Semana Santa - Tenerifee y Sevilla

¿Qué? ¿Estas bien? – Sí, bien.  I realize that sometimes the only exchanges I have with people in my town is asking “how are you” and such … well, ever realize that the automatic response is yes?  Perhaps it’s not always true, however on my recent walk back from grabbing coffee while studying for the GRE, I pondered what I had just said … yes, I am good.  To be honest, I can’t complain, I am great!  I have been living in Spain for the past 8 months, I am loving my job, trying as much to improve the education of my students, helping students and teachers learn proper English, meeting many people both old and young, having personal acquaintances with coffee shops and so much more.  I have had the opportunity to explore Spain and Europe, and although my Spanish might not be at the peak I would like it to be, it is improving and I might get made fun of back in the States for my new Andalucían accent and the eating of my “s”, but I am happy for all that I have achieved!  Just thought I’d share my recent thoughts and as my last month has started I want to thank everyone who has supported me through this chapter in my life!  I couldn’t have done it without you all!  ¡Gracias a todos!  

Anywho … I apologize for the two week delay of this blog but I think I put it off because my “spring break” also known as “Semana Santa” did not go quite as planned but I suppose my pictures show otherwise.  

            For “Semana Santa” a friend (Ashlee) and I traveled to Tenerife (Canary Islands) and Sevilla.  Our plane left Sevilla at 7am on Sunday morning so we decided not to get a hostel Saturday evening and just walk around Sevilla until we could head to the airport.  It actually was not too bad as there was a festival going on called “Festival of Nations”.  This festival was also there when I arrived in Sevilla in September.  Hence we spent some time here catching up, drinking beers from all over the world and eating!   We then walked across Sevilla towards to the bus stations and hailed a cab at 4am to the Airport when it reopened.  We slept a little on the benches before checking in and heading to Tenerife.  

            We arrived to a cloudy scene, however as the cab descended the mountain the sun came out.  Althought it was still early in the morning we were hoping to be able to check into our hotel room or at least leave our luggage while we explored the town.  However, when we walked up to the front desk and gave our names they did not have our reservation.  We double checked the email and had unknowingly made the reservation for 2 weeks PRIOR to when we were there.  Hmmm … Great.  So seeing as it was the week of Semana Santa I was nervous we would not be able to get a room because everything was booked up.  We left our luggage at the hotel and took a walk around while they figured out our room situation.  We explored the little areas newar by and saw lots of lizards and amazing plants!  Needless to say after a few hours and paying twice for rooms, we got a room and it had the OCEAN view which before we had a mountain view.  Breathtaking!  

 Tenerife view to the North

            The next two days we spent the time the sun gave us laying by the pool or taking the hotel bus into town and explore the more developed areas.  There were black sand beaches, lots of tourist shops and great views.  However our second day there after coming back from the pool we arrived in our room with water pouring steadily into our room, on the floor and the beds.  And then they proceeded to clean up the mess with more blankets.  As our hotel staff said on the phone “There is a tsunami in the room, quick we need a boat.”

 How they clean up water in Spain.

            After switch rooms (which they seemed reluctant to do) we continued to enjoy the little sun we had while spending our second to last day inside due to all the rain.  Our very last day we checked out early and headed into town until we had to be at the airport.  Here we wandered around, ate some tapas and enjoyed the SUN!  Of course, the last day we weren’t at the hotel we had sun. 

            That evening upon our arrival to Sevilla and after an extremely scary cab ride, we spotted our first and only “KKK” sighting.  Kinda creepy in the dark!   

 Sighting!

I still have yet to learn why they have these costumes and I was hoping to see processions but as the rain followed us to Sevilla, all the processions were canceled.  I was thoroughly disappointed.  The next two days in Sevilla were filled with rain.  The moment I stepped off the train in Almería (only an hour from Vera), the sun was shining and the weather was glorious.  Once again … “It’s always sunny in Philadelphia Vera”. 

