Allie in the South of Spain

Our small casa for a few days Jose, Cooper and I spent the last few days at a casa rural in the Sierra of Huelva. Basically a casa rural is a big house or farm that has been converted into a type of rustic hotel where people can spend time in areas outside of cities (alternative tourism). It is a place where you can get away and enjoy nature, similar to camping but with better amenities. Usually instead of just having a room you end up staying in a small house with basic installations like a chimney and kitchen. This casa rural (Puerto Pe ñ as) was what I suspect may have been an old children's camp since besides having lots of what appeared to be converted bunkhouses, it also had an old basketball court, soccer field, fire pits and swimming pool. Now it is made up of quite a few different, separate houses, a main restaurant, new swimming pool, small animal farm and hiking trails. It was a really nice place to stay. The Aroche pueblo This is the second time we have visit...

After last year's 3 King Parade Since I will be spending another holiday season here in Spain, I have decided to do a series of posts about holiday traditions that are important when celebrating. Some of them are similar to those back home, others are quite different. I hope you enjoy learning a bit about what we do here to celebrate the season! The Three Wisemen The Three Wisemen, The Magic Kings, The Three Kings of the Orient, The Magi, whatever you want to call them, these three guys are Spain´s equivalent to Santa Claus. They bring children toys on the night of January 5th which coincides with when the Wisemen arrived to meet the baby Jesus, bringing gifts.  Instead of reindeer, these dudes have magic camels, so children are sure to leave them water and carrots. They (the Kings, not the camels) also have names: Baltasar, Melchor and Gaspar and people tend to have a favorite. Children write to the Kings to ask for gifts and they know that if they are bad, they won´...

This year instead of making a bunch of resolutions that I knew I would end up forgetting or quitting quickly after the end of January, I decided to make a one word themed resolution and chose for 2013 CREATE. I wrote about it originally here .  My initial goals were simple: 1. I would like to  create  a home here in Spain that I am excited to live in and that people will enjoy visiting. 2. I am going to  create  more friendships here in Spain. 3. I love writing and would like to  create  some more projects this year.  Recap : Create project 1: I think that we did well with making our apartment into a place that we really enjoy living. It has taken us the better part of the year to complete all of the tasks but I think it has come a long way. We are really happy with the home we have created. So I would say that we definitely accomplished this CREATE goal. You can find all the updates on our apartment projects under the Nesting and N...

Since I will be spending another holiday season here in Spain, I have decided to do a series of posts about holiday traditions that are important when celebrating. Some of them are similar to those back home, others are quite different. I hope you enjoy learning a bit about what we do here to celebrate the season! English team Company parties Admittedly company Christmas parties probably happen all over the world. But they are especially important here in Spain. I think this is a really nice thing that companies do for their employees, usually offering a lunch or dinner as a time to celebrate the season.  Both of the places that Jose and I work had a Christmas party this year (Jose's allowed spouses while mine did not). I had a really nice time at both events. At left you can see Jose with a few of his co-workers, all part of the English team. We are really lucky that not only are they great, but their wives are as well! It means we always have a great time together. M...

Eating grapes in Salamanca a few years ago Since I will be spending another holiday season here in Spain, I have decided to do a series of posts about holiday traditions that are important when celebrating. Some of them are similar to those back home, others are quite different. I hope you enjoy learning a bit about what we do here to celebrate the season! Grapes at New Year's I have probably mentioned this before but one of the big traditions here in Spain on New Year´s Eve is the eating of 12 grapes. The idea is that as the clock strikes midnight you have to eat a grape for each chime. It is a race to make sure you finish your 12 grapes before the New Year begins because it is thought to bring you good luck.  Jose and I incorporated this tradition into our wedding as we gave our guests 12 grapes to eat the next evening (since we were married on the 30th of December). This was our small favor with an explanation as well (so people didn´t think we were crazy)....

Since I will be spending another holiday season here in Spain, I have decided to do a series of posts about holiday traditions that are important when celebrating. Some of them are similar to those back home, others are quite different. I hope you enjoy learning a bit about what we do here to celebrate the season! Nativity Scenes Though Spanish folks do tend to put up Christmas trees, the main decorating focus during the holidays is usually on their Nativity scenes (called a belen) which can be quite intricate and beautiful with all kinds of figures, animals, buildings etc. Of course the scene centers on the birth of Jesus so they must include Mary, Joseph and the 3 Wisemen but really the sky's the limit on what you can add to your scene.  There is even a Belen Festival here in Seville right next to the Cathedral during December where people go to add to their collections. Below you can see a picture of just a few of the stands you can browse looking for that perfect add...

Since I will be spending another holiday season here in Spain, I have decided to do a series of posts about holiday traditions that are important when celebrating. Some of them are similar to those back home, others are quite different. I hope you enjoy learning a bit about what we do here to celebrate the season! Christmas Lottery Each year here throughout Spain there is a big nation-wide lottery draw on the 22nd of December. Throughout the weeks before Christmas people buy tickets which are called "decimos" because the number is actually repeated on 10 different tickets. If your number wins you actually share the winnings with the other people who have the same series as you. For me it is a bit confusing how the money gets divided but since we never win, it doesn't end up being that important. On the 22nd there is a big ceremony in which they pick the numbers. It is an entire production shown on the television which includes children (who train for a long...