Arriving in Rome

August 10-13
We took a 7:30pm flight out of Zaragoza and flew directly to Rome, arriving around 9:45pm. Having arranged for a hotel car to pick us up at the airport, we had an easy ride to Hotel Centro. Alberto, the front desk clerk, greeted us warmly and recommended a local pizzeria for a quick bite. We took our bags to our small but comfortable and clean room and walked around the local area, had some tasty food and didn't make it into bed until almost 1 a.m. The kids have been wonderful travelers but our schedule has meant late nights for us all.

Italy Trip - Take off

August 10 and we're off to Italy for almost 2 weeks. We are making the tourist route, starting in Rome for 3 days then up to Venice, over to the Italian Riviera -- Cinque Terre (thanks to the recommendation by the Irwin Family), back inland to Florence and Pisa and then flying back to Barcelona for a few days.

We're flying an Irish airline, Ryan Air which is the equivalent of Southwest Airlines although maybe a few steps down. Great prices on tickets to Rome but no seat assignments and very strict requirements on luggage unless you want to pay additional fees. When they opened the gate to board the plane, the passengers all made a mad dash to get in line for seats. We nudged our way to the front, only to be told that the kids had to go through a passport check because they did not have EU passports. We quickly wiggled our way back out through the line, and then back through security to get the kids' tickets stamped.

More on our first week in ZAZ

Zaragoza sits alongside the Ebro River

While we all diligently worked on our Rosetta Stone over the summer, and Celia is digging up the remnants of her high school Spanish, we've felt unprepared in our speaking abilities. Even small, daily tasks take additional energy without the mastery of language. Zaragoza has few English speakers; to attempt a new language has required us to check our vanity at the door, knowing that we probably sound ridiculous. On the occasion when we've been able to formulate reasonable sentences, replies from locals are so rapid and filled with new vocabulary that we usually nod and look at each other, 'did you get any of that?”

Our neighborhood is filled with boutique shops. I've never seen so many shoe and clothing stores (both genders) in just a few blocks. Kelsey and I went shopping for a pair of black sandals for our Italy trip. In the first shop, I asked for cuarenta y dos (42), and was told, 'no, I'm sorry we don't have that size. The biggest size we carry is cuarenta (40).' Like Cinderella's stepsisters, I knowingly tried on the too-small shoes, and not surprisingly, my big toes were hanging off the end. Kelsey and I stopped by 2 more stores and received similar responses. At the 4th store, the saleslady said that they had one rack of 'zapatos grande' (big shoes for Gigantor). Even then, the largest size was 41. In jest, I commented, 'Americanos necesitan muy grande zapatos,' thinking I might get a chuckle. Ergh, no such luck but some good eye rolling. Online ordering, here I come!






The first days were lovely in the 80s and relatively cool by Zaragoza standards. More recently, it's been consistently in the 90s but at least it is not muggy. To cool off, we've visited a local, municipal pool that's about a mile or so from our house and is attached to El Parque Grande. It's been a great find given the hot temperatures. Kelsey has asked why some of the women don't wear the top half of their swimsuits.

Parker's future hairstyle?

First Days In and Impressions of Zaragoza

Now, it was time to get settled and do the everyday stuff. With our internal clocks flip flopped, we slept until 10:30, and Colin slept till noon. When I woke him, he was so out of it that he couldn't understand why I was bothering him so early.

Zaragoza has few English speakers, and our Spanish speaking skills are pretty lightweight so we will have to improve quickly. Our foray into grocery shopping was a minor feat, navigating a new store and language. When I asked for assistance, the response didn't help since I couldn't understand it. Colin and I searched the store for some time on a hunt for milk and eggs, only to find that they don't refrigerate either of them.




For the first couple of nights in Zaragoza, we had nice dinners out on the town. The warm summer evenings and lively energy make the historic district (close to our apartment) a lovely part of the city to walk around especially at night. Zaragoza prides itself on an old and rich history. The Basilica Cathedral of "Our Lady of the Pilar" is the primary attraction in honor of the Virgin Mary, and is part of the Roman Catholic church; Pilar was deemed the Mother of the Hispanic People by Pope John Paul II. We ate gelato at almost midnight, and already found a favorite spot, Amorino (recommended by the previous SYA family).


The kids have been great and are most excited for our upcoming travels to Italy next week. The plan is to hit Rome, Venice, Cinque Terre, Florence, and Pisa – in that order.

August is a relatively quiet time in Zaragoza. The Director and all the School Year Abroad staff are on vacation. We have been able to navigate a new country, city, and home fairly well on our own although on one of our first nights, after returning late from dinner and walking the city, we realized that neither Parker nor I had brought the keys. Our many years at St. Paul's has made us soft. We haven't had to consistently lock doors or carry keys in years. It was after 11pm and we had to wake Tomas the friendly but exclusively Spanish-speaking doorman, to let us into the building, hoping that he would have a master key to all the apartments. No such luck. We were locked out, and were struggling to communicate with Tomas. After much to-do, a call to Ana (the SYA secretary who was on vacation), and embarrassment on our part, Tomas called a locksmith who was able to get us into our apartment.

