canary islands

As requested by my Father-in-law, greetings from Tenerife!!  Tenerife is a volcanic island that is off the coast of Africa and is the largest of the 7 Canary Islands.  David and I arrived Friday afternoon and were staying at a very nice resort on the south side of the island.  We had reserved a rental car with a GPS and were happily on our way to a fabulous vacation.

Our French car and my US car both have navigational systems installed in them.  It had been quite awhile since I've tried to use a Garmin.  I had the name of our resort and tried repeatedly to enter it into the Garmin….REQUEST NOT FOUND was my response each time.  I entered the street name, which it finally accepted, but couldn't enter the address number.  Oh well, we were in route.

The drive was spectacular.  The majority of the mileage was along the coastline and the waves were crashing against the rocky shore, shooting sea spray into the air.  Fortunately, I was the passenger and was able to see the sights.  David was stuck behind the wheel and had to pay attention because we were given a MANUAL transmission rental car.  We neared our destination and according to the Garmin, "arrived".  We were at the entrance to some kind of warehouse….not good.  We continued on, thinking that we would eventually see a sign.  We were wrong.

I called the hotel to ask for directions, the staff member told me to go "through" two cities and then I would see the resort.  After another 20 minutes of driving, I called again.  A different clerk told me to "head into Playa San Juan and then I would see the resort".  Well, we headed "into Playa San Juan" but didn't see the resort.  I finally had David stop at a gas station and I asked a taxi driver for directions.  Finally, someone who knew where we should be going.

After an extra hour of driving we finally spotted the resort.  We were amazed that there wasn't any type of signage directing people.  After checking in and getting our bags to the room, we set off to explore.  The resort was amazing and we still had about an hour of sunlight to enjoy.

The benefit to all of our EXTRA driving was that we were able to spot a restaurant we could try for dinner.  We were both very excited that DJ and Sarah would be flying in to meet us early Saturday morning.

Saturday morning we headed out to pick up the kids. We quickly discovered why we had such difficulty getting to the hotel on Friday.  Our GPS was not only possessed, but also must have been last updated in the 80's.  It didn't recognize any of the major roads that we would be taking to/from the airport….if you've ever heard "recalculating" from your Garmin, you know what I mean.

The kids arrived safely, although there was a bit of difficulty with finding DJ's golf clubs in baggage claim.  I was one happy momma.  Two of my three chickens were back in my nest.  We headed back to the hotel for a 1:00 tee time for the boys.  While the boys enjoyed their golf, Sarah and I relaxed by the pool.

Our logistical problem for the day was that we had 4 adults, two sets of golf clubs, 2 extra large suitcases, one "overhead" piece of luggage, and 5 small bags in a car designed to seat 5 and hold 2 large/2 small pieces of luggage.  That meant that we were going to have to make two trips to our "home" for the week.  The boys were about an hour from being finished, so Sarah and I decided to tackle the first trip to the house.

Did I mention that our rental car was a stick??  UGH.  I hate driving a manual transmission.  I don't think that I've driven one in almost 20 years, but what is a girl to do?  We loaded up our luggage and set out…..up a very steep incline.  Yep, you guessed it.  I stalled out immediately.  The tricky part for me was that there were several "roundabouts" that I had to navigate on our trip to the house.  We finally made it to the expressway and life was smooth sailing.

Our rental house is in a "wind park".  These are just outside our front door….

This is our "river"….our house is named "El Rio"

Our view at sunset  

Early morning before the sun is totally up

After checking in, Sarah and I drove back to pick up the boys.  We decided that we would hit the grocery store on our way home.  We stopped at LDL.  The kids stayed in the car and slept while we did the shopping.  WOW….we couldn't find ANYTHING.  It was a mass of disorganization.  Sugar was located with the coffee, eggs were in the frozen section, there wasn't any ground beef or chicken….this was going to be difficult.  We finally gave up our search and checked out.  As we were leaving the shopping area we spotted another Mercado (grocery) and decided to check it out.  I am happy to report that it was a REAL grocery and that will be where we shop the remainder of our trip.

We got back to the house and unloaded groceries. Then we hopped into the car to go out for dinner.  Not as easy as it sounds.  We drove to the same exit that had the grocery stores, thinking that we could find a restaurant.  We saw lots of "cafeterias", but not really anything that looked good.  After about 20 minutes of circling the town and the kids stomachs growling so loudly that we could hear them from the front seat, we decided to stop at a corner "cafeteria".  We parked the car, walked up to the restaurant, turned around and got back into the car.  It was like a Speedway at home….hotdogs on rollers and pre made food under warmers.  Back to the house.  Luckily, we had found enough at the LDL to sustain our children for the night.

