Five Mundane Things

1. On Friday I got a fantastic haircut. I tipped my stylist with a cheap bottle of red wine and she was ecstatic.

2. I have a student who can’t distinguish the different pronunciations of ‘kitchen’ and ‘chicken’. She also clucks when she gets frustrated.

3. We went to a car show this past Saturday. There are tons of little smartcar type things that don’t require a European driver’s license. (Santa?) The music played at the show was the same as the music Gob uses for his magic shows in the TV show Arrested Development. It is worth noting that this character always travels by segway (unfortunately not too be seen in this particular car show).






4. Yesterday we roasted chestnuts (castañas) over an open fire.

5. We spent a good deal of Saturday night at a bar trying to come up with palindromos: (words or phrases that have the same letters and meaning backwards and forwards).

 

English examples:
Eye
Racecar
Do geese see God?
Never odd or even.

I was very proud of my Spanish vocabulary that evening!

Spanish examples:
Somos o no somos
Luz azul
Amor a Roma.
Dábale arroz a la zorra el abad.

Thanks, Man!

I’m starting to get a little sad and nostalgic about being so far away from my wonderful family during the holidays. However, I was able to make my Favorite fall food the other day thanks to a certain M. Flapjack Ramsour who sent me the mix for Sprinkles pumpkin cupcakes!!! DELICIOUS!I have also been teaching Thanksgiving themed classes this week to a variety of reactions among my students. In one class I had them work in teams to invent an entirely new holiday and all of the details. These teams came up with ‘International Chocolate Day’ and ‘Dessert Celebration!” They are my favorites.

For the actual day of Thanksgiving I had to work (but I’m thankful that I have a job) and so we weren’t able to celebrate until late. Melinda (Rhode Island), Dan (Chicago) and I ate a lovely meal in a British-owned bar (the one my roommate Will works at- Casa Lopez Corea) that consisted of several appetizers, a WONDERFUL pumpkin soup, turkey with stuffing, gravy, veggies, etc, and of course several delightful desserts including Apple pie!

We were stuffed! (pictured: Mel and I enjoying the desserts with power-ranger spoons. Since we were some of the last to eat, they had run out of normal, clean cuttlery. We found it very festive!)

Other notable events this week include a birthday party for my friend Pablo (my favorite of Angel’s friends) on Tuesday night, another jazz concert last Friday night (wonderful! An Italian ‘big-band’) and a little day-trip on Sunday with Angel up into the Mountains towards Güéjar-Sierra so that I could play with my new [hot pink] camera!

A highlight of this adventure was stopping at a little-old lady’s roadside veggie stand and seeing some of the MOST ENORMOUS onions, gords, etc. that I have ever seen in my entire life. The seems-like-a-good-idea of the day was buying a lot of stuff from her and trying to safely get it home on the moto. (We were successful in the end and celebrated by making a delicious veggie paella with some of the purchases.

People-watching has also been in high quality this week. On Tuesday night on my way to meet everyone at a bar across town for Pablo’s birthday I walked past a small hotel called Don Juan Hotel. It looked a little skeezy. Outside there were three Italian men dressed in their Saturday night best and smoking cigars. They were speaking in the ideal stereotypical accent and cat-calling at every girl who walked by. Way to feed the stereotypes, fellas. I also saw a younger woman (cute, small, blonde) on Monday morning in the official jumpsuit uniform of the city’s street sweeping staff. She was pushing a giant trash can onto which she had Duct taped a huge boombox circa the 1990s! She was BLARING music and singing very loudly. I found that a little strange as well. God bless this city. They’ve just passed a law trying to clean the community up a bit that bans pretty much everything in the streets (eating, drinking, singing or playing an instrument, selling anything, gatherings of more than 4 people at a time, etc.) Hopefully it won’t scare all of the crazies away- they sure do keep it interesting.

SABES QUE
The world record for the heaviest onion is a 16lb 8½oz (468g) onion grown in West Midlands. The previous record was a 15lb 15½oz (454g) onion which held the record for ten years.

