¿Invierno?

It is very hard to believe that we are half way through the month of Noviembre already. It is difficult for us to not be thinking of the upcoming holidays and the family we will not be spending time with this year. Although the thought of missing out on quality time with our families is a little sad we realize that we have a lot to be thankful for and that it will not be all that long until we are back in the states. Who says you can’t have a Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner in July? Sounds good to us!
For those of you who have forgotten the year of Español you took back in high school or, even worse, have forgotten that you even attended high school “some years ago”… Invierno is the “Espanish” word for winter. We decided not to refer to this time of year as winter, rather we will forever refer to it as invierno andaluz (Andalusian Winter). Winter vocabulary for us before coming to Spain included the words: cold, miserable, wet, snowy, icy, scary driving, dark, gloomy, etc… As hard as it will be to let go of the vocabulary for this year, we have decided to share our new vocabulary with all of you. Clear blue skies, brisk in the morning, pleasantly refreshing in the afternoon, a little on the warm side from time to time, dry, lack of wet, not much precipitation, not snowy, and rather nice! Please refrain from sending us comments like, “you suck”, or “lucky you, it is awful here”…we can imagine what it is like over there and we are thankful that we are here. We enjoy exercising in shorts, and our legs certainly appreciate the sun. And the sun must definitely be needed, as last week Eli received the comment that his legs were “white as milk” (notice that milk is used in place of snow, as the latter is as rare as a sunny winter day on the Westside of Oregon). Not much to get lost in translation on that one!
All kidding aside it is very humorous for us to watch the Jiennenses “people of Jaén” react to the arrival of winter. We are constantly holding back smiles/laughter brought on by the comments about how cold it is, and how it is hard getting used to “winter” which has apparently come early this year according to the locals! Ohh yeah and the three days of rain that we have seen are…”very rare and we probably should not expect more than once a month from here on out because we received so much early on”… I know it is doubtful, but please believe us when we say we think we’ll survive the winter! I was training with the boys last night in a short-sleeve jersey. I had started the ride with arm warmers but decided to shed them after a decent-sized climb. All of the people in the group told me I was crazy and let me know that it was a bad idea. When they finally realized I was not kidding and was truly hot they began to ask me what I planned on wearing when spring/summer arrived…I kindly replied that I plan on riding my bicicleta desnuda! They all got a kick out of that. They all find my butchering of the language quite humorous and love teaching me all sorts of dichos that I would be wise to never repeat! They love hearing the foreigner say “naughty words”! I don’t mind being the one to give them their daily dose of laughter!
On a different note, Miss Jeanna Lynn was introduced to the Mercadillo last week! The Mercadillo could be compared to a weekly flea market of sorts. She found a second home but lucky for us you must have a car to make it out there! We might be able to save a little money after all! Honestly, for those of you who know Aunt Jeanna she has the opposite of expensive taste and no problem saving money rather than spending like somebody else in the fam (who happens to have excellent taste in cycling apparel might I add). She did however find a rock-star pair of pseudo leather boots (that are all the rage here in Jaén) for a smoking deal. She was also conned into buying a couple pair of the infamous calcetines barratos del Mercadillo (cheap socks)!
We are both having an amazing time here in Espain. We hope that all of you are doing well and getting excited for the upcoming holiday season. Know that we are thinking about all of you and wish that we could have you all over here for the holidays. Until next time
Eli and Jeanna