No Longer a Tourist

Hooooola!
Long time, no write, I know. I keep trying to get Joseph to write a blog, but he refuses. Men! :)
I haven't written mainly because I've been busy and distracted, but also because all the day to day things don't seem so worthy of telling anymore. Every little thing is no longer new and exciting. I no longer feel like a tourist, I feel like I actually live here. We are regulars at cafes where the waitress knows our orders without even asking. We know which days to go to the market for cheap mushrooms, and which grocery store has a better cereal selection. It's kind of nice.
All recent events seem somewhat of a blur now, but here are some of the highlights.
- Jessica had a friend from home come visit. It was nice. We drank a lot and pushed her in a shopping card down Calle Olms.
- We got a new roommate! Stephen (another teaching assistant from LA) moved into our small office sized room. This now means that of the 40 Americans doing this program in the Balearic Islands, 6 of them live in this apartment.
- Stephen, Andy, Jess and I all took a day trip to Valdamossa. Another small beautiful town on the out-skirts of Palma. We found our dream house. Apparently Michael Douglas (a famous actor) apparently has a house there, maybe it was his?
- One of my second graders broke out a surprising level of English and serenaded me with an adorable rendition of "Killing Me Softly."
- It is freezing here. Ok, not really, but a lot colder and rainier than I expected/wanted it to be (avg high 55-60). And apparently a lot colder/rainier than Mallorcians are used to. Oh, and our apartment has no heat. Not that that's anything new in my life, but it doesn't make me like it any better.
- In fact, in a recent storm, Jessica was struck by lightening! Ok, not full-blown lightening. Just one of the little "feeler" lightening. Enough to make her umbrella spark. No worries, she is ok!
- I have at least one more tutoring gig lined up for next semester. And a possible four more in the works! Yay extra money!!
- Joseph finally bought a new pair of shoes! But then the "perfect storm" occurred. Which included a) new rubbery soled shoes b) lots of rain c) a bit of alcohol. The result? Joseph falling on his butt 8 times on the way home. It was somewhere between amusing and painful to watch.
- We currently have 3 Couch Surfers (ie random college-aged kids) from Iowa staying with us for a few days. So far they seem really great! After that we have Dan (a friend from UGA) coming to visit for a few days, and THEN....
- We are off to Zurich!! We will spend a few days there, then take the train to Paris, where we will spend New Years. I am super excited!!

Well everyone just came home, so now I am too distracted to write. I think we are going to make a giant Chicken/Rabbit Paella for our guests! What is Paella? Read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paella

Hope everyone is having a good winter! Miss and love you all!!!
Luego!!

PS: If you want a postcard, make sure we have your address!!!!