Spring Beckons but is Being Illusive While Winter is Persistent

Spring is just around the corner, right? Or for those of you in the other hemisphere, autumn is just around the corner. Here in Maryland, we are supposed to be experiencing a renewal with flowers blooming and trees leafing out and the warmth of springtime sun – where’s that been recently?!? We first of all had grey, dreary days and just within the past couple of days had snow with even more predicted! I’m hoping that the cherry blossoms are on schedule because we have a trip into Washington DC planned to view the blossoms and we’d like to have them in full bloom and not freeze while we walk around the basin.
Springtime is a traditional season of optimism, transformation and sunniness, isn’t it? It means that the fresh shoots of flowers and grass start to pop up, plus we have fat little robins running around our garden. Springtime gives us a time to get a fresh outlook on our lives and the whole world. Well, to celebrate the season of revitalization and my return to the US after Spain, one of my daughters and I have had a couple of mother/daughter spa treatment days (thanks to Groupon purchases. No advertisement intended, but I found a couple of good deals on facials and reflexology which I couldn’t pass up.) My middle daughter has found a bit of time to get away so she was more than happy to double up on the offers and join me for treatments.  Of course, lunch and a bit of shopping followed (note to our husbands – it was only window shopping!).

Our next rejuvenation adventure is a juicing and detox workshop at Whole Foods for mother (me) and both daughters. This is my early Mother’s Day present to both of them. A great way to make sure that our spring is healthy and that we are filled with energy is to prepare healthy juices. With all of the fresh new produce in the stores or at the farmers’ markets, it’s a perfect time to “spring clean” our winter diets.

I’m really looking forward to the workshop. I already know most of the more popular healthy eating tips such as not keeping any junk food in the cupboard; keeping fruits and fresh veggies handy and available for snacks; making salad (with no creamy dressings) and veggies a big part of meals; using smaller plates and drinking lots of water throughout the day but it’s always nice to have a reminder and have someone “nudge” you to remember all of these and to make them a part of a healthy lifestyle.

So while I’m spring cleaning my house, I’ll also be focusing on spring cleaning my diet. Although two days following the class, I have two weeks in Mexico with at least one cooking class planned. This is not the best way to begin – maybe both spring cleans will wait until after Cinco de Mayo!

 

 

Marvelous Madrid!

After an overnight flight, I arrived at Madrid-Barajas airport at 8am without my luggage. I then spent an hour trying to explain to the lost luggage staff that I was only in Madrid for 2 nights before going on to Gredos, while completing forms that didn’t have anywhere near all the spaces that were needed to explain my schedule and various contacts. It only had to get better but because I was given a 1-800 number to track my suitcase, which I knew wouldn’t work from outside the US; I was beginning to get skeptical.

Upon exiting arrivals, my first quest was a Spanish sim card for my phone and after being given wrong directions, part in Spanish and part very broken English, for a shop where I could purchase my Spanish sim, I went from place to place and finally managed to get my “free card” at the cost of 10 Euros. I couldn’t quite understand the clerk’s explanation in Spanish but I kind of figured that my little sim was free; it was the pre-loading of the minutes that my 10 Euros was covering.  On Saturday morning, my Spanish sim later was invaluable as I was still trying to track my bag most of the morning, only to find that it was in Heathrow airport and “might be with me before I left for Gredos on Sunday morning”.

Being free from cumbersome luggage, I decided to take the Metro into Madrid. Following the easy to identify signs, I finally found the ticket machines and entrance a full 3 terminals away. Their subway system is remarkably easy to use and very inexpensive. I only had to change lines once (underground signs are so easy to follow to connecting lines) on my way to the stop just outside my hotel. Combined with my walk through the airport and the rides on two different lines, it did take me over an hour to get to my destination but it was well worth the savings of 25 Euros.

