So Sarah always gets mad at me for posting random photos of her so I decided to post this picture of yours truly from this semesters trip to Cordoba. Sarah snapped it in the Torre de la Calahorra while we were on our audio tour of the museum. This is the THIRD time we were in the museum so the smile is really only for the picture.
We were really happy to see the return of the Feria de las Naciones this year. It comes to the park El Prado and stays for almost a month! The shot of lady liberty is for Cory, Annie, and Bee.

We met up with our Cuban friends Marcos and Delmis on Friday night to enjoy the fair.

There are representatives from all kinds of countries selling goodies that are typical to their area.

I forgot which countries booth this came from but I don´t think it originated there.

What we were all most excited about was the different varieties of food.

Marcos, of course, was drawn to the Cuban booth.

Sarah and I, of course, were very tempted to eat at the Mexican booth

There was much to choose from and as the dinner hour was aproaching the lines were only getting longer.

So we decided on the Dominican Republic food. It is what we ate last year but it was so good we needed to come back for more.

The Australian booth next door made us laugh. I won´t even show you the picture of the American booth (too embarassing and a bad representation).

We all decided that we had made the right choice.

On stage their was a group of musicians from Brazil. Two of the guys set the drums down to demonstrate their Capoeira skills. This guy had amazing body control.

Saturday night we headed out to one of our favorite areas of town, La Alameda. They were having their annual Alamedeando festival where different concerts take place in the middle of the plaza and in some of the bars around it. We mostly came for the food and to take place in Tapeando. During this event each restaurant has their special tapa at a good price, and it comes with a free drink!

Our first stop was called something Cerveceria International. Not the best name and the building didn´t look to inviting but the table outside had fun ikea lanterns.

We were drawn to the calabacin dish they had listed and we were not disappointed. Calabacin is kind of like zucchini and the Spaniards do amazing things with it.

This is the view from our table. The streets had a great atmosphere and it seemed like everyone was out.

Our next stop was a little further off the normal path but I have been wanting to try it. La Estraza is a rock n´roll themed tapas bar.

We went with our new friend Rachel, who went through the Semester in Spain program after Sarah and has now come back to teach English.

This dish as well did not disappoint. We didn´t really know what to expect but I was definitely pleased with the outcome. I had no idea they made ribs this good in Spain.

The bar had a really fun atmosphere and cool artwork. The guy with the orange pants kind of gives you an idea of what people who live in La Alameda are like.

Heres the view from the front door.

We had so much fun on Saturday night that, after church on Sunday we walked the short distance over to the Alameda to enjoy the last night of Alamedeando. This time we were joined by Kike and Martín. After enjoying the cheap beverages being served in the plaza we decided to just grab some pizza and eat it there out in the open. I was trying to teach them the significance of "10-4" and "over" but I don´t think it translates into Spanish.

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Back at it

We are just beginning our second week back at the school and its beginning to feel like we never left. Summer in California seems so far away and we miss everyone a lot. But here we have another great group of students and we are enjoying getting to know them and building relationships. There is also a lot going on in the city to keep us busy.

A few days after our return we saw the first stage of the 3 week bicycle race called La Vuelta start in Sevilla. They were doing time trials so all of the teams rode together through the city. The finish line was a few blocks from our house so we got to see some of the action.

We enjoyed seeing Leslie's daughter, Sophia, again after the summer. It seems like she has grown a lot and she is talking a lot more. She came out to hang with the girls on Noche de Chicas while they were out on paddleboats.

This last weekend we were filling the need to get out of the city and friend Nadine invited us to take an adventure out into the campo. We were looking forward to hanging out with our old friend Alfie again.

Nadine's friend Alexis, from the UK but also living in Sevilla, came along as well. We found a nice spot along a reservoir and ate our packed lunches in the shade.

Can you see me?

This was Alfie's first time out of the city so he was having a blast playing fetch with Nadine.

