Sunday Funday

Sunday morning I was told to be ready by 11:30. Perfect, because that is just my style! Gives me enough time to sleep in and lounge a little bit before I had to get up to shower.  I have no pictures from sunday, sadness, but I'll try to use my descriptive words to describe my fabulous day!
We started off by having breakfast, I learned that I love breakfast more than the Spaniards do. I was describing to Darah's Spanish dad that I liked bacon, eggs, french toast, pancakes, everything and he asked if I had ever heard of Cholesterol haha.
Breakfast consisted of a slice of toast (no crust), a fried egg, and slice of thin ham. They pronounce ham like jam here so the first time they said jam and took out ham I was very confused.
After breakfast Bernard showed up and we got in his Range Rover to go first to Chinchón to "take the wine". This saying cracks me up and I don't have the heart to tell them that we drink liquids, because I don't want it to stop! We went to Chinchón, a super old village that was around in 1420. It is exactly what you would think a tiny Spanish village looks like. In Plaza Mayor *almost every city has a plaza mayor* they have a bunch of difference restaurants that you can eat and take the wine. There's a huge center ring where they have bull fights. We didn't eat in Plaza Mayor, instead we took a very steep route towards Mesón Quiñones. (Mesón is like a really old  traditional restaurant). They had a saying on the wall that I'm going to try to remember.

Si no quieres tener pena en Quiñones come y cena. 

If you don't want pain en Quiñones eat lunch and dinner. 

We stopped into Quiñones to take the wine. We walked down into the creepy cave or bodega (where they store and make wine). We paid 1 Euro to try a little bit of red wine and I had a piece of bread with chorizo on top. I got to keep my cute little wine cup made of stone. They called the wine Cueva de Murcielago or Bat Cave. They used to store the wine in the tinajas, or huge vats, but they don't use them anymore. I'm sure that they have updated their systems. 

Mara and I in la cueva with the tinajas to our sides

After our wine taking, I mean tasting, we went to a different Mesón and had some beer and tinto verano. Basically my favorite drink in Spain I think. Better than Sangria because it has a little bit of bubbly to it! I think my summer will consist of Tinto Verano. We had a small plate of snacks and then went to Pilar's summer house (everyone called her Pili). Bernard was to cook the paella! He took out a huge pan and started cooking the chicken and rabbit. It looked and smelled delicious! Finally it was time to try it. The first thing I noticed when I got my paella was SNAILS! Ahhhhh, I will try a lot of things, but when it actually looks like the animal form, I get a little freaked out. You could see the tiny little antennas on top! creepy. 

After paella (it was ok, not my favorite), we got in the swimming pool! There were a lot of other kids there, so it was super easy for me to play with the kiddos and get along! Bernard got in the water and we played volleyball! We played boys vs girls. Girls won! Who cares if we had one more person than the boys. It was really cute. 

 Let's talk about the differences between the children and teenagers in the US and Spain. Yes, they had a playstation hooked up to a tv outside to play karaoke. But when that was over, the teenage boys decided to start mixing cement and tearing up a pile of dirt. They had their t-shirts tied on their head because the sun was beating down. I used my Montessori term and said "that's interesting" haha, it'll never leave me! I'm sure my Montessori people will understand that one. Don't want to hurt anyones feelings, but it's a little weird! They looked like they were getting some energy out and having fun, so I guess that's good! 

Overall it was a great day! I tried a lot of new foods and found my new favorite drink, tinto verano!

I will try to keep a list of all of the words that I learn, but there are so many! Espe needs to help me remember the meaning of the words. Tomorrow I have my first day alone with Mara! Excited, but nervous as well. One girl is easier than 20, but still!

Spanish Words I learned today:

tinajas- huge vats where they kept the wine in the caves

cuevas de murcielago- caves

mesón- old traditional restaurant

fontanero- plummer

peluquero- hairdresser

The Journey

Well all that crazy traveling is over! I won't bore you with the details, but I'll sum it up for you.

