Santi was such a gentleman and brought me to the bus station to head for Cordoba Thursday morning bright and early at 8am, after having been out 'til 4am the night before. But he had the luxury of going back to bed when he got home. I had a nice cat nap on my trip up to Cordoba, where I met MariAn (short for Mari Angeles) Gina's co worker. Unfortunately we had to head straight for Pozoblanco, her hometown, instead of spending some time in Cordoba, but another weekend for certain. Santi has told me that Pozoblanco is a country town, but is very famous for their agriculture. It was a beautiful drive from Cordoba to the town with immense, green landscapes of olive trees. That was one thing that called my attention over the week was seeing green again. In Madrid we have trees, but its something quite different when you enter the kingdom of olive oil. One word I would use to describe my time in Pozoblanco would be agriculture. MariAn's family recently rennovated their house, filled with a beautiful garden on the inner patio, the floors were made of a type of granite, I think. They even have a room in the basement to make fresh Chorizo and Salchichon from their pigs on the farm. Now when I hear this I was a bit scared, but I have to say Babe tasted pretty good in a stew. The meat is extremely tender and tasty. Later that day I went with MariAn's brothers, Antonio Luis and Pizco to the farm. WoW!! I mean it is a real farm. They have pigs, cows, chickens and one horse. The animals are separated by function apparently. The cows are all together with their babies, but the pics are separated in three portions. Those that will be sold at held in separate parts with the mothers and the macho in another pen. FInally you have the babies with a mother pig in another pen. I felt like I was old Mac Donald because I didn't know why they were all separated. But the boys were eager to answer my questions. It was quite an eye opener. Plus the boys then asked me what its like in the states, but all I could say was that its more industrialized and there are not as many family farms, if any. At that point I was very anxious to go to their country house where they have their olive groves and a vegetable garden. But first I had to see the processions in Pozoblanco. One big difference between the ones in Cabra and Pozoblanco are the lights on the street. In Cabra there was plenty of light to take photos and enjoy your company, but in PB all the streets are tiny, with very little light, if any at all. I quickly learned that in Andalucia the people meet early for the procession to visit with friends and then wait for the parades. Well I figured maybe half an hour before or so, but no these kids are in it for the long haul. We met MariAn's friends almost two hours ahead to watch the pasos. While we waited though I realized again how open people are in Andalucia, I had just met many of these people and they were offering me candy and snacks from their stash of stuff, even as far as sharing their drinks!!
While we waited I had a lovely chat with a guy who makes his own short films! He is passionate about John Williams and other Hollywood musicians. We had a quite game of "Name that Tune" which I did extremely well on. It was great to talk about music from the movies again. I felt like I was back in my Music and Film class all over again. I can't wait to see his film some day. I was told that on Thursday night people stay out all night because Friday morning at Sunrise the town puts on a reenactment of the crucifixtion. But being that I was out late the two previous nights I went back to sleep for a bit before the reenactment. MariAn was nice enough to bring me back to her house and then went out again. The reenactment was really cool, with the little kiddies playing in their band and the people dressed as soldiers to welcome Jesus to the city. Once the reenactment was over we splurged for some churros with chocolate and went home for a good's day's rest. Friday there was another procession, the one with the empty cross, but again it was a cold night and we ran home shortly after it ended. We needed to get a good nights rest to prepare for the trip to the country on Saturday. We woke up early to get things prepared for the trip and headed off. I thought it strange that as soon as we were on our way, MariAn asked me if I get dizzy, I said no of course, but was curious why she asked. SHe then tells me that the road to the country is very windy, so be prepared. I had no problem except that as soon as we started to ascend the tree covered hills, MariAn and her brother, Antonio Luis (the second child, first boy) started bickering over her driving. Immediately I thought of Courteny and Kate on their trip across the country, adn I hope taht their trip was nothing like this one. I couldn't help but laugh though because it made me feel so at home, with little bickering fights and name calling. It was also gratifying to see that it also happens between brothers and sisters. MariAn, AL who speaks English too, and I had a long chat about what accents are hard for each of us to understand. I said that in the states it would be the Texans or anyone from teh South, but not so discernable as I feel the difference in accents is here in Spain. They began to differentiate between the English, Scottish and Americans, of course to which I said the Scots are harder to understand.
