A video of us on you tube

click on this link to see the fireworks show at the end of the three kings parade January 5, 2010 in Madrid, Spain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OefJsb1Q5eE

Thoughts on January/The New Year

Every year when January arrives there are inevitably a few more things that somehow seem to sneak into the picture, no matter how hard I try and keep them away. Like the rude awakening of that first day back to work, somehow you are never quite ready after the break to start back up and begin a new year. There seems to be something daunting about it, knowing that you have 365 more days to get through before the next 2 weeks of bliss.

For us, this feeling wasn’t quite so bad as it could have been as teaching is going well and we are only working part time. But there always seems to be something else that we would rather be doing with out time, and work, always seems to be keeping us from these things.

Another thing that always seems to catch me off guard is the cold weather. Coming to Madrid I thought things like dessert climate, sun 200 days of the year, etc. But for some reason this January in Madrid has been a rough one, even by the locals standards. We haven’t gotten as much snow as I have been use to in the past, but the cold rain is almost just as bad, if not worse. Today is the first day in a long time that the sun has finally taken back control of the sky in what seems to be a constant battle between the clouds and sunshine. We can only hope that today marks a turning point in this little war that is being waged in the heavens.

The last area that always seems to sink into my subconscious, even when I purposefully try and keep it out, are plans of the future. For me (a planner) it is so hard to keep out the thoughts of what comes next or what we should be doing to get ourselves ready for the next transition. Instead, I would love to just sit back and enjoy where I am right now, instead of planning or strategizing for things to come. To be able to live in the moment, to breath and enjoy what you have around you. It can be very hard to do, but I guess it is something to strive for. A New Years resolution of sorts, but then again that is another thing (just like the cold) that I don’t really like about January.

Different trips we are trying to get ready for:

1. Avila

2. El Escorial

3. Valencia (that is for your Jonny)

** If any of you have any thoughts on things to see in these places, where to stay, or what order we should try and do these trips free to let us know.

Christmas in Southern Spain

Here are some of the gardens off of the Alcazar in Seville. Orange trees everywhere!

This is me in the Alcazar of Seville. The detail was amazing!

The sunset in Marbella

Kristyn and I enjoying the sunrise on the beach!

This is us together in Ronda enjoying the stunning views!

The Bollig family picture in Retiro Park

The Ronda cliffs

Segovia, Spain

December has arrived and besides enjoying 50 degree weather we also enjoyed having one of Kristyn's friends (Sarah) come out and visit us for a week. During this time we went to Segovia (just N. of Madrid) and saw the sights. We also got to show her Madrid. This is a lot easier now that we have lived here for more then a few weeks! The trip to Segovia was great, with the highlight being a Roman Aqua Duct that is over 2000 years old. They say it still works but I didn't see any flowing water so I have my doubts.

My English classes are still going well and i just added two more lessons, so I am up to 10 a week now. This allows for a great amount of down time but also gives me something to look forward to throughout the week. Here are a few pictures from Segovia.

For the soccer fans out there

I went to my first European futbol match with my friend Andy before he headed out for Brussels. We saw Rhyo Vallecas (the Madrid team) play some team from down South. These two teams would be like watching a AAA baseball team. So these guys are one league below playing for the pros, Pretty good.!

The game was amazing. People chanting during the entire game, waiving flags, and yelling at the opponents fans, and by using the word yelling I am being kind. It was a little bit more harsh then that. But overall it was great. Taking in some real soccer and watching it in such an amazing environment, defiantly is one of my highlights so far.

These are our new friends: Israel, Raul, Conchi, and Israel's and Conchi's son Manu. This is in Toledo

Having some fun while walking around Tolded

Pictures: Tim, Raul, and Conchi

Conchi and Manu

Israel, Conchi and Manu posing before we go into a Museum that features pictures by Goya

talk about twins!!!

We finally started working!!!

I started 6 private English lessons this week and have added one more for next week. So that means I will be up to 7 total lessons and hoping to add at least one more. This puts me at 8.5 hours of work a week. Really with all the prep time it equals a lot more, especially because I have to put so much work into my prep (because I don’t know what in the world I am really doing).

The classes seem to be going pretty good so far, thanks to the handy website www.onestopenglish.com I just print out the worksheets and walk them through it. The hard part is when they don’t want to do worksheets. Then I have to create lessons, which take more time and have more of a potential to bomb, but so far so good. I just keep smiling and telling them that it takes time and practice and that seems to put them at ease.

So, my just under two months without a job has finally come to an end. The nice thing is that none of my classes are before 2:00. So I still have time to sleep in, work on my Spanish, and do a little reading before I head off to work. The bad part is that some of my classes are at 8:00 p.m. This definitely cuts into my night life J

Kristyn starts classes at an academy this week and she will be working the evening shift usually from 4 or 5 until 10:00 p.m. This doesn’t make for the greatest of schedules for us to see each other but we are hoping that after Christmas break we will be able to re-work some of her hours. She will be working one-on-one with students studying to pass certain tests in order to further their careers. The nice thing is that it doesn’t really require any prep work because she just walks them through a computer program, the bad news is that it is every night of the week. So our hang out time is at a premium.

But we have jobs and we are finally making money. Who knows, this adventure might actually work out after all.