Van Trip!!

The heat is turned waaaay up in Granada this week, which is nice except for the fact that very few places have air conditioning. This makes for a lazy attitude that has enveloped the entire city.

This weekend was another fantastic one- Friday night was a bonafide Girls Night In/Out, with Clare, Ale, Melinda and I getting dressed up and having dinner and wine at Clare’s Albaycin apartment (with a small dance party) and then heading out to our favorite spot- Camborio for some more dancing after hours. I always have so much fun with these girls!

Saturday the Melrose crew + friends headed out to a beautiful house in the country where we met up with about 100 other people for a fantastic fiesta-

 Jamie made giant vats of paella, there were barbequed lamb ribs, a ridiculous assortment of desserts and people of all ages splashing around in a very unique pool. The entire atmosphere was so friendly and festive! Later on in the evening a few of the guys’ bands played (mostly reggae) and I played some games with Javie’s adorable 6 year old, Ari. After a while, Angel and I headed off in the van towards Malaga for the beach. I have to admit, this was hands down one of the worst nights I have experienced in this country. (Angel now refers to it as the “Noche Inferno”).

1. I had a TERRIBLE migraine.

2. We were lost and everyone we stopped to ask where the sea was thought we were joking and just laughed.

3. I finally went to lay down in one of the beds in the back but due to the bouncy curvy roads I was catapulted out of it into the small kitchenette producing a nice goose-egg on my forehead.

4. Once we finally arrived and parked on the first beach we could find, the war began: Mosquitoes vs. Humans. We did not win.

5. When we finally woke up and looked outside we realized we had accidentally parked on a “playa nudista” and were surrounded by little old naked men.

We hightailed it out of there in search of a café with coffee and breakfast. After that small caffeine fix, we tried again – this time with success!! We found a nice family-friendly beach, set up the umbrella, and proceeded to nap for the next 8 hours. Each time we woke up, Gusana was in an interesting position (my favorite was awaking to find her head burrowed in my armpit). The sun was out, the Mediterranean was clear and refreshing and there was a slight breeze. At one point we had some ice cream. A perfect day. Around 7 we decided to clean up a bit and have a dinner date- we found a nice restaurant with outside seating for hamburgers and patatas, which we devoured before heading back to Granada.

SABES QUE...
The Phoenicians founded the city of Malaka around 1000 BC and the name is believed to be from the Phoenician word for salt because fish were salted near the harbor.

Malaga is the birthplace of painter Pablo Picasso and actor Antonio Banderas. 

www.wcities.com

La Noche de San Juan

Tuesday I started my FLAMENCO DANCE COURSE!!! There are tons of different styles of Flamenco, including Tango, Fandango, Siguiriya, and the one I’m learning, Alegría (a Solea). These are based on the rhythyms, tempos and mood of the music. There are 3 other girls in my class, 2 Spanish and 1 Chinese. One of the Spanish girls, Lola, was one of my teachers at Castila, and we immediately clicked as friends. The style of this dance class is slightly different to all the others I’ve ever taken. There’s less “showing what to do” from the instructor and more of a “just try to keep up” vibe. Crazy at first, but I picked up quickly. ish. I am looking forward to my second class today. Interesting fact: my flamenco shoes are like tap shoes but instead of two flat metal pieces on the bottom, there is a cluster of nail heads both at the heel and the toe of the foot.

