Looking back, looking ahead

I spent the week between Christmas and New Year’s thinking about what I’d like my resolutions to be. In the end, I realized that I wasn’t really thinking about making permanent changes, so much as goals that I hoped to achieve in the next six months. Which makes sense, because I just finished my fall Spanish classes, so I’m thinking more in terms of how my times gets filled each “semester”.

Last year, I only recall making one specific goal, to read fourteen books in Spanish. In the end, I only read eleven, but since I switched from youth books to adult books, I’m completely satisfied. It’s slow going to read Agatha Christie or the science of arsenic, but I have proven that I can do it, and enjoy it. I had implicit plans for traveling and being active, and also managed those.

• 7 Countries visited: Germany, US, Denmark, France (3 times), Sweden, Portugal, England
• 1450 km (900 miles) bicycled
• 2600 km (1600 miles) walked, which is a bit over 200 km per month.
• 32 books read: 11 in Spanish, 21 in English

I thought really carefully about how to make achievable, measurable goals for the first half of 2026. One is to complete the first semester of French (level A1 in Europe) by June. The other is to exercise every day, specifically: a bike ride, a long hike, or 8 minutes of weight lifting. That last option, my least favorite, is the key to success- several times, I have made it to dinnertime without doing any exercise, but I can still find 8 minutes before eating to achieve this goal. I also have a goal around making friends, but I have not quite managed to make it measurable yet. Tune in next year to find out how I did.

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Lo siento, hoy no hay una entrada en español.

My great-grandmother´s vase // El jarrón de mi bisabuela

I’ve always been a minimalist. When I was about 21, I was intrigued by someone I heard of, who only owned 100 things.  I never achieved that goal, though when I moved to Albuquerque, I took only what would fit in my car, including a cat. Over the decades, I accumulated decorative items, tools, and clothes, and this accelerated after I bought a house. However, I regularly got rid of some belongings and tried to keep only the essentials. I was a person who had lots of empty shelves.

When I decided to move to Spain, I read a lot of advice from people who´d come here. The message, clear and unequivocal, was “Move with as little as possible.” Big pieces of American furniture don’t fit in small Spanish apartments. Plus, it´s expensive to move things, and you´d need different clothes and household goods. In other words, take only the things that hold memories.

And I did. I arrived in Madrid with my four suitcases, filled with Christmas tree ornaments, my small wardrobe, a single book, and my two favorite pots. It was more or less the right decision, because my 35-square-meter (400-square-foot) apartment is tiny compared to my American home. However, after a few months, I realized that a life full of things bought at IKEA is a bit lacking. Of course, I had my favorite coffee mugs, but I missed the blanket my husband bought when he came to the US or the secondhand items my mother gave me when I moved into my first house.

As a result, I´m trying to bring a few things back to Spain whenever I visit the US. Last year, my aunt gave me a quilt my grandmother made, and I use it every day during the winter. My mother gifted me a vase my great-grandmother gave her. I carefully packed it up and practically carried it in my arms on the flight back. Since I don't have tmany things with a past, every one is precious to me.

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Siempre he sido minimalista. Cuando quizá tenía 21 años, me encantó una idea que escuché, que alguna persona vivía con solo 100 objetos. Nunca conseguí este objetivo, aunque cuando me mudé a Albuquerque, solo llevé las cosas que caben en mi coche, incluida una gata. A lo largo de las décadas, acumulé objetos de decoración, herramientas y ropa, especialmente cuando compré una casa. Sin embargo, con regularidad me deshice de algunas pertenencias, ey intentaba quedarme sólo con lo imprescindible. Aun así, en mi casa había estantes vacíos.

Cuando decidí mudarme a España, leí muchos consejos de inmigrantes en España. El mensaje, claro y sin vacilación, era “será mejor que te mudes con pocas pertenencias”. Los muebles grandes de EE. UU. no encajan en los pisos pequeños de España. Además, sería caro trasladar todas tus cosas — necesitaría otra ropa y otros artículos de hogar en tu nueva vida. <<Lleva solo las cosas que contienen recuerdos.>>

Y lo hice. Llegué a Madrid con mis cuatro maletas, llenas de adornos del árbol de Navidad, mis pocos vestidos, un libro, y mis dos sartenes favoritas. Fue más o menos una decisión correcta, porque mi piso de 35 m2 (400 ft2) es minúsculo en comparación con mi casa estadounidense. No obstante, después de algunos meses, me di cuenta de que si vivía rodeada de objetos sin historia mi vida podría sentirse más estéril. Por supuesto que sí, tenía mis tazas de café favoritas, pero echo de menos la manta que mi esposo compró cuando llegó a EE. UU. o los artículos de segunda mano que mi madre me regaló cuando los necesité.

