Establishing Routine

Things are going really well. Finally, after months of living here I have started a job that I really like! I am working at a small school here in Granada, teaching English to small groups of mostly adults, but some classes of teenagers. I have been really busy preparing for and teaching my classes.

Angel and I have been busy going to concerts and trying new tapas bars- even occasionally out dancing. (pictured: when we saw the Delincuentes performing at a festival in Zaidin).

I have also introduced him to the concept of breakfast for dinner (brinner) and the old classic american Pancakes (with and without blueberries. Finding maple syrup in this country is an [expensive] miracle, but was totally worth it.) I also taught him the colloquial term "flapjack", in honor of Marly.

Recently we also celebrated my friend Melinda's birthday. Our group of girlfriends went out for wine and dinner, an eclectic fancy cocktail bar before the group expanded as we went dancing at a discoteca called Granero (meaning 'barn'). It was the first late-night our group has had in a while, and although we always have a great time on nights like this, it has been really nice to slow things down a little bit with our social scene. Especially as it has been getting colder- there is even a little snow on top of the nearby mountains now!

So as I have nothing too new and exciting to report, I am thrilled to start to experience a little more stability.

SABES QUE...

"Rythms" is the longest word in the English language without vowels.

The longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched".

Playa Playa Playa

Ahhhh… Paradise. That’s where I’ve been for the last few weeks. Angel, Gusana and I loaded up the van and headed down to the coast- Cabo de Gata. We spent two weeks beach-hopping, sleeping next to the Mediterranean Sea (and on occasion under the stars), building sand animals, exploring coves and hills in the giant national park as well as ruins of castles and towers. The water was warm and crystal clear and the sand was fine and white- pretty much perfection. We even ventured out for one midnight swim when there was a full moon (but I quickly remembered every shark movie I’d ever seen and how the really bad stuff usually happens at night- let’s just say I hightailed it out of there reeeeaaaaalll fast.) We didn’t see any tiberonitos (sharklets), but plenty of other less harmful animals (with the exception of a few medusas (jelly fish) on the first two days— I was the only one who got stung. Twice.) We spent a day snorkeling around a rocky bay and saw a ton of interesting and colorful fish, sponges, prickly things, squishy things, slippery things, and bony things.
For most of our meals we cooked in the van, but occasionally we would venture out into a town to try interesting plates and fancy fruity cocktails. Cuisine highlight for me: Buey de Planca (Grilled Ox). One Friday Angel and I found a discoteca called La Rocca in San Jose and spent the night dancing to a mix that heavily favored a latino flare. Another night we found a Tex Mex restaurant in a tiny hippy town called Las Negras, and after some delightful fajitas and margartas we were heading back to the van when we walked right past Christopher Lloyd, (the older actor in Back to the Future, we’re 95% sure it was him) and ended up having a drink at the table next to him, giggling and playing with his dog.

The first few days we joined his cousins, Pablito and Angelito, and Angelito’s girlfriend Ester to try out a few different beaches as well. One of those days we hiked about an hour to reach a secluded beach called San Pedro, with the ruins of a castle shaped like a kabob (no one else agrees with me on this, but it’s true).

It was a wonderful wonderful wonderful vacation, completely Spanish (except for a few occasions when Angel wanted to practice English, resulting in a few very funny mixups such as “Ladies and Germans”).

And now back to Granada and reality. Kind of. What a wonderful life.

SABES QUE…
Christopher Lloyd is supposedly best friends with Jack Nicholson.