Fantasmas

lunes, 26 junio, 2006

I´m starting to get to know Querétaro more and more, and I guess maybe that means getting scared by the stories everyone tells. Yesterday I went to the Casa de la Zacatecana. The story is that in the 1800´s la Zacatecana moved to Querétaro with all her stuff and lived in this big house all alone because her husband was always gone on trips. So, she decided that she wanted to kill him. She got a servant to kill him in the night and lay his body in the street. Then she decided she better kill the servant because if anyone found out she’d be in trouble. So, she killed him in the house. Now the house is a museum and a legend in the city and if you go into the main sala, there is a glass in the floor where you can see the skeletons of the dead guys buried underground. Yikes! But, to make things worse the guys I was with had a door mysteriously shut on them while we were going up a tower in the house. The old woman who works there told us she has seen a few crazy things happen there. It was creepy...and I’m usually not one to care. Needless to say...I didn’t sleep well last night.

Other then the haunting, the city is great. My class is getting a bit more lively, it’s been slow to start...but Mexico time is great. Class starts at 9 and the prof doesn’t get in until 930. then at about 10:15 we have a half hour break. and class ends at 12. Pretty nice.

Well, I have to get to lunch. Yum! Nos vemos

oldies

I visited Myspace yesterday for the first time in 9 months. One of my friends had posted "Holy cow, I haven't been on here in so long. I feel lost and confused, lol...hello out there....;O)". Besides that one personal message, the only others posted we the Myspace office, advertisements and whatnot. Is anyone out there still using Myspace?

Anyway, I was happy to find everything still in place, including my old blogs from Mexico and Venezuela (unfortunately there are only about 10 total, bummer.) It was such fun to read through them again, that just for old times sake (and in case suddenly myspace closes sometime without warning) I decided to post them here with a few of the fantastic pictures of both places that are so close to my heart.

Here's the first, my first impressions from my first trip to Querétaro, Mexico.

martes, junio 20, 2006

Querétaro...

Mexico is beautiful. The food is delicious. The city is lovely. Beautiful old churches painted fading oranges and yellows fill the center of town. Big plazas offer a place to cool off under trees or next to fountains...one is dedicated to dogs. Dark doorways fill the steets with delicious scents as tortillas fry and bees buzz around fresh fruit cups. People are everywhere. Class was long, but so far I love it here. Can't wait to see more...

Surprise!

Saturday was a scorcher. Everyone was at the beach...or at least wishing they were there. We were lucky enough to spend the day with friends on a boat! It was beautiful baby Frida's first birthday so the weekend was for celebrating. We spent the day on a rocky island called Isla Rúa (home to an old light house, seagulls, and many a desertish plant in hues of mustard, lilac, and light green) and anchored near the Riviera coast, diving off the back of the boat and soaking up the sun on the front. Only bummer, since we left home uber late, we left the camera at home. In any case, the few fotos we took with Diego's phone give you an idea of the amazing rías baixas of Galicia...

p.s. I want a boat!

cool as a cucumber

There's nothing like a cucumber to cool you off on a hot day. And who'd have thought a gin tonic would taste so incredible with a little cucumber slice? Cheers to drinks with cucumbers.

Terrace!

We've been working on the terrace little by little. Remember the before? Last summer we painted the walls "Mallorca" beige, bought the cute green chairs and table on clearance at the end of the summer, and enjoyed the little lizard my brother in laws got us adding a little bit of Mexico. This year we added the big table and chairs, and the plants. I'm really excited for our "huerta urbana" as they call them here-or our terrace garden. We're starting of small with tomatoes-regular and cherry, lettuce, a few herbs-rosemary, mint, and parsley, and pimentos de Padrón (a fantastic pepper native to a town in Galicia called Padrón- so delicious fried with a little pit of salt, and every now and then one is super spicy). I'm still looking for a little lemon tree and a few hanging plants to make the walls look more lush. Maybe some strawberries? or ferns? In any case...it's time for a barbecue!

(early tomato plants)

(jasmin, daisies, and pimentos)

(lettuce and herbs)

after work...

Aside from the many series we watch on DVD in English (lately we've been watching Entourage...never thought I'd get into it!), a few nights of the week I actually enjoy a few Spanish series on TVE and I think they are quite an improvement on Física o Química from last year (remember Gorka and Yoli?) This year, I've been getting into Pelotas-a comedy series about a barrio in Madrid and their football club, and Gran Reserva-a telenovela about a family owned vineyard (starring one of my favorite Spanish TV actresses of the moment Paula Echevarría-she reminds me of my good friend Christine). After spending the day in English it's nice to take a break back into the world in Spanish.

p.s. everyday the idea of having a vineyard is more and more appealing...