After cleaning up from dinner (sandwiches and salad), David prepared his "coffee" for the next morning.  He plugged in his coffee maker and BOOM.  No power.  Complete darkness in a desolated place without street lights.  Fortunately, 3 of us have iPhones that have the "flashlight app" and we were able to search for the breaker box.  Couldn't find it.  We finally called and a technician would be out.  An hour later he was here.  Guess what?  He couldn't find the breaker box either.  He called someone and was able to determine its location.  (In a cabinet above the oven)  He flipped the breaker.  David tried to plug in his coffee pot, the breaker blew again.  David tried to plug in his coffee pot into a different electric outlet, the breaker blew again.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what the problem was.

The technician took David's precious coffee maker with him and promised a new one for Sunday morning.  Off to bed we went.  At 2:26 AM, I awoke to a loud crash.  Did someone/something just break one of the huge windows in the house??  I checked on both kids…both were sound asleep.  As I walked back toward our bedroom I spied the shower curtain laying askew in the bath tub.  That was the crash.  It happened just on the other side of the wall from by head, which is why it sounded so loud.  David?  He slept through the entire thing.  So did both kids.  I feel so safe.

David got up early Sunday morning to go for a run.  I checked in on FaceBook and Instagram.  The technician arrived with our new coffee pot.  I greeted him at the door and he handed me a coffee press. I actually said, are you kidding me?  He apologized, but said that was the best he could do.  I was able to make David a decent cup of coffee with the darn thing, but really?

Off to the beach for the day with the family.  We went to Playa de las Americas. The water was cold, but the waves are awesome.  Sarah and I didn't brave the water, but the boys had fun body surfing.  You can see the top of the volcano from the beach….it's crazy to be sitting on a gray sandy beach (caused by the volcanic ash) and look up and see a snowcapped mountain.  We finished the day with a stroll along the promenade and a late lunch.

View of the volcano from the beach

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we have a catamaran excursion scheduled and I hope to check "whale watching" off my bucket list.  Thursday we are scheduled to go to the top of the volcano  "El Tiede" and hike through the national park.  If anything interesting happens, I'll be sure to fill you in with a blog post.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year with your loved ones.  We will certainly be missing ours as we celebrate our first Christmas away from our family.  May you celebrate the true meaning of Christmas and be filled with Joy for the unspeakable gift offered to all on the day that Christ was born.

Residency permit and a cup of tea

Well, I'm official.

I have my Carte Se Jour.  I can legally stay in the country for 1 year…scratch that, my card says until July 2, 2014.  Then I have to re-apply.  It took almost 5 months for me to actually receive it.

Going to the Prefecture is daunting.  I have been there three times since moving.  The initial visit was to file my paperwork requesting my residency permit.  the second visit was to ask for an extension because my temporary visa was expiring and I hadn't yet received my carte se jour.  The first two times I was accompanied by Joëlle.  She is a French national who has a real estate business and also does some work for our relocation company.  Because she is a French national, she can enter before all of the "etrangers".  She scoops up the first number and our wait time is minimal.  Both previous visits were less than 5 minute waits.

She doesn't do this for FREE, so I decided that I could do it on my own this time.  I knew that I had to go to the "foreigner" kiosk and get a number.  Then I would have to wait for them to call my number, present my paperwork and pick up my card.  What I didn't know was that when I selected "etranger" at the kiosk that I would get two options.  That immediately threw me, not gonna lie, I almost said, "let's just go get Jöelle".

My options were "depôt dossier"(deposit file) and "retrait"(withdrawal).  There were people lined up behind me, so I had to choose quickly.  I assumed since I "had" a file, that this was my option.

Piece of cake.  I was only going to have to wait about 15 minutes.  I pulled out my daily devotional and opened my bible app on my phone and set about waiting.  My number flashed on the screen and I went to the appropriate window.  I gave the clerk my number, I apologized that my French was not good and then handed her my paperwork. I knew I was in trouble when she started shaking her head no.  She didn't speak English and rattled off something in French.  I assumed that it had something to do with me being in the wrong line and pointed to the kiosk.  She nodded in agreement.