Semana Santa Photos 

            Since returning from break, I was welcomed back at school with thundering footsteps as students rushed towards me shouting “Seño” and dozens of arms wrapped around me for hugs!  I guess I can’t complain when students greet me that way.  The ways of teaching in the US are so different, I believe hugs are unacceptable.  I must say I am going to miss my students!

            Also this past weekend my friends and I rented a car (since we have Labor Day today (Monday)) and hence a longer weekend, but for me a normal weekend as I always have Monday’s off.  Anywho … Friday evening we followed our friends as they played in this “Traveling Acoustic” group.  Traveling Acoustic are different people playing guitars and singing and they play at a new bar every other week or so.  We followed them on Friday evening to El Pilar and enjoyed a night of music and conversation with the Brit’s.  On Saturday after the market we decided to go explore Almería and find this inactive volcanic crater that we have all heard about.  However … a 40 minute drive turned out to be an almost 3 hour excursion as we headed in the opposite direction and everyone we asked along the way for a volcano simply laughed and had no idea this existed.  Although I must say the views along our drive were beautiful!

 Almeria coast

 Our directions were also pretty vague: 

 After barriers turn L,

dirt rd backwards,

2nd dip,

dirt rd. Left.                    

After shouting after every dirt road and finding what we thought were barriers, we managed to pakr and hike our way towards the volcano.  The inside was MASSIVE!  There were many trails we walked upon and also went to the very center where the rocks were built up.  It was nice and relaxing.  We finally made it!  

 Volcanic Crater Photos

            The following day three of us went to the caves in Sorbas.  We went on the basic route through the caves and it was very interesting.  We want to go back at some point and go on the “combined” route as this involves more climbing and crawling further into the caves.  Interesting facts learned:  Your eyes would never adjust to the darkness (as I finally asked after vigorously waving my hand in front of my voice) and the rock found in the caves (gypsum) used to be used to make plaster.  You can also still see marks made from dynamite on the outsides of the caves. 

This is the cave we entered.  But were not allowed to take photos inside.

The lines going up and down are all marks from dynamite.

            My cousin and her husband arrive on Saturday where we will head off to Roquetas de Mar for the night and then spend the next two days in Granada.  Can’t believe that my time is winding down!    

           

Dia de la Vieja

Recently here in Vera a holiday was celebrated that is only here and in another handful of cities in the area but not all over Almería, nor Andalucía, nor España.  It’s called Día de la Vieja.  The day of the old lady!  This day is celebrated out in the campo (country), eating, drinking and being merry.  Literally!  Students rarely show up to school on this day and after work around 2 pm everyone heads out to the campo to eat and drink.  Later on there are piñata’s of old ladies placed in the middle of the country and everyone begins to throw rocks at them.  Eventually the old lady is demolished and the candy breaks out from the inside and the children all run to grab the candy.  And that is Día de la Vieja.  Now aside from those wonderful things, I have no idea how this day became and why it is only celebrated in our area.  Most people have probably never heard of it.  Here is a photo I grabbed from google which resembles both the old lady displayed in the field, and the one I saw at our school that was being taken out to the campo.

I have unfortunately been sick and was unable to experience “Día de la Vieja”.  The past few weekends I have been enjoying myself here in Vera (as usual).  It is really going to be weird coming home after having this be my first “home”!

 The other night made me really realize how unique this experience is and how different my town is from other big cities.  My friends and I decided to go out for Tapas on a Monday night and it was about 10:30pm.  We were walking towards a place and when we got there the chairs were being stacked and we asked them if they were closing.  The said yes and then hesitated.  After a few minutes they let us come in and opened just for us.  We walked in and they locked the door.  That's something that rarely happens were people will open just for you!  I also have cafes that know my order and even though after perhaps a long time of going to Starbucks I could get them to know my order but it's not the same.  

This weekend we have the Medieval Fair here again which I have wandered around!  We also have had GREAT weather and I think we are finally over the "cold" hump.  I have spent a few days at the beach and even went swimming in the ocean ... although it was quite cold!  Starting to realize that I will actually miss my first real home!  

I have pictures I still need to post and will hopefully get those up soon!  Until then ... Hasta luego!

