Escaping the Cold in Granada [Part 2]

For some reason, and I'm not really sure where this came from, I went into Granada with the idea that I would enjoy seeing La Alhambra but that there wasn't really anything else in the city to interest me.

I was certainly proven wrong on that count.

LA ALHAMBRA

Is amazing, of course. We spent 6 hours inside and still didn't manage to see everything.

The Alhambra palaces.

One of the best parts - our Welsh BFF that we met while waiting in the line to get into the palaces. My mom was reading something from her Rick Steves travel guide [by the end of the trip, we were teasing her about her attachment to "Rick"] about one of the Muslim rulers of the city who was driven out by Christians in the 1100s or something. He was lamenting its loss, and his mom told him, "If you had defended the city like a man, then you wouldn't be crying like a woman now."

The man in front of us turned around laughing at that, and we talked with him and his daughter-in-law until we got into the palace. This guy was the quintessential Welshman, with his ruddy cheeks and round belly and brilliant accent. [Really he would make a perfect Santa Claus.] Apparently, my sister's middle name, which is a Welsh family name, is spelled differently than it would be in Wales. Somewhere or another, someone stuck an extra "n" on it. Although, it could also have been abbreviated from something else when the family emigrated. Who knows?

Gardens everywhere.

Later, we caught up with them again in the baths section of the palace. I can't for the life of me remember what sparked this question, but our Welsh friend was trying to think of a name for some famous quote or something. So he asked, "Who's that famous American satirist? From the 19th Century?"

My thought: Johnathan Swift wrote satire, but he wasn't American, was he?

My dad's answer: Jon Stewart [he missed the 19th Century bit]

My sister's answer: Me!

Actual answer: Mark Twain

We lagged behind them after that, since we were listening to the audio guides, and didn't manage to run into them again. Really, it was surprising that we were in the same part of the complex at the same time twice. It's obviously super famous but no one ever told me it was so big. We started in the palaces, because you have to reserve the time slot to enter them [hence the line], then wandered through the palace gardens. After that, we took a hot chocolate break and said hello to some cats.

Camera shy. To be fair, there were several of us taking pictures.

Then there's a second palace built by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles with a lovely little art museum inside. And then we toured the original fortress part of the complex which was probably my favorite part. There were some great views of the city from the tops of the towers. [Which, according to the audio guide, were rounded to better defend against cannons.]

The new palace.

By the time we got back towards the entrance, passing the public baths, a church, the ruins of the medina and the monastery where Isabel I and husband were originally buried, we were too exhausted to walk through the rest of the gardens. Also it was 3:00 and we hadn't eaten lunch. So we went to an Italian place called Bacchus Romano and my baby sister had her first [non-alcoholic] shot.

LA CIUDAD

I find it difficult to put into words exactly why I enjoyed Granada so much. The architecture and the warmth and the food were delicious, but I could say that about the other places I visited too. We didn't really even spend a lot of time there; even leaving Soria early in the morning, we didn't arrive until around 5 in the afternoon. And then it probably took another 30 minutes of being led through tiny alleys by our GPS, narrowly avoiding hitting buildings, to make it to our hotel.

The next day was entirely devoted to the Alhambra. After seeing it, we went to an overlook to look at it again. And then the last morning - and only because I begged - we delayed leaving until we had gone to see the Cathedral, which had closed by the time we left the overlook the night before. It was incredible. I unfortunately didn't get any good pictures of the exterior because it was a bit rainy that morning.

I suppose it could have been the realization of all the history that happened in Granada that makes me remember it so fondly. For someone as obsessed with the subject as myself, there's really a lot of Spanish history that I'm lacking on. And of course, I'm going to be relying on TV to help me fix that. [I also plan on going to the library to find some Spanish historical fiction. Assuming that I ever make it over there.]

Source: http://trasladosgranada.semfyccongresos.com/monumentos

Like, for instance, Isabel and Ferdinand are now buried in the Royal Chapel next to the Granada Cathedral, after their grandson Emperor Charles moved them there. And their daughter Juana and her husband are buried there too. Isabel is extra popular in Spain at the moment thanks to a little TV show about her, which is why I said we had to go to the Cathedral before we left.