Lazy November

It has been a fairly normal couple of weeks. Working, dealing with the weather’s mood-swings, tapas, etc.

Halloween was a blast. Angel and I dressed up as Popeye and Olive Oyl (“Pop-ay-yay” y Oliva) except Angel wanted some gore so he was “Scary Popeye” . We went out with a bunch of friends so some bars and discotecas. There may have been some karaoke involved… Fun night.

We have also been going rock-climbing a little bit lately. We usually drive up (in the opposite direction from the Sierra Nevadas) to outside of a small town called Alfacar. It is exciting!

Angel and I have also reached the six month mark. While we didn’t do anything to specifically celebrate that day, we have done some more adventures lately.

One I particularly enjoyed was a Sunday when we drove up through the Alpujarras (the small villages scattered about in the Sierra Nevadas). We started in Lanjaron (the village has natural springs and provides a lot of the bottled water for the country) and tested the waters. Then we made our way up to the tippity top- Trevelis.

This is one of the highest pueblos in Spain, and FAMOUS for it’s jamon. (I toured one of the factories in February with Paul and Gillian). We walked around the town for a bit with Gusanna, bought some roadside raspberries (frambuessas- mmmmmm!!) and finally selected a small but cozy bar to eat a big feast of jamon and cheese and meats and fruits. Delicious!

After we ate we jumped back in the car and drove over to another pueblo- Capileira. By this point the sun was setting and the wind was UNBELIVABLE- we’re talking gale-force plus. And so we didn’t get the chance to walk around too much but settled in for a glass of wine and a tapa before heading back home. A very successful journey.

The following weekend we took a daytrip on the moto-de-campo.
We drove up through into the mountains through the heavily-forested areas and ended up on the ruta de vaca. (A really pretty little drive with lots of cows.) We also went to see a jazz concert that night as there is a festival in town and it was pretty good!

Because it has been so long since my last post, I will treat you to not one, but TWO tidbits of information.

SABES QUE

According to Angel (I’ve done no thorough research on this topic) Beetles in the dessert are able to survive by storing water/dew in little deposits in their forelegs. This suffices for the entire day’s supply of hydration.



SABES QUE
Tapa literally means ‘cover’ or lid’ and way back in the old days originated when people would place a slice of bread (or ham or cheese) on top of their jar/glass/mug to either keep out the flies, or prevent drunkenness (reports vary). Now they can be anything- many restaurants and bars are very creative with their recipes. My favorite is still the classic piece of toast with jamon Serrano or Iberico and a slice of Manchego cheese. Here are some other recipes:
http://www.arrakis.es/~jols/tapas/index2.html

Tis the Season...

… to celebrate my favorite holiday—HALLOWEEN!!!!

We officially began the party when I was FINALLY able to locate some pumpkins (small, but still). Every year one of my very favorite Svoboda traditions is the annual pumpkin-carving with my Dad. This year I was unable to spend the time with him, but instead of foregoing the tradition altogether I made do with my favorite man on this side of the ocean. It was Angel’s first time EVER to jack-o-lant (yes, I’ve made that into a verb) and I was pleased that he took the appropriate serious approach- google research and careful planning before the actual slicing began. We were both very excited by our final products. (His is the skull; mine the scary-face).

Afterwards I made some awesome spicy tacos along with all of the accompaniments (guacamole, pico-de-gallo, margaritas etc.) and we headed up to the terrace to celebrate Jaime’s birthday. Jaime had also made a FANTASTIC paella so there was plenty of delicious food to go around for the 20 or so partiers. After several hours of the festivities, we were all exhausted and didn’t even make it to really go-out on the town. (pictured: Jaime, Samuel and the paella)

Yesterday (Sunday) provided us with GORGEOUS weather and Angel and I went out for an early breakfast of tostadas, churros and chocolate at my favorite place- Café Futbol. We then drove out to buy some firewood and stock up for the coming months. After we had unloaded all of the firewood we took Gusana out for an adventure- up to Atarfe. We hiked up to the top of a huge cliff to the Ermita de los Tres Juanes (a hermitage). The views were amazing plus there is an Aviary where we walked around talking to all of the exotic birds (including 4 giant ostriches). There was even a wild peacock running around. The only downfall of the outing was when Gusana spotted a kitten and took off after it. To everyone’s surprise she actually caught it and killed it instantly (she’s never caught ANYTHING before). We were pretty bummed afterwards, but on the other hand, this might be the first time in history a worm has caught a cat.

