Christmas Holidays

Maria and I have just lived our first Christmas abroad and far from our families. We decided not to do like "El Almendro" and we stayed in SF. Even though the large distance, we both had the opportunity to share some special moments with family and friends, whishing everyone the best for this holidays and the new year (God bless Skype!).

Besides having the traditional Christmas dinner with our roommates, we could also celebrate part of Christmas Eve with our families. I even opened some presents online in the morning when I woke up!



My twin brother Pablo and Marta came to visit us (that was the bigger present). Together, we went on a road trip along the Pacific Coast, celebrated New Year's Eve, and had an amazing Three Kings Day.






Maria i jo acabem de viure el nostre primer Nadal a l'estranger i lluny de les nostres famílies. Vàrem decidir no fer com "El Almendro" i ens vam quedar a SF. Malgrat la distància, els dos vàrem tenir la oportunitat de compartir alguns moments especials amb família i amics (Déu beneeixi Skype!).

A més de tenir un tradicional dinar de Nadal amb els nostres companys de pis, també vàrem poder celebrar part de la Nit de Nadal amb les nostres famílies. Jo fins i tot vaig obrir alguns regals online per matí quan em vaig llevar!

El meu germà bessó Pablo i la Marta van venir a visitar-nos (aquest va ser el millor regal). Junts vàrem anar a fer un Road Trip per la costa del Pacífic, celebrar Cap d'Any i una fnatàstic Dia de Reis.

Thanks for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of the three holidays in the US besides Easter and Christmas. Explained plainly, they supposedly celebrate and thank how the Native American helped the colonists centuries ago (albeit not many). Now, however, the Native American are the ones who need help. You can guess what the think about Thanksgiving.
Historical facts notwithstanding, the last Thursday of November in the US is a day to thank for everything and, as any holiday, it should be celebrated with one's family. We did so. We spent one week in Austin, where Maria met Marisol (they ended up loving each other) and we had a great time with my American family.

From here, we wanted to deeply thank them for our fisrt Thanksgiving.





Acció de Gràcies és un dels tres dies Festius als EEUU a més de Pasqua i Nadal. Explicat senzillament, suposadament celebren i agraeixen com els nadius americans van ajudar els colons segles enrere (encara que no molts). Ara, no obstant, els nadius americans són els que necessiten ajuda. Podeu imaginar la opinió que tenen ells d'Acció de Gràcies.
Fets històrics apart, l'últim dijous de novembre als EEUU és un dia per estar agraït per tot i, com tota festivitat, ha de ser celebrada amb la família. Així vam fer nosaltres. Vam estar una setmana a Austin, on Maria va conèixer Marisol (van acabar estimant-se moltíssim) i vam passar un bon temps amb la meva família americana.

Des d'aquí, els volem agraïr profundament pel nostre primer Dia d'Acció de Gràcies.

Let's be American people

In our attemp to integrate into the American society, we decided to devote some hours of our leisure time to those who most of the country admires: the military. On the occasion of Columbus Day and the Fleet Week, we did what we would never do in Spain, which is going to see the arsenal display.

We especially would like to mention the astonishing flying display that was held on the Bay, where the Blue Angels had the central role. They were so noise that; 1) flying over the city, most of the car alarm systems went off; 2) I could hear them without hearing aids.

We dedicate this homemade video to Joselito... for the old dreams!

(The recordings are Maria's and the pictures are mine. The scream at the beginning is Maria's, as well)





En un intent de integrar-nos en la societat Americana, vam decidir dedicar algunes hores del nostre temps lliure a aquells que la majoria del pais admira: l'exèrcit. Amb ocasió de Columbus Day y la Setmana de la Flota, vam fer allò que mai faríem a Espanya, que és anar a veure el show d'arsenal militar.

Ens agradaría fer menció especial de la increíble exhibició aérea que va tenir lloc a la Bahía, on els Àngels Blaus van tenir el paper central. Eren tan sorollosos que; 1) volant per sobre de la ciutat, la majoria de les alarmes de cotxe saltàven; 2) jo els podia sentir sense audífons.

Dediquem aquest video casolà al Joselito... pels vells somnis!

(Els videos son de la Maria, i les fotos meves. El crit del principi també és de la Maria)

Napa Valley -the pity- (Això, que Napa val la pena)

Here in California, we also have our own wine country. The most popular (and fanciest) is Napa Valley. Maria and I spent one weekend there with our roomate, who worked in the wine industry. Thus, we could taste several distinct wines... by the face! Moreover, the quick getaway from the city was fantastic to break the daily routine.



