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Returning to the PNW like the Salmon

by Jeni Martinez | Feb 12, 2024 | American Yogi in Spain, Americans in Gijon, Ex-pats in Spain, Family, Friendship, Language, Love, Relationships, Retirement, Spain, Travel

Like the fall-run Chinook Salmon which spend 3-4 years in the ocean before migrating to their spawning grounds in the fall, Rocky and I will be returning to the Pacific Northwest at the end of September. While we do not plan to spawn or die right away on our return,...

Rain Rain Fall Fall

by Jeni Martinez | Dec 7, 2023 | Aging, Alzheimer's, American Yogi in Spain, Americans in Gijon, Ex-pats in Spain, Language, Travel

The rain was coming down hard on Monday, hitting the windows of the classroom and creating a waterfall down to the sidewalk.  I was sitting at a long table, watching my teacher write hiragana (Japanese characters) on the chalk board. Since it was my first class at...

One Step In Front of the Other

by Jeni Martinez | Jul 3, 2023 | American Yogi in Spain, Ex-pats in Spain, Food, Health, Hiking, Kindness, Spain, Travel, Yoga

One of my favorite quotes to share on a Hiking & Yoga Retreat is from Ellen Degeneres. She explained, in her most serious voice, ” You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She’s ninety-seven...

Instructions for Living a Life

by Jeni Martinez | May 22, 2023 | American Yogi in Spain, Americans in Gijon, Ex-pats in Spain, Food, Italy, Travel, Yoga

Poet Mary Oliver said, “Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”   Rocky and I just returned from 12 fantastic days in Puglia, Italy, leading the Walking and Yoga Retreat. Mary Oliver’s quote was on my mind more than once...

Healing a Broken Heart

by Jeni Martinez | Feb 14, 2023 | American Yogi in Spain, Americans in Gijon, Ex-pats in Spain, Family, Health, Hiking, Language, Life and Death, Love, Relationships, Spain, Travel, Yoga

This year Valentine’s Day is not only a day to exchange boxes of chocolate and read the sweetest love poem that Rocky wrote for me in Spanish, but a chance to express my gratitude for a mostly-healed heart. Last September, while leading our Spain Hiking &...

A True Epiphany

by Jeni Martinez | Jan 3, 2023 | American Yogi in Spain, Americans in Gijon, Ex-pats in Spain, Family, Life and Death, Love, Relationships, Spain, Travel

On Sunday, Rocky and I buckled up in Row 7, locked our tray tables in the upright position and stuffed our personal belongings under the seat in front of us.  Our Iberia flight was waiting for the all-clear from the tower so we could fly from Boston to Madrid after...
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