My first priority was getting some breakfast and then to get acclimated to my immediate area of the city and again, the metro system, I spent my time wandering the best sights by foot, thanks to an incredibly good guide book. On one of my first excursions on the Metro besides my run in from the airport, I went way beyond my stop because I’d forgotten the station where I had to change but I realized my error and backtracked. I had 1 ½ days before the VaughanTown program and 4 days after the program to explore the city and I accomplished this by mostly walking.

Madrid is an amazing city of ancient buildings and the feeling everywhere I went was vibrant and exciting. My explorations took me from Plaza del Sol (where you can find the exact center of Spain) to the Plaza Major, a most magnificent plaza surrounded by cafes and shops. Next to that, I found the Mercado de San Miguel, although an elegant glass and steel market, it’s almost a hundred years old. It’s filled with streaming light focused on stalls and customers who all share various tables. It’s one of Madrid’s gastronomic hot spots -- filled with scrumptious food and drink vendors and very satisfied customers! On Saturday, it was almost impossible to make my way down the aisles so I made a point to go back on a Tuesday. It was still buzzing but I could at least walk down the aisles and see the stunning food on display (both cooked and uncooked).

On the Sunday following the VaughanTown program, I met with 2 Spanish women and another Anglo from our program for a day of exploring a huge flea market. Three of us met up at the respectful hour of 11.00am, and while waiting for the other Spaniard who was running late, we three had a rich, strong and short coffee in a typical little bar/restaurant and then we all proceeded to amble towards the market while talking the whole time. Spending a few hours walking through what was the biggest and most crowded market I’ve ever seen, we stopped at a little place that served sandwiches. There wasn’t anywhere to sit but it must be one of the most popular sandwich places at the market because the line to order snaked up the street. We then went to an antiques market and wandered through it for a while before stopping at a terrace café and sat outside to talk over drinks.

After stopping off at little local bar to purchase jamón, queso, pan and vino, my new Anglo friend and I ended up at our new Spanish friend’s flat (apartment) for a good talk, gossip and some music. It couldn’t have been a more fantastic Spanish day with good friends, good food and good wine.

My last two days were filled with more walking tours in the historic sections seeing sights such as lavish squares like the Plaza de España and a half day touring the Palacio Real, the Palace Royal, and within that, the Apothecary Museum and the Royal Armory. It had been 8 years since I’d been to the Palace Royal and it was every bit as wonderful as I’d remembered. I’m especially fascinated by the armory – some human and horse armors date back as far as the 1400’s.  They even have full-sized statues of horses to display their full armor. It’s just so incredibly impressive.

I then went back to Mercado de San Miguel for a superb tortilla (a taste offered to me in Spanish by one of the vendors – although he spoke English he was delighted with my efforts in Spanish!) and a glass of vino tinto. It couldn’t have been a more perfect final day for me.

Madrid – I fell in love with the city all over again (as well as loving all of the local Spaniards that I met) and I’ll be back! I always felt completely comfortable, not as if I was an outsider or tourist but as if I’d lived there for a while and was just exploring my own city on a day out.

 

Even the rain couldn't dampen my love for Madrid!

 

VaughnTown -- Even More Awe-inspiring As My Week Came to a Close

Meals were truly amazing events where we always sat at tables of 4, 2 Spaniards and 2 Anglos, and for each meal everyone tried to be sure to choose different Spaniards and Anglos. Each day at 9.00am we started with a vast, expansive buffet breakfast with every kind of sausage imaginable and freshly baked bread to die for. Cheese, fresh fruit, pastries and eggs were also included as well as rich strong coffee. Lunch at 2.00pm and dinner at 9.00pm always started with a salad buffet followed by 3 courses accompanied by red wine and of course lots of conversation. The truly enjoyable part of our meals was lingering for an hour and a half while conversations took place – no cell phones or TV to divert anyone’s attention.

