A long awaited update!

So, as mentioned before, it's been awhile. I always get backed up because I want to do everything justice. It hardly works because in the end, I end up almost doing nothing. I'll do this best I can:

Perol: I got invited by the wife of a teacher at my school to a Spanish-style BBQ, which is basically going out into the country (here, the mountains nearby), eating all day, drinking all day, and finishing off with a rice dished cooked over an open fire. We got picked up at 9.30 and didn't get home until after 18.00. The food was indeed delicious (nothing like chuletas cooked to perfection with nothing but a little salt and pepper) and it was a great chance to bond a bit more with some other teachers and natives.

Thanksgiving: Went amazingly. We had about 24 people (including me and the Roommies) and lots of amazing food. It was packed and incredibly memorable. My mom actually sent me bags of fresh cranberries, which we made two different recipes. I made a couple pumpkin pies from the Halloween pumpkin which the roommates thoroughly enjoyed. The only downside is I worked so hard the week of Thanksgiving, the very next day I fell under the weather which kept me in the rest of the weekend.

Community Garden: One of the teachers whom I tutor and have a lot of the same interests invited me to a community garden co-op that she's a part. Her partner in crime was traveling, so she gave me half of her allotted bundle: beautiful lettuces, cabbage, eggplants, fennel, etc. The people there were exactly the bunch of people that you'd expect to see at a farmers market in Berkley (or at least Spain's version thereof). There were many dreads or short cuts on women, self-knit colorful scarves, bikes with baskets, and clunky boots. It was one of the few times I have really felt like I have encountered a group of truly progressive minded people in Cordoba, and it was really nice. Not to mention the food was delicious afterwords. Best salads ever.

Madrid: For the long weekend (I had five days off!) I had originally planned on going to Granada again to visit my Frosh-year roomie and do some Christmas shopping, but a last minute invite from my roomies, Carlos and Isa, sent me on my way to Madrid. It was my first time in the city, apart from a short journey on the Madrid Metro a year ago. It was a beautiful city full of people (and especially full given the long weekend and the initiation of the Christmas lights). Isa and Carlos were amazing tour guides; taking me to all the hot spots right away (Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor, Gran Via). The first night (our "chill" night) we stayed out bar hopping until nearly 4am. The next day we stayed in the apartment playing games watching games and talking until 4am when we went out (a spat of drama meant that we didn't end up going to the discoteca, but was alright with me as we still got home and into bed hours before we would have anyway). The next day we stayed in and warm until the evening and went out into La Latino barrio for good wine and delicious food (homemade potato chips with salmorejo poured on top anyone?). We headed back the next day with Carlos's cousin making a pit stop in their pueblo where I had a delicious meal and a warm nap at Isa's beautiful home. I was extremely grateful I made the last minute decision to go, and speaking Spanish for 4 days straight was definitely a great boost too.

The Padre arrives: I forged staying the evening in Isa's pueblo to clean and prepare for the arrival of Dad. He came the last day of my long break on an overnight train from Paris. It was wonderful to see my family (even if they had to come in shifts). Dad and I spent a lot of time walking and touring the sights and restaurants of Cordoba and finding a lot of spots that I had been meaning to get to for a long time. The first weekend we went to Sevilla (deciding that we'd save Granada for the Spring). It was interesting in that the first day we arrived, we tried to find our way to the Cathedral, but any way we went, we found the streets blocked off. Finally, we gave up and tried to get into the Alcazar. After a police escort past the fist 'police' barricades, we ran into a somewhat-private viewing of the filming of the new Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz film. After watching the first take of a car chase around the cathedral, a Ducati bike pulled by a camera truck came right in front of us. Is that who I think it is? Nope, must be their doubles. Nope. Wait. Let me get out my camera! There was Cruise and Diaz not more than 40 feet in front of us (I personally was more excited about Diaz). Overall, I found it ironic that I saw more Hollywood action in Sevilla, Spain than in my 4 years in Los Angeles. Apart from that, we saw all the sights, ate wonderful food, and I found my castañas (chestnuts - actually roasted on a rudimentary open fire) for the season. Yum.

Madrid - The Folks switch off: Dad and I went back up to Madrid. I finally got to travel on the AVE (the high speed train, one of which runs from Sevilla to Madrid and back) - what a rush! Beautiful mountains, beautiful sky, and endless horizons of olive trees. Although it was a bit chillier, it was beautiful weather for the day we arrived. We had a great hotel close to everything exciting. We walked around endlessly and even went back to the same great potato chip place for dinner (then walked around a lot more to trick my mind into thinking that I didn't have a lump of yummy fried food in my belly). The next day we had an adventure getting to the airport to pick up Mom. It was so exciting seeing the other part of my immediate family and having us all together, even briefly. We went and found a place for paella (we were the only ones in the restaurant, not extremely fun, but the food was great). Took a little nap (I had gotten very little sleep the night before as I was waiting to hear from Mom to see if she had made it on the plane - another story to tell, and one very familiar to anyone familiar with flying standby), and enjoyed the rest of the Christmas light sights in the evening. We said good by to Daddy, got a couple of Starbucks (enjoying the big cups and skim milk), shopped a bit (found the best cookie shop in Spain), found a wonderful vegetarian restaurant (I was excited for a bit of a change from traditional Andalucian food), and headed back to Cordoba on the Ave, and arrived less than 2 hours later.

Since then, Mom and I have been enjoying a cozy and lazy holiday. It's been a bit rainy, but not very cold (aside from the first day). Its been a tad difficult to spend long amounts of time outside walking, but there have been beautiful moments where the weather's let up enough time for a nice walk with the Christmas lights. Christmas Eve and Day were comfortable and quiet, and just what I enjoy, filled with love and kindness from those far and near. Tomorrow we head off to Sevilla to check it out while the weather lets up for a day. Next week we hope to do more touristy things in and around Cordoba and draw up fun plans for the new year. Knowing us, it will be another quiet and cozy night in - and there's nothing wrong with that!

Many Apologies

Don't worry. I'm fully aware that it's been too long since I updated this.

I think it's because I've just had so much to write about and so little time.

And update will come, soon.

As vacation starts at 11:30 tomorrow morning. Phew.