United Statesian

Beach on the border between Jaffo and Tel-Aviv. Muslim Women co-existing with Jewish women  in Bikini on the beach in summer. Dear citizens of the world, The past couple of weeks here in Israel have been stressful but not as bad as it is shown on the media: First of all, the stabbing attacks have been in and around Jerusalem mostly. Secondly, most of the targets are police, military and Orthodox Jews. Living in Tel-Aviv means being in a bubble and immune to the crazy side; however is does not make you immune from the stress. Life goes on but you second guess each choice to go out, you are more aware of your surroundings, any young Israeli Arabs are watched as if they could make you the next headline.  Plans for a Friday dinner in Jerusalem have been put off indefinitely and the last hike in the mountains near the city was cancelled as well. All in all, these flare-ups of confrontation between Bibi and the Palestinians is not what worry me. The threat comes f...

Dear Citizens of the World! Welcome home! Yet again, I am making a new home in a new country and learning a new language. Each time I fly into Tel Aviv, I see this retro sign welcoming immigrants during their "accent" to the homeland. Each time, I am reminded of my many homes around the world. Being an expat...the notion of "home" takes on a new meaning. I once felt that the increasing number of homes was a wearing me thin by trying to be in many places at once. However, I now see it as an enriching experience -- the more you expand you physical horizons, the more you expand your inner horizons. In any case...I am happy that my new home is not on a street with a name like this one: Is that pronounced "Bear Sh*t"? The United Statesian

Suckling pig... crispy, but not dry Dear Citizens of the world! In one of my last posts -- Eating my way through Spain -- I mentioned the fact that Spanish tourism is centred around food. Segovia is no different. The "task" of visiting monuments, sights and museums is purely a way to work up an appetite. Visiting the Disney-like castle...working up an appetite! In Segovia, people most often walk around the centre, check out the aqueduct and tour the castle that locals claim to be the source of inspiration for Disneyland's logo. Then, if you have walked around enough (stopping to sample local delicacies between each monument), you can sit down, unbutton the trousers and dig in. I'm already in the pan and ready to go! Don't worry if you don't speak Spanish...most restaurants decorate their windows with cute versions of your meal... De aproveche! - The United Statesian PS Next week... Fallas I ( Fallas II) in Valencia. A good reason to eat Paella!

Sunset in Atlanta Dear citizens of the world! This United Statesian has left home in the US to go home, but with a stop at home along the way. My 30 hour long journey from home to home... to home was not without its problems -- snow, cancellations, racing to the airport; however, I did try to enjoy the trip. My trip started with a very cold snowy day in Pittsburgh: Snowy Departure The first leg of my voyage took me on a short flight to Atlanta (should have been through JFK) and a three hour layover that gave me the chance to watch the sunset over the tarmac in Atlanta (picture at top)... The nine-hour flight was not too bad, but Delta did manage to show the same movie I had seen on the inbound flight three months earlier... c'est la vie. After a few hours in Madrid at my next home where I switched luggage and went to the train station to catch my six-hour train ride to Valencia. The hour long stopover in Valencia gave me the chance to snap some fotos around the station: Layover at...

An artistic rendition of the United Statesian flag at the Smithsonian Museum in DC. Dear Citizens of the World! The United States has landed and it has been a bizarre few weeks. Reverse Culture shock, after seventeen years away from the homeland, has hit hard. Culture shock is normal when you are going to a foreign country and it is expected. Reverse culture shock affects people differently. Basically, an expat who has been away for a long period of time is shocked because they do not "fit in" with their home culture. My personal experience has been that I find myself staring at people and I feel awed by the most mundane aspects of being back. My fellow United Statesians hear my accent and ask me, "where are you from." I in turn look at them and wonder why MY country is so different from me on so many levels. The shock does lessen, and there are many aspects of the local culture that I do like, but I think that my experiences abroad would always make me feel like a ...

The sun sets over the Solar House Decathlon Dear Citizens of the World! Yeah!!!! Virginia Tech has just won the 2010 Solar Decathlon which was held in Madrid this year! The Hokies are great in United Statesian Football, yet they still Rock in Solar house design! Here are a few pics from the competition that took place down by the river. A few pics are more artisitic than others. The winning "Hokie" house at sunset Sunset over the river. Just in case there was any doubt as to the origins of Tech's House Green solar panels A profile shot of Tech's LumenHaus City sunet in solar panels... Reflection in the river alongside the competition...fitting image of Madrid's river's "green water" next to the "green homes." Tech on top! The United Statesian