Drive to the airport, long line waiting to check my bag, lots of people watching, Flight from Boston to Azores. The flight was originally supposed to be at 10:17pm but it was delayed so we didn't end up leaving until 11:30. That means they were serving us dinner at about 1am. Yes perky flight attendants, I'm starving...but I would rather sleep! Everyone will wake you up for dinner whether you want to eat or not. We arrived at the tiny airport of Porto Delgado at 8am?  I think...it's all a haze. (4am Boston time).

They drop you right off on the tarmac and then you have to make the sleepy walk to the tiny terminal with all your luggage, wait an hour, and get back on the same exact plane. Imagine a tiny terminal with a whole airplane waiting to get back on, so I sat on the ground for an hour. 

Then I got back on the plane and had the best seat possible! Right behind first class. I had tons of leg room! I slept the whole ride, well except for when they woke me up for a snack and then I fell asleep again. Woke up to my seat partner putting my tray away for me (I imagine she gave them my trash?) and it was landing time in Lisbon, Portugal. 

2 hours later I was on a flight Lisbon-Madrid (1hr 30min)! Honestly, I don't even remember this flight. I'm pretty sure that just means I slept a little more, and was awoken to have another gross airline snack. I'm sorry but bread with just a slice of cheese in between is not a good snack.

Flying into Madrid

I was worried that Spain wouldn't let me in because I have no return flight. Turns out there was no regulation! I didn't even get my bag checked, or passport stamped! I don't know if I took a wrong turn or what, but when I walked out of the door Esperanza or Espe was waiting for me with almost her whole family! I learned the difference between Chile and Spain real quick. Chile- one kiss on the cheek, Spain- one kiss on each side.

There was no sign, but good thing Espe recognized me! I was in a daze and just walking and she said Abby! and then kiss kiss kiss Espe (the mom), Bernard (her boyfriend), Espe's Mom (forget her name), Espe's Dad (forget his name), Mara (the 7yr old girl that I'm hanging out with), and Adriana (Mara's cousin, and the girl that Darah is hanging out with). I think that was it. 

Mara on Right, Adriana on left

Bernard is a total gentleman, he took my luggage as soon as I got there. He drives a Range Rover. enough said. Every time I say his name I think of my dad whose real name is Bernard. I would say only like 20% of the people who know me, know that. 

We got home and I was shown my room and a tour of the house. Adriana and Mara were great helps and they read the wifi password out loud to me! See, I'm working them already! I was able to settle in sort of and then we were off to dinner in the park. I tried pulpo, octopus, and it was way too slippery and slimy for me. We had some drinks and tapas or dishes that people share. We had dinner at like 10pm, and the sun was just setting. SO WEIRD.

I never really think about jetlag, but I was hoping that it wouldn't really affect me! I think I lucked out! I got in late enough that I was able to go to bed at night. If I had gotten here at like 10am and had to stay up all day?! that would have been hard. So thank you 18 hour travel, you helped save me from jet lag!

Sorry for the super long post, but SO MANY THINGS ARE HAPPENING! I will try to post often so that it isn't a pain to read such a long post. Also, right now none of my phones work, so I haven't been taking too many photos (also I don't want to reveal my weakness for selfies just yet!)

I got to bed at like midnight and woke up at 10am Sunday morning. 

forgot to add this pic.

So that little tiny blue dot is me, I have a stop in the Azores!! (Who knew) get off plane, get back on plane, then go to Lisbon! Get off plane, get on different plane and then go to Madrid! Oh the travels... I'm already dreaming about siestas I'm planning on taking advantage of! 

 

oh.. the airport.

Well, here I am sitting at the airport awaiting my flight!! As much as I love traveling and rave about it all the time, you would expect me to be ecstatic right?! Think again, I've been shaking since I finished packing! Traveling is great! Don't get me wrong, but the airport is stress central, and then go tackle it on your own! I have to rely on myself and only myself to be where I need to be and when. (I'm still practicing!)

My flight is not technically delayed... But they just boarded a flight that was supposed to leave an hour and a half ago. Perhaps I should get used to this European time!! So as far as I know my flight is "on time", but does that mean we will be leaving at 10:15? Doubt it. 

