The Adventures Continue...

It turns out that the Españoles have always been some of Michael Jackson’s biggest fans, and they have taken his loss pretty roughly. In fact, a few days after we heard the news a large group of my Spanish friends gathered to watch any/every video related to him on Youtube they could find. This took about 6 hours. After that we had another girls night- Clare, Melinda, Alessandra and I, which was a blast, as always!

Saturday I attempted a Fourth of July party in Spain. As my only other American friend here is Melinda (Rhode Island), we had to recruit some Spaniards as well. Around mid-day Melinda, Angel, Jamie, his new girlfriend Luvna (from Morrocco) and I gathered in my house for real American-style cheeseburgers, beer and watermelon. They were all shocked at the idea of a watermelon spitting contest, I guess that’s just a Texan/my family thing. We drew some lovely party decorations and had the USA puzzle that Heather gave me assembled. Angel and I had bought fireworks but seeing as our ‘party’ ended around 6 p.m. we still haven’t set them off. (pictured: Melinda and I next to our Awesome Party Decorations. The real art is an orignal Carol Cronin, www.carolcronin.com)

That night I went with Angel to a big family function- his Aunt’s Italian husband invented the technology for photoboths however many years ago, and this party had something to do with some anniversary of that patent or something. It was in another uncle’s house- a gorgeous home- and we all gathered in the huge bottom floor that was very open, full of seating and had a stage and sound equipment set up. There was a full bar that some of the younger cousins were working and some of the older ones were grilling meats. I probably met 50 different cousins, aunts and uncles and could barely keep them all straight. After we had been there a little while, three cousins-all sisters in their late 30’s-40’s- performed some incredible flamenco with about 9 different costume changes. After the show we all got up and danced and had champagne. It ended up being a really fun party! 

Angel, Marina (his sister) and I left around 2 a.m. to go catch the end of a jazz concert. It was at the Lago de la Ermita near Atarfe, way up in the Sierra Nevadas on a cliff with a huge lake. There were tons of people sitting in the grass and along a darling little bridge and tucked away in little alcoves on benches. It was really beautiful and the music was great—and partly in English!!

Sunday Angel and I decided to go on an adventura. We both put on our hiking boots and hopped on the moto to drive up past Monachil. We parked at the base of The Cahorros and walked from there. The Ruta de Cahorros follows a river that is the result of melting ice at the top of the Sierra Nevadas. The water is crystal clear and FREEZING. Along this route there are also huge rock formations, steep cliffs and a dozen waterfalls. It is really beautiful. Several highlights of the route include el Famoso Puente Colgante (a very high wobbly bridge) and La Cueva de las Palomas (one of the many caves). 

Along the way we saw tons of people rock-climbing up the steep cliffs, and many more laying in the shallow waters picnicking or just sunbathing. One group of older Spaniards gave us each a cup of some sort of gazpacho that was hot pink- it was delicious but neither of us could figure out what it was. After several hours of climbing and a few freezing dips in the water later, we ended up at a restaurant with fantasic views over several of the valleys in the area. We ate lomo and sollomillos con pimientas y patatas de pobre before heading back down. When we arrived back at the moto we stopped to take coffee in a very eclectic café in Monachil.

That night was another of the big moto races- this time in Laguna Seca, Californa. I have to admit I didn’t even know moto races existed before I lived here, and now I can tell you more stats about some of the racers than you’d ever care to know. This race was especially exciting for the guys as it was the first time a Spaniard has won- Dani Pedrosa.

This week I began my new Spanish classes at the Cento de Linguas Modernas. The first few days were frustrating as I was surrounded by 16 year olds who didn’t care at all, but then I was moved to a higher level class that is much smaller and more focused on grammar, (which is what I need to work on). Besides me, there are two other Americans: Justin, a ski instructor from Utah, and Ashton, a pre-med student from Oklahoma. Nora, from Hungary, who works in the financial office of the European Union, is also in the class. Unfortunately this class is now in the afternoons, so I will have to put my flamenco class on hold for a while. I am so excited to be learning Spanish again!

SABES QUE…
Tuesday was the beginning of the festival of San Fermín up in Pampalona (celebrating Saint Fermín, the co-patron of Navarra). You may recognize this better as the day of the Encierro, or running of the bulls. This run stretches down a little over half a mile through the narrow streets of the old town. There are usually 6 bulls followed by another 6 steers, as well as thousands of people from all over the world. The festival begins with this run at 8:00 a.m. on July 7th, and lasts for an entire week- very similar to any of the other Carnivals. At midnight on the final night, the people of Pamplona meet in the Plaza Consistorial with candles to sing the traditional song Pobre de Mí ('Poor Me').