​Señor Aventura and I are settling into this new life alongside them, and we too are growing.  Friends here generously tell me that my Spanish has improved in the last two months, and I really appreciate this compliment because heaven knows I am trying so hard!  Every day I am making a million mistakes, blushing, and asking people to please correct me.  

My amazing friend Viva continues to meet with me twice a week for a language exchange and she is the best teacher in the world.  Each week we sit over a cup of tea inside the organic market and talk to each other for 90 minutes in English; 90 minutes in Spanish. I could not be more lucky; Viva is very patient and takes the time to explain the reasoning behind the lessons and corrections.  Entonces, poco a poco, mejoro. (Therefore little by little, I improve). ​

Last week, I had the incredible opportunity to attend a cooking class at Viva's home with nine other women, all of whom are Catalan.  Like me, they were mothers of children in elementary and middle school, and many of them share Viva's passion for travel and cooking.  I loved meeting such a great group of smart, motivated women in Catalunya. It was the hardest Spanish class I've taken so far... as 95% of the three hour conversation was conducted in fast Castellano with my ears racing to keep up!  Many of the women speak English, some quite fluently, but I greatly preferred for them to speak normally in Spanish so that I could learn while listening.  Viva taught us how to make three delectable recipes, at least one of which I may actually be able to re-create without her guidance someday :)  

​What a lovely afternoon.  I learned so much, my brain was tired on the walk home!

So, a day in the life?

​Señor Aventura and I awaken while it is still dark out each morning Mon-Fri to get the kids ready for school.  I make the snacks, get breakfast ready, have clean uniforms waiting and help the kids pack their sea of bags and backpacks for all of their sports, electives and classes.  Today for example, The Scientist will have German, computer science, art and soccer practice at school, in addition to his regular classes.  This requires an additional art smock plus a sports bag... and I swear his backpack must weigh 30 lbs right now.  

Little Angel is taking her first field trip today, to Catalunya en Miniatura.  I'm pretty sure this will turn out to be a miniaturized version of the Spanish state of Catalunya with each big city represented including its landmarks (like the big Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona).  She left for school in her track suit, very eager and excited to spend the day off campus with her friends.

When they are dressed, fed and packed each morning, the kids walk with Señor Aventura (and sometimes me) to the bus stop.  The process of getting them ready and to the bus takes about 90 minutes.  From there, my day is typically fills up rapidly with errands, meetings with friends, doctor appointments, laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, working and writing.  I thought I'd have so much time in Spain to write - and I'm working on a novel - but often I'm on the go from the moment the kids leave the house until the moment they get home.

We've gotten through our first round of Fall illnesses and now have a pediatrician we respect, along with the knowledge that we need to switch our health insurance.  We are still amazed by our ability to walk into a farmacia without a prescription to buy antibiotics recommended for us by our doctors by email.  The cost is incredible too!  For a recent eye infection I paid a total of 4 euro for two different antibiotics - drops and creme.  Wow!

Señor Aventura bikes or swims every morning.  I've made a commitment to myself that I can only get fresh gluten free bread and treats from the best bakery in Barcelona if I walk at least one way, to or from the bakery.  It's a 4 km walk (2.5 miles) so I'm routinely walking between 1 and 3 miles a day - and sometimes as many as 5 miles.  We very rarely use the car in the city, and I love that it's so easy to get around without it.

It is a very good, very simple life that we are living right now - and we are so blessed to have this opportunity.  Every time I walk to the little neighborhood shop for a basket full of figs or fennel, I marvel at how fresh the produce is here and how nice the shop owner continues to be.  ​

Fall has begun and you can now buy roasted chestnuts and sweet potatoes wrapped in newspaper from corner vendors, most afternoons and evenings.  Around 6pm you can see swarms of school children in uniforms clustered around the hot chestnut vendor, everyone getting a snack on their way home.  There are so many great things about this... exercise, nutrition and community at the top of the list. 

At last, we've discovered where the post office is located so we can send mail back home! We've also learned where the local toy shop sits, in case we have a birthday party to attend.  When the boys recently went away to camp for 3 days, we stopped by this toy store with Little Angel to get a special small treat.  She chose glow-in-the-dark stars to affix to her walls and ceiling, and then spent many happy nights putting up stars.  Going to sleep at night is now four times as much fun, because the children lay in the dark looking at their stars until they drift into slumber.

We've also been blessed to have family visiting this month, most recently my gorgeous sister-in-law and her very kind and funny husband.  For the purposes of this blog I will call them 'Los Radiantes,' (the radiant ones).  

