Wedding!

This past weekend my cousin Amy got married! I posted some photos from the wedding after some some sailing pictures (obligatory this summer). After the 9-10 hour drive down there...departure time 6 am...we arrived in Jackson, Tennessee, Mom, Dad, Aunt Brenda, and I. We had to leave early from Fort Wayne so that I could get to the rehearsal dinner. Saturday we all hung out, ate lunch near the hotel, and got to the church early for photos. After watching the "I do's," and the reception, some of us camped out in the hotel lobby and visited over delivery pizza. Larry brought over Mauricio, a college student from Peru staying with Debra and Larry for the summer; it was nice to talk to someone a bit in Spanish after 3 weeks away. He did quite a good imitation of a Spanish accent from Spain; that tickled my funny bone. Sunday morning, not quite so bright and early, our car load headed back north, making pretty good time again. It was really good to see Kevin, Libby, Kyle and Mary Kate, whom I hadn't seen in a few years. I'm sorry to say that little Elijah probably stole the show during much of the time before and after the wedding. Or maybe not sorry. He's pretty cute, even when he's busy making "presents" for his parents.

Lake/Wedding

El sábado, se casó mi prima Amy. Colgué algunas fotos de la boda, aunque primero hay fotos de que sacó mi madre de mi padre y yo en barco de vela. Después de conducir 9-10 horas del norte de Indiana hasta el oeste de Tennessee habiendo salido de casa a las 6 de la mañana, llegamos al hotel en Jackson, Tennessee. Fuimos 4, mi tía Brenda, mi padre, madre, y yo. No me gustó salir tan temprano, pero había una cena el día antes de la boda a que estaba invitado. El sábado, pasamos la mañana con familia cerca del hotel y llegamos temprano a la iglesia para las fotos. Después de la ceremonia y la recepción, nos reunimos algunos en el vestíbulo del hotel y hablamos mientras comíamos pizza. Vino un estudiante de Perú que está viviendo con mis tíos durante el verano porque no podía ir a casa ni encontrar trabajo. Estaba bien hablar con alguién en español. Hizo una imitación buena del accento español. Me hizo gracia. Domingo por la mañana, no tan temprano como antes, entramos de mala gana en el coche otra vez para ir al norte. Me gustó mucho ver a mis tíos Kevin y Libby y mis primos Kyle y Mary Kate, quienes no había visto en unos años. Siento decir que el bebé Elijah (mi primo-segundo...después de primo, me confundo mucho) robó mucha atención antes y después de la boda. Bueno, quiza no lo siento tanto. Es muy precioso, aún cuando está haciendo "regalos" para sus padres. Eso no me molesta porque no es mi niño!

Zoo (figurative and literal)?

Got back fine from Madrid, though I did have to run to catch my flight from London to Chicago due to my previous flight's delay. Sonny picked me up from the airport, and not very long after, Linda, Sonny, and I went over to see baby Elijah, Kelly, and BJ. He's so cute!

Friday, the three of us headed up to Coldwater Lake to join others in celebrating the Fourth. (just joking about the family gathering being a zoo...it was pretty relaxing) It was good to see the family. Especially since I missed everyone at Christmas! I got some really good sailing in with Uncle Brad, making a good start to the weekend. And endured the good-natured question marathon from the rest of the family. :) Greg, Garret, Mariel, Doug, and Eric all came. Most people left Saturday, and Greg left Sunday morning. Monday afternoon Mom, Dad, and I took Colin up to Calvin to start his 6-week summer classes, the one that he's going over to Germany with. We heard from him; he's enjoying Bremen a lot and dreaming up travel plans for his one free weekend. Anyone know anything about Vienna?

Fourth of July

This past Friday, Mom, Dad, and I went to see the new African Safari exhibit at the zoo. It was very worthwhile. There were misty sprays at the beginning, which, apart from the animals, was a highlight on the hot day.

