
<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14364458547_a716f31ba9_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Ian and Nora at the beach">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14364458547_ea57371d46_t.jpg" alt="Ian and Nora at the beach"/>
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Summer has finally arrived. Nora's school year has ended and we've been enjoying picnics in the park and visits to the beach this month. Ian looks like a baby goat who has two little nubs of horns protruding from his forehead. He's been sporting forehead bruises pretty much all month long as a result of his many faceplants. He is, however, walking a little better and more confidently every single day. The stability improvement has been massive.  Ian has finally learned the all important trick of standing up without anything to hold on to. His procedure is to get on hands and knees, put his forehead on the floor, and walk his feet forward towards his head. It works better when he has the will power to let go of a toy first.

<iframe width="505" height="284" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/bBy8Tq3a1dk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

### Dual Citizenship

The biggest thing we've done this month was hauling both of the offspring to the US Embassy in Madrid to renew Nora's passport and to inform the US government of Ian's existence and apply for his citizenship and social security number and all that fun stuff. Normally, I'd rather go to the dentist than an embassy – when State Department employees are in a bad mood, they can make your life hell – but this visit was almost pleasant. We got to bypass the line of Spanish teenagers trying to get student visas that wrapped around the block, they called our number very quickly, and the lady behind the glass was downright _competent_! I was amazed! They even let us slide in Nora's passport renewal into Ian's birth report appointment, both operations require appointments. I had _extra_ photocopies of the required documentation. And the one thing I forgot to photocopy, they waived the 1€/copy fee that the website threatens. Even the cashier that took my 310 USD was happy.

### FIFA World Cup 2014

Speaking of faceplants... The World Cup excitement in Spain was extremely fleeting, as the World Champions were swiftly and soundly knocked out of the tournament in only two games. And I was totally going to buy a jersey this time, too!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14405020305_d4d1e0e125_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="La Selección">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14405020305_d2339767b8.jpg" alt="La Selección"/>
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Can you spot the big baby in the photo? It's pretty easy, since they're all big babies. The Spanish team avoided walking through the terminal in Madrid upon arriving home, much to the chagrin of the throng of loyal fans waiting to support them, even in their time of sorrow.

At least one player likes hugs...

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14364149159_2c20594bbe_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ian Spain Fíºtbol Jersey">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14364149159_a7c75a7d0a_z.jpg" alt="Ian Spain Fíºtbol Jersey"/>
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He's actually asking me to give back the ball, which is what _La Roja_ (the Spanish National Team) kept asking in Brazil, too. Too harsh?

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14527072396_64ebd0c819_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Hippy Bride">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14527072396_167ec299f7.jpg" alt="Hippy Bride"/>
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In other Spain news, we have a new queen.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14363696927_aba26f7f10_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Baby DJ">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14363696927_160e79e02c.jpg" alt="Baby DJ"/>
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Rockin' Baby DJ.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14364412907_2cac49ff87_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Sibling Games">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14364412907_e74bb59e58.jpg" alt="Sibling Games"/>
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The offspring have been doing a lot of pushing each other around in "vehicles", which is pretty adorable.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14549343954_4f06eb802e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ian at the beach">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14549343954_4a5e80d504_z.jpg" alt="Ian at the beach"/>
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Ian's opera singing lessons are really paying off.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14527899816_0148e15f3c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Telekinesis">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14527899816_719af4d38f.jpg" alt="Telekinesis"/>
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So are his telekinesis lessons. Look closely.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14550045232_b6199208f1_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Bowlzilla">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14550045232_276aa2995a.jpg" alt="Bowlzilla"/>
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Bowlzilla strikes again!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14547600411_e1cdc8be7a_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ian's Blond Girlfriend">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14547600411_99f1b670c6.jpg" alt="Ian's Blond Girlfriend"/>
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Ian's girlfriend says she's blond, but you can see her brunette roots.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14364358618_ba852fac6f_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Cute Park Girl">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14364358618_d4f9429031.jpg" alt="Cute Park Girl"/>
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Cute girl at the park.

The state of the offspring is strong!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14364458547_a716f31ba9_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ian and Nora at the beach">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-30-state-of-the-offspring-address-june-2014/14364458547_ea57371d46_z.jpg" alt="Ian and Nora at the beach"/>
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State of the Offspring Address - June 2014


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-24-the-sun-sets-late-in-spain/3895465235_3edb956fcb_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Crepuscular!">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-24-the-sun-sets-late-in-spain/3895465235_db723c1f0f_t.jpg" alt="Crepuscular!"/>
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If you've ever been to Spain in the summer, you'll know that the sun sets very late, which suits Spaniards, who like to have dinner as late as 10 or 11 at night, very well. It's not just because of the tilt of the Earth at the summer solstice, or the fact that all our days [are getting longer](/2006/12/22/days-getting-longer/). Tonight, for example, in late June, the sun will set at 9:58 PM, one minute later than it will set as far north as Copenhagen! What sense does that make?

