Jamie Wakefield had achieved everything he always wanted. He was happy. He was bored. Then he met Wendy, a woman from his past, now living in Spain. Though he had never even wanted to leave Vermont, Jamie followed his new love to a new country. And found exactly what he needed and never knew he wanted.
This is Jamie's humorous and moving description of his soul's rebirth and his breathless wonder at this new world. He takes us along as he discovers that Europeans, in fact, aren't just like Americans. That fish eyes, goose barnacles, and octopus are actually delicious. He shares the complete agony of learning Spanish at forty-one, his awe at the grand and ancient scale of European architecture, and his amazement at falling in love with the drama of a tiny man staring down a twelve-hundred pound bull.
From the back cover: "Do you know they eat babies in Europe? Yeah, every chance they get. Suckling goat, suckling pig, suckling lamb, you name it, if it's on its mother's teat they can't wait to pull it off and roast it over a roaring fire.
Do you know what it's like to have a two-hundred pound cow, with horns, slam into your knees and throw you over its back completely ignoring the cape you're waving in front of it? Because I do, and let me tell you, that is not the fun part of a capea.
Do you know the patron saint of Segovia looks just like Gandalf and turned back advancing Moors intent on attacking the city by drawing a line in the sand with his staff and shouting "You shall not pass!"?
You may also be amazed to know that if you accidentally create a six foot high flame in your barbeque and Madrid firemen in full gear climb four flights to your apartment and find no fire (called in by two neighbors) they will not fine you but actually compliment you on how well the steak is cooked?
This is Jamie's humorous and moving description of his soul's rebirth and his breathless wonder at this new world. He takes us along as he discovers that Europeans, in fact, aren't just like Americans. That fish eyes, goose barnacles, and octopus are actually delicious. He shares the complete agony of learning Spanish at forty-one, his awe at the grand and ancient scale of European architecture, and his amazement at falling in love with the drama of a tiny man staring down a twelve-hundred pound bull.
From the back cover: "Do you know they eat babies in Europe? Yeah, every chance they get. Suckling goat, suckling pig, suckling lamb, you name it, if it's on its mother's teat they can't wait to pull it off and roast it over a roaring fire.
Do you know what it's like to have a two-hundred pound cow, with horns, slam into your knees and throw you over its back completely ignoring the cape you're waving in front of it? Because I do, and let me tell you, that is not the fun part of a capea.
Do you know the patron saint of Segovia looks just like Gandalf and turned back advancing Moors intent on attacking the city by drawing a line in the sand with his staff and shouting "You shall not pass!"?
You may also be amazed to know that if you accidentally create a six foot high flame in your barbeque and Madrid firemen in full gear climb four flights to your apartment and find no fire (called in by two neighbors) they will not fine you but actually compliment you on how well the steak is cooked?