SOOOOO, I went back to the kiosk and selected the other option…."Retrait".  I was again given two different options.  The first one I couldn't understand at all and the second one mentioned "se jour", so I selected that one

Okay, so my NEW wait time was 45 minutes.  If this was the wrong line, I was giving up.  Fortunately,  the wait was more like 35 minutes.  I went up to my window and did the whole "apologize for not speaking good French" thing, handed the clerk my number and my file and waited. DING DING DING.  JACKPOT.  I was in the right place.  There was a brief moment of panic when she asked me something that I didn't understand and then pointed to another kiosk…..fortunately, I finally understood that she wanted my "stamps"….160 Euro worth!!  It took about 5 minutes and I received my card.  

My other highlight for the week was going to a "tea party".  We have a very fancy tea house here in Strasbourg called "Au fond du Jardin" (In the garden).  It is very difficult to get a reservation…in fact, I saw several people walk in and there weren't any openings until after Christmas.  Fortunately, the Americans in Alsace group that I belong to made a reservation early in November and so I was able to experience my "tea journey".  

The owner is very enthusiastic about his tea.  Unfortunately, he speaks zero English and so I was unable to "keep up" with his very animated descriptions of the teas that were offered. Each customer gets their own "pot of tea", you get to select a madeleine and then there is a third course that includes chocolate. I selected the  "Christmas Tea" and it was delicious.  This tea house also has some hot chocolates that sound yummy, so I am excited to go back.

These were my tea companions, Jen, Rene and Barbara

This was our table before we started to eat, drink and be merry.

These were the madeleines that we chose.  A chocolate/orange, a cherry and a citrus.

This was the third course.  I'm surprised that my stomach isn't intruding on this picture….

I enjoyed the madeleines so much that I purchased four of them to send back to the states for David's family "Trim the Tree" gathering.  Luckily, the package arrived in the "Saint Nick" of time and they were able to enjoy them.  The owner of the tea house, Fred, has been to the White House several times (decorating for Christmas) and created special madeleines for the Clintons and most recently was hired to create a madeleine for the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

This may be my last entry for 2013.  We are head for Tenerife (Canary Islands) for Christmas and are excited that 2 of our 3 children will be joining us.  Merry Christmas to you and yours as you celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus.  May His joy fill your home during this holiday season!!

Navigation system

What to blog?  Yikes.  I didn't have anything on my mind today, so let's see what happens.

The Christmas market in Strasbourg is in full swing.  There are hundreds of booths covering every open area in the city.  That makes getting from point A to point B a little challenging sometimes.  I must admit that the French do seem a little "happier" at this time of year.

The entrance to the market near our apartment

A "double decker" horse drawn carriage

David and I went exploring the market here in Strasbourg and then in a village named Obernai this past weekend.  While there are a few vendors who sell handmade items in the Strasbourg market, I would say that  almost all of the village vendors are solely responsible for supplying their own stock.  Consequently, most of my purchases were made in Obernai.

Earlier in the week I went on an adventure with my Greek friend.  She lives about 30 minutes north of us and so I took the car.  Her exit happens to be at a toll road entrance so I encountered a little bit of difficulty.  As I approached the toll booth I knew her exit was close and on the right (thanks to my car's navigation system) but as I glanced to the right lane I saw a sign that said "RÉSERVÉ".  So into the toll gate I went.  As I was waiting for the gate to go up I could see that there were actually TWO lanes off to the right and only one of them was "Reserved"….bummer, that meant I missed my exit.

As I slowly moved through, I could see a car parked in an area just past the toll gate and that there was a "space" between two of the concrete barriers.  Hmmmm, maybe LOTS of people are thrown off by that "reserved" sign.  I decided I would try to get my car through that space and save myself 30 km of driving.  (The next exit was 15 km or 9 miles away)

It was tricky.  As I approached the "entrance" of this little pull off it had a big "no entry" sign….oh well, I backed my car up through that sign and continued about 300 yards to where I had seen the break in the concrete barriers.  Rats!! There was a metal bar blocking my way.  I got out to see if I could raise it, but it was locked in place.  Ok, I had to give up and call my friend and tell her that I would be late.

As I was making my call another car "pulled in" to the "no entry" lot and tried to do exactly what I had just done.  I was feeling justified.  What made it better was that she spoke French!!  She went up to the toll gate worker and I could see her hands flying as she explained that she missed the exit and wanted to go through the barrier.  He must've told her she was out of luck because she headed back to her car.