Aquí a California, també tenim la nostra pròpia zona de vins. La més popular (i xic) és Napa Valley. Maria i jo vam passar un cap de setmana allà amb la nostra companya de pis, que treballava a la indústria del vi. Així, vam poder tastar molts vins diferents... per la cara! A més, l'escapada de la ciutat va ser fantástica per trencar la rutina diària.

Adventure in plural

I started writing the blog about one year ago. Although many of you has been following my little adventure since August 2009, only a few have really lived with me (or I have with them) since then.

The story has changed a lot since July 3th. And it is not because it was my first Independence Day Eve, but because it was the day that Maria got to San Francisco. And as usual, she got late. One hour. Nevertheless, it didn't matter that day, after four months without seeing her.

Since Maria is here, the blog may be plural from now on. And so my life in San Francisco. Oops! Our life!

What I know is that sharing this experience with her is completely different. It is what I have been waiting for a long time. My fellow traveler.

Besides working hard on his language skills, she is enjoying the city (not its weather) and living a dream come true.

San Francisco's Climate (or why we didn't get tanned this summer 2010)

Blog: "I wasn't on vacation! I got lost in the fog of San Francisco!"

The summer in San Francisco is... Wait! What summer!? The only thing I have seen during the whole -supposedly- summer is a thick layer of fog over my head.

"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco". This saying is the coolest thing Mark Twain never said. It describes the SF summer perfectly. If you come to SF, you will hear people saying that they run the heater only four months of the year: January, February, July and August. In fact, some days of August, San Francisco gets colder than the city of Anchorage, Alaska, with less than 12ºC.

The summer fog is caused when the sun heats the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, which draws in the cool marine air from the Pacific Ocean. Often a low atmospheric pressure area is associated with the interior valleys and an area of high atmospheric pressure out in the ocean.

The high-pressure area is called the Pacific High. In the meantime, the ocean currents produce a rising of cooler water. The result is condensed ocean water that rises in a mist: fog. Now the changes in atmospheric pressure move in -- air from high-pressure areas on the coast moves toward low-pressure areas, producing wind and moving the fog inland.

Did you get it? No? Watch the video...

Now is Setember; the summer has begun in San Francisco.

American family

De Vidal-Ribas n'hi molts en el món. Som una família amb més de mig miler de membres. Com a mínim 7 d'ells viuen a EEUU (bé, ara 8).

Fins ara he estat compartint la meva aventura amb el Glenn, que viu a SF. Però durant l'últim mes he pogut conèixer a la resta i retrobar-me de nou amb els que ja coneixia.

En germà del Glenn, Carlos, amb la seva dona, Debbie, i els seus fills, Trevor, Madison i Taylor van passar un cap de setmana a SF. Tots encantadors. No podia ser d'una altra manera.

El cap de setmana passat Glenn i jo vam anar a Austin, Texas, a visitar la seva mare i germana del meu avi, Marisol. La què considero al meva àvia americana és una persona excel·lent. Vaig gaudir moltíssim la meva estada a Austin. Entre partits del mundial i calor sofocant, també vam anar a un concert de Josep Carreres i referescar-nos als llacs d'aigua subterràneas.

El dissabte es celebrava al Col·legi Sant Ignasi de Barcelona la Vidal-Ribada 2010. Reunió quinquenal a on tots els Vidal-Ribas són convidats. Nosaltres vam fer la nostra reunió paral·lela a EEUU i enviar-los un video totalment 'casero'.

Austin és fantàstic, i la meva família americana encara més.

(Algunes fotos del cap de setmana a SF i Austin)





There're a lot of Vidal-Ribas in the world. We're a family with more than half thousand people. Al least 7 live in US (well, 8 right now).

Until now, I've been sharing my adventure with Glenn, who lives in SF. However, in the last month I met the rest of the family, and met again with those who I already knew.

Glenn's brother, Carlos, his wife Debbie, and their children, Trevor, Madison and Taylor spent one weekend in SF. They're all so charming. It couldn't be other way.

Last weekend, Glenn and I went to Austin, Texas, to visit his mother and my grandfather's sister, Marisol. Who I consider my American grandmother is an excelent person. I enjoyed a lot my stay in Austin. Among World Cup games and a stifling heat, we also went to a Josep Carreras's concert i cool down to the springs.

On saturday, the Vidal-Ribada 2010 took place at Col·legi Sant Ignasi in Barcelona. It's a quinquennial gathering where all the Vidal-Ribas are invited. We made our parallel gathering in US and sent them a totally homemade video.

Austin is terrific, and my American family even more.