Salir de March(a)

I know there’s a pun somewhere in the name of the town Órgiva, I just can’t quite find it. (‘Órgiva? I barely know her!’ ‘Órgiva mouse a cookie…’ ). Regardless, Órgiva is a small town at the base of the Alpujarra (the pueblos amidst the sierra nevadas). It is not a particularly beautiful town, but it is surrounded by some absolutely stunning views of the mountains.

We rented a villa for the weekend, and when I say ‘we’ I mean about 15 Spanish couples and myself, along with a few other singles here and there

(Yes, I’m finally admitting that Ángel and I have parted ways).

Anyway, the villa consisted of three buildings- two large houses full of bedrooms and giant salons with fireplaces, a smaller cabin, a pool, a bunch of surrounding land full of orange trees and a large terraza overlooking the town.
It was absolutely gorgeous. We even had a little luck with the weather- a break in this seemingly endless rain we’ve been having and even some ‘short-sleeves’ temperatures on Saturday. We went on a few exploratory hikes, around the mountains and one venture into the town but mostly stayed close to ‘home’.

We had some sing-a-longs and played ridiculous games (I was very proud of winning a few points in one that had to do with trivia—in Spanish!!) We also ate a lot of delicious home-cooked food; those Españolas don’t mess around in the kitchen. Usually they are also very protective of their kitchens but I even had a little break-through and got to help prepare a lunch!

One slight problem for me happened the night a guy named Rafa (pictured, with a melon full of booze) made fajitas—they were wonderful, just spicy enough, and I was very pleased. Unfortunately, I had to watch as everyone 1. Ate the aforementioned fajitas with a knife and fork and 2. added mayonnaise. Seriously. All of the Texan in me was silently screaming the whole time, but I managed not to make a scene.

Another notable event this month was el Día de Andalucía, the 28th of febrero. (According to wikipedia, commemorates the February 28, 1980 referendum on the Statute of Autonomy of Andalucia, in which the Andalusian electorate voted for the statute that made Andalusia an autonomous community of Spain).

To celebrate, a group of us went out for a traditional Andalucían lunch (at a wonderful place where they pour the wine into darling little jugs shaped like some sort of groundhog creature).
Afterwards we went to a delightful little Cuban bar that offered free group dance lessons, and YES we participated whole-heartedly.
We also just celebrated the day of trabajadoras femininas. (March 8, celebrating women who work). On that note, I am going to take the opportunity to mention that I am continuing to enjoy mine immensely. (My favorite student, who also happens to be my oldest, most elegant and only beginning-level student, enjoyed a lovely class recently in which we ate cupcakes and sang ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes’ more than a few times. She then asked me to list as many Englsih words for ‘tetas’ as I could think of).

However, my favorite thing that has happened lately was our ‘Girls Night’ last Friday. About 15 of us got dolled up and met in my apartment for a potluck of sorts (B.Y.O.Tapas, a not-so-common occurance here in España) before going out for some dancing.

Some of the foods the girls brought were absolutely incredible- homemade desserts and things that I can only compare to empañadas (I can’t remember the names, but imagine pastries filled with various meats, cheeses and fruits), jamóns, cheeses, and a lot of wine. I made my two most famous dishes- guacamole and red velvet cupcakes. The only other non-Española was my Italian friend Jessi who made a crazy cheesey polenta thing and an amazing apple cinnamon tart.

Unbelievable. After plenty of vino, cava, tapas and even a little ron miel, we were all feeling good enough to brave the rain (that hasn’t stopped much since the year began) and seek out some dancing and copas.




SABES QUE…

The Goya Awards, known in Spanish as los Premios Goya, are Spain's main national film awards, considered by many people from Spain and world to be the Spanish equivalent to the Academy Awards from the United States.  These took place in February. (for this year's winners check out: http://www.premiosgoya.com/)