separation anxiety

10 months, TEN MONTHS adjoined at the hip except for bathroom purposes and this week will be our first week apart.  Whoa.

Rodolfo has left me to visit our family in Madison.  Two hours into the trip, our old beloved Green Meenie - 1996 (199,000 mile) Ford Taurus - electrically failed in the middle of the highway and he called to let me know it died and it was getting towed away....forever....  FOR-E-VER!  Pretty wild!

So.  No more car for us.  Such is life!
Atleast it's not Rodolfo getting towed away forever!

Now it's just learning how to sleep again without a goodnight discussion about who gets which side of the bed and who should turn off the light.  No one to watch how many cookies I eat or see how much t.v. I watch.  No one to make the bed for or put my dirty clothes in the bin for.....

joined at hip in Malaysia

Hmmm.....hey..I could get used to this!

Charles Schwab

ATTENTION:  Those friends traveling the world and living abroad!

I know I'm going to sound like an advertisement, but I can't recommend Charles Schwab enough!

I may have mentioned it to a few of you here and there, but this financial has probably saved us over $100 in fees in the last few months!

•  No international ATM fees!  
•  If a foreign financial adds on a fee, they reverse it!
•  No Annual fees!
•  .5% interest on your checking account
•  Excellent online access 24/7
•  You can open an account online!
•  You can transfer funds from your local financial (hopefully Credit Union ;) in the same day and have access to your money a few days later
•  Every time I email or call, I get an immediate response!  Real people!  No holding!  
•  When you open an account, you receive your card and all the information within the same week.

You are required to have/open a "brokerage account" in order to have a checking account with Charlie (we are that close - first name basis!)  But!  You don't have to have any money in it! 

The other draw back - I remember trying to open an account in Thailand and not being able to - you may only be able to open an account in the States - but I'm not entirely sure!

I don't mean to be a total freak about this, I just hate how quickly and how high some of the fees can get while you are abroad just to have access to your money.  I think it is an American thing to want the best bang for your buck.   Rodolfo thought I was being ridiculous opening yet another bank account, but now even HE agrees that Charlie is the way to go!

Even if $2 seems like not so much to take out $50, it adds up extremely fast when you are traveling for an extended amount of time and $2 becomes $200!

I feel extremely adamant that local business/banking is the way to go, but!  In this one case, when you become an international man of mystery, sometimes you need a more international friendly option!  Just a little food for thought!

Running of the bulls!

We are currently visiting the Northern Spanish city of Pamplona!

We got to walk the streets where the bulls run along with hundreds of their friends!
How did it start? They needed to move the bulls from the fields of the country side somehow to the bull fighting ring at the other side of the city! They did this either late at night, or early in the morning when people weren't in the streets.

One year, some crazy dude jumped in with them, the next year, a few more... Now! Hundreds of crazy dudes crazily running with bulls through very tiny streets!  Our friend showed us a particularly tricky corner where an intersection is blocked off with boards and known to be where many a bull smash against the walls to make the turn!  If you try to run drunk, they will definitely pull you out!

The day before the run, everyone wears white and there is a special ceremony. During this ceremony locals tie a red handkerchief around their necks to prepare for the next day.

People in this area used to keep a sunflower at their door to keep bad spirits away. On some doors you still see them.

Sunflowers. Bulls. Breathtaking views. Pamplona rocks!

1 stop away

We are 2 minutes and 1 metro stop away from making it on time to catch
our train which leaves the Atoche station in 15 minutes.

I see Rodolfo checking his phone for ticket details. No biggie.
Everything is perfect until...

"Sarah! Wrong station!"

We are 2 minutes away from the wrong station. The station we need to
be at is 30 minutes away in the direction that we just came from!!!

We get to the 'other' station 5 minutes after the train has left, to
find out....

It ALSO stops at Atoche station, the station we had been heading to in
the first place!

We would have made our train if we had ignored our ticket. 3 hours and
18€ later, we've made it to Alicante Spain! Yay!!!

Grrrrr multiple train stations!
Yay beautiful southern Spain!

Home. Part two.

It's a lazy Sunday morning here in Madrid Spain.

We spent the morning sipping coffees while I worked on my crepe
technique (thanks P.T.) which we ate with JAMON pate and roasted red
peppers.

Now we are laying around in our pajamas reading the New York Times
online and catching up on our Internet fixes...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh. This
is life!

So I have to admit, Mission accomplished! This is what I call home!
Two weeks of having a kitchen and the same set of sheets every night
has been incredible! We got to eat leftovers a few times! I got to
make spaghetti! I even ran out to the store to buy things like milk
and lettuce! Can you believe it!?! Talk about exciting!

I know which buttons flush the toilet, how to get hot water in the
shower, where the light switches are; I have even mastered which keys
open which apartment doors! (these things may sound pathetic, but
they tend to be the most quirky parts of travel because they change in
every country!)

I know how to take the metro and I don't feel lost anymore walking
thru the streets of Madrid! We even know where to buy a small glass
of beer and a bocadilla (ham sandwich) for 2€!
What I'm surprised at is that now that we've had this incredible time
of stability and comfort, I'm getting the itch again to hit the road!
I'm ready for more!!! What's with that?

We are thinking to also settle for a while in Chile, so I can work on my
Spanish and perhaps we will both find some jobs, a little apartment,
another little spot to call home for a while!

Before Chile however, we luckily get to experience the other
definition of home, family! Yay!! First a visit to Montreal to meet
our brand new nephew, then it's off to visit our dear friends on the
East coast that have become our family, and finally, some quality time
with my fam in Minnesota!!

