A Major Milestone for Chris and for Us!

I am posting this article a little later than usual because I just got back from five days in London with Chris.  You see Chris spent probably the last 10 months researching how he could move to either Barcelona or to Europe so that we could be closer together.  He has been persistent, thorough and relentless in his determination to come here.  We had many, many conversations about possible options on how this could happen.  But it seemed that the most assured way for Chris to come here was by him building upon his strong public school teaching experience and pursuing an international teaching career.  In these conversations we both agreed that it would be ideal for him to find a teaching position in Barcelona.  But if that were not possible in the beginning, that he would also look for positions in other parts of Europe, putting him much closer to Barcelona than where he currently works in Alexandria, VA.

We were a little idealistic in the beginning.  We thought that Chris' experience would make it easy for

him to land a job in Barcelona by next September.  In fact last summer Chris had a couple of informational interviews with two prestigious international schools here.  Also, Chris signed up with a job search firm specializing in helping teachers find international teaching positions.  He got good advice from them that he followed as closely as possible.  But understanding the complex world of searching for international teaching positions and the challenges that it presents did not come to the fore until Chris actually tasted the hotly competitive environment at the job fair.

After the first day, Chris realized that the most coveted places for teachers to work were in cities like Barcelona.  These schools know that and look for teachers who not only have previous international teaching experience, but who also have been trained and have taught in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program that many international schools follow.  Although Chris had the training, he did not have the experience.  As the conference progressed, he saw that he needed to expand the cities that he would entertain living in.  He had about 5-6 interviews and some really good ones including Casablanca, Frankfurt, Kiev, and a small town in Denmark.  However, the lack of international teaching experience and experience in IB allowed other teachers there to be offered most of those positions.

The best interview Chris had was with the British International School in Kiev.  They were very

impressed with Chris' teaching background and after a second interview they offered Chris a position in their downtown campus with 1st or 2nd grade class.  It's an excellent school on a beautiful campus in a beautiful city.  They are building their IB program and Chris would be able to gain that valuable experience with them.  Chris asked a lot of questions including questions about security, given the yet unresolved issues that this country has with Russia. But Kiev is hundreds of kilometers away from the eastern border where there is unrest and Chris felt comfortable in accepting the position with this school.

I will be spending some time in August with Chris in Kiev as he gets settled.  Our plan is

to see each other once or twice a month, either meeting in Kiev, Barcelona or in one of the many cities in eastern and western Europe that are between our two cities.  It will be quite an exciting year of being together more often and of exploring the European continent!!

This decision also deepens the commitment that Chris and I have for each other in our relationship.  We are very much in love and want to ensure that we can cultivate our love and our relationship by being able to see each other more frequently.  This is truly a huge step for Chris and for us.

I Did Better Than I Thought

I got my results from my Spanish test.  In spite of my many doubts, I passed with flying colors.  I didn't realize this until afterwards, but not all parts of the exam counted for passing the test.  There are 5 parts: Writing, Grammer, Speaking, Reading Comprehension and Listening Comprehension.  I was especially concerned about the listening comprehension part of the test. I didn't need to take the speaking test because I did well on a mid-term presentation in class.  The only parts that counted for the final grade were the first three.  My writing composition earned me 100% and my grammer 80%.  So I passed with much to spare (passing is 65%).  I also found out that I got 100% on reading comprehension.  But where I did really poorly was in listening comprehension - 52%!!  Oh well, I know what I need to work on for level 5!  I start up again on February 9.

A Cat, A Foot, An Exam & A Hike

It's ironic that I did not skip a beat in continuing with my blog articles while I was in the U.S. but I found it difficult to get the next one out when I returned to Barcelona.  But between unpacking, bringing the cat home and taking her to the vet, and going on an all-day hike on that first Sunday, I found that it was impossible to do so.  So this is my catch-up article.  I'll try to make this as brief as I can.

Cat Issues and Accommodations

I'm learning about cat behavior here more than I ever knew in the U.S.  I'm also learning to be an amateur vet in giving Sunset her medications. When Sunset arrived in September, Carol and I both noticed that she would sneeze infrequently.  I didn't think anything of it, but over time it got worse.  A couple of weeks before my trip to the U.S. I took her to the vet and he prescribed medications for her which included giving her drops and a cream in her eyes three times a day.  She has been a trooper and has endured this up to now.

I also needed to have someone care for Sunset while I was gone for 2 1/2 weeks to the U.S.  My friend Oscar B. was more than happy to take care of her, but it meant that I had to bring her to his home, which is about 6 blocks away.  Oscar was great with Sunset and she seemed to be fine there.  But as I had been warned, it can be stressful for a cat to move location and at the same time to be separated from her owner.  She did exhibit signs of stress plus her medical issues were still not completely resolved.  So she returned to the vet and I am giving her medications for another week.

