Nerja

As I’m still on my Christmas holidays from work until next week, I decided to take advantage of the time off and see some of my new province. So today I visited the charming town of Nerja which is just under 30 mile (50 kilometers) eastward on the Mediterranean coast. It is one of the famous Andalusian ‘Pueblos Blancos’ (white villages) and sits on a ridge overlooking the sea. And the spring-like weather only enhanced what was a very pleasant day out. The city is famed for two things primarily: the Balcony of Europe viewing platform out over the sea and a serious of caves in the mountains beyond. I visited the first and left the latter for another day’s visit. Probably with José at some point.

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Christmas with the ‘in-laws’

The “in-laws”

Once again, I spent Christmas with José’s family in Badajoz. And once again, his mother made way too much food. Great food, just too much. But it was an enjoyable and relaxing time. The grueling bus ride to Badajoz from Málaga wasn’t. Unfortunately, there is no train between the two cities or any way near the route, so the  hour plus bus was the only option. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it had been direct. Instead it stopped in seemingly every village in route. There were two or three stops in some towns.

Afterwards, I accompanied José to Madrid. It wasn’t much better as the train was overcrowded and lacked a plan car. As a result, we wound up seated on the floor for over 2 hours. But hey, we survived and it gave me something to bitch — I mean write — about.

I hung out in Madrid for a few days with José and with Dominic who is back there as of mid-December. It was great to catch up with him after his globetrotting experiences.

I returned to Málaga to celebrate New Years. (And after the other travel experiences the 2 and half hour bullet train ride was truly luxurious). So overall my holidays were quite good. But it feels nice to be home in the 70 degree sunshine after cold Badajoz and Madrid.

good bye to the Barefoot Diva

Cesaria Evora

It is a sad day. Cesaria Evora, one of my absolute all-time favorite singers, has died.
The first time I heard of her was about 9 years ago while spending a summer in Madrid. Some friends had invited me to go with them to one of her concerts. I declined as I had just been to a Youssou N’Dour concert earlier that week and didn’t know this woman from Adam.
Afterwards, they told me of the amazing show she had put on and it made me curious. During a layover on the trip back to the USA, I came across one of her CDs in a shop in an airport in Paris. I decided to pick it up although I still had never heard her sing and really had no idea about the kind of music she sang.
Once back in Phoenix, I popped the CD into the player as I drove home from the airport. Wow! I could have kicked myself for having passed on the opportunity to see her perform live. I still could as I never did get that chance again. Each time she returned to Madrid, I was out of town (usually back in the States for my summer vacation). But I have spent many wonderful hours indulging in the undulating comforts of her enveloping voice. And it really makes me want to learn Portuguese.
If you’re not familiar with her music, treat yourself now.

fresh start

After 7 years in Madrid, I’m two months in to my new city/job/life and enjoying myself immensely. If you missed the news before, I’ll get you up to speed.
In late September I relocated to the city of Málaga in Andalusia on the south coast of Spain. It is Spain’s 6th largest city with a population of about 550,000 in town and 1.5 million in the urban area. It bills itself as the capital of The Costa del Sol, the famous beach playground strip along the Mediterranean.
And in October I started my new job as a teacher at the language center of the University of Málaga, the main public college in the province. So far I love it! My students and co-workers are great and the admin gives us a lot of support.
And now, as of yesterday, I’m into my home for the foreseeable future. I started in a hostel for a couple of weeks, then a temporary studio for a couple of months. My new place is a block off the main avenue in the historic center of town and 3 or 4 blocks from the cruise port. And I have a couple of nice beaches within a 10 minute walk. If fact, everything I’ll need is within a 10 minute walk (train station, malls, movie theaters, parks, the old Arabic castle/fort complex). I’m feeling pretty blessed at the moment and hope it lasts.
I’ve started meeting some people already and building up my social life. It’s rather easy here as Andalusians are probably the most social and outgoing of people in an extremely social country.
Now just to get some furniture for my empty flat. After staying in three furnished places in Madrid, I have very little. And what I had wasn’t really worth the effort to move.
So soon I’ll actually have a bed in the spare room and I’ll be expecting visitors. Start planning.

another update

A lot of changes have been going on with the C-H family. Sorry to not be better about posting them here. Let see.

Kenneth: After over 7 years, I’ve left Madrid and am now living/working in Málaga, Spain a medium-sized city on the Mediterranean coast. I’m about to start my new job teaching English at the big public university here.

Dominic: Is off on a year (or longer) around-the-world trip/adventure. Although he seems to have fallen in love with Istanbul (which I fully understand) and has settled in for a while. He is following in his father’s footsteps and teaching some English classes to put food in his always hungry mouth.

Kevin: Is back living and working in Phoenix and expecting a child in February. (Yes the C-H family is extending another generation).

So that’s the news in a minute. More details to come.

finally an update

I have been soooooo bad about updating here lately. Mostly because I have been concentrating on the new website for my painting. And, of course, actually painting. If you haven’t had a chance to check out the new site, please do.
Otherwise, I’ve been working a lot and traveling a bit. José, Dominic and I spent 3 weeks in late June-early July in the USA. There we celebrated my mom’s birthday in South Carolina and visited Kevin in Phoenix. We also did a little road trip to Las Vegas, Zion National Park in Utah and Grand Canyon National Park. It was incredible hot but fun.
Back in Madrid, Dominic has been very active in the demonstrations going on Puerta del Sol against the government unemployment/economic measures and the lack of real democracy in general.
Also, Dominic and I managed a weekend getaway to the Málaga on the Mediterranean coast for a weekend in June before heading to the states.

New web page

Hey everybody, check out my new website: kcampbellharris.com. I created it for my art now that I have generated some interest in my works. In fact, as you will see on the new site, I’ve scheduled my first public exhibition.

new painting series

The current series is Duality. In it I aim to explore the overlapping and intertwined nature of existence. The commonality of the pieces is an inclusion of the Yin/Yang, sometimes primary in the image and sometimes quite subtle. I have several more in mind for this series, so expect more soon. You can see the titles and more detail on the Doodles page along with all of my ‘artwork’.

longer getaway

Playa Blanca

A couple of weeks ago, José and I ditched work for a Friday and the following Monday and flew off to the Canary Islands again. This time we went to Lanzarote which was the first of the islands I had visited and one José was had yet to see. It remains the favorite of both of us, at least of the four we have now visited.
Our Couchsurfing host fell through a the last minute and we had to find other accommodations. But that end up being okay and the only ‘problem’ we encountered. Otherwise, just a very fun and relaxing time hanging out on secluded beaches and driving around stunning countryside. Well of course, a lot of eating. A lot of eating! Good eating.
Check out the photos

cooking up a fine mess

preparing the Indian bitter melon

As you all know — I think — I like to go to my neighborhood covered market and just discover new foods. Well a few weeks ago, I decided to try a strange-looking vegetable from one of the Chinese produce vendors. It turned out to be Indian bitter melon. And it turned out to more than live up to the bitter part of its name. I threw it into a wok with some other veggies and made a stir-fry that both Dominic and I found inedible. And as Dominic eats most anything, that says a lot. But the experience was a good one. How else to know not to ever buy bitter melon again. Except I probably will. Anyone have a good recipe for Indian bitter melon?