I was resigned to driving the extra 20 minutes and set off.  As I exited the "no entry" lot, I immediately came upon the entrance ramp to the highway….hmmmm.  Split second decision and I threw my car into reverse and backed up the entrance ramp!!  I was praying the whole time….you see it was a one lane ramp and it was curvy.  If someone was coming the "right way" they wouldn't see me until they were locked onto my rear bumper.  It was a dicey 90 seconds for sure.  As I neared the "end" or the "beginning" depending on your perspective, a car approached.  Luckily, the road was somewhat straight and we could both see each other.

I slowed down and got over as far as I could and let them drive past me.  Now to my next obstacle….that car had just come through a "gate" to enter the toll road.  ACK!!  God had answered my prayers though, another car was just approaching the gate.  As they were taking their ticket and the gate went up to allow them through I zoomed past them (going backwards) through the open gate.  I wish I could've taken a picture of their faces….I am sure that I was the dinner time story that night.

Whew.  I was finally driving in the right direction on the right road.  What a relief.  We were going to a Saint Louis crystal store and then to a Lalique museum.  I'm all for a sale, so why not?  My friend had no idea what the address for either of these places was, she just "knew the way".  I'm not a fan of "knowing the way", I prefer addresses that can be put into a GPS.  This probably stems from my days as a Tupperware manager and having people give me directions like, "go to the last red light and turn left"…how in the heck are you supposed to know when you've gotten to the "last" red light?

I was able to google the address for the Saint Louis store and we were on our way.  I now have some very nice water goblets for you to use the next time you visit.  On to Lalique.  No GPS, she assured me that she knew the way.  Well, she did, but she didn't know that the museum was CLOSED on Mondays.  Her husband had asked her if she was sure that it was open before we left…..I would've loved to have been a fly on the wall when she got home.

We weren't finished.  She had a friend in another village that she wanted me to meet.  I have to tell you, I was ready just to be done, but ok, let's go visit someone that I will never see again in my lifetime.  I turned the car around and followed her directions.  We were about 20 minutes into the drive when I heard her say "ooh la la" (yes, they really do say that in France).  She told me that we were not in the right place.  She wasn't sure where we were or where we missed our turn.  SEE WHY I AM A FAN OF GPS??

No problem, I said (that is NOT what was going through my brain).  What is her address and I will load it in the GPS.  She didn't know her address.  Let's call her and ask her for her address.  She didn't have her phone number in her cell phone.  PROBLEM!

I finally asked if she knew the NAME of the village that we were supposed to be going to and she did. Praise the Lord for the navigation system.  I entered the name of the village and we were off.  Once we were in the village we were able to find the house of her friend.  Turns out it was a retired doctor and his wife and they lived behind a locked gate.  After about 3 minutes of her trying to get them to answer the buzzer the gate swung open and I drove through.  I am not at all certain that this lovely, unsuspecting couple even knew we were going to stop by.

They were the best part of the whole day.  A wonderful couple in their early 70's, happily married for 45 years on the 28th of this month.  The wife whipped up a pot of tea and served some delicious cookies that she and her husband had just made the day before.  They showed me their paper weight collection (very extensive and very EXPENSIVE), a postcard book that belonged to his father during his Naval station in Japan in the early 1900's and we talked about their family.  Turns out that their youngest daughter had heart surgery in Birmingham, Alabama in the 80's.  The doctor spoke very good English, but his wife couldn't speak any.  He gave me his "calling card" and I gave him my phone number.  I asked them to stop and meet David when they came to Strasbourg to visit the Christmas market.

It amazes me that God sets these "divine" appointments and how many times we miss them because we are "too busy" following our own agenda and never give Him the opportunity to direct our path.  I wish you an unexpected appointment during this Holiday season... going what seems to be the "wrong" direction can turn out RIGHT.  Blessings!!

Thanksgiving in France

Well, in case you were wondering, I survived the "Brine disaster" (previous post) or as someone dubbed it, "Teresa's version of 'I Love Lucy'".  I got up early on Thursday to start the food prep and pick up a couple of more items at the store.

This was the first time that I've ever been away from all 3 of my kids on any holiday.  Luckily, I was so busy that I was not missing them too much during the day.  We were expecting Mary and Hannah from London, so that also helped to keep my mind occupied.  I Face Timed my in-laws after they had read all about the previous day's disaster and I knew that we would be "seeing" everyone later in the evening.  (I am so thankful for the miracle of the internet and the ability to see my loved one's faces via the computer!!)

