Adventures with my brother

My brother recently had to travel to Morocco for business and added a few days to his trip to hop over to Spain. It is a real treat when friends and family come to visit - not just because I enjoy spending time with them, but because having them see my life here and forming memories of US friends in Spain helps these two parts of my life feel more connected.

His trip was poorly timed, in that the weather was pretty awful. They were predicting strong winds and "mud rains", which are when storms brings lots of dust from the Sahara and dump it on us. So we cancelled out plans to hike in the nearby mountains and stayed closer to home, where we could time outings to breaks in the bad weather. He never saw the sun while he was here, but he lives in the Pacific Northwest, so that´s normal for him.

We hiked in a huge park west of the city, and bicycled another day. But most of the time we spent on projects, as that is my family´s idea of a good time. He helped set up an infrared reader for my heat pump, so I can automate it to turn on before I wake up. Spaniards do not run the heat during the night or while they are out of the house, and I was always cold while I waited the few hours in the morning for the chill to leave the brick and stone walls of my apartment. This was a piece of cake for my brother, who has automated his house so much that in the morning, the house turns on the lights and makes a cup of tea for him when he awakes.

I also decided to replace my oven. It has been the bane of my existence. On one hand, I know I am lucky to have any oven at all in a small Spanish apartment. On the other, it is tiny and lacks both thermostat and fan. Although I monitor it obsessively when baking, I have burnt many cakes in the last few years. I knew it would be hard to convince my landlady that the oven was faulty, so I just replaced it without her knowledge. I´m not sure she´ll notice, but if she does, who can complain about a slightly larger, better functioning appliance being left in the apartment?

My brother carried it through the city to the metro and then to my house.
No trip to the gym needed for him.

We discover that the oven is actually a toaster oven built into the wall.
As you can see, there is very little space available.

S had to modify the built-in cabinet a bit. The oven definitely burns fewer things now, but I still need to think of slightly more complicated things to bake so I can  really test it.

Lo siento, hoy no hay una entrada en español.