People say....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGDQOECShw8&ob=av2e

The song has nothing really to do with the post, it just happens to be called the same, and its by a really good band; Portugal, the Man!

People say, that when you learn a new language, the way you know you are fluent is when you dream in that language. This whole year, I've been waiting for my Spanish dream. Last night, it arrived. It was a stupid dream of course, but nevertheless, in Spanish. It took me until after I was awake and had been cleaning up after my going away party last night, to realize this momentous occasion in my life. Then it was like, I MUST BLOG NOW.

In my dream, I'm pretty sure I was telling this smarty pants Spanish kid that he was silly. He didn't think I could speak Spanish (even though the whole dream was in Spanish), oooh silly little Juanito. There were also some amusement park rides involved (I think this took place at the Feria) and a very tall, American man who kept hugging me. It was a very lovely, rather strange, dream, and completely in Spanish. Ahhh.... por fin!

Also, last night, like I said earlier, was my going away party. I invited some friends over, cooked a bit and made some tinto de verano and everyone came over. It was so much fun. My Spanish friends gave me a Spanish flag that they had all written messages on. I cried when I saw it, yep, yep I did. It was so sweet.

Then after a bit, we all went out for drinks in the city and we met up with some of our favorite Spanish fella friends. They had a new guy with them who told me that I sounded like I was from Chiclana when I spoke Spanish. He was all like, "donde has ensenado espanol" y yo, "como? en instituto?" el, "tu hablas muy andaluz, como eres de Chiclana," yo, "BAHHHHHH (on the inside)! En serio (blowing off the compliment, on the outside)?"

Carmen is from Chiclana.... and it is true, I have a very andalusian accent..... uff, I love it.

But anywayz, these were just a few nuggets of my life I wanted to share. Mom comes in 7 days and I'll be home in 43! Let's hang out 'muricaaa

Home Sweet Casa

UFFFFF!

I only have 3 weeks left in Sevilla. That's enough of that.... 

So, last week I was in the UK visiting my friends Mama Jo Davis and Miss Bella Glauberman-Coe. I flew out of Malaga on Wednesday, arrived in Manchester and took a train up to Newcastle where my little Josie pookums was waiting to pick me up. I spent four days with her, we took 3 day trips; one to Durham to see the Cathedral and do some cutesie shop perusing (shoes and books mainly) and to eat some local grub at Greggs and the Fighting Cocks (it was a pub). The next day we took a trip to Edinburgh where we drank some Scotch Whiskey, got tea at the Elephant House (where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter), toured an old close (http://www.realmarykingsclose.com/), ate haggis (I'll let you figure that out on your own) and a deep fried Mars bars. The third day trip was to Alnwick (pronounced Annick) and we went to Barter Books (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrHkKXFRbCI&feature=youtu.be) which is one of the oldest second-hand book stores in the UK and home to the slogan "Keep Calm and Carry On."

Also, while I was in Newcastle, I drank my brown ale, of course! And, Newcastle is one of shopping hubs of England..... GUESS WHAT STORE THEY HAVE THERE......... Urban Outfitters! Acckkk. I spent like an hour in there, it was beautiful. 

Sunday I traveled back down to Manchester to see Bella and her husband, Mark. I loved traveling by train in the UK, its a great way to see the countryside. Its green and lush and there are so many sheep! Also, one of my favorite things where the fields of bright yellow flowers that are sprinkled into the midst of the green and gray in the countryside. It's a welcomed, happy, contrast. 

Bella and Mark just got married over the summer and live outside of Manchester in a town called Keele where Mark goes to school and where Bella studied abroad (hence where the met and fell in love and all that jazz). Keele is technically a "village" but is close to the town of Newcastle (Newcastle-under-Lyme, not to be confused with Newcastle-upon-Tyne). Now I can say I've been to both Newcastles in England. 

We took a day trip into Manchester and did some exploring. It was my first Primark experience! I was quite impressed... Big selection and excellent prices. I had to resist the urge to buy anything there, I'm running out of room in my duffel and shipping boxes. Ha! There was also an Urban Outfitters there, of course we went in, again. What can I say? I love that store!