I find it truly amazing to visit the same places that she would have, to visit these places who have so many important "ghosts" who walked inside their walls hundreds of years ago.

Christmas in Spain [Part 1]

As luck would have it, Soria picked the worst day of the year to be rainy and gross: Christmas Eve, also known as the day my parents and sisters arrived in Spain.

I checked the weather report constantly in the days leading up to Christmas, hoping that the forecast would magically change and it would be beautiful and warm, but alas. I managed to give them a quick tour of downtown before lunch when it was only slightly drizzling [mostly because I failed to make it to the grocery store before they got in and dragged them along with me, but still].

That evening, however, I made the ultimately poor decision to take them on a walk along the river to see the monastery and hermitage. When we set out [after my dad and I woke everyone else up from their naps], it was still pretty light outside and just drizzling. We walked up to San Juan de Duero...and it was closed.

Ah, hindsight. It should have immediately been clear to me that if the monastery were closed, the hermitage would be also. But I suppose I was too excited by my family's arrival and the prospect of showing them around "my" city to consider such things. And so we started the trek to San Saturio.

This is normally a nice walk along the river. However, we weren't even halfway there when the rain intensified. A sign to turn back? If so, I ignored it. I had on the new boots I bought myself on Cyber Monday, so my feet were cozy and dry, and my coat kept me plenty warm. It took a little longer for me to notice how bedraggled my poor family looked, with the rain pelting their faces and the wind blowing back their umbrellas.

We ended up getting so soaked that we had to pull out the drying rack when we got back.

I guess I'm more accustomed to the cold than I thought.

We finally stopped when they could at least see the hermitage, which pretty obviously had no lights on, so that our long walk wouldn't have been completely in vain. And then we walked home, I made a big pot of soup and several hot chocolates, and introduced my little sister to my favorite telenovela.

The next day, in my opinion at least, made up for the poor weather on the first. We had a late breakfast and opened presents. We saw some snow flurries outside while eating our Christmas lunch, probably the first time I have actually seen snow on Christmas Day. And then we had a wonderful, clear afternoon to take a long walk in the park, visit a couple of churches, and buy a dozen churros [my sister's go-to dessert on the trip].

Goofing off in the park, because that's what family is for.

Oh, and the thing I'm most proud of? Besides finding Christmas gifts for everyone without the help of gift cards and wish lists, I was really proud that I managed to find places for us to park the rental car without getting it towed or ticketed.

Stayed tuned for the day I eventually write about the rest of our/my trip: Granada, Sevilla, Madrid, Valencia, and a hint of Zaragoza.

Home Sweet Home

Today concluded a whirlwind 11 days of traveling through Spain, the first half with my wonderful family and the second by myself. I've accumulated a lot of pictures [definitely ran out of memory on my camera] and stories and receipts, some of which I'll share with the Internet soon. [Not the receipts. That would be boring.]

But I'm a wee bit tired at the moment. Unfortunately for me, I rarely manage to sleep in buses or cars or trains so I missed out on several prime napping opportunities. So the actual this-is-what-I-did-on-vacation posts will be written...later.

As much as I lovelovelove traveling, it was verrrrry nice to walk down familiar streets and through the door of my apartment. I'm actually glad to be getting back into my routine of work and relaxation. Don't get me wrong - in two weeks I will be eagerly anticipating our next long weekend and the possibility of going somewhere new. But now I just want to be home.

And not just "home" in Spain. Walking through my apartment, I saw the shampoo bottle one of my sisters left in the bathroom. I saw the Christmas presents that my family brought me [they brought the most perfect gifts]. I saw the homemade paper Christmas tree that I had set on the table as a centerpiece for our family meals.

Feeling sentimental, I grabbed my computer and my hymnal - that my family brought for me from home because it didn't fit in my suitcase in September - and settled down on the couch to check email, upload pictures, etc.

I was doing all right with all my emotions until I decided to open my hymnal.

