Pic spam and What is Seny y rauxa anyway?

Practicing pictures...

The moment we've all been waiting for!!!

Andrea and Joe without braces!

Andrea's bright big smile...

Joe without his braces!!

So, about now you are probably wondering what is with the title of our blog. Barcelona is located in the Catalan region of Spain. It's in the northeast section close to France. They are a rather independent sort who have a lot of local pride. They even speak their own language. This poses an interesting challenge when we're out and about. First we have to figure out whether someone is speaking in Catalan or Spanish. Then we have to translate. Catalan is sort of a hybred of Spanish and French. For instance, "good day" is "Bon Dia" in Catalan, "Buenas Dias" in Spanish and "Bon Jour" in French. Anyway, I'm digressing.

In one of my many travel books it talks about this Catalan phrase, seny y rauxa. It refers to two emotions that guide the Catalan people. Seny is common sense, a sense of orderliness. And rauxa is described as a creative chaos. As soon as I heard that translation I thought, this is the place for us. Mostly because our family is all about creative chaos. I'm not sure we're all that organized or abounding in common sense but we've certainly got the rauxa covered. So, I thought it would be a good title for our little blog. Hopefully we can mix a little common sense with our creative chaos and live a good life in Spain.

The guy is here to pack our air shipment. Yep, you read that right, one guy. Poor man, someone misinformed or packing company regarding the amount of the shipment. They are calling in reinforcements but we're not sure it's going to happen. It's going to be an interesting day. The computer is getting packed. We should have a lap top that works to access the internet. But, if I disappear on you all for a week or two it's because we're moving.

Hasta la vista, amigos!