A Side Note: Violeta Del Valle, the best ever

D.K., Violeta, Dianne

Before I post another day's entry, I want to tell you about our wonderful guide for the 10 days we are in Spain. As you know, Americans, especially those of us from the South, are more forward, a nice way to say nosey, and give up information about our private lives more easily than most, especially the Europeans. To say we grilled Violeta would be an understatement, but after a few days with us she began to understand that our questions were a way of connecting because we were definitely becoming attached to her, not only because she was our life line, but because she endeared herself to us so quickly.

We have all heard the term Renaissance Man; well, she is definitely a Renaissance Woman. She lives in Valencia (pronounced Ba-len-the-a) and is a free lance guide. She is well-respected in her field. She has a degree in tourism and went to university in Spain and France. She speaks five languages--Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, and English and has traveled all over the world. If you watch Samantha Brown on the Travel Channel you can see Violeta with Brown as Brown tours the city of Valencia. Violeta will be singing with a choir that will back up Placido Domingo this summer. She was in New York on 9/11 with a firm that was her client. She worked for Penelope Cruz, when Cruz was younger, a fact that totally impressed the kids.

On a personal note, she is 41 (please forgive me for telling your age, Violeta) and divorced. She and her Ex, who is from Argentina, are both in the tourism industry, and they were away from each other more than together, which did not make for a strong marriage. Her mother lives in Madrid, and Violeta has 4 other brothers and sisters and several nieces and nephews to whom she is close. She has rheumatoid arthritis, but it has not slowed her down one bit. I forgot to find out her shoe size. Que lastima!

But more importantly, she was go genuine. I think we took her by storm, but little by little she warmed to us and was soon not only laughing at us but with us. I was continually practicing my Spanish, and Drew was continually asking her questions, many of which she had already answered but she answered again. At different times as we would walk, she would be engaged in conversations with someone. She took care of us like a mother hen, retrieving lost items on the bus (right, Betty and Morgan?), directing us on our free time, and being our interpreter.

She has promised to come see us when she gets to the States again, and we are looking forward to showing her some good ole Southern Hospitality. Here's to you Violeta!

Time to Vent: Amnesty?

My Mamaw had a familiar saying I heard several times during my childhood, "The world is going to hell in a hand basket." I have often used the saying myself, but I heard the saying again as it came out of my mouth this morning before I realized what I had said.

April 13-18 is National Library Week. We plan to forgive the fine for any books and DVDs turned in during this week. After I made the sign to inform the students of our policy for that week, I asked one of my fellow workers to proof the text. She told me that it was okay but that the students would not know what amnesty meant. I looked at her incredulously and informed her that she was crazy. To prove her point, she asked the next five students that came through the door what the word meant, and not a one knew; even our work study students did not know. To prove that it was a fluke, I asked several students myself, and not one, no not one, could tell me what the word meant.

Now my conundrum (look it up) is--Do I leave the word amnesty or do I come up with a synonym? If I change the word, am I giving in? If I don't, will anyone take advantage of not having to pay the fine? DOES ANYONE CARE?!!!!! No, just me, a retired English teacher. AUGH!!!!!!

In the words of my grandmother, "The world IS going to hell in a hand basket!" and it is faster than we think.

Friday, March 13 Gaudy or Gaudi?

We are ready to go on our first day in Spain! We make our way out into the main area of the Barcelona airport to meet our guide for the next ten days, Violeta Del Valle (pronounced be-o-let-a del bal-yea). She gathers us together and leads us into the bright Barcelona (pronounced bar-the-lone-a) sunshine and warmth, considering we had left behind in Mississippi rain and 43 degree weather. There is no time to doddle. Violeta has us on a schedule, and we soon learn she means business when it comes to setting time limits.

The Barcelona airport

We begin our tour riding through the streets of Barcelona on our way to the La Sagrada Familia, a church designed by Antoni Gaudi and has been under construction since 1884 and is not expected to be completed until 2040, give or take a few years.

