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A delicious bottle of wine

We had this bottle of Spanish wine with dinner. Well, actually E and FIL. I just took a few sips from E's glass (and am still sipping). It's only retailing at Euro 5.95 at the moment. I think it could justify a higher price. It taste rich, fruity and smooth and has a nice finish. Nice smell - similar to its taste. The grapes are Syrah, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. The producer is Oller del Mas from the region Pla De Bages. It's apparently produced in an ecologically friendly way. We (E and I) will likely finish the bottle as it's bloody good (and I'm not preggers*).

We are departing tomorrow at 4am! I'm sooooooooooooo 100x looking forward to having my own space again. YAY.

 [*I thought I could surprisingly be, just because of my expanding tummy but I've checked and confirmed that I'm not - my tummy is just a fcuking lot bigger because of my multi-course luncheons and 10pm dinners] 

 

A few Yays

An update further to my earlier post re: red + white bikes: I've seen many more people using them around town. I think it's a great effort by the people who thought about it and the city administrators who agreed to go along with it. I'm all for biking vs. driving in the city and saying yay to Zaragoza bikes in the same way the character Stacy does in Drop Dead Diva. Yay! 

We have started packing:  E's brother has given him for Christmas, a wardrobe of new-ish clothes to bring back home to Swizzer. All very well except that E's bag can no longer accomodate my two pair of boots. The boots are too bulky for my medium sized luggage (yes, it is also padded with pressies). Thankfully, we have solved this problem by purchasing the right to check in an additional bag. I am relief. Yay to budget airlines and the flexibility they afford.

I'm continuing to work on my term paper:  Pounding the keyboards in PIL's kitchen trying to tie everything I gleaned from the interviews together with the theoretical background (Yay?) having successfully excused myself from another night out at a tapas bar with E's Spanish speaking friends (Yay!). This morning, E and I had a meeting with another army doctor who served in North Afghanistan to get some colour on the conditions there. She brought along pictures which looked like they were pinched from National Geography. 

 

On identical twins

discovered via http://www.susannahconway.com/

Spellbinding Portraits of Identical Twins - My Modern Metropolis

Talk about uncanny! New York-based photographer Martin Schoeller (who you remember from here) recently took photographs of identical twins for an interesting National Geographic story. The intricate details of the photographs, caught by Schoeller's professional camera, exposes every detail of the subjects' faces. By putting portraits of twins side by side, it's easy to see how remarkably similar the two faces look. In fact, it's sometimes hard to tell one from the other!

via www.mymodernmet.com

 

A few things that keep me busy (sane)

(Kitchen wall, Students House)

I think I've mentioned here before, in my basket ball/cheerleaders related post that although I can now understand some Spanish (when people speak slowly)(usually for my benefit), I can't speak it ('yet', I would add, on the days I'm feeling  more optimistic). Hence, going out meeting people, or even staying in with PIL requires effort.

On some days, making an effort or understanding conversation is not enough. It could be the the cumulative affect, or my feeling of exclusion. The latter could be due to several reasons and include: my inability to speak/participate, being with others who are simply uninterested in me, E not being able to translate because everyone is talking at the same time or just forgetting to do it. Whatever it is - it's totally crap and makes me want to do a few or all of the following depending on how progressive I'm feeling:

(1) Stand up, shake my fist and shout "Enough!" and storm off 

(2) Scratch and prick the sofa (secretly)

(3) Be diligent about learning Spanish so I can speak it fluently (and while I'm at it -German and French too)

Anyhow, today was such a day. What I did do instead was to have a strop, go out for an hours walk by myself which led to a shopping spree at a German home furnishing store where I bought a few pastel coloured table mats and kitchen cloths for our new apartment.

It's not all bad. Sometimes, the conversations are totally in accordance to my interests and wishes. For example, this morning we had a second meeting with a medical doctor who had served in Afghanistan just talking about the ongoing conflict resolution efforts there. This came about after I had mentioned to FIL and E that I planned to do a case-study for my term paper and couldn't decide on Iraq, Afghanistan or the Middle East. FIL got in touch with a medical doctor he knew and I had an appointment with E acting as translator.

It's nice to be distracted or kept sane by my work AND have a furnishing shop nearby selling lovely things.  

 

Capitulating

Yet another Tapas Bar 

 

Ok, I'm admitting defeat ... putting on weight NOW during Christmas, New Year, 3 Kings is inevitable when I'm with my new husband's parents, aunt, cousins, extended family and school friends. Goodbye weight loss; hello Chipmunk Cheeks.

