A Day off School

On January 22, the city of Valencia celebrates the festival of San Vicente Mártir, Patron Saint of Valencia. I guess it is similar to Casimir Pulaski Day in Chicago -a local holiday that not many people know much about.

Bottom line ... it was a day off school for the kids.

Our friend, Julia invited us to spend the day at Livia's school outside the city of Valencia and, therefore, did not have the day off. La Nostra Escola Comarcal is a semi-private school, which means that it receives some (but not all) funding from the government. Families pay the rest.

Elena asked us "Why are we going to school on our day off?" Hmm. We told her it would be an adventure, which translates to "We really have no idea what is going to happen." Julia is very proud of the school and thought it was a perfect day to see the school in action. We trust her judgment.

10 am Julia and Juan picked us up.
The school is out in the country ... surrounded by farms and orange groves and lined with irrigation ditches. There isn't a train stop within walking distance.

11 am Arrived at La Nostra Escola Comarcal.
We were treated to morning snack - a sandwich with potato tortilla & fruit. Julia and Juan introduced us to a few of our hosts ... Vicen Chisvert, secondary Social Science teacher and Héctor Tronchoni Albert, English teacher (and author).

11:30 Classes
Yana, Maria, Elena and Bronson went with Livia to see the school grounds and then went to classes.


Matthew and I got a tour of the school. There are recycling bins throughout the school - for paper, plastics and metal, and organic waste. Recycling is very important. Numerous art projects are made from recycled materials. This year, their (two-story) Christmas tree was made from boxes and last year, from empty toilet paper rolls. We were inspired! The students learn to live in the world and with the world.

We went to see the preschool and primary school classes. The classes are taught in Valenciano - the local language of Valencia. The children also speak Castilian (what we call Spanish in the US).

The students are beginning to learn English at 3 years old! We helped them practice their "Hello. My name is ..." and "How are you?" One little girl asked us how old we were. I told her that I was 20 and Matthew was 100. She didn't believe me. I'm glad she didn't ask me how much I weighed.
I was able to read one of my favorite children's book to one of the classes. Just in case they did not understand some of the words, I supplemented the story with exaggerated expressions, sound effects, and hand gestures. (Thanks, Oma!)

2 pm Lunch (Comida)
The mid-day meal is the largest meal in Spain - even at school. We had fresh salad, bread, fish, chicken, potatoes, eggplant, beans, and a dessert of yogurt or fruit. Then, we had to separate our waste (organic, paper, etc) and rinse our dishes. Yana accidentally threw her yogurt container into the organic waste bin. Another student dug it out and put it with the plastics.


After lunch, we went to see the school grounds ... with sport courts, a wooded area, and large gardens where students grow vegetables. I didn't ask but I assume that their organic waste is composted. There are a few sheep in the preschool playground (which are periodically rotated by a local farmer). They also have rabbits and a few classroom pets.

3 pm Class with the 9th and 10th graders (3rd and 4th ESO).
We talked with the high school students and answered questions about the US, disaster relief, gun control, politics, and religion!! WOW! We were also asked to clarify "The American Dream." The nice thing is that the American Dream can be different for everyone and not everyone dreams of playing basketball with the Chicago Bulls or football with the Green Bay Packers. Contrary to some perceptions, not everyone's dream comes true in the US.

5 pm Classes are over.
We went home ... and the kids talked about their day like it was a vacation and we started collecting toilet paper rolls to make our Christmas tree next year!!


I liked the school so much that I've been telling people about it. If we were here for more than 2 years or if we were fluent in Spanish (Castillian), we'd love our kids to go to La Nostra Escola Comarcal.

A REALLY Long Weekend

A puente (pwen tay) is a bridge. It is also a four-day weekend ... bridging one week to the next. When a holiday falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday, it is a well-known secret in Spain that there will be a puente. I say a secret because the Monday or Friday holiday is not necessarily on the calendar.

Last week, there was a holiday on Tuesday in the city of Valencia. The Thursday before, we received a note home from school indicating that there would not be any school on Monday! Surprise! A free holiday! Free - because, since we were not in on the secret, we hadn't planned anything.

Had we known, we would have made PLANS, booked the SCHEDULE full of LOTS of things to do, JAM-PACKED our free-time with stimulating activities. GO- GO - GO! No rest for the weary! Hey! YEAH!