I blame the Nazis.

### Spain is in the wrong time zone

If I hadn't moved here from England, I may never have noticed this oddity, but when I moved from England to Spain, I moved **_west_**, yet I had to set my watch **_forward_** an hour. As you, dear educated reader, already know, the standard for worldwide time and definition of the eastern and western hemispheres is set in Greenwich, England, just east of London, but the majority of Spain is in the western hemisphere! Behold how the Prime Meridian cuts across Iberia:

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-24-the-sun-sets-late-in-spain/14494510191_81657d6e18_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Spain and the Prime Meridian">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-24-the-sun-sets-late-in-spain/14494510191_0e362db45d.jpg" alt="Spain and the Prime Meridian"/>
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I'm sure the folks in Catalunya wouldn't mind just splitting the country along that line.

So what gives? How did this happen? As I said above: Nazis.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-24-the-sun-sets-late-in-spain/14518131313_332627e72e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Hitler Franco Handshake 1940">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-24-the-sun-sets-late-in-spain/14518131313_26896bd151.jpg" alt="Hitler Franco Handshake 1940"/>
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It dates back to October, 1940, when Hitler took a train down to the French-Spanish border to meet with Franco, in Hendaye, France. Hitler was seeking Franco's support in the Second World War. Spain, however, was still in tatters from its own civil war, but Franco did agree to ban all Spaniards from fighting against Hitler, and allowing Spaniards to volunteer to fight with Nazi Germany. Franco also offered, in one of the most minimal demonstrations of solidarity ever, the fascist dictator equivalent of [changing your Twitter avatar color](/2011/02/10/social-networking-causes/), to change Spain's timezone to match Nazi Germany's.

I'm not sure what, if anything, was accomplished by this, but the result, now almost 75 years later, is that it's really hard for me to convince my kids it's time for bed in the summer.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-24-the-sun-sets-late-in-spain/3895465235_3edb956fcb_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Crepuscular!">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-24-the-sun-sets-late-in-spain/3895465235_db723c1f0f.jpg" alt="Crepuscular!"/>
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The sun sets late in Spain


[![10.365](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-04-garlic-and-water-blog-name-idea/3119481961_670f0cb854_t.jpg)](https://www.flickr.com/photos/teppo/3119481961 "10.365 by Teppo Moisio, on Flickr")Where I work, whenever we start a new project, we often don't yet know what the final product (usually a website) will be called, but we need a name to refer to the project. The way we generate internal code names is through a word association exercise. For example, one of the projects we're working on now involves golf. Thinking of golf makes me think of Jack Nicklaus, whose nickname was The Golden Bear, so we named the project Ursa, which is short, nice and pronounceable and quick to type...and means "bear" in Latin.  "Garlic and Water" refers to a Spanish phrase that I've known about for a while now:

_ajo y agua_

It's a shortened – and bowdlerized, to the point of it not being obvious until someone tells you – version of "_a joderse y aguantarse_", the literal translation of which is the delightful phrase, "go fuck yourself and deal with it". _Aguantar_ has long been one of my favorite Spanish words. The closest English word is "to bear" – wow, I did not plan that anecdotal syzygy – but it can also mean "to hold \[this object for a moment\]", "to last \[until the end\]" or "to hold \[oneself back\]"; it's a very versatile word. e.g. "_¡No aguanto más!_" = "I can't take it anymore!"

The actual meaning of the phrase is closer to "Well, tough shit!" It's used to dismiss complaints about things that can't be changed.

[![Ajo (derse) y agua (ntarse)](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-04-garlic-and-water-blog-name-idea/12660615824_f699f28465.jpg)](https://www.flickr.com/photos/juampiter/12660615824 "Ajo (derse) y agua (ntarse) by Juampiter, on Flickr")

Photo by [Juampiter](https://www.flickr.com/photos/juampiter/).

It occurred to me today that "Garlic and Water" would be a really awesome name for a blog like mine, an anglophone writing about life in Spain, especially if it were generally critical and complaining. If it were focused on gastronomy, even better.

So I'm just throwing this out there. If any of my readers were dying to write a blog about how Spanish food sucks (in which case you're wrong), or just about general expat life in Spain, you're welcome to it. I'm pretty sure the [Ajo y Agua](http://www.ajoyagua.com) clothing brand wouldn't mind.

[![10.365](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2014-06-04-garlic-and-water-blog-name-idea/3119481961_670f0cb854.jpg)](https://www.flickr.com/photos/teppo/3119481961 "10.365 by Teppo Moisio, on Flickr")

Photo by [Teppo Moisio](https://www.flickr.com/photos/teppo/).


3 posts from June, 2014