Por esta razón, intento llevar unos artículos a España cada vez que visito EE. UU. El año pasado, mi tía me regaló un edredón que mi abuela hizo, y lo uso todos los días durante el invierno. Mi madre me regaló un jarrón que mi bisabuela le regaló. Llevé esta cosa tan frágil con mucho cuidado este verano. Como no tengo demasiadas reliquias, estas me son muy queridas.

Random flashback, January 1981 // Escena retrospectiva, enero 1981

Sometimes I randomly (literally, because I use a random number generator) pick a photo from my past and write about it. There were an awful lot of years in my life when I didn´t have a blog, and I figure this is a way to preserve a few of my memories. Fate chose this photo for me, from 1981. I can´t deduce what it commemorates, but I can still remember a lot from that period.

In this photo, I´m six years old, and my equally blond brother is the cute four-year-old. My mother is sporting a styling 1980´s perm, something that I also did for a while in my middle school. I assume my father took the picture, and we are posed in the kitchen of our two-story suburban home in Kankakee, Illinois. You can admire the orange/goldenrod dark brown decorating scheme the house came with. Two years later, a housefire meant my parents got to redecorate completely in more tasteful creams and beiges.

As a first-grader, this would have been my first year in the public Montissouri school I attended. I don´t think this method is used in public schools very often, but I credit it with developing my lifelong love of learning. The gift of having a lot of autonomy to choose what you study, and then suitable levels of reading and math group that challenged me, made school a place I liked, in spite of my extreme shyness.

We lived in the house for six years, starting when I was four years old. I have pretty happy memories of a family where I was loved and a neighborhood where I could run around with my friends without supervision. I learned to ride a bike, I played piano, I started cooking, and began to be the person I am today.

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A veces, elijo una foto al azar de mi pasado y escribo sobre ello. Durante muchos años de mi vida no escribía en mi blog, y este es un método para preservar algunos recuerdos de esa época. El azar eligió esta foto de 1981 para mí. No puedo deducir por qué lo hicimos, pero todavía recuerdo mucho de ese período.

En esta foto, tengo seis años y mi hermano tiene cuatro. Ambos somos rubios y preciosos. Mi madre llevaba una permanente que estaba muy de moda en los años 80s, y yo también hice lo mismo cuando era preadolescente. Supongo que mi padre tomó la foto, y estamos en la cocina de nuestro chalet suburbano en Kankakee, Illinois. Obsérve se los colores naranja, dorado y marrón. Dos años después, un incendio en la casa hizo que mis padres pudieran renovar con una paleta de colores más linda, en tonos crema y beige.

Como estaba en mi primer año de primaria, eseo fue mi primer año en una escuela pública de Montessori. No creo que este método se usara con frecuencia en escuelas públicas en EE. UU., pero le doy crédito por mi amor por el aprendizaje a lo largo de mi vida. Fue un regalo tener la autonomía de elegir el tema que iba a estudiar cada día, y también había grupos de lectura y matemáticas aptos para cada nivel. Por eso, me gustaba la escuela, aunque era extremadamente tímida.

Vivía en este chalet durante seís años. Tengo recuerdos felices de una familia que me quería y un barrio donde podía correr libremente con amigos. Aprendí a montar en bici, tocaba el piano, empecé a cocinar y comencé a ser la persona que soy hoy.

Christmas // Navidad

Could there be a more fitting place to celebrate Chistmas then Sweden? I submit not. At the end of December, there are perhaps seven hours of sunlight, and all that darkness means that homes feel extra cozy. Then, they mainly use white lights to on the Christmas trees and in their windows, which I find extremely elegant.

After all was said and done, my cousins and I had less than threee days together, but we made them count. In spite of their jet lag, we decorated the tree, wrapped gifts and made granola and pizza and candy - and all of that in the first 24 hours. Then we visited the university town of Lund and built bookshelves. I continue to be grateful that I enjoy every memeber of their family and it´s a pleasure to visit them so often.