I will be in London from Jan 22 - 26 and this time a classmate friend of mine, Vera, who also lives in the neighborhood, will be coming to the house and spending time here with Sunset and will also spend some nights here.  That should minimize any future stress on Sunset.

My !#@&$ Foot

Back in May, I noticed that I had lost some feeling in my left toe.  I went to a doctor and was misdiagnosed that I had a gout attack.  In the summer I went to another doctor who didn't believe it was gout based on blood tests but didn't have a clear diagnosis.  This issue didn't impede my ability to be mobile, so I waited until I was in the U.S.to see my doctor there and although he didn't know what the issue was, he recommended that I go to a podiatrist.  I did that in the U.S. and the podiatrist said that it was a nerve issue and that it was emanating from my spinal column.  He suggested that I find a chiropractor in Barcelona and begin to get treatment.


I am now going to a chiropractor and I'll see how this goes.  I do have some skepticism about chiropractic therapy and its benefits but I will be patient and see if they can help.  A few years ago I was diagnosed with spinal stenosis, which is a narrow spinal column that one is born with but can cause issues with age.  There is probably a pinched nerve and the chiropractic treatments may help with realigning the backbones and the pelvis and giving relief to the nerves.  Time will tell on this one.

Spanish Final Exam

My Spanish Class with my teacher (holding the plant)
and some of my classmates (I am not in the pic)

In less than a week upon my return from the U.S. I had two days of final exams in Spanish.  Spending  3 weeks talking in English the entire time made for a rude awakening in getting my mind and speech back into thinking and speaking in Spanish.  The first day was a writing test which involved reading a complex article and writing a composition about the topic.  It was not an easy reading and was not an easy topic for me.  The second day was a 2 1/2 hour exam that included reading comprehension, grammar and listening comprehension.  Again, it was a very tough exam.  Luckily I did not need to do the oral exam because I did well on a mid-term presentation in class.  On Jan 27 I will get my results to see if I passed and can sign up for Level 5 or if I failed and will need to repeat Level 4 (if I decide to go back).  A lot of emphasis is placed on the individualized pace of language learning and that it takes some people longer to master a language than others and that it is not an issue to repeat a level. That all sounds well and good, but I'll be disappointed if they recommend that I repeat.  I'll know next Monday.


Tough Hike

My good friend Jordi, who is in the restaurant business, finally has been able to take some vacation time in January and so organized a hiking trip into the northern mountains of Catalunya.  We walked 24 kilometers and climbed up about 700 meters to an altitude of 1,246 meters.  It was the hardest hike I have ever done since moving here!  It was beautiful though.  But I definitely felt it over the next few days!!!  Here are some photos from the hike.

My last week in the U.S. - A Whirlwind Visit!!

When I moved to Barcelona in March of last year, I really had no idea when I would come back to

the U.S. to visit.  But after Chris' visit last summer, it made sense for me to return over the Christmas holidays for almost three weeks to spend time with Chris, meet his family and friends, and visit with my friends in the Washington D.C. area.  As most of you know, my parents passed away some time ago and my brother lives in California and my sister lives in Kansas City.  We never had a tradition to be together for the holidays because we have always lived so far apart.  So I wasn't able to see them in this visit but hope that we will see each other in my next visit or when they come to Barcelona.

With friends David and Bill

This was a wonderful visit!!  And we were busy!!  Between seeing and being with Chris' family and friends and setting up breakfasts, lunches and dinners with my friends, I have calculated that I visited with others about 24 times and saw about 80 people in the 2 1/2 weeks here.  There were a couple of days that we met 4 groups of friends: one group for breakfast, another for lunch, another for afternoon coffee and and another group for dinner.  We ate out a lot!  I'm sure I gained weight.

I wasn't able to take many pictures of all these encounters with friends, but I was able to take a couple of photos that are posted here in this article. 

Most importantly, I was able to spend a wonderful time with Chris, getting to know him better by

seeing him in his hometown with his mother, family, and friends.  Each day and night with him allowed us to deepen our relationship and bring us ever closer to each other. Luckily, we will be seeing each other again for 5 days in London toward the end of January for a teacher's job fair that Chris will be attending and for which I'll be accompanying him.

I very much enjoyed my U.S. visit but it became very clear to me that although I have a lot of history and feel very familiar with the D.C. area, Barcelona is now my home and I look forward to returning there in the next couple of days.  Chris and I have talked about how starting this summer and fall, Chris will be in Barcelona with me (or there abouts) to live.  More about this in a future blog article. 

With friends Christian, Waits, Jonathan & Scott