Julie

American Addiction

Nothing like mentioning that I only have one jar of peanut butter left and then suddenly receiving seven jars :-) 

Las Fallas en Valencia

                As you may have read previously, I recently went to Valencia for the “Las Fallas” festival.  This festival was one of the most unique and unimaginable festival I have yet to see, and I didn’t even see the “las fallas” part.  Las Fallas literally means “the fires”. The main aim of this festival is the construction and annihilation of the “ninots”.  The ninots are larger than life animated figures made of plaster, wood structures and other unknown elements.  These animated figures illustrate humorous scenes and current events, while also making fun of corrupt politicians and celebrities, for example Uncle Sam.  Each neighborhood creates their own ninot which are all pulled into a competition that is judged a few days before the festival is over.  The ninot winner of this competition is placed into the museum of ninots, while the rest are filled with fireworks and gunpowder and set on fire on March 19^th.  This day is known as La Cremá, which is where las fallas (the fires) comes into play.  The whole town looks like it is set on fire and the ninots are burned to the ground.  

                Unfortunately I was there a weekend too early for the fires but I did get to see the construction of some of the figurines.  They are multiple stories high and look almost like Disney Characters.  In fact the winner (as shown below), reminds me of the captain or general guy from Pocahontas.    

 WINNER!  You can also see how big it is compared to the people standing at the bottom.

                When I first arrived, I did not realize the size of these figures and merely thought all the things wrapped in plastic where parts to a carnival ride … Low and behold I was mistaken and they were actually different parts of the ninots.  

 First encounters

 It was very interesting to see these humongous figures and if I were to go again, I would definitely be there during La Cremá as well as walk around to see as many ninots as possible AND see them all fully constructed.  I did have the chance to see one that had fallen over, but by Sunday they had it glued back together as best they could … aside from the minor (I mean major) scratch marks and paint chips.  

 Fallen

   Reconstructed

                The festival also has other aspects such as desfiles (parades), bullfights, paella contests (seeing as Valencia is where paella originated from) and the daily mascletá.  The mascletá is another competition of string-lined firecrackers that go off every day at 2pm in Plaza Ayuntamiento.  In this competition, it is once again different neighborhoods competing on which neighborhood can make the MOST noise.  Each day there is a new neighborhood that puts on a display of firecrackers.  Not only did these firecrackers make enough noise for me to plug my ears, but they also shook the ground as well as my entire body as they resounded in the town.  And this isn’t a merely 1 minute display but a good 10 minutes at least.  We went to this on our second day in Valencia and I didn’t need to go again as my ears rang the rest of the trip and they could be heard from practically anywhere in the city. 

 The crowd awaiting the noise!

                We also saw a parade our second night that was about two hours long and my back was very sore from standing for so long.  But the parade was very interesting and I did not quite grasp some of the elements in it.  There were over 30+ horses in it either dancing or pulling a carriage.  Sadly there was one horse that was literally steaming and soaking wet and I felt so terrible for it!  There were also different groups that were holding a Mexico Flag and a Nigeria Flag … I’m not sure what their purpose was but they were in the parade. 

                Aside from Las Fallas, my friend and I either wanted to see a bullfight or an acrobatic event.  I am still not sure on my feelings about bull fightings and so I chose the acrobatic event because there was no killing involved.  During this there were 20 performers and five bulls, equaling four people per bull.  Instead of fighting and killing the bulls, these people do jumps, tricks and flips around the bull and/or over the bull.  Personally I think this is more daring and dangerous seeing as they do NOT have weapons nor can they detect the bulls next move to predict the trick they are going to perform.  Unfortunately three people were injured during this event, two more critically than the last one.  This was also the first time a woman has performed in this event as well.  And at the end of the day these bulls were spared … well at least for now.   THIS IS NOT A VIDEO OF A BULL FIGHT BUT A FLIP

                We also walked around the gardens to see the Art and Science museum that had an awesome structure on the outside.  I think it looks like a fish!           

