Oct 4, Malaga, Mijas

After the tour of Alfarnate and Alfarnatejo, we drove to Malaga (an hour south of Alfarnate). Emilio was very tired after our late night talks. We were not going to bed until after 1am!

We tried to go to church in Malaga, but it was Conference weekend, so church was at an unexpected time. We did go into the church and found out when Conference began. Then we walked REALLY far to see the Cathedral, which happened to be closed.

Then, we walked back to church and watched two talks of Conference in Spanish while Emilio had lunch. Then, we decided to take a drive a little ways up into the mountains to a little town called Mijas. It was very cute and a definite tourist trap. We loved it all the same.


Mijas had the typical white houses with red tile roofs and a bull ring.

We happened to see the Matador drive up to the bull ring for the daily fight. Some other lady was taking her picture with him, so I jumped right in for my picture.

This was the side of another Ermita dedicated to another virgin who performed a miracle of some kind. It was a very relaxing place with a great very of the Mediterranean Sea.

We left Mijas and went back to Malaga for dinner, which turned out to be fried octopus. By then, Daniel and I were getting a little leery of the food. We had dinner on the coast and then enjoyed an ice cream.

Emilio was trying to get a hold of his brother, Javier, who is a priest in the Catholic church. Javier had finished a long day of preaching and was headed back to Alfarnate. He was going to pick up Emilio on his way back to Alfarnate. We thought we were not going to meet up with him, but it turns out we did. We had a great conversation with him.

I did not write in my journal while in Spain for Oct. 4 but here are some of the things I remember:
We had a nice walk around Alfarnate with Emilio. He wanted us to meet every person in the 2 villages that were related to us. So we walked from house to house just saying "Hi". The people were happy to meet us.
Today was general conference. We drove to Malaga for church. On our way there Emilio, Daniel and I had conversation about our church and the catholic church. He knows more about his church than most catholics I met in Chile. We found hymns that were in common. It was a nice drive. We found the location of a church in Malaga to go to church, but when we arrived conference had not started yet. Emilio was disappointed that we had left Alfarnate so early. So we walked around Malaga to find the main Cathedral, it was closed so we walked back to church. By now Emilio was hungry and did not want to come to watch conference, so he went to eat and we went inside the church to watch 2 conference talks. The first was by Elder Neil Anderson and the second talk was by Elder Boyd Packard. Daniel and I decided we had better go find Emilio and see what he planned for the rest of the day. Emilio wanted us to meet his brother, Javier, who was a preist for the Catholic church, but he was busy with 3 masses he was giving today. So we decided to drive up to Mijas, a small town 2 minutes into the mountains.
There we had a relaxing afternoon. We met 2 couples from Mesa. We had a wonderful talk with them and of course they knew a friend of my mom. Around dinner time we went back to Malaga and had dinner on the beach. It was good...octopus and french fries. Then we went out for ice cream.
Around 9pm Javier called and said he was not going to be able to meet us, so we were on our way to take Emilio to a friends house in Malaga. As we were driving there Javier pulled up next to us! Emilio was very pleased that we could meet his brother. We drove into an small street and go out of the cars and talked for a few hours. Obviously we shared many of our feelings about our church and listened to what Javier had to say about his. It was a nice coversation. Javier is a wonderful person. Finally after midnight we decided to go our separate ways.
I really enjoyed meeting Daniel's family. It was a wonderful element to our trip and made Spain feel special.

Oct 4, Alfarnate

In the morning Emilio took us on a tour of Alfarnate and Alfarnatejo.
Up this street is the house where Nana's parents used to live. The original house was built around 1875.

This is the house where Nana's older sister and brother were born.

It was being remodeled, but this is the house across the street and what Nana's parents house might have looked like. Probably built around 1875.

Here is the city's main plaza.

You can see in this archway a hint of Moorish influence.

We walked to the town's Ermita, which is a Shrine to the Virgin Monsalud, hence Nana's mom's name, Monsalud.



Then we walked back to the church where Emilio has mass every Sunday. We got the keys and went inside.

Then we went upstairs to see the bells and have a look at Alfarnate and Alfarnatejo from up high.

