Carnaval

This weekend was Carnaval in Cadiz!

I started out this weekend with a trip to the palacio de congresos in La Linea, where I watched the finals of the singing groups that perform for the best/wittiest songs and performances. The emphasis for carnaval in Cadiz is wit and innuendo, every group writing their own songs and performances laced with political satire and dirty sex jokes. The more obvious (and better enunciated) I was able to understand. But even for Spanish people a lot of it is lost, as you can imagine when you are listening to 25 people sing quickly you can't really understand every word. The visuals are entertaining as well: kitschy costumes, gaudy makeup and people everywhere.



Every year there is a contest to see which group is the best- I went and saw the finals of La Linea's contest. It started at 10 and I left and left at 2am, which is an hour and a half before it ended. Spaniards know how to party.



A little anecdote that describes many a situation here-we agreed to meet at the palacio at 10, so I got there at 10.03, slightly worried about being late, but there was no sign of them. After 5 minutes I called my friend Reme, and she told me 'oh we are leaving right now, sorry sorry, see you in 10.' 25 minutes later they showed up. For some reason I can't ever trust my logical knowledge that people don't show up right at the appointed hour here. Thus, I rush and then wait. I've taken to calling it 'guiri time.' (Guiri being the slang term Spaniard use to talk about foreigners)

On Saturday I woke up to several emails informing me about a medical situation back at home (another one! my family is trying to stress me out!) and I decided I wasn't up to the planned day trip/hike up Gibraltar with a group of people I didn't know that well, (speaking in Spanish all day when you are feeling emotionally fragile...meh)-so I called and cancelled, but when they heard how upset I was they came over immediately and gave me hugs and I had sweet texts from all my friends here all day. I woke up my very hungover brother at 5 in the morning and he was a total sweetheart about it. The silver lining of being far away from your family when stupid things happen is that you get shown how much people care about you where you are. There are so many good people in the world! Go humanity!

That evening I went out and La Linea was bumping, people dressed up everywhere, reminding me a lot of a European Halloween, both adults are in the central plaza, with the children playing soccer and adults drinking and listening to the singing groups. Sunday I went to Cadiz with the teachers, for big league carnaval-more people, more decorations, more groups, better costumes, better performances. Drinking in the streets, street bar/restaurants set up, costumes and kazoos galore for sale-very jolly and very fun. I was happy to see some women's groups there-in La Linea it was all men who sang and performed. We returned late Sunday night, all of us looking forward to class the next morning...it makes me wonder what teacher world was like for the teachers at my high school-how often did they come to school hungover? Never. Duh. They lived at the school and didn't drink or smoke because you just say no.

Outside right now La Linea is a dishwasher. I am finally over my flu from last week (it was sunny all week when I was dying in bed) and now I want to get back to my marathon training and it is pouring and humid and windy. My life is so so hard, I can practically see my mom playing the world's tiniest violin for me.

More picture time!

I've been a busy bee!

So much to tell!

First things first: I am famous. I show up for a good 2.5 seconds in the background of Pesadilla en la Cocina... check out the moments between 2:08 and 2:20 in the third section and you can see my marvelous profile. The rest you can ignore, its not important.

http://www.lasexta.com/videos/pesadilla-en-la-cocina/2013-enero-27-2013012500028.html

This weekend I went on a grand adventure to Alhama de Granada. Before you think it, no I am not forgetting the 'bra', Alhama is different from the Alhambra, the famous castle in Granada capital. Alama is a white washed town tucked into the mountains between Malaga and Grenada. On the way in you can see the Sierra Nevada to the Northeast, and the hills are covered with grapevines, olive trees and almond trees, which are just starting to flower.

This second picture isn't that stellar but you can see the sun setting on the hills outside of the town which was beautiful

The town, like most here in on the old continent, is very old. They have found 'prehistoric remains' there and the Romans were definitely there, as proved by some crumbling arches, bridges and aqueduct systems. The Romans were followed by the Moors, which is where its name today comes from: al hammam in arabic are arabic baths and in Alhama there are thermal pools.