The next morning Bella and I went and had a traditional English breakfast before I headed to the airport to go back to Spain. What is in a traditional English breakfast you might ask? Well, here's the list; bacon, sausage, mushrooms, grilled tomato, a fried egg, beans, a ton of toast and, of course, black pudding. What is black pudding you may ask? Its pig's blood. Yes it is cooked and yes it does look funny (like blood? no, just... mysterious). What does it taste like? Honestly, it tastes like stuffing to me and it was.... dare I say it..... my favorite part of the English breakfast. Ahhh, gasp! Whatever, it was, I'm not afraid to admit it. I like pig's blood, I'd eat it again, for sure.

After breakfast, I headed to the train station and went into Manchester. Boarded the plane back to Spain and found my way to the hostel in Malaga. I stayed at the Oasis Backpacker's Hostel in downtown Malaga. I had stayed at their hostel in Granada and had a lovely experience, so gave it a another go in Malaga. When I got in that night, I sent my friend Michael a message. I met Michael two years ago at a conference that I went to in Chapel Hill, we only met twice, the second time was last year at the same conference, but we had talked back in the fall about how we were both studying in Spain and he told me he was in Malaga. So I messaged him and turns out, he was giving the free tour I was planning on taking at the hostel the next morning, small world eh? He was an excellent tour guide and afterwards we went for tapas and cerveza (Granada style, you buy a drink and they bring you food). After catching up, it was back to Sevilla for Erin.

FERRRIIAAAAAA!! This was quite possibly the coolest cultural experience I have had since I've been in Spain and in Europe. Incredible! Ahh! Imagine a state fair back home, but instead of all the animals there are people playing flamenco and dancing sevillanas (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDVxTLqDh9A). My friend Sam taught me how to dance and so I spent Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night at the Feria, dancing and drinking rebujito (a lethal combination). What a blast!

The title of this blog is because I didn't know which was more comforting, to go to an English speaking country, where I was seeing friends from home and watching some of my favorite TV shows in English. Or for me to come back to Spain, where I've been living for a year, where things are also familiar now, where my friends are, where I understand the culture and the language. It was weird. It was nice to be in a country where my native language was expected but I've been living in Spain for almost 9 months now and its become a part of me that makes it comforting to come back to after being gone. I don't know, it was a strange feeling. But it was Home Sweet Casa for Erin! 

The Land of the Long, Lean, Amstel Lords

Once upon a time, there was a small kingdom that was spotted with towns and cities cozily betwixt tulip and daffodil fields. Among the wooden mills and dairy farms, lived the long, lean, Lords of the Amstel. Their long legs and broad shoulders made them tower over others. They settled on the river from which they are named, and there they built a large wall to fence back the ocean's might, channeling the run offs into small aqueous paths that sliced their city. They built their dwellings, long and lean just like themselves, stretching far back from the streets, only a sliver visible from the roads. As time grew longer, the houses shifted and changed, settling further into the underground reserves or slightly inching forward in the foundations. The long, lean, Amstel Lords fly through the city on their two-wheeled wings, gliding and maneuvering the glossy streets. In this city they live and keep, enjoying the long, lean, life of the Amstel Lords.

Sometimes when I travel, actually, most times when I travel, I get inspired to write. I hardly ever have a pen and paper so I just compose these little paragraphs or mini-poem episodes in my head with the full intention of writing them down later. Most of the time, they never make it down on paper, but sometimes, when they do, they turn out well. This was one of my inspirations while I was in Amsterdam this weekend.

XXX is the city "motto" sort of like, NO8DO (no me dejado) is for Sevilla. Yes, yes, I know, it seems a bit ironic with all the infamous components they city has (weed, prostitution etc). But it is actually for the ancient family of Persijn who once ruled the area. There is also a belief that each "X" stood for each of the three dangers that haunted the ancient city of Amsterdam; fire, flood and the Black Plague. In any case, this symbol is dotted throughout the city and therefore made me curious about the origin.

This trip was a big European reunion. My roommate (Carmen) and I traveled to Amsterdam where we met up with our friend Laura who is Dutch. We have another friend, Kaylie, who is a student from App State, studying and living in Amsterdam as well. Maria, our lovely German friend, drove up from her home town for the weekend. And, my little Michelle ("Hip," roommate for next year), who I visited back in January in France, came up from Angers. It was so lovely seeing all of them and being together. Maria and I have now been to three European cities together (she wins the prize!); Sevilla, Berlin and Amsterdam. We'll add to the list in June when I'm in Luxembourg.

