testing....

Did you know, monkeys have 12 hairs at any one time??? Yes, that's true... And no, I'm not crazy... Just trying to get back to blogging seriously....

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A walk in Malaga

Calle Larios

Plaza de la Constitución

Plaza de la Merced

Tourists....

A tourist having his picture taken with Pablo Picasso, the world famous painter who was born in a house at this square.

Plaza de la Victoria

Plaza de la Victoria

Calle de la Victoria

La Alcazaba

Plaza de la Merced

Teatro Cervantes

Plaza de la Merced

Plaza de la Constitución

Mercado Central

Avenida de Andalucia

Avenida de Córdoba

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Raising Bilingual/Biracial Kids

Once again I've been too busy to be able to write this post on Monday so here it comes, a little late.

Raising my children with several languages and cultures is something I'm really proud of. I think that having my kids with the man I chose at the time was a great choice, since that gave my kids a unique mixture that will make them special wherever they go.

Some of you might already know that my kids are a lovely mixture of Spanish, Finish and Moroccan genes. On the outside you can't really tell them apart from other Spaniards, so in that way I don't think they'll ever have a cultural crisis. But what's going on on the inside is a different story.

My kids are trilingual since the day they were born - their first language is Spanish since it's my mother tongue and the language I speak with their father, their second language is Swedish since they were born in Sweden and it's the language my parents use with my kids. When my kids were babies their father used to speak to them in Moroccan Arabic, but after a few years it got harder and harder for him so he decided to use Spanish instead. But when we moved to Morocco they learned to speak perfect Moroccan and also classical Arabic.

Lot of people think that raising a bi/multilingual kid is a piece of cake, but no, it's not at all like that. First of all, you yourselves need to be fluent in the language you want them to learn, because in many cases you're the only linguistic reference for your kid. You need to be able to sing children's songs in the language and read bed time stories, in order to give them the cultural aspects of the language. You have to celebrate the holidays and incorporate them into your family's normal day to day routines. And here is where many problems start because not everyone has a partner that agrees with this. And most important of all - never give up! Even if your child doesn't seem to understand when you speak your language with him/her and he/she answers in the mayority language, keep on going, because in spite of everything, your kids is learning, he/she just isn't ready to speak the language just yet. It might take 2, 5, 10, 15 years but whenever he/she feels confident enough - or in a situation where no other language will do, you will be surprised to hear how well he/she speaks the language!

I think I've given my kids a good cultural start since they have lived in Sweden, Morocco and now in Spain. They are able to blend in in all their cultures, they speak the languages, they know about the culture and religious life and they know that they have the freedom to chose wherever they want to live in the future. My kids and I know that "home is wherever you lay your hat" and that it is posible to have several places in your heart. I think I've achived my goal to raise international kids and I'm extremely proud of my babies.

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Dream Big For Africa

I'm sure you all have heard of Malaria, since it's one of the most famous diseases of the African continent. But do you know what it really is? This is some information I found at MedLinePlus:

Malaria is a parasitic disease that involves high fevers, shaking chills, flu-like symptoms, and anemia.

Malaria is caused by a parasite that is passed from one human to another by the bite of infected Anopheles mosquitoes. Malaria can also be transmitted from a mother to her unborn baby (congenitally) and by blood transfusions. After infection, the parasites (called sporozoites) travel through the bloodstream to the liver, where they mature and release another form, the merozoites. The parasites enter the bloodstream and infect red blood cells. The parasites multiply inside the red blood cells, which then break open within 48 to 72 hours, infecting more red blood cells. The first symptoms usually occur 10 days to 4 weeks after infection, though they can appear as early as 8 days or as long as a year after infection. The symptoms occur in cycles of 48 to 72 hours.

Malaria, especially Falciparum malaria, is a medical emergency that requires a hospital stay. Chloroquine is often used as an anti-malarial medication. However, chloroquine-resistant infections are common in some parts of the world. Medical care, including fluids through a vein (IV) and other medications and breathing (respiratory) support may be needed.

Malaria kills a child every minute in Africa. You can make a difference and it doesn't take mucho of an effort. All you have to do is to text 85944 to donate $10 to @MalariaNoMore and you'll be entered to win a trip to Africa!!!! If you think this is as important as I do, please join Malaria No More and help the children in Africa have a future.

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Oh no, not again!

Oh yes, unfortunatelly it's true, I've got a cold... Again! I think it's the third time this winter, so far....
It's really really cold here right now. The weather is ok around noon, you even see quite a lot of peple in short-sleeved t-shirts and shorts. But then around 5.30 - 6 PM it starts to get colder and colder. We've had several nights with temperatures below 5 degrees C. I know, it doesn't seem so cold, in northern Europe 5 degrees is nothing... But bare in mind that most houses here don't have any kind of heating system and the walls aren't very thick so when it's 5 degrees outside it isn't much more than 15 degreen indoors and that's not a very nice temperature....
Enviado desde mi BlackBerry® de Vodafone

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