The other morning Bella woke up early and started to “pretend give me a tatto” while I was on the computer writing an email before heading off to my class (I will tell you about the class in another post). Anyway, she loves tattos and can’t wait to have a “real one”, she loves Miami ink and can’t understand why the tattos we let her wear don’t last long and wants the one with the “needle” (Ok, so she’s a bit weird, but those of you who know her know that she is 4 going on 20).

Ok, where was I going with all this, oh yes, ok, so she loves to pretend draw on my arm or anywhere and pretend to give me a tattoo..This particular morning, I was running late and not paying much attention to her and she proceded to give me her pretend tatto..I let her so she wold leave me alone and as soon as I finished typing the email, I headed off to class.

Half way through the morning in my class the guy sitting next to me says to me “Nice Tatoo”, and I say “Excuse me” (well, in Spanish) and he said, “It’s very original”, and I say again “Excuse me???”, He then grabs my arm turns it so I could see and to my surprise, little miss Bella, had decided that this morning she would use a real marker!! not even a pen a MARKER!! The next thing I know is that the entire class is getting up to admire my tatoo and yes, laugh at me..

When I got home I had to take a picture of it and thank Bella for the lovely artwork…Well, at least we know she will have an artistic profession.

As you all know, and as I keep reminding you, I will be turning 39+1 (oh what the hell, the big 40) very soon. Well, every day I look at myself in the mirrow and I can see the small (some big) changes that my face and body have gone through, throughout the years…and it isn’t until you see pcitures of yourself that you truly begin to really notice the change.

Well, on Sunday a very talented photographer friend took some pictures of me in a park and well you can Click Here to see some of the results…For those of you who haven’t seen me in a while, you will probably notice the changes more than I and for those who see me everyday, well..Same old me…

I actually like the way they came out and I’m starting to accept my age better and better everyday. By the time Oct 1st rolls around I will have gotten a grip on the situation.

Finally, it is over!!!! I just got back from the driver part of the Spanish drivers license and I passed!!! It was an ordeal just like the one to pass the written part. And after several driving classes I was ready for the final test.

I had to meet my driving teacher at 7:15 am in our “autoescuela” and from there 4 of us were on our way to the dreaded test. An argentinian guy who had already failed one time, a guy about my age that already had driven for a while but never got around to getting his drivers license and a 18 year old kid. We all packed in the car and headed towards the examination area. On the way the teacher reminding us of all we had to do, the rotondas, stop signs, etc…

Once there, we were surrounded by about 20 or more “autoescuelas’ with their corresponding students. We got off the car and had to wait for the examiners to come..We were all praying we got a good one because passing this test is a little knowing how to drive, a little luck and who is giving you the test. We got lucky and got a young guy who seemed nice.

I was then told that I would go first! I got in the car, my teacher next to me, the examiner behind with the guy who had been driving for a while but didn’t have his license yet. He said, get comfortable and when you are ready go.. I put on my seatbelt, checked all the mirrors, adjusted my seat and started the car. I had to back up and there were people everywhere from the other auto escuelas but I was on my way. I took a deep breath and said to myself “you can do this”. He made me turn right, then left, I passed a stop sign, he then asked me to parallel park where ever I wanted but there was no space so he told me to go into a parking lot and park there, luckily the parking lot was front parking so I went straight in.. He then said, ok thank you next!!!! I said “what, that is it?”, “Do you want more, he asked”, “No, thank you I replied”. But I thought to myself, what did I do so bad that its over…It could not be this easy…he filled in a paper and gave it to my teacher. I switched seats with the other guy and my teacher looked at me through the rear view mirror and gave me a thumbs up. I couldn’t believe it.

The other guy started to drive and got so nervous his car clonked out, then when he went to parallel park he hit a tree behind us, and when the examiner gave him another try he just couldn’t get it in and he failed. We went back and we got off and the other two got in. At that point I was pretty sure I had passed but until I heard it from my teacher I wouldn’t believe it. When the other two came back, I found out that I had indeed passed as well as the other two and that the examiner said to my teacher when I got out of the car and the other two went in..“It will be hard for me to pass people after seeing that girl drive she raised the level”...He did ask me when I sat in the back with him..”Have you driven before?”..

