SUV

We finally found an SUV.

Although it appears that someone put it in the washer using very hot water (as Dean suggested)...

 

For those of you who haven't traveled to Europe, the vehicles in general are much smaller. As I learned today from some of my new friends, they like to take pictures of our GIGANTIC vehicles when they visit us as much as we like to take pictures of their miniature ones.

Curiosidades-Curiosities

So much has change in 20 years and I see two of the primary causes as:

1. Age: everyone is older here, well older than we were 20 years ago. That's not to say there aren't any young people, as there are. But age and change work a little differently here.
This first picture is the entrance into a place I used to hang out with my friends. It had a white and black tile floor, not much if any seating and you could just order something to drink, no food. Well, maybe a bag of chips but not real food. Now on the inside it has fancy modern comfortable seating, pintxos (small appetizer size portions of food), and the clientele is my age, not 20 years younger.
2. Engineering/technology: there are some innovations in place to help those who have aged so that they can continue to live as they always did.
   

This may not seem new as that happens everywhere. I find it a bit curious though to see what time has done here. It is quite typical for people to buy a flat in a building and never move. College students most often live at home and go to the nearest University. The exception to that rule is if they are choosing to study something that simply is not taught in the area.

In contrast, in the states, often when people age they look to move to a home or apartment where all they need is on one floor, no steps.

Since this area of Spain is in the mountains, and people don't tend to move, you can now imagine how older people may have some difficulty with the hills. Or the flats that they own, since the first floor, known as the planta baja, is simply an entry and the flats start on the 2nd floor, known as el primer piso, that means stairs in most cases.

This is where engineering and technology enter. The building where I lived in Portugalete in 1985 now has an elevator. It wasn't there back when I was living on the 5th floor (6 flights up) but as those who live in the building aged, they decided to add an elevator taking up some of the space in what was once a narrow inaccessible courtyard-like area in the middle of the building.

OK, so that fixes the buildings but it doesn't help people to get up the step hills that lead to their homes or to the fruit store they like to shop at, for example. Here are some pictures of what we now see...

This set of outdoor escalators heads up the street to where I used to live.

In various places we also find moving sidewalks along side the regular sidewalks. While there isn't nearly the snow here that we have in Wisconsin, it rains quite a lot in the winter. These moving sidewalks can get slippery, which is quite fun for the younger crowd to slide/skate on.

This final picture is an outdoor elevator of which there are many as well.

So, I wonder what this area will look like 20 years from now. What changes and innovations will we see to continue to make life a little easier for everyone? I guess it is up to those kids that are currently skating on the moving sidewalks to decide.

Discoveries

Things that work: 

1. Paths. There are 3 running, walking, biking paths within a short distance of where we are living. Two of the three are along the ocean so the views are amazing. The other one provides a bit more of a hilly challenge but less scenery. While we haven't spent much time on them yet, I anticipate we will as we become more settled here. 
2. Grocery carts. Sounds odd but they don't just move forward and backwards here, they also slide sideways. It takes a little getting used to at first but once one learns to navigate them, the flexibility is really nice.
3. Taking the girls to the library. I wish I had done that earlier this week. For those of you who don't know, due to the government being on vacation, we still don't have the rubber stamp for them to start school. We should get it tomorrow, Friday. So we have been "homeschooling" with math, spelling, Bill Nye the science guy, and a number of web-based materials I have found for them. They are bored but moving through it. Today we went to the library and they finally are really engaged in some books that they found there. They read for awhile while I worked and have continued with their books since we got home. YEAH!
4. Art classes in Sopelana. We found an art studio where the girls can take class each week. Its about 4 metro stops away but it's a great place and they will have a chance to create art projects in many forms from clay to drawing and painting, and much more. One of the boys in the class may be in Maia's class at school as well.
5. The doorbell buzzer. We have figured out how to let people in and finally how to talk to them to ask who it is before buzzing them up. The little things...
6. A table for working. We just bought a used table that I think will be great for Dean and I to work, although we still don't have chairs for it. Dean is working from a folding chair today and I'm still at the couch, but my feet touch the floor. Always a plus ;-)
7. The oven. Yes, it works. I'm still having some trouble figuring out some of the settings but I can bake potatoes and my lasagna appears to be cooking. The verdict is out on taste as some ingredients are hard to find, like ricotta. I'm trying something called queso fresco so we'll see.

Things that don't work... so well

1. The washing machine. It has been bugging me since day 1 that I have to remove half the clothes and run additional spin cycles so they aren't dripping wet before I hang them to dry. Finally the owner got a guy out here to look at it. It's officially not working right and should be replaced. Not worth fixing. 
2. Receiving packages, or at least ones of a certain size or sent via certain companies. Dean shipped his bike and it is being held hostage in the cargo area of the old airport where he needs to appear in person to the customs officials before 1pm M-F. Not an easy task with no public transportation to that area and a short time frame for anyone we know who has a car and a job. Package number 2 sent by FedEx is being held hostage in Madrid. Again a matter of customs and them needing more information. Hopefully that one will be delivered soon now that they have all the pertinent ID information on file.
3. Malls. Yes, they now have them. I have seen many changes to this country in my last 25 years of visiting regularly. Malls however, just don't fit. It's too, well, Americanized to feel right. That said, they have bowling which Dean and the girls enjoyed as well as a movie theater. So, I suspect we will be back as it is only a short bus ride away.

As you can see there are more things that work than things that don't so that's a good sign. No big plans for the weekend but we'll see which way the wind blows us. Stay warm, those of you experiencing real winter.