​Last night Tía Radiante and I shared an experience I will never forget, as we laughed and cried our way through making a roasted chicken.  In Spain they don't de-head a whole chicken or remove its innards when you buy it at the store.  For the first time in my life, I had to take the head off of a chicken using my bare hands (the knife couldn't do it) and my sweet sister-in-law (a sometimes-vegetarian) bravely assisted with gutting the bird, removing most of its internal organs.  We were in hysterics over this chicken, giggling hard at the squeamish situation.  In the end, we blessed the bird with red wine and managed to roast it... although we may inadvertently have caused Soccer Dude to become a vegetarian in the process.  ​

Tía and Tío Radiante spent a week with us and then a week in Paris, after which they returned and told us all about their adventures.  Today we hugged them goodbye, as they headed home to America.  They've inspired us to spend New Year's Eve in Paris too!  We are very excited to get to know that timeless French city as a family.  As it turns out, Viva will be in Paris with her family at the same time... so it will be a city full of beauty, fun and friends at the holidays.  

October has been a good, generous month for La Familia Aventura.  We continue to grow closer as a family and to better understand how to navigate this new life together. Estamos mejorando!  
​

Last weekend Señor Aventura and I spent three blissful days alone together in Valencia, a charming coastal city three hours south of Barcelona. Valencia is actually the third-largest city in Spain, but compared with Barcelona it felt fairly laid-back and quiet. Many of the buildings there have been recently refurbished and were refreshingly colorful, with brightly painted walls and greenery flourishing on the balconies.  The streets were also very clean, especially in the area where we stayed near Mercado Colon.  ​

Thanks to the kindness and generosity of Los Extraordinarios, our children were beautifully tended to at home in Barcelona by their grandparents while we got to fly the coop for a few peaceful days of rest and relaxation.  The timing could not have been more perfect... my good Señor and I were celebrating our fourteenth anniversary! Fourteen exciting, busy, crazy, fun, love-filled, exhausting, challenging, yet always worthwhile years!  

So, how did we celebrate in Valencia?  
We slept in!  We stayed up late!  ​We had fun acting like big goofy teenagers.  

Valencia is the birthplace of paella... and we definitely enjoyed their delicious Bomba arroz with broad beans, but we also relished savory Italian pasta, fresh salads, an out-of-this-world fisherman's stew and several helpings of traditional tortilla Española.  My handsome guy and I share a passion for good food!  We spent three days eating our way around the neighborhood.

After we'd been sated with pasta on our first night (also featuring a tasty salad of 'lamb's ear lettuce' and other unusual delicacies) we did something CRAZY!  :)  We stayed up wayyyy past our 40-something bedtime and went to see an Americana rock band recommended by a lovely friend from Chicago who happens to have great taste in music.  This band from Philly, Marah, was kicking off their Spanish tour in Valencia so we figured, "Why not?" and took her recommendation!  We didn't know their music at all, but that was part of the fun.  A new adventure!  

In the end, it turned out that they are excellent musicians and a hell of a lot of fun to watch perform live.  Their energetic live set managed to be friendly, humorous and much adored by the Valencian crowd.  We came strangers and left fans!  

After rolling home close to 2am, we were pretty beat.  Even by Spanish standards, this was a very late night for us.  Needless to say, we slept in!  We awakened on Saturday in a leisurely way (what luxury!) and then walked, and talked, and laughed, and talked some more. Seeing your spouse without having three dynamic children in tow is kind of like seeing a beloved old friend you haven't caught up with for a while. 

"Wow, how are you?" 
"I'm great!  It's so nice to see you!"
"Yeah... feels like it's been a while!" 
"Gosh, you look really good! Did you get your hair cut?"
"Thanks!  I did!  Yeah, like two weeks ago!"  :)
"Oh!  Well, I really like it!"

Beaming, we ambled through the old quarter of the city and toured an exquisite UNESCO World Heritage site called La Lonja de Seda.  This was the Valencian Silk Road Exchange, built in the late 1400s and considered a masterpiece of Valencian Gothic architecture.  It was an auction and trading center under the Crown of Aragon. ​

We'd lingered too long over breakfast and so arrived a little late to see the inside of the massive Mercado Central across the street from the World Heritage building... but someday we will go back!   The Mercado Central is a stupendous indoor farmer's market, covering an entire city block.  "I feel like we're looking at a Cathedral of Food!" I remarked, looking at its colorful stained glass and Art Nouveau architecture.  