I tried to get him to play in the water but he was not having it.

We found some good skipping rocks.

Then we went swimming. The water was amazing.

Living in the middle of the city always makes us forget how close the wild is.....just a short car ride out of town. Sitting by the water with the hills around us made us feel like we were by Lake Kaweah or something. It's amazing how close the landscape was to California. We are glad we have friends with cars that are willing to drive us places. Thanks Nadine!

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Summer in California, Part II

Just look at this steak! Amazing! We were very happy to hear that Fugazzi's had come back to Hanford and was doing well. We were fortunate enough to be able to eat there twice. It has always been one of our favorite restaurants in Visalia. When it came time to pick a place for our rehersal dinner before our wedding, Sarah knew exactly where she wanted to go.

Sarah's friend Shaffen has had her horse Ace for awhile now and Sarah made it a priority to go over to ride. After Shaffen rode around for awhile she gave it over to Sarah who after a little warm up was looking like a natural again.

Afterwards we enjoyed some Jamba Juice to cool off.
This is another American thing that I think would sell great in Sevilla.

Another thing we made a priority this summer was to go slip n' sliding. Jason and Lyndsie Cradduck tracked down some tarp to use and we set up a nice slide in the park behind the Bruce´s house. (Thanks for the water!) It was a little better to slide on then the old vinyl signs Cory and I used to use but we just couldn't quite get the run long enough. Ted Trager and another friend joined us from Visalia for some good slidin' fun.

This did not end well

......for the both of us.

The dogs had a great time too. The Bruces' dog Dottie wasn't to sure about the Cradducks' dogs but they managed to get along. Cosby, the dachshund, was having the time of his life. He even when down the slide a couple times.

On Thursday night we made sure to head over to the Thursday Night Market Place in Hanford to enjoy the city and see who we ran into. We met up with my sister Ashley who was wanting to buy some local fruits. The weather was nice and a lot of people were out. We love Hanford!

We saw Marlene and Lyle Bruce and met their new little friend who they have been babysitting.

We also ran into old friend Kristian Bringard and for some reason none of the photos turned out. He told us that he was waiting for Stephen Abbas, who we wanted to see as well. Stephen was the photographer at our wedding and did an amazing job.

We were also fortunate enough to be in town while friends Chris and Emily Lewis had their second baby Malachi. We are super happy for them! Soo cute!

Unfortunately our last day in the Central Valley was on my mom's birthday. We made sure to stop into Fresno for her birthday lunch at The Cheescake Factory on our way up to Salinas.
It was hard to get a normal picture of my sister, mom, and Aunt Claire.

Grandma and Aunt Christina are a little difficult too.

But, of course, we had a great time and the food was amazing.
We ate so much that we were only able to split one piece of cheescake between the 7 of us.

We were put to work once we got to Salinas because we were helping out Mark and Vicki with the Teens Encounter Christ weekend at their church. Sarah and I have helped out with a lot of the TEC weekends in the Central Valley so we were happy to be a part (especially because we owed Mark big time for letting us use his car for 5 weeks). I was a small group leader and Sarah played bass in the band. It is a lot of work but it is always rewarding to see the students experience Jesus' love in new ways.

After all the work it was time to relax. We headed out to Monterey to enjoy some wine tasting and dinner looking out into the ocean.

Mark and I are still trying to decide if the wine in Monterey is better than the wine in Spain.

And now we are back in Spain! We didn´t have any problems with our flights and were able to sleep most of the way. We are still getting adjusted to the time and both of us are alittle sick with colds, but now the students are here and its time to get to work. Classes start next week! Remember that you can keep updated on Semester in Spain happenings at
http://www.facebook.com/SemesterInSpain
http://acentosis.blogspot.com

Thanks to all who spent time with us on our break! It was great to see you all. There are many that we wish we could have seen more of and some we were not able to see at all.
Come and visit us.....if not......see you at Christmas!

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