We finally got to the country house that was filled with family and friends. Each year they have a big celebration for the end of the Olive harvest. I tried "Lechon" which is piglet, I only could muster one tiny piece, but at least I tried it! The rest of the group went crazy over all the food, I held back for the paella that MariAn's mom was preparing. Oh it was delish! And I even ate the mussles, but couldn't muster peeling a shrimp (still haven't mastered that one). After the bif meal I went with MariAn's Dad to search for wild asparugus! It was awesome trompsing through the fields looking for little asparagus. I didn't realize before we left that they were wild, but it was fun just the same. Plus it helped work off the large meal we had.
Next I learned a great card game called, Cusco. Its may be the simplest game ever!! In a circle each player gets a card. Once you look at your card you need to decide if you want to keep it or trade it, the person at the end with teh lowest number looses. So the cards go round and round until it gets back to the dealer. Then the dealer decides if he wants to risk his card which could be higher than the rest or cut the deck. Its really fun, fast, and a great way to pass an afternoon. It was amazing hearing all teh boys talking at once while I sat their and listened intently trying to decipher what was being said. But the point is... I wasn't the first person to loose. It was quite a relaxing afternoon filled with great converesation and family. It reminded me of a Summer Barbaque in the states. Then we headed for Cordoba to come back to Madrid on teh AVE train. I gotta say I do love the train, its comfortable and much faster than the bus, but you pay for it with the price.
All in all I had a wonderful time during my vacation. It was relaxing but a great way to spend my days off. Hope everyone else had a great Easter and keep in touch!
Ciao
Monday, March 24, 2008
Easter Week in Cordoba
Happy Easter to all and Congratulations to Liz and Sarah on the shower. I hope everyone has recovered from the weeks events. My Spring Break was relaxing but fun too. As you know I went to Cordoba to visit a former exchange student, Santi and his family. It was wonderful to see them again. They are a great, welcoming family and I even got to spend time with the grandmother, who was staying at the house for the week. As usual they treated me like family, and were very hospitable. I arrived in Cabra Tuesday night to see Santi, who is now an adult, and his father, Francisco. They all look the same, just a few years older. Santi can drive now, which makes me feel really old, but it's only been four years. Macarena, the sister, who lives in Madrid at a dormitory for post grad studies, was there too. She made a tasty Tortilla Espanola (which in Andalucia they call a tortilla de patata). I learned a new way to prepare one too. Rather than frying the potatoes in a ton of oil, you can stick them in the microwave and save some calories! You can't taste the difference either. It was yummy.
After dinner we headed out for the first procession, or parade for Holy Week. Within the town families can join a Cofradia or Community which then prepares the Floats each year. The floats are adorned with candles, fancy cloths, and made from solid wood. The floats however are carried by Costaleros, who carry the float on their backs from underneath the float. All of the floats are carried by men because they women are not permited to carry them, except for one float that is the patron of the city. I met Mamen, who I think I met the last time I was in Cabra and immediately when she began to speak, I recognised her as the girl that speaks wicked fast, and unless you are looking directly at her face, you can't understand a word. The greatest part of the week was the sense of family and community I could feel within the town. Everyone knows everyone and evey step you take you find yourself amongst friends. It was really nice and homely, quite a difference from the busy streets of Madrid. We were out way way past my bedtime, in fact I felt like an old lady hanging out with people under 23 years old, but it was rejuvenating too. Wednesday was a lazy day even though I woke up before anyone else in the house! I got to chat with Raffi, their house lady who was plesant as always. Then I had a reading session on the patio while the rest of the family got up and started the day. It was finally great weather and I enjoyed a quite moment on the patio. Once the kdis were ready Santi and I took a walk around the town. I immediately felt old when we stopped at a bar to have a drink at 1:30 in the afternoon and was surrounded by "youts". But I let age fly with the wind and had a great time chatting with Santi and his friends. We then planned to meet later in the afternoon for more processions, but unfortuately it started to rain shortly after lunch. So we had a night of "botellon" at his friends house with Shwarma, my favorite pita snadwhich from Granada. The shwarma was basically turkish fajitas, but tasty just the same. I had homemade sangria and we passed the night away talking. Of course everyone was pendiente de mi asking me if I understood what was being said and stuff because there were quite a lot of people in the house. I could understand most of it, but it was hard to jump into a conversation.