Number 280

[Gosh, even just writing about it an hour later makes me tear up...]

I have just a few hymn numbers memorized after years of hymn sings and church services. Amazing Grace is one of them, and one of maybe two songs that I have entirely memorized.

So naturally, when I saw which page I had randomly turned to, I started bawling.

[I'm glad that I came back a day early so my roommate isn't here to witness my crying because I would have a bit of trouble right now explaining it in Spanish.]

I have wanted to leave home for years. I cannot even pinpoint when exactly this urge to travel and live somewhere else began. I never, ever felt homesick at camps or church trips; I didn't really miss home during the six weeks that I was in Peru.

But now that I've been gone for over 3 months, and just had a fabulous visit from my family, I can't stop thinking about all the things I do love about home - all the things I'm missing.

• Christmas carols and hymns
• Spending time with my grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles
• Being at my church, where I know the structure and the people and the songs
• King Cake [I'm not even joking. I've been craving a legit New Orleans style King Cake for a whole month, since I hear/see stuff about the Three Kings everywhere.]
• Driving my car
• Petting my cat
• Seeing friends at our 5 year high school reunion [And oh my goodness I can't believe we graduated four and a half years ago.]

I will finally admit to it. I am homesick. I'm glad to be back in Soria - I absolutely love it here - but I desperately want to be home as well. I feel like I've been cut in half, and I can only keep one half satisfied at a time. No matter where I am, no matter what I do, I'm going to be missing out on something. I'm going to be wishing I were somewhere else.

And when I'm not boo-hooing about it, I'm really annoyed. Annoyed that I have to pick between two things I love, annoyed that I'm sad right after a fantastic trip, and mostly annoyed that teleportation hasn't been invented yet because that would solve all my problems.

So if someone wants to go ahead and make me a teleportation device, I would be super grateful. I might even share my Poptarts, because I have two whole boxes of them now :)

Feliz 2014! Happy New Year, everyone.

On the First Day of Christmas...Vacation

I feel really bad every time I fall off the regularly-blogging wagon, but I seem to do it over and over again. The other day, it occurred to me that part of this is that I have an expectation for myself to write really long, thought-out posts and so I have a dozen drafts of posts that are still only half finished. [I meant to write about my trip to Barcelona and 2 weeks later I still only have a title.] So I'm going to work on posting shorter anecdotes in between those longer ramblings.

But not today.

Today, I'm talking about figure skating, namely the Spanish National Championships of Figure Skating that I got to see on Saturday. [The competition actually started on Friday, so I missed all the short programs. Darn work.]

Actually, I'll probably have a bazillion posts in the next couple of weeks.

I'm also going to be talking about the city of Jaca, where the competition was held. This little town that I had never heard of ended up being a fascinating place to visit.

And I'm also also about to go on a marvelous adventure in Andalucia with my family, so you can bet I'll have stories to share from that trip.

...

Anyways, as I was saying. Figure skating!

Only once before in my life have I ever gotten to see Olympic level skaters perform live [the lovely Sasha Cohen] and that was something like 4 years ago. So being in Europe, in the Olympic year when Russia is hosting, I spent two months desperately searching for a competition that was either close to Spain or during one of my long weekends. There were a couple I could have gone to, but it would have cost a lot of time, money, and effort and to see a lot of skaters that I don't really follow.

[It would almost have been worth it to see Kim Yu-Na in Croatia a couple of weeks ago, but I went to Barcelona instead. Much cheaper.]

I was finally relieved from my I-can't-believe-I-live-in-Europe-but-am-still-too-far-from-Sochi sadness when Evgeni Plushenko announced a tour, with Johnny Weir, that's partially happening in Eastern Europe over Easter break.

And then I found out that Spanish Nationals would take place right when I started my holiday at the end of December.

And the city of Jaca is only a few hours away from me.

And Javier Fernandez would be competing.

This guy is one of my three current Sochi favorites, lander of quadruple jumps, skater of fantastically themed programs [his Pirates of the Caribbean is amazing]. Spanish skating is not the biggest - I had literally only heard of two other skaters in the whole roster - but that also meant that the competition was free and I had a really good view of the ice.

