The Festivities Begin...

For about a month now the city has been looking more and more festive- 
I looooovvvveeee all the different lights in all of the main streets- these are some of my favorite- the chandeliers on one of the upper-scale shopping streets. You can also hear some Christmas music here and there, as well as many many nativity scenes, called 'Belens', which are more common than Christmas trees and tend to be very very detailed. 




Andújar
A few weekends ago Melinda and I jumped right into the holiday spirit with a little trip. On Saturday morning we loaded up the cars with lots of people and RIDICULOUS amounts of food and drinks and drove about 3 hours into the province of Jaén; on the bank of the river Guadalquivir.
Outside of the town Andùjar there’s this sanctuary/church called Real Santuario Virgen de la Cabeza that people go to to leave offerings and ask for things. (Some of the offerings we saw included photos, locks of hair, wedding dresses, prosthetic legs, etc.) The church is in the middle of all these gorgeous green hills, which are also home to the almost extinct Iberian Lynces (lynx).
In one of the valleys there is a tiny row of buildings owned by various pueblos. We stayed in the house of Campillo de Arenas, which is where a few of the guys in the group are from. There were about 30 of us in total, and no one knew everyone- a good mix of friends of friends of friends- so it was really laid-back and we all made new friends.
The house itself was amazing- two giant halls on the main floor and basement floor with giant fireplaces and a big luxurious bar. There was also a kitchen and patio outside. Upstairs were two bedrooms- caballeros y señoritas- each containing about 50 sets of bunkbeds and a small bathroom.

The weekend ended-up being non-stop, and I’m pretty sure no one got much sleep between all the games, dancing and food. We also saw a herd of ovejas (sheep) a few times!!!

On Sunday we all went for a little hike up to the church, as well as around the campo nearby before feasting on a giant giant paella. Then we cleaned like crazy and headed back home.

I was especially excited to make a few new Spanish girlfriends on that trip, one in particular named Beatriz (everyone calls her ‘Bea’) who I bonded with immediately. Through her I’ve since met some other girls and we’ve all gone out a few times- lunch at a Mexican restaurant, tapas, dancing. The Mexican restaurant in particular was really fun because there were about 20 of us and the electricity kept going out. Every time the electricity went out the owner came around with complementary tequila. It turned into quite the party… (pictured: me, Bea, Asun y Isabel)

Our little group of extranjeros (foreigners) also got together at Clare's house one weekend for a party- we're mostly teachers from the US, UK and a few others here and there, but it was a fun evening of charades and songs.

"Esta noche es Noche-Buena, 

y no es noche de dormir"


The big Christmas celebration happens on NocheBuena, December 24th. Traditionally the big family meal occurs on this night. I went with Angel to the home of one of his aunts- it was only the intimate family on his dad’s side (about 25 people) all of whom I had met before so I felt really comfortable. We sat at a long banquet table and passed around tons of plates with various things- the usual jamones, quesos y tortillas (kind of like a quiche), as well as fish, meat, various vegetables and then different little cakelets and a flan. We all drank wine and cava (kind of like champagne) and by the end of the meal everyone was singing Spanish Christmas songs and there were a few panderetas (tambourines) floating around. It was a lot of fun! One aunt then served as ‘Papa Noel’ and passed out presents to all of the children (the youngest was about 16ish) and she had even bought something for me- a beautiful bottle of Spanish perfume!!!

As the meal hadn’t even started until 10 p.m., we were late leaving but nevertheless went to some bars and discotecas for more drinks and dancing until the (not-so) wee hours of the morning. This resulted in me completely sleeping through actual Chrismas Day.


I have received many cards and a few amazing packages (gingerbread cookie kit from Aaron and Amanda, A ridiculously fun medley of Christmas activities, crafts and snacks from Heather, jalepeños from home) that have really made the holidays for me- thanks again, yall!!


Sabes Que…

Ever since ancient times, the Spanish have celebrated the coming of winter with a unique custom, called Hogueras. Reminiscent of the ancient Roman holiday of Saturnalia and the Northern European tradition of a Yuletide celebration, Spaniards celebrated the Winter Solstice by jumping over a fire, as a way to protect themselves against illness in the coming year. This was especially popular in the areas of Granada and Jaen. As Christianity gained power during the Middle Ages, Hogueras fell by the wayside, along with many other pagan customs.

http://spanish-history.suite101.com/article.cfm/christmas_in_spain