Finishing dinner around 10.30pm, most of us headed for the bar where conversations continued on from dinner or new ones started. One evening, some of our group, mostly Spanish and some UK fans, were treated to watching a soccer match between Real Madrid and Manchester United. It was a nail biter all the way to a tie finish. A couple of the evenings we had games of our own such as word games or Trivial Pursuit. One night we all gathered in the solarium for a Queimada ceremony, narrated and mixed by Carlota. It’s a Galician witch’s brew made from Senorio de Beade – a 40 proof liquor which Carlota set on fire while 2 Spaniards and 1 Anglo played the witches parts.

On Thursday as the week was winding down, one of the requirements for the Spaniards was to give a 10 minute presentation on any topic of their choice. I’d asked various Spaniards what the topic of their presentations was and often as late as Thursday morning, they weren’t sure. My god, I’d have been in a panic all week but they were confident in their ability to speak English and do their presentation. We were divided into groups again so that Anglos could watch the presentations.  Each and every presentation was absolutely impressive and awe inspiring. Just imagine giving a 10 minute presentation in a language that you are just learning.

Thursday night ended with a party that went on to the wee hours of the morning. Many of the Spaniards, both female and male, are fantastic dancers! Not to say that the Anglos aren’t but the Spaniards seem to have a built in rhythm and smoothness and a love of life that comes through in their dancing. Friday morning everyone was on time for our last breakfast, in spite of the late hours. It was a warm spring like day so as we met our partners for one to ones, we formed a larger group and walked to a river just over a mile away.

Following our morning session, we had a closing ceremony where each of us was given a certificate saying that we’d completed 80 hours straight of English conversation. This of course, didn’t include the many hours that we’d spent in the bar after dinner, nor the few minutes that we met around the scheduling board each morning before breakfast. Each of us had to say something and it was then that I realized that this week had provided me with a missing part of my life – interacting and getting to know people from other cultures. I was overcome with emotion because each person there had become so familiar to me as if I’d known them for many years. Over the week, this group, both Spaniards and Anglos had become my temporary family. But who’s to say that the length of time that you know someone is a measurement of friendship?

My VaughnTown week was an invaluable experience I hope to repeat several times if I can. In addition to being warm, open, witty, loving life, demanding (of themselves), excited (I love their expressions and the animated use of their hands when they talk), dedicated and welcoming, I found the Spaniards to be incredibly hard working. Most of them are taking a 5 month long English class consisting of 10 hours a week in the classroom plus a minimum of 20 hours a week of homework. They all have very demanding jobs as managers or directors so this requires extra hours at their work place. And many of them have families including small children whom they want to spend as much time with as possible.  For a few, they are into their 2^nd 5-month course. That’s a long, hard year for them.

I was also impressed with the Anglos, many of whom I now consider good friends. We didn’t get to spend a lot of time together but we got to know each other very well in the short time we did have.

My VaughnTown experience was a memorable one for many reasons – the incredibly well organized program due to Mayte; the energetic vitality that Carlota provided for the skits and presentations and the wonderful accommodation and meals at Gredos. Mostly, I will never forget each member of my VaughnTown family – la familia. By the end of the week, I had the answers to my questions of the first morning. The individuals involved in the program did become my family, if only very briefly and dynamics in relationships did change over the week but only for the better. I hope to keep in contact with them and follow their progress through life.

 

My Awe-inspiring Week at VaughnTown (Part 1)

What happens when you bring together 25 people, 12 Spaniards and 13 Anglos, with different cultural backgrounds, personal and work histories and languages for an intensive week of talking to each other in a secluded environment? Will the dynamics between people change as the week progresses and they learn more about each other? Early on a Sunday morning in Madrid, these were my thoughts as I boarded a bus to Gredos with my group.


 

Our Gredos retreat

During February, through Vaughn systems, I spent a week in Gredos with Spanish professionals who are learning English in a formal classroom environment but want/need more of a “real world experience” of speaking English. My only job for the week was to talk, talk and talk! The job of the Spanish executives was to speak only English to the Anglos and to each other. Vaughn’s goal for these intensive weeks is for the Spaniards to hear different accents from the Anglos and to be able to understand them so the Anglos included participants from different parts of the UK, Scotland, Ireland, New Zealand and the US.

