pooper scooper day

My friends asked the local government of the town where they live, how a group of visiting Americans could help out. The answer: pooper scoopers & instructions on the environmental dangers of letting your dog "do his thing" just anywhere. So, with a group of several Americans doing a cultural exchange. We even got an official T-shirt! :-)

Thankfully my friend Jose was also there to help us explain things better in Spanish to the citizens we approached along the road and near the park. A side benefit of getting to know the locals-- Christy got to try out a jack hammer!

granada & belgian friends

What happens when, as you're checking out an overlook for the Alhambra at night, you stumble upon 3 guys taking a last "fling" trip after high school graduation? A serendipitous chance to make new friends from Belgium! These guys are from Flanders, so speak Dutch, English, German & French... and were totally informative and kind. I got some hints about night photography from Vincent, & we invited them to come along with us, to see a "free" flamenco show (they asked for donations afterwards) at a restaurant.

serendipity!

So... I was hanging out in the city one evening with my friend Jose Maria (on left) when we ran into Carlos hanging out in Starbucks (actually, believe it or not he was studying!). And then about 90 minutes later, we ran into him again on the pedestrian zone!! So we all went together to try out the food at the Latin American festival!

fans

I recently got to become a "fan" of some music from the state of Andalucia which is marvelous. And these lovely fans are not just for show-- it is really HOT here. And women still do use them. You could see such movement in the stands as Yasmin, Rosa & I watched an awesome concert (modern flamenco, by 3 bands including Pitingo and Chambao). Yes, people were dancing some, but I mean the movement of the FANS-- women fanning themselves in the extreme 90- 100- degree heat!

where is Christ?

One plaza in our downtown was filled recently around midnight-- with the arrival of a huge statue of Mary. One day you have to experience what the Church is like in Europe... this was the night before Corpus Christi day (which was my birthday). First of all the picture below is of a playground around midnight-- yes, with mothers on the side area & kids playing!! Yes, in Spain (and with the heat here) life runs much later!The photo above shows grapes & sheaves of wheat put in front of the altar. Downtown there were many altars set up for this occasion, but I'm afraid I did not see much celebrating either Christ, or his present Body, those who know him personally. But I saw the Virgin Mary, & angels, and a tiny replica of the Giralda tower of the cathedral (see below-- which used to a be huge mosque). I saw about 5 different statues/ altars in my walk around town that night.

Birthday balloons-- BLESSED!

Loved my birthday barbecue!! Thanks to all my fun friends for making it a very, very special and relaxing day! Sean did a fantastic job of making hamburgers-- in 90- something degree heat! And what fun "kids" ... including Carlos & Fran below with the blue balloon!! Yasmin made a delicious chocolate cake-- and my mom sent the mix with Bruce when he came to Germany in May to speak (but the icing was home made!).

Actually my birthday sort of started the day before... with walking around town with Yasmin a bit, where we took a photo beside a series of photographs about African women, in the main pedestrian street, Avenida de la Constitucion.

anti- stress kits

Many of our friends are having final exams now in the university-- so we decided to deliver a few 'anti- stress kits' to them, filled with a few chocolate chip cookies, a highlighter pen, a candle and a verse. Laura was our amazing baker (in 80 -something degree heat, with no A/C). Yas and I jumped in the car the next day, taking them to campus or the apartment of a friend.

double birthday cakes

Above are Dani, Agueda and Fran. Our friend and former Connexxion staffer Inga began something in January called "CookIng-a" (also referred to now as "Just Cook") which is a sort of shared cooking class in our apartment every week or so. We take turns --different ones of us share a favorite recipe & teach the rest to make it. We did an unusual one this week, to bake 2 birthday cakes for our good friend Dani (Daniel)!

Here are new friends Han -Seon (from Korea) & Laura, and Yasmin, my super roommate. Since the kitchen is too small for 7 people and TWO projects simultaneously-- we spread out- into the living room! Good thing we have Spanish tile floors-- ha! Oh-- we made coconut cake & carrot cake-- it was Dani's 1st time to try these flavors & they were his request, from a list we gave.

first gazpacho

Gazpacho is a traditional, cold tomato soup -- I just found out a week ago, when our fun friend Rosa came over to make it, that it's not cooked. You use raw ingredients, puree them together, and eat it from a bowl or glass. It was so fun to help make it for the first time!! Tomatoes, bread, green peppers (a thinner variety), raw garlic, olive oil, vinegar, & cucumbers...

