Friends and family // Amigos y familiares

J, S, and I enjoying dessert and drinks at their terrace hotel. // 

J, S y yo disfrutamos del postre y de las bebidas en la terraza de la azotea de su hotel.

I spent the last week with lots of friends and family. For various reasons that I haven't detailed on the blog, the last few weeks have been difficult for me and I really needed this time with my loved ones to recharge and feel more like myself.

To begin with I went to Barcelona to visit some friends who were there for a few days before a cruise. J and S are parents of my friend N, and I lived in their empty apartment in Gainesville  before I moved to Spain. During that time in Florida, they treated me like a niece, including me in the family Thanksgiving and helping me establish roots there. It was a real delight to spend two days with them. We visited a cathedral that is famous for its guard geese* and ate a whole bunch of tapas. I also visited a Rosary service with them, in which they pray the rosary for half an hour, something I had never experienced.

I then quickly returned home, because my aunt, uncle, and cousin were visiting. My aunt and uncle are in the middle of a six-week trip to Europe and they wanted to visit their granddaughter and me, since we both now live in Madrid.

*Harnessing the naturally angry nature of geese to use them as guard geese is a brilliant idea, in my opinion.

My aunt and uncle supervise my cousin and I in the kitchen. //

Mis tíos nos vigilaron a mi prima y a mí.

In the lovely Ciutadella Park in Barcelona // En el Parque de Ciutadella

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Pasé el fin de semana pasado con muchos amigos y familiares. Esto es debido a algunas razones que no he mencionado en el blog, pues las últimas semanas han sido difíciles. En realidad, necesitaba tiempo con mis seres queridos.

Para empezar, viajé a Barcelona para visitar a unos amigos que estaban allí unos días antes de hacer un crucero. J y S son los padres de mi amigo N, y yo viví en su piso vacío en Gainesville cuando estaba en Florida antes de mi mudanza a España. Durante esa época me trataron como a una sobrina y fue un verdadero placer pasar dos días con ellos. vimos una catedral que se caracteriza por tener gansos para proteger el edificio. Después comimos muchas tapas juntos por ahí. Asimismo, asistimos a un servicio donde se rezó el Rosario durante media hora, y fue una nueva experiencia para mi.

Inmediatamente después, regresé a casa porque mis tíos y una prima estaban visitando Madrid. Mis tíos están pasando seis semanas en España, y querían ver a su nieta y verme a mí, porque ambas vivimos en la misma ciudad ahora.

Flashback: 1994 // Escena retrospectiva: 1994

In 1994, my family came to visit me in Germany as my exchange year in Braunschweig was ending. It was our family's first international trip together. My father had traveled to Mexico and Canada for work, but I think this was the first time any of them had been to Europe. We spent a few weeks driving around Germany, and tacked on a short stay in Prague. This was only five years after the wall had fallen, and both Prague the Czech Republic and the former Eastern Germany still strongly showed their communist past. Everything was worn down, construction was everywhere, and there weren't nearly as many tourists as you'd see today.

At the tourist office in Prague, we were approached by a local who wanted to rent us his apartment for the night. This was long before things like Airbnb existed, so this guy was essentially his own AirBnb ad. My father, who is far Bolder than me, decided we should take him up on his offer. He also invited the guy to dinner. We were taken to what looked to be a very authentic eating place. Long tables and benches filled a courtyard, and there was only one meal available: large potato dumplings topped with meat and gravy and big beers. I remember that meal to this day, because it is one of the few times when there really wasn't any vegetarian food. After scraping off the gravy, my dinner was meat-contaminated dumplings. But it was a really memorable experience to overnight in a more authentic, local apartment, and to see a bit of the city through a local's eyes.

Back then, you saw a lot "Trabis," the most common car manufactured in East Germany (officially named Trabants). // En esta época todavía se podían ver muchos ejemplos del coche más famoso de Alemania del Este, el Trabant (en alemán se llama “Trabi”).

Modeling my lovely t-shirt featuring the Bavarian flag. // 

Me puse una camiseta con la bandera de Baviera.