Mayte, our program director, arranged our schedules each day to ensure that everyone had the right amount of time with each other. Our days were filled with hour long “one to one” sessions between a Spaniard and an Anglo where we discussed almost every topic imaginable from their working days, their education, their families, foods, what sports they love, music, to travel – you name it. Because we were a small group, the Anglos had a chance to participate in at least 2 one to ones with every Spaniard. In addition to these, we practiced telephone calls and conference calls covering normal business or travel related situations. Our schedules for the day were posted on a board before breakfast each morning but often we’d get so involved with our conversations that Mayte had to remind everyone to move on to the next partner.

Of course, we didn’t have our nose to the grindstone all of the time. (Spaniards – another idiom for you) First Marisa and then Carlota made sure that we had plenty of group activities, presentations that would be given by the Spaniards, skits for an “Entertainment” hour each day, and games that were only in English. One of our first group activities, after breaking into random groups of 4, 2 Spaniards and 2 Anglos, was to take photos that depicted a list we were given of 10 very diverse things. Photos were to be judged on the most creative. My team was made up of 3 very macho men and me so the sky was the limit. (actually, in one photo we did have a suitcase falling from the sky) After the first couple of photos at the hotel, we decided to take a car into the village where we raced around getting the remaining photos for our list. Our team won but our “prize” was to form an improv group of four and come up with a skit and to act it out for the Entertainment hour the following night. Developing the skit and rehearsing existed of 2 hours of constant belly laughs and we never twice said the same lines or did the same things. 

 

Other activities included a half hour walk into the village where we split up and just wandered around the castle and shops. Because it was Carnival, not many shops were open besides a “local bean” shop, nor were the bars open. Not surprisingly, we all managed to find our way back to the one open bar. As we were having a drink, one of the Spaniards from my “photo team” brought tapas to our table. The small bits looked very appetizing but his smile was mischievous so I was skeptical. (He had been on my photo contest team so I’d learned a little about his “zest for life”.) I took a bite and then asked what it was. He told me Morro, the Spanish name for it, which didn’t mean anything to me. I asked one of the Spanish women and she pulled at her lips and told me it was pig’s lips. I’ve never spit anything out so quickly! I’m not into eating anything other than the typical parts of animals that we get in the US. I swore that I’d get even with him!

Next week, I’ll let you know how the week finished and whether or not my question of how all these different personalities mixed. Here's a view of the surrounding area as we arrived in Gredos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feliz Navidad in Costa Rica

Unlike the Costa Rican coffee that is rich, bold and bursting with flavor, our fist taste of Costa Rica was dark, bitter and strong -- fortunately, our first taste didn’t linger. Arriving mid-afternoon, we endured endless waiting lines for sim cards and car rental so were delayed setting off to our hotel. This meant that we encountered rush hour combined with Christmas shoppers at a nearby shopping complex. Through a combination of our inability to properly use the US GPS and map errors, our 19 kilometer drive to our hotel took us 2 ¼ hours. As a rule, streets in Costa Rica don’t have names, or numbers, so using the GPS is a challenge. A road that should have taken us to the hotel is now closed and we ended up at a locked fence only a few meters from the hotel but couldn’t find a way around it. We finally arrived 45 minutes later exhausted and frustrated!

Our introduction didn’t dampen our enthusiasm for going out the next day to begin our adventures so we were off early the next morning (hoping to avoid traffic) to visit a butterfly farm. Unlike in the US, there were no signs so it was difficult to find. On arriving, we had our own personal guide and since it was a gorgeous sunny morning, over a thousand butterflies were flying around the garden. We were lucky to be able to observe a rare opening of a giant moth while we were there. We also got to watch a couple of caterpillars begin their development of the chrysalis as well as others just emerging and trying to dry their wings for flight.

Later, our tour of the Britt Coffee Plantation included a wonderful buffet lunch of rice and beans along with other typical dishes before learning all of the ins and outs of growing, processing and making coffee. Our tour ended with a coffee tasting in the shop with not only coffee but also an addition of samples of chocolate covered coffee beans so it was the best of both worlds.