LIVE in the 21st century! RUN yourself ragged during your vacation from school and work, your holiday from your normally scheduled activities so you can schedule LOTS AND LOTS of not-normally scheduled activities.

I'm being sarcastic. I am describing what has become so common in the United States. The people of Spain certainly are not immune - though it is often countered with a "No Pasa Nada" attitude. Basically, "Don't worry! Be Happy!"

Since August, there has been construction in our courtyard to fix leaks in the underground garage. (Our courtyard is the gated area outside our apartment building.) We imagine that this same construction in the United States would have been completed a long-time ago. But, they are spending a lot of time and effort building "conversation clusters" or brick benches with planters arranged so children can play while parents relax and talk.

Valencia has numerous parks, boulevards, and walkways with benches and conversation clusters, fountains and flowers and bushes and statues. Relax. No pasa nada.

Three Kings Day - Reyes Magos

Three Kings Day, the Feast of the Epiphany, is January 6 (the 12th day of Christmas). Traditionally, this is the gift-giving holiday celebrated in Spain. Children look forward to gifts brought by the three kings. (I'm thinking that we are going to bring this tradition back home ... so we can take advantage of those after-Christmas sales!!)

Magos Secretos
In December, we drew names for "Mago Secreto" (like Secret Santa). Most of the "secrets" were divulged within minutes so some of us spent the time trying to confuse everyone. On January 6, we had to guess who our Mago Secreto was ... and when we guessed correctly, we could open our gift.

Roscón de Reyes (like turrones, the direct translation of this is "upper thighs")
Elvira and Belén brought Roscón de Reyes to share with us. Roscón is sweet bread that is circular shaped (like a crown), filled with cream, topped with carmelized fruit ... with a hidden "king" and a hidden bean inside. The tradition is that the person who gets the king has good luck and is crowned king of the party. The person gets the bean is supposed to pay for the roscón. Maria received the "king" represented as a penguin. Matthew got the bean.

The next day when Yana was sneaking another piece, she found another king. Bummer. Yana either had to keep it a secret or admit that she was sneaking another piece. A little while later, Matthew was sneaking another piece and he got another bean. Like father, like daughter. As Oma would say, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

The Kings and the Cabalgata (3 Kings' Day Parade)
One night, we went to a neighborhood Casal to see one of the kings. (I'll tell you more about casals in March during the fallas. For now, think Lion's Club or Kiwanis.) The king had a gold suit, a blue sequined vest and belt, black boots, a big white beard, a red cape, and a crown. It was like Santa Claus became king. It was a very nice party for the little children in the neighborhood.

On January 5, we went to see the Cabalgata ... the procession of the 3 kings (and lots of other people) through the city throwing candy and prizes to the audience. At the end of the procession, the 3 kings - Gaspar, Melchor, and Baltazar - receive the children at the city hall (Ayuntamiento) and give them gifts. Julia works at the ayuntamiento and was able to take Eva, Jolie, Bronson, and Elena inside to see the kings. While waiting for them, we noticed the line of children (and their parents) grow all the way around the block, down the street, and around another block ... over 6 blocks long! At first, we couldn't believe it. Then, we understood. Eva, Jolie, Bronson, and Elena came out and each of them had received nice gifts (nicer than any gifts we gave them this year) and had a few moments with one of the "kings."

More Reyes Magos photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/abrownell/sets/72157603726616476/

Happy New Year - Bueno Año Nuevo

San Silvestre Popular
On December 30, we participated in San Silvestre Popular with Cristina, Erika, and Nuria. They told us - in Spanish - that it was in the city, people dressed up, and it was a lot of fun!! They told us more but, apparently, we didn't understand everything (stay tuned for our Spanish Language Acquisition blog).

San Silvestre started at 8 pm so Amy and Eugene decided not to go. Since there was no chance of me embarrassing Amy (more common than I'd like to admit) ... I decided to dress up!! I put on my swimming suit (over my running clothes), cap, goggles, and floaty. Cristina gave Matthew and orange wig to wear. We have no problem embarrassing our children.

As it turns out, it was an 8 km race through the city and past many of the historical monuments. Hee hee. Oooh. It wasn't as much "fun" as the kids were expecting - but we all got free t-shirts (though, by the time we got to the finish line, there were only medium sizes left).