It is now our tradition to eat a meal at the vegan chinese buffet. N and I had to rest afterwards. //

Nuestra costumbre es comer juntos en un restaurante de tipo bufé de comida china vegana.
Yo y N descansamos un poco después.

My father has the habit of starting DIY projects when he visits friends and family. He doesn´t need to finish them, because people seem to finish them once they are started. I am trying to continue this tradition, this time with assembling bookshelves. // 

Mi padre tiene la tradición de empezar proyectos de bricolaje cuando visita a familiares y amigos. No tienes que terminar el proyecto, porque otros los otros siguen cuando ha empezado. Continúo con esa fijación, esta vez con estantes.

Sweden is dark and a bit cold, but my cousin loves it so much that she can´t help jumping for joy. //

Suecia es oscura y un poco fría, pero a mi prima le gusta tanto que no pudo evitar saltar de alegría.

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¿Hay un lugar más apropiado y bonito que Suecia para celebrar la Navidad? En mi experiencia, la respuesta, rotundamente, es no. En primer lugar, durante la última semana de diciembre, tal vez hay seis o siete horas de luz solar, y debido a la oscuridad abrumadora, los hogares parecen acogedores y llenos de vida. En segundo lugar, los suecos usan (casi siempre) luces blancas para adornar sus árboles de Navidad y sus ventanas, y por eso el estilo es tan elegante y simple.

Al fin y al cabo, mis primos y yo solo pasamossolo tres días juntos, pero nos divertimos muchíisimo durante esos tres días. Además, ellos tuvieron problemas con el jet lag. Sin embargo, adornamos el árbol, envolvimos regalos, cocinamos granola, pizza, dulces de chocolate y caramelos, y también, risotto, y todo en las primeras 24 horas. También, visitamos la ciudad universitaria Lund y construimos estantes. Estoy agradecida de que quiero a cada miembro de esta familia y es un placer visitarlos con tanta frecuencia.

Solo in Sweden

Christmas market in Copenhagen. Mulled wine here has raisins and nuts in it,

which was unexpected but delicious.

This year I am spending Christmas in Malmö, where my cousins live. The plan was that I would arrive as soon as my classes ended, several days before my cousins´family actually returned from their trip abroad, then they would join me a few days later. This would give me a few days of peace and quiet in their lovely suburban home, and I could also act as a cat sitter. Due to various errors and misfortunes, however, my cousin's family is arriving two days later than planned, so we will only have two and a half days together before I return to Spain. As a result, this has turned into a mostly solo vacation - not quite what I planned, but Sweden is absolutely lovely and we all know I can't get enough of cold weather, so I am not complaining. Plus, today they are returning home, so I know that we´ll cram lots of holiday fun in the next few days.

One of my daily duties is proof of life photos of the cats.

Above all, I have found the Christmas decorations here extremely tasteful - almost all white lights and cut paper stars shining in windows. This is very different than Spain´s perspetive, where it seems impossible to have too many colors at the same time, preferably flashing.

I know three words in Swedish: hej (hello), tack (thanks) and fika
(a traditional coffee break, often with buns). I am fika-ing as much as possible here. 

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(Sorry, no Spanish today but it´ll be back soon.)

Achievement unlocked! // ¡Logro desbloqueado!

This week I got my flu shot. In the US, that would mean that I had walked into my local pharmacy, paid a small amount, and got a vaccination. Or maybe I would have gotten a free shot at my workplace, as used to happen. But here, like many things in a new country, it works differently. And it was just different enough but when I tried two years ago to get one, I gave up. My language skills simply weren't sufficient navigating this part of life.

I've realized that I now have enough skills to do things like this. I made a phone call to the insurance company, and the lady there explained, in Spanish, how to do it. I made an appointment with the doctor, and came prepared with my arguments about why I wanted to get the flu shot, since I had encountered resistance last time. Then I made an appointment with the nurse, who would give me the shot. Finally, I adjusted quickly when she told me I was supposed to procure the vaccine on my own, and ran over to the pharmacy to fetch it and bring it to the nurse. Achievement unlocked!