Prior to our little snafu with the lacking keys, we had witnessed an interesting situation on the street. A poorly dressed street musician playing the accordion was being aggressively yelled at and threatened by another, professional and nicely dressed man. The man who was yelling wouldn't let up and finally held up his fist as if to strike the accordion player. The accordion player ran away and escaped the situation. At the time, we didn't know what this was all about but a few nights later, we saw the nicely dressed man from earlier playing an accordion in another part of the city...so we realized that the tangle we had witnessed had just been a turf war! It turns out that Zaragoza is big on street accordion players -- we have seen many since that time.

Few Pictures of the Apartment: Colin's Room, Front Entry, Living Room, Study and Dining Room

Our Apartment

The apartment in Zaragoza is nice and pretty comfortable with 3 1/2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, dining room, living room, study, kitchen, and breakfast nook. While we only have a washer, which initially was a 'yikes' moment, it has been no big deal so far to dry clothes on the balcony line outside our kitchen. In the summer, Zaragoza is hot and dry so the clothes dry very quickly (read 2 hours). We'll see how it goes in the winter time. By Spanish standards, we sit on the 4th floor (they include a principal, floors zero and 'E'), but from our American view, we're on the 7th floor. Centered in a shopping district, we are surrounded by boutiques, cafes and restaurants. The bedroom window sits behind El Corte Ingles which is the Spanish equivalent of a one-stop shop or Superstore (a few notches up from Target). With little humidity, Zaragoza has few bugs; our apartment has no screens on the windows. Apparently, this is not uncommon for Europe but seemed daunting at first with the kids and sitting seven stories high.





When we unpacked and started going through the apartment, we found some interesting items left from past SYA families -- one of which was a REAL fox fur coat. We're not sure if we'll ever actually wear it but it sure is warm (especially when it's 85 degrees outside). We uncovered loads of other randoms items like broken fans, worn out shoes and old toys which we wound up tossing; we were convinced they had probably been around for years and no one wanted to be the one to throw them away.

The Journey to Zaragoza

August 2-3

Albeit long, our travels from the US went smoothly. The Chase tour kicked off with an American Airlines flight from Minneapolis to Dallas, and then Dallas to Madrid. From there, we took a bus from Madrid to Zaragoza with our 10 large suitcases. As hard as we tried to reduce our luggage, we still had too much stuff, and paid for it too in $500 in baggage charges. On the plane, the kids got a kick out of their own personal video screen to watch videos or TV.

The bus ride was long and hot, and not particularly comfortable but do-able. For visitors (hint, hint), I would recommend either a puddle jumper from Madrid or Barcelona (or another European city like Paris, Rome, etc.), or the fast train (90 minutes). For the last leg, we took two taxis (due to all the luggage) from the Zaragoza station to our apartment and new home for the next year. Despite the lengthy journey, the kids were top notch travelers, and we all made it to the apartment unscathed.

Parker and I were able to secure our European Union passports before we left (Parker's from Ireland and Celia's from the UK); Colin and Kelsey are eligible for Irish passports through Avril, Parker's mom (born in Ireland) although they are required to have their citizenship first, and that is a 6 month process. Having EU passports has helped us to quickly go through customs, and has provided discounts on train tickets, museums and other benefits.

Background on our year abroad

On August 2, 2010, we left the United States for Zaragoza, Spain where we will be living for about 11 months. Parker is teaching math in the School Year Abroad program where students from the U.S. live with host families for the school year and take classes in the country's native language (Spanish in this case) with the exception of their English and Math courses. Celia is on a leave of absence from her position at Oracle.

A bit about Zaragoza...it stands in the northeastern quarter of Spain and is the capital city of the Aragón area. At about 700K people, Zaragoza is the fifth largest city in Spain and is centered around the Ebro River. It's rooted in Roman heritage, being home to the Murallas Romanas, ancient remains of Roman walls, which once surrounded the central area of Zaragoza.

Aragón is one of largest and most significant region's in Spain, as Aragón was Castilla's rival kingdom in medieval times. When Fernando of Aragón wed Isabel of Portugal in a world-changing political dealing, the kingdoms united to form one Spain. In addition to history, Aragón boasts some of the highest peaks of the Pyrenees mountains and picturesque stone villages in the valleys.

August 6th 2010

Kelsey signing on!
Hi! Yesterday we walked into a church that had a Spanish wedding. It was really cool. We saw plenty of religious artwork. There was what looked like somebody's grave there! I don't know if someone was really buried there. I don't think so. Then we went outside and admired the Basilica del Pilar and some Roman ruins........
Bye,
Kelsey