The river is cold water and the pools to the right have varying temperatures. Apparently during the day it is mostly tourists that use them, or old people treating rheumatism etc. The people of Alhama go at night, bringing candles and a date. Very stinky (sulphur...) but lots of romance points for sure!

There were two reasons for our trek to Alhama, the first being that it is my friend Paqui's hometown and we went and stayed at her parents' house. That meant realllllly good food and top treatment from Spanish mom. We had a full spread for breakfast, and lunch the next day was homemade sausages, chicken soup, salad with olives they picked and wine that they made. I forgot to mention that they make their own wine-her brother and her dad have a bodega in the basement of their house. We ended up buying 10 bottles of wine from them, which meant heading down to the basement (three of the four of us couldn't enter the bodega because we were on our period and if we entered, superstition says the wine goes bad)to fill up the bottles with a siphon. That was followed with corking the bottles and I got to put their sticker labels on!

That is her dad and their dog, Bobby. Bobby and I are best friends. We've promised to write.

The second reason we went to Alhama was the First Annual Wine Festival! As there are many local bodegas like the one Paqui's family runs, they started a festival. The thirsty visitors (ie me) pay 3 euros and they get a hand made painted ceramic cup that you can then fill up as many times as you want to...needless to say that within a few hours there were more than a handful of veeeerrry cheerful people in the square. They also had paella, sausage and cheese plates for sale. I spent the afternoon drinking and eating and meeting approximately a bajillion people.

I should also add that at the same time they were celebrating the Candelaria-a celebration where they light campfires on the side of the street. I didn't really get a good reason for why they celebrate it-wikipedia is giving me a variety of reasons-the arrival of the black madonna, the pagan celebration of the middle of the winter, the 40th day after Jesus was born and the purification ritual that goes with it...so one of those. It was nice smelling campfire smoke all day though, and walking past all the fires and warming my hands. It was cold up in the mountains! Upper 30s! Brrr. Also they always put up swings! Big swings! Swings that go between the balconies on either side of the street. Swings between two telephone pole like posts in the central plaza. Obviously I went on the swing multiple times. Weeee!!

Look at the pretty pictures!

The weekend was also for all intents and purposes an intensive language boot camp. I spoke only Spanish from Friday night when we left to Sunday night when we returned, with no internet access. Needless to say my brain was melting out my ears. I am sure my Spanish improved-as my Dad said to me, I am putting in my 10,000 hours to get to mastery-but I am not satisfied, which I am sure is a good thing and the reason my Spanish has come as far as it has. Oh well, step by step!

Being cut off from internet and my 'home' here in Linea served to make me feel quite homesick. Especially because the weekend was about going back to Paqui's home, meeting her old friends and her parents and being involved in the town's traditions. Absolutely a wonderful experience and I feel very lucky to have been taken along on the trip, but I couldn't help but think of my own lovely home and family and girlfriend and traditions and food and rhythms and language...I am so grateful for my experiences here, and I am soaking up every minute of it. But my, my city's filthy. PNW I'll be back soon.

Pesadilla en la Cocina

Who has watched the cooking show 'Kitchen Nightmares?' I haven't. But apparently there is a Spanish equivalent called 'Pesadilla en la cocina', which I experienced last night in Marbella.