Even though the market trip didn't pan out, we still got to glimpse something special in an elegant wedding taking place just around the bend.  We happened upon it at just the right moment, as the bride walked from her fancy chauffeur-driven car toward the massive church.  Music echoed out into the street through the grand doors.  Townspeople and tourists alike cheered for the bride as she prepared to make her way down the aisle.  

While walking we also caught a glimpse of the important Metropolitan cathedral in Valencia, the Basilica of Assumption of Our Lady of Valencia.  It sits on the site of a former Visigoth cathedral that had been turned into a mosque under Moorish rule.  A very holy place, this cathedral currently houses a Goya painting among many other sacred works.  The building itself is strikingly beautiful; but the area around it is honestly a bit more touristy.  It bummed me out, for example, to see that the building adjacent to this almost 900 year old cathedral is a McDonalds.  Panhandlers dotted the landscape and this was the only part of Valencia where I felt very briefly like we might get pickpocketed.  (We didn't.)

We walked for many hours on Saturday and when we got back to our AirBNB it was already time to begin getting ready for our second fun night out on the town... this time paella and FLAMENCO! 

It's hard to put into words the power and raw sensuality of the flamenco performance we witnessed in Valencia at La Bulería. We'd both seen 'flamenco' before... an Americanized, watered down version of the dance.  We'd seen it both in person and on television. This however was something quite different.

A youngish woman with dark curly hair and a powerful voice sat on the stage next to a classical guitarist.  Together they began the performance, her intense vocals cutting through the whispers around us in the darkened dinner theatre. Soon they were joined by two dancers; a striking blonde with high cheekbones and dramatic costumes, and a petite, feminine brunette.  These two dancers took turns on the stage, almost competing as they danced one at a time against this backdrop of sultry vocals and guitar. As they whirled, twirled, and used their ruffled gowns as curtains to showcase their phenomenal legs, they displayed a high degree of athleticism. Their hour-long performance was dramatic and captivating.

What a great night!  Again we rolled home well into the wee hours.  Living on the wild side, I tell you!  
​
By morning, Señor Aventura and I were ready to relax.  We took a long, slow stroll along the former Turia river-bed... now the Valencian City of Arts and Sciences.  In 1957 a terrible flood wreaked so much havoc on the city of Valencia that they decided to permanently drain this riverbed and re-route the river.  Constructed over many years, the old riverbed was turned into a beautiful sunken park that's now filled with stunning architectural works.  Each building is devoted in some way to arts and entertainment... from an IMAX theater to a symphony hall/opera house, to a huge science museum and much more.  The place is unreal. Considered one of the twelve treasures of Spain, this unique work of architecture and engineering really blew our minds. 

This appreciation for unusual, innovative art is something that sets Valencia apart to some degree.  We saw it everywhere we went... or perhaps we are just especially attuned to notice art and architecture of atypical beauty.   From the artisanal handicrafts and paintings for sale in small booths at the Mercado Colon to the graffiti on various garages we passed, Valencia seemed to us to be a city that celebrates youth and artistic vision.  University students are everywhere you go, and there is a vibrant feeling of reinvention and newness here.

On Monday it was time to go home... we were ready to throw our arms around the kids and grandparents and let them all know how much we love them.  

I think we learned something though, from this ancient city that has reinvented itself again and again over two thousand years.  

On a weekend celebrating our fourteen years of love and hard work, it was fun to be reminded that we too can reconnect to the essence of who we are and dig through the external, superficial changes wrought by time to discover new beauties within ourselves and each other.  What has seen and experienced the passage of years can still sparkle... can still feel fresh and new.  

We've had a lot of fun firsts lately.

First time hosting California grandparents!
First real game for our little Aventura jugadores de fútbol!
First time inviting friends to our apartment for a traditional 'comida'!
​
Here are some highlights from these great days...

​On Thursday Señor Aventura's amazing mother and her warm, gregarious husband arrived.  We call them 'Los Extraordinarios,' for they are remarkable people that we adore and look up to greatly.  They were here to visit us for only one night before they departed to visit Croatia (called Croacia here).  Tomorrow they will return to stay with us for a week, also generously caring for our kiddos for a few days while Señor Aventura and I take a short kid-free adventure to celebrate our upcoming anniversary!  

The children could not have been more thrilled and excited to see Los Extraordinarios.  In our family, grandparents are rockstars of the highest order.  All five living grandparents are adored, and quite rightly so!  Each one brings something unique, irreplaceable and magical into the lives of their grandkids... and sometimes, Little Angel looks up at the sky wistfully and says, "I just wish I had met your father, mommy, because then I would have known ALL of my grandparents."