If you don't know WHY they eat a cold soup in Spain, imagine hot, dry days of temperatures in the 80's and above--!!

first barbecue, but not the last

Yes, I splurged (about 4 Euro) on a baby pool to cool our feet on the balcony (anyone ready for a swim? -- it's still here!)! And to go along with our "beach" theme for the barbecue!
What's Spain without a traditional "Sevillanas" dance done by a couple of friends!?
Silvia, Encarni (left side), Carmen & Mary Alice (rt.) -- the best part about a group meal is the fun & fellowship!
Sergio (from the Canary Islands of Spain) is here with Mary Alice and Johnny (from Costa Rica). Mary Alice started all the English Clubs that I continued when I moved to Sevilla.

Here on our balcony-- Johnny and Laura (visiting here from the USA a couple of weeks to help out; former exchange student) were 2 of several people tending the barbecue grill, which we had just bought that day for 11.99 Euro. Somehow we started this deal without having a specialty person (Grillmeister) to do the whole b-b-cuing thing! ah--oh. In the distance you see the Univ. of Sevilla campus (architecture buildings).

"Blanco y negro" night

Above are Agueda & my roomie Yasmin-- Agueda speaks German which was fun for me to try out again with a Spaniard. Below Dani and I are showing off our theme "look." Never at a loss for party ideas, we had a "black and white" party with foods, clothing and decorations keeping the theme (along with slow jazz music and songs from the 40's!). Yasmin took favorite pics and printed them out in black and white (the Spanish term for that is opposite: "blanco y negro"). We played a game of charades with movies, where the partners had to be silent (reminiscent of the silent films... but using modern- day movies). Guess which movie is portrayed by Carmen & Abby here?

semana santa

Holy Week before Easter is celebrated with no greater pomp and passion than in Sevilla. It's called "semana santa" and is accompanied by about 50 parades of large statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary ... sometimes of 1,000 people (for ONE parade) marching through the streets of Sevilla

...who are all members of a society called an "hermandad." They do sort of a penance pilgrimage to the Cathedral from their home church, and back again. Sometimes the participants march for up to 6 or even 12 hours straight. The "Nazarenos" wear a hood, so that you cannot see who is in the parade, to maintain the anonymity in their dedication & repentance.

Flamenco party

Inga & Carlos are looking very dramatic? And aren't Carmen & Yasmin getting into the mood with those decorated fans??! ( Did you know that women really use them nowadays, in the heat of the summer?) This region of Spain is known for flamenco dancing and a famous festival every April in the city-- a fair lasting all week where women dress in flamenco dresses and people dance a famous style of dance called "sevillanas." And guess who is in that flamenco dress of green & red on the left??

So, using that theme, we hosted a Connexxion party at our apartment in late April. Inga did an excellent job helping get the living room looking like the inside of a fair tent!

Retreat in Germany

We had an awesome time in Germany in early May, with 34 attending our Connexxion retreat for students...

 and then followed that event with another retreat for our 9 staff & interns directly after it (see left-- Vincent, Vera, Birthe, Cheryl, Anja, Anja K.; bottom row: me, Yasmin, Thomas with baby Immanuel) ... I then spent some extra days, too, in Braunschweig in the north, in my old "stompin' grounds."

Bruce, my brother, came to speak, too and shared wonderful messages!

how the day starts in spain

What could be more typical in Spain, to start the day, than friends & café con leche? It is often served hot in a glass (not a mug). Coffee with milk, half and half doses. And believe you me, mine is always ordered with MORE milk, which is called a "manchado" (= "stained"). And on the other side of café con leche is coffee with just a touch of milk (they order a "cortado" meaning "cut"). Or you can drink full-blown espresso, black (be my guest!). 

Inga & Yasmin & I recently had morning coffee with a good friend José María, & his high school buddy Germán (on left).

birthday parties

Last week Inga had a birthday on Friday; and our friend Francisco had his on Thursday-- so they threw a party together at Inga's apartment! 

It was fun to celebrate with them, with various friends coming & going during the evening (Yasmin & I made pasta salad together, and Yas made brownies & a cake!). 

Under the long tablecloth is a space heater (electric), which is a typical method in Spain to heat your feet, even though the room may be chilly.

The next day we took Inga for a surprise picnic at the beach! Unfortunately it got a bit cold.