We're all going on a summer holiday..

The tickets for the ferry are booked for July.  We’re heading off to Spain via France to collect Nerea….and all her luggage.  It seems impossible that by then she’ll have spent 10 months in Vitoria It seems like yesterday that she went off to Spain, not knowing what lay ahead. Since that time, she’s learnt so much, not only in terms of another language and culture, but also about looking after children and most importantly, about herself.  Andy and I are so proud of Nerea; we knew she was resilient but she has proven herself to have spirit and courage.   

                                                     

Vitoria

My visit to Nerea, in the beautiful city of Vitoria (which, for some moderately explicable reason, always makes me think of The High Chaparral) was all too brief.  The family she lives with were, as expected, very friendly and the residential suburb where she is based felt very safe.  The Old City was a short tram ride away and was blessed with beautiful parks and wonderfully ornate buildings jostling for position in the small narrow streets.  There were large open Plazas too and a relaxed café culture that could easily seep into my being.  I must return and for longer

EDINBURGH

Up the close

Lady Stair's close paving stones

The Royal Mile

Spooky!

Greyfriars Bobby

Defeated but unbroken

Feeling the cold

Nerea came home this weekend and it was an absolute joy to see her even though it was something of a whirlwind visit and passed all too quickly.  She packed a lot in, including a day up in Edinburgh for the All Blacks v Scotland Rugby match (although I spent the afternoon geocaching as I don’t “do” spectator sports). Importantly, she spent time with Alex, spending an evening relaxing over a restaurant meal with him. But inevitably, she left a trail of destruction behind with “Nerea litter” on every surface! Unusually, I’m happy to tidy up after her on this occasion!

A "flying" visit ...literally

We’ve just collected Nerea from Manchester airport for a weekend visit. It seems incredible that it’s almost 2 months since she went over to Vitoria.  Naturally it‘s been raining all day, which makes her transition from warm, sunny Spain all the more startling. We’ll not have much time together as the primary purpose of her visit is to cheer Scotland on to victory against the All Blacks (snork) on Sunday, but it’s lovely to see her all the same.  Naturally no visit from Nerea would be complete without some demands so dinner will be a takeaway curry from the Shaha!

Nerea; one month on!

We Skyped with Nerea yesterday and all her ”family” joined in. It was wonderful to see them all looking so happy with Nerea very much part of the group.  We’d sent  Imanol and Yokin a post card each from Wales (thankfully of the 3 cards we posted, it was only Nerea’s that hadn’t arrived!) so they wanted to say “hello and thankyou”.  The friendly atmosphere was palpable over the computer; the children were affectionate with Nerea and she’s able to spend a good deal of “happy” time with them, leaving us delighted that all the arrangements have worked out well 

We're so proud of Nerea.....

Nerea, our darling girl, is settling well into her role in Vitoria, looking after Imanol and Jokin.  It’s lovely to video Skype with her as we can imagine she’s in the room with us.  It was evident (and hugely entertaining) from all the head tilting that Kiya and Molly could hear Nerea when she was talking to us through the computer but they weren’t able to work out where she was. Although she’s still adjusting to communicating in a foreign language (Spanish lessons will definitely help), Andy and I are terribly proud of her for taking such a courageous step.

Our beautiful daughter

Some weeks ago, Nerea modelled a gorgeous Ted Baker dress in the school charity fashion show.  She looked stunning and although it would have been lovely to have bought her the dress, it was rather expensive and she had “no place to go”.  Fast forward to last night and the school U6 leavers dinner.  Nerea attended with Alex, wearing THE DRESS which I’d bought for half price in the Ted Baker sale.  A bargain!  She looked so serene as she posed  for a photo with Alex, I felt a lump in my throat. Quite simply, she is our beautiful daughter

University Challenges

The last few months have seen us trekking to various Universities with Nerea as she wanted to visit a number of places to get a flavour of where she thinks she’d be happy.  Although she has decided to take a “Gap Yah” to work and travel, she’s been lucky because she’s had offers from the 5 Universities she applied to but of course that means she has a harder choice. Currently, Newcastle and Bangor are favourites for although she liked Stirling, the course there is 4 years and when you’re going to incur significant debt.........the cost of tuition matters now!