Blogliography

Just wanted to share a few Spanish blogs de moda (fashion blogs) as featured in Marie Claire mayo (go to the page and you can find a million others to look at and vote for your favorite). Check them out and practice your Spanish! (My personal favs weren't featured in the mag, but you know them well: justbecausefashion and bartabac)

Fashionisima

Miss at la playa

A trendy life

El blog de moda

the perfect ending...

It's sunny! We're off to the beach on the last day of vacation! So excited to eat Spanish tortilla sandwiches and cold pasta salad on the beach with a big straw hat, the newspaper and a magazine. It's going to be a warm and sunny siesta today.

Bins

Garbage (or rubbish, if you prefer and as my work friends like to say) has been very visible this weekend in Santiago. The garbage collectors are on strike to get better working conditions-which hombre, I think they should get without a doubt. Their work is indispensable although we don't really notice until the weekend they go on strike and suddenly garbage bins are overflowing throughout the city and the amount of waste we create everyday is blatantly in front of our eyes. Seeing so much waste makes me want to change my ways asap recycling even more, reusing, and maybe even making a compost pile instead of throwing it all out, we seriously need to stop wasting so much. One of my favorite ladies put this video on facebook too-so cute and so true...time to change.

Vacation

Living on the west coast of the Iberian Penisula has changed our vacation plans. The forecast for the weekend on nearly all the coast is rain and cold. Sunday and Monday the weather is supposed to change so we decided to put Portugal on hold this time and head down to the beaches of Pontevedra should the sun really finally come out on Sunday and Monday. I'm still loving having the time off...and spending these glorious days of vacation sleeping, sleeping and more sleeping, planning our urban garden with my man (fingers crossed to find a little lemon tree!), and catching up on blogs. My BFF is inspiring me with all her new projects as is the style from the lovely ladies Garance and Bartabac.

pretty pretty jewelry looks like it was all found in markets around the world-and I want an embroidered silk robe like this for sleepy weekend mornings.

The shoes, the ring, the watch, the jacket, the crisp white shirt, the beach...

Pueeeeente!

We have 5 days off this week starting Thursday for a local holiday in Santiago (Ascensión) and a Galician holiday to celebrate the language and literature (Letras Galegas). We're taking a much need roadtrip to the coast of Portugal to a surfer town with long sandy beaches called Santa Cruz. Now were just trying to decide if we should camp or hotel it...I'm voting for hotel-I'll save the camping for in Michigan this summer (by the way...we call the motor home!) I'm sooo excited for time to read and sun!

Also, design*sponge recently featured products that the moma store is featuring from Portugal...I'm hoping for a cute market and some lovely finds!

British Basics

I discovered Primark today...the cheapest store I have been to in Spain. I think the most expensive thing I saw was 29.95 euros. Seriously. My work friends have been raving about this place as it is a staple in Britain and Ireland. Today we finally had a work related visit to A Coruña, followed by a shopping extravaganza at Primark. I stocked up on lots of basics and a few little extras for 35 euros total. It's on my list of superstores now! Want to see more?

dessert

I've always been more into baking than cooking (although I have recently become an expert at making my family's treasured pastel de pollo recipe!). Lately, I've been making more desserts from scratch. Tiramisu was my most recent effort. When began to research the recipe I was nervous...I had no idea there were soo many raw eggs involved. But, after looking at a million and a half recipes and videos online I ended up with a great tiramisu more or less like this recipe. It was so easy. Give it a try!

Trench

My man has great taste. He got me this jacket for our anniversary...I loooove it. I'm even happy that it's suddenly cold and rainy again so I can wear it.  I'll get my own picture up soon!

5 de mayo

In honor of 5 de mayo here a few more Mexichic wares as seen at Zara home recently...maybe it's more day of the dead-but it works for me! Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Go Giants!

Awesome! So happy for Kalamazoo Central High school! They are close to my heart-Kalamazoo was home for 7 years of college and my first years of teaching (My first years of teaching were at Comstock High School just next to Kalamazoo-miss you all at CHS!) How amazing that the president will be speaking at graduation! Can you imagine??!!

Esperando

Gabo is my favorite writer. And there is no love story like that of Florentino and Fermina in Love in the Time of Cholera. A few years ago while waiting to get my tires changed I was flipping through a travel magazine and found the most beautiful article about Cartagena de Indias-setting of Love in the time of Cholora and other Gabo stories. I was sold. The yellow walls, the sea salt in the air, the bright colors of the market, and the world of Gabo come to life. It's been on my list of places to visit ever since. It looks like the secret is out. 

One year!!

I can't believe it's been one year

...and it just keeps getting better!!