8 months?

I can't believe it's been over 8 months. Texas reunion in less than 3 weeks!

love embarrassing Mandy ;) but really, couldn't ask for better friends like her & all my amazing "family" back home

*can't wait* to hold my mom's hand again

borrowed this picture from one of my gfs here; i didn't know back then that walking along the coast here would be one of the best things - it's a simple path along the water in the city, "nothing special" but sometimes i think it sums up the experience here

i can really appreciate the humor in this :)

other thoughts -

i love the advice one of my coworker gave me yesterday, "elizabeth, when they ask you what you'll do with your life next...just reply with the word vivir" that was his simple advice. keep on living your life the way you want to. and live it big.

I'm grateful for Skype, and still AMAZING by the whole concept.

the fresh markets in Europe were hands down one of my favorite aspect of the stunning cities I had the opportunity to visit. it's where you truly get to see the culture wrapped into one. families, love, good food...

"this restaurant speaks German, Andalu'-style Spanish, and English"

it also served snails...kudos to Jack & Ab for trying them.

Spain still makes me fall in love all over again with the smallest moments: teaching my 6th graders last week, 3 of the girls took out beautiful flamenco fans to ease the INSANE level of heat (no a/c...) as if it wasn't the most random thing to see. they may as well have choreographed that awesome moment.

it was 102 degrees F on a Tuesday this past month. I walked to school and wore the WRONG flats.

i've successfully learned Spanish slang, for the most part. still don't think i'd pass a pop quiz...

can't get over hanging out in the teachers' lounge :) i think i love the job more than i give myself credit for

pastries and coffee will never be the same again. except for the coffee, i need the good stuff from back home already.

i LOVE salmorejo: cold tomato soup. according to the coworker who made it for me last week, you have to use extra virgin olive oil, the tomatoes have to be in season, AND you must have a really good blender...

last night's view from our window at the infamous 5th floor apartment of ours

excuse my grammar, my bilingual head is all jumbled up. i've also been exposed to too much British English...just ask my roomies about that one trip to Gibraltar.

We made it to Portugal this past month, and it was right up there with Hawai'i, some of the coolest beaches I've ever seen. It was really just one of the most amazing places I've visited and would highly recommend it.

the road trip to Lagos just made it THAT much better :)

next stop, Greece!

Flamenco

The drive down to the concert this past weekend, with Africa in view

I’ve spent great Friday nights with the girls in Cadiz, looking for a flamenco performance, losing hours of the night to incredible musicians on a small stage. This has been the part that’s for ME. Finding new music on the other side of the world after a long day of work and getting to experience a culture’s music, especially one so important to the country’s history. Well this past weekend, Pablo Alboran played a packed auditorium in his “home” (he was actually born in Malaga, well done Spain…Picasso from there, now this guy…) My bus ride made me miss the first two songs but I enjoyed a good two hours so it worked out. I hadn’t even gotten comfortable in my seat yet when I was startled by a combination of the fans' ecstatic reactions and his incredible voice cutting through above all the praise. I was impressed with how he did introductions about each song, from living in Madrid on the streets to explaining how everyone could relate to the next sad ballad. After deviating from his songs a few times for impromptu solos – he has three guitarists accompanying him – he finally explained that the stage, audience, atmosphere, and this country were are so perfect together in that moment that he couldn’t help going off the set list because flamenco just ran through his veins. 

One of his songs, which he effortlessly sang with seduction…might have been that convenient mood lighting…went like this,

“Sabor a Caramelo

te adoro

te anhelo

sentir la pasión

te derrites con dolor

Sabor a Café es el sabor de tu piel

tus labios canela

tus besos en la mile”

-Pablo Alboran

Needless to say, this guy can probably sing his way out of an argument any day.

It talks about loving a woman and the scent that lingers when she’s gone, how he can taste it, and so on. I could ramble about each song, especially because I love finding out about another musicians along the lines of Ray LaMontagne, Jack Johnson, James Morrison, John Mayer, Adam J There was one song about the moon, another about just living life to the fullest, and honestly it was just enchanting to hear it sung in Spanish. Funny how the conversations lose me sometimes but I love how the accent really strings words together when there’s a guitar playing along. 

