When the hostel owner handed over the keys to our room and directed us to go up, up the stairs, above everything else, we didn't think twice. Four flights later, having discovered that room 402 was not in fact on the top floor, Erin Cochran and I exchanged puzzled looks and directed our attention up the stairs to the only remaining option: the roof. Now it must be said that all guests, pleasant as they may be, generate a certain level of pressure for their hosts. Pressure to entertain them, pressure to dazzle them with tasty local fare, pressure to introduce [View Full Entry]

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Spain is an incredible place, but not for any reason you'd expect. It's not the rolling hills of olive trees or the tiny villages nestled in the mountains that amaze me. Rather, I'm awed by the pleasure I find in doing the many mundane tasks that Spaniards do everyday without thinking. I adore hanging out the laundry, especially when I've just done a load with a lot of underwear. I know it sounds crazy, but before we moved here I acquired about 20 pairs of undies in vivid colors (orange, hot pink, lime green, turquoise...) and I can't think of anything [View Full Entry]

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It's a rare thing for a vacation to go all wrong, but sometimes it does. We'd been gearing ourselves up for weeks for our trip to Morocco. Katie was in town for a week and she thought, "Hey, when will I be this close again?" So we woke up super early and caught a bus to Algeciras, where we bought tickets for a ferry ride across the straight of Gibraltar. So far...no complaints. Our plan was to enter Morocco via the border at Ceuta, a Spanish city on the northern tip of the African continent. Once landed, we grabbed a taxi [View Full Entry]

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After much ado, Sage has officially agreed to marry me. So get ready. We're thinking early August 2008 in upstate New York and we want you there. I'm too tired to think, but there will be more details soon. By the way, it's nearly impossible to capture this ring on camera, but it's casual, yet elegant and unique. Can you see the hammering and brushed texture? A sweet man in Malaga made it for me and it fits! [View Full Entry]

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If there's one thing that I love most about Spain, it's the need the Spaniards feel to take a break from their already relaxing lives. If there's a holiday on Thursday, they take Friday off, too. The calendar is sprinkled with one holiday after another, so many that I feel like I've been off work more than I've been at work. Last week we celebrated White Week, a holiday I'm still struggling to understand. You see, all the towns in Andalucía have a local festival once a year to celebrate life according to local tradition. It's called a feria and always [View Full Entry]

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I love Spain and when I think of Spanish people, many fabulous qualities come to mind: they are warm, friendly, eager to help strangers, devoted to their families, jovial, easy-going...the list goes on and on. But one word would never appear on this list: ATHLETIC. So during a mid-day coffee break last week while my co-workers chatted amongst themselves about going hiking on the weekend, I listened and tried to imagine this crowd of coffee-drinking, churro-eating, middle-aged teachers on a mountain. Ha. Not going to happen, I thought to myself. But then one of them turned to me and asked if [View Full Entry]

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So...it's hard to imagine that visiting your HOME might be considered travelling by some, but there have been several requests for coverage of my Christmas in Kansas. And since I have some very handsome pictures of the family, I'm happy to oblige. The vacation undeniably got off to a rough start. A missed connection in New York left me stranded in Brooklyn for 2 days, not a bad place to be...but when you find out via e-mail that your Great Grandmother just passed away, you kind of want to get home as soon as possible. To an outsider, Kansas might seem [View Full Entry]

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Hola, amigos y familia! It’s me, Caitlin Sage Forbes-Gray, guest starring on Amber’s blog. Well, I thought I would tell you all a bit about my main activity, outside of teaching English and enjoying good Spanish food and wine. I play rugby for the University of Malaga’s women’s team. We are one of 3 teams in Andalucia. The others are Sevilla and Granada. I stumbled upon the rugby team when I was looking for a Frisbee team, on Nora’s suggestion. Nora knew that sport’s teams are the best way to meet new people and get some exercise. Though Spanish people have [View Full Entry]

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La Diabla, that's Spanish for the she-devil, was smelling a little less than fresh this week, so we did the task all cat owners dread most: we gave the cat a bath. Though, in all honesty, I must admit that the normally ferocious Tea was more relaxed than other cats I've bathed. She only clawed me a little and didn't really freak out until I put her next to the space heater. She didn't know quite what to make of the big, scary white machine with metal grates and heat waves flowing out the top. Aren't cats the cutest when they're [View Full Entry]

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Ah...it was great to be back where a girl can get herself a cupcake and go line dancing even if it isn't the popular thing to do. Many thanks to the good people at Camp Erin & Amelia for their endless hospitality. When my flight landed at JFK, I decided to embrace the Brooklynite guts in me and get loud. So I headed to the taxi station and announced, "I'm going to Park Slope. Does anyone want to share a cab?" Now this might not sound like much of an effort, but in the 3 years I lived in Brooklyn I [View Full Entry]

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