Phoenix and Flagstaff, November, 2019

While I was in Spain, Patty and Paulie were in Flagstaff and had a hailstorm one day.

 

They also saw rainbows.

And stunning sunrises from the dining room.

We found appropriate welcome mats.

Patty received gifts of orchids.

And she got new glasses in Flagstaff.

When I got back from Spain, I got a replacement phone, slowly acclimated to the time zone change and after my Tuesday Docent Day at the DBG, took the Groome Shuttle to Flagstaff.  On the 15th, we went to see Helen Mirren in "The Good Liar."  We look forward to seeing Tom Hanks in the new Mr. Rogers movie.

 

We get to see the mountains from our home in Flagstaff, especially Mount Elden.

The ceilings are high enough in the kitchen that when I stand on the kitchen counter, I just barely hit my head.  After hanging pictures about the cabinets, I made sure the tops of the cabinets were clean.

Then it was back to Phoenix on the 18th, dealing with HOA issues like a broken sprinkler and the HOA meeting on the 19th.

On the 20th, we went to the second Nat Geo Live presentation at Mesa Arts Center to listen to Joel Sartore and his Photo Ark.  He has spent 25 years as a photographer for National Geographic and the Photo Ark is a project to photograph all animal species: https://www.joelsartore.com/

The lobby of the Mesa Arts Center has this colorful dragon greeting visitors.

Patty and I went to a DBG concert on the 22nd and had a delightful evening listening to Big Nick and the Gila Monsters.  Here is a short video.

The joy of condo living is tempered by being on the board of directors and dealing with inconsiderate residents.

Thanksgiving dinner was at Lauren and Blaise's house with the McNamara clan.  Patty said to get wine that was at least 92 points, so my trek to Costco yielded a couple of good wines.

On the 26th, I brought our car in for service then spent my usual shift at the DBG.  As often happens, when I want to learn the name of a specific plant, I take a photo of the identifying tag - then, if I forget, I can simply search on my phone to find it.

 

On the 27th, we finally had Ecodry LLC come and tear our the wet sheetrock in our storage room that had been damaged by the leak I found when returning from Spain.  They were very thorough, leaving large fans for 48 hours to suck any and all moisture out and make sure there would be no mold - I only discovered this mold after removing everything from the storage room.  Sometime in December, the room will be rebuilt.

Here are some of the photos I took on the 9th when submitting the insurance claim.

As the month of November ends, I am thankful for family, friends and continued good health.

Estacion Inglesa and Madrid, Nov. 1 - 7, 2019

After October ended on a positive note with buying our new home in Flagstaff and then flying to Madrid, November started on a negative note.  Friday November 1 began with checking out of Hostal Tokio and having breakfast at the VIPS restaurant on Puerta del Sol.  I then started to walk to Atocha Station to meet up with the Anglo volunteers and Spaniards going to Monfrague for English Immersion with Estacion Inglesa.  About half way there, I went to check my phone and it was gone from my pocket.  I quickly returned to VIPS to see if I had dropped it or left it at the table - no such luck, somebody had stolen my phone.  I walked to Atocha Station, found the group and used the internet to suspend my phone service and email friends and family to watch for fake emails and texts.  The good news is that I was not hurt - I assume it was a pickpocket who got the phone.  Thus, this post is without photos - perhaps as other participants post their photos online or email them, I might be able to copy some into this post.

Tony, Steve, Tony and Bernadette, Jane, David, Morgan and Argeny, Kath, Melissa, Heather and I were the twelve native English speaking Anglo Volunteers.  Cristina, Arturo, Javier, Ysabel, Yolanda, Leticia, Luis Miguel, Jonathon, Oscar, Carolina, Maria and Rosanna were the twelve Spaniards working to improve their English skills.

