and ready, we chose to go out to dinner.

On the way, just across the street from the school we saw a travel agent.  They're all over central Sevilla, though I couldn't tell you where a single one was in Denver.  Among other things, this agency advertised that they sold train tickets.

Earlier in the day Scott had unsuccessfully tried buying our train tickets to Barcelona.  We plan to go there at the end of April/early May over the long labor day weekend.  Our plans are to go there by train (a 5-hour ride) and return by plane.  We think that Scott's credit card didn't work online when we tried to buy train tickets since it's an American card.  He'd tried calling to make reservations, but whoever was going to help was charging an exorbitant service charge.  The plan was to stop by the train station and make the reservations in person, but we realized we didn't need to do that with the travel agent so close by.  It took half an hour (slow computers), but we now have our tickets to Barcelona.  We're looking forward to seeing the city and seeing my dear exchange student friend Silvia, meeting her boyfriend, and seeing her parents again.  And we'll return to Sevilla with a day or two to spare before my parents arrive for a visit here.

Scott chose a restaurant (Spala) nearby the school and travel agent.  There are literally a dozen + to choose from in that area.  While it was merienda time (afternoon snack time at 5:30pm) we were your typical American tourists looking for dinner.  Luckily the kitchen was open because we ate a ton.  The menu was in Spanish, English, and French, but even more helpful, the menu had pictures.  Devon chose steak and ate the whole thing.  Rosa and Cody each had pasta dishes, Scott had grilled chicken, and I had a salad.  While there we kept on seeing people getting the same merienda at their tables.  It's what we've seen advertised all around town:  churros and chocolate.

Here's a view of our churros plate with most of them eaten.  In fact, this might have been our second serving.  Our waitress was wonderful and gave us this plate for free, along with a free appetizer. And when she served it, she sprinkled the sugar packet on it to show us the way the locals eat it.  She said that this is a very typical snack in Sevilla.

Cody holding a churro.

Here's Cody enjoying a churro after having dipped it in the thick chocolate (in the mug in front of him).  

Devon's face was so covered in chocolate that the waitress wiped him down.  It was adorable.

I loved being able to eat out.

We got home close to 8 which is when we try to get the kids down for bed.  Even after the large quantities of food consumed all day, the kids still wanted more to eat.

Food market in the Metropol Parasol

While we've used the Metropol Parasol as a landmark loads of times now, we finally ventured inside and were stunned to find a vibrant fruit, vegetable, meat, and fish market.

This is a view of the Metropol Parasol from the outside.

Here's a meat stand that was being set up at 9am.

Another fruit and vegetable stand

Another meat stand

A fish stand

A bread stand

This meat stand deserves special attention.  When we walked by it the first time Rosa innocently asked, "Mama, why are there bunnies there?".  I didn't know what she was talking about.  So she had me look closer at the center part.  I've purposefully left it undistinguishable in the picture.  But, in person, I can share that there were 2 whole bunnies (fur, ears, eyeballs, and all) hanging and then another 20-30 bunnies lying down (dead, of course) and ready for purchase.  Not only have we not shared too much about where meat comes from (animals, that is), but Rosa's favorite animal is bunny.  I had to share with her that rabbit is a delicacy in France (at least I think it is) and that it must be here as well.  Rosa digested this info and then went on to tell me that when she grows up she's going to get as many bunnies as possible (the live ones) and sneak them out of the country so that they're not killed and eaten.  That's my girl!!!!!

Check out the benches and bull's head at this meat stand.

Tuesday, March 24

Scott had visited the base store yesterday and brought home a number of American goodies.  The kids were happy to wake up to have them for breakfast.

Prior to all of us getting up, Devon had woken up and snuggled with us for a few minutes.

Scott walked 3 happy kids to school.

Then we tried to transfer money online from our US bank to our Spanish bank to pay for school and rent next month.  We're still in the process of trying to make that all go through.  Luckily we have a Plan B.  Hopefully we won't have to use it.

I had the chance to meet some of the ladies in the American Women's Club of Seville this morning. Thank you Shannon W. for having me find them.  They've been helpful in the states and I had been looking forward to meeting them.  Today's event was at one of the women's apartments.  She lives just across the canal in the Triana neighborhood that we had visited on Sunday.  She was hosting the club's monthly CAMEO (Come And Meet Each Other) event and fundraiser.  I met a lot of lovely women, mostly retirees or semi-retirees.  One was so gracious that she invited me along on an outing that she and some other ladies are doing tomorrow.  Unfortunately it's an all day outing and I need to be around to pick up the kids for lunch.