We spent our time in Amsterdam sight seeing, biking (like the locals), walking and eating. Phew, I ate so much this weekend.... but it was all so good! The Dutch make fantastic sandwiches and the gouda, oh, don't even get me started. Top it off with the stroopwafels and pastries, uff! But with the walking and biking, I think I came back the same way I went, at least I hope so, ha!

Wednesday we spent traveling and Thursday, Laura, Carmen, Kaylie and I walked the city and saw some of the sights. Michelle and Maria arrived later that night and we met up in the city for a few drinks at a bar called, "Chupitos" (Spanish for shots) and popped into a few other places before calling it a night. Friday we got up and took a canal tour on the river which was quite fascinating. The tour boats were so short and wide, we looked like little beetles scooting along the river. We visited the Anne Frank House after the tour. That was an incredible feeling. I had read the story in middle school and it had always stuck with me, as I'm sure it does for everyone who reads it. I admire Otto Frank for being willing to open up that space for the world to see, it was powerful being in that house and knowing their fates.

We did a few of the other touristy things of Amsterdam before heading to the Red Light District. Before going, my notion of this part of town was not a positive one... I was expecting tacky and tasteless. Ok, I will say that there were lots of sex shops, lots of sex shows and all that jazz, but I was surprised at how "undirty" I felt. The six of us just wandered up and down the streets, looking at the life sized Barbie dolls. Some of them were beautiful, some of them were not. Some of them were definitely female, others were a little ambiguous. Some of them were skinny, some of them were not. Some of them were scared and sad, others were not. Most were drinking Red Bulls and smoking cigarettes, probably doing a couple of other things in the back too.

Here's the skinny on how things work in the Red Light District; the girls are in small rooms with glass doors located off the sidewalks, they can refuse your offer or they can accept, they set their prices and they rent their door (150 euro a night, on average). Typically, a "service" costs 50 euro and consists of two things in particular. A session lasts about 15-20 minutes and on average one girl will take home 500-600 euro a shift. Crazy, eh? When we were walking, most of the people there where men (as I expected) and I definitely felt a little objectified. Its hard not to feel that way in an area like that. I scolded a few creepers with my glares as they watched us walk by. It was definitely an experience. I'm glad I went, to know what it was like, but now, I'm good.

Saturday we went to the "Iamsterdam" sign and took lots of pictures before going to a few markets and doing some more city browsing. We ate at a cafe called, "Hansel & Gretel" and had a nice long afternoon in the city.  Once night came, we went out on the town! Got all dressed up and went to this Australian karaoke bar. Phew! What a night that was! Maria and I ended up being the last ones out (we always have such good nights together), we made friends with three Dutch guys and had a great time hanging out and dancing until we were too tired and took a taxi back to Laura's. Sunday morning Maria left early to go back to Germany, the rest of us met up for lunch before going our separate ways. Carmen and I made a stop in Malaga for the night after our flight got in late (around 11:30) and were back in Sevilla before lunch on Monday.

It was a beautiful weekend with beautiful friends. Definitely one of my favorite trips. The city was incredible, it had such a personality about it. From the crooked buildings to the quirkiness, it was quite the experience. 

In like a lion, out like a, camel?

Part 3

Friday, March 16 – Sunday, March 18

                Bienvenue au Maroc!

Last semester I had planned on going to Morocco with an Erasmus/International student group in Sevilla called, We Love Spain, but alas, I was unable to go… until this past weekend! Here was the plan of attack for the weekend: leave Sevilla, arrive Gibraltar, cross the Strait to Ceuta (Spanish city in Africa), travel to Tetuan, visit Chefchaouen, return to Tetuan, travel to Tangier, see Tangier, return to and tour Ceuta, ferry across back to Spain, bus ride to Sevilla. 5 different cities, 3 different counties in 3 days. Phew! All in a good weekend with We Love Spain.

None of my lovely lady friends were accompanying me on this trip (I’ve grown quite used to having them around all the time) and I was a little unsure about just showing up for a weekend trip without knowing anybody. But, luckily, I make friends fast! And to make things even easier, I showed up at the bus stop and realized that half of my social work class was there as well as some other people I have met before. I hung out with my friend Sara who I met through Sabrina and my friend Natalia who I met through my French friend Eloise was one of my roommates!