New Year's Eve
On New Year's Eve (Nochevieja), Amy made finger food ... food that we could eat with our fingers. We all loved it - less dishes.

The Engel family continued our corny New Year's tradition of having a family slumber party in the living room. This year, our fire consisted of tissue paper flames *crackling* in the breeze of the fan. We permit the kids to drink caffeinated pop ... taking the immense risk that the caffeine will stunt their growth ... so they can stay up for the countdown then watch movies all night long.

We also added a couple of Spanish New Year's Eve traditions. We wore red underwear for good luck. (Hmm. They are not very lucky if you wash them with your whites.) At midnight, everyone ate 12 grapes - one on each stroke of the clock. Remind me next year to de-seed the grapes first ... crunch, crunch!

New Year's Day - Haitian Independence Day
We slept late, ate, wrote our (realistic) New Year's Resolutions, and the kids snuck the remainder of the caffeinated pop when we weren't looking.

January 1 is also Haitian Independence Day. We made flags and then went out for a parade. The kids and I brought pans, bells, whistles, and anything else that made noise and marched through the rambla announcing Haitian Independence Day. We were a parade!! (The more mature adults stayed inside and denied our existence.) Aaah. The kids were having such a great time marching and making lots of noise ... until someone looked at us. Then, they all wanted to crawl under their own skin to hide.

More New Year's Pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/abrownell/sets/72157603732989089/

St. Nicholas and Christmas

Saint Nicholas Day - December 6
The Engels have always celebrated Saint Nicholas Day, which is a Dutch tradition (really). We didn't want to overwhelm the kids with Christmas presents ... but realized that they still needed socks and underwear.

So, every year we go to our church, Saint Nicholas, to hear the stories and re-enactments of Saint Nicholas' deeds. Then, before going to bed, the kids put their shoes outside the door. In memory of the humble and gracious Saint Nicholas, we put coins and small gifts into their shoes for the morning.
This year, when packing for Spain, we brought one grocery bag of our Christmas favorites (that would fit in the bag). On the eve of Saint Nicholas, we got them out ... Santa's clothesline that Andreia and Bronson made, a stained glass Christmas tree from Franca; a Christmas tablecloth from Oma, our Christmas Almanac from Monique, Jan Brett's Christmas Treasury from Margarita, snowman towels from Betty, Three Trees from Dena, dancing snowman from Oma, 3D glasses from Susan, Haitian nativity set from Amy, jingle bells from Franca, Santa Bunny, and rock-n-roll Santa. Wow! A lot of great memories fit in that bag.

On the morning of Saint Nicholas Day, the kids reveled in those memories.

Every year, we wear our jingle bells during the Christmas season. Last year, Oma told us that when she died, she would ring our bells to get our attention. She died just before Christmas ... so, we started calling our jingle bells "Oma-bells" and everytime they jingle, we said 'hello' to Oma.

Christmas - Navidad
In Spain, Christmas is kind of like Thanksgiving. Families come together, prepare food for twice as many people, give thanks, and eat. Elvira started us off on the right foot by bringing us a big box of Spanish turrones. A direct translation of turrones is "upper thighs." They are bars of honey, sugar, almonds, and _____ (fill in the blank). Matthew liked them so much he bought some more to send to his parents, brothers, aunt and uncle.

The most popular Christmas decorations are nativity scenes (belenes). There was a belén at the kids' school, on people's desks, on the streets, and in churches. Many of the belenes that we saw were really, really elaborate ... depicting the physical and spiritual journey to Bethlehem. You might think that if you have seen one, you have seen them all. If you walk by them quickly, that is true. If you actually look at the details, that is not true at all. They are very impressive. If we stay in Spain, I'd like to be a belenista ... an actual profession of people who create belenes.

Another common holiday decoration is red carpet in front of stores. Really, they are disposable red mats ... but they give a warm, welcoming look to the stores, buildings, and neighborhoods.

There are a few Christmas trees and decorations. We saw a fake Christmas tree for sale ... 160€ (multiply that by 1.5 to get US dollars). Ha ha hah! So, we made two (paper) Christmas trees and taped them to the back of the doors. Santa Claus (Papa Noël) has become more popular recently. Most people in Valencia live in apartment buildings - so instead the roof-top scene, Santa Claus is seen climbing up to the balconies.