Tuesday was also La Noche de San Juan, an annual Spanish holiday basically celebrating summer and the shortest night of the year. Every year there are massive bonfire parties and concerts all along the coast, and a few famous ones inland. One of these is the Fiesta de Agua in a pueblo called Lanjaron. This pueblo (not far from Granada) is famous for it’s bottled water, some of the most common to be found all over Spain. On this day the entire town carries around buckets, hoses and waterguns, and starting at midnight a gargantuous waterfight commences. We opted to skip this and go to one of the beach parties in Motril. (Coast of Granada, next to Salobreña). The 6 of us ended up arriving around 10:30, early by Spanish standards, and sat ourselves on blankets near the bonfire. There were hundreds of people already there with bbq pits, drinks, and random flamenco singing. After about an hour we noticed a huge crowd of people near some music and discovered it was a FOAM party! We of course jumped right in. This was the “seems like a good idea” of the night- When we finally left the dancing soapy mob and rinsed off it was absolutely freezing! Then some fireworks started going off and we realized that Angel’s dog, Gusana, was nowhere to be found. We ended up spending the rest of the night looking for her, only to take a short nap near the bonfire before Angel had to drive back to work. His sister finally found Gusana around 9 a.m., much to everyone’s relief. Despite the dog-scare, it was a really interesting experience, and very cool to watch the fires all along the coast and the fireworks over the Mediterranean. (pictured: Marina and I in the foam, Angel and I post-foam, and the beach we were on in Motril, minus the bonfire).

SABES QUE…
Castanets are not part of true flamenco, they are an element that has been added in recent years to enhance the finger snapping.

Two Crazy Weeks

Úbeda

Last Wednesday, Clare and I decided to take another day trip. We got up early(ish), met at the bus station, and selected a destination at random. We ended up heading north to a town in Jaen called Úbeda, which is about 3-4 hours away. After several bus mishaps, we arrived shortly after the mid-day siesta had begun to find almost everything closed. We decided to just walk around the old town which was absolutely charming, although a little weird as we did not come across any other human beings in the heat. After a few beautiful plazas we came to a road that curved along the edge of a cliff, and the city. It overlooked rolling hills with farms and orchards and was lined with lightposts, flowerbeds, and a few playgrounds. After taking tons of photos, we headed back towards the bus station (armed with popsicles) and caught our 6:00 bus back to Granada (right as everything was opening back up after the siesta). Great day.

Fería
“All Granadinos say they hate the Feria, but they all eventully go” 

– Miguel Farfán Calderón, a friend and teacher

Thursday was a nice relaxed day as it was one of the main days of Corpus Christi, (the week-long celebration, also refered to as Fería) and no one had to work. The Melrose crowd all gathered for a lunch of grilled meats and then siestas. That night Angel came with me to meet Clare, Anais, Melinda and Ruben at the restaurant where Rafa and Mateo work (Melinda’s and Clare’s novios). This is a gorgeous restaurant in the albaycin next to the Mirador San Nicolas and we sat on the roof terrace to enjoy the breeze and the views of the sunset behind the Alhambra. 

We stayed until closing and then all headed over to the Fería. This was kind of like the Fería in Cordoba, but even bigger. There was the Fair/Carnival side and then the Casetas – the tents with restaurants and bars, and then another final row of tented discos. We headed straight for that final row and ended up hoping from tent to tent, dancing until about 7:00 in the morning. (Pictured is Angel and I somewhere around 4 a.m. taking a break from dancing to eat some fair food).  As you can imagine, Friday was spent sleeping. When I finally woke up I met up with Clare and Alessandra to go to the Castila Anniversary Party (Castila is the Spanish Language School we all went to). It was in the jardin at the school and there were tapas, a great crowd of people and giant jars of sangria. After a while, a trio of flamenco performers (guitarist, singer and dancer) put on an incredible show of original upbeat flamenco (which is a lot snappier than some of the sadder traditional stuff). They were incredible.

Vicky Arriving and Girls Night Out!!

On Saturday my friend Vicky arrived from England. She was at the school with me in February, taking time off from her job in the Royal Air Force. She arrived around 5 p.m. and after dropping her stuff off at my house we immediately went on a tapas run. We were joined by Clare, Alessandra, Melinda, and Blanca in one of our usual bars on Calle Elvira- Bar Circulo. We then found the Fería bus and headed out early (most adults don’t get there before 3 a.m. We arrived at 9). This time we went straight for the carnival side. We rode the ferris wheel, and some other creaky old roller coaster where our feet dangled. We walked around and searched for the crazy people that always show up for fairs. We saw a monkey and some ponies. We debated which gofre stand to go to and then split a gooey and delicious gofre drizzled in chocolate.We then decided to take a break from all that fun and sat ourselves down in one of the casetas. We chose based on the hundreds of red and white paper flowers along the top. There we took turns buying rounds of sangria and tasting various tapas. I was also able to barter down a jewelry seller to less than 2 Euros for a colorful beaded necklace! We were also visited by clowns.We ended the night with a round of dancing in one of the disco-tents. None of us were able to stay out nearly as late this time around.

