Escalator pile up drama - potential disaster averted

I always wondered why no strollers were allowed on escalators.  How about the emergency shut off button?  I always wondered why you would ever need that...  DID wonder anyway. Yesterday we avoided a mini disaster... I hate to admit it but the scariness of it was really exciting.  It went something like this:

After school rush of kids and adults all getting on the Metro -- tons of people on the escalator heading down to the underground rail line.  In front of me was a grandma and her two kids, Sim and Mia in her stroller.  Behind me a line full of people all waiting to get off the escalator.

Suddenly.. one of the lil ones in front of us spills a slew of items onto the escalator and just looks at it.. grandma thinks about it and decides to pick them up but she made her mistake by turning her back on the escalator so she can no longer see how fast the stairs flatten to the ground.

I think to myself  oh dear god hurry... and how the f*ck do you say turn around in Catalan? You can see disaster coming quickly and sure enough the stairs hit the ground and she tumbles.. then her kids tumble and Simi reaches out to help the grandma by protecting her head and she is still struggling.  The problem now is here I come with the stroller in front of me which I am about to steam roll 3 people with and possibly Simi too.. things are still on the ground.. people have piled up at the bottom. I can't walk backwards up the moving stairs because theres nothing but people and doing nothing means trucking over some children... I decide maybe I can get a few more seconds if I lift Mia up in the stroller and I can squeeze through the now 4 people blocking the escalator.. So I lift my now 25+ pounds of Mia, 12 lb stroller and 10lb+ of school books up in the air.. but DAMN not high enough because I had no idea I was dealing with 50 lbs at this point so the woman behind quickly helps..    Mia is up for a second saving a stroller to the face but STILL people were in the way and you just KNOW at this point it's my child or yours thats going to get hurt ..however if I DON'T take a step forward soon I will fall on them with Mia in the stroller smashing to the ground... a second later I took what I thought was the safest step and bumped into one of the girls and quickly everyone scurries out of the way at the last possible second with only minor banging into each other.  Finally traffic cleared...a mass of us took a deep sigh of relief.. but I do think grandma hurt herself a bit.

Yea... I'll be sticking to the elevator when I have the stroller from now on.

Welcoming the New Year! 2012!!! Best Moments!

Lunch at Federal!

I am happy to welcome the New Year! The first five moths here have flown by! We have had a great time so far. While being here so far we have learn't a lot about ourselves and the rest of Spain such as the culture, society, people, and general things as well! We have had the best of times such as, eating lunch at Federal Cafe (a cute urban cafe), meeting new people from our local cafe, going to our neighborhood festival, trying to order delivery pizza for the first time in Spanish, and seeing some pretty cool sites!
I am glad to be here the experience is amazing and I am going to be sad to leave!
I hope there will be more great adventures in 2012!

The Local festival!

Sagrada Familia

Would you like some SUGAR with that? Azúcar por favor

It seems as if every single beverage here is served with a side of sugar.  Just in case you need a little bit more sweetness to your fresh squeezed juice..add some azúcar.  Don't forget to throw in the "thhhh" sound  and not the "s" sound when you say it because this is Spain people. ;)


Served with sugar:
-Orange Juice (fresh or not)
-fresh squeezed carrot juice
-Yogurt (sweetened or natural)
-Milk that was requested for my 1 year old daughter. Served with sugar every time!


With that said - you never see a container of sugar just out and available for use.  Not in any of the local cafe's, bars or restaurants.  Except for Starbucks.. I think they have sugar laying out there. Hmmm..

My visit from Santa Claus a.ka. Papa Noel!

This Thursday we had "Santa Claus" come and visit at school.
It was an interesting experience considering the fact that I have never been more than 10 feet away from a Santa Claus so this was very awkward but this Santa is not so nice at all .He was very creepy he walked hunched over would not open his eyes it was really weird and scary.Of course any little kid would not think this but personally I did. I swear I am taunted forever! After we took a picture he asked us what we wanted for Christmas and I said a Ferrari but he said Santa elves do not know how to make them yet so I can't get one! But really it was just a joke!
Then Santa gave us pre Christmas gifts witch was a yo-yo! So fun to play with!

Remember to leave cookies and milk for Santa on Christmas!
Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Fair

Today I dropped by the Christmas Fair by the Cathedral. My friend Lina mentioned it as the place to go if I wanted to see Catalonia Christmas trees and decorations.

She specifically mentioned el Caganer, which are basically little pooping figurines. From what I've read having one of these is supposed to bring prosperity in the new year.

I had to see for myself and boy it was more interesting than I imagined. You had a pooping Flamenco dancer, Hello Kitty, Darth Vader and even a Jesus squatting and wishing prosperity to you.

Of course I just had to buy one.

Visiting Girona, Spain

Girona is a beautiful little town rich with history. I think.. I really wish I could share more details about Girona but honestly I was working while my family enjoyed it.

Every night though I did enjoy a lovely dinner and nice long walk. Our hotel AC Hotel was beautiful and amazingly cheap due to it being off season.

The Pooping Log aka "Tio de Nadal"

Here in Cataluña and also in Valencia, Spain, they have normal Christmas but they have added a tradition that I find so funny! It is called Tio de Nadal, (in English "christmas log"). It's nickname is Caga Tio! This tradition involves a smiling log that on Christmas day, children order it to poop and they sing a little song.

Then children in Cataluña tap this log and apparently it poops candy but this doesn’t just happen over night. The family cares for the log by putting a blanket over it and feeding it food each nite! All over Cataluña you can buy one or the whole family of pooping logs! This tradition is celebrated by almost everyone in Cataluña and Valencia A This really makes things alot more exciting for everyone! These are the little things about Spain that I love!