And so, I’m a legal driver.. I must thank my teacher for her patience with me and all the good wishes and prayers of my friends and family.. My neighbor last night gave me a printed stamp of a saint and told me to say the prayer written on it before doing the test and to place it in my back pocket and that he will help me. She said all I needed to do in return is go to his church in Valencia and light a candle.. and so when I found out I had passed, I called her and said “We are going to Valencia”.

I know need to wait for about a month to actually receive my drivers license, but in the meantime I could drive with a photo copy of the passed exam..I also have to place a big “L” on the back of my car for a year letting people know I’m a new driver and to be careful with me and can’t drive over 80 kilometers per hour.… And so ends my drivers license experience, that I think has been one of the most stressful situations in my life..

photo flckr by gwen

As you all know I passed the written part of the Spanish Drivers license part but now comes the driving part. By law you need to take driving classes even if you know how to drive. You must drive a car provided by your “auto escuela” with a teacher that has control over all the pedals in case you F**& up!

I started 3 days a go and let me tell you lots of fun..Not only are almost all cars here stick shift but probably 99% of the auto escuelas only offer stick shift cars.. Thank god that I do know how to drive a stick since my first car (for those of  you who know me for a while could remember the “slutmobile” (and many of you know why) was a stick… anyway, the driving classes are shared with another student one drives half the class, in our case one drives into Alicante from Playa San Juan where we are and the other drives back.

For those of you who have never been to Europe, I must explain that the streets here are not as wide as in the states…there are certain streets where your car barely fits and where sometimes you must tuck in your rear view mirror because you will hit another car… having said that.. you could imagine just how much fun, I’m having..the teacher is very nice but she lets you know what you are doing wrong  time and time again…

Imagine driving in a city you barely know, some are one way streets with no signage, others so narrow (well I already explained above), while the teacher is telling you turn right here (and it’s a one way street where you can’t go in, she does this to see if you are paying attention), then she is reminding you, look in the rear view mirror, down shift, you are too close to the sidewalk, you forgot the turn signal, your shifting wrong, heel on the floor, you didn’t get on the right lane to go into rotondas (yes, rotondas, there are millions of them here and you need to know from which lane to get in and out, always reminds me of the Chevy Chase movie European Vacation when they are in France in a huge rotonda and it takes him all night long to get out of it, going round and round in circles…..

Ok, so what do you think? My teacher thinks I might be ready for the test mid July, I will let you know so you could all pray for me….

photos flickr by

dcphotolibrary 

autoescuelagong 

bakauatas 

Let me just say that passing this test has consumed me for over a month.. With non stop studying my 300 page manual , anyway it all paid off. Yesterday I went to take the test and that was an experience in itself. A group from our driving school went to the official test taking center where we had to wait over 2 hours in line to get in.. Once in they call your name one at a time and hand you over a sheet in which you will place your answers. I felt sorry for some of the people with peculiar names because as they were being called out they had to step from the crowd pass through everyone who was cracking up at their names….

No one laughed at my name and I was given the sheet.. You walk into a huge classroom and sit down where you are directed.. Everything is very organized and they have it down to a science. Once you sit down one of the persons in charge ask you for your ID card and make sure it is you.. They look you up and down and either ask you to put on your glasses or take them off, pull your hair back or let it down depending on what picture you have on your ID card..If they are unsure they will not let you take the test.. (don’t even think of getting a haircut or anything of the sort days before the exam).

Anyway, once they have verified everyones person, a General type man stands up and tells everyone he is going to give the instructions and he is only going to explain it once, if you do not pay attention you are out!!! In the middle of his explanation of how we were to sign our name, put the name of the particular test you received, the usage of a black pen, how to put a cross within the box for the correct answer and so on, he noticed that a guy was not paying attention and he walked up to him, ripped his paper in half and kindly asked him to step outside.