La Fiesta de Piscinas

Sunday was SCORCHING. The only possible solution to this that Vicky and I could come up with was to have a pool party. The only flaw to this solution was that we had no pool. We eventually saved the day by purchasing 3 inflatable kiddie pools (along with a beach ball and tiny ring) going onto Javie’s roof terrace (He and Carol were in Portugal for the weekend) and after about an hour of blowing everything up and filling them with freezing hose-water we spent the rest of the afternoon napping in the sun.

Alhambra and Paella

Monday we got up EARLY and climbed up to the Alhambra. Vicky had tried to go in February but didn’t end up buying tickets so only was able to see the Charles V Palace. We had a great time exploring the Palace, the towers and the Generalife Jardins. 

For dinner on Monday night we went in search of meat and cheese tapa platters. The one pictured is from Al Sur de Granada, one of my favorite places in town for chorizo.

Tuesday we hiked on up to the school for Vicky to say hi to everyone- and of course for some 

Paella and Sangria!! Paella is one of the most popular and well-known foods of Andalucia. It always includes rice and veggies and generally various fish and meats. This one had shrimp, rabbit and chicken and was cooked by Juana, Manolo’s wife (pictured: Manolo, Me, Antonio and Juana).

Salobreña
We woke up to a late start on Wednesday, and were not able to make any of the planned morning busses to Salobreña, a great beach town less than an hour away. After spending several hours waiting in the bus station, we finally made it there, and after another 30 minutes of waiting for a pizza we were craving to be made, we made it to the beach around 5:45. It was perfect- the sun was out, there was a nice breeze and it wasn’t too crowded. I also enjoyed diving into the Mediterranean for the first time! That water is unbelievably clear— and really refreshing. Taking a pizza with us also proved to be a FANTASTIC idea. We laid out, swam a little, and I played with some rocks. We were able to bask for about 2 hours before we caught the bus home. That night we were exhausted so we had a wonderful steak dinner before going to bed early.

Pancakes and Monachil
By this point in the week Vicky and I had run out of food at my house so we went out for breakfast and found… PANCAKES!!!! They are very much not a Spanish thing so I was shocked. The place is called Café Belle, and they pretty much got it right too, except for mayple syrup they used a sweet caramel sauce. Very exciting. That afternoon we caught a bus up to Monachil, (a pueblo up towards the Sierra Nevadas, right after Huetor Vega). Vicky’s cousin Johnny lives in a beautiful house up there with his wife Marcela and their adorable 6 month old daughter Hannah (and their sweet puppy Che). We all had some wine and then went for a nice walk up in the hills to see some ancient ruins (pictured). When we hiked back down Johnny made a batch of his famous curry and we were joined by their neighbor Alan, a very very tall Brit. I have to say, I have not had much curry to compare it to, but this dish was delicious!! It was also incredibly nice to be in a home, and yes, even to play with a baby. (Don’t get excited, mom). I do have to state for the record that this one never once cried while we were there, just giggled the whole time. I don’t know why anyone would ever have one of the other kind (the criers/screamers).

On Friday we made a second attempt to go to Salobreña, but missed the bus again. We were able to make it there early enough to enjoy about 5 hours on the beach, which turned out to be just enough to avoid getting burned. 

That night we went out for tapas with some of Vicky’s British friends, and then dancing with Ale and Rafa. We ended the night with the traditional and obligatory Falafel.