The other great thing about finally seeing a big concert here was the crowd’s interaction. You’d think it was choreographed or a flashmob. I didn’t even want to clap with them because for one, I was in awe and only wanted to hear HIM…but mainly everyone ELSE just seemed to know exactly what flamenco clapping rhythm went with the beat. It was also amusing to see the women dancing along in their own seats, trying to contain themselves and screaming “guapo!” in unison. They’d even sporadically wave hello in desperation like a teeny bopper (I know, I’m one to talk with Adam Levine) – it was nice to relate haha. Finally, they often said “ole!” in the midst of his performance, whenever he held an impossibly long note. He was just so honest in his delivery and quickly hit notes from high to low within seconds. One of the last songs was “Te He Echado De Menos”, which means “I’ve missed you so much” and changed the lyrics to “I will miss you” with the crowd that night. Then he did an encore with a story about his mom first and how she was actually French (cue the woman in the audience that screamed “an Ole for your mother from the crowd!”). Suddenly he started singing “La Vie En Rose” in French – good God. 

Performing La Vie en Rose in Barcelona (we saw him in La Linea de la Concepcion)http://www.youtube.com/embed/jqQ3HmeAQFE

The girls I went with told me how he just started a year ago and is quickly succeeding in reaching international attention, and I can see why.

Our evening ended with Argentinean tapas at a restaurant nearby and went on to Marbella the next day to explore of Spain’s most famous cities on the southern coast. It definitely catered to tourists more, so it was certainly well kept. The beaches were beautiful, even on that rainy day, and the Cazon en Adobo (local fried fish with spicy seasonings) was some of the best I’d had. For the seafood I can claim to have had to date here… I think at one point the girls and I agreed to meet up in Brazil to see Pablo in concert again next year, or something like that ;) 

Watching Titanic

Last Thursday afternoon, I proudly listened to my two students I have for a tutoring after class as they explained IN ENGLISH why land snails are a delicious part of Spanish cuisine…clearly they haven’t caught on to the fact that I still can’t stomach most sea creature adventures, let alone whatever category this is in. Once again, sorry for the letdown Cody haha. For the record, I sure have had delicious fish dishes here. Traditional Spanish cuisine uses snails, cooked in several spicy sauces or soups. Wikipedia also informed me that some are used such as the "arroz con conejo y caracoles" (a paella-style rice with snails and rabbit meat, from the inner regions of south-eastern Spain), "cabrillas" (snails in spicy tomato sauce, typical from western Andalusia), etc. Still doing research, 7 months later J

So the girls sit there and tell me how fun it is to bite down on the head and pull out the body – the same girls that often collect live ones to keep as pets…sigh. They also explained that it doesn’t taste like chicken. Glad that different cultures can still agree on that joke about the taste of food!

walking around the streets of "old part" Cadiz

The past week has been a great routine, consisting of my main employer school hours with kids that have truly developed a greater understanding of another language and tutoring hours I put in afterwards throughout the week as a side job. Sometimes I’m still taken aback by the conversations I’m able to have with kids at school now, as I realize how far they’ve come and the certain English they’ve picked up from me along the way. Also, as I’ve mentioned on my facebook a few times, our relationships have grown and the kids’ expressions of love are so heartwarming. On the flip side, I’ve just truly developed a “regular” friendship with the tutoring students, maybe because they’ve made the separate decision to pursue English one step further with me. From the girls my age to the doctor and wife, I’ve really enjoyed it all.

My roommates and I are almost finished with the SATC dvds I brought and it goes with our stay here. Time’s flying and it’s all bittersweet. We’ve had great traveling weekends as well as staying in; assuming mini trips to Cadiz don’t count anymore. In fact, this past weekend is a perfect example of feeling at “home” here. I finished up my longest work day on Friday and headed to Cadiz that evening to make dinner with some girlfriends and go out to see a flamenco event. I brought guacamole after successfully after FINALLY finding cilantro at the local grocery store and ingredients to make my mom’s rice. The girls made, sautéed peppers, homemade tortillas and surprised me with a Corona and lime. This may seem like just another dinner but it really was a great start to the night when we had a meal reminiscent of something back home. We headed out to the flamenco show around midnight after many hours of catching up about our latest adventures.

We didn’t make it to the show until midnight but it caused us to get a spot right up front, feeling like we’d made it to a backstage spot in a concert. We saw a woman move to the music as if she did this more often than just sit around. Then the man who’d been singing to her called a younger girl on stage and did a dance with her that I’d never seen. He stood next to her and then they moved across the stage side by side with perfect choreography. It almost seemed like Spain’s version of a father daughter dance and we were honored to bear witness. The beauty of going out at night in a city where most of our friends live, is that we can walk back to their piso and weave our way through several streets on a whim. As a result, we ran into some friends who were enjoying some late night tapas and we decided to stop by a Teteria for a glass of sangria. Bars tend to close whenever the owner feels like it, so it wasn’t until 5 am when we made it home but these nights have been rare and the memories of Cadiz awake at night make it worthwhile.

