It's only been a weekend, and so much has changed. Most exciting and important, my Mom is now here. She came out on Saturday and I've been showing her around Valencia--what a great time it's been. After picking Mom up at the airport midday, we went back to the apartment where I've been staying with my roommates and dropped off her luggage. After grabbing a quick lunch, we went back to the apartment in Ayora and waited until about 3:30 when our Airbnb apartment was available i

Every day C asks me if I think that Valencia continues to be the right choice for our family. After 24+ years, I know that this is not so much a need for reassurance as it is a confirmation...does that make any sense? Neither of us tends to be wishy-washy; we make decisions, take action, and course correct as appropriate. His question is less about the choice to move and more about any course corrections we should make along the way. After having been in Valencia for 4 weeks,

The day before I left for Spain, as I was packing, I listened to a webinar about accents and sounding like a local, wherever that may be. It was very interesting, though I realized it wasn't pertinent to my needs as the target audience was voice-over artists speaking English with seemingly native British/So African/N. Irish/Korean/etc; accents. Still, I found it fascinating and thought that I could perhaps use the techniques to improve my pronunciation as I learned Spanish. M

I was looking back at the blog and checking out which posts have a lot of reads and which don't, and it's interesting, because the posts that I think will be great are those that are often the least read. I guess I'm glad that I didn't try to earn a living in psychcology. However, the post that has more reads than any other--by far--is the one where I answered a bunch of questions that I received when we announced that we were moving. Given that it's sinking in for those that

I found out, pretty soon after I got here, that I had missed the registration deadline for the February DELE 2A exam. I was mad--mostly at myself--for not checking and assuming that I'd be able to sign-up once I got to classes. A few days of back-and-forth emails and the testing organization confirmed that I would not be able to take the exam on February 9th. Which is both good, and bad. I got my results from the practice exam today, and I passed on the 3 parts that were retu

I've been asked a few questions several times, and thought I'd put together a quick answer sheet. Eventually I guess I'll create a FAQ page: Q: Are the boys moving with you? A: While I think this is an odd question, it's been asked more than once. So, the short answer is yes. Longer answer is, child #1 will be moving to Israel to enlist in the Israeli Defense Forces and will not be living in Spain with us. However, before he leaves for Israel in July, and will visit u

Spaniards are very proud of their heritage, and Spain is not looking to dilute their culture or language when allowing people to become citizens. To make sure that new citizens are on their way to becoming ingrained in their new homeland, applicants must pass a Spanish culture & civics exam (CCSE) as well as a language proficiency exam (DELE 2A) through the Cervantes Institute which is endorsed by the Spanish government. Growing up in Sandy Springs, Georgia in the 70s and 80