Colored Hair & More

As you may remember, back in August just before leaving for Italy, Jacob added a new hair color to his head; he modestly had a few green patches put in.  We recently went back for scheduled haircuts, and he decided on a lot more green this time around.  Here he is, happily displaying his green hair.  

Jacob also asked/suggested/encouraged me to think about some color.  Ummm...?  

Admittedly, just before we left the U.S., some friends suggested that I branch out and give myself a European "image", just for fun.  They said my new name will be "El" (for my middle name, Elizabeth!  ha, ha), and that I should get some streaks of several colors in my hair.  Well, here is my first visual attempt at stepping into my new European image!   :)

(No, I have not change my name...)

One Saturday, our friend, Robert, came over to help the boys learn standing backflips.  

Robert grew up as a gymnast and dancer, and then was an instructor for each.   

He also taught the boys to be spotters.

Our friend, Julie, went back home to Denmark, and this is our goodbye dinner with her and her roommate, Trine (Trine is here until April, so we will see her again).  We discovered a great restaurant, and these are Iberian pork ribs that the boys devoured.

Nicholas ordered "fruit and orange juice" from the menu, and this is what he got...

fruit IN orange juice!

Julie (left) and Trine, sharing cheesecake.

One Sunday there were loads and loads of people thronging one of the main plazas in the city (Plaça Catalunya) and having a huge demonstration for Catalonian independence.  (Catalonia is a northeastern region of Spain which includes Barcelona.)  We have seen these types of demonstrations before, but the topic is getting more intense because there is a vote coming up on November 9 that will decide whether Catalonia seeks independence from Spain.  

A little history: Catalonia was an independent region of Spain with its own laws, customs, and language until they were defeated in 1714 in the Spanish War of Succession, which resulted in current day Spain (two other regions were also conquered to form today's Spain).  There have been attempts to impose the Spanish language and laws on the region of Catalonia, which have always been resisted, and the effort was finally given up in 1931.  Then, General Francisco Franco came into power as a dictator in Spain, and he attempted to eliminate Catalonia separatism.  When Spain returned to democracy in the 1970's, Catalonia was given back some autonomy.  These days, Catalonia, an economically healthy region which includes wealthy Barcelona, feels that it is supporting the rest of Spain, especially in its economic crisis.  This has led to greater desires to become its own independent country.

We have heard (and we know there are plenty of opinions out there), that there is somewhat of a balanced/equal percentage of people who are for and against Catalonian independence.  The small percentage of people who are undecided tend to vote for status quo, so the vote to seek independence most likely will not pass.  We will see...

More soon!