Yeyse folks... I'm really crashing under pressure here and try as I might it's so hard to say no for the umpteenth time when we are out and about seeing or visiting E's cousins, old colleagues, old school friends, LE's uncle, all the people we have been meeting and not eat the food that's served specifically on my plate by Aunt C. 

I'm so relief and happy to have only a few days left here. Spain and Spaniards, I truly love you, but I have to say, I'm severely tested now that I'm married to a Spanish hombre.

Argh to the pressure of eating and drinking!

 

El Parque

I went for a run at the parque again this morning. This time, I brought my iphone so that I can take some pictures to show you how lovely it is. It is still a surprise to me - how unassuming the park sits, just 10 minutes away from here, behind the yellow and grey gates and walls. I've passed by the park at least twice, unknowingly, only seeing the bustling traffic at the roundabout opposite the park instead. 

Around El Tubo

 

Pictures - Red

A bar in the old town: The view from the 1st floor of a Algo Mas, a bar in El Tubo where I was waiting. We ate tapas and drank wine at this bar (amongst others) on the afternoon of New Year's Eve with E's mates and their mates. A couple had brought along their 3 years old twins: one wore a scarf with red stripes and the other, blue stripes. This reminded me of G and I - growing up with our favourite colours: blue (G's) and red (mine). We still like the same colours -although these days I'm more partial to orange vs. red and like pink as much as red. 

 

 

Bicycles for rent: I didn't see as many bicycles (on stands, for rent) around the city last year as I do now (although in the two + weeks here, I've seen only one person inserting coins into the machine and taking a bike. It was a young-ish lady and she had multiple bags of groceries).  There are also more bike lanes, as well as pedestrian lanes next to the new tram lines at the expense of roads for cars. E thinks it's a bad idea to convert roads into pedestrian lanes, making it just impossible to drive around the city; I like pedestrian friendly cities and have counter argued him based on my biases, even though I don't know which side I would really support if I was living here. 

 

 

A random fire truck: E and FIL went into the government office in Huesca to sort out some stuff. I initially stayed in the car fiddling my iphone (deleting contacts I hardly talk to) reluctant to take a step outside as it was cold and windy.  But ended up joining E and FIL when they waved to me. I took this picture on the way into the government office. The latter reminded me of a typical department in the city where I grew up (i.e. only one person serving many people -  many years ago - I suspect it is not the case now). Incidentally, the Bahasa word for "Bomberos" is "Bomba".

Oh - To be fit

I don't know whether you've noticed from my previous postings - Luncheons are BIG affairs here with the E's family. Meals during festive occasions are especially elaborate, involving many (and I mean many, many, many) different courses including pre-appetisers (like in the picture above) and numerous bottles of (Spanish) wine.

Last year, I didn't dare to say "gracias, no"  too many times, especially to E's Tia C and Madre who are zealous cooks, so  I ended up feeling overwhelmed and a good few pounds heavier (90% of them piled on my cheeks). This year, I'm more prepared -saying no to generous portions (having practised saying "no" at least 10x a day before we came here, in front of the miror and accompanied by a picture of E's Tia C).

I've also been much more mindful about marginal enjoyment from consumption, stopping before I feel full (even if it means leaving stuff on my plate) and going out for walks outside in the cold even when everyone else is having a siesta or watching television in the warmth of the casa. Of course - you also know about my new party trick:  to swap a glass of vino or G&T for agua con gas and choose tapas with the least amount of carbs whenever possible (harder to avoid the fried tapas).

I've not been able to do this all the time - and especially not during Christmas/New Years eve and day but this is inevitable I think.  An unexpected and big challenge for me this year is to decline the after lunch-tray of turon which typically comes with coffee. All sorts of yummy flavours - chocolate, almond, pine nuts, caramel. All calling out to be tasted. 

I don't know whether I've avoided putting on weight these past few weeks here. I do know that I'm doing generally well given the many temptations and pressure from the various family and social events. This morning, I went out for an an hour's jog - discovering the nearby park which E's family have mentioned a number of times. It was very pleasant and I plan to repeat the experience in the coming days. I'm turning 40 in two weeks time and one of my goals for 40/2012 is to be as fit as possible.

4th attempt - More tapas from 2011

I've been trying to post here more pictures I took from my iphone relating to the different tapas we had during the last few days of 2011. They have all been unsuccessfully (as you've no doubt noticed). Aside from the usual problem with the app on iphone (which refuses to upload the pictures), LE has also been diligently helping me to  type whenever he sees me here with the lap top. Random "hsdNSGDFhsdikkkkfggg" is fine. Its the "Esc" which creates trouble. 

P.s. Yes, LE is back with us... and we are D.E.L.I.G.H.T.E.D.