Here it is, La Sagrada Familia, Church of the Sacred Family.

 

FYI: Antoni Gaudi was an architect whose influence can be seen in the construction of several of the buildings built in the mid 1800s in Barcelona. To say that his buildings are structured would be to say the Mississippi delta has no mosquitoes. His architecture follows the lines of nature with its curves and angles and shapes and is considered to be of the Modernist style. When observing his buildings, the viewer's first response is, "He had to be on drugs!" or "Are you serious?!". However, after being around his work for a while, it is easy to appreciate what he tried to accomplish. Gaudi's sponsor was Eusebi Guell, after whom the Gaudi designed park is named. By the way, it is from Gaudi that we get the word gaudy.

A view from the inside. Notice how the tops of the columns look like trees.

Some of us at the front entrance of the church: Irene, Debbie, Louise, Drew, Betty, and me

We tour the church and are in amazement. It is nothing like I have ever seen, even though I had seen Gaudi's works in books. His architecture is one of those, "You have to see it to believe it." The front facade of the church is amazing as it portrays the stations of the cross. My pictures do not do the structure justice, and you will only see part of what we were allowed to see. We ride the lift to the top to see the wonderful view of Barcelona and then make the trek down the stairs by one of the several towers (an action I pay dearly for the next day with sore thighs).

Waiting for the lift: Irene, Drew, Mary Nelson, Anne Hall, Megan Kay, Sarah Nan, Haiden, Debbie

Debbie, headed down the tower stairs

Violeta gathers her chicks, loads us on the bus, and continues to show us points of interest as we make the way to our hotel, the Hotel Astoria. It is nice and located in the heart of Barcelona. We get our room assignments, and I know you are thinking, finally, they get to rest after working on a 27 hour day. Wrong!!! We get settled in our rooms and prepare for our dinner together.

 

The Hotel Astoria

We have our first of many taxi rides. This one does not rank as the best one of the trip. Violeta tells the driver our destination, and I try in my limited Spanish to communicate with him but to no avail. We do get to the vicinity of our restaurant, and we are put out on the corner. It is not far to walk to the restaurant, so all ends well.

We eat at the BBRB Restaurant. The meal is okay: soup, flank steak with gravy and rice, and a wonderful vanilla pudding with rolled wafers. The waitress hears me say how much I like the wafers to dip in my pudding, and she brings our table a plate of them, which we gobble down.

Some of us decide to stroll back to the hotel under the direction of Violeta, and we enjoy the sites of the street life of Barcelona and get to know Violeta better. Spain is my kind of country. It does not wake up and get started until 9:00a.m.. They eat lunch around 1:00 p.m. and then siesta until 5:00 pm. when the shops reopen. They then eat dinner around 9:30 p.m.

One of Gaudi's buildings at night

We return to the hotel exhausted. I am rooming with Debbie and Natalie, and we establish our routine quickly. I fall into the bed and think about the sites Violeta told us we are going to see the next day. Sleep comes quickly.

Thursday, March 12 Buenos Dias!

I know had not mentioned I had a trip planned to go to Spain during the Spring Holidays. Well, I went, and I can say I had a tiempo grande ( for you no hables espanol folks), a grand time. I have always heard how wonderful the Mediterranean countries are, but like Italy, this is something you have to experience for yourself to truly understand. We had beautiful weather every day, ranging from the high 60s to the mid 80s a couple of days in Seville. The Spanish people are gracious and delightful. The sangria was quite tasty, and the food was okay once we learned to translate a menu. We walked miles and miles and then walked some more, but the steps were the most delightful steps I have taken since we were in Italy last year.


