1. DECISIONS- made in Spain April 2008 Why should a “Gap Year” be the prerogative of the young? The idea of a Gap Year is to have a break between the world of study and the world of work; in other words, between university and career. Well I never got the chance to do that. Therefore, a gap between the world of work and retirement seems thoroughly appropriate. With this in mind I’m starting to plan a trip around the world to gentle myself in to the strange concept of not having to get up on Monday mornings to start the [View Full Entry]

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Everything is really going great so far. Day one we left valencia, and motored our way out to sea. at around 2 we put up the sail and motor sailed our way to denia. the wind never really picked up enough to just sail, but it was nice to get a feel for how to raise and lower the sail and what its like using it. we parked in denia for the night, i made fajitas for the crew and we had a pleasant evening. the next day we left at around 8am and motor our way around the head land [View Full Entry]

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the planned departure date is tomorrow morning at around 8am. thus this was my last nite at the hostel for this evening ill be sleeping on the boat itself to make for and early escape. im really excited for this chance to learn from some truley seasoned sailors. sailing is something ive had on my list of things to learn, if not only for the day when the great flood returns, this time less by gods wrath and more by global warming. this morning im attempting to lighten the load of my pack, so as its size may condense as well. [View Full Entry]

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The hair needed to go as well! [View Full Entry]

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This past weekend was another adventure! The fam and I drove for four hours on Thursday night to a Mediterranean town called Denia, near Valencia. The drive alone was beautiful, especially at night, seeing Valencia all lit up and tucked away in mountains. We arrived at The Marriot which is a vvvvery nice five-star hotel. Rafa and family and friends have an annual golf tournament, so I met about eight other families upon our arrival! "My" family is ALWAYS with other people so there's never a dull moment. I was pleasantly surprised to meet a girl my age, named Yasmin, who [View Full Entry]

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Ok heres the story. ive taken a position. i wont describe it as a job because the is no monetary compensation. Ive joinded the crew of a sailboat headed from valencia, spain around gibralter, up through portugal, past france and over to the UK. its a long trip, and may take as long as a month to make. the real highlights are free room and board while on the boat, a free boat tour up the atlantic coast, and free sailing instruction from the mechanics, helming, and navigating. Who knows what else might come of it. We set sail on friday, [View Full Entry]

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Here's several pictures from excursions or things we've seen here in Valencia!! - PSOE (socialist government) headquarters - Generalitat de Valencia (conservative government headquarters) - Basque (a northern region of Spain) Pinchos (aka "tapas") - compliments of Dr. Snell. They were delicious! - Visit to Mestalla, the Valencian futbol club stadium. Soccer is HUGE here. GO SPAIN IN THE EUROCUP!!!!!!!!!!! - Flamenco (minus the dancer in the cool dress) [View Full Entry]

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The bio kids took our last research excursion to Les Rotes and Denia Beach. The beach was fantastic, with rocky shores and a few cliffs falling straight down to the sea. But the real question is: was this trip project or play...or both? To summarize, my partner and I researched algae zonation. We spent several hours crawling around rocks and snorkeling in water to learn about algae. (fun stuff...hehe. At one point, a crab grabbed my measuring tape and tried to escape down its hole. Luckily, I saved the tape!) After that, we hiked and rock-climbed (literally) to a cave, visited [View Full Entry]

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There are two interesting things to talk about in this blog, the first involves, dogs, ex-druggies and bonsai....and the second, my grandma (oma) coming to visit us in a tiny village in Valencia! Mario and I have been lucky enough to get to travel together around Spain because of his work with Bonsai. We left Alicante for one week to go to Valencia. We were given an apartment in a tiny town called La Pobla Llarga close to the place where Mario would be working. We were very surprised when we were first taken to the huge complex. Not only did [View Full Entry]

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Desde Madrid, la ruta más corta y con menos tráfico es: N-II-Madrid-Alcolea-Monrreal del Campo-Teruel-Sarrion-Montanejos-Zucaina-Ludiente. LUDIENTE - BARRANCO DEL MANZANO (21/6) La noche anterior acampamos en Fuente Los Ignacios, entre los kms 14 y 15 antes de llegar a Ludiente. Hicimos la aproximación al barranco con 2 coches. Uno lo dejamos en el km 15 al lado de un cartel que pone "Termino de Ludiente" y el otro en Mas de Vicenta, cerca de la entrada al barranco. Es un barranco de gran belleza. En esta época lleva abundante agua debido a las intensas lluvias que han caido en los últimos días. [View Full Entry]

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