Shortly after we headed out on the town to a dance club where we used our wiles to get cheap cubalibres. In fact thats what botellon is, when you cheat the clubs and BYOB! I did feel ashamed but I let it flow with the music and that was that. I had a fabulous time in Cabra and am ashamed that I didn't get any pics of the family or me, for that matter, but I am waiting to see if Mamen can send me some photos that she took.
After dinner we headed out for the first procession, or parade for Holy Week. Within the town families can join a Cofradia or Community which then prepares the Floats each year. The floats are adorned with candles, fancy cloths, and made from solid wood. The floats however are carried by Costaleros, who carry the float on their backs from underneath the float. All of the floats are carried by men because they women are not permited to carry them, except for one float that is the patron of the city. I met Mamen, who I think I met the last time I was in Cabra and immediately when she began to speak, I recognised her as the girl that speaks wicked fast, and unless you are looking directly at her face, you can't understand a word. The greatest part of the week was the sense of family and community I could feel within the town. Everyone knows everyone and evey step you take you find yourself amongst friends. It was really nice and homely, quite a difference from the busy streets of Madrid. We were out way way past my bedtime, in fact I felt like an old lady hanging out with people under 23 years old, but it was rejuvenating too. Wednesday was a lazy day even though I woke up before anyone else in the house! I got to chat with Raffi, their house lady who was plesant as always. Then I had a reading session on the patio while the rest of the family got up and started the day. It was finally great weather and I enjoyed a quite moment on the patio. Once the kdis were ready Santi and I took a walk around the town. I immediately felt old when we stopped at a bar to have a drink at 1:30 in the afternoon and was surrounded by "youts". But I let age fly with the wind and had a great time chatting with Santi and his friends. We then planned to meet later in the afternoon for more processions, but unfortuately it started to rain shortly after lunch. So we had a night of "botellon" at his friends house with Shwarma, my favorite pita snadwhich from Granada. The shwarma was basically turkish fajitas, but tasty just the same. I had homemade sangria and we passed the night away talking. Of course everyone was pendiente de mi asking me if I understood what was being said and stuff because there were quite a lot of people in the house. I could understand most of it, but it was hard to jump into a conversation.
Shortly after we headed out on the town to a dance club where we used our wiles to get cheap cubalibres. In fact thats what botellon is, when you cheat the clubs and BYOB! I did feel ashamed but I let it flow with the music and that was that. I had a fabulous time in Cabra and am ashamed that I didn't get any pics of the family or me, for that matter, but I am waiting to see if Mamen can send me some photos that she took.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Fabulous and Fun!!!
Hey kiddos:
Yes I realize that I haven't been on here in a while. After winter vacation and Germany I was spent and had to recoop from lots of traveling but this week I had a fun filled week. All the Americans and Spanish are getting ready for Semana Santa next week and you can feel the excitement in the air. Tuesday I had my regular classes with the students and my tutoring kids, plus I received an impromptu Geography lesson at tutoring. One of the highschool girls, Ana gave me some suggestions as to what I should do for Semana Santa and then I asked her what she would do if she had a lot of money. She decided that if she had the money she would buy a boat and sail around the country. When I asked her where she would leave from and didn't know where that was, she gave me a great little lesson. I even learned that there are three Spanish principalities in Africa! I guess its Ceuta and someplace else, of course now I can't remember...