So after taking two buses [I had to transfer in Zaragoza], I got to the city Saturday afternoon, wandered a bit and had my sandwich lunch in front of a 16th Century castle. I couldn't check into my hostel until 5, so right after I dropped my backpack in my room, I walked to the Ice Pavilion. Which was conveniently located right next to the cheapest hotel in town.

The Junior Boys were just warming up when I sat down - in looking at the competition schedule, I had decided that catching a later bus [and therefore sleeping longer] was more important than watching all of the Novice performances, but I was pleasantly surprised with how well these kids skated. [I've always cared more about artistry than technical difficulty anyways.]

After the long Zamboni pause, during which I ate a whole bag of honey roasted peanuts, there was a team of synchronized skaters, which I have to say I had never seen before.

Then came the Ice Dancers.

And the pairs, one Juniors and one Seniors.

The ladies.

And the men.

It was a very different kind of competition compared to the ones I'm used to seeing. In the states, there are so many people competing for so few medals. I imagine that has as much to do with the size of the country as the depth of talent, although countries like Japan have been able to create a fantastic figure skating program in a small country. But anyways, it was funny to hear "Queda in primero posicion" after the only team in the event had skated - for them, 1st place was guaranteed.

The best part about a small competition though? I stood less than a foot away from an Olympic skater.


The medal ceremony was strangely held off the ice, so all the spectators crowded into the lobby of the Ice Pavilion to watch. And when the skaters got out to the lobby, they mingled with the crowd. They were taking pictures with people and congratulating each other and Javier Fernandez came to talk to some coaches who were right behind me.

It was an incredible moment to end an incredible day of skating.

[I have to mention that the 3rd place Mens Singles skater could be Johnny Weir's Spanish twin. And then waiting for the medal ceremony, I saw him holding hands with presumably his boyfriend who looks, to me at least, exactly like Johnny's husband. Bizarre.]

...

This event was really convenient for me because A) it was held fairly close to Soria and B) this weekend was the first weekend of the Christmas holiday. But once I was busy seeing Jaca, I realized something else - if I hadn't had anything to do this weekend but get ready for my family coming, I would have gone crazy with the anticipation. Keeping busy - first with work, and then with travel - really helped me keep my calm.

You know how I know this? I can't sleep. Or rather, I can't seem to go to sleep at a decent hour. Today's not so bad, it's only 1:00 as I begin writing this. But yesterday, I think I was up until 4. I could not for the life of me tell you how I spent wasted the last several hours of that time, because I definitely wasn't cleaning or trip planning or reading the last 200 pages of the giant book that I need to finish and send home.

Because have I mentioned that my family's coming to visit? And they're bringing a bagful of things that I forgot in my hurried packing and I'm sending stuff I don't need home with them so I have room for everything I've bought over here?

I'm so excited it's kind of consuming my every thought.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

A Very Different Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has never seemed to be the quintessential American holiday more than right now. There are plenty of other celebrations that have made it to Spain in an Americanized form - last month, Halloween was a pretty big deal. But not Thanksgiving.

Even the concept of "being thankful" for things was difficult to explain, especially to the younger students in my private classes. With the 5 and 9 year old siblings I taught yesterday, I ended up asking them to write down things they liked. So the little boy said the only thing he's thankful for is football.

I actually ended up learning new things about the holiday in preparing a Thanksgiving-themed lesson. For example, some historians believe that the Native Americans showed up at the "First Thanksgiving" feast not because they were invited, but because they heard a ton of gunshots and thought the Pilgrims were being attacked.

And I watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving about 10 times.

This may also have been the Thanksgiving that I ate the most food. The English teachers at my school organized a fantastic Thanksgiving Day lunch. Since I am ovenless, I set aside my dreams of chocolate pecan pie and made a Waldorf Salad - I figured that was something uniquely American and easy to make in a short time. However, it's a lot more difficult when you can't buy seedless grapes.

