Spring is on it's way!

Ahhh, finally the soon-to-arrive spring sun is peaking its bright eyes over the mountain tops assuring me that Sunny Spain is still here! Of course I can measure that in other ways as well…for example knowing that in a half hour, not only will I have fresh air dried sheets and towels, but they will also be wonderfully scented with the musky odor of cow or sheep or goat dung that seems to permeate the air here as of late!! My neighbors have some goats, or sheep, in their back yard. I don´t know which neighbors, but the sound of their baaaah-ing is too close to be coming from the pasture around the bend (no, not my neighbors baahhing but their choice of domestic pets!!).

Cultural Curiosities
I suppose with the spring time weather coming, I will not see one of my favorite “images” of Spanish life… that of the housewife, clad in her fur coat, walking to the local grocery store dragging her shopping cart behind her down the cobblestoned streets here in El Espinar. It is just such an ironic image, but so common here. In the states, the fur coat clad women are the ones stepping out of luxury cars as they attend the orchestra, opera, theater, or myriad of charity balls in the big city. Horrors should they ever be spotted lugging a very utilitarian shopping cart (not the metal Acme variety…these are isothermal upright rectangular boxes on two wheels) in their $15,000 fur coat! Just imagine the scene, the petite Spanish housewife with her huge fur coat, shoving her way into the already crowded pescadería (fish shop), greeting every other housewife on a first name basis, asking the fishman how fresh the fish is, and which is the catch of the day and asking who is last “in line” all in the same breath. Actually, I try not to breathe too hard in the fish shop...if you know what I mean!!!

The “in line” concept here in Spain is quite a unique and democratic one. When you first walk into the frutería (green grocer), pescadería (see above), carnicería (butcher), panadería (bread shop), you think that pure pandemonium exists. A gaggle of women all haggling over prices, talking about what their children are doing these days, how bad the snow is, how warm their house is...yaddah yaddah yaddah...What you don´t see is a line which indicates order of service (only the super and hyper markets use a numbered ticket system). However, everyone knows when it´s her turn. As each newcomer walks in, she asks (or shouts as need be) “who´s last?”... the last person identifies herself and so be it. Each person just keeps an eye out for the previous person to be served and voilà. Simple, democratic and orderly...despite appearances. I was really intimidated by these shops when I first got here ... until I learned the social rule.

Nowadays, Ángel and I are the modern Spanish couple, DINKS (I don´t think a term exists in Spainsh)... you know ... dual income no kids ... with both of us working, I don´t have the chance to go to the local shops as often, and we resort to doing our weekly shopping in the craziness of the hypermarkets such as Carrefour. Of course these hypermarkets are located in large commercial centers and navegating these immense stores is like navegating the King of Prussia Mall three days before Christmas. Yes, you get my drift. And of course, since we both work during the week, we really can only go on Saturdays since Sundays practically everything is closed. Here in Spain, grocery shopping is a family affair…Mom and Dad, the two screaming tykes (thankfully the Spaniards have given up on having the traditionally large Catholic family with 5+ kids) and quite frequently the grandparents too. Carrefour has kiddie sized carts to keep ´em busy...you often see the kids zipping up and down the isles with these tiny carts piled high with all the junkfood that they´ll convince Mom and Dad to buy. I just wonder how they all fit into the darned tiny cars here.

Multiculturalism ála Spain
So Ángel and I went out to eat yesterday in a Chinese restaurant. You know, something different than the octopus, squid and pork routine. It was the third or fourth time that we have been to one since I moved across the Atlantic. Here is a fascinating fact...fortune cookies are not served in Chinese restaurants here in Spain. In fact, they don´t even know what the heck I am talking about as I try to describe them. At first I thought it was simply a misunderstanding between my English-Spanish and their Chinese-Spanish...but nope. Not one single Chinese restaurant serves fortune cookies. So, then who started the Fortune Cookie Factory in Chinatown in Philadelphia?? Hmmmm... Have I been duped my whole life into thinking that those fortune cookies were really the wisdom of Confuscius? I´m so confused by Confuscius. Here the custom is to serve an after dinner liqueur with the bill, not fortune cookies. I kinda like this custom better!!

