An Expat’s Exploration
This is one of the hardest things that I have had to write. I have started close to a dozen times - and avoided writing on so many more occasions - and not been able to see it through. I suppose that the core issue is that I just don’t want to face what I have to say: we have left Valencia; left our beloved Spain.
Why? How? Wherefore? Good questions. (And is there anyone out there still asking after such a long absence?) I will do my best to explain.
Amending the …
Finding Valencia on a map is easy, but how can you tell if it’s a good place to live? For us it was surprisingly easy.
Living here is a constant discovery, both of the new and the old. Two thousand years of history and a vibrant, modern spirit leave no shortage of things to write about.
Valencia has its own unique flavours that contribute to richness of Spanish cuisine, but international fare also abounds.
March 28th is a pretty important day in the Larcombe/Mead family calendar. On that date in 2006, two weeks after the due date, Oscar Mead made his first appearance in the world. You’d think that this date would be etched into our minds forever; unforgettable, totally.
Not so. This March 28th, Oscar’s third birthday, almost came and went without the slightest fanfare or celebration. In fact, when we finally realized what day it was, we marked the event with a chocolate bar and a ride on a coin operated horse. Oscar didn’t …
In part one of this post, I gave some background into my national identity, or lack thereof. I talked about the elusiveness of the moment in which it could be said that I became Canadian (having been taken to Canada from England as a child) and the decisive moment in which I later realized that Spain was home to a culture that felt like home to me. What I didn’t do was answer my own question about why my wife and I felt compelled to relocate to Spain despite the …
Recently I wrote a post about my perception of whether or not I am an expat. I was very happy to read the comments that followed and also keenly aware that my views on patriotism don’t sit easily with many people. Since writing that post - and reading the comments that it inspired - my thoughts have been returning to the subject of patriotism and the concept of home time and time again and I just can’t help putting them down on paper, so to speak. (I’ll miss the pen, …
I have always been amazed at how wine gets around. In Canada we drank wines from all over the world and it seemed clear that the global marketplace was getting smaller. Trends that we saw as winedrinkers in British Columbia appeared to be happening all over the planet. Now I think that maybe that’s not quite the case.
Back in BC, Katie and I began to suffer from a mild case of oak overload, at least when it came to white wines. We enjoy full-bodied whites but found that most of …
One of the things that I most love from Spain’s culinary arsenal is jamón serrano. One of the things I like least in life is not having all the answers. Last week, it was time for these two things to come head to head at our house in an event that we dubbed jamón, jamón. (It may not be the most inventive name, but the event itself didn’t suffer for it.)
Spain’s cured ham may just be the best in the world. Wait - it is. No doubt about it. I’m …
As a communications consultant and content developer, Ivan often ruthlessly slashes text and barbarically truncates copy. This blog is a return to the primal side of the written word.
Ivan is still trying to figure out what he is doing in Valencia. Maybe this blog will help?
