¡Olé!

I'll tell you a little secret but you must promise to use this knowledge only to keep me accountable. I am attempting to "learn" Spanish. Again. Those years in high school fairly wasted although I remember about three to five words. I'm still in the process of figuring out what would be the best way to learn besides skipping out on good ol' 'merica for awhile and living in a Spanish speaking culture. Let me tell you, as a nurse it would be so super stinking helpful to be able to navigate around some in Spanish. Davis is always encouraging me to learn German but I believe Spanish would be so much more useful to me. In general he is just encouraging to use time wisely and productively. If it turns out I do not suck at learning other languages, then maybe German can be next. If you have recommendations for ways of learning languages, let me know. I think I'm going to use the library and try to learn from several different types of sources so maybe it will actually work.  Stay tuned for that! The other week, I learned the Spanish word for royal is real. Of course not pronounces as it would be in English. However, this was not learned in my studies but from MLS.

So it turns out Salt Lake City has its very own Major League Soccer (MLS) team and they are fairly good. Since our only other professional team is the Utah Jazz, this team has quite a following, especially from the large Hispanic population and anyone hip and cool enough to follow soccer. New friends from church are season ticket holders and invited us to tag along to a Saturday evening game against the Seattle Sounders. The SLC team name is the Real, basically modeled after the Real Madrid, where futbol is much loved. We took our first public transportation ride on the UTA Trax a few blocks from our house down to the stadium. I felt so, what I imagine, European, taking fancy public transportation to a soccer game. Of course in Europe I'd have to say futbol.

Over all, it was super fun. I had to pull from the recesses of my mind the rules learned from my days on various soccer teams as a child. Best of all, we won 2-0.

fans with their flag

post- game winning picture :)

One of the most enjoyable things about sporting events is the camaraderie amongst fans. It is especially enjoyable when there are chants/songs/cheers everyone can get into. Real Salt Lake has a song and they were nice enough to put the words up for us newbies.

We feel so cultured now. Riding public transportation, attending MLS games, and yes we are still plotting for a European trip for next year. Saving for it has been quite a challenging. The move to Utah totally threw us off. Additionally, we've bought two sets of plane tickets for August alone. Very excited about those trips just so expensive! Flying out of SLC has proven to be more expensive than Denver. This discussion could go in many directions so let's stop here.

Quick garden update:

zucchinis and one baby tomato

beets and lettuce

We have been able to harvest a few things. These yellow/orange baby tomatoes are really the best thing you could put in your mouth. Not to mention, beets and goat cheese are the perfect combination to make any pile of lettuce more enticing. Yesterday I ate a whole zucchini by myself for lunch about an hour after it was picked. My body is still thanking me for those nutrients, I am sure.  Have a lovely 4th tomorrow!