ahhhh...spain

                                             

many poor ecuadorians choose to move abroad in the hopes of making more money for themselves, and to send back to their family members who stay behind.    right now, the most popular place to go is spain...the euro is strong and the language spoken is the same.  several of the teenagers i work with have left the program early because of an opportunity to legally work in spain.  many of the others have many family members who live there.  some of the boys would like to move there.  others don't want to but feel they should.  most of them have no idea what to expect when they get there.

i decided i would look through my photos of spain from our honeymoon there a few years ago and see if there were any photos worth showing them.  i quickly realized our honeymoon spain isn't the same spain they would experience, although there were some shots that would give them a sense of what northern spain and barcelona. 

                            

i could share with you the photos i am going to show them.  instead, i am sharing some of our favorite photos which we intended to make into a little book.  we never made the book, but the photos are still fun.  i especially love the one of the street art we found on the back of a billboard.

             

i drove in spain for the first time in many years and it lasted about five minutes.  i drove through a tiny town in the basque countryside and manage to swipe off the mirror of one of three cars parked along the one main road.  the above picture is what our mirror looked like after this little accident.  luckily for us, the owners of the other car were extremely understanding.

                                             

there are some other great photos from this trip, one series i find so hilarious that it deserves its own post.  this will come later...

and on a different note, i am still getting lots of comments and emails about the tea party.  i'm now thinking that i may throw a different type of international party in just a couple of months...do you think this is too soon?

Comments

[Charmaine]

Too bad I missed the party. I'll have to try and make the next one.

Oh, and I have to share that I was soooo nervous when we rented a car recently in Mendoza, Argentina. I thought for sure, we were going to get into some kind of accident so we bought the most comprehensive insurance package!! Happily, I can report that there were no accidents. (Though I think we were just plain lucky!)

[jungle dream pagoda]

Those pics are marvy,I love the grafitti too. Throw one of your events whenever you choose (the sooner the better!). I decided to attend just that morning,and what fun we all had!

[ambika]

Lovely, lovely photos. The next trip the boyfriend and I are hoping to do is to Barcelona. I've never been and it's been ages since he was there. Your pictures make it all so tempting.

[julie]

Love the green doorThese are lovely Risa!!! Now i feel like looking through my honeymoon pictures!!

too soon to see you again...no! xxx

[stilettoheights]

I am in love with that first photo on your post. so serene.

[lisa]

i love the fact that you and jordan have little projects that you don't follow through on. it makes you seem less superhuman than you guys actually are on a daily basis!!
:)

[Anastasia]

Never too early for another party!!
I loved Spain too...my favourite city ever is 'San Sebastian' in the Basque region. We stayed in a Pensione in the heart of the old city, went Tapas bar hopping every night, danced and ate our way... what a wonderful time we had!!
Love your photos...makes me yearn to travel again...

[sarah]

Definitely have another party, the last one was such good fun!
My sister is living in Barcelona and your great photos just pushed me a little closer to hanging the expense and booking a flight!

[amisha]

beautiful photos... spain is very very high on my list of places to visit. makes me want to dig out my honeymoon photos too :) and i also think another party would be lovely! a couple of months seems quite far away, at least now.

[lisa s]

oh i want to travel now.... sigh..... beautiful images
[yes on party!]

[cruststation]

Thank you for your lovely photos, I'd never say no to a party :)

[Britt-Arnhild]

Honeymoon in Spain. How romatic. I hope the broken mirror didn't bring you bad luck.

[Lisa]

Risa,
Love the photos of spain. I too have some great images of grafitti in Barcelona. Dave didn't get to meet my family there so we might be going back in June! whoo hoo!

[Clare]

about the moving to spain to send money home thing: in morocco remittances (money sent home from foreign workers) is the country's second largest source of income, after... i can't remember. agriculture i think.

not quite related, but interesting, i thought. also i'm not sure if it's true, but its what i was told in morocco. by a tour guide. and he wouldn't lie. would he?

[Veronica TM]

Never too soon! I love those photos.

[Sara K.]

Oh, pretty pretty please have another international tea party! I missed the first one and was so jealous! It's such a sweet idea! Did I say pretty please?

[Cinderella]

I love the picture of the green door. Vanessa would love that to be the door to our house, I would love it, too. I have never been to Spain, maybe I need to get my sister to finally renew her passport so we can take a trip!!

[gracia]

Hee, hee... I like the photo of the mirror after five minutes behind the wheel.
Thanks for the journey... take care, g xo

[Marsha]

I love the sunset photo.

I hope you decide to throw another party soon - the tea party was really fun!

[Mosaics]

i love the wall of freedom!