Of course, as the Chinese waiter and I struggle to have our profound conversation about the lack of Chinese fortune cookies in the Spanish-Chinese restaurants, Ángel pipes in with “Becky, why are you surprised, didn´t you know that they don´t even have Chinese restaurants in China”...oh the ever-funny-one that Ángel. I say, “yeah, ha ha ha!” and he then starts another profound conversation with our totally confused waiter about the lack of Chinese restaurants in China. And the kicker is that it´s true!! There are no Chinese restaurants, as we know them, in China. Oh the funny things that I learn here!

Learning English in Spain
We are deep in the throes of doing market research for our “English Academy”. I have gone on several job interviews here with other language schools for a variety of positions…everything from sales and marketing to English teacher to monitor to director of studies. I am not seriously interested in these positions, just seriously interested in knowing what the future competition does, what it charges, how its instructional method is formatted etc. Ángel, on the other hand is doing research on the actual English classes themselves. I can´t exactly call Wall Street Institute (a franchised English school here) and ask them to set me up with English classes, but Ángel sure can. So, methodically he has been calling around to various English schools and programs and gathering pricing plans and other information as well. Gosh, what a team we are!! I feel like such a spy!! English is a highly demanded language here, and even moreso if you are a native speaker/teacher (that´s where I will come in for our future business). Native speakers of English flock to Spain and post signs for private English classes as a way to pay their vacation, travels, bills, etc. Angel took one of those signs the other day that announced “clases de inglés, profesor nativo” (do I really have to translate that?) and called the number that appeared at the bottom of the flyer. When the phone was answered Ángel started to speak in Spanish asking questions about the class. The funniest thing happened...the person said (this much Ángel could understand in his limited English), “I´m sorry, I don´t speak Spanish, do you speak English?”. So Ángel, in his halting English said, “no (you idiot) that´s why I am calling you. To get English classes”... Now, THAT is a classic!

Survey of the month…
I like asking these survey questions, although not all of you like answering them! (hee hee). I feel that I learn so much more about my friends, family, and acquaintances…so thanks for sharing with me (and the rest of the folks)! Survey Question #3: Here in Spain, bilingual education is the direction of the future, particularly with the ongoing development of the European Union. Children learn English (mandatory) in school now at the age of 8, with serious discussions of lowering that age to 6. They have the option to learn a third language a little later on in their schooling. Do you think the United States (or your country) should encourage bilingual education? Why or why not? If so, which do you think should be the second language taught in schools?

Survey question #2: If you had the chance to "start your life over again", what would you do differently? Where would you live? How would your life be different/same? Dare to dream!

Responses:
Overall, as far as places go, I might have gone away to college in a different state - maybe somewhere in CA or Boston. I may have chosen to become a detective or FBI psychological profiler (God knows I have enough experience with psychos!). As for people, I would have trusted my initial instincts/gut feelings more and probably saved myself a lot of wasted energy/time in wrong relationships. But I still hope whatever path I took in life that I would have had the good fortune to have still met the great group of friends I have now!

I feel as if I have had the chance to start a new life in the past few years. Marriage and Motherhood are a far cry from the career-driven, 60 plus hour a week worker I was. I recently took the plunge from being a full-time executive to being a full-time Mom and part-time consultant. What a change, talk about developing new time management skills! Juggling career, kid, husband, home, family and friends is quite an act! If I could change anything I think I would see my friends more often. Sometimes I really miss those care free days where the biggest worry I had was choosing which outfits to take on a last minute weekend at the shore house, or who fighting it out over who is going to drive. But other than that I don't think I'd change a thing. (Okay, I did kind of always have a fantasy about being a singer in a band, and have men throwing themselves at me because I am so beautiful and talented!)

In response to your survey question, I would have gone far, far away for college (I didn't realize when I was 18 how much I would regret staying local later on) and would have studied abroad, probably in Italy. I didn't respond to last month's question, but I agree wholeheartedly with one of the responses, if we cannot use the damn metric system when the rest of the world is doing it, how could we possibly handle a change in currency?

I would live in the South of France, maybe Aix. I love the charm of the towns in the South of France. I would work in a medium size bookstore that has a cafe, and would coordinate special events for the bookstore. This is a 180 from where I work now in a large corporation. I would want a large apartment in the heart of the town with blue shutters and flower boxes of course!