Grandparents are special people!

It was beyond beautiful to watch my kiddos reuniting with their adored Abuela Extraordinaria when they jumped off of the school bus Thursday afternoon.  The kids mobbed her with hugs and kisses, and every child wanted to talk to her first. ​

"How long was your flight, grandma?"
"Where did your plane stop along the way?"
"When did you get here?"
"How long can you stay?"
"Where is Abuelo Extraordinario?"

Sharing our neighborhood and the life we've built so far with Los Extranordinarios felt great!  We all loved pointing out our favorite parks, shops and restaurants while explaining our new daily routines.  We even got to introduce them briefly to some of our Barcelona friends, and that was special too.

Finally we sat down and shared an evening meal together at the famous "Bar Tomas" in Sarrià. As though no time had passed since we'd last seen each other, Los Extraordinarios caught us up on all of the family news.  We shared juicy details with them about the children's school life and teachers, our respective travels, and much more.  In a lovely way, it felt perfectly normal.  Just a family sitting at dinner (albeit 6,000 miles from home!) talking over their week.

Later Los Extraordinarios showed infinite patience for an hour while listening to the kids describe the unique attack powers of each of their individual Pokemon cards in minute detail (something that could easily drive any adult to drink, without the filter of grandparent love). The kids were so excited, they scampered around our apartment long past bedtime, giggling hysterically and keeping each other awake. Señor Aventura and I reminded them approximately one million times to go to bed.  The usual!

In the morning, Los Extraordinarios left for Croatia.  

"When will grandma be back?" asked Soccer Dude wistfully. 
"In just one week!" I smiled.
"Oh good!" his face lit up.  "I have so much more I want to tell her about Pokemon!"

​Next, we enjoyed our first "Soccer Saturday" in Spain.  Games will take place on Saturdays for the rest of the school year, and we were surprised and gratified to learn that our boys would have their first matches just a week after practice began.  

Sadly since Soccer Dude is still healing from the broken wrist, he could not play in his fourth grade team's game... but we decided to go to the game to support the team anyway.  He had fun hanging out with a few of his teammates in the stands!  One of his little fourth grade buddies is a Chinese student newly arrived from London.  They had a very good time playing together on Saturday with little toys and a 'thumb war'. ​

​The Scientist was elated to suit up for his very first Spanish game playing for one of Agora's sixth grade teams.  

"MOM!" he confided one day before the game, his face luminous.  "They're playing me tomorrow as a forward!"  
"What?!?" I asked.  "Really?"
"Yes!!!" he responded.  "I scored two goals in practice yesterday and the coach has been playing me all week as a forward."
"WOW!  That hasn't happened for years!  At home the coaches normally play you as one of the defenders or the goalie."
"I know!  I guess they just couldn't see my potential as a striker in America!"

I looked at his shining eyes and knew that this was a very big deal to my eldest son.  "What a great opportunity!" I smiled.

Sure enough, on Saturday when we arrived at his game (without the correct team uniform, sigh) we learned that The Scientist is indeed being played as his team's center forward!  A striker!  For those who don't know much about soccer, this is a really key offensive position!  Top strikers in the world today include famous Barcelona players like Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar Jr. 

"Good for him!" smiled my husband.  We settled in to watch the game.

It's truly amazing what a vote of confidence from a coach or teacher can do for a kid. Our son's new coach placed him in this key striker position and told him in Spanish that he was doing a good job.  And then, over the course of an hour, our son The Scientist scored his first ever 'hat trick' - THREE GOALS! - plus another amazing curved corner kick that a teammate assisted straight into the goal box.  ​

​When he shot his first goal, the American soccer-mom in me sprang out of hiding full-force.  I felt my arms shoot straight up into the air as I screamed out his name with zest and joy.  "That's my boy!!!!  Great job!!!!  WooHoooo!!!!!!"  Suddenly I remembered I was in Spain and realized I was literally the only mother in the stands cheering for their kid.  A few people seated around us in the stands turned to look.  

Whoops!!!!  HaHaHaHaHa!!! I ducked down behind my husband (who had also cheered, but less loudly) and we both began to giggle like teenagers.  

"Yup, we're Americans all right!" we laughed quietly, as I blushed.

​Needless to say, his team won their game and The Scientist was absolutely psyched!  

