Monday, November 15th "Sunday with Karen and Sean; A Betis match to remember"

I met my friend Karen about a year ago, maybe less, thanks to my web page. Karen is one of my favorite people I have met through the page – and the only one I met who came prepared with a list of really good questions about moving here. Many made me think, and some turned into content for this site! Karen has made the leap to Spain while Sean is here for a few weeks with his new Irish passport, thanks to family he was able to secure one even if he’s American. He was also fortunate as the Irish law of granting passports to people of Irish descent will be coming to an end in the next year. (Look it up if you want more information – it has to do with having Irish parents or Grandparents, the Irish kind that lived in Ireland, that is). Anyway, soon they both will be living permanently, at least once the house has been sold back home. You will thank them a lot if you make a similar move, since I plan to pick their brains on things like storage facilities, overseas moving costs and the like. That will all end up on my page as well.

Ok, so we arranged to meet them for a beer at Los Claveles around 1:30 and then find some place to eat. After a beer we made our way to Bodega La Extremeña for a good lunch – grilled presa ibérica plus assorted cheeses, and a glass of wine or beer or two. Afterwards we walked through the center and stopped for a coffee and a little conversation on politics at the kiosco by the river. It was apparently the best time of day to be there as there were few tables to be found. After an hour by the river we headed back to Arenal and Café Maestranza for a little after dinner drink. A good time was had by all, as they say, and Granada received a long lesson in English while Sean was able to learn a few words in Spanish. An hour later and it was time for me to head straight to the Betis-Barcelona match!

After suffering like a good betico through the first part of the season I think I was due, or perhaps Betis was due. I could sense the victory coming because of a number of strange coincidences. Well, some of those coincidences happened after the game, so I guess it was just all the stars aligning in my favor. The day before Duke had beaten Clemson in football in what was an improbable victory. I also was winning my weekly trans-Atlantic (American) football pool for the first time this year. The Panthers were also on their way to a much needed victory against San Francisco in the NFL.