Then Wed. I had a resume workshop which was very informative and we came up with some great suggestions and verbs, for anyone interested I will forward them onto you. At the beginning of the week Gina told me that her mother, Juana would be spending some time with us after her surgery, don't ask me what, and Juana joined our happy family on Wed. Because it would be her first night here I planned on making a nice meal with us. I had planned my famous green beans and the orange tarragon chicken, from Linda and Janet. I had to rush a little bit in between school and the workshop so that everything was ready for when I got home. Well.....
When I did get home, I found seven or eight random people in my living room!! Apparently Juana had gone for her post surgery checkup and the nurse told her she had to go straight to the emergency room because there was a problem with the stitches. So everyone in her family came running to our house to take her to the hospital. I did find out that Gina has a brother, in fact she has two brothers and a sister here in Spain and three more siblings in DR. That being said we had to postpone the supper and Juana enjoyed the meal the following day. And I had to watch Grey's all by myself, and the episode was AWESOME!!! But I had no one to comment with and I ended up shouting at the TV. I felt pretty silly but I didn't care.
Then Thursday night I went to the New Flamenco Ballet with Montse and Gina, which was amazing!! The music was beautiful and the dancers were fantastic. It was cool because it was a combination of Flamenco and new wave or Jazz so many of the songs were slow and moving. There was a live band, including violins and another string instrument, drums, and guitarras. I can't say how much fun it was. Then afterwards we had a fabulous Cuban meal outside of Sol where I had a delicious plate of Ropa Vieja with Yucca, a new favorite side dish, and black beans. MMMMMMmmmmmm It was delectable.
Friday morning I headed out for El Escorial to observe a fellow colleague which was nice. The school itself was really clean and looked brand new. The students were very cute in their orange and blue uniforms. The class was good from what I saw, but the students were not talking as much as I would like. IT was therefore difficult to see their level of English. Many of them gave me weird looks when I asked them questions but they had a good time. But I was sooo relieved to return to Fuentelarreyna that afternoon with my kids. They really are good kids and I am sure that they have improved since I arrived. Yes its sometime hard to see it, but when I remind them that we are in English they jump in and we have a great time.
Friday evening we went with Carlos and Hugo to the Fantasy Film Festival and saw a GREAT movie, Penelope, starring Cristina Ricci. It was sooooo good I recommend that you all see it. You will laugh and cry. It really wa great, and I am not just saying that because it was in English either. In fact Gina got pretty upset when she found out that it was in Original Version but I sat next to her for support. She only asked me one question but I asked her to wait til it was over to answer it. We also saw a friend of Gina's that works at the restaurant, who also speaks English so it was really nice. In fact Mariem, has invited me to her house in Cordoba during Semana Santa, so I am going to Cordoba for the week. She has already told me that we will definitely check out the processions and fun stuff. I am super excited.
Saturday I spent the day inside with Juana and just relaxed. Then in the evening we went to see 10,000BC with the boys. It was pretty good but I thought it was kinda predictable. But we had a great time as usual. Plus we will have a sleepover at Carlos house on Friday so that should be fun, for sure.
All in all it was a great week and I have plans this week to work on Easter with the students. Some of them will make a bunny rabbit with cotton balls. Hopefully it will work out well.
Happy Easter to everyone and give me a buzz sometime or send me an email. I am a bit of an email snob lately, so even if you only have a second to email me, DO IT!!!! I don't care what it says its just nice seeing something in your mailbox.
Talk soon!