So Ana, a friend of mine from the rugby team, used to work in film production, and still has friends in the business. Thus, when they needed people to fill up the restaurant in Marbella she was called by a friend and she, Carlos (the other player from La Linea) and I went to kick start my television career, practicing my food evaluation vocabulary in Spanish. We drove the hour to Marbella, parked and got to the restaurant just in time. We signed the image rights wavers, heard the speech about participating and saying whatever we thought about the food. Then...we waited outside in the chilly night air for an hour and half...our first taste of the experience to come. We were the last group to go into the restaurant, as they were letting people in one group at a time to make it look natural. When we finally went in it was very exciting, there were cameras all over the restaurant and sound people and microphones...
We sat down, got some wine and appetizers (free food yeah!) and ordered our starters. They came about 15 minutes later. Then we waited another 20 minutes for our entrees, and I was pretty excited because I was going to try my first paella. As we waited it was becoming clear that the restaurant was emptying, the earlier groups having finished already. But the waitress assured us that it wasn't a problem, they'd stay with us. The food finally arrived and I had taken two steaming bites of the paella when we were told by the production team that we needed to leave. (Ana didn't know anyone on the actual crew, she knew a guy that worked for the company that does the show). So we had to stand up and leave our delicious food on the table. The saddest thing. Ana gave them a piece of her mind on our way out. I was too confused about what was happening to react properly. I was actually 'shooed' out by the head of production, who according to Ana's friend is a real asshole and causes a lot of problems.
So in the end of it all, we were not interviewed, the only way I will be caught on screen is on my trip to the bathroom or my back as they interviewed the table behind me. We drove for two hours and waited an hour and a half outside for a glass of wine, two shared starters and two bites of paella. Shiiiiiiiit.
We ended the night at Burger King getting a cone of soft serve. The United States comes through!
In other news, this weekend I went to Malaga with my rugby team here and although I didn't play (normal running is fine (I ran 8 miles today!) the sprinting and contact of rugby is still a slightly dubious idea) I had a great time. The feeling of family on a rugby team seems to translate to all cultures.

A Parade For Me!

I am checking in from a cozy bed in a lovely 10 bed hostel room in Malaga, Costa del Sol, Spain. Back to 17 degree temperatures and palm trees-vacation is over. Hahahahaha my life is great. But actually, when I got off the train in Malaga, the air smelled like olive oil and the streets were full of people and families walking at a leisurely pace and I could understand what they were saying to each other, and I was so happy. I had quite the spring in my step as I made my way towards my hostel. There were marching bands playing and parades passing by, candy being tossed like rice after a wedding...it was like my life was a musical, homecoming celebration!
The parade part and all that is actually real. Tomorrow is Los Tres Reyes, the three kings, which is just as important as Christmas here in Spain. This is what all of the hullabahloo was about, also the reason there were so many strollers and children everywhere. Very fun and colorful, balloon men and women walking around with bundles, bundles the size of a small car mind you, of helium filled cartoon characters for sale. Men on corners sugar roasting almonds. Candy tables. Waffle and donut stands. Party time! Difficult to navigate with a roller suitcase, though. I took a picture that is horribly blurry, but you get the idea.

I was winding through the back streets towards the hostel when I ran into Paloma and her parents, I couldn't believe it. First let me explain who Paloma is. On my bus to Malaga two weeks ago I sat next to her, she told me all sorts of things to do in Cadiz province, pretty places to see and good routes to do in the car. She is from around Malaga so she also gave me tips around Malaga and Nerja, where my parents and I want to go in May when they come visit (yay!). She is a nurse on a short contract in La Linea, and doesn't know if her contract will be renewed. Upon arrival to Malaga, she gave me instructions on how to get to my hostel, but when we got off she introduced me to her parents and brother who then gave me a ride to the hostel.
So this is why I cannot believe that I ran into Paloma, literally right around the block from where my hostel was. I had just gone out to get dinner after I checked in and dropped my stuff off, and there amongst the thousands of people doing last minute shopping and parade watching, we ran into each other. We chatted, said goodbye and then passed each other again 10 minutes later. 'El mundo es un pañuelo', it is a small world. They personify my experience with strangers here in Andalucia-very open and very friendly.

But my last days in Sweden/Denmark! Vera and I took a train from Lund to Helsingborg, then a ferry to Helsinger (DK). For the 20 minute ferry ride they had split their duty free sales: alcohol sales in Swedish waters, tobacco in Danish waters.

We then caught the train to Copenhagen. I had some delicious danish hotdog/sausage with really good mustard, we saw a lot of really pretty buildings, a little port area that looked like Amsterdam, and lots of post christmas sales.