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En 1994, mi familia me visitó en Alemania después de que terminara mi año de intercambio en Brunswick. Fue el primer viaje internacional de mi familia. Mi padre visitó México y Canadá por razones laborales antes, pero creo que esa fue la primera vez que alguno de ellos había visto Europa. Condujimos durante Alemania durante algunas semanas y añadimos un pequeño viaje a Praga. Eso fue solo cinco años después de la caída del muro de Berlín, y tanto Chequia como la antigua Alemania del Este seguían mostrando huellas de su historia comunista. De hecho, toda la infraestructura estaba desgastada, había obras de todo tipo y no había tantos turistas como hoy en día.

En la oficina de turismo en Praga, conocimos a un hombre local que quería alquilarnos su piso. En esta época, todavía no existía Airbnb, así que ese hombre acudía a la oficina para conseguir clientes. Mi padre era menos tímido que yo y decidió aceptar esta oferta. Además, mi padre invitó a ese hombre a cenar con nosotros. Comimos en un restaurante que me pareció muy auténtico y local. Había un gran patio lleno de bancos y mesas largas. Había solo un plato disponible: albóndigas de patatas con salsa de carne. Todavía recuerdo esta comida porque fue una de las pocas veces en las que realmente no había comida para mí. Raspé la salsa y comí las albóndigas de patatas con sabor a carne. Al fin y al cabo, fue una experiencia memorable ver la ciudad a través de los ojos de un local.

Summer/ El verano

During my 50 years of life I have lived in a variety of climates. Of course, I like the temperate seasons of spring and fall. but I also know that I love winter more than summer. In spite of this, I have lived in parts of the world that have quite a bit of heat, like Florida, New Mexico and Georgia. However, Madrid's summer is definitely the worst I've had to contend with.

What I feel is not exactly like seasonal affective disorder, where people experience depression with the reduction of light and fall and winter, but there are some similarities. Near the end of spring I feel a little depressed and stressed when I think about the heat that´s coming my way. During the summers, I get a lot more headaches, and I don't like being outside or doing exercise. Even though I spend a lot of time in my air-conditioned apartment, there's still a lot of heat to contend with, because lots of restaurants, museums and Metro stations don't have much, if any, air conditioning.

When I came back to Madrid at the end of August, the weather had improved. Although it would still reach 30C (86F) , gone were the highs of 35 or 40C (95 or 105 F). I immediately felt better. And now when I walk in the park, my heart is practically singing, thinking of the fall days that are coming my way.

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Durante mis 50 años de vida, he vivido en climas diferentes. Por eso sé con certeza que me gustan las estaciones suaves. También, me gusta el invierno más que el verano. Sin embargo, he vivido en partes del mundo con mucho calor como Florida, Nuevo México, y Georgia. Sin duda, el verano de Madrid es la peor opción para mí.

Mis sentimientos no son exactamente como el trastorno afectivo estacional, en el cual las personas experimentan depresión con la disminución de la luz del otoño e invierno, pero hay muchas similitudes. Cerca del final de la primavera, me sentí un poco deprimida y sentí miedo cuando pensé en el calor que se acercaba. Además, durante los veranos de 2023 y 2024, tuve mucho dolor de cabeza. No quería hacer deporte, y aunque pasara mucho tiempo en mi piso, todavía sufría mucho con el calor porque muchos restaurantes, museos y estaciones de metro no tenían aire acondicionado suficiente,

Cuando regresé en los últimos días de agosto, el tiempo había mejorado. Porque aunque los días superaban los 30 ºC, no había días de 35 o 40 ºC. Gracias a eso me sentí mejor inmediatamente. Cuando camino por el parque, mi corazón canta porque sé que los días refrescantes del otoño están cerca.

The county fair // La feria del condado

It was county fair season when I was in Ohio, so we loaded up the cars and went. County fairs are awesome. You can compete in almost everything: 4-H animals raised by kids, homemade jams and cakes, and posters like you'd make for a science fair, on agricultural and hunting topics. You can also dive into every type of fried food, take in the displays of agricultural machines, listen to concerts, and ride the rides.