When we arrived to Gibraltar, we switched busses and took a tour of the Rock, which included visiting the caves, a vista point AND of course, the monkeys. I was not such a fan of these monkeys… they were creepy and liked to steal your stuff. I kept my distance but snagged a photo with one when it wasn’t looking (so sneaky). After visiting the Rock we grabbed lunch in town, at a Subway, who’d a thunk?! And got back on the bus to go to the ferry. After a cup of coffee, a game of Spit with my new friend Zach and a thirty minute ferry crossing we arrived in Ceuta. We had quite an adventure at the Moroccan boarder. From the bus, it looked like a drug bus, but I could be mistaken. Don’t worry mom and dad, we weren’t allowed off the bus, stranger danger!

When we arrived in Tetuan, we checked into the hotel and had dinner before hitting the hay after a long day of traveling and sightseeing. Saturday we woke up early and after breakfast we headed to Chefchaouen, a holy Muslim city located in the mountains of northern Morocco. The cool thing about this city, is that the bottom half of all the buildings are painted BLUE! It looks magical. We toured around a bit and took lots of pictures before going to a tapestry co-opt where they hand make quilts, carpets, scarves and many other woven items as well as jewelry. One of the members of the co-opt gave us a briefing on how they make them and then let us explore the shop. We had lunch in Tetuan at a very authentic Moroccan restaurant. We were greeted as we walked in by a drum band decked out in their traditional garb, dancing and making some sick beats. For lunch we had bread, a shish kebab and this yummy chicken pastry thing, followed by cookies and mint tea. There was a lady giving henna tattoos after lunch for 3 euro, of course I took advantage!

Afterwards, we left and met up with our guide, Jamal, who was born in Tetuan and he gave us a tour of the medina (the center of the city). He took us to a holistic pharmacy where the pharmacists told us all about the different spices and oils and what they do. He asked our group if anyone wanted a massage by one of the men… me, loving massages, shot my hand up in the air (nobody else followed suite). At first I was a little eerie about the cultural idea of me getting a massage by a strange Moroccan man, but then I came to my senses and jumped up to get the massage. I was very glad that I did.

That night we traveled to Tangier. The hotel we stayed at here reminded me of a compound. In Moroccan culture, women don’t usually walk on the streets at night by themselves so for tourists they seem to just have everything, entertainment, clubs, restaurants, all in the hotels. I found my SPOON at the hotel we stayed at! I had been looking all over the place for a freakin spoon from Morocco (they don’t have the tacky tourist shops) and the man who worked downstairs in the hotel lobby told me he had one he would sell me. Bless his heart! He saved my collection! The hotel we were at had a fantasy dinner planned for us. Fantasy dinner? Glad you asked… basically, lots of delicious Moroccan food (lemon chicken, chick peas with couscous, fresh salad, TONS of bread and of course cookies and tea to follow) and several performances. There were these kids who I swear were made of rubber from how they moved and bended over each other, there was a magician who walked on glass, more drummers, a belly dancer (of course) and several other acts. After dinner we went to the club at the “compound” for a drink and then I supermaned into my bed!

Sunday morning we got up, checked out the sights in Tangier and RODE A CAMEL!! Ahhhh, the camels were so cute!! They had little babies there, and one of them took a liking to me and we had a little cuddle session. He kept making this cute little noise and I’m not sure if it was a “ooooh, I like you” or an “accck! Back off” kind of noise, you know? But I’d like to think it was the first. Once we had all taken our camel rides it was back to Ceuta! We got on the ferry, I took a nap this time, and we arrived back on the mainland. A short 2.5 hours later, we arrived back in dulce Sevilla. Fantastic Moroccan weekend with the habibi  (Arabic for little love, our group name that Jamal gave us). 

In like a lion, out like a, camel?

Part 2

Thursday, March 1 – Sunday, March 4

                “Cave woman bring banjo” –Rose Hunt

My friends Joni and Sam have fallen in love with the Andalucian town of Granada. I think before they leave to go home after the semester is over the will have gone at least three times. The first time Joni went was for her birthday, she has a tradition of going skiing on her birthday and the Sierra Nevada’s are in Granada. She came back, so excited, and immediately told us she wanted to go back, but this time, to stay in a cave. Cave? Granada? Yes and yes were my responses. Granada was on my list of places to go this semester and what a better way to go than to stay in a cave. As we were trying to figure out which weekend we should go, our friend Josie piped up and told us that her birthday (the big 2-1) was March 2. BAM! We would stay in a cave for Josie birthday, decided.