As I tried to leave the building, I realized that the door was locked from both the inside and the outside.  In our building there's a button to push, that's near the door, and it unlocks the door.  I kept on looking for a similar button in this building and pushed on the 2 closest to the door hoping that I wasn't buzzing someone's apartment.  No luck.  I started thinking that I was going to spend all day there.  And then I looked farther away from the door and finally found the button I needed.  

From there I picked up the kids at school and it was Cody's turn to pick a place to eat.  He chose a take away sandwich shop.  What he really wanted me to do is get a cover for my new and semi-working phone.  After we ate lunch, we went across the street to the Chinese market we were told sold loads of phone covers.  We didn't find any there that fit my phone.  But, I knew of another one a block or two away and luckily they did have a cover there.  And it's in blue, my favorite color.  Cody has already claimed this phone as his once we return to the US and I need to switch to a Verizon phone.

Scott's picking up the kids at school and I need to finish preparing dinner. 

Monday, March 23

I'm taking advantage of Scott working from home, because I'll have a lot of extra duties once Scott is full-time on-site at the base.  With that in mind, Scott walked the kids to school.

Later in the morning I walked down the street to our local Mas supermarket to buy some groceries.  While I usually don't enjoy food shopping, it was fun checking out what's for sale here.

Then I walked the 25 minutes or so to my gym and had a great workout, again.  The warmup including jumping rope, literally jumping a rope.  Erica, I bet you could pull off double-unders with it, but for me it was certainly slower than what I'm used to.  The person I was paired with for class was nice enough to not only teach me, but to do so in English.  I felt guilty not using my Spanish, but trying to learn muay thai is hard enough without adding that it's in a 2nd language.

After showering at the gym I walked to the school (10-15 minute walk).  I stopped into the papeleria to hand in the kids' photos and share Scott's and my phone numbers.  I think that all of the school paperwork is finally done.

Since I'd come straight from the gym, I didn't have lunch with me, so instead it was Rosa's turn to pick a place to go.  We went back to the place we'd had lunch at the previous week.  The kids pigged out, and I was smart enough this time to just share with them.  Plus, I finally figured out how to order a glass of tap water vs. paying for unneeded bottled water.

After lunch I dropped the kids off at school and left my big gym bag with Devon to keep in class while I ran errands.

I walked the 30 minutes back to the phone store in Las Remedias and picked up my new phone.  I had to trade up to get a working phone.  From there I walked home (40 minutes), and stopped at the Plaza de Armas grocery store to pick up fresh fish.

I got home, but the fish in the fridge, and then Scott and I walked together to the school to catch up and pick up the kids.

School pickup took a little while since more and more of the moms introduced themselves to us.  I feel as if we're being enveloped in a warm blanket with the school community.  Now that I finally have a local phone number, I've been added to the boys' class WhatsApp group.  And I received a number of welcoming messages.

Rosa did some homework when she got home, Scott and the boys played (well, Devon played and Cody asked lots of questions about plugs and phones and electronics), and I made a yummy fish dinner.  I don't cook often or well, but it was nice that the dinner turned out well.

Rosa has to make some sort of costume/outfit with pink (Rosa colored) tissue paper.  Luckily Scott helped her with that (I'm not creative) after I helped her with her math homework in Spanish.

Sunday, March 22 - Triana, Plaza de Cuba, Los Remedios, Feria grounds, Metro

The first week we were in Spain we had beautiful 70 degree sunny days.  Last week it rained or had a chance of rain sporadically throughout the days.  And as we approached the weekend, Scott and I wanted to do some exploring, but with the weather in mind.  Luckily, the rains held off for us both days and we were able to explore outdoors.  Some of our indoor options included being in the car and touring around the outlying neighborhoods, Ikea (yes Gabi, we have one of those here too - crazy, huh?), or a big hardware store similar to a Home Depot or Lowe's (Leroy Merlin).

Back to Sunday's adventures.  There's a neighborhood called Triana that's just across the canal.  It's about a 15-20 minute walk from the apartment and it has loads of restaurants and cafes overlooking the water.

We walked along the water on the western side of the canal.

Here's a view of the Torre del Oro from the other side (aka - not our side).

Scott climbed up the stone stairs and enjoyed the view to the other side, and also the view peering down at the rest of us.

Here are Devon, Rosa, and I quacking along with the ducks in the river and looking for fish.

We stopped for unch in the Plaza del Cuba.  We had a few tapas to continue to try to find new foods that we like.

From there we strolled down the pedestrian street of Calle de Asuncion.  Even with it being Sunday afternoon and not too many businesses and shops open, I still really enjoyed it.  I look forward to going back there when everything is open.