All in all, I think that Valencia was a BEAUTIFUL city!  It is the 3^rd biggest in Spain (I believe) and there are so many little side streets that it doesn’t feel like a city at all.  Perhaps it was because a lot of the roads were blocked off due to the ninots but I really enjoyed my time there.  Here are a few pictures of other ninots.  

However I definitely enjoyed this past weekend here in Vera after 3 weekends of traveling on busses and trains!  I also got to finally go back to the market, my favorite place!  I realized I have never shown any pictures of the market and vegetables so here are just a few.  Enjoy!

 My normal vender

 My fruit vender

 Cloths

 Fresh beans and nuts

Hasta luego! Besos!

Julie

The Town's Protector Beheaded

 BEFORE

As some of you may have seen in pictures ... we have Jesus (Espiritu Santo) watching over Vera. A long time ago there was a village on that hill and in Vera.  There was an earthquake that destroyed the village and Vera.  After this natural disaster, in place of the village upon the mountain, people built a statue of Jesus to protect Vera against natural disasters.  Funny thing is .... Friday night we had a terrible storm in Vera and the Jesus Statue was beheaded by a bolt of lightening.  Our protector of Natural Disasters was beheaded by a natural occurance.  Tad bit of information I found out today in Vera. 

AFTER

Una fiesta sin descanso - Carnaval

                Seeing as I’m still trying to catch up on sleep I can’t even begin to describe Cadiz and Carnaval.  For starters, I would love to return to Cadiz without the madness as it was a BEAUTIFUL city and right along the ocean. 

                However, this was not the first impression I got when I stepped off the bus into a mix of people dressed up by the hundreds loitering the streets.  There were groups of costumes up to 20+ people strong.  Beers and other alcoholic beverages were being carried around the streets in plain sight.  My friend and I were actually staying in a town an hour or so away called Chipiona.  But we got off the bus with some people staying in Cadiz to grab a coffee and some food before heading back on the bus to our final destination.  We soon found out that cafés were not serving coffee but only alcoholic beverages, more or less.  Hence our coffee turned into beers and tapas.  During this time we also saw many face painted people dancing in a drunken state around the streets.  Quite amusing.  

                We arrived in Chipiona during the early evening (to Spaniards, the afternoon).  It was a very cute little town set up along the ocean as well, which we did not see until the following day.  That night we hung out, figured out costumes and chatted about the upcoming events of Carnaval.  The following morning we headed into town to grab food and drinks for that evening as well as some tapas.  We also managed to head to the ocean side where the 3^rd largest lighthouse in Spain is located.   

 Chipiona

Lighthouse!

It was also a breathtaking view and I wanted to spend hours there but time was ticking and we had to make the bus to Cadiz and dress in our costumes.   My friends Ashlee and Emily were Indians, I was a soccer play (of Spain … I thought it might be a bad idea to write “Team America” on my shirt), and then my roommate and a group of his friends were Oompa Loompa’s  (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).   

Soccer Player Julie

 Just 3 of the 12 Oompa Loompa's

We stepped off the bus once again into herds of people dressed in costumes.  We dropped our stuff off at a friend’s place and began the party.  The night was crazy!  So many costumes, awesome atmosphere but lots of streets smelling of urine!  We had a good time dancing the night away … perhaps a little too much as we missed our bus the next morning. 

                Sunday I toured the city trying to find us a way back to Vera.  Eventually we got a bus that evening at 9pm to Granada and a friend was going to take us the following morning back to Vera, where he also worked.  Hence we spent the day wandering around Cadiz again and seeing other costumes and floats. 

 Float

 I liked the Pirate!

 First place float!

  It rained that day so it was pretty gross outside.  We then headed to Granada and arrived at 1:30am.  We wandered across the city and hung out in the freezing cold for the next 7 hours until 8am.  I don’t think I have ever shivered so much as I did then.  Now my body aches from lack of sleep and shivering.

                It was a crazy time and the costumes definitely are amazing and people go all out!  It’s like Mardi Gras (I’m assuming) and Halloween times a billion!  I would love to return to Cadiz and see the city as the sights of the ocean were breathtaking.  Next weekend, I am off to Valencia for Las Fallas, another festival.  

Besito!

Julie