David had assured me that I didn't need to "go all out", but heck, once you have committed to preparing a Thanksgiving dinner by yourself, haven't you already "gone all out"?  (of your head)  My only concern was that my "easy bake oven" might not be able to handle all of the food I had planned on serving.  The other thing that I had to be careful of was which pan to use when…you see, I didn't bring all of my cookware, so 2 skillets, one saucepan and a dutch oven was all I was working with.  I hand washed those puppies what seemed like 3 times each before dinner. Here are a few pics from the prep stage.

 I did avert a major catastrophe when I just barely saved my bare feet from having my dish of sweet potatoes slide out of the oven onto them….I actually said out loud "thank you sweet Jesus for not allowing that hot butter/brown sugar syrup to spill out all over my bare feet".  (Turns out my best friend DID spill hot liquid on her bare feet just a few hours later….guess you should really wear protective gear when you are cooking!)

David and the girls arrived at the apartment just in the "thick" of the final preparation stage.  They all rolled up their sleeves and helped finish.  Mary and Hannah were on crescent rolls (Mary was in HEAVEN) and mashed potatoes and David sliced up the turkey.  Here is our dinner table just before we sat down to eat.

Yes, it was a feast.  Fresh green beans, candied yams, mashed potatoes/gravy, rolls, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie (with homemade whipped cream) and of course the turkey.  Let me just issue a public service announcement here.  Cranberries are DELICIOUS!!  I have spent 49 Thanksgivings on this earth and this was the first year that I actually ever TRIED them.  Now, this might have something to do with the fact that probably 40+ of those years I watched someone open a CAN of cranberry and slop it onto a saucer just before it hit the dinner table.  I actually made them fresh and they were heavenly.  (Maple syrup, fresh orange juice and orange zest….yum!!)

Mary and Hannah seemed to enjoy the meal and were fabulous helpers with the clean up.  We took them on a quick walk around the city so that we would be able to enjoy dessert and so that they could also get a "feel" for the city. Once we were back in the apartment everyone went to their own space and Face Timed their family back in the states.  THANK YOU, again, to the Hall and Wiegand family for feeding and loving on my children while they were away from us!!

Friday morning the girls slept in and then we went out to explore Strasbourg's Christmas market (Marché de Noël). It was a cold and blustery day, so we cut our shopping short to have lunch and get warm.  Mary and Hannah had Tarte Flambée and salad for lunch and then we headed back to the apartment. The girls helped me to put up our Christmas tree….(and yes, it's artificial….didn't want to even think about trying to bring a real tree up and then back down 5 flights of stairs)

The Christmas tree on Place Kleber was to be lit at 6:30 so we headed back out at 5:00 to wander through the market and then watch the tree lighting.  We had only been out about 15 minutes and it started to rain.  We got ourselves some hot chocolate and ducked into a cafe until closer to the lighting "hour".  I should've remembered that this was "France".  We waiting until after 7:00 and finally decided to leave.  There were a lot of performers (many singing country music) and many dignitaries speaking, but no one "pushing the button".  It was so crowded that it took us nearly 20 minutes to make our way the 100 yards to our escape route.  I found out on Saturday that the tree didn't actually "light" until after 8:00….glad we decided to make a break for it.

David had an 8:30 basketball game and so we waited for him to finish and then took the girls to a Tapas restaurant for dinner.  Nothing like going OUT to dinner at 9:45PM is there?

We took the girls to the train station early Saturday morning.  They were off to Paris for the rest of the weekend.  David and I had such a lovely visit with them and they even surprised us with some of their favorite things from London.

I couldn't let them leave without getting a few pics and even throwing up a kite for my Theta girl…

You would think that after entertaining our London visitors that we would enjoy a nice relaxing Saturday evening alone.  You would be wrong.  We had the pleasure of hosting an "American Thanksgiving" for the young professionals at our church.  We had a group of about 22 join us for the Michigan-Ohio State game and a huge feast.  Luckily, it was a pitch-in and I didn't have to make another meal!! (Just some stuffing, a pie and sweet potato casserole)

The only bad part of the whole Thanksgiving weekend was that my beloved Wolverines lost to David's Buckeyes.  Fortunately, I had all our guests rooting for BIG BLUE…..otherwise, they weren't allowed to eat!!

Sunday night David and I walked around the city enjoying the beautiful Christmas decorations and shopping at some of the vendors.  Here are some of my "favorite" shop decorations.

This is the tree at Place Kleber….

And finally, a photo of the CROWDS….oh my.

Wishing you a week of joy and God's blessings as we prepare to celebrate His Unspeakable Gift of Jesus Christ.