Life in Spain

Mom, Gregg, and Zach visit!

2008-05-03T03:30:00.001-07:00

In April, Mom, Gregg, and Zach came to visit us for almost a week. We got to do a lot of different things with them. We went to a beach on the Costa Brava called Blanes and saw the beautiful Marimurtra botanical gardens. We went to all of the sites in the city like Montjuic, Parc Guell, Sagrada Familia, and la Rambla, and we also took Zach to a soccer game! It was a fun week, and we were sad to see them go. They were our last visitors for the rest of the season here.

Easter with Flo and Eva

2008-05-02T13:41:00.000-07:00

After a week with Dad, Karen, and Lindsey, we had some more visitors! Flo and Eva flew from Germany to spend a long weekend with us. We had a lot of fun taking them through the city. Eva and I went shopping, and we all went to dinner at the Hardrock Cafe. We got to go to Tibidabo - which is the highest point in Barcelona. It is a moutain with a big cathedral on top with a huge statue of Jesus on top overlooking the city. There is also an amusement park on top of the mountain! We spent Easter walking on the beach and having desserts at one of our favorite restaurants. We missed seeing our families, but it was really nice to have friends with us for the holiday.

Tibidabo----------------------

Montserrat with Dad, Karen, and Linds

2008-04-25T15:55:00.001-07:00

A gandola going up the mountain (the tiny yellow dot!)

We took a little road trip to Montserrat (Jagged Mountain), a big mountain with a convent on the top. To get to the top we road a gandola that went really high (and was definitely a little scary. The buildings and view on the mountain are pretty, and it was definitely worth the trip.

Dad, Karen, and Lindsey visit!

2008-04-25T15:39:00.001-07:00

Us on top of Montjuic & Chris and me in a dwarf hole

Lindsey, Naima, and me at Sutton

They came to visit us for a week , so look above to see all of the different places we went to together!

Our first FCBarcelona game

2008-04-25T15:30:00.000-07:00

Ivana got us tickets to go to the soccer game, so we finally got to see one. We had great seats close to the field and Barcelona won, so it couldn't have been better!

Trip to Seville

2008-04-25T13:35:00.000-07:00

The girls finally got to go to a road game! Once a year the team arranges for all of the wives/girlfriends to go on a trip with the guys, so we got to go to Seville with the team in the first week of March. The weather was amazing - 80 degrees the whole time (in March)! The guys won their game so we had a fun night out to dinner and in the city, and the next two days we spent our time doing tourist stuff and seeing the city. We both thought Seville was by far one of the best cities we have seen. There are so many pretty things to see, and the weather is great - although summer might not be so fun if it is that hot. We saw the Cathedral, a royal palace, Placa Espana, and the bull fighting ring. The Cathedral is one of the largest in the world and is really beautiful. It was definitely a nice trip and good to get away from Barcelona for a little bit.

Fun with friends at Sutton

2008-02-11T11:16:00.001-08:00

After the game this weekend we went out with some of the teammates and my friend Szilvia who I used to work with. She and I still keep in touch even though we do not work together anymore, and she was finally able to come to a game with me. She is from Hungary, but moved to Barcelona to get some work experience. We have learned a lot from each other about our different cultures, and I have also learned I speak way too fast for non-native english speakers!!! We always have fun together though!

A close game!

2008-02-11T10:31:00.000-08:00

This weekend we had a home game against a pretty good team. The score was close the whole game! We went in to overtime and were still close, but just seemed to lose the edge we had. Overall, the team played a lot better than some games in the past. They did a much better job of getting the ball in to Chris. He had one of his best games since we have been here with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and two dunks! Unfortunately we just couldn't win it though. It was a great game to watch though, and the atmosphere in the gym is crazy when it gets close!

My new job is going well so far. My boss is really nice and fun. We hired three people in my first two weeks, so that's a good start anyway! Unfortunately this week was a little slow though. We are hoping to hire ten people together in my first month, so 7 more to go. I get to see Chris a lot more, because I now usually work evenings when he is at practice as that is a better time to call candidates when they are home from work and available to interview. We are now hiring people for companies in Valencia, Barcelona, and in Costa Rica, so we have a little more to do.

A day at the park

2008-02-11T10:12:00.001-08:00

We had a day without work or practice and wanted to find something new to do in the city. We decided to test out a new park we read about in our Barcelona books. It is called the Industrial park, because it used to be a big industrial site and they changed it in to a big park. They made a lake and added lots of other things to make it nice. The best part is a huge steel sculpture that has two big slides coming out of it. So of course we tested the slides out, and they are actually really fast! It was a nice place to relax in the middle of the city.