We did find some shops open including another branch of the place where we'd bought our phones on Sunday.  It turns out that my phone was a lemon.  Before realizing that, I probably spent 1.5 hours in the store with one of the workers trying to figure out why it wouldn't leave roaming state.  Eventually he recommended that I keep it there and let them spend more time trying to figure it out.

The kids were somewhat patient, but 1.5 hours is too long to wait.  Luckily, there was this playground just 2 blocks away that Scott took the kids to.

Afterwards we stopped at this bakery for an afternoon snack.  The kids had what looked and tasted a bit like French toast.  I had a pastry with spinach and pine nuts inside.

Our intention was to get to the Parque de los Principes.  On the way we saw this and we were drawn to it.  It's part of the fairgrounds for the big fair that takes place in Sevilla every April.  It's called Feria de Abril.  We've heard great things about it.  And, after seeing the fairgrounds, we're now even more excited for it.  

Finally we made it to the park.  It had a bunch of playgrounds all next to each other.  And there are beautiful trees, and pergolas, and grass, and fountains, and a dog park, etc. in the park.  We plan to go back.

From there, we hopped on the metro to get to the other side of the canal.  We did this to:

1. try it out
2. because Devon spent the entire day saying that all he wanted to do was ride a train

The train ride was just 2 short stops, but it definitely made Devon happy.

From there (Puerta de Jerez) we walked the 2km+ home.  

We tried to stop and buy some groceries for dinner, but nothing was open (Sunday afternoon).  And I wanted to get home and bring the dry laundry inside.  With all of the rain, it had been hard to keep up with getting clothes dry.  With the sunshine we had during the day, I took my chances.  It paid off.  And shortly after returning home, it did indeed start raining.

That night I had the chance to watch UVA in the NCAA tournament (too bad it was a loss).  Scott streamed it from ESPN.com on his computer and hooked up to our tv.  And we had the chance to skype with my parents, Scott's mom, and the Jackson 5.  

Saturday, March 21 - Train Station and Utrera

At last we visited a European train station.  For months, almost every night the kids have wanted us to read to them about train stations.  They've seen Union Station in Denver a couple of times, but it's not nearly as big as some of the European train stations.  And when we were getting ready to go to Spain, the boys said that the two things they wanted to see here are newstands (they're everywhere and the kids love them) and a big train station.

At 9:30am we left our apartment and drove to the train station.  It's about a 10-15 minute drive.  We parked and as we walked in, the kids' eyes grew big and their mouths opened wide in awe.  We caught the 10:17am commuter train to Utrera.

Here are the kids and I waiting for our train.  We can see it coming down the track.

Here are other people waiting for the train.

Here it is!!!!!!!

Very happy Cody and Scott on the train.

Exited Devon and Rosa on the train.  Rosa tried unsuccessfully to hide from the picture.  Devon had his eyes glued to the outdoors.

We chose to go to the town of Utrera because it's close and because it's a town we considered living in for our stay in Spain.  It'd halve Scott's commute, but there wasn't any room in the bilingual school.

We walked by this fountain on the way into the center.

The kids LOVED playing at the fountain.
Rosa slept in braids and the waves lasted a few hours into the day.

Here's a view of Utrera from one of the main plazas.  Scott's back is to a playground where the kids are playing.  There are a number of restaurants around.

beautiful architecture

A ridiculously yummy coffee.  My best yet on this trip.  Perhaps it's the chocolate flakes on top.

We're finding these vending machines tucked in on various blocks.  They advertise how if you're hungry or thirsty that they're open 24 hours.

We liked the look of these houses with their front patios.

We arrived at the train station with about 40 minutes to spare, so we treated the kids to ice cream.  Most of Cody's ended up on his face.  He seems okay with that.

All in all a very successful day.  Devon kept on telling us how much he loved the trains!  Uncle Bruce, I kept on thinking of you and I was happy to see an email from you when we got back.  Perhaps you had a 6th sense about it.

Between all of the walking and errands and ate the day before and the walking and adventure to Utrera on Saturday, we came home in the late afternoon and only Scott had the energy to go back out.  Poor Scott.  We hunkered down for the night with a kid movie (played by putting it in my laptop and connecting my laptop to the tv).  And while most of us watched the movie, Rosa enjoyed skyping with Lily and Chloe.

While Utrera is a cute town, I'm glad that we've ended up in central Sevilla.  I like being in cities, or near them, and all of the people moving and bustling around here.  And I really like our apartment location in that we're a few blocks away from the hustle and bustle, yet close enough to access it easily and quickly.