Sometimes it is not until after an experience that you can really
apreciate it. Now that we've had some time to chill out and just be
somewhere steadily, I feel so happy for all the great places we've
been! I can't wait for more!

Important news announcement!!!

At 10:19am on Saturday September 25th, Simon Perez was born in
Montreal Quebec nice and healthy!

Rodolfo and I are now auntie and uncle! We now have to wise up and
become responsible role models for the newest little edition to the
family!

We head to Quebec soon to help out with with things like laundry and
dishes, but I selfishly can't wait to meet the little dude. I take
auntie responsibilities very seriously! This little kiddo has a great
future ahead of him!

Millions of pictures are guranteed to come once we reach Montreal!

For now, good night from Madrid!

Beware of bananas

With two weeks left in Europe, it feels as if the crazy part of the
trip is coming to a close.
Here are some random thoughts that have come to mind:

In France, wifi is pronounced "wee fee", in Indonesia it's called a
'hotspot'

What are you supposed to say when a Buddhist monk sneezes? I was
stumped. Btw.. Ladies..hands off the monk! They can't touch women.

In Tanzania, you really can slip and fall on a banana peel. They
throw them out their bus windows. Look out!

In the London tube, there is a free library of magazines and
newspapers circulated daily.

In Norway a knife is pronounced "ka-nee-foe"

A hand shake in South Africa can get a bit complicated, with snaps,
twists, bumbs and wrist action. If you are a women, you get a limp
handshake and sometimes a weird look.

In Copenhagen, it is not unusual to have a picnic or exercise in a
cemetary.

Ask for Obama at a bus station in Lilongwe Malawi and you'll get a
ball of fried dough.

Your welcome in Indonesia? Sama sama!

Worst job in the whole world: being the guy in charge of the puke
bags on the vomit ferry from Zanzibar.

Favorite thing we heard someone say in Thailand? "Oh my Buddha!!!"
aka - OMG - Said by a young Thai lady to her older white male "friend"

And the plane lands... - bugle call - "you have now flown another on
time flight with Ryanair!"

A hair cut in Indonesia? $2
A hair cut in Spain? €60

Go for a walk in a park in Sweden and you are sure to find people with
ski poles in any season!

A bottle of water in Laos? .50
A bottle of water in Norway? $5

Do not. I repeat. DO NOT eat the duck in your Pho soup in Vang Viang
Laos!

Japanese is easy to read! Just get off at the station that looks like
a smiley face over the little house with a dot on top!

Jamon!

People in Madrid:

1. Smell really good
2. Live outside sitting at bars sipping coffee and beer while eating tapas
3. Love playgrounds (if you have a kid)
4. Wear beautiful shoes
5. Can enjoy a good bottle of wine for less then 2€
6. Eat a big lunch at 2pm and a little dinner at ...much, much later!
7. Close their shops from 3-5...and the streets become a ghost town!
8. Have incredible locally made olive oil potato chips! (crisps for you
English folk!). You generally get these free as a tapa with your
beverage, or you can buy them for 1€ for a huge bag at any little
shop.
9. Have free access at the right times to the most beautiful art

10. Most importantly! People in Madrid love Jamon! (ham...but at an
artisional level...it's serious stuff!!!!) as well as chorizo and other forms of sausage are by
far the most popular and most apreciated form of snack/tapa/lunch/
dinner everywhere! It crosses every price range, every picnic and
every family table across the city. It has changed our lives!

 I heart Jamon!!!

Happy Chilean Independence Day!

HAPPY CHILEAN INDEPENDENCE DAY!

(Says a Gringa currently residing in Madrid Spain....hmm....awkward?)

We ate at a great little Chilean churrasco/empanada place called SAN-WISH  


The particularly awesome part of the day was spending it with our great friends Cindy and Sergio with their adorable daughter Bella!  It's  an amazing thing getting to catch up with old friends and just sit and talk for hours about anything and everything!  

                                                        

We also got to enjoy a real and true pisco-sour for the first time in a long time, which was AWESOME!  Cindy even led the Chilean cheer in the restaurant!  Some day I wish I could do that!!! 

CHI CHI CHI!  LE LE LE!  VIVA CHILE!

Churros con Chocolate

Home

Right around when we were leaving Africa, I lost it. I wanted to go home.
I was tired, I was frustrated, I didn't want to get ripped off or stared at anymore and I wanted it NOW!!!!

Well, our ticket to the States wasn't for another 2 months and of course, Rodolfo loves to TRAVEL, the trip was not over by far...and, small detail, we are homeless...lacking the home.

Being on the road so much, I think a lot about home.
The idea of what a home is, what my old apartment looked like, the traditions of my family, having a place to just stare at walls, drinking a giant cup of coffee out of my special giant coffee cup,  feeling "normal",  knowing how much an apple costs, or just buying a package of butter and getting to use it for more then one day.

So during freak out, Rodolfo asked me, what is it you miss Sarah?  Is it really the States or could we make a home anywhere?  We probably won't have an actual home for another year or so, so missing something that won't exist for a while is a bit tricky.   Could we perhaps rent a temporary home?  Find a mini quasi permanent situation?

Compromise?

We arrived today to Madrid where we will stay put for 2 WHOOOOOOOLE WEEKS in our friends parents house.  Our mini social experiment begins today!  Is it possible to make a feeling of "home" temporarily in someone else's home?

I've already taken a nap, stared at the ceiling for a while and considered cleaning my belly button!   All good signs!  I'm getting excited to buy that packet of butter already!