Rose and Sabrina, two other lovely lady friends in Sevilla, jumped on board with the plan and so the six of us booked our cave and climbed on the bus (watched a terrible movie on the way there) and in three hours we arrived in Granada. Josie and Sam went first, as they don’t have afternoon classes on Thursdays and the other four of us got in around 11 or 12 at night. The first night we stayed in a backpacker’s hostel, my first hostel experience. It had a relaxed, hippie chic aesthetic and the staff was really awesome and helpful but I think I have decided that group rooms are a no go for Erin on future trips. Only child syndrome, I enjoy my privacy too much. Friday, Josie and Joni went skiing in the Sierras while the rest of us lugged our stuff up the mountain to “Las Cuevas de Sacromonte.” We met our cave lady (minus the bludgeon) and she showed us to our place. HOLY CRAP, it was a nice friggin cave dude! Indoor plumbing, electricity, a kitchen, bathroom, three cute little bedrooms and lovely decorations accommodated the cave. We were all instantly in love and declared that one of us, I do believe this is Joni’s responsibility, needs to buy a cave that we can all come visit.

Birthday festivities included jam sesh with Josie on the banjo, belly dancing by Sabrina, a little bit of pre-gaming and then it was off to the dub-step RAVE. Shew… what an interesting night we had too. I’m gonna skip all the glossy details and just leave it at that. The next day, Josie and Sabrina and I woke up and hiked up to the Alhambra (the other ladies had already seen this World Wonder). I think we spent about 4 hours touring the great fortress, bought some souvenirs and some ice cream and trudged back down. The Alhambra was beautiful. I always marvel at places like that, who lived there, what were they like, what they did, how they built this, etc. The inside of the Palace reminded me of what my mom told me about the Taj Mahal in India. The Taj is constructed out of a specific white stone that has a hundreds of thousands of designs carved into its surface and then a brightly-colored matching piece of stone (also hand carved) that fits plumb into the white stone, to create an intricate and beautiful design. The carvings inside the Palace of the Alhambra resembled these designs I’ve seen from the Taj Mahal, although not quite so complex, still very detailed and remarkable.

Saturday night we decided to keep a low profile, and opted for fusion tapas at this place that Joni and Sam had been to before. In Granada, if you buy a drink, they bring you a tapa for free! So we enjoyed our free tapas with drinks and then headed back to the cave. Josie played banjo a little for us (I am now a huge fan of the banjo and can sing the old hymn, “I’ll Fly Away” quite well) and we had a quite night, enjoying our cave. The next morning we all just took it easy, I read some of Frederico Garcia Llorca, a famous Spanish poet who spent a lot of time in Granada, and coincidently read about “Las Cuevas de Sacromonte” pretty surreal feeling reading poetry about the place I was at. Then we went on a quest for breakfast and had a very traditional Spanish breakfast; tostada with tomato and jamon, café con leche and fresh squeezed orange juice. We were doing some more exploring when we got a call from the cave lady saying we needed to scoot out because her next guests were arriving soon. So we went and packed up, said goodbye to our cave, grabbed a kebab (fantastic ones in Granada) and headed to the bus station. FANTASTIC weekend.

Thursday, March 8 – Sunday, March 11

                “If France and Spain had a baby, this would be it” –me

There are many different regions in Spain, Andalucia (where I live!), Valencia, Murcia, Castilla y Leon, Galicia, Cataluña, Pais Vasco, la Mancha (I’ll give you a big virtual bear hug if you know the famous Spanish book with this in the title) and so on. Each region has a very specific culture with the broader Spanish culture. In Andalucia, for example, the people are known for being very warm and welcoming and for enjoying life (partying, socializing, etc). I had been wanting to venture out of Andalucia and see a bit more of these cultural differences. For some reason, the Basque Country (Pais Vasco) spoke to me! Back in February, I was talking to Sam about how I wanted to go up north (Pais Vasco is right near the border with France) to Bilbao and San Sebastian. And she was like, “oh, I’m going, in March, wanna come?” I love it when that happens, ha! I immediately jumped on board and we had a coffee date with her roommate Alison to plan the trip. Our friends Joni and Megan decided to come along too, giving us a nice sized group for the weekend.

