New Space!

New Official Space: Spanish Sabores Read about my Spanish adventures (like getting married) and stay up to date on new recipes and travel advice. 

2 New Blogs

Hey guys, it's literally been forever, but I realize that some people are still checking this blog. I actually have abandoned this effort and started 2 new blogs this year. The first focuses around food and the second on the two weddings I am busy planning.

Check them out and enjoy!

http://myspanishamericanweddings.blogspot.com/

http://spanishsabores.blogspot.com/

What I've Been Busy Eating...!

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love to cook and to eat. So here are some pictures of what I've been cooking and eating lately:

Polish Food Made By My Roommate's Polish Friend!

At Ale's House, Spanish Potato Salad (With tuna, crab, and egg)

More Food at Ale's: Pasta with Mussels

And Even More Food (All for the Same Meal): White Fish With Sauce

I Helped With These: Homemade Croquettes

My Fish: Oven Baked Swordfish With Paprika and Cumin

Ale's Fish: Whole and Lightly Fried

Today's Lunch: 3 Salads (Marinated Carrots, Potato Salad, and Local Tomatoes with Homemade Balsamic Reduction) and Pan Seared Cinnamon and Cumin Spiced Lamb

What do you think? I'm surviving, right?

Another Overdue Update...

Well, here I am, sweating to death in my 90 degree apartment and being attacked by moths. It seems like summer is finally here and I know I wished for it, but it is HOT! I can't even imagine what it will be like by August (luckily I'll be home in the US for the most part)!

This year has flown by. I think in retrospect I've learned a lot, and I've definitely seen a lot while traveling! It hasn't been perfect, but its been a learning experience in many ways. I've taught classes of 30+ high schoolers alone (and in a language they don't understand...), I've lived with roommates from other countries and for the first time with a boyfriend, I've become an even better cook (haha), improved my Spanish, and I will now learn to sleep without air conditioning...

But there have been challenges. My job is difficult because I don't think they are using me the way they should be. I think I may have started out too eager and took on too much responsibility. It will be up to me next year to be more assertive, which is something I'm still struggling with. It's also challenging living in a different culture. There are so many little things that the people do here that drive me (and many of my friends) absolutely crazy!

For example: not saying excuse me/please/thank you, smoking everywhere, rude service in restaurants, malls, etc., children who have no interest in learning nor respect for their teachers, teachers who have no interest in teaching and are very passive in the classroom, being called crazy for eating eggs in the morning/lentils or garbanzos at night/considering yogurt and fruit snacks and NOT dessert, cell phones that are prohibitively expensive to talk on, doctors offices being closed between 1 and 5:30... and the list goes on. Taken individually they are trivial, even funny, but there are days when the things just pile up and the US looks like heaven. Though I know as soon as any of us return it'll be the opposite effect; "the grass is always greener on the other side."

Despite being busy this year I feel lazy. I miss being in school, studying something, or taking some sort of class. Next year I need to work less, and enjoy more. Although the money this year enabled me to travel and buy clothes etc. I think I'll be happier overall doing some more things for myself. Possible options for next year so far are: a Master's, Portuguese classes, dance classes...

The past 2 months have been pretty full. There was Seville's Fair and also one in El Puerto de Santa Maria where Ale lives. I went to both dressed in a beautiful purple and white flamenco dress. I couldn't dance Sevillanas, but at least I looked the part!

Here are some pictures to show you what I've been up to lately:

Beautiful Budapest

Hand Painted Easter Eggs

A View of Prague

Semana Santa Procession (Easter Week)

The Body of Christ

The Weekend in Gorgeous Granada

Qué Bonita!

The First Night of the Feria de Sevilla (Seville Fair)

American Gitanas

Ale's House Before the Feria de El Puerto

New Year, New Country!

After one, far too short, week at home for Christmas I made my way back to Spain for the New Year. Let me tell you it was quite a journey. After many delays, missed planes, re-routes through London, sprinting through airports, and losing luggage I finally arrived in Seville (luggage-less) after roughly 48 hours. Although it was a nightmare, at least I would be able to spend the 31st with my boyfriend in his hometown.