It is situations like this that make me realize how far I've come. I don't understand everything that people say to me, but I can navigate most interactions without undue stress. It is utterly shocking how complicated life is when you don't know the language and the culture, and how a huge weight lifts off you when you can. It's definitely something we take for granted most of the time if we live in our native land.

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Esta semana recibí una vacuna contra la gripe. En EE.UU., significa que fui a la farmacia más cercana, pagué un poco y recibí la vacuna. O quizás la reciba en el lugar de trabajo. Pero, aquí, como en muchos otros procesos en un nuevo país, esto funciona de manera diferente. De hecho, hace dos años era todo tan diferente que desistí. Mis habilidades lingüísticas no bastaron para hacer lo que necesitaba.

Recientemente, me he dado cuenta de que hablo mejor ahora y podría gestionar situaciones así. Llamé al seguro médico, y la compañera me explicó lo que pasaría. Pedí una cita con el médico, y llegué con los argumentos necesarios para recibir la vacuna, porque la última médica me preguntó si la necesitaba. Después, pedí una cita con la enfermera que me administró la inyección. Finalmente, cambié rápidamente mis planes cuando descubrí que necesitaba recoger la medicina yo misma, y corrí a la farmacia y luego de regreso a la enfermera. ¡Logro desbloqueado!

Situaciones como estas me obligan a darme cuenta de que avancé muchísimo lingüísticamente. No entiendo todo cuando las personas me hablan, pero normalmente puedo interactuar con ellos sin demasiado estrés. Es completamente sorprendente para mí lo complicada que es la vida cuando no entiendes el idioma ni la cultura, y cómo se te quita un peso de encima cuando puedes. Algo que di por hecho cuando vivía en EE.UU.

Lyon

At my language school, there is no vacation time during the fall semester, unlike spring when we get Holy Week. However, I wanted to take a trip, so I spent a week in Lyon (France) recently. The real reason for going was to understand a little bit about what life would be like if I could live there.

I visited Lyon for a day last May, with my friends when we were finishing our bike trip. During twelve packed hours, we saw the cathedral, the radio tower that looks like the Eiffel tower, another important church, and a mural of famous citizens. In addition, we soaked in lovely river views and ate the best Italian food I've had for years. This time, I didn't want to visit tourist attractions. Instead, I wanted to experience everyday life. So I sought out lots of opportunities to meet with people who live in Lyon, stayed at an Airbnb with a kitchen, and traveled to the end of bus snd tram lines to see what the entire city looks like.

At the end of the day, I really liked the city. I have realized that cities of about a million inhabitants are exactly the right size for me. Similarly, with two rivers and double the rain of Madrid, it is a green and relatively verdant city. However, I'm not sure that I can live there, mainly because of financial and legal limitations. In any case, it was a delightful trip.

Proof that I was there. // La prueba de que estuve allí.

I love French desserts. // Me encanta la pastelería de francesa.

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En mi escuela de idiomas, no hay tiempo para las vacaciones durante el trimestre de otoño, en contraste con el trimestre de primavera, que incluye la Semana Santa. Sin embargo, quería hacer un viaje, y por eso pasé una semana en Lyon, Francia. La verdadera razón de mi viaje fue entender un poco sobre cómo podría ser la vida si fuera posible vivir allí.

Pasé un día en Lyon el pasado mes de mayo, con mis amigos cuando llevamos a cabo nuestro viaje en bici. Durante 12 horas, vimos la catedral, la torre de radio (que se parece a la Torre Eiffel), otra iglesia importante y un mural de ciudadanos famosos. Además, disfrutamos de muchas vistas de los ríos y la mejor comida italiana que he probado durante muchos años. Por otra parte, esta vez no quería visitar los sitios turísticos, sino experimentar la vida cotidiana. Por este motivo, quedé con habitantes de Lyon, mi albergue fue un AirBnb con cocina y utilicé los autobuses y tranvías para ver las zonas de la ciudad más lejanas.

En conclusión, me gusta muchísimo la ciudad. Me di cuenta de que una ciudad del tamaño de un millón de personas, más o menos, es perfecta para mí. En la misma línea, cuenta con dos ríos y el doble de lluvia que Madrid, es más frondosa y verde. No obstante, no estoy segura de que pueda vivir allí por razones legales y económicas. En cualquier caso, fue un viaje muy divertido.