SABES QUE…
“Halloween is actually based on an ancient Celtic holiday known as Samhain (pronounced ‘sow wan’), which means ‘summer's end’.”
from
http://www.pumpkincarving101.com/pumpkin_carving_history.html

“Help me, Rhonda Help Help me Rhonda”

I’ve had that Beach Boy’s song stuck in my head all weekend. The cause of this was a delightful little weekend excursion to Ronda, Andalusia (in the Malaga province).

On Saturday morning Angel and I got all loaded up with our moto gear (or as I like to call them, our space suits) and set off southwest to visit Ronda with our friends Rafa and Mel (Rafa is from there). We had a stop half way in a town called Antequera that was just darling winding cobblestone streets on steep hills, surrounding a giant castle/Alcazaba.

We found a bar to eat some migas and bocadillos in a plaza situated between a beautiful old iglesia and a charming mezquita. We walked around a tiny bit (in our space boots) before hopping back on the bike for the rest of the journey. Once we arrived in Ronda we met Mel and Rafa in a beautiful park along the edge of the cliff. The entire town is situated along this ENORMOUS drop-off.

There’s a huge huge huge bridge over the abyss that I can’t even imagine how they built 500 years ago. After dropping our stuff off (and putting on real shoes) the four of us headed our for a paseo through the town.

We explored the old town the most, it is incredibly well kept-up and clean. We walked along the old city wall (with towers!) and through some tiny little streets before starting our tapa- hopping. The first bar we went into had incredible tapas- meats, croquettes, fish, I had a fancy toasted cheese thing, and the local specialty- some sort of meat from a bull in a soup- delicious!

We also had a couple bottles of a delicious wine (Pago de Carraovejas Crianza 2006 D.O.Ribera del Duero) that had us each rocking the purple-teeth look.
Several bars later Melinda and I got to talking to an older American couple. They used to work for one of the larger newspapers (he was the editor, she a reporter) and have been coming to Ronda every year since 1973. They sure did have some wild stories!
After I finished my chocolate cake (I had seen someone else order it and wanted some too) the 6 of us headed across town (about a 5 minute walk) to a different bar- very cool. It had a kind of speak-easy feel to it. At this bar the dancing began and was carried on to a disco-teca nearby until the wee hours.
It was a fantastic night.
The next morning (afternoon) we all woke up and ate at Rafa’s mother’s house- they had prepared a big ol’ bacalao and some pork and veggies and pretty much a delicious feast (I even tried the fish). After the food coma wore off, we peeled ourselves from the sofas and drove down to the bottom of the cliff to see the view of the bridge from there.

 It was incredible. I can’t even compare the magnitude of this place to anywhere else I’ve ever seen. We then drove a little further down to Rafa’s family’s farmhouse- An enchanting 100ish year old, two story, yellow home with a big balcony and lots of land.

We met the 80-something sweet old couple next door and walked through the crops and garden. Inside the house were just piles and piles of neat old antiques (my dad would have had a field day looking at everything!) There was a larger salon and newly remodeled kitchen and bathroom downstairs, and three bedrooms upstairs. My favorite had a large princess curtained bed with an old washbasin stand and a window opening towards the gardens. The other two bedrooms were full of twin beds- clearly a very healthy catholic child-bearing family built this home.

 The four of us then returned to town to have one last café con leche before the drive home.






SABES QUE…

Ronda is one of the oldest cities in Spain. Archaelogists have found things dating back to before the Neolithic age, including many cave drawings (like this one).