March 8 was International Women’s Day. There’s a tradition that one this day women all around the world are supposed to cross a bridge, a figurative way of crossing the bridge of the gender divide and inequality. I’ve been wanting to go to a bridge on International Women’s Day for like, 2 years but it never seems to work out. This year, I thought it was going to be the same. There was a celebration in Sevilla, but it was at the same time as my flight. A little discouraged, I jumped on the plane to Bilbao. We got off the bus from the airport to Bilbao and what do you know, there was a parade of women walking to a bridge! Holla holla if you wanna dolla! Of course, I just jumped right in, dragging Sam, Joni, Alison and Megan along with me. They enjoyed it. We walked for about half an hour and then listened to some speeches given in a mixture of Euskara (language of the Basque Country) and Castellano (Spanish) as well as some rocking drum beats before heading to the hostel and out for pintxos (2-3 bites of yummy yummy toasts with toppings, the Basque version of tapas).

On Friday, we woke up early, went and got DELICIOUS pastries (just like in France…mmmm) for breakfast and headed to the Guggenheim Museum. We spent probably 4 hours in the Museum seeing all the cool exhibits. It’s my favorite art museum that I’ve been to yet. Go figure, it’s just, the Gugg. We made friends with the Puppy and MAAAAA, took some pictures with them, grabbed some coffee and played on the awesome playgrounds that they have in Bilbao before walking along el Rio Nervion back to the hostal. We made a friend at lunch and he told us to come back to his restaurant for drinks later, so we did. I was wacked out on cold medicine which made the night interesting, ha! But it was still fun. Sam loves making new friends, like always I love that about her.

                

Saturday we woke up SUPER early and headed to the train station. We took a day trip to San Sebastian (beautiful beach town in the north east corner of Spain) which is also the setting for Ernest Hemmingway’s The Sun Also Rises. The train ride there was a bit rough, 2.5 hours on a local train… meaning, it was cold and it made stops every 15 minutes. Ufff… needless to say, we decided to take the bus back. But it was really pretty and we got to see a lot of the country side, which was nice. San Sebastian was incredible! We admired the beach before walking up to see ole San (who Joni thought was Jesus at first… ooh Joni bear). I love climbing to really tall points in a new city and looking out over the whole landscape, its one of my favorite things to do when I go somewhere. We explored the top with San and spent some time watching the waves crash on the rocks before getting lunch. Up north, they eat lunch so early! Like at 1 or 2pm! We were used to eating around 3 or 4 so we had to modify our daily planning to accommodate the seemingly “un-Spanish” schedule. The Basque Country is known for cider and sea food, so we concluded that these were a must for lunch. We stumbled along this restaurant that all the Spaniards were at (always a good sign) and ventured in. We proceeded to stuff our faces with mussels, calamari, bread, patatas bravas and three bottles of cider. It was awesome! Then we got some ice cream and chilled on the beach until it was time to go back to Bilbao.

                

Sunday we woke up, got breakfast (more pastries!) and headed to the airport to go back to Sevilla. Excellent trip to the Basque Country! I think Alison or I will be buying an apartment in the Basque Country… gotta keep up with our vacation homes! Gotta cave in Granada and a home in the Basque Country!

In like a lion, out like a, camel?

Part 1

Friday, February 24 – Sunday, February 26

CARNAVAL!!!!!

My lovely roommate, Carmen, is from Chiclana de la Frontera which is a town in the province of Cadiz. During the whole month of February, Carmen and Jose (her boyfriend) would watch these amazingly elaborate performances every night at 9pm on TV. Of course, I became quite the fan of them myself. We would watch them together, I wouldn’t be able to understand anything they were saying, Carmen would be crying from laughing so hard at the hilarious skits and Jose got a kick out of seeing Carmen trying to explain to me what was so funny through her tears. This was all in preparation for the famous, Carnaval de Cadiz at the end of the month.

Carnaval is a weeklong celebration with Catholic origins. It is very similar to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, minus the flashing. People get dressed up, there’s lots of music, everyone is in the streets, drinking and enjoying all of life’s luxuries before the dooming start of Lent. The first weekend I chose not to go to Cadiz simply because I didn’t want to deal with all the crazy botellon-ers in the streets and the bus ride back to Sevilla at 9am without having slept. Plus, I wanted to experience more of the culture behind the celebration and not just the celebration itself. So, I decided to go home with Carmen the following weekend for Carnaval en los pueblos (or towns).