The Menu:

Appetizers

Shrimp
Ham
Toasted crackers
Salad (mine and a more typical salad, although it had apples and walnuts in it as well)
Bread

Soup

Some kind of soup with pan-fried bread and lemon. I can't remember what it was called, but it was good, and I am the most picky when it comes to soups.

Main course

Chicken
Baked mashed potatoes

Deserts

Coffee flavored flan

Lemon cheesecake (I definitely had two pieces of this and then was given another heaping serving to take home with me)

I raced home from our 4 hour lunch so I could go struggle to explain the holiday for my hour and a half long class, and then had a little time to sit in my apartment before Thanksgiving Round 2. [I also said a quick hello to my new roommate who moved in yesterday! Because there just wasn't enough going on this week already.]

The spread.

So I made up another batch of salad and joined some friends for a late dinner. We ended up eating around the same time as our families at home would have, which I thought was nice except for the waiting to eat part. There are quite a few American teaching assistants, so between us, we were able to put together a very American Thanksgiving feast, with some Spanish and French contributions as well.

The Menu:

Appetizers

Crackers
Dip (the one I tried was cheese and tuna, which was so delicious, I didn't even try the other)
Doritos TexMex
Cucumbers and carrots

Main course

Turkey (some of the best turkey I've ever eaten in my life)
Baked macaroni and cheese
Green bean casserole
Salad
Peas with ham
Cornbread and baguettes

Desert

Apple pie

Several of the teachers have asked me if this was my first Thanksgiving away from family. It was weird to realize that it was. There is no holiday that I associate more with family, so it's strange to think that it passed without me being able to see or talk with them. Nevertheless, I had a terrific day - although now I have a lot of sleep to catch up on.

At the Moment: November 24

WHAT I'M READING

A Dance with Dragons

Like the last time I posted one of these, I'm reading a Song of Ice and Fire novel. In the past 2 weeks, I've made it all the way to...page 232. I'm hoping to finish before Christmas so that I can send it home with my family, and therefore have extra room in my luggage. Probably for a new pair of boots :)

WHAT I'M WATCHING

La Patrona

This is the Spanish-language [Mexican] telenovela I've been watching consistently. Except for a few stretches where either not much happened, or a lot of really bad things happened to the protagonist, it's been delightful. Bonus: there aren't too many long, drawn out, dramatic stares.

War and Peace

So far, I've watched the first part of this miniseries - like the novel [which I haven't read], it's ridiculously long. But I really enjoyed it. I mean, it's about Russia and the 1800s, I have every reason to like it. Plus the cast is fantastic, full of talented actors from all across Europe, including Brenda Blethlyn and Malcom McDowell and Clemence Posey [Fleur in Harry Potter].

WHAT I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO

Christmas! It's only one month away! I get to see my family, travel in Andalucia, and then spend some time in Istanbul or Morocco as well. I cannot wait to feel warm again.

WHAT I'M DREADING

Sweeping. Mopping. Doing dishes. Laundry. Ugh, so many chores. I get lazy about cleaning my apartment and then accumulate a really long list of things that need to get done. The dishes are the worst, no sooner have I gotten around to cleaning the dirty ones than I need to cook again. And especially since I don't have a roommate, I'm bad about cleaning the floors as often as I probably should. Oh well.

WHAT I DID INSTEAD OF MOPPING

Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Espino

Went on walks and took pictures! After this weekend, I'm pretty much out of touristy things to do in Soria. I still have plenty of masses to go to in order to see the insides of all the churches, but other than that...I've been to all the "highlights" that are listed on my tourist map.

So that just means that I'm going to start going to all the other cities on my ever-increasing list of Places to See. I'm focusing on Northern Spain for the moment - Barcelona, Burgos, San Sebastian, Segovia, Valladolid and Zaragoza are up first, mostly because they're fairly close to me. [I definitely did not make that alphabetical on purpose...OCD in action.] It'll be a little difficult to travel on weekends, since I only have three days and it takes a while to get anywhere by bus. There is, however, a nice 4 day holiday weekend coming up :)

Yearning for Something Else

It seems almost impossible, but I’ve already gotten used to all the beautiful old European architecture that I dreamed about seeing for so long. I've settled into a routine. I’m not constantly in awe of my surroundings anymore.

