Happy Turkey Day!

For most Americans, November 26th was Thanksgiving day. For the two ex-patriates in Madrid, it was...Thursday. We arrived home after a full day of work, ready to relax from the week. I looked over at A and asked,
"Are you going to Skype your parents, now?" A stared at me quizzically.
"Why do I need to Skype my parents?"
"Because it's Thanksgiving and they want to talk to you!"
We proceeded to spend a few hours in front of our computers, talking to loved ones and watching them run around as they prepared the holiday feast. We told them about our work and how our students were interested in learning more about Thanksgiving. Then, came the inevitable question:
"How are you spending Thanksgiving in Madrid?"
We hadn't really thought it through. I mean, we did plan a Thanksgiving dinner, which was to take place on Saturday, since everyone was working on Thurs. and Fri. However, how were we going to spend the actual Thanksgiving day? Surely we could have some turkey and whip up some mashed potatoes. We looked in our fridge and realized that we had so much food that was specifically for Saturday that we had neglected to think about what we would eat before then! We proceeded to head out the door and celebrate Thanksgiving over a couple of kebabs at an Indian-owned Doner Kebab restaurant.

Though our Thursday did not have the traditional holiday trimmings, we were able to celebrate in style on Saturday! Our apartment filled with wonderful Americans, Brits and Spaniards, many who had never had a Thanksgiving before! For 48 hours before the feast, A and I were cooking, marinating, stirring and baking all the foods necessary for the event. About an hour into the preparations, I realized I should have delegated some of the dishes to the group! Nonetheless, we were able to make enough food and still have leftovers!



There was fillets of herb-roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, spinach and artichoke dip and sweet potato casserole. The recipes came from the food network and were quite good! My biggest challenge was that when I wrote down the recipes, I had to first convert the measurements to metrics and then I had to translate the ingredients into Spanish. It took more time to alter all the foods to paper than it did to actually cook it.



Here's our lovely dessert table with pumpkin pie, pecan pie (made by an authentic Southerner!), apple crumble and chocolate cookies! Everything was delicious! For the Americans, they said it felt just like home! For the Brits and Spaniards, they really enjoyed all the homemade food!

It was a successful Thanksgiving in Madrid! I'm now ready to sleep off my Sunday and munch on all the leftovers in my fridge. We miss you and wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Broke into the new apartment...

Another busy weekend ahead of me...cleaning, cooking and prepping for lessons. Several of our business classes finish this upcoming week, so it is imperative that we look for more teaching opportunities. I have been fortunate to find many students who need tutoring for the TOEFL exam. I have finally adjusted to my work week and now I have to restructure my courses again in order to prioritize these new students.

Several of my family members have urged me to post pictures of our new apartment. Since this is a rather slow weekend, I decided this would be a good time to show you the new place! We moved from Sol to a quieter neighborhood a bit north. We're right by the metro, the grocery store and our bank (very convenient).

Here's a picture of the front door.



When you walk in, the kitchen is the first thing you see. Here are two pictures of the kitchen.





I'm very excited about the kitchen not only because we have four burners instead of one. We also have an OVEN! When we perused around for apartments, we discovered that most apartments are not equipped with ovens.



This is our bedroom. We apologize for the horrid bedspread, but it is a conglomerate of items we were able to find when we moved in. The former owners took their quilts so we bought these zebra blankets in desperation for warmth. In any case, they suit for the time being.



When you walk down the hall, you come to the living room, where Anthony has set up his work desk. It's more for his drawings than for constructing lesson plans...



That little table is my desk next to our windows. The large window/door leads to our balcony!



Here's a better picture of our balcony! We haven't sat outside much since it's now getting cold. Sometimes, I like to sit inside and stare at the view.



Here's our couch and tv. It's quite a lot of space, so it will be wonderful for our Thanksgiving feast next weekend!

That's all for now!

Livin' it up in Lisboa!

So many updates in order! Last weekend, we moved to our new apartment near Avenida de America. It's much more of a neighborhood than Sol, which is pretty touristy. We're near the metro and supermarkets and kepab houses;). Plus, the place is a lot bigger than the closet we were previously residing in. I will try to post up pictures of the new place soon.

This weekend, we went to Lisbon, Portugal. It's a funny story. A couple of months ago, I was searching for a place to take the GRE Subject test in Literature. I was sure I could take it in Madrid, since they proctor the General test here. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it. I skyped my mom and told her my dilemma and she suggested that I look to see if there are any other countries where the test is available. Sure enough, I could take the test in Lisbon. "Why don't you just make a weekend trip out of it?" she said. When I shot the idea past A, he was adamant that I take the test there.

So, we took a quick flight on over to Lisbon Friday morning. I was a little nervous about traveling to a country where I didn't know the language; even going to India is not that bad because I have dad there to translate. All my fears were eliminated when I learned that the Portuguese understand and speak both Spanish and English. It's very easy to get around the place and simply ask for things in English. Thank God.



Here's a picture of a building outside of our hostel window. Many of the buildings had colored tile on the outside. It seemed odd to me, like a kitchen that was inside-out; however, they were unique and quite beautiful. Even the sidewalk had some decor. They were small cobblestones with different designs. Here's a picture of what I'm taking about:



After we settled into our hostel, we decided to go get lunch. Many of A's students recommended that we try Baccalau. This is a codfish dish with vegetables. We stopped in the nearest place to try this specialty. Here's a picture of our wonderful meal.



It was delicious! The fish melts in your mouth. The onions and cilantro complimented the dish very well. As you can see in the picture, the dish was served in a sea of buttersauce, which stayed in our stomachs all day. We proceeded to explore the center of the city and take lots of pictures.



This is a picture we took on our walk towards the center. There are a lot of hills in the city and a large castle/fortress top of this one. I couldn't help but think of Monty Python when I saw it. This is the Castle of Saint George. We didn't have time to go up and tour it, but it is an awesome sight amidst the city!

We went to the bay and saw this statue across the water. It's a replicate of the Jesus statue in Rio de Janeiro.



The next day, I went to take my test in Lisbon. There were 6 young men there who were taking the GRE Subject test in Math, Chemistry...basically, in important fields. The test proctor assumed we all spoke Portuguese, but I had to request to hear the directions in English. Fortunately, the test was all in English!

After the test, I met up with A and we headed over to the Lisbon Aquarium. We had noticed several ads for the aquarium and in our tourist maps, it stated this was one of the world's largest aquariums. That sealed it. We were going.



The aquarium had this huge tank filled with sharks, fish, and this really big thing called the Sun Fish. When you are on the bottom floor of the tank, you can look into the whole seascape. It seemed 3D. My photo doesn't do the aquarium justice, but I think it's a must-see when you're in Lisbon!



After the aquarium, we strolled around the area and saw the Vasco de Gama bridge. It's pretty famous for its unique shape.



I was really impressed with the architecture in Lisbon. There were a lot of creative edifices. Check out these apartment buildings. Don't they look like fish?



Well, that was our fabulous trip to Lisbon. Once I actually clean the apartment, I will post up pictures! I leave you with this wonderful warning picture from the Lisbon metro. Be careful of the doors or you will get cut in half.