Semana Mia

The routine continues.
Angel was on an adventure in Morocco last week so I took the extra time to focus on things for me. I went on a short run or a long walk every day, sometimes with my friend Melinda. Once I walked through the open parts of the Alhambra and through some tiny twisty little garden paths. One day Melinda and I went for an especially ambitious trek and ended up in lost the middle of the wilderness on the side of a mountain with me 2 steps from a panic attack about snakes for several hours. However, once we finally found the trail again we were treated to some gorgeous views.

I also had a little bit of a sore throat so I treated myself to a night at the baños arabes with the steam room and a massage after work. It was perfect.

On Friday I stayed in and made myself a delicious dinner- Buey (ox) with grilled balsamic veggies and some red wine, with a fresh fruit medley dessert. I also had a few phone dates with some of my girlfriends back home. Very relaxing!

Besides all the pampering, I had a very busy workweek. I was called into the bar quite a few evenings as half of Granada has a cold right now. One night there was a whole gaggle of Texans in there on vacation, which was downright delightful! We talked about Shiner Bock and two-stepping and all sorts of good things.

I continue to accumulate classes at the school tambien and have really been enjoying some of the discussions that have come up in several of the adult classes. (For example, whether pets are part of the family and different views on dating).

Angel finally came back on Monday (They celebrate Columbus Day here too, so everything was closed and no one had to work). His adventure basically had consisted of him and about 50 other guys riding their dirtbikes over the dunes in the middle of the dessert for 8 days, but sleeping in gorgeous and lavish jaimas (tented structures) with pools and 5 star meals. He brought me presents! A beautiful necklace with silver and pinkish/purplish/reddish stones, a beautiful silver box to keep it in, a carved Tortuga (stone and wood) and photographic and video evidence that camels can indeed run (a debate we’d been having).

Tapaemos (We did a sampling of tapas at various bars) with his friends on Monday night and found a few new exciting places nearby.

The sad news is that my beautiful dog, Ophelia, passed away this past Sunday. She had stomach cancer so we knew it was coming, but it was still tough to be so far away when it happened. Below I’ve written 10 things that I loved about her.

1. Ophelia was an excellent hunter. She would spend hours chasing and ferociously barking at small animals in the yard or up trees. However whenever she actually caught anything she would freak out and if she accidentally hurt it she would get really upset and pout for days.

2. She was really good with other dogs. In fact, when we would run together we would both instinctually speed up whenever another runner and/or dog came near in order to showoff while appearing completely disinterested.

3. The only problem with the previous thing was that she was just as clumsy as I am and one or both of us would trip or stumble while running- often in front of other people, sometimes creating a crazy tangle of legs and leash and even once or twice into a pool.


4. When she felt she was not getting the appropriate amount of attention that she deserved (anytime she was not getting a headscratch or a backrub) she would calmly remind whoever was around of this deserved attention by placing her head in their laps/on their knees/ etc. If this was ignored for long enough she could produce a disgruntled-old-man sound similar to a cartoon “Hrrummph” accompanied by a tragic sigh.

5.Whenever we would sleep, she always managed to have a place actually in the bed with me. One of her favorite tricks was to wait until I was asleep, cuddle up really close with her legs all folded up and then suddenly stretch her legs out- pushing me over and sometimes even off the bed.

6. She would get a little gassy while she was sleeping and in the process would wake herself up and look at you accusingly.





7. She would grudgingly wear antlers for Christmas and appear like Santa’s Little Helper.

8. Ophelia LOVED to be groomed. Anything remotely related to bath-time or being brushed got her very excited. When my dad’s long-haired dog would get a haircut, Ophelia would get jealous and sad unless we pretended to give her a haircut as well.

9. When she was lying down, she very often crossed her front paws like a lady.





10. She would eat anything with the same excitement as if it were a filet mignon. Favorites included my dad’s bbq brisket, vanilla ice cream grasshoppers and dirt.

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".