Even better, his outstanding performance on the field earned the instant respect of his new teammates.  We'd noticed from the stands that before the game began the other boys on his team had been sort of excluding him... hugging and high-fiving each other, but not him.

However, after each successive goal those same teammates got friendlier and friendlier on the field.  By the time he'd scored his third goal, every boy on his new team came over to shake his hand and hug him like an old friend.  He'd proven himself without words, and though he barely speaks their language, he'd courageously and confidently won their trust.  Without help!  Our boy is really growing up.  The level of play on their team was very high all-around, so it was a credit to our son that he performed so well within the group.

​Señor Aventura and I felt incredibly proud.  We're still cheering... quietly! 

​On Sunday we hosted our first ever 'comida' at our place!  The Spanish comida is a long daytime event where you get together for a meal served in multiple courses. Children enjoy swimming or playing together while adults talk and laugh.  

The big meal is served mid-day (around 2:30) rather than at night.  It typically starts with appetizers, a salad or a soup, followed by an entree or two, and finished up with fruit or a pastry.  Coffee and wine are served, of course.  On weekends in Spain, an entire day might be devoted to preparing and enjoying a comida with family and friends.  

The Aventura family was extremely excited getting ready for our first comida.  We buzzed around the apartment all morning listening to Ennio Morricone while cleaning, tidying up, setting the table and preparing food.  ​​

The friends we'd invited for lunch are a delightful family of five... two amazing parents and three beautiful kids.  Since we first met by chance in March, these wonderful people have gone far out of their way to help us get settled and feel comfortable in Barcelona. From viewing apartments for us in person (as we tried to search for a place to live from California) to connecting us with specialists when we needed medical care, to hosting us at their home for a 'welcome' playdate on the very day after we first arrived... they have been true friends from the very start!

I call this 'La Familia Vive la Vida Plenamente' because they live their lives fully and enthusiastically, embracing the whole world!

The mother is an extraordinary traveler, writer, chef and business owner.  Not to mention, she's raising three fantastic kids!  She is the kind of woman who deeply inspires... I could talk about her all day! For the purposes of my personal blog, I'll call this lovely friend 'Viva' (as I expect her to be a recurring character) but that is of course not her real name.  You can meet her 'for real' by checking out her amazing travel and hotel website Tengerenge (she has visited some of the most exotic places in the world, off the beaten path) and also their gorgeous family-owned group of restaurants, Panino Silvestre.  (Some of our favorite spots to eat in Barcelona!)

Viva and her family have done so much for us this year, we could not wait to celebrate them with a delicious lunch.  

Around 2pm, Soccer Dude excitedly positioned himself on the balcony to watch for their arrival.
​ 
"What time is it?" he shouted to me every two minutes.
"What does their car look like?"
"How soon will they be here?"
"Is that them?"

Soon they arrived and the real fun began.  Little Angel spent hours coloring pictures with Viva's precious daughter, the two of them running around the house laughing with stuffed animals. We do not have many toys with us here in Spain but the girls certainly made the most of what we do have!  Little Angel speaks almost no Spanish and Viva's daughter almost no English but the two of them played cheerfully all day and had a fabulous time anyway.

Señor Aventura had created two exquisite paellas (which he tells me were more like 'arroz' dishes as he apparently broke most of the Spanish rules about what should be included in a paella).  I am always so proud of his tremendous skill in the kitchen.  ​

As the hours passed we also enjoyed a salad, platter of fruit, gelato and Viva's sumptuous carrot cake. Each of the six children came back for second and third slices!  I believe her secret recipe for this cake includes love as a key ingredient.

While the adults laughed together and enjoyed sharing stories of life, travel, business and raising children, our kids ate a bit more quickly and then amused themselves with art, jewelry-making, playing chess and cards, and (for the older boys) futbol and tennis.  

Five hours passed in the blink of an eye. Around seven-thirty, we all strolled together down into the park and then up through Sarrià where the entire neighborhood has begun to celebrate its own annual fiesta.  The day had flown by so quickly!  We said goodbye with hugs and kisses while listening to a group of fun local musicians parade by.

We already look forward to the next time!​

Now it is October.  How can it possibly be October?  Wasn't it just yesterday that our flight from Frankfurt first touched down in sunny Spain?  How could two months have passed already?  

Days slip subtly from summer into autumn and our Spanish life takes on a contented normalcy.  Each 'first' time will soon be followed by a second; a third.  We create new routines and sleep peacefully at night, finally knowing a little of what 'tomorrow' may hold.