As I'm writing this, they have just alerted us that they are running a bit behind schedule and we should be boarding in 30-60 minutes. Awesome. 

On a happier note, the kids are flippin adorable app dressed up in their jammies!! Total cherub status. 

Just can't wait to get there and get settled! ... And get on the plane so I can get to napping!! Wayyy past my bedtime. 

The Preparation

Well, it's the week before my departure! I leave on Friday at 10pm..so I can pack on Friday morning right? I have done absolutely nothing in the packing department. This last week I was in Round Pond a family house on the coast of Maine. My mom along with all of the aunts and uncles in the Wood family put on a lovely celebration of life gathering in honor of my late Aunt Dorry Carlson. She loved Round Pond and wanted everyone to share and experience the wonderful place it is. Well Aunt Dorry, that's exactly what happened! The majority of the Wood family (it's ok Carrie, having a baby totally gives you a free pass) gathered on Saturday to celebrate Aunt Dorry's life, and to keep the family connected. We had a total of 27 family members ranging in ages 15 months to 62 years old at the house. It was the perfect way to spend my last weekend in the US! Here are some pictures to give an idea of what was happening on "the point".

This is beautiful sunset at Round Pond!! We have the best view of the harbor!

The first part of last week was just spent with me, my Auntie Deb Macklin, Mikey, TJ (in the yellow hammock), and Barry (Macklin Family Friend in the camo hammock). 

We took a trip to Boothbay and instead of getting individual ice cream cones, we got a MASSIVE ice cream sundae! (always good to be cost effective)

We even got Mikey to take a selfie with us!

Three teenage boys means they were always on the go! They created buoy baseball! (i did not partake)

On Friday and Saturday the rest of the families arrived for the memorial service. This was the center table with wonderful photo memories!

Then the whole family came back to the point and some of us took selfies!

The Don Wood family looking AWESOME!

and my lovely family!

There was lots of family bonding (they all had sunglasses on!)

I got to be part of Colin's first experience in the ocean!

and of course my beloved Bonkybear was there!

So there you have it, a lil' snip it of my life this last week! I always have, and always will be close with my family. I enjoy every family gathering :) It was such a wonderful weekend and I will miss my family while I am abroad! but... I know that they'll be following my blog to stay updated on my life ;) 

and that's why they have Skype right?! 

Now I'm back home and starting to pack and do laundry and all those good things. 

Hello! A start to a new adventure..

Hi People!
Well, it's about that time again...travelin' time! As many of you all know, I am off to Madrid for the summer (and maybe longer)!! It's all very exciting, but it hasn't really hit me yet. I thought I would get my blog up and running so I could gain some followers before I actually head over to Europe; that way you will already be addicted to my posts and will be able to keep track of me if I fall of the face of Europe.
 The first thing I should probably mention is the reasoning for my title, Chica Peregringa. It started out like this. I got my usual blip from my cell phone signaling my word of the day. Normally I ignore it, as most of the times I hope that it's a text signaling that I have friends! (nope, 8am...it's usually just the word of the day). So on this day the word was peregrine. Immediately it reminded me of the peregrine falcon that my kindergarten students became obsessed with, so I decided to open up my dictionary app and I found this definition.

Peregrine (adj)- wandering, traveling, coming from abroad  

Obviously the world travel got my attention, and I started thinking of titles. I consulted my friend Alex from Cambridge Montessori School, a fabulous blogger (his blog was hilarious as he shared his story traveling across country). He suggested Chica Peregrina. I confirmed with Maria, my human spanish dictionary, and she confirmed that peregrina was a legitimate spanish word. YAY.
So there I was typing in my blog name into the little box and then it came to me, peregrinGa! Gringa is what I was called countless times while I was abroad in Chile. This word just means that you come from the US, it has no negative connotation attached so it, so I was ok with this nickname.
There you have it! Chica Peregringa.

Stay tuned for my adventures as an Au Pair in Madrid!