The week of the dogs

Like many couples, my man H and I have wrestled with the ‘two-body problem’ during our eight years together. The two-body problem is mainly referred to when discussing academic couples finding work in the same place. I do agree that the geographical and job distribution of universities is lower than the distribution of, say, accountingContinue reading “The week of the dogs”

The week we Via-ed Verde-ishly

Warning: for some inexplicable reason, this post contains an alarming amount of alliterations. Yesterday we bundled our bikes into the bottom of a bus and headed off to explore the mountains that surround Tortosa. We ventured with verve to velocipede on the Via Verde. Via Verdes (or Greenway) are old train lines that have beenContinue reading “The week we Via-ed Verde-ishly”

The week of the jamón

Finally, after two months of filler, of pretending this blog is about science or experiencing a new culture or some such, I can finally write the blog post that this website was born to host. The real reason we moved to Spain. La semana del jamón. Jamón—pork that is cured by drying and salting, as opposedContinue reading “The week of the jamón”

The week of the assembly

It’s not sexy and there are no tandem bikes, but the most significant thing that happened this week, for the first time, was work related. My research position at URV is part of UERRA, an EU funded program that stands for Uncertainties in Ensembles of Regional ReAnalyses (acronyms are hilarious). Reanalyses are not the jobContinue reading “The week of the assembly”

The week of our first visitor

Last week we welcomed our first guest to Tortosa, a dear friend who had trekked all the way to Europe from Australia just to see us! And go snowboarding in Andorra. It was strange to have a visitor in our town when it doesn’t feel like our town yet. Where to go? What to do? It was even stranger whenContinue reading “The week of our first visitor”

The week I bought a bike

On Thursday as I shut the bedroom balcony doors, I looked out along our street. It was around 7pm. Golden street lamps bathed the stones now that the Christmas lights are gone, and the town was full of noise. Children running ahead of their parents, people heading home with groceries, and old couples wandering up the street, onlyContinue reading “The week I bought a bike”

The week of the GOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Despite finishing up with a rotten head cold, we have kicked a lot of goals this week. Our Spanish bank cards arrived. We bought a Britta water filter so now we can enjoy water that doesn’t taste like chlorine. Our relationship survived two shopping trips in Barcelona (including one to Ikea) to buy important houseContinue reading “The week of the GOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLL”

The week we came back

OK so we only got back to Tortosa last night, but on Sunday (technically still within last week) we returned to Spain after two weeks travelling in Germany and France. As an Australian, I have this romantic notion that once you are in Europe, it’s a breeze to get to any other European country. TheContinue reading “The week we came back”

The week it was Christmas

Although our Christmas was spent in Germany with family, this blog is about Spain, so here are some highlights from the lead up to Navidad in Tortosa. The Christmas spirit is alive and well here, although not officially until the long weekend of the 6th to the 8th of December. Before that time the fairyContinue reading “The week it was Christmas”

The week we made it into the system

Also known as the week we slept outside in the street for a night to apply for our “alien cards”… When we finally picked up our Spanish visas last month, the Melbourne consulate said we needed to present ourselves to the Oficina de Extranjería (foreigner or alien office) within a month of arrival and applyContinue reading “The week we made it into the system”