My Traveling Compainons: Front left to right--D.K., Betty Aden, Paula Simmons; Back--Drew McDowell, John Brindley, Natlie Peeler, Irene Long, Debbie Woodruff, Louise Lowe, Mary Ruth Brindley, Dianne McDowell, Susan Jordon, Lisa Morehead (not pictured)

Each adult was assigned a student who was to keep up with him or her, thus the term keeper. Every time we gathered to leave for a destination, we had a count off in which the students would sound off if their adult was there and ready to depart. My keeper was Haiden Rogers, and we were #10. I must say Haiden did a great job keeping up with me. No Pisa incident this year.

The Kids: Front Left to right--Lauren Simmons, Mary Nelson Robertson, Laura Polk, Caroline Jordon, Anne Hall Brashier; Second Row--Megan Kay Donahoe, Sarah Nan Randle, Ashely Giglo, Haiden Rogers, Dylan Watson; Third Row--Morgan McDowell, Trey Donahoe, and Steve Young

Our group departed from IA at 1:30 p.m. and traveled by bus to the airport in Memphis. We arrived at 4:45 and checked our baggage and passed through security without any major incidents. I had forgotten I had a bottle water in my bag. Needless to say, that bottle was confiscated. Getting our shoes on, we headed to get something to eat and prepared to board our flight.

Waiting for the plane in Memphis. Notice how fresh we look. It won't be that way when we return!

We boarded our flight to Amsterdam at 7:00 p.m. and left the ground at 7:30. The six hour flight was awful for me. I was sitting on the inside of a five-seat aisle, no leg room or wiggle room. The food was not good, but I did manage to watch the movie, The Changling. We had a two-hour layover at Amsterdam, where we refueled and prepared to board again for Barcelona, our first stop on our trip. We endured the two hour flight, arrived at 2:30 p.m. Spain time on March 13, unloaded, claimed our baggage, and were ready to face our first day of checking out Spain.

Do You Have a Pair of Shoes?

Last week I was listening to The View (Please don’t hold my watching against me. I so do enjoy good, civil debate, although their Hot Topics sometimes are too hot and the debate is not at all civil. Anyway, I feel I am supporting Elizabeth Hasselback, if not in person, in spirit. I digress.). The ladies’ guest was Tyler Perry, who was promoting his new movie Madea Goes to Prison. I am not a fan of the Perry movies because I really have this “thing” about men who dress as women. I have watched bits and pieces of the past movies and the sitcom on television, The House of Payne, and they are good for a laugh and a lesson here and there.

However, I was more carried away with Tyler Perry, the man, instead of the actor, director and producer. From everything I have read or heard about him, he is a good person who has tried to make his way in life by truly doing the right thing. He dropped out of high school, had a tempestuous relationship with his father, and was raised by his mother. Eventually, he earned his GED and has become a respected screenwriter, actor, director, producer, and entrepreneur. Raised in New Orleans, he now resides in Atlanta and owns a production studio located there. One of his best friends is Will Smith.

Now, before I relate what he said on the show that so intrigued me, let me point out a few things from the information I just gave you. Despite the conditions in which he was raised and not using them as an excuse for failure, he has become a respectable person. He has worked hard to get where he is, he does not live in the center of the Hollywood lifestyle, and he prefers to offer his opinions about life through his movies, instead of expressing it in a loud and often offensive way that makes him seem as if he is the be all to end all (Anyone heard of Sean Penn? Bill Maher?). That Will Smith is a good friend is not bad either. Perry apparently gives back to his community by providing jobs and helping those in need.

I think it was Barbara Walters who asked Perry how his life had changed with success and he related this story:

One day Perry was out in the community and a rather ragged lady, maybe homeless, asked him if he could give her a pair of shoes. He was so touched by her question he immediately went in the studio and found her a pair of shoes. When he gave her the shoes, she said, “Thank you, Lord, for my feet not touching the ground.” Her comment made him realize how far he had come. In turn, I was so touched by the story that it stayed with me the rest of the day, and I got to thinking how appropriate her quote was for us and our relationship with God. He provides so many blessings for us on a daily basis that if we think about it, our feet never touch the ground. We are able to walk in His love and grace, being spared from the shards of glass, rocks, mud, and rough terrain that can hinder our Christian walk. Sometimes we stumble and sometimes the path is rough, but our feet never touch the ground because He is with us. It is my prayer that your feet never touch the ground, and when the going does get tough, Jesus is there to give you a pair of shoes.

