I also noticed all the flowering trees and shrubs on that walk. Spring in Alozaina is very lovely, and we have been missing out. Many people have rose bushes in their gardens or in pots on their balconies, and the roses are just beautiful. This is a bottlebrush tree just inside the gate at Aliah's school. The variety of ornamentals here is truly something special.
One of Aliah's language assignments that day was to write a story. She was asked to choose four words from a list and then get creative. I have included it for those of you who can read Spanish. I hope you enjoy how her little mind works. She is one of a kind!
She also had to create a challenge for her physical education teacher to complete. We had balloons on hand, so she decided to try to keep two balloons in the air for as long as she could. Her record was 80 seconds. She challenged her teacher to keep THREE balloons in the air for at least that long. Here is the video we sent to her teacher along with the challenge. Feel free to try it yourself!
Later that day, we were out on the balcony attempting two-person yoga poses under the laundry lines. Needless to say, this provided some good comic relief. At one point, we were all on the floor laughing. Sometimes you just gotta step out of your comfort zone and try something new. Shawn and Aliah had the most success. Thankfully, no one was injured in the making of this blog.
The forecast for the weekend and following week was looking really good on Thursday night. We quickly realized that the sun is more intense in Alozaina than in Madison. It was HOT! I started thinking about what it will be like here in June with no public pool. Maybe we can find a rental with a private pool? No, really... I'm already looking.
Our amazing neighbor Juan has continued to bring us fresh local produce and nuts. We've recently gotten more lemons, heads of lettuce, avocados, a bag of almonds, and several big bags of kumquats. What do you do with that many kumquats? Shawn thought kumquat crisp sounded like a good plan, and he was right. To our delight, we discovered that a baked kumquat tastes a lot like a baked peach. He and the girls made a large pan for us and a few small ones to give to the neighbors. We have since made the neighbors a full size crisp, and they asked for the recipe.
The girls and I took a walk while the crisp was baking and noticed a rainbow sign on city hall. The rainbow and a sun are crocheted out of yarn and the sign's message reads "Todo Saldra Bien". I asked Haila what that means and she said, "Everything will be fine". It felt like a confirmation of what I wrote in my last blog... a rainbow is a sign that everything is all right. Apparently, fellow Alozaina resident Maria Flores, the maker of the sign, agrees!
We played cards on Monday, May 4th and watched the sun set over the mountains. With all the flowering trees and shrubs, Haila's allergies have ramped up. I happened to catch her just after a vigorous nose rub in this next photo. She wanted me to delete it, but where's the fun in that?
We remembered after a couple of nights of higher temps that we have wall-mounted air conditioners in two of the bedrooms. We also discovered that one of them has a problem... the water leaks into the room instead of draining through the hose to the outside. I had a couple of gift bags on the dresser under the air conditioner, and they and their contents were saturated. Luckily nothing was damaged beyond use, but we had to lay everything out to dry... and we can no longer use that air conditioner until we resolve the problem. Luckily, we have a fan to use in that bedroom.
We found out on Tuesday, May 5th that our lockdown was most likely going to be extended to May 26th. We revisited the pros and cons list we made for going home early, and Alozaina still came out on top. Our top three reasons to stay are: 1) much better weather, 2) a much better view, and 3) cheaper wine. However, we did add a new reason to leave... we could get a puppy!
One of Aliah's assignments this week was to write a short report on a historical figure of her choosing and to record it for her classmates. She chose to teach her friends about Frida Kahlo. I think we both learned something as we researched information about Frida that day. In addition to her other work, Haila has been practicing writing in cursive since she wasn't taught in school. She's getting a lot better, and I personally think that's an important skill to learn. Both girls did a little painting the day Aliah had an art project to do. If nothing else, homeschooling makes the week go by fast and adds a bit of variety to our days.
We bent the rules a bit on Saturday and went for our first family walk in over 8 weeks. Two adults from the same household are allowed to go for a walk. One adult and up to three kids from the same household are allowed to go for a walk. However, a family of four are technically not allowed out together just yet. We took our time and enjoyed the flowers. Aliah was just as enamoured with the flowering weeds as she was with the real flowers. She told me she wants to have dandelions in her wedding bouquet. We'll see if that sticks.
Later that day, we were disappointed to learn that our province would not be moving to the next phase of coronavirus de-escalation. We are currently in phase 0. In phase 1, we would be allowed to travel within our province. In addition, restaurants will be able to open their outdoor seating areas at 50% capacity, and outdoor markets will return with more spacing between booths. It would have made a big difference for us. The government said they would reevaluate the situation and move us into phase 1 next week if all parameters are met. At this point, all we can do is hope.
Sunday was Mother's Day in the U.S. Spain celebrates the Sunday before, but we didn't realize that ahead of time. Shawn and I did yoga together, and the girls surprised me with a handmade sign. Shawn made my favorite seasonal soup, Spring Minestrone, and I got to pick the movie. I chose Lady and the Tramp.
Shawn and I are 23 days into our 30-day yoga challenge, and neither of us have missed a day. The girls have joined me a few times, and Aliah has joined Shawn multiple times as well. The yoga mats the Easter Bunny brought are really working out, and so are we! Until next time, namaste.