A Weekend Away

2008-02-10T11:32:00.000-08:00

This weekend Chris had a vacation so we decided to take a little trip together. We heard about this spa called Caldea that everyone said is really great. It is in the little country of Andorra in the Pyrenees mountains between Spain and France. So we spent the weekend in a big ski town. We had a lot of fun at the spa and on the way home, we decided to take the long way home over the mountains so that we could really see them. Our car barely made it, but we drove all the way to the top - 7,890 feet high! We finally got to see lots of snow and big ski slopes, much different than Barcelona! It was really pretty and nice to finally get out of the city and see some more places.

Chris taking a shot!

The home game last weekend against a team from nearby Barcelona was an exciting close one, but we won 68-55! Chris had a decent game with 9 points, 6 rebounds, and a nice block. He got the ball more and was able to take some more shots, but he just wasn't making as many as he hoped he would. Now that the team is finally getting the ball in to him, things will get better for sure.

Life after the Holidays

2008-01-14T04:36:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since we updated this so here it goes...

Things are going well for us. I am still working at my new job - well I guess it has been two months now almost. I like it, but the hour and a half travel time really gets me! I am still keeping my eyes out for new jobs closer to home.

We had a great Christmas in the US although it was much shorter than we would have liked. We wish we could have went to a BU game and caught up with some more people, but there was nowhere near enough time! After Christmas we went to Germany for three days to spend New Years there. We had a lot of fun catching up with some of Chris's friends and family there.

Basketball wise things are still going okay. The team is not winning very much, but Chris has been doing fairly well. He fouled out in the last two games, with of course at least two fouls each time that were nonexistent. The refs were awful! The first few games they were actually okay, but we just had bad luck the last two I guess. But aside from that, he is playing well and finally getting the ball more so he can take some shots. I think now that the team trusts him more and realizes he can shoot, they are finally giving him more passes. You can see the most recent boxscore and team rankings if you go to http://www.feb.es/Pasarela/MostrarPasarela.aspx?Tipo=Resultados&g=2&t=2007 This weekend is a home game against another team that is almost tied with us, so it is an important one. This is the last game in the first round of games. We are almost last in the ranking, but there is still a chance to improve that in the second half of the season!

This weekend we are going to our first Barcelona Soccer game. We have never been able to make it yet with the games always being at bad times for us. I know Chris is really excited to finally go, he has been wanting to for a long time.

CB Prat wins first home game with Chris!

2007-12-05T03:31:00.000-08:00

This weekend was Chris's first home game with his new team. I went to the gym early to take his passport and was met by some of the administrators. They were all very nice and excited for the game. The gym is only a ten minute walk away! It is small, but it was packed and the atmosphere was still exciting! Chris played over 30 minutes and did very well. He even had a few blocked shots and steals! The team won their third game of the season, the second since Chris has been on the team. One of the administrators came up to me after the game and told me how happy the people were that they finally got to see their team win at home. They think that Chris is a great new asset, and are now more excited to see how the season goes. We are happy that we are at a place with such supportive people! Although the team is 3-8 right now, there is still time to improve that as we arent even halfway through the season yet. This weekend the team is playing the number one team in the league just outside of Madrid, so keep your fingers crossed!

Good News

2007-11-24T02:18:00.000-08:00

So we finally got all of the contracts worked out and are moving to a new team in Barcelona. We think that everything will be much better there and are very happy to move on. The new team is much more organized, respectful, and professional. The Coach is nice, and the team has some more mature players. Chris had only one practice with them last night and he is already on the road with them in Mallorca for their game tonight. We are moving to a new apartment on Sunday when he returns. The apartment is almost as nice as the one we are in now, and Chris can walk to the gym since we will be so close to it. The team is called CB Prat Joventut and their website is www.cbprat.net. Good luck understanding it though, it´s all written in Catalan! He is number 17 and the colors are still blue and white!

On another good note, I just finished my first full week at my new job. I am working for ACS, Inc. of Spain. http://www.acs-inc.com/index.html It is an American company and they do IT and Business Process outsourcing for companies, but our office is doing only HR and finance outsourcing. I am working as an ISP Database Administrator for a project called GM Europe. We are basically doing all of the HR work for General Motors. They have factories and offices all over Europe, so it is our job to stay in contact with those branches and do all of the HR work for the employees in Europe. My team is responsible for the work involving expatriates and all Executives of GM. Our office has over 300 people and they are from all over the world. My team right now has a girl from Belgium, one from France, Sweden, and a few from Germany. It is really interesting and fun to meet all of these people and make new friends. The only downside is that the office is outside of the city and it takes me 1-2 hours travel time depending on traffic. I am happy to finally have a job, and I think that I can learn a lot from it.