Now was time for us to leave Alfarnate and our long lost family. Emilio's mom's name is Maria Josepha (Pepa)-it is through her family that we are related, and this is his dad, Cipriano.

This is inside the door to the inside of their house.

This is what I wrote in my journal for Sunday, 4th of October:
Yesterday, we spent all day in Granada. We were at the Alhambra from noon to 2pm. It was very impressive. Then we went into Granada to eat and look at the Cathedral.... Emilio is very bold. If a cathedral was closed he would go push on the door to open it & invite us to go in. It was crazy. Then there was the main Cathedral where Isabel and Ferdinand are buried. It was only open for a wedding, but he walked right in. So we were in the cathedral for a wedding. It was rude of us in my opinion. Anyway we ate lunch. I had paella. It was good. Daniel's stomach hurt b/c of last nights experimental tapas. When you ask Daniel about the tapas bar from last night, he remembers dirty knifes with flies on them sticking to a magnet on the wall! For lunch Daniel thought he would let his stomach rest so he had a salad. Emilio questioned Daniel's choice for lunch. I tried to tell Emilio that we did not eat as much as it appeared the Spaniards eat.
It was time for us to get back to the Alhambra for our appointment to go into the palacio de Nazaria. Everything was so beautiful and detailed. After the Palace we went to the gardens. After a 30minutes of walking in the garden we were told it was time to leave b/c it was closing time. Daniel decided to be funny and hide from us while the "closing ladies" were asking us to leave. Well, Emilio and the ladies did not think this was funny. Emilio thought Daniel was really lost. I knew we should just wait for Daniel at the entrance to the garden. According to Daniel, he just needed to go to the bathroom and was not playing a joke on anyone! Yeah right... Anyway, he did meet us at the entrance to the gardens.

That night we went back to Emilio's house, where his mom made us dinner. It was chicken soup with pieces of old bread in it that turned all soggy. There were also little pieces of something dark.... I don't know. The soup was alright, just not much flavor. She also made a vegetable salad that was 1/4 cooked veggies, 3/4 mayonnaise. Daniel liked it. For dessert, we had a flan like custard. Mari made us so much food, I really think she thought we did not like the food. It was good, just way too much for us to eat. We were full by the time she brought out dessert, so we just shared one and did not finish it. The rest of the night (by now it was after 10pm) we spoke with Cipriano, his wife, Mari, and a little bit to Emilio. We did meet his sister, Maria Victoria, really quick.

This morning, Sunday the 4th, we woke up at 8am, got ready and went to Emilio's for breakfast. The night before we had a big discussion about what Mari should make us for breakfast this morning. She did not think we would like anything. So Emilio asked us what we eat for breakfast. Daniel told them about omelettes with bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, and cheese. Mari thought that was the weirdest thing to eat for breakfast, b/c they eat an egg and potato dish for lunch. They call it a tortilla. Cipriano thought we would like tortilla for breakfast. Emilio insisted we would not eat their "tortilla" and that his mom should try to make an omelette like we eat. (there is one thing I have learned... that is to never ask someone in a different country to make something they are not familiar with b/c it never turns out like you think it will.) So the dad won and his mom made us a tortilla for breakfast, even though the thought of this appalled Mari. Daniel and I were so full we did not have to eat again until 8 pm Sunday night.

October 3rd- Alfarnate, Alhambra, Granada

Here we are in Alfarnate overlooking the landscape which is full of agriculture. They grow things from garbanzo beans to olive trees. We had a tour of the SMALL olive oil factory then headed an hour and 15 minutes northeast to Granada.

The Alhambra is the last great Moorish palace which they were able to hold onto until 1492.

I don't know if you can tell in the pictures, but Charles the V's Christian Renaissance palace looks very out of place in front of the palace of Nazaries.

This is the outside wall of Charles V's palace. It was HUGE!

The view from on top of the fortress was beautiful.






Here we are inside the palacio Nazaries. The Moorish carvings were beautiful.

The picture below is one of the patios for the women to enjoy nature b/c they were not allowed to go outside the palace.

We were fortunate to be at the palace while the sun was setting. It was beautiful.

Earlier in the day we walked into Granada for lunch. After a nice lunch of paella and salad we walked to the Royal Chapel. This is where Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand chose to be buried as a symbol of the Christian conquest over the Moors.