Friday we spent on the train and then at night we went into Cadiz proper to catch up with one of Carmen’s friends and watch some of the live performances. That night, I sampled some of Cadiz’s finest seafood…. raw sea urchin and barnacle, mmmmmm delicious. Carmen tried to convince me that they are “rico” but I have some objections. We had some crab and these MASSIVE shrimp, which I concurred, were “rico.” After meeting up with Tanner and Scott (two guys from App who came down from Valencia where they study to celebrate in Cadiz) and David (a guy from App who is studying in Sevilla as well) we headed home, we were pooped.

Saturday we got dressed up in our Carnaval finest (or as best as an American can do on a student budget, basically, I just bought a bright purple wig and wore some crazy colors). Carmen on the other hand, had a handmade costume that matched her friends’ who were part of a performance group. She was dressed as an astronomer with a bright blue set of shorts and jacket and a sparkly top hat with planets orbiting it. She was adorable and they gave me a spare hat, so I kind of blended in. We went to the center of the city and got in line for the parade. YES, I was in a parade in Chiclana, probably the only American too, ha! It was one of the coolest things I’ve done since I’ve been in Spain. I felt so immersed in the culture and I got to throw confetti at the kids while drinking my sippy cup of rum and coke (what, I’m 21 now). On Sunday we went to the beach for a while and grabbed a tinto de verano with Bertie, Carmen’s brother. His real name is Alberto but I have dubbed him Bertie. I think he likes his American nickname. Then we spent lunch at home, Carmen’s mom made a yummy cocido, a dish typical from Madrid that has chick peas, green beans, carrots and three or four different kinds of meat. We went into downtown Chiclana to grab a beer with the guys and meet up with some of Carmen’s friends again before heading to the train station to go back to Sevilla.

I had such a good time with Carmen in her home town. Her family is so precious and welcoming. We talked a lot about food, this seems to be a recurring theme among my conversations with Carmen and her mom taught me a new phrase, “comete pan” which is used a lot by Spanish mothers. It means, “eat bread” which is a staple among the Spanish diet. Carmen’s mom served us fresh bread for every meal and was astounded when I told her that in the US we don’t eat bread for every meal.

I would have to say, that that weekend was one of my favorites since I’ve been in Spain. I loved seeing the place where my Carmencita grew up, I’ve heard so much about it, it was great seeing it and experiencing the wonders of Carnaval there with her.

Tuesday, February 28

Feliz Dia de Andalucia!!

For those of you who don’t know, I have an imaginary exotic zoo. I have moose, sea lions AND flamingoes, among other animals in my imaginary zoo. One day, I will own at least one of the animals, the most practical of these being a hedgehog, I feel. Anyway… there is a national park in Huelva (a province that borders Sevilla) that’s called, El Parque Nacional de Doñana. It’s the largest national wildlife/nature preserve in Europe and luckily, only an hour and a half from Sevilla! I’ve wanted to go since last semester and one of my friends, Alison, was planning a trip there on el Dia de Andalucia. Entonces, I went!

We caught an early bus to the town of El Rocio which is on the edge of the park. El Rocio is a precious little town where there are a lot of fiestas in the summer time. It actually doesn’t have many residents but a lot of people travel there to have celebrations, spend holidays, etc. It also looks a lot like the setting for a Clint Eastwood movie, ha! Meaning, it looks like it could be in the American Southwest. All the roads are sand roads and a lot of people travel using horses instead of cars. People wear cowboy boots and the Spanish version of cowboy hats; it’s really quite a sight. The streets are dotted with cafes, tapas bars and shops that sell flamenco attire.

We arrived at the visitor’s center where we were going to catch our guided tour of the park. We piled into the minibus and we were off on our adventure! Our guide was very knowledgeable about the park and gave us a lot of information over the two hour tour. Unfortunately, it was quite foggy that morning, so we missed a lot of the animals, which was a bit of a letdown. On the other hand, I took some really artsy photos of the trees (see Facebook album).

After the tour, we visited the town a little bit and settled by the marshes (the park is a wetland preserve too) to watch the FLAMINGOES and other birds that were feasting on whatever there is at the bottom of the marsh. We headed back in the early afternoon and I chilled on the river with my lovely lady friends for a bit. It was a great Dia de Andalucia.

HUNGARY AND BERLIN

I had my first taste of Eastern Europe... and I'm kind of in love with it.

Hahahaha, I just found this in my posts, I think started it but it never got finished. This pretty much sums up Hungary and Berlin for me. Minus all the lovely details and stories of chilling with Niki and her family in Hungary and Maria and Andy in Berlin...