(Do you think painting my nails will stop me from biting them? I don't)

(This is my cool braid beard look I invented)

Eventually we hit Mickellers (spelled more or less correctly) a really good microbrewery place. Vera got a very floral beer, I got a smoky chili porter. Both were very good, I missed microbrews. We follwed that with really good italian food and some more wandering around Copenhagen (at this point no longer sober, just very jolly and having some good nostalgia moments about our time we spent together in Peru).
Last thing I want to mention is the plane ride home. First very cool sights flying out of Copenhagen-wind mills in the water between Denmark and Sweden and the bridge that connects the two. I didn't realize this before but it goes underwater! So it looks like the bridge just disappears 3/4 of the way through. So cool!

All in all a very fun trip!

Sweden part 2

Now to go on about some of my adventures here in Sweden. Today we went to Bjarred, a town on the coast directly west of Lund, where they have white sand beach, a long dock, a lot of swans, a beautiful sunset and views to Malmo and the twisting torso and Copenhagen. We then ran and caught the bus to go to Malmo to get lunch/dinner and for me to buy some sriracha sauce. Wahoo! Now there are two important points in that last sentence. The first is obvious, I now can cook delicious spicy food with sriracha sauce, which I searched for quite a bit in Spain and did not find, Spaniards not being known for their appreciation of spicy foods. The second important point is my use of the word 'run'. I haven't written since my tragic accident on the 11th of December. I have found my achilles heel, it seems. My right pinky toe was the victim of someone's cleat in a maul at rugby practice. 2 minutes before practice ended. The worst of luck.

There was no discoloration and little swelling, so I figured in a few days I'd walk it off, lalala tough guy routine. Here I am 3+ weeks later and I am finally starting to notice some improvement. When I get back to Spain I am finally going to go see a doctor about it, but for now all I have is theories...torn ligament? A sprain? A fracture? So the great news is that I ran to the bus stop, albeit putting most of the strain on the ball of my foot and my big toe, but it doesn't feel any worse! And we ran for about 4 blocks. Hopefully this means that I will be able to start running again soon, or I might go crazy.
This is bringing up doubts about rugby though...should I keep playing and risk other injuries that would stop me from doing the marathon? Or hope for the best and do both? I don't know.

This evening we went and saw the Hobbit, which was great, although whenever the elves or the white giant spoke their subtitles were in Swedish. Also interesting is that there is assigned seating at the movie theater.

We spent New Years in Goteborg, a three hour train ride up the West coast of Sweden. Beautiful views of rocky beaches and islands and farm lands and flat flat flat. There were really cool clouds too, and one formation that looked like a dog head with it's tongue hanging out, ears back and a big smile on its face. I decided it was Red, young again and traveling with me in Sweden. Reunited again.

Goteborg is cute, the second biggest city in Sweden, with street cars and lots of old brick buildings, lots of fireworks (Red likes them now, they don't stress him out anymore). We shopped, I got some new shoes and a Swedish sweater so I fit in. Sweaters are big here. Also notable, SO MANY TALL PEOPLE HERE. I feel short all the time. It rained the whole time we were there so we watched a lot of x-factor and cooked delicious things.

Another interesting tidbit about Sweden is all of its alcohol sales are done through the government, including beer and wine. So any alcohol you want to buy is at specific stores with limited hours, closed around holidays, which as you can imagine is very frustrating to those of us who didn't plan ahead for holidays. As a result, we didn't drink too much for NYs and woke up fresh as daisies to catch the train South again.

I've eaten delicious Persian food, with lots of dried mint and a delicious type of pepper. Walked around Lund and seen their University and their churches. Gone on walks and seen Vera's old school and house and visited her old work places. She used to be a bartender bar manager and going out with her in Malmo was like going out with a celebrity, eeevvvveeererryyone knew her, and we got discounts and free entrances and free coat checks...deals. It was great. She was written up in a magazine as one of the top 6 bartenders in Sweden...I'm close to fame. We walked the streets of Malmo and saw the turning torso, a twisted building with very cool architecture.

It is now far too late, so I am going to sleep. Good night!