We were unable to go inside and see the King's and Queen's tombs, but we did see a wedding in one of the side churches. This was one of our crazy moments of our trip. Emilio saw no problem with us inviting ourselves into this private wedding!!


After we left the church inside the Royal Cathedral, Daniel saw a car trying to back out of a small garage inside this square. So Daniel helped him back out safely. The man rolled down his window and it was the Bishop of Granada (a very important person!). Of course, Emilio wanted him to get out of his car so we could take a picture with him!

We had a very full day. We drove back to Alfarnate and Emilio's mom made us dinner. We talked for several hours and then went to bed.

Here is what I wrote in a journal I wrote while in Spain:
October 3rd-We arrived yesterday afternoon. We met Emilio Garcia Pascual- his grandmother, Maria Jamie Arrebala and Daniel's grandmother Antonia Garcia Ledesma are cousins. At this point in my journal I was writing on a very windy road from Alfarnate to Granada that was originally built by the Moors, but more recently paved around 1820.

Yesterday, on October 2, we had a great lunch in Madrid after renting the car. Our first "menu del dia" was a yummy soup, sopa de puchero, and a very thin large piece of fish, maybe hake, known as merluza. Then we drove to Alfarnate and spoke with Emilio and his mom Mari (Maria Josepha -Pepa). While we were talking his mother kept insisting that we go get something to eat b/c the bars would be closing. When we finally left to get dinner, of course everyplace was closed (it was midnight!) So we had tapas at the only bar that was open. It was quite an experience. We had anchovies, blood sausage, cheese, and salami. The cheese was good, but dried out. The salami was alright and the anchovies were VERY SALTY. I couldn't eat it. I had anchovies with eyes and all on my mission, but now I could not handle it. I guess I am getting too old. Also, the blood sausage was too much for me. It really did not taste that bad, just the thought of it made me not want to eat it. I felt bad and wished I could have eaten more. I hope Emilio did not feel too bad. We finally went to bed around 1:30am. Emilio found us a private house to rent. It was very nice.

This morning we woke up at 9:30am. Emilio came and picked us up. We went to his house and had churros con chocolate. The churros are similar to our churros, but much thinner and drier, and no sugar. The chocolate drink was like warm, thin pudding. I liked it, but it seemed more like a dessert than breakfast. We met Emilio's dad. He came to talk to us while Emilio was doing something. His dad, Cipriano, shared some apples (most of which had worms in them), which were good, and some almonds. He grows almond trees, olive trees, and cereals. After breakfast we went to the olive oil factory and got a tour. It was a very small tour. The factory is about 1000 square feet. We were able to buy some oil, but also get some small bottles as gifts.

Emilio knows so much history of his country and his family. It has been interesting to hear all the facts he knows.

Here Daniel and I are, about to leave our darling little family.
Yes, they were as crazy as usual. I hope Grandma Ann will be alright!

Looking at the bull billboard, can you guess where Daniel and I went for 10 days?
Espana!!
This is the first time Daniel and I have gone on a vacation alone since we had our children. It was a trip we both have worked hard to be able to take.

The flight was of course very long, but Daniel and I enjoyed talking to each other and watching a few movies. When we got on the plane in Canada that would take us into Madrid, there was a huge group of high school kids from some type of exchange program. You should have seen Daniel's face as he watched these kids converse in Spanish. Daniel just kept saying "AHH, mi gente, mi gente" (my people, my people). Daniel's dad is 100% Spanish. One reason we decided to go to Spain was to meet Daniel's cousin, Emilio Garcia Pascual. So to see these kids on the plane Daniel felt as if he was going home!

Here we are eating our first "menu al dia". It was very good. We started with Sopa de puchero, soup with garbanzo beans. (A few day later I asked Emilio's mom for the recipe and she said I could not make it because she did not think the USA sold fermented bones that are put in the pot while soaking the garbanzo beans. Maybe it is best I don't know how to make sopa de puchero!) Then we had a very thin fish cooked on the grill and a creamy flan type dessert. So far it looks like we are going to love the food!