I Got the Baby

I had a wonderful week-end!!! The Lalis got together for our February gabfest, pigout, gripe session week-end. We met in Madison at Lake Caroline as the guests of Donnie and Cathy at their "boat house". Everyone was well, and for sure we all have stayed busy after retirement. As matter of fact, we are not sure how we got everything done that we did while we worked full time.

Eating is one of the activities we do best. Sandra cooked us a wonderful craw fish bisque. Yum! Yum! Afterward we had desserts from the Beagle Bagel--Red Velvet Cake, Caramel Cake, Chocolate Gnosh, and Italian Cream Cake. Take your pick.

A treat for me on Saturday was my first-time eating at P. K. Chang's. Double Yum! Yum!

After lunch we browsed around Barnes and Noble and decided to go back to the lake to sit out on the dock and visit.


For supper we had a dip that is all the rage in Jackson right now, Captain Rodney's Hot Dip and a salad with my dressing. If you are not familiar with Captain Rodney's Sauce, it is a sweet and tart sauce that is really tasty. It can be bought in Greenwood at the Viking Retail Store and at the Everyday Gourmet in Jackson.


Barb who is from Meterie brought us a King Cake, with which we topped off the evening. Yep, I got the baby in my piece!!! I am going to enjoy my luck for the rest of the year.


I didn't take my camera so there are no pictures, but we are all back home now, rested, relaxed and filled. Here are a few of the recipes that we cooked this week-end:

Crab Bisque

1 pkg crawfish tails, thawed
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
2 c. half and half
1 can whole kernel corn (I add an additional can of Mexicorn)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of potato soup
1 stick butter
1 tbsp. Tony’s Creole seasoning
Red pepper to taste (about ¼ tsp.)

Combine all ingredients in crock pot and heat on low until warm.

Captain Rodney's Dip

1/2 cup mayo
8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 chopped green onions
Mix these 4 ingredients and pour into a 9 X 9 greased casserole
Top with 6 crushed Ritz crackers
Back for 15-20 mins. or until bubbly

Top hot dip with 6 pieces of cooked, crumbled bacon and 1/2 cup Captain Rodney's sauce.

Dip with corn chips and enjoy!

Salad Dressing a la Edith

Mix a salad with hearts of Romain, chopped green onions, ripe olives, and tomatoes. Don't put too much in this salad, especially carrots and radishes.

Pour over the salad mixture enough olive oil to coat salad lightly. Then add the juice of one fresh lemon (if the salad serves at least six, less juice if smaller number), toss again. Then season with Cavender's seasoning to taste. Top with crunchy croutons.

He Can't Be That Old! I'm Not!!!!!

I am an only child so I do not have any nieces or nephews on my side of the family. However, Lance has two sisters and I have the privilege of being an aunt to three wonderful nieces, Kelly, Amiee, and Mary Loyce, and a lovable, huggable nephew, Walter. Walter was born when Laura was 4.

The three girls are married and great wives and mothers. Well, Walter will soon be in the ranks of the married. He will be getting married in March to Anna. They are a great couple who started out as friends, who became good friends, who then fell in love with each other. What a way to go.

Saturday, they were honored with an engagement party in Greenwood. We had a great time kicking off the pre-wedding festivities.

There is only one thing: I can't not for the life of me figure out how Walter got old enough to get married. I am still the aunt in her early 30s when he was born. Where did the time go?!!!!!!

Walter and Anna, we all wish you two the best and look forward to the years to come.

Walter and Anna

The Cousins: Walter, Laura, Amiee, Mary Loyce, Jessica

Lance's sister and Walter's mom, Cindy, Lance and me

Cindy and daughter-in-law to be

Cindy and her buds
Clowning for the camera