Sweden part 1

Happy New Year! I have been remiss in my blogging habits, what can I say, new year new start. I have much news to report, checking in from Lund, Sweden in the lovely apartment of my friend Vera and her roommate Felicia. I have been here for 10 days so far, and have four left before I head back to Spain.
I was looking for two weeks of winter and I sure as hell got them! I am ready for the blue skies and warm temperatures of southern Spain. Southern Sweden is very flat and windy, not to mention being very far north, making it very dark and cold. It is pitch black at 4 o’clock and temperatures have been hovering right around 0 degrees Celsius, with snow only one of my days here, but with enough rain to make me feel like I am in the PNW that had all of its mountains ironed out.

A Swedish Christmas! First important thing to know in one’s quest to experience a Swedish Christmas is that it is not celebrated on the 25th like it is in the US of A, but on the 24th. The 25th is the day when all of the young people go out drinking because they need a break from all the family time. So, first aspect is the food: lots of meat and pickled vegetables and herring. We had meatballs (which Vera and I made from scratch…ta da!), mini sausages and a ham roasted with mustard. Next is fish: lox with dill and lemon and pickled herring in three different sauces. A salad. Pickled baby onions. Pickles. Cherry tomatoes. Dry flatbread that made me think of matzo. Julmust, a coke-like drink with spices added to it. So. Much. Food.

Vera had her brother and her father over to have Christmas lunch/dinner with us, we ate right after the other Swedish Christmas staple…Donald Duck.
Apparently at some point it became the thing to do here to watch the Christmas Donald Duck episode, interspersed with ‘postcards’ from famous Disney movies with their best scene showed, ie. The Lady and the Tramp spaghetti scene. It was interesting. And in Swedish.
Which brings me to my next point, which is that unlike Spain, where eeeeeeeeverything is done over in Spanish, Swedish television is rarely dubbed, it just has Swedish subtitles. The reality seems to be that it isn’t really necessary to dub it because everyone speaks English. I literally have not encountered a single person here who doesn’t speak fluent English, it is absolutely amazing. I am continuously impressed by their linguistic abilities. It is interesting because it seems to have become such a part of the language that people often substitute words or phrases of English in the middle of their Swedish without thinking. It actually reminds me a lot of the way Spanish and English are mixed in Gibraltar ‘okay nos vemos tomorrow para tomarnos un coffee, venga un besito, bye!’ Crazy.

Doing Stuff that is Fun

It is Thursday night, which means my work week is over. I am pretty tired, but oh so content. I really feel like I am hitting my stride here in my making a home away from home happiness project. I mentioned before (I think) that I felt like I had been here long enough for the newness of my life here to wear off, but it still didn't have a comfortable meaningful layer to it.
Well, I have been a busy bee over here in La Linea. I joined the rugby team, which was an excellent decision, socially and recreationally. I've been to three practices so far, and I am still getting to know the rest of the team, but they are a pretty jolly group. The vocabulary was a bit of a hurdle, because the words I had looked up were the South American terms for the positions. Oops.

A mini rugby vocabulary lesson:

-placar: tackle
-ensayo: try
-forwards: delanteros/gordas (in an affectionate way)
-backs: tres cuartos
-depressiones: push-ups
-mele-scrum
-Ruck-ruck (pronouned 'rak')
-I'm just realizing right now I mixed up the order of English/Spanish on all of those...what does that tell you about my thinking patterns right now?

A teacher at Hilaire's institute, Raquel, invited me to play padel with her on Wednesdays, which fills the hole in my heart forming from separation from racket sports. Padel is wonderful, the child of tennis and raquetball and pickleball. Look it up, it is as fun as it looks.

This weekend I am going to watch the men's game in Algeciras with the ladies team...just the group of people I was looking for and didn't have two weeks ago. Talk about things taking a turn for the better! I am just so happy and grateful to be in a position linguistically and self confidence wise that allows me to pick and choose activities that I love to do in a second language. Really just pleased as a peach. And tiiiirreeddd, between school, private lessons, padel, rugby, running, weight training for injury prevention, social time with other teachers and other auxiliares...leaves Jack tired.

In other news, I went to a town called Castellar last weekend with my friend Rocio and her friends from Huelva that came to visit her. It is about 20 minutes outside of La Linea, and it is an old castle on the top of a hill that people still live inside. Very cool.

After we went to a 'venta', a countryside restaurant with local food. We had some wild boar and venison...nom.