I was planning to spend two or three hours there, but we spent eight hours there, right up until it closed. I found out that I can't actually eat that much fried food. (A serving of eight fried pickles is way too many fried pickles.) The animals were adorable, even though I knew that some of them were going to become someone's dinner. But the most fun for me was the rides. When I was a kid, my brother and I would get tickets for one or two rides, because rides were expensive. But at this one you could buy an unlimited-pass wristband. It wasn't that pricey, and I'm all for trying to relive childhood dreams, so I bought one and had the time of my life.

There was an art contest using the medium of hay bales. // Había un concurso de arte que las personas construían con fardos de heno.

Hopefully everyone gets the joke here: Harley Davidson motorcycles are also known as “hogs,” // Las motocicletas Harley-Davidson tienen el apodo de “Hog”, que en inglés significa “cerdo”

En EE. UU., cada condado rural tiene su propia feria durante el verano. Hay concursos para diferentes tipos de temáticas rurales: animales que crían los niños, mermeladas y bizcochos hechos en casa y carteles informativos que los niños hacen para enseñar sobre temas de agricultura y caza. También puedes disfrutar todo tipo de comida frita, exhibiciones de máquinas agrícolas, conciertos y muchas atracciones de feria.

Mis planes eran pasar dos o tres horas allí, pero pasamos casi ocho, hasta que la feria cerró. Descubrí que no podía comer sola tanto menú de comida frita. (¡Ocho grandes pepinillos fritos son demasiados!) Los animales eran preciosos, aunque sabía que muchos se convertirían en comida para alguien. Lo más divertido fueron las atracciones feriales. Cuando era niña, mi hermano y yo recibimos billetes suficientes para una o dos atracciones, porque estaban caros. Sin embargo, en esta feria podías comprar una pulsera que permitía subir a las atracciones sin límite. La compré y me lo pasé genial.

Camping, but not really // Acampar, pero no precisamente

As I've written about in the past, my graduate school friends and I have a tradition of spending a weekend together in Pennsylvnia every summer. I missed this last year because I was stuck in Spain waiting for my visa renewal and I really, really wanted to make sure I didn't miss it this year.

In the early years we camped. Now we're older and on more relaxed budgets, so we rent a house in the country, where there's space for the kids to run around in the fields but there's also air conditioning and plumbing. There's also a huge porch with rocking chairs and a campfire space where we can make s'mores and sing.

It goes without saying that we had to cancel in 2020 and 2021. After that, for a lot of different reasons (some illnesses, both minor and serious, and the aforementioned visa), the whole group hasn't been able to attend. So this was the first year since 2019 that we weren´t missing anyone, and it was really delightful to all be together once again.

I wanted to celebrate my September birthday with my friends. They decorated a cake and made me an amazing, personalized carde. // Quise celebrar mi cumpleaños con mis amigos. Ellos decoraron un pastel y me hicieron una carta personalizada.

Every year there´s a softball game, and every year the adults lose. It´s a given that I never play. //

Cada año hay un partido de sófbol, y cada año los adultos pierden en el cual los adultos pierden.

At any give moment you can hear four different conversations and at last one board game is being played. // En cualquier momento, había cuatro conversaciones diferentes y al menos pudimos jugar a un juego de mesa.

Check out the Star Trek graffiti. // Vimos grafitis de Star Trek.

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Como describí en entradas pasadas, mis amigos de la escuela de posgrado y yo tenemos una tradición de pasar un fin de semana juntos en el estado de Pensilvania. Me perdí el evento el año pasado cuando estaba esperando mi nuevo visado para España y tenía muchas ganas de asistir este verano.

Desde hace muchos años, cambiamos el lugar donde nos vemos. En los primeros años, acampábamos. Ahora alquilamos una casa de campo, donde hay espacio para que los niños corran por los campos, pero también hay aire acondicionado y baños. Además, hay un porche con mecedores y un espacio grande para fogatas, donde hacemos “s'mores” (bocadillos dulces de galletas, malvaviscos tostados y chocolate) y cantamos.

Obviamente, cancelamos nuestra reunión en 2020 y 2021. Después, por muchas razones (varias enfermedades menores y graves, o la renovación de mi visado español), no pudimos asistir todo el grupo. Este año todos pudimos estar allí, por primera vez hasta 2019, y estar juntos de nuevo fue una experiencia encantadora.