I was quite nervous to be honest. It was the first time meeting his family and many of his friends and also the first time experiencing New Year's in a different country with different traditions! Also, I had had everything planned... my "meet the parents" outfit, my New Year's Eve "clubbing" outfit, a small gift for the family...etc. Yet with the unfortunate fact that my luggage was still in the US while I was in Spain, I had to rethink things. Luckily, after secretly raiding my roommates closet (shhh) and taking the few options I had in mine I was able to scrap together a semi-decent wardrobe. So the morning of the 31st, after 5 hours of sleep and quite jet-lagged, I took the train to El Puerto de Santa María, my boyfriend's hometown which is a small city right on the ocean in the province of Cadiz, Andalucía.

The train was very nice and quite comfortable. I love that there is good public transportation in this country! A 1.5 hour trip cost about 10€ ($15). I arrived early and spent the day with my bf and his family. The weather was rainy, but we were able to take a walk to the beach (which is only 5 minutes from their house!) I also took a short nap to try to get some energy for the night!

The Beach in December

Dinner began around 10:30. I was too shy to take pictures! (Next time I promise). Spanish holidays serve mostly seafood and we had delicious prawns, seafood stew, mussels, salads, etc. Everything was fresh and delicious! At midnight the Spaniards have a very silly, but very fun tradition. You get a bowl of 12 grapes (not seedless!) Some people go through the trouble of peeling them... but I think it cheating! For the last 12 seconds of the year, as the clock strikes 12 times, you must eat one grape per second. Most Spaniards have a lot of trouble with this and can't eat or swallow them all.

Strangely enough... I had no problem. I was actually embarrassed to realize I was the only one who had eaten all 12. Was I trying too hard? I don't know, maybe its just because I love to eat! Well, anyway, embarrassment aside, we then drank champagne and wished each other a Happy New Year.

After midnight I changed clothes to go out. The nice thing about the Spanish culture (especially on New Year's Eve) is that clubs don't even start until 3:00-4:00 in the morning. So Spanish people can spend the evening eating and enjoying with their families, and then go out with their friends around 1:00 or 2:00. Usually they stay out until 8:00 in the morning and get something for breakfast.

We had already paid for a private room and open bar in one discoteca in the city center with about 40 of the bf's friends. It wasn't the best club in the world, but the people were nice and the music was decent. I had fun, although not knowing anyone is always a bit awkward... add in the language barrier, and its just not the same as going out with my American friends! But I still had fun, and we actually left quite early (6:00 am) because I was so tired!

On New Year's Day I visited more with the family and we ate many leftovers from Christmas and New Year's, which is the traditional way to eat on New Year's Day. At night, we headed back to Seville.

I had been planning to spend the rest of the week (which I had off) in Seville, but the bf invited me to come with him again to Puerto for El Día de los Reyes Magos (3 Wise Men's Day/Epiphany) This is the day that Spanish children typically receive their gifts (left by the 3 Wise Men, NOT Santa Claus) and that family members also exchange gifts. I was uncertain about going, but decided to in the end as my suitcase had arrived and I wanted to give everyone their gifts too.

Once again the holiday was filled with eating, drinking, and conversation. We all exchanged gifts and I felt really welcomed to receive something too! We exchanged gifts after eating on January 5th (actually the 6th because it was past midnight) despite the bf's protests that everyone should wait for morning.

The next day more family came over and all of the nieces and nephews received their gifts. We ate a lot more, including a special dessert made only for this celebration. It's called a Roscón de Reyes (King's Ring) and it didn't look too appealing to me but I ended up loving it. Its like a sweet bread ring cut in half and filled with a delicious cream of your choice (we chose chocolate). Be careful because it has small toys and figures inside too! Traditionally, if you get a small baby figure you will have good luck for the year to come, but if you get the dried bean... you must pay for the cake! My piece was figurine free...

