Tag Archives: Naval Station Rota

Let’s get a little bit rowdy, R-O-W-D-Y!

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M is playing her first season of basketball this year.  Honestly I didn’t think she was going to really like it or be that good at it.  Soccer has always been her go-to sport and she had been playing that since she was 4 (3? Don’t remember for sure!) She’s also played a couple of seasons of flag football and really loved it.When she said she wanted to do basketball I was a little hesitant, but only because taking your kids to practices is the worst thing in the world. No exaggeration.  I might be the worst mom ever, but man, I HATE sitting at practice!  It’s always at the worst times and totally throws off dinner time.  And then there is never anyone else to talk to there and if I am going to sit and read a book I would much rather do it on my couch than sitting on a bleacher! BUT, the basketball court is about 5 minutes away from my house so I figured I could always run home if I needed to.

My personal laziness aside, she is LOVING basketball! Her and the other girl on the team are playing really well together and are quite the powerhouse duo! Here are some pics from her first game this morning.

The girls!

 

 

Playing a little D.

 

She chose #13 and said she was going to make it lucky again. Love it!

 

 

 

These CRAZY caterpillars!

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One of the nuisance animals in southern Spain is a caterpillar.

Not just any caterpillar.

We have one in particular called the Processional Pine Caterpillar.  Now this may come as a surprise but they live in pine trees (shocker!). The processional part of their of name is where it gets interesting.  The walk all together lined up in a little (or rather long) line.

It’s pretty interesting actually, they only come out during this time of year so you know when to look for them.  The funny thing is this I’ve lived here for 3 1/2 years and this was the first spring that I actually saw them!

Now as cool as they look the problem is that their little hairs cause lots of problems in people and pets if they are touched (or eaten by your dog!) They are super irritating and I’ve heard of people having them in a jar in the house and the hair still irritating their eyes. They are bad news, health wise!

Also if your dog gets the hairs in their mouth it can actually cause the tongue tissue to die! Crazy! Thankfully we have NO pine trees near our house, just palm trees with their own sets of problems!

If you happen to see any of these caterpillars, look but PLEASE don’t touch!

It’s the little things {spicy & sweet}

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Wrapping up a fun week and just wanted to recap some of the little things that made my week!

First off I did a little Valentine’s decorating, I found this cute printable online.  I love all of the holiday subway art that is free online… I have a frame by my front door and I am planning on just replacing the image according to the holiday/season!

Also found a cute ceramic white heart bowl and filled it with peanut butter m&m’s (terrible, terrible idea, I can’t leave them alone)

I also picked up these super adorable votive holders… I have some red candles in there for the holiday (Yankee Mackintosh) but I think they may find their way into my bathroom when I’m done with them on the entryway table.

Next up a little hot sauce making!  My husband has a habanero habit that was supplied for quite awhile by pepper plant that was growing peppers constantly.  We stuck them in the freezer for a rainy day (or a cold winter’s day).  He generally will eat them straight up (I’ll stick them whole into a pot of rice so they cook without making everything else spicy) but also loves hot sauce.  He had ordered some but half of the bottles broke en route so we wanted to try a homemade recipe.

Out comes a bag of frozen peppers: Chopped of the stem and added them to some cooked carrots, onions, garlic and lime juice.

*For the love of God, make sure you do NOT get any of the juice on your fingers. It does NOT wash off and you will regret it when you rub your eye an hour later… I learned my lesson the hard way a few years ago*

Everything gets tossed in the blender. I left the seeds in for heat, but if I had a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth I would have strained this to get any remaining chunks out.

The finished product! It’s very orange and apparently VERY spicy!

My daughter did also decide to start puking right before her basketball skills assessment this morning… And daddy had taken her. This happened in the gym. On the bleacher. And on the basketball court. Honey, I am so sorry you were on parenting duty this morning and had to deal with it on your own!

Linking up with Lindsey from Hello Hue!

Aisle to Aloha

Just about ready for a party over here…

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A little rainbow cake action...

Been super busy this week getting ready for M’s 10th (TENTH!!!!) birthday party… She is having a slumber party and is was going to be low key but I kept finding ideas, and it turned into a rainbow birthday.  I’m having a blast but killing myself as there are just not enough hours in the day! Right now the cake is made, house is decorated and the room they are going to sleep in is clean and ready for sleeping bags!  Just need to find time to finish shopping for the take home craft, shop for the rest of the groceries, and get the food made!

T minus 17 hours and I still need to find time to sleep and work in there!

 

Tissue paper pom poms hanging...

 

Some cute garland that took for-EVER!

 

I’ll post more pictures after the party!

 

My happy place – Puerto Sherry

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Puerto Sherry is what I pictured Spain would be like before we moved here.

I thought my house would look like these houses (not knowing we didn’t have a choice and HAD to live on base!)