We had many one on one sessions where we would spend 45 minutes talking about whatever we wished, followed by five minutes to give feedback using the forms provided by Estacion Inglesa - many times we went for a walk, other times we found a place to sit and chat at the hotel.  Meals had assigned seats so that we rotated through meals with all of the other Anglos and Spaniards, always with two Anglos and two Spaniards at each table - the food was excellent (the biggest problem was trying to not eat too much).  We played games.  Each Anglo had phone conversations with five of the Spaniards.  We had a trip to Trujillo, the city from which Francisco Pizzarro came, he who conquered the Incas and ruled Peru, including establishing Lima.  The wealth he and his aide Orellano took from Peru helped build Trujillo into a wealthy city - today, the castle, museums, old homes and cobblestone streets make this a popular spot for tourists.  Hospederia de Extramadura was a very nice hotel - from what I understand, it is owned and operated by the local government with a goal of promoting tourism in Monfrague National Park.  Although there is a nearby birding center and astronomical observatory, our week did not included visiting them - on my early morning walks, I checked out both of them but they were closed.  Our week ended with each of the Spaniards giving a short presentation in English, a group dinner, and Karaoke after dinner until the wee hours Tuesday night (Wednesday morning).  Wednesday lunch was tapas and then a graduation ceremony with certificates for all 24 of us participants.  Then it was the three hour bus ride back to Madrid.

I had no problem getting to Hostal Viky.  While checking in and arranging for my Friday morning ride to the airport, I found out about the Lufthansa pilot strike and the cancellation of more than 1,300 Lufthansa flights on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 7 and 8 - here is a link to a news article about it:

Lufthans Flight Cancellations 

My flight schedule is Lufthansa to Frankfurt, Germany, then United to Denver and on to Phoenix.  Madrid Airport is a 15 minute walk from Hostal Viky (one of the reasons I chose it), so after seeing that my Lufthansa flight appeared cancelled, I walked to the airport and talked to one of the Ground Force employees (they handle flight changes for passengers on Lufthansa and Swiss Air).  She could rebook me for Friday on Swiss Air to Zurich, then Chicago, and United on to Phoenix - but she checked with her supervisor and since my Lufthansa flight had not been cancelled, she could not change my flight.  So I walked back to Hostal Viky and then walked a block to the plaza where I got a burger, fries and a beer for dinner.

Thursday morning, I checked in online - however, without a phone for digital boarding passes, I needed paper boarding passes.  So I walked to the airport again and got both confirmation that my Lufthansa flight was not yet cancelled and paper boarding passes.  Back at the Hostal, I scheduled a 3:45 a.m. wake up call plus they offer free transportation to the airport (another reason I chose Hostal Viky), so I scheduled myself on the 4:00 a.m. shuttle for the 6:10 a.m. Lufthansa flight.  The rest of Thursday was spent hanging out and hoping for the best with my flights on Friday, Nov. 8.

Casa de Mexicano en Espana, Thursday, Oct.31, 2019

On Thursday afternoon, I met up with Kath and Melissa, two other Anglos who would be volunteering with me at Estacion Inglesa in Monfrague.  After a bite to eat at Cien Montadito, we walked north from the center of Madrid to the Casa de Mexicano en Espana.  There was a long cue to get into the museum.  While Kath and Melissa stayed in line, I walked to the entrance and took a photo of the large ofrenda just inside the door.

The outside of the building was decorated with a cross between Halloween and Dia de la Muerte (Day of the Dead).

The line went around the corner and back along the side of the building, and it took us about 40 minutes in line before we got inside.

Finally, we approached the entrance and could see the colorful decorations through the windows.

Then we could stop for a few seconds to see the full display just inside the front door - this display was at least 15 feet ( 5 meters) tall.

We then wandered through the many colorful displays.

In addition to the Halloween and Day of the Dead theme, they also had a couple of rooms of paintings by Diego Rivera.  I was especially touched by his painting of Montparnesse, as we had just been there in May.

They had a room where you could take photos with may figures from earlier times.

And a room had multiple paintings on the wall plus offrendas.

On the way out, there was a display of hundreds of bottles of alcoholic beverages.

We then went out for a drink and crisps.  As we relaxed, a group of cyclists, skateboarders and rollerbladers passed by.

A most enjoyable evening - thank you Kath and Melissa for going with me.