No sé por qué, pero me siento rara, un poco depre, I told D. the other evening at the dinner table.
¿Por qué? He asked.
(It was the dumbest of answers.) Pues, porque no hemos podido ir a comer un menú del día en toda la semana.
(But, it was also the most telling of reasons: This – our first time in Spain with a child – trip hasn’t aligned with my previous expectations. Continue reading
¡Ya hemos llegado! We’ve arrived. We’re one week into our #España2015 trip and it’s been wonderful so far. This is E.’s first (out-of-utero) visit to her father’s home country. So exciting!
There is so much to share with you all, that I haven’t known where to begin. That’s probably why it’s taken me a whole week to organize my thoughts into a coherent blog post. I’m looking forward to chronicling our family’s adventures with you all, and I thought I’d start with… Continue reading
(Photo via Carissa Rogers, Flickr CC)
¡Amig@s! Today’s edition of Family Fridays is one that I’m convinced will leave you energized in this challenging, but rewarding, journey of bilingual parenting. I’m excited to introduce you to Dania Santana, the creative force behind the blog La Familia Cool. Originally from the Dominican Republic, she now lives with her husband and three young children in the United States, where she lives and breathes (and, writes about!) bilingualism and multiculturalism.
Be encouraged, friends. Continue reading
As I reflect today on the significance of Easter and its connection to bilingual parenting (yes, trust me on this one), allow me to once again make an analogy to food and sharing it with others.
I’ve had the privilege of contributing to the wonderful blog Multicultural Kid Blogs by writing a post on Easter in Spain. I argue that we take a second look at how and why it’s celebrated. Please hop on over to their website and let me know what you think. You can read my post here.
If, after reading that post, you’re left wanting more thoughts on Holy Week, I leave you with this Lenten poem by British writer G.K. Chesterton entitled “The Donkey.”
Why a poem about a donkey?
Well, el burro (or, el asno) has had a long relationship with the Iberian Peninsula; and, like the topic of Easter in Spain, the donkey deserves a second look, according to Chesterton, during this holy Lenten season. Oh, and the donkey is my favorite animal!
The Donkey
When fishes flew and forests walked
And figs grew upon thorn,
Some moment when the moon was blood
Then surely I was born.
With monstrous head and sickening cry
And ears like errant wings,
The devil’s walking parody
On all four-footed things.
The tatter’d outlaw of the earth
Of ancient crooked will
Starve, scourge, deride me, I am dumb
I keep my secret still.
Fools! For I also had my hour;
One far fierce hour and sweet:
There was a shout about my ears,
And palms before my feet.
A pregnant me, summer 2013, Basque Country, Spain.
Do you and your family celebrate Holy Week and Easter? If so, how? I’d love to hear from you, either in the comments below or by contacting me here.
(Photo via Kate Ter Haar, Flickr CC)
And, everything that I have read is a part of me.
So, in that spirit, I periodically share with you what I’ve been reading, both books on my bedside table and links that pop up in my Feedly. While the heart and soul of this blog is bilingual parenting, there are other topics that interest me.
Here’s what I’ve been reading lately. And, you? Drop me a line. I’d love to hear from you! Continue reading
Last week I wrote about the eleven habits of Spaniards that I am living out as mother raising her daughter bilingually and bi-culturally.
That post made me think: bi-cultural means TWO.
There are values and habits that I have grown up with in the United States that I also want to share with my daughter. So, today’s post.
While I want to avoid making gross generalizations about an entire country and her people, I do believe that what follow are six of the most salient cultural values Americans of all sub-groups embrace. And, they’re the ones that, exercised with grace and wisdom, I hope my daughter embraces. Continue reading
Recently, my sister-in-law posted the article “11 Things Americans Could Learn from the Spanish” to my Facebook page. While the article made me chuckle and say, “yes yes, that’s so true!” or, “I wish we all could take life slower,” the wording of the title sounded a bit condescending, so I set the article aside.
It did get me thinking, however, of how Spanish culture has influenced how I live, and most recently, how I parent.
Here are 11 Habits this American mamá is learning from the Spanish. Continue reading
Monday’s post was part one of El Paseo (literally, the walk) in Spain. (If you haven’t read it, why not hop on over there first before continuing with today’s post?)
Yes, I’m dedicating two entire posts to the idea of taking a walk. It’s that important for Spaniards.
If you’re an American (like me) reading this, however, you’ve probably never thought of a walk as more than a way to get from point A to point B, or as a way to exercise. In fact, while preparing these posts, I decided to type in “take a walk” into Google, just our of curiosity, to see the top results. Here’s what I found: Continue reading
Dar un paseo. Dar una vuelta.
Literally translated: to give a walk, or, to give a circle/turn.
Part of my adventure in bilingual parenting is the balancing act of two cultures: D. and I haven’t chosen to simply raise E. with two languages, but with two cultures, or in other words, two ways of seeing and experiencing the world. And that includes the culture – no, I’m going to call it art – of taking a walk. Continue reading
Españolita...¡sobre la marcha! 