Other adventures included a walk through a rain forest where we spotted viper snakes (very poisonous), toucans, a sloth and a white-faced monkey as well as hundreds of plants and orchids. We then took a long aerial tram through the rain forest at two different levels – mid-way to the top and top of the trees. We also visited a botanical orchid garden with hundreds of varieties of plants and a tropical bird reserve. There were long drives up mountains on twisting, winding roads in thick, dense clouds where you couldn’t see anything beyond a few feet in front of you, other times it was clear and you could see coffee plantations planted right up against the road. We also stumbled upon a microbrewery/pub, supposedly the first one in Costa Rica. Of course we had to stop and taste their product – yummy!

Christmas Eve was spent in an Italian restaurant with the most fabulous food and wine ever! I know, not local, but it was the only one open. Fortunately, it was also one of the best in San Jose. Christmas day was quiet and then our last day was spent at another coffee plantation with a totally different process than the first one. We had another coffee tasting – tough life! Did you know that Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts as well as other well-known coffee places purchase the beans from Costa Rica and roast them in the US?

My mornings (every morning) started with the famous Costa Rican Gallo Pinto (translated as spotted rooster) – a dish of rice and beans. This is a staple in Costa Rica and I could absolutely live on it! Rice and beans is quite common for any meal and I could have had it 3 times a day, although I didn’t. I didn’t manage to get the recipe while there but now have 5 recipes that I’m going to experiment with. I’m hoping to recreate the wonderful breakfast experience of actually being in Costa Rica.

Cost Rica is a breathtakingly beautiful country filled with wonderfully warm, welcoming and pleasant people. If you haven’t visited, I’d highly recommend it!

 

 

 

Exploring Mayan Sites in the Yucatan

Our sightseeing trip to Mexico ended on a magnificent (Mayan) high although we did get off to a bit of a shaky start in our second week.  We normally hire a car and do our own thing, but this trip we decided to try to get by with only local transport. And we wanted to book guided tours to visit the archeological sites at Coba and Tulum, both of which we’d visited before but on our own with information from history books as guides. Apart from hiring guides in countries where language is a problem, this isn’t something that we typically do. This trip we wanted to get more Mayan history and culture.
                                                                                                                   
Our shaky start was our tour to Coba and Tulum. Have you ever had one of those days where you felt as if you were living in the Groundhog Day movie? This tour turned out to be that kind of day. Our "ground hog day" experience was the constant long and often repeated explanations about the history while not seeing anything for hours.  Steve and I had explored Coba in 1 ½ hours before so we couldn’t believe that we spent over three hours there (mostly just listening to the guide talk).  We were dropped at a very bad roadside restaurant, where nothing was Mayan or even Mexican, and it was 2.30p.m. Since we’d met at 7.00a.m., it had been 7 ½ hours with no snacks or water provided and we were all starving. At this point we all agreed that some food was better than no food. Tulum, my main reason for booking the tour, was totally disappointing. With less than an hour in fading light when a minimum of three hours is needed for exploring all of these fascinating ruins, we had to listen to the guide for 40 minutes and then we were told the site was closed. Our final straw came when the guide insisted on dropping us off at a nearby beach before traveling back. It was totally dark so the only thing to see was the well-lit bar! After the kind of day we’d had, we needed that drink! Arriving back at our resort at 8.00pm-13 hours after we’d met that morning, we were exhausted from the frustration of wasting so much time with so little time devoted to seeing ruins and the constant repeating of the history. Highlight of our day? - meeting three lovely ladies who told us about their trip to the Ek’ Balam, ruins found as recently as 1997. Their high praise of the site and tour guide convinced us to book another trip.

The day before we left Mexico dawned bright and the temperature was very pleasant, so we headed out with some trepidation for another day-long tour. But this one proved to be the pinnacle of our two-week visit. The bus was on time, our tour guide, Sergio, is an anthropologist whose father is an archeologist and they’ve worked together on many sites. He’s half Mayan and half Spanish and an incredible font of historical knowledge. He also speaks 4 languages so I’m incredibly envious.