We had 30 minutes to answer 30 multiple choice questions, ready set go….Every 10 minutes he would announce 20 minutes left, 10 minutes and so on.. making you even more nervous...I don’t know if it was that I studied so much that the test seemed too easy or that I got lucky and the questions given to me where the easiest in the room.. Either way I was able to answer all questions in time and even had enough time left to double and triple check them.. They were so easy I got a little nervous thinking there must be a trick… When I got out of there I didn’t even know what to think..

I had to wait until this morning to go to the website to check if I had passed.. I got 1 wrong so I’m “apto” as they say to continue on to torture number two the driving part...which in a way, I think might even be worse than this part… I will keep you all updated…

I had heard of Facebook but I haven’t really had time to join or play with it, but today Maruchy (thanks) invited me to join and I said why not! I don’t have anything else to do..hahahaa… other than study for the Spanish driver’s test, pick up the kids from school (now at  pm) cook lunch, take them to their friends house, clean the house, write on this blog, actually work!! anyway, I’m all signed up, click here to join Facebook ..See you there.

I’m sorry I haven’t written as much as I usually do these past weeks and probably wont be able to in the weeks to come because I’m very close to taking the written part of the Spanish drivers license test which is like trying to pass the bar exam!! I have to study a 300 page manual of bullshit that I will never use, remember or give a shit about.. But that is the law here.

I’m hoping to be able to take the test and pass is mid next month..  For those of you who speak Spanish check out some typical test questions in the following link...I must answer 30 questions and only get 3 wrong. They can ask you anything from car mechanics, speed limits for cars, trucks, buses, tractors, laws regarding every single type of drivers license available, any of the million of signs used in Spain and Europe, first aid (when you learn this chapter you could probably be a certified nurse!!!) and so on and so on….

Wish me luck..

Yesterday was Tuesday the 13th, here in Spain it has the same significance as Friday the 13th in the states. With that said, I got a flat tire yesterday just when I arrived at school to pick up the kids..Luckly, I have a service called RACC, that came right over and changed it for me (well, put the spare on for me).. I guess I could have done that myself, but there is no need to get dirty and most importantly I have no clue how to change a tire..

Isabella was very intrigued by the mechanic changing the tire and helped him by holding the bolts.. Marco could give three shits and just wanted to know when we were going to get home so he could eat a sandwich..hahaha..

This morning I went to a tire shop and the car is all better now..Well, that’s it, the adventure of yesterday and today…

photo flckr by thatgirlsab

When I first heard this word, I thought to myself, Twitter? Is that a bird sound? But, little by little I came to find out it is actually another way to stay in touch with friends through the internet. You basically sign up, fill in your profile and then now and then you write a little note about what you are doing during the day. You can look up all your friends and communicate with them this way.. Sort of like this blog but on a more constant basis…

I know, I know …way too much information.. Well, its the tecnology age so you are either in it or your are on your way out..For now, I have chosen to join this community and chat away with my buddies… Give it a try it’s fun…

Yes, that’s me.. hahaha. The other day one of Matt’s composer friends Luis Ivars (if you go to his website, please dont’ miss the intro it’s fabulous) called and asked him if I was willing to record some lines in English for the MARQ museum and he of course said, yes of course.. Not even consulting me! but of course I agreed and had to go yesterday to his home studio to read about two paragraphs of a archaeological finding report of some sort..

I must say I admire the people who do voice overs, it is not as easy as it looks although he said I had a knack for it and we did it in about 20 minutes which he said its at a pro rate.. I don’t know about that.. I was a little nervous at first and read everything too fast, the second time I was able to slow down a little bit, then he gave me direction as to how to pronounce certain tecnical words and showed me what intonation he wanted..

Overall, the experience was a lot of fun and would love to do something like that again..

photo flickr Dh2