Cyclists, welcome

In Sweden, I had my first opportunity to ride a bicycle in a country that truly embraces the bike as a legitimate transportation method. Before loaning me the bike, my cousin explained a few rules, but said it was mainly self-explanatory. Maybe for someone who cycled a decade in Amsterdam, but not for someone who has mainly cycled in the US and Spain! To begin with, paths are at sidewalk level, not street level, making it much less likely that cars will veer into you. Pedestrians look both ways before crossing the bike path, except at designated crossings.

It was such a different experience that I wanted to capture it for cyclists from places that, at best, tolerate them. On my first day, I only managed about 200m on the bike before someone yelled at me. Luckily, they yelled in English so I could learn what I did wrong. After that, I tried to follow someone going in my direction, and copy what they did.

There is abundant parking almost everywhere - at the train station, convenient to shops, and even dedicated, covered spots for some employees.

Here's an underpass so that bicycles can avoid a busy road. It includes on and off ramps to an intersecting bike path.

Separate signals for bicycles, pedestrians, and cars. They each run on their own schedule.

There are even bike paths outside the city, separated from the busy highway by a sturdy railing.

Since it's flat, you can carry a lot. I saw bicyclists pedaling with another adult and 1-2 kids in their front cargo area. (Not my photo - I didn´t manage to snap one of a cargo bike.)

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Lo siento, hoy no hay publicación en español. Mi editor está de vacaciones.

Scenes from DC // Algunas escenas de Washington, D. C.

I love beaches that don't have too many people on them. In summer, Spanish beaches are always packed. //  A mí me gustan las playas como estas, que están poco concurridas. En verano, las playas españolas siempre están llenas.

After my Malmö visit, I headed to Washington DC. There I did all the fun things I always do: enjoyed fire bowls with my friends, visited the lab where two friends do research on nuclear waste, cared for two cute guinea pigs while their families were traveling, and took a bunch of bike rides.

Although I only had five days there, my friends and I made a Herculean effort to arrange a beach trip. For the last ten years or so, I've had the tradition of going to an Atlantic Ocean Beach with my friend E and her two kids. Her husband hates the beach, and since we do the entire six- hour round trip in one day, it helps to have someone to share the driving with. Although everybody has a packed schedule in August, we found a day when four adults and four kids, spread across four different families, were able to go to Ocean City. The weather was absolutely perfect, with just enough clouds that we were neither too hot nor blinded by sunlight.

When I see a whiteboard filled with physics, I feel at home. // Cuando veo una pizarra blanca con mucha física como esa, me siento muy cómoda.

Having lunch while the electric car charges, on the way to the beach. // 

Comemos mientras el coche eléctrico se carga.

They don't always use buses or trains at the Dulles Airport in Virginia. They use “mobile salons,” which are also known as "people movers." They look like they're from the 60s, because they are. They are also slow and somewhat uncomfortable. //  

No hay muchos autobuses ni trenes en el aeropuerto de Dulles en Virginia. Usan estos “salones móviles” que se llaman informalmente “people movers". Me parece que son de los años sesenta y, en realidad, son de aquella época.

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Después de mi visita a Malmö, fui a Washington, D. C. Hice todas las actividades normales para mí - disfrutar de las fogatas con amigos, visitar el laboratorio donde dos amigos hacen investigaciones sobre residuos nucleares, cuidar a dos conejillos de indias mientras su familia viajaba e ir en bicicleta con amigos.

Aunque pasé cinco días allí, mis amigos y yo hicimos un esfuerzo especial para ir a la playa. Durante la última década, mantengo la tradición de ir a una playa que pertenece al Atlántico con mi amiga E y sus dos hijos. Su esposo odia la playa, y el viaje de tres horas en coche de ida y tres horas de vuelta, todo en un día, es mejor con dos adultos para compartir la tarea de conducir. Todos mis amigos tienen la agenda llena en agosto, pero pudimos cuadrar un día en que cuatro adultos y cuatro niños de cuatro familias diferentes pudieron viajar a Ocean City, Maryland. El clima fue perfecto, con suficientes nubes para que no hiciera demasiado calor ni hiciera un sol deslumbrante.