Fort Wayne Zoo

Back to the States

In less than 24 hours by the clock, and not much more in reality, I'll be in Chicago with Aunt Linda and her husband Sonny. It seems like a world so far away, yet each minute getting closer. The two worlds I've been living in have been becoming less separate than they used to be, even though it still usually feels as if I interrupt living in one to live in the other, at times they are continuous and each one continuously bleeds into the other. Anyway, tomorrow I'll be in Chicago. Friday I should be in Michigan with a lot of family to celebrate the Fourth of July, and after the holiday weekend, I'll be back in Fort Wayne. I'm looking forward to this summer seeing friends and family, almost three months spend before I head back to Madrid in September. I'll be seeing a lot of you soon!!

Last Day of School!

Two very important things have transpired:

Number 1: Today was my last day of work until September! Summer vacation...yay hooray. Now you know why I wanted to be a teacher. The kids' last day was Tuesday, and after spending three days grading papers, I'm done. I've got some pictures from our last day.









Number 2: I finally managed to make a Spanish omelette (tortilla) that didn't end up A) completely scrambled eggs, B) halfway scrambled eggs, or C) on the counter. Colin said it looks gross, but I promise it tasted good. Now if I can only do it again. Next task I suppose is learning to make paella. One thing at a time.

All in a day's work

Reading to first graders
Speaking through actions and then words
Cajoling 6 years olds to stay in their seats
Practicing "How old are you?" for the millionth time
(and finally hearing "I'm 7," instead of "I'm fine, thank you.") Yay!
Giving cranky kids a surprise
(Spraying water down necks of overheating students)
Singing "the head bone's connected to the...neck bone"
Playing memory
Catching imaginary pickpockets
Playing grammar soccer and learning why we shouldn't invite lizards to our house
Imagining new uses for chicken soup with rice (like watering roses)
Explaining new words
Reading poetry
Taking a lunch break in the park

I really do like my job.

Cuenca Pictures

I don't remember if I said, but everyone who went to Cuenca forgot their camera including me except the boys, so I have some pictures now. Actually, you get to see them faster than you would if I had to put them all online. I'm kinda slow.

Cuenca

Hanging Houses and Funny Rocks

After spending a relaxing Friday afternoon and evening at home, I awoke Saturday to early morning sunshine, full of energy and ready to spend the day walking around the historical city center of Cuenca, in Castilla la Mancha (a province beside Madrid), and a park in the mountains with curiously shaped rock formations. It's the last group outing before Kristen and I head back to the US, the last weekend when we could possibly do it. Six of us, in two cars, made the 2 hour trip to Cuenca together, the girls in one car and the boys in another. Before heading on foot to the old city, we stocked up on food for lunch and parked the cars below the city. Slowly, we winded up into the old city on a hill, that long ago expanded by building even onto the rock cliffs on one side of the hill. The architecture here is different than in Madrid, and in the main square that faces the cathedral, the houses are all painted different muted colors: dusty pink, yellow, rusty orange, slate blue, gray. From the main square, we climbed to a lookout and then wound down the hill, hugging the shady side of the street, to find the famous hanging houses, houses build into the rock wall of the mountain, with balconies hanging over the ravine. Everyone was so hot, we almost didn't go see the houses after getting a little lost. That would have been really disappointing, but at the end Kristen asked a couple dressed as if for a wedding for directions, and we found them without any problems.

Our next stop that day was the Enchanted City (Ciudad Encantada) which isn't a city at all. Rather, it's a place in the mountains where the wind has eroded the rocks in such a way that they look like strange things. Maybe reminiscent of the picture rocks in Illinois or some rock formations out west. We ate lunch amongst the prickly plants and pine cones, played some games of UNO while trying to wait out the hottest part of the day (impossible!), and then walked through the park, awed by what we saw. God makes such wonderful things! I drank more hot water that day than ever, though not quite enough. We were probably all dehydrated, though still enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. Before heading to our homes, we stopped to get a drink and a tapa in Alcala, and I'm sure that all of us arrived at home completely exhausted, but contented.