Nights out with Friends

2007-11-06T05:30:00.000-08:00

Chris recently met up with his friend Jan Jagla from Germany who he played with on the German National Team. He is actually playing in Barcelona too for an ACB team called DKV Joventut. Jan introduced me to his friend Ivana when I told him that I didnt know a lot of people here. Ivana is really nice and just a year older than me. She and I have actually been hanging out a lot now just going out to dinner or for coffee together. Chris and I have fun going to Jan´s games here with Ivana. The games are pretty fun as their games usually draw at least 2,000 fans and the team is really good this year. We are glad to have two more friends here!

A Visit from the McNaughtons

2007-11-06T04:40:00.000-08:00

Park Güell Pictures

We finally got our first visitors in our new apartment! David and Christa flew down to visit us for four days and we got to see a few more cool sites in Barcelona that we hadn´t been to. We went to Montjuic, a big mountain that you take a train and then a ride to the top where you can see an amazing view of the city and the sea. We also went to Parc Güell which is the park by Gaudi that has tons of mosaic work and neat things to see. Along with going to the tourist sites, we were also able to go to one of Chris´s games together. The team lost by one point to one of the best teams in the league. Unfortunately Chris fouled out, and at least two of the fouls were non-existant so we were all pretty angry after that! We had a busy four day visit and were all tired after tons of walking and late nights in the city, but it was definitely fun!

Montjuic Pictures

Port Aventura

2007-10-12T04:05:00.000-07:00

Fun on the rapids tube ride...4 times!---------- Jose and me with our new masks

Everyone feeling sick after a ride on the kids swings...ridiculous!

Me, Xavi, and Maureena -------------------------Chris's new favorite ride

We all decided we wanted to do something different and go to the big theme park here. It took about an hour and a half to get there after a wrong turn, but we got to see the wine country and mountains, so it was okay! The park was decorated a lot for Halloween, and we got free masks with our sodas. Chris got attacked by a random man dressed as Frankenstein who kept calling him Papa, it was pretty funny, but Chris was definitely slightly embarassed! We rode the giant roller coaster, which Chris loved. It was the only roller coaster he could ride because of his height! We rode the water tube ride four times as we had fun trying to see who we could get the most wet every time. The only bad part of the day was when Chris's five dollar sunglasses got ran over by a bumper car haha!

Fun at the Zoo

2007-10-12T03:27:00.000-07:00

Chris and his friend the Giraffe -----------male Gorilla...huge!

Chris and I decided to go to the zoo on his day off after the team's third win, which makes them 3-0 right now. The zoo didn't seem that big at first, but we were there for a long time. They have all of the animals we wanted to see: giraffes, Gorillas, elephants, tigers, lions, bears, rhinos, and we even saw a cool dolphin show. It wasn't very crowded, because it looked like it was going to rain that day so it was perfect! The last time we were at the zoo was in Nurnberg, when I visited Chris at his house two summers ago. It's still fun no matter how old you are!

The parrot that followed us when we walked around his cage & the cutest, tiny monkey I've ever seen!

Don't forget to watch the Dolphin video!

La Sagrada Familia

2007-09-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

The amazing ceiling that they tried to make look like a forest roof.

We finally got to go see La Sagrada Familia. It's a huge unfinished temple that has been being built since 1882. It was worked on for many years by Gaudi and since he died, new architects keep changing it and adding things. They think it will not be finished for at least another 50-80 years because of the hard work and tons of money needed.

The more modern side of the temple with different fruits at the tips.

La Rambla Market

2007-09-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

We took Martina to La Rambla and found this giant produce and meat market. This street is always crazy with different types of stands to buy things and people painting themselves and posing for money. You could find any type of fruit, vegetable, or even dried fruit and nut you wanted! And on the street that leads to the market there were tons of stands where people were selling animals. They had tons of cute little rabbits, turtles, birds, parrots, hamsters, ducks, and the greatest of all...chipmunks! We could not believe they were actually selling chipmunks as a pet, (for $18 a piece too). They were even running around in those mouse wheels. Clearly we are not in the US! I had to take a picture just so you could see.