Lazy Weekend
Vicky left on Saturday afternoon and I was very sad to see her go. There aren’t many people a person can spend an entire week with and not get tired of but she is definitely one of them. I spent the rest of the evening just relaxing and napping.

Sunday I went out with Angel to a fantastic lunch at a restaurant in Huetor Vega. We had several different pork dishes and a jamon/asparagus concoction. We spent a lazy afternoon together reading the newspaper and eventually battling the heat by jumping in the pool. That evening he surprised me by playing the piano a little (he is always full of surprises!) and then we watched a movie and had milk and cookies. I had not seen him much this past week because in addition to me wanting to spend all of my time with Vicky, he and his buddies had gone to a nearby lake and built a “aquajump”. This basically consisted of a ramp that shot them straight up and then into the water. They all took their caravans up there and made a big week of it- bruising themselves on the jump all day everyday, the crazies. Below are some links to see these fools:

Angel
Angel2
Ernesto

SABES QUE…

In the past all the towns and villages around Granada were forced to each supply a specific amount of greenery to carpet the streets of the provincial capital [every year for Feria]. And historically, theatre carts travelled around the city, following the Corpus Cristi processions and putting on plays. That seems to have gotten out of hand at one point and in 1765 King Carlos III officially put a stop to the custom.

--www.andalucia.com/festival/corpuschristi.htm

¡Dia EXTREMA!

We’ve officially kicked off the summer- a BBQ/pool party at Angel’s house on Saturday. Unfortunately, we also had the first cool/drizzly day in weeks on Saturday, which didn’t stop us from bbq-ing but did put a hold on the swimming plans. Nonetheless we had a great turnout and a great time and grilled a ton of meats and veggies on a huge homemade grill while the guys took turns dj-ing on the turntables.

Sunday was a day of EXTREMES! Angel invited me to go for a moto ride in the mountains, which to me sounded lovely (I’m thinking picnics, hot sun, cool breeze, great views, etc.) First of all, he showed me the shortcut to his garage from his kitchen: a 3-story high fireman pole. I put on my brave face and some moto gloves and gave it a go- it turns out it wasn’t nearly as scary as I had imagined. The moto ride however was MUCH SCARIER. For this we took the lighter off-roading moto, and he told me it would probably be a lot like riding a horse. NOT TRUE. Those off-roading moto drivers are crazy!! Angel went easy on me, not doing many of the jumps or going too fast next to the side of the cliffs, but every other moto we saw was either 5 feet in the air or completely sideways or both (none of the horses we saw were in either of these situations). Crazies. The scenery was gorgeous, from what I could tell behind my squeezed-shut eyes, and I think Angel was only a little embarrassed by me screaming at the top of my lungs when we went over the scary parts. (Don’t worry mom I was completely safe the whole time). At one point we were on top of a mountain and even passed some parachuters. Summary: Great experience, not to be repeated.

SABES QUE…

This rider is doing the "Superman Seat Grab". 

Additional information:
I completely left out the part of the story where we stopped to fill up the off-roading moto with gas and I was left alone with it while Angel went to pay. At this point, a car full of about 9 people pull up behind me and signal for me to scoot the thing up so they can pull up and get gas. So I have no idea how to move a moto or even turn it on and as I struggled with the thing not only did the car of 9 along and all of the people in the other cars watch in awe and amusement but when I looked up everyone inside the gas station was lined up against the window watching and laughing as well. I finally ended up knocking both myself and the bike over before Angel came out and saved me. Stupid fancy “on” buttons.

Also- Georgie got a haircut and a job! Apparently something for the city that involves wearing a jumpsuit. I am very proud of him. (Remember Georgie?)

Chocolate Outrage

FIRST OF ALL, the orange peanut m&m’s here are more of a salmon/melon color, which is a little disconcerting.