One of the flamenco guitarists at the bar enlightened us with his thoughts on this cultural aspect of Espana and it was really interesting, from his point of view. I insisted on writing this down on a post it, and that part’s important haha:

1.      Flamenco is first, then the music. Don’t assume they are one in the same; you can’t really explain the first unless you live it. Then you share it, like love, with those around you.

2.      The mandatory toast to a shot during Carnaval is “Pa’ riba, pa’ bajo, p’al centro, no hay aparcamiento.” This pretty much reflects how much the city puts up with, from the locals’ point of view, during Carnaval’s party period because the tourism numbers are insane. The toast normally is an instruction on when everyone downs the shot, but in this case it’s about the lack of parking but here’s a toast to how well our city’s economy is doing because of it all.

3.      Cultural norms newsflash: don’t point in Spain…

4.      Flamenco quickly changes routes, like walking around a new city and turning a different corner – that’s flamenco, no plans, just living life to the fullest.

This may not be as moving as it was, when explained from this old man’s version in Spanish, but it was moments like that, where I know I could have never stumbled upon such a conversation if I hadn’t stepped outside my comfort zone. Living in Spain. He mumbled a few more sayings like, “the questions have answers, but the answers arrive when they want to.” Or the best one being, ‘Eli (most Spaniards have taken to calling me what my dad does), when you become famous…no…forget it, just invite me to the party.”

The next morning, I met up with some other friends for a traditional breakfast at a Churros Bar of toast with olive oil, homemade tomato spread, coffee, and fresh squeezed orange juice. Incidentally, it actually felt like a morning scene from a SATC episode and I loved it. By Saturday, most of our friends had come around to meet up in one of the apartments to have a get together at an apartment and try out sangria and tortilla recipes. I was only witness but I certainly learned a lot!

I need to write about my second visit to Italy soon, as the pictures and my own words probably won’t ever do it justice. I can just say it again and again, this has to be on your bucket list.


 Oh, and of course, add Cadiz to that list too!!

Cadiz's coast reminding me of the windy weather back home :)

Hilarious little tapa

toffee love

A great day in Chiclana! "Enjoy life, this is not a rehearsal."

I love the things that you've given me,
I cherish you my dear country,
But sometimes I don't understand,
The way we play.

I love the things that you've given me,
And most of all that I am free,
To have a song that I can sing,
On election day.
-"My Dear Country", Norah Jones

This song is fitting in so many ways :)

Recent news in Spain...
http://www.pp.es/actualidad-noticia/pp-ha-ganado-una-manera-absolutamente-irreprochable-andalucia_6226.html

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/spain/index.html

 I thought it'd be fun to do this comparison between my own experience here with my remarks in purple & what Wikipedia reports:

"Chiclana de la Frontera is a town and municipality in southwestern Spain, in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia, near the Gulf of Cadiz. (truth: they should elaborate on the beauty of it at this point, I mean no one can warn you about how stunning the beaches are!) It belongs to the association of municipalities of the Bay of Cádiz (Bahía de Cádiz), the provincial capital of Cádiz, Jerez de la Frontera, San Fernando, El Puerto de Santa María, Puerto Real and Rota (fact: all these surrounding cities are like brothers and sisters, with their own personalities and pride) which form the third largest metropolitan area in Andalusia, behind Seville and Malaga, (favorite! Picasso's spot) and the twelfth largest in Spain. It is located 20 kilometres from Cádiz, (truth: don't talk to me about km, it's a 30 minute bus ride for me. the end.) and borders the municipalities of San Fernando and Puerto Real to the north. In 1877, the municipality's population was 11,677;^[1] in 2012, it was 81,473 (I wonder if this is including us, as residents haha jk... and yes it's def a big city because of what its giant TWO beaches bring to the table). The economy depends largely upon modern industry, especially salt processing (fact: we often walk to the salt mines for exercise and to get in a nice view of the whole city. There is in fact a mini mountain of salt.) and tourism (truth: German visitors are like the "Winter Texans" of South Texas),^[2] and the municipality is known for its beaches such as the 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) long Playa de la Barrosa, hotels and golf courses (fact: GOLF COURSE OVERLOAD) in the resort of Novo Sancti Petri. The municipality contains the largest number of hotel beds in the Province of Cádiz and the Costa de la Luz. (fact: I didn't know this fact)The town's newspaper, Chiclana Información, is distributed on Saturday mornings. (truth: I've yet to see this "paper" but I'm also gone most weekends)^[3]"