The owner of the restaurant just loved having us eat there. He was telling the other patrons we were from California. He was very kind.
After dinner we headed to southern Spain to meet Daniel's 3rd cousin. Emilio is 34 years old. He teaches Spanish in England and is fluent in English. Lou sent Emilio's mom, Maria Josepha (Pepa), a letter many years ago asking for some dates for family history. Years later she wrote Lou with some of the information and that was the beginning of our relationship with Emilio's family. They live in a small village near Malaga, Spain called Alfarnate. Around 9:30pm we drove off the main highway and headed to the village. At 10pm, using our GPS, we arrived in Alfarnate and spent the next several hours getting to know Lou's mom(Antonia/Nana)'s family. Emilio had so many pictures to show us. It was neat to see pictures of Nana's family.
Emilio just kept talking and talking and telling us so many facts. Daniel and I were getting very tired and Emilio still wanted to take us out for dinner. Maria Pepa insisted we leave to get something to eat b/c everything would be closing (it was almost midnight) but Emilio just kept talking. Finally we did leave to get dinner and everything was closed except one bar. So we ate some tapas.
This was not Daniel's nor my idea of a delicious dinner. It was very "rustic"! We had a plate of each of the following on day old bread: sardines, cheese, blood sausage, and salami. (remember post 'Day 1") But, I was going to be a good sport about this so I picked up a sardine and took a bite.... SALTY!!! That is alright, I will eat the salami... well, maybe not. Ok, it was too late to be polite. I just filled up on cheese. At Daniel's request I tried the blood sausage. Daniel said it was not that bad. And he was right, it was really pastey and...well, I just couldn't finish it (How do you say laco-ovo-vegitarian that eats honey in spanish?) After our tapas, Emilio took us to a house that we rented for 2 nights. We were exhausted by the time we went to bed!

Family Night

Before we went on our trip we had a fun Family Night with the kids. Earlier in the day I needed the kids to be busy doing something, so I let them make pumpkin bread (from a box mix). They really did it all by themselves except pouring the mix into the pans. Later, I thought it would be fun for them to deliver the bread to a friend.
Olivia chose Milles of course, but Sam wanted to do Miles so Olivia let him deliver Miles bread.

Olivia chose another friend, Lilly.

We chose Chloë's friend, Derek.

And Daniel chose his home teaching companion, Justin.

Everyone had fun that night!

day 1

This is my first dinner as an official non-eater of meat. Something has happened to me over the past few years and I cannot stomach meat, chicken, pork, and some fish. Last week I reached my limit of meat intake and I am done with it all!* Below is my first try with red lentils.
They are pretty good.
I hope my family does not mind the change!

*I will eat some meats if my stomach is up for it and it is high in quality.

Lulu can almost walk

That is the good news. The bad news is that she will probably take her first good steps while we are in Spain! I will be so sad to miss them. Hopefully Grandma Ann will catch them on the camera.



I love you Lauren. You have the cutest laugh. I am going to miss you.

Is this a journal or not....

I always say I want this to have more journal entries, but I never do it. So here are two thoughts...

First, Daniel is the Elder's quorum president in our ward. So he likes us to have new move-ins over once a month for dinner. Last weekend we had three families over for hamburgers. We had a great time. Daniel is getting really good at the grill! Anyway I am sharing this story for a reason. We were almost out of ketchup so I went into the garage to get more ketchup. It happened to be Organic. (I bought it b/c the label was pretty) So I set it on the table and said, "Oh, here is the Organic ketchup!" Then one of the wives jumped out of her chair, reached across the table, and said, "OH THANKS!" Now here is what I am thinking... You mean someone cares about Organic ketchup. With all the other JUNK we have on the table how is Organic ketchup going to change things!! I mean really, to me ketchup in itself screams anti-organic. .... But I did feel really bad about how excited she was about the Organic Ketchup that I made a quick recovery talking about the differences in the levels of Organic. It is very fascinating... certified organic, organic, locally grown organic.
In case you didn't catch it... I am not politically correct about the whole 3rd breast issue!

Just so you know the end of the story, I visit teach this girl and we hit it off great!

The other thing I wanted to enter in my "journal" is that I am SO EXCITED. Daniel and I are going to SPAIN in 8 days! I am finishing up last minute items, such as getting from the airport to our first hotel! FUN FUN. Actually I do LOVE this kind of task.