Papa Noël ... or, in our case, it is Papa, Mama, and Sister Noël. Our friends Julia, Juan, and Livia gathered and brought carts and a dozen bags of toys and clothing for the children. They were gently and some hardly used ... but all new for us. It was like Christmas!! Well, actually, it was Christmas.


Julia also gave us a bunch of tickets to the Christmas youth expo (ExpoJove) ... where there are 1000s of activities, performances, games, and prizes for kids. We spent two days there and didn't get to all of the activities.


There are also several circuses and fairs that come to Valencia during the holiday season. Bronson and Maria went to the circus with our neighbors Olga, Oliver, Marion, and Lorenzo. We also went to the fair at the beach which was replete with rides, games, cotton candy, ... paella and legs of jamón.

We hosted a children's Christmas party for a few of our little friends. Yana led the cooking activity in the kitchen where we baked chocolate chip cookies. Some of the cookies were edible. Kerline led the craft activities in the dining room where we colored, cut snowflakes, and made water color paintings. Maria led the music activities in the living room where we sang, danced, and played games.

More Christmas photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/abrownell/sets/72157603732014681/

Thanksgiving - Acción de Gracias

Thanksgiving was originally a 3-day feast shared between the Pilgrims and Native Americans (commonly known as indians and preferrably known as Anishinaabe - original people). After a particularly harsh spring and summer, the Native Americans helped the Pilgrims plant and harvest a successful fall crop. Historical records give much of the credit to a Native American named Squanto Baars. (Well, okay, nowhere does it officially say that his last name was Baars. That was for Oma. Sheesh!)

The original 3-day feast was celebrated to thank God for the fall harvest. In the United States, Thanksgiving is a time to come together and to forgive trespasses ... just in time for Christmas presents!

In Spain, Thanksgiving is not a holiday. The kids had school so we celebrated on Saturday. We had to order a turkey from the butcher downstairs because there isn't exactly a rafter of turkeys at the grocery store. For a few days, we worried that our turkey would include the head, feet, feathers, and all the innards intact (as we have seen some birds at the market). Fortunately, the butcher prepared it perfectly.

We invited a couple of American (and Americanized) friends - Ana Pilar, Tony, Sara, Elena, and Sofia. Amy prepared a feast which included pumpkin pie (from REAL pumpkins). I made mashed potatoes, which I usually can do without incident. The only Thanksgiving tradition that was missing ... was cranberries. We were not able to find any cranberries - fresh, frozen, or canned. Matthew didn't miss them. Don't tell his mother, but Matthew doesn't like cranberries. (His grandfather was a cranberry farmer and their family still owns and operates cranberry marshes in Wisconsin.)

We gave thanks and ate (and ate and ate). Sigh. The season of eating began.

More photos of Thanksgiving:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/abrownell/sets/72157603731884779/

Happy Holidays and Days and Days and Days

We celebrated Spanish and US and Dutch holidays. This blog started with Thanksgiving and several holidays (and pages) later, I decided to post them separately though together. Our holidays (and days and days and days) included Thanksgiving, St. Nicholas Day, Christmas, New Years, Three Kings Day (Epiphany), and the return to school ... which the adults in the house consider a holiday. Whew. Now we rest until Fallas at the end of March - which is the biggest, loudest, longest celebration in Valencia.

Before the details ...

• Thank you to everyone who sent Christmas cards and pictures. They remind us of the greatest gifts in our lives - our family and friends.
• Thank you to everyone who did NOT send Christmas cards or pictures. They remind us of how we usually don't get our act together to send cards and pictures either. We understand. We would appreciate it if you would bring them in person (with a jar or two of peanut butter).
• Thank you to our new friends and family in Valencia. They remind us that language and culture and traditions do not separate us; they bring us together.

Holiday photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/abrownell/collections/72157603731906147/

Bank ... a peek at the way things work

Yesterday, I received something in mail saying that I have to go to the bank to prove that I am not a permanent resident of Spain (probably for tax-paying reasons). The letter said that my current status expires Feb 29, 2008.

So, I went in today - Jan 7. The man at the bank asked me why I came so early, the deadline wasn't until the end of February. He tried to update the information in the computer but it wasn't working. He suggested that I come in Feb 28. No pasa nada.