As Ale, Clare and I sat sipping café con leche outside a popular café near Plaza Nueva yesterday in the gorgeous Spanish afternoon weather I had another moment of ‘wow- this is my life. I am so lucky.’ That peaceful moment was quickly interrupted by some crazy people who walked by (the main reason we go to this café is for the phenomenal people watching). Our waiter also kept stammering unintelligible things to us, and then brought us extra tapas and some lollipops. (Cafe Lisboa- pictured)

Day 2 of bartending was crazy, but good. It started off slow and then about 100 people came into the bar at once, sending me into a little bit of a panic, but was able to handle everything. There was one table of 15 that ordered shots and then refused to pay for them, which pissed me off, and they ended up leaving 15 1-cent coins as a tip, the jerks. There were also a ton of really drunk and not so pleasant Irish and Scottish fellows that I had a harder time understanding than the Spaniards. Towards the end of the night half of the bar was occupied by some of my friends who had come by for support so it actually ended up being a lot of fun. I also really enjoyed the other bartenders who were working with me, especially one girl from Denmark (it took ALL of my self control not to quote Hamlet all night. Seriously much harder than any bartending.).

Lately I have gotten into the habit of watching 2 or 3 hours of Spanish game shows every week. My favorite is one that was popular in the 60s (70s?) in the states- called Password. I get really wrapped up in it- I sit on the edge of my seat frantically flipping through my Spanish/English dictionary and yelling things at the screen. I love high-anxiety word games. The other one I watch a lot is pretty much a Spanish Wheel of Fortune, not great, but it always seems to be on. I have yet to guess any of these correctly.

SABES QUE…

Forrest Mars, Sr., founder of the Mars Company, got the idea for the confection in the 1930s during the Spanish Civil War when he saw soldiers eating chocolate pellets with a hard shell surrounding the inside, preventing them from melting.

This Rough Spanish Life

What are the stereotypes that come to mind when “Spain” is mentioned? Bullfighing, flamenco, and of course, languorous meals that stretch over hours. Before I came I tried to practice making meals last that long, but to no avail. No matter how slowly I ate, I still couldn’t seem to sit there for more than an hour-tops. Yesterday I feel like I finally REALLY experienced this iconic Spanish tradition.

Around one o’clock, Angel and I headed out to meet his cousin (Angel) and his cousin’s girlfriend (Estre) at a charming restaurant in a pueblo outside of Granada called Huetor Vega (pictured). We sat outside on the patio in the shade, enjoying the cool breeze. We were immediately served beers (Alhambra Reserva, which has become one of my favorites) and tapas and given menus. After about 30 minutes of discussing different options (I noted that “Secretos” were for sale for 8.90 €, I wondered who’s secrets we would be getting? And would they really be worth almost 9 bucks? Angel informed me that they are actually a cut of pork, surprise surprise.) I finally decided on the Medallones de Pimientos, which is some sort of pork thing involving a red pepper. When the waitress finally returned, she told us that they weren’t actually serving from that menu that day and that our options were pork, chicken, other pork, or some fish thing. We all started with a salad or gazpacho, and then each ordered something different. These courses came slowly and lasted about an hour each. Afterwards, we each had a different dessert and then the afterdinner cordials which are almost always served and are usually very very sweet. By this point we were all feeling incredibly lazy and enjoying the sun. When we left we made a quick stop to the public fountain for a drink and some splashing and then Estre discovered a tree with blackberries- moras, which were absolutely delicious and we all left with purple stains on our fingers/shirts/faces. (4 HOURS after we had started the meal.)

Last night I met up with Alessandra and Clare and the three of us headed to a fairly fancy nightclub called Cafe Aliatar. One of Ale’s friends’ bands was playing and they were fantastic! They’re an 80’s rock cover band, and although the singer (Ale’s friend, Jessica) is Spanish, her English lyrics were perfect and her voice was amazing. We had a great time rocking out amidst candelabras and red wine. We even made some new friends- some girls from Granada, (normally less open to foreign friendships than the guys).
All in all, an excellent day.

