Life: Idiotropic

Sigh. A beautifully dreary morning weather wise made sunny with the laughter of international friends.

Met a very nice Australian woman at the bus stop this morning who just moved here. Too fun. Great to hear English, love that accent, and exciting to meet someone new. Her daughter is in Arianna's grade - also exciting for Arianna to have another native English speaker in her grade. Makes Spanish brain strain moments easier when you can escape to your mother tongue.

Dropped off my rental car without a hitch (no van yet, just don't want to pay for a rental anymore), and enjoyed the company of a kind friend who came to the airport and picked me up before our International Spouses coffee this morning.

The French ladies hosted the coffee. Greeted the group in Spanish and French then invited us to eat and drink and converse as always. No program necessary in this group. We have our coffee and a plate full of sweets and we don't stop talking until someone looks at their watch and jumps up realizing that they have a little one to pick up at school and are going to be late.

Great sweets this morning - tiny lemon tarts, a chocolate pear claffouti, various muffins, truffles, and a traditional Christmas cookie with anise that is similar to Aachener printen. The coffee is Europe strong and delicious, so all there is left to do after the first 20 minutes of smiles, greetings, and kisses is to find a chair and start talking. I sat at a table with 2 Italians, 2 Germans, one American who was floating around talking most of the time, and a Valencian woman who's American husband is in Iraq right now, so she came home so her daughter could improve her Spanish at the same school she herself attended as a girl.

And the conversation flew... in English, in Spanish, and in German. I love that. It is exhilarating to be able to understand the German conversation next to me and occasionally chime in as needed, to converse in English then Spanish - to switch as needed depending on who joins. Spanish is the common language here more than English. The Italian lady across from me is new. As it quieted down towards the end I asked her if she spoke English. No. Spanish? No. But she can understand. So I spoke Spanish, she spoke Italian and a little Spanish, and we had a lovely conversation.

Now the house is quiet. It's time for some work in my little office nook where I can see the mountain and the sea. It is cold and I don't have a car, but once again, this is a happy day in Spain.