Ciao
Yes I realize that I haven't been on here in a while. After winter vacation and Germany I was spent and had to recoop from lots of traveling but this week I had a fun filled week. All the Americans and Spanish are getting ready for Semana Santa next week and you can feel the excitement in the air. Tuesday I had my regular classes with the students and my tutoring kids, plus I received an impromptu Geography lesson at tutoring. One of the highschool girls, Ana gave me some suggestions as to what I should do for Semana Santa and then I asked her what she would do if she had a lot of money. She decided that if she had the money she would buy a boat and sail around the country. When I asked her where she would leave from and didn't know where that was, she gave me a great little lesson. I even learned that there are three Spanish principalities in Africa! I guess its Ceuta and someplace else, of course now I can't remember...
Then Wed. I had a resume workshop which was very informative and we came up with some great suggestions and verbs, for anyone interested I will forward them onto you. At the beginning of the week Gina told me that her mother, Juana would be spending some time with us after her surgery, don't ask me what, and Juana joined our happy family on Wed. Because it would be her first night here I planned on making a nice meal with us. I had planned my famous green beans and the orange tarragon chicken, from Linda and Janet. I had to rush a little bit in between school and the workshop so that everything was ready for when I got home. Well.....
When I did get home, I found seven or eight random people in my living room!! Apparently Juana had gone for her post surgery checkup and the nurse told her she had to go straight to the emergency room because there was a problem with the stitches. So everyone in her family came running to our house to take her to the hospital. I did find out that Gina has a brother, in fact she has two brothers and a sister here in Spain and three more siblings in DR. That being said we had to postpone the supper and Juana enjoyed the meal the following day. And I had to watch Grey's all by myself, and the episode was AWESOME!!! But I had no one to comment with and I ended up shouting at the TV. I felt pretty silly but I didn't care.
Then Thursday night I went to the New Flamenco Ballet with Montse and Gina, which was amazing!! The music was beautiful and the dancers were fantastic. It was cool because it was a combination of Flamenco and new wave or Jazz so many of the songs were slow and moving. There was a live band, including violins and another string instrument, drums, and guitarras. I can't say how much fun it was. Then afterwards we had a fabulous Cuban meal outside of Sol where I had a delicious plate of Ropa Vieja with Yucca, a new favorite side dish, and black beans. MMMMMMmmmmmm It was delectable.
Friday morning I headed out for El Escorial to observe a fellow colleague which was nice. The school itself was really clean and looked brand new. The students were very cute in their orange and blue uniforms. The class was good from what I saw, but the students were not talking as much as I would like. IT was therefore difficult to see their level of English. Many of them gave me weird looks when I asked them questions but they had a good time. But I was sooo relieved to return to Fuentelarreyna that afternoon with my kids. They really are good kids and I am sure that they have improved since I arrived. Yes its sometime hard to see it, but when I remind them that we are in English they jump in and we have a great time.
Friday evening we went with Carlos and Hugo to the Fantasy Film Festival and saw a GREAT movie, Penelope, starring Cristina Ricci. It was sooooo good I recommend that you all see it. You will laugh and cry. It really wa great, and I am not just saying that because it was in English either. In fact Gina got pretty upset when she found out that it was in Original Version but I sat next to her for support. She only asked me one question but I asked her to wait til it was over to answer it. We also saw a friend of Gina's that works at the restaurant, who also speaks English so it was really nice. In fact Mariem, has invited me to her house in Cordoba during Semana Santa, so I am going to Cordoba for the week. She has already told me that we will definitely check out the processions and fun stuff. I am super excited.
Saturday I spent the day inside with Juana and just relaxed. Then in the evening we went to see 10,000BC with the boys. It was pretty good but I thought it was kinda predictable. But we had a great time as usual. Plus we will have a sleepover at Carlos house on Friday so that should be fun, for sure.
All in all it was a great week and I have plans this week to work on Easter with the students. Some of them will make a bunny rabbit with cotton balls. Hopefully it will work out well.
Happy Easter to everyone and give me a buzz sometime or send me an email. I am a bit of an email snob lately, so even if you only have a second to email me, DO IT!!!! I don't care what it says its just nice seeing something in your mailbox.
Talk soon!
Ciao
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