Handbags and Gladrags

It always seemed unlikely that we’d ever be in the business of commissioning anything, but in honour of Nerea’s birthday, we decided to do just that and ordered a unique, leather handbag. Nerea had few requirements other than it needed to be red and large so we accepted Robin’s offer to both design and make the bag.  The finished product looks amazing.  The bag, made of red leather panels piped with red and black snakeskin more than fulfilled expectations and has received untold compliments.  It’s a classic statement piece and should last Nerea a lifetime, assuming she doesn’t lose it!

Half Term Henna

Nerea isn’t the world’s greatest early riser so it was with some thing approaching incredulity that I heard her getting up BEFORE me this morning.  And then I remembered; as she’s on half term holiday, I’d agreed to henna her hair before I went to work so she could spend the rest of the day wearing a cling film turban while the colour developed.  She’d set her alarm so she didn’t sleep in.  And so it was that at 7.45am, I was mashing up chunks of henna with hot water, ready to apply the hideous green paste to her hair

FRIENDS IN OTHER PLACES

Thank goodness for friends in big cities.  Nerea's going to a Charity Ball and desperately wanted a dress she'd seen in a local branch of a national chain.  She loved the style but wanted a different colour.  Several fruitless searches later (it's out of stock in most stores and online!), we finally came up with a plan. I telephoned the Glasgow store where the dress was in stock, reserved it and then made arrangements with our friend Ian who lives in Glasgow to collect it.  He's coming south to visit his parents next week so can deliver it then.  Sorted!

Sweet 17!

 

Nerea celebrated her 17^th birthday in glorious style. She went out for a lovely meal with Alex on the Friday night  before the celebrations ramped up with an Indian meal at another local restaurant on the Saturday with her girlfriends.  Then it was a (non) sleep over at our house where birthday cake and moderate amounts of wine were consumed while watching a scary film; Andy and I retired to bed early!!.  The party concluded with home made waffles and maple syrup for breakfast on Sunday.  Unsurprisingly, the rest of the day involved her catching up on her beauty sleep!

Baby nostalgia

Rachael in the office is leaving today to have a baby so I had a short period of indulgent, nostalgic reflection.  Although it’s 17 years since I was expecting Nerea, it still seems like yesterday.  I remember the dual feelings of excitement and dread as her due date came nearer and then, as I waddled around like a fattened turkey, just the overwhelming desire for it “all to be over”.  How little did I appreciate that Nerea’s birth would be merely the beginning of a wonderful new phase in our lives. And despite the upheaval and change, it’s been fantastic.

Happy Childhood

Reading the quotation "It's never too late to have a happy childhood" on my calendar set me thinking, which is always a dangerous occupation. My own childhood was overshadowed by caring responsibilities for my sick mother.  It wasn't unhappy; it just lacked a spontaneity that made me determined to ensure my daughter's upbringing was carefree and contented. Thankfully, Andy and I were able to provide such an environment for Nerea and in doing so, I shared in many joyful, childlike experiences I'd missed during my own childhood.  So I definitely believe it's worth embracing your inner child at any age

VIth Form Girl

Watching Nerea set off for VIth form in her stylish Mango suit and court shoes made me reflect on how school wear was never so glamorous in my day.  I remember being forced to wear some hideous grey kilt that suited everyone but me as my butt sticks out.  Having large feet didn’t help either, because unlike today, prettier shoes were only available in smaller sizes and I’d to resort to wearing flat, black, boys’ shoes. Is it any wonder why I have such issues of confidence over my clothes?  But back to Nerea.  She looked lovely; professional and confident.

Nerea the Borneo Babe!

Nerea's off to Borneo today for a month and although I'm feeling excited for her, I'm apprehensive too. She's never been away for this length of time before and certainly never to such a remote part of the world.  We're lightweight travellers so she shouldn't be overloaded but I keep remembering things that would be useful. Knowing Nerea, the trip will develop her appetite for future travel! It's been quite a financial commitment for us but actually a small price to experience the opportunity of a lifetime.  It's left Andy and me wishing we were off travelling again too