So what exactly is an ADA???

February 12, 2012 Rota, Spain

If you just tuned in, go back to the post of January 12 and start there.  Then this one will make sense.

Before dealing with the question in the title, let's catch up to date on the story.  So the first coffee went well and so there was a second coffee and then there were dinners, and visits to the Peña, and so forth.  It got to where we were seeing each other every day.  And why?  Well, we were just amazingly compatible, that's why.  There's no explaining this, but we appear to be twins in so many ways.  This was totally unpredictable.  I wanted to date a Spanish lady just to see how it would be.  She really had no desire to date an American at all.  Rota used to be full of Americans when the air base was booming and she avoided them.  One of the really important things is that both of us are "we" people - we like to live as part of a couple.  That is something that I always wanted and something missing previously.  It got to the point where I had to ask myself, "Is it possible that there could be anyone more compatible with me?"  She is affecionate, smart, practical, tall, slim and likes flamenco(!)  Both of us were tall and thin when we were young - both felt that we were "ugly duckings".  Both of us like the same kind of books, movies.  Both of us are a little "different" from the rest of our cultural peers.  But when we are together, everything is totally effortless.  Although Americans are perhaps more likely to participate in personal growth education, she certainly has arrived at the same kind of consciousness on her own.  In short, she is a terrific human being.  So after a while, we became a couple.  Did we live happily ever after - well, stay tuned and find out.

Back to our question.  So what exactly is an ADA???  Well, Ada is a nickname for Inmaculada (like Inma or Conchi also are).  Actually Inmaculada is the short version for Inmaculada Concepción de la Santisima María!  Well, it's pretty clear that some shortening was needed and in the spanish manner, she became Ada.  Her daughter who has the same name became Adita (little Ada).  Ada is 7 years younger than I am.  For 40+ years, she was a schoolteacher, finally retiring here in Rota.  She knows most of the young people in town because they passed through her classes.  So she is different from most of her peers because she has a university education, which was pretty rare in the time of Franco.  She has four kids between the ages of 31 and 41 years old and remarkably they all like me!  Well, I like them so it works out well.

L to R - Fany, Yago, Ada, Adita, and Nacho

The oldest is Adita and then Yago (Santiago), Fany (Estefania), and finally Nacho (Ignacio).  They are a terrific group and when they are all in the house, it jumps.  Our Christmas this year was one of the best I have ever had.

Here's another picture of Ada and I at an art show at the local castle.

So as you see, I am no longer miserable.  An from this point forward, I can just report the news as it happens.

Don't be afraid to write.....