Life of Recent

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Hello to all of my favorite people out there 😊 It's starting to cool off here in Adra. Most days it has been in the low 60's. It won't get much worse than that. In the "winter" we'll see temperatures in the low 50's. It's so terrible I can barely stand it! I'm actually welcoming the cold because I'm about ready for a wardrobe change.

So, it's been absolutely wonderful to have all of the skype dates that I've had the past two weeks! They are very much appreciated and often are the highlights of my day. Let me know when you want your next date 😉
Have I mentioned that I have loads of free time? Well, not loads, but a lot more than I've had in a long, long time. I've been cooking and baking more than anything. It's fun to make things from scratch for once. Some of the things I've made are nothing new...some of them are things that could have been made from a mix (I'm saving money!) or just something that you can't find in Spain. This is a sample list of some of the things that I've tried lately: cornbread, stuffed eggplants, pancakes, mashed potatoes, chimichurri marinated chicken breast, fudge brownies, real empanadas (as in argentina)...Today I made my very own bolognese spaghetti sauce...I slow cooked it for 4 hours! It turned out to be delicious 😊

Marga, the English department coordinator of my school has been a huge part of my life here in Spain. The weekend after my time in the hospital, Marga invited me to come to her father's house in the country for the holidays. Some people here celebrated Halloween, but the biggest holiday was All Saints Day. Somewhere around 15 of us gathered at the cottage of Marga's father in Alcutar. It's an adorable town that shows almost no evidence of being touched by this century. Alcutar has long, steep, windy roads, apartment buildings with balconies, lanterns...even herds of sheep that delayed trick'r treating! It's set in the mountains right next to the Sierra Nevada National Park. Everyone brought food and board games for the festivities. There were only 3 beds, so a lot of us slept on the floor. It was a weekend full of delicious food, fun, and great familial company. Saturday night we joined the entire town at the townhall..there, of course, was a full bar, stocked with jamon, live music, and all of the chestnuts one could eat. Sunday, as tradition goes, we went to the surrounding national park and collected chestnuts, which we later roasted over the fire. It was a great time. That night we came back to Adra. Late Monday morning (no school!) I had breakfast with Marga and her nephew Daniel. We had churros and hot cocoa! What a breakfast (um dessert!). Apparently (and I agree) churros y chocolate is a must have on a holiday morning. Later that day we went to Vera to take Daniel home...the complete opposite direction of Alcutar! The surrounding area is a tourist destination, so it was great to get to see another part of Andalucia (the province that I live in).

Private classes are going great. I've given Agustin classes for 2 weeks now and I also have classes with 2 sixth graders once a week. This week I will start giving a woman named Angeles classes 3 or 4 times a week. Things are starting to get busy!

There are more things to tell...like my funfilled weekend in Marbella! That was last weekend...Did you know that Antonio Banderas among many other stars and important people have houses there? The best thing about Marga's family is that she has 3 nephews and a niece that are around my age. All of them live in different cities, which means I have lots of places to visit! I promise to write more soon, but for now, it's midnight and I need to go to bed. Until next time!

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Photos

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Marga and I

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Beautiful Sunday Scenery

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Collecting Chestnuts

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The Cottage

Comments

[anonymous]

oh mon chou :-) it sounds like u're having a blast getting to visit all these places..and im learning more about Spain each time i hear from u..love it :-) looking forward to ur nxt entry..miss u loadz..oh, and i need to make one of those skype dates soon..wats ur skype name?

[Aunt BeBe and Uncle Rob]

So Happy for You!
Katie, I love reading your blog and keeping in touch with your exciting life. We couldn't be prouder of you if you were our very own daughter. Thank you for sharing and we are so blessed to have you in our lives. Love, hugs and kisses Aunt BeBe and Uncle Rob