Mmm... King's Cake

Overall, I really enjoyed spending New Year's in Spain. Since its a holiday I usually associate with friends in the US it wasn't too sad to be without my family. I think its really nice that here you can spend time with both your family and your friends. What I can't believe is that a quarter of the year has already gone by since I was in Puerto for New Year's! Time is flying! More to come... Besos!

Ronda

At the beginning of December we had a Puente AKA a long weekend. I was desperate to get out of Seville. Spanish Boyfriend and I decided to go somewhere together and finally, at the last minute, we decided on Ronda. Ronda is a small town about 3 hours from Seville by bus. We went on a Friday evening and arrived after dark. After finding the hotel, eating, and having a few drinks we were exhausted. Imagine my surprise to see this the next morning:

We were in the middle of the mountains! I know that for some people this is nothing special, but for me it was. Coming from Central Massachusetts I am not used to seeing scenery like this and I loved every minute of it.

The first day we spent exploring the town, eating, and shopping. The town itself is gorgeous, especially the old quarter across from the famous bridge.

As one of the oldest Spanish towns, Ronda also has a lot of Moorish influence in both its culture and architecture. We visited most of the monuments, the Arab Baths, and a wine museum (not worth it by the way!) The great thing about the town is that it has plenty to do for a weekend, but is still small enough to walk everywhere and get a little bit lost while exploring!

The next day we rented a car and drove through the twisty mountain roads along the route of the Pueblos Blancos which are small whitewashed villages that appear suddenly in the middle of nowhere! We packed a typical Spanish lunch (bread, lunch meat, and cheese) and set off to see as much as possible.

Me, hiking up a mountain in 13 Euro "Sneakers" I bought from a "Chino" immediately before...

A Cave!

Finding a spot for a picnic lunch

One of the Pueblos Blancos

At the top! Look at the twisty roads... good thing I can't drive stick...

Altogether Ronda was a lot of fun! I would recommend a visit to anyone visiting Spain, as long as its not during the Winter!

Update of a Lifetime

Dear Readers, (I think there might be 3 of you at most) I'm sorry for being so lazy with this blog! In addition to being busy, I haven't always had the best internet connection... and I have reallllly been slacking! But, starting now, I will update you on the past three months of my life and I promise to make it exciting...

Where I've Been in the Past 3 Months:

- Visited the beautiful Spanish town of Ronda and drove through the mountains stopping in the famous Pueblos Blancos (White Villages)

- Experienced a true Spanish New Year's Eve and Epiphany (El Día de los Reyes Magos) complete with 12 grapes at midnight, and a King's Cake...

- Went to Morocco (and still didn't like it too much!)

- Went to a typical Spanish town called Arcos de La Frontera and tried some fun new Tapas

- Took an AWESOME trip to Belgium and The Netherlands... (Brussels, Bruges, and Amsterdam)

Other Reasons I've Been Busy!

- Spanish Boyfriend

- "Broken" feet (I don't know what exactly I did to my feet but I've been in and out of Doctor's offices for the past 3 months)

- I've moved! As it turns out there were some problems with my old apartment so I made the decision to live with Spanish Boyfriend and a nice girl from Finland...

- I've been cooking... a lot! I hope to write more about some of the great food I've been eating and cooking here

- Work, work, work...

- AND... Rain. I know it sounds funny, but this year Seville has had more rain than in the past 50 or more... we didn't see the sun for almost 2 months! And in a place with no dryers that meant no clean clothes for a long time... and a very crabby Lauren.

Well, thats a short recap. Now, finally the sun is out and Spring has begun! Next week is Semana Santa (Holy Week) and Spanish Boyfriend will leave on Wednesday for Japan while I'm leaving on Saturday for Budapest and Prague. I'm verrryyy excited!

This week I also don't have much work, as students from England, Holland, and Germany are coming to Carmona and I'll be going on field trips with them and some of the Spanish students on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday I have off! Friday I have an interview for a job this summer in July working at a summer camp somewhere in Spain.

Well, thats the update for now, pictures and more info. to follow. Besos!