Almond tree blooms in Desierto de las Palmas, Castellon, Spain Dear Citizens of the World, Recently, I have neglected one of my favourite hobbies . For some reason, having Galloping Spanish Blightus (pneumonia) reduced my hikes in the mountains to.... zero. Not good for my health - especialy my mental health. Getting a GPS gave me an extra reason to restart my weekend sorties in the mountains of Spain. Now it is possible for me to download tracks from Wikiloc.com and do just about any hike imaginable - as long as my legs will take me. It is quick and easy. Then you can upload your routes, comments and pictures for all to see and use. Here you can find my most recent sortie in Castellon Spain in the Desierto de las Palmas Natural Park. Monestary ruins surrounded by Almond Tree flowers We did 12km and 600m of climbing in this fun hike. The pinkish red rocks, steep terrain, monestaries, hermitages, ruins, views of the coast and mountains were even better with the almond tree blooms. Th...

Dear citizens of the world, All Saints day is the Spanish tradition that precedes the Halloween invasion from the West. November 1st is traditionaly the day that families remember the departed by visiting cemeteries to clean the tombs and leave flowers. The pueblo of Torrico is no different. This tile is from the first person buried in the village cemetery. It loosely translates as: "Stop and contemplate, This tile, sad and cold, Which will one day arrive, Without a doubt in dust you will be." There were a few children dressed up for Halloween and looking for treats, but there were many more visiting the cemetary and the grounds were full of fresh (and plastic) flowers. I do not know what the future holds for Spain, but I hope that the "Party" version of the holiday does not come to replace the Spanish tradition of remembering their dead. A parting shot from the center of Torrico with the sunset on All Saints Day the Church with its' Crane's nests and the...

Fresh tomatoes and Mushrooms the size of a baby's head! ..................... Dear citizens of the world, Wine is definitely important in the Rioja region... and the pilgrimage. But it is only part of the balanced diet. Food from this part of Spain is important as well. We were lucky to see the end of the wine harvest ( see last blog ), but it was also mushroom season. The hills and forests are infested with mushroom pickers. I don't collect shrooms since I can't tell a delicious boletus edulis from a poisonous Boletus reticulatus ! I just enjoy eating them, especially when they are sauteed with olive oil and garlic. Yummy! "Tortilla" Spanish egg and potato omlette We did have some Spanish Tortilla - probably the most common cooked dish that you can find all around Spain, but we did try many other local delights: Blood Sausage from Burgos with bell pepper garnishing I highly recomend the blood sausage. The variation from Burgos is made with rice. This specifi...

"Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more." --Proverbs 31:6-7 The origins of the " Addictive" Santiago Trail are religious, but the reasons for doing the trail have mulitipied - drinking great wine is one of those reasons. Our last stretch of the trail just happened to be through the Rioja region of Spain. Rioja is the most famous wine region in Spain and outside the country. Therefore, following scripture - and good taste - we decided to try as many glasses (and bottles) as possible. Grapes going to waste ! We crossed the Rioja region at the end of the harvest season. There were tons of sweet grapes for us to pick and eat as we went along. However, it became harder and harder to bear the sight of so many grapes going to waste. The wine growers have limits and they are punished if they pick too much. This means that on most years there a...

Gone fruity, Rioja style... Dear citizens of the world, Like many things in life, logic plays only a small role in making decisions. Most people prefer to spend their weekends and holidays relaxing in comfort, others choose to walk (or cycle) across Spain on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Trails of of insanity that cause addiction (750 to 1000 km long). Virgen of "locura" Insanity -- Protecting pilgrims along the trail After ten days of suffering through the heat of July and 250km, my partner had many bad memories and did not want to return. However, after the blisters dissapeared and the hours of walking in 35ºC heat were forgotten, she decided to return to the Santiago trail with great enthusiasm... twice! Marcelino, the eternal pilrim signing my credential Marcelino, the eternal pilgrim has taken this addiction to an extreme. He decided to dedicate his life to the trail and the pilgrims fourteen years ago when he became financialy independent. He spends his days...

Dear citizens of the world, My first post about the annual San Gil fiestas in Torrico was crying out for a second part. Many people asked how the fiestas were in 2009. For the most part, things were tranquil. There is always excess, but improvements have been made -- most noteably, I bought ear plugs. There was lots of music: flamenco to warm up, traditional Spanish songs for the older crowd that turn in at 2:00 am and popular dance music for younger ones. Techno started at about 6:00 am, but I was already sleeping -- thanks to my ear plugs! This years festivities were special for the family because there was a 50th wedding anniverssary. After a short ceremony in the village church we went off to have appetizers in the garage (much nicer than it sounds). There were kilos of Spanish ham, cold cuts, chorizo, chips, olives, cheese and local sweets: Roscos (small dense donuts) and Floretas (Large flakey flower shaped sweets, dripping in honey. This was to warm up the belly. At three in ...