(fact: we've definitely seen many amazing historical buildings here) Human presence in the area dates back to Paleolithic times. Several Neolithic era villages have been unearthed in the area including that of La Mesa.^[4] During the 1st century, the Phoenicians settled near the town, particularly in the small island, Islote de Sancti Petri, founding a temple dedicated to their God, Melqart.^[5] When the Romans arrived they dedicated the temple to Hercules (truth: we've yet to get around to visiting it because they say it's impossible to reach by boat but it remains a goal!). A marble statue of a Roman emperor deified during the 2nd century was found in the waters of Sancti Petri in 1905. The foundation of the current town of Chiclana occurred in 1303 by Captain Alonso Pérez de Guzmán (1256-1309), when King Ferdinand IV of Castile gave land to the House of Medina-Sidonia.^[2] During the Spanish War of Independence came the Battle of Chiclana took place here between French and Anglo-Spanish allies.

Chiclana de la Frontera is located on the Costa de la Luz of the southern coast of Spain, in lower Andalusia on the southwest coast of the province of Cadiz. Chiclana's climate, as in the Bay of Cadiz, is typical of the southern Atlantic coast of Spain. (truth: nobody warns you about the crazy winds going on right now...stop it "Levante"!!!). The town is humid with an average temperature around 19 °C (fact: nobody can beat how bad it gets in South Texas). The town has approximately 3,000 hours of sunshine a year. The average rainfall is about 600 mm, with December the wettest month (fact: causing me to buy my first pair of rainboots). and the summer months the driest, but at times the municipality can receive heavy rainfall and adverse weather conditions, making the town vulnerable to flooding. The mean wind ranges between 10 and 15 km / h. The strongest winds usually rises in the east or southwest during the summer and late autumn and spring. The municipality has a number of pine, olive, oak and chaparral trees growing within it and it contains the Parque Forestal Municipal "Pinar del Hierro y de la Espartosa"(fact: it's ridiculously gigantic and a loooooooooong walk from our apartment, resulting in an unforgettable memory with my roommates when we first got here); the park is popular with hikers and mountain bikers.^[14]

(Fact: I'm SO happy we chose this town)

"La nieve es blanca porque a Dios le dio las ganas"

Jack & I up in the Sierra Nevada amidst the clouds!!!

This week, my roommate and I had the opportunity to chaperone our first field trip of the year with my 6th grade class. Spanish karaoke, a beautiful snowfall, Spain's most famous palace, dinosaurs, a preserved whale heart, and this view on the 5 hour drive are just a few of the things that made this another unforgettable experience with my job here in Andalucia :)

Photo credit: http://marcanderson.photoshelter.com/image/I00009xHcMTMDcmk

I can't tell you how amazing these fields look in person! The Tuscany countryside back in October was breathtaking and completely took me away from all my thoughts, but now that Spain has crept into my heart and really felt like a second home, I really appreciate its landscape more. The symmetry, meaning, and colors behind the view of the fields on most trips out of Cadiz are framed with magnificent mountain ranges, and sprinkled with that famous Osborne bull sign all along the way. So much that after a few jokes with the driver on this trip, he pulled over so that we could run into an olive farm and take a few pictures. Hahaha "ask and you shall receive"...

So, our field trip to Granada goes like this: We drove straight up to Sierra Nevada, Spain's version of a ski resort. We drove through plain mountains like the ones pictured above and stared in awe as pine trees began to appear by the thousands on the slopes and stunned you with their snow covered branches. Being stunned by nature might sound silly, but we were in a Winter Wonderland; everyone on that bus was instantly oooh-ing and ahhh-ing.

you think I'd know "ski" is "esqui" in Spanish but I still find it new & amusing

We took the kids up to play with snow tubes first, then ski bikes (?!) that I ACTUALLY tried haha but I still don't think that counts, and a rollercoaster of sorts... It was interesting being on the other side of the trip where I wasn't the student, but the teacher...still surreal...

At lunch with the teachers, enjoying a warm Irish coffee right before the snowfall

...and so my title of this blog, rougly translated, means "The snow is white because God felt like it", as told by one of my 6th graders. I love how freely the teachers can express their caring emotions to their kids, everyone has a sense of humor, and as this kid showed: religion can be talked about. Even in the simplest ways. Sorry, America just takes itself so seriously sometimes. I'm not starting up a debate, it's just a personal observation. 