A visit from a friend

2007-09-27T12:23:00.000-07:00

My friend Martina, who I actually just met last summer at Chris's basketball training, came to Barcelona to stay with us this week. We had lots of fun and took her to see lots of different things. One thing we have definitely learned about Barcelona is that it has one of the best nightlifes of any city. There are so many fun clubs, restaurants, and things to see late in to the night (or morning). When you go in to the city at midnight, the streets are still filled with people! Here are a few pictures of us at a club called the Pacha that the team goes to a lot. http://www.clubpachabcn.com/flash/index.html

Jose, a teammate, with Martina and me -Xavi, another teammate and his girlfriend

The Season Finally Begins

2007-09-26T15:39:00.000-07:00

So we finally had our first season game, Chris wearing his new lucky number 13! The team won after a very close second half. It was a fairly good game to watch. After the game this weekend, I will be sure to have Chris write a little for you. We have kept very busy the past two weeks, Chris with practice, and me with going to interviews. I still havent found a job, but I found out that i can not work here until I have this special number sort of like a SSN. That's why some of the companies didn't want to talk to me yet. I have to go wait in like tomorrow morning at 6 am so that i can be sure to get a time slot ticket for tomorrow when the doors open at 8. I heard it takes several hours of waiting, but after tomorrow I will be able to work here and call back some of the people I had interviews with.

Parc de la Ciutadella

2007-09-13T15:24:00.000-07:00

The Arc de Triumf outside of the park. They built it for the world fair that Spain hosted a long time ago.
The Museum of Zoology in the park.
The really pretty Gaudi Fountain/Statue that everyone goes here to see. Definitely worth going to. There are also tons of really pretty trees and flowers and fountains all throughout the park.
The pretty lake in the middle of the park that you can rent rowboats for

Placa Espana and the Magic Fountain

2007-09-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

This is Placa Espana (Plaza Spain), it has the big museum of art which you can see behind us. We went this past weekend with our friends Nichy (Dionisio) and his wife, Morgan who are leaving this week. The museum, fountains, landscaping, and architecture are really beautiful.

At night, we went to the magic fountain in this plaza. it has performances every half an hour where it does a routine of water and lights to classical music. Click on the video below to see it in action. It was soo crowded, the people were lined up all the way up the steps to the museum. You can see a picture below of other fountains leading from the museum down this big stairway to the main fountain.

Las Ramblas

2007-09-10T10:38:00.001-07:00

The Harbor at the end of Las Ramblas

Morgan, Chris, and me with the lions at the Christopher Columbus Statue

Las Ramblas is a really long street that runs all through the city. It has tons of sites to see and shopping. It also connects to the harbor where the aquarium, mall, and movie theatre are.

Almost a month...

2007-09-10T09:21:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe we have already been here almost a month. At first it wasn't easy, but it is slowly getting much better. Barcelona is a big, great city. There are tons of things to see and people to meet. Chris and I are settled in to our apartment, and we have lots of decorations and things from home. The apartment is really big, and ready for visitors! His team manager said he has never seen someone bring so much stuff with them!

Chris's basketball is going well. It took some time for him to get used to the new players, a new language, and a new coach of course. He has been playing okay, and the team is improving a lot. We have a young team with a lot of guys that are only 18 or 19. Pre season two-a-day practices and scrimmages are almost over, so we are excited for the real thing to start. I will post his schedule on here somehow for you to see it, and I will try to keep it updated with how it's going. the team website is www.cbhospitalet.com but it isn't much help when they don't update it much and it's in spanish! Chris's number is 13, and his team colors are blue and white.

I have had four job interviews, and am waiting back to hear from my latest one. I haven't found a lot of jobs that are right for me, and when I do, they are worried that I do not know enough spanish. So hopefully that will change soon!

We became friends with a guy on the team and his wife who was also from the US. She and I were the only wives, so we were happy to have each other! Unfortunately, we found out this week that they are leaving. He was released from the team, because we can only have two foreign players and they chose not to keep him. I met another girlfriend of a player name Ainara this weekend and she loves to travel to the games and stuff. She is the same age as me and very nice. We are hoping to be able to go together to some of the games. She knows some english, but wants to learn more so we decided we would teach each other.

Here are a few pics. of our apartment.

Our living/dining room which we decorated in teal and fuschia.

Our bathroom, small but nice. The other bathroom below is pretty much the same but done with white tiles instead of tan.

Here is the view down our street. Tons of apartments!