 

Although Ek’Balam has only recently been discovered and therefore not many of the buildings have been reconstructed, it’s well worth the trip and a treat that shouldn’t be missed. Much is still to be done on the site but my highlight was the almost vertical pyramid that Steve and I climbed. Well, I made it half way to the top where I got to take in a doorway to a temple that is made in the shape of a jaguar’s mouth – including the fangs all around it. I only did half-way because coming down was a scary nightmare and heights aren’t exactly my thing! Steve climbed the entire pyramid.

We had the perfect amount of time to explore these amazing ruins of Mayan architecture and walk along the wall and peek into the very small rooms at the base of the pyramid. Then we were off to visit a real Mayan village where they prepared a typical meal for us of a pork dish, rice, beans and corn tortillas made by hand. Following that, we toured a couple of the Mayan homes. Most of them have no electricity, no TV, no indoor bathrooms, none of the modern luxuries that we have here at home. And the homes were probably smaller than your living rooms. Made us feel really blessed that we have as much as we do!

Muchas gracias for tuning in to read my blog and stay tuned for our adventures in Costa Rica in December. In the mean time we had not one but three Thanksgiving dinners so we are trying to recover and gear up for a busy end to 2012!

Learning Español From a Beautiful Local in a Beautiful Location!

For a short time during our afternoons in Mexico, we met with Marcela by the pool for our Spanish classes and throughout the two weeks we were the only ones who seemed to want to learn, or at least brush up on the language. Marcela, young, beautiful and bubbly (and who had eyelashes to die for) was so good to adapt the “lessons” so to give us words and phrases that we could use in normal everyday life. Although we were only supposed to have classes for thirty minutes two days a week, she met with us nearly every day and extended our 30 minutes to an hour. Quite often the other pool staff -- Paco, Orlando and Jessica broke into our lessons and would off the cuff ask us questions in Spanish as a little test. On one of our first days, one of them asked me “Como esta el bano”. I had no idea where the bathroom was but told him in my best Spanish to take a right and continue on straight. I was using the little Spanish that I already knew and guessed that the bathrooms were at least in that vicinity. (Actually, I learned that this was pretty close to where they were located.)

Many of you may remember language classes in school and think that the proper way to learn a language is to spend hours conjugating verbs but Marcela taught us words and phrases that we could immediately use. And, since we used them daily; they were easier to remember. At our age, we need all the help we can get! We also picked up some of the local slang thanks to Marcela. Our lessons were meant to be fun and not what is called a “proper way” to learn a language but it worked for us. We used what we’d learned as often as we could and I know the staff had a good laugh at our “gringo attempts” during our stay but it was fun and we enjoyed it immensely!

Whenever we travel abroad, Steve and I try to get into the culture of a country because we believe that you can’t really get to know a country without knowing the history and at least a little bit of the native language. We’re now trying to absorb Spanish through online courses. Our poolside lessons were an extremely helpful re-enforcement and learning the local words and slang helped too. Our current on-line lessons are Scottish formulated so the Spanish is “Spain oriented” – not the Mexican Spanish that we need for our current trips. But I love my on-line lessons because I get my very much-missed Scottish accents from the instructor and student during the lessons so I have the best of both worlds! Our lessons with Marcela were exceptionally fun and entertaining and since we were able to immediately use the (local) Spanish to get us around plus order food, we were feeling comfortable in every day situations.

This blog is dedicated to Marcela and her pool colleagues. We had the most wonderful time learning from her and are continuing on as best we can. When we meet up next time, I promise that we’ll be more proficient in Spanish!

My next blog will be about our final Mayan low-lights and high-lights. We had one really horrible tour and one incredibly fascinating tour complete with a traditional Mayan meal and tour of a Mayan home. Thanks for bearing with me during this Mexican part of our travels.