Jim was born and raised in Philadelphia and it shows! He still has some of the accent (with a little bit of Baltimorese mixed in from his fourteen years in the “Charm City” area) plus his Philly sports team fandom, love of cheese steaks, hoagies, Tastykakes and “addy-tude.” Nonetheless, this isn’t his first venture living away from Philadelphia or outside the U.S. Besides Maryland, Jim has lived in New Jersey, Virginia, and Arizona where he met, fell in love, and married Les. While at Temple University, Jim attended two semesters at the college’s London program. This was in the early 80s when it was all about New Wave and Princess Diana.

Jim is now retired from a career in the medical laboratory field. He’s currently enrolled in Arizona State University’s Master of Liberal Studies program and expects to graduate in May 2024. Afterwards, who know, maybe a volunteer or part-time gig, possibly a doctorate but definitely hoping to become fluent in Spanish and maybe Catalan along the way. To paraphrase Buzz Lightyear, “to Europe and beyond!”

Farrah is a Terrier Hound mix, aka a Lercher. Nicknames include Poopacabra and Pumpkinhead, though her official title is Farrah Taylor’s Foxy Lada Gaga de Benatar.

She’s fourteen years old and 9 months. She entered Jim’s life as a foster at the age of 4 months and was expected to stick around only two weeks. That’s what they call in the business a “foster fail.” She got along well with her older brother Rupert but since he crossed the Rainbow Bridge, she’s been an only child, and mostly spoiled. This became especially true when she met Les.

After moving to Arizona, Les had to pass the “sniff’ test of approval and needless to say, he passed with flying colors.

Once the decision was made to move to Barcelona, she knew something was up, but couldn’t quite put her paw on it. She did well on the road trip to Dallas and braved the flight like the trooper that she is. Now settling into Barcelona, she enjoys her new home and all the sensory stimuli. She’s become such a social butterfly recently, meeting and greeting other dogs and people as they are enjoying their meals. They don’t mind since they remark on her beauty and charm (which is all too obvious!)

Although Les was born in Barcelona and lived a couple years in Rome as a kindergartener, most of his childhood was spent in Cincinnati, Ohio. He has lived in Arizona for twenty-five years, split between Tucson and Phoenix. He loves taking photographs and growing things, listening to Bjork and Sanguisugabogg, exploring fun food and creative cocktails, and hates driving (unless it’s a road trip through remote areas of New Mexico chasing green chile cheeseburgers).