SABES QUE…
Blackberries were enjoyed by the ancient Greeks, who believed them to be a cure for diseases of the mouth and throat, as well as a preventative against many ailments, including gout.
http://www.pickyourown.org/blackberries.htm

Pour Me

Day one as a bartender went alright. Once I got over my stupid pride about working in the service industry with a college degree I decided that bartending was definitely the best option for the summer. No one wants to take English classes (I have a friend that can’t give them away for free right now) and most of the Spaniards go to the beach, so I will have to put my classes on hold until the fall and meanwhile I can practice my Spanish with drunkies. Considering I have no bartending experience whatsoever I think it went fairly successfully last night. It helped that there were never more than 20 people in the bar. It was weird because when I showed up they just gave me a t-shirt and said “ok, go.” I like how relaxed it is. I’m sure that it gets insane on weekends though. Vamos a ver.

Today I went to my landlord’s office to pay our electricity bill (a whopping 16 euros for the entire month- I love this country) and there were two guys sprawled out in the street/doorway to the office covered in blood and tons of people gathered and police, firemen, news reporters, ambulances etc. I started freaking out because that’s where Angel works so I immediately thought it was a moto accident or something and almost started crying. Then he drove by and stopped to ask me what was going on. From what we could piece together, we think it was a father and son that just happened to be walking by the office when they got into a huge fight and beat the crap out of each other. There might have been a knife involved? Very unusual for Granada. We couldn’t really get the story, but I think they both were going to be ok and were taken to the hospital. So it has been quite an odd morning.

This afternoon Alessandra comes back to Spain!!!

SABES QUE…
Nigeria is the third-leading market for the Guinness - behind only Great Britain and Ireland. Cameroon is No. 5. The sweeter, strong African version of Guinness is a huge hit on the continent, where it's said to enhance virility, according to a recent Reuters report.

Guadix and Goodbyes

Another busy weekend. It all started on Thursday night with Paul and Gillians’ going away party. This was on their rooftop terrace in the Albaycin (INCREDIBLE views) and entailed a ton of food, drinks, and even a little guitar. I was very sad for them to leave, as they were some of my very first and closest friends in this country. Karen and her boyfriend Angel will be leaving this week, which leaves just me from our original bi-weekly dinner parties. The three of us went out for tapas and ice cream last night.

Friday night was also eventful- Melinda and I grabbed dinner, met up with Clare, John and Casey for drinks and tapas at Circulo then all headed to my favorite bar in Granada- Eschavira. We were joined there by Anaise and some of her friends, as well as Angel, Nando, and Angel’s cousin and cousin’s girlfriend. Our party ended up taking a good section of the top floor of the bar. I love that bar because it is tucked away a little bit, and has a fantastic authentic atmosphere where live flamenco is often likely to spontaneously happen. After Eschavira came dancing at several different bars, ending of course in the wee hours at Camborio in Sacromonte.

Saturday was a much needed lazy sleepy day, and Granada had a surprise thunderstorm with hail, very rare here. (Fortunately not “golf ball sized hail”).

On Sunday morning I received a call from Clare, who had randomly decided to go to Guadix for the day and wanted to know if I was up for a day trip (which I always am). The group ended up being Clare, me, and two younger guys from her house- Casey (American) and Ruben (Dutch). After a 8 Euro, 45 minute bus ride we arrived in this small town (still in the province of Granada, just further east). It was the perfect day for it- sunny with a nice breeze, and we enjoyed walking around. The thing about Guadix is that it is comprised of rolling hills, mostly occupied by charming cave homes. 

We saw the 16th century Cathedral, Plaza de la Constitución, The Church of Santiago (I like to refer to this one as the ‘Party Hat Church’), The Alcazaba (11th century Moorish fortress), The Mirador de la Magdalena and of course the Barrio de las Cuevas. We were able to go into one of the cave homes- owned and lived in by a man named Jose. It was incredibly cool inside which was refreshing, and definitely appealing. We also had a very delightful but simple lunch in a café on Calle Peñuela. All in all, a very fun day trip.

SABES QUE…Over half of the population of Guadix lives in cave homes.