Hello beautiful houses, will you be mine?

Puerto Sherry is where I go when I start to feel bummed about living overseas (I really do love it, it’s an awesome opportunity and I am going to miss the hell out of it when we leave but it can be challenging!)

As a matter of fact I DO love bougainvillea arching over my windows! I’ll take this one!

Puerto Sherry is a charming neighborhood that is parked right on the bay and has a small group of restaurants and a small beach.  The parking is pretty horrible (par for the course in Spain – when someone tells you about a restaurant the parking situation is one of the biggest pros/cons!) But there are parking lots and if you go during ‘American’ dining times as opposed to Spanish, you are fine.

Now our favorite place to eat? Blanca Paloma.  It is a small Italian restaurant that actually has another larger twin a few miles away. However there is no competition when it comes to the view!

The kiddos hanging out on the rocks next to the tables…

Big O and little O, hanging out at Blanco Paloma. You can see the beach in the background.

The kiddos and I last Mother’s Day… (A little blurry but you can see the city of Cadiz in the background)

Cutie pie!

A few things about this picture… first of all look at that great house behind O… And it’s for sale!! Also see the street right there? The street actually runs between the restaurant and the outdoor seating.  The outdoor seating is on a little strip that sits right on the water. The street ends at a small parking area so there isn’t really a ton of traffic. Also hey look there is Blanca Paloma’s phone number just in case you feel like giving them a call!

The view along the rocks, always LOTS of fishermen

Why can’t I have this roof on my house!!

M posing!

Puerto Sherry, Blanca Paloma, get there. You won’t regret it.

Working in Spain

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The work situation here in Spain isn’t the best.  If you need two incomes to survive you may have some trouble once you get here.

Every country that has a U.S. Military presence also has a SOFA agreement put into place.  A SOFA agreement is the Status of Forces Agreement and pretty much outlines how the military is allowed to function in that community.  One important part of the SOFA agreement states that NO Americans can work off base and that there must be seven Spanish employees for every three American employees on base.

This SOFA agreement impacts the job availability on the base and reduces the job opportunities.  There are pretty much only three options for working on base; the commissary, the Navy exchange and MWR. Oh wait, four, also the elementary/high school.

The first two years we lived here I didn’t work.  I stayed busy with little O and volunteering at my daughter’s school.  I had a great group of friends and enjoyed staying home and living here.  When I did finally go back to work I applied at the commissary (which is the military grocery store) and was hired as a teller – basically a front end supervisor.  The commissary employs Americans as tellers, stockers, and upper management.  I believe all of the jobs are GS jobs which come with benefits and get you in on the GS job ladder.  All cashiers are Spanish.  Upper management is hired from the states (at least all the people that were working there when I did had worked at other commissaries stateside and then transferred here).  I LOVED working there. It was my first opportunity to really get to know some of the locals really well and they were all so. much. fun.  I would still be working there except for the hours. It’s retail and the hours reflect that. ALL my shifts were closing shifts and I hated working weekends.  Other than that I really enjoyed it and loved chatting with everyone coming in to shop. I felt like I got to talk to everybody on base every day! Bagging is also a popular job, but it is working for tips so if you are counting on the money that can be iffy.

The exchange is the same situation, retail hours.  Americans run register, stock and are in management.

When I left the commissary I applied at the Child Development Center or CDC.  It is the daycare on base and is under the umbrella of Morale, Welfare and Recreation.  I used to nanny so I had experience.  I met some more great people here, there is a pretty good mix of Americans and Spanish working here.  There are both GS and NAF positions.  NAF positions don’t have the same benefits as GS but are easier to get hired into.  There are a number of different classrooms and the center is open from 6:30-5:30 and closed on weekends so the hours are pretty good.  I worked in the classroom for a few months before getting hired for the front desk position.  I’ve really been enjoying it and once again, love getting the chance to talk to everyone coming in. MWR is also in charge of the movie theaters, restaurants, the library, bowling alley, the gym, ITT and Liberty.  They post available job positions online in case you want to see just what is available – Rota MWR Job Listings.

The elementary and high school also employ spouses, kindergarten aide positions, lunch monitors, and substitute teachers are the most common.  There aren’t a ton of positions open but if you have teaching experience you may be able to get hired.

One issue is that soon there will be American ships stationed here, something that will increase the population on the base but won’t really create more jobs.  So there will probably be much more competition for the jobs that are currently available.

If you have a degree and want to use it you probably won’t be able to.  And if you don’t have a degree this is the perfect time to finish it! It seems like EVERYONE is attending college here, from Associate’s to Graduate degree programs.

So that is the job situation on base.  I’m really looking forward to moving somewhere where I will actually be able to do something that is in my actual degree/career field. Hawaii is just perfect for that!