Anyways, we went back to the hotel afterwards and relaxed while the kids participated in a “disco” they put on for them in one of the event rooms haha. Learned a lot of popular Spanish songs. We decided this one reminds us of the Rihanna & Eminem song hahahaha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KSyWS8UgA4&feature=share

We woke up the next day to go visit The Alhambra (Spain’s famous palace/tourist attraction) and the drive up alone (built on the city’s highest peak for protection, hence the scenic views) was interesting… there are two extreme pieces of “real estate” if you will, in Granada. There are caves on the drive up to the palace where homeless people live because of the adaptable weather within. They hang up curtains at the entrance of their shelter. However, on the other end of the city, there’s a high demand and costly real estate area of homes actually in caves because of the “air conditioning”-like aspect of the caves. Figures.
So a little history from my visit:
This palace we visited used to be the Muslim Sultan’s home around the thirteenth century until the 1450-ish when Christians came in and eventually took over with intelligence, rather than violence (spoiler alert: Shawshank Redemption reference and not just because I still can’t get over the movie).

- As we began our tour, getting lost in the labyrinth gardens were the first step. For fun…it seems like the hedge trimmer stops by on the hour with how precise the designs are.

- The “Generalife” was the Sultan’s summer palace; where he took the four wives he was permitted to have, depending on his economic stand. In the smaller garden, we saw a giant petrified Cypress tree trunk with a legend about how it’d been struck by lightening to forever mark the night his wife cheated on the Sultan. To find out who she did it with, he invited all of the men from the area to a revenge party in the Lion’s Patio and chopped off all their heads so that one way or another, he got revenge. They say the blood stains are still on the walls. Somehow, this story has inspired couple to come and kiss under the tree to seal their love forever…?!

      - At this point I have to mention how amusing it is to me that Spain will serve beer at monuments but not at the soccer/futbol game we went to in Cadiz…JUST SAYIN’ haha

      - We continued our tour, going through different special rooms with Arabic language on the walls and Catholic messages in Latin as well, as blended in with such a respectful manner in the irony of it all. The guide talked about how Isabel & Fernando of Spain, along with King Carlos V down the line, made their mark on the Alhambra right at the point in history when this country was conquering the world. About 1/3 of the U.S. in the 1500s, Asia, Europe, etc and now, as my coworkers slyly murmured…”this country’s in a crisis, along with the rest of the world anyway.”

     - Next was the tallest tower, where the Sultan strategically invited visitors over at a certain time of the day when the reflecting pool shined onto the building and the design of it made it stand alone as the most impressive. Important people are buried here, such as family members and the kings of Spain. There’s an incredible symmetry throughout the architectural design and closed off areas to the public where pieces have remained intact.

     - Then we went to where Arab baths were held (a spa like experience my roomies went to the other weekend and I might just have to check out soon after all this traveling) and what I’d like to call the original Grand Central Station: the kids went to each corner of the room to whisper and see what the acoustics of certain buildings could do:

http://manhattan.about.com/od/historyandlandmarks/a/secretgrandcent.htm

 

 There's an "F" on the top left of the picture and a "Y" on the right inscribed up on the ceiling for Fernando and Ysabella (old language/spelling) of Spain after they came in & took the palace

Where Washington Irving worked on his famous book

     -The Lion’s Patio, where the Sultan wore his heart on his sleeve, was recently renovated and they learned that there actually 6 male lions and 6 females. Random J This area is supposed to represent paradise, with the columns like palm trees (missing Texas and that trail to the Valley!) and 4 rivers of gold from the fountain.

...AND YOU WONDER WHY I DON'T EAT THE FISH OPTIONS SOMETIMES...

Later, that afternoon we went to the famous delicious tapas of Granada for lunch and made our last stop at the Science Museum. I think one in the U.S. is working with it? Most of the signs around were listed in English and Spanish, except for a few…It has a cool exterior and a North American “Texan” plane at the front door!

 

We stopped at a dinosaur expo first where they asked the kids if the T-Rex was a predator or a scavenger. It was definitely an interesting theory! The dinosaurs on display were larger than life and had very realistic robotic movement.

 

Then we went to the Human Body expo, where real bodies that were donated are in display as well, like the blood system, organs, etc. Creepy and cool there…A whale heart was my height and like…6 times my width…while a human heart next to it was the size of my fist. Amazing haha. Then we went to a safety workplace area to play with different job titles like scientist, builder, car safety tester (enter the fun test car ride), etc. Finally, we went to the planetarium show where they blacked out the room suddenly and I…well the children and I haha…learned how to spot the Northern Star next to the Dipper…etc. Okay, I’m obviously over writing at this point but I really did have a lot of fun and have definitely realized time is FLYING BY!

Albert Einstein & I

Next stop is Italy for the Northern coast, Portugal, a potential visit to Cordoba with my dad, Greece and TEXAS on June 11^th!