Chinchero, Peru

And I find this normalcy quite tragic. 

One of the things I hate about being American is that there is such a dearth of ancient historical sites. Sure, I love the Alamo and Nottoway and the Biltmore [Estate? Manor? Mansion? Giant house] and Independence Hall, to name a few. But my favorite buildings in history are earlier than all these – like the Hagia Sofia and the Alhambra and Petra and Saint Petersburg. A medieval Spanish city really is one of the most perfect places for me to end up.

A similar thing happened while I was in Peru, but then I was living in a newer urban area, so that wasn't too surprising. Besides, the Inka walls and ruins in and around the Sacred Valley never ceased to amaze me. [I think I wrote about the time that ruins and terraces made me cry.]

Here in Soria, every other building looks like it was built 400 years ago. From my living room window, I can see the ruins of a church built even earlier. Don’t get me wrong – I absolutely love it, and yet, I’m already walking through the streets quickly, not bothering to look at the wonders around me. I already want something different, something else.

Partially, this means I have to quit being lazy on the weekends and go explore other pueblos and cities in the surrounding province. I have a long list of recommendations from both students and teachers on the best places to see – cathedrals, castles, nature areas, etc. Those, I’m sure, will bring me some of the oh-my-goodness-I’m-in-Spain-this-is-amazing moments that I crave.

With my newly connected Internet, I've also been researching and planning trips for my Christmas and Easter breaks. There are so many possibilities - Andalucia, Istanbul, Morocco, Eastern Europe, the U.K. I haven't entirely figured out where I'm going to be going, but I am already super excited about all that traveling!

Secondly, it means that I need to quit being super nostalgic about the past and start finding things to like about the present, a la Midnight in Paris. [If you haven't seen it already, I really recommend it - the casting and script and cinematography were all perfect.]

So many famous actors: Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Tom Hiddleston, Kathy Bates, Alison Pill, Adrian Brody, Michael Sheen, Carla Bruni...and Owen Wilson, who really can act.

Continuing with this pop culture theme, I recently rewatched several episodes of Castle. 

[And Mr. and Mrs. Smith was on so I watched that again too – in Spanish, because I hadn't figured out how to change the language yet. Undoubtedly one of the best Spanish language dubs I have ever come across.] 

[I’m not just watching American stuff though, I promise. Telemundo has a channel with all their ridiculously goofy telenovelas, so I've been watching one of those on weeknights.  And there’s a Spanish hospital show, and plenty of Spanish period dramas.]

But anyway, the Castle episodes were all from last season, which I couldn’t resist, especially because they started with "Still," a.k.a. the best flashback episode ever created. Two episodes later [they were going backwards, apparently] was the Bigfoot one, where once again we see Castle ready to believe in everything imaginable and Beckett being skeptical. I am super realistic and practical about just about everything, so it really hit me when she said she didn’t need to believe in Bigfoot or zombies or ghosts – she believes in the magic of everyday things.

The most perfect incredulous look. Stana Katic is brilliant.

I think that’s why I work so well with little kids - they are still curious. Everything is new and amazing and magical to them. Daily life doesn’t have to be boring. It’s an infectious idea. And yet, I forget so often. It's hard to remind myself to appreciate and enjoy life when that self-critical inner voice starts nagging me.

Today, however, that's been really easy to do. All because it snowed! For at least 30 minutes. Actually, as I've been writing/editing this post, there have been a few more snow flurries. No matter how many times I've seen the same thing in Texas - although I always seem to miss the biggest snowfalls - it's still amazing and magical that it's happening here, in Spain, in the middle of the day, in November.

And I haven't even needed to turn the heat on.

Even though I started writing this post weeks ago, I knew there was something missing. So I waited, and in the meantime I started some more posts, about books and charity and Spain, that also need to wait. But now I feel a perfect clarity about the ending. The day has come, the snow has come, the magic has come. That was the something else I needed.