There's no place like Cadiz (at Carnival).

Last weekend was the biggest party in Spain: Carnival. You bet I didn't want to miss out.

Carnival is a 10-day long party 'celebrating' the beginning of lent (celebrating really meaning just binging on the things they're about to give up for the next 40 days). Every [Christian] country has their own version of it. For those more familiar, it's Mardi Gras, Spanish style.

So once a year, thousands of young people make a pilgrimage to costal city Cadíz in wild, creative, and not-safe-for-work costumes. They cart along with them bags of booze to make it through the long night. Essentially, it's a Spanish botellón with costumes, and no jackets in the middle of winter. Only in Spain. (For those still unfamiliar with the concept of botellón, I'd like to reference Wikipedia.)

My wonderful friend Vanessa decided to come along for the ride (she already being experienced with Carnival from the previous year). She came into Córdoba the previous day so she could explore the city and we could prepare our costumes. In an effort to save money and brain power, we decided to not dress together (as is the custom - big groups decide on their costumes together and dress alike). Doing minimal shopping, I dresses as a cowgirl and Vanessa as a pirate. I got a hat, some pistols and fashioned a large belt buckle (resisting a last minute impulse to put a giant "W" on it) and she got a sweet sword and we were looking savvy and set to go.

We took one of the many advertised buses for carnival (ida y vuelta for 15 euros a person - great deal!) which left Córdoba at 6pm and arrived in Cadiz close to 10. We would party the night away, check out a little bit of Cadiz, and head back on the bus at 730 in the morning. Or so was the plan.

After looking at the weather report, we had the suspicion that our plans may not go accordingly but retained the optimism that only two people in elaborate eleventh-hour costumes could.

Alas, we arrived in Cadiz after nearly 4 hours on the party bus. As soon as we got off the bus, the Mario band started - literally - and the crowd began to dance in circles in what was only a warm up for the night to come. After rounding off a couple tunes, the group moved towards city center where the big party was. We came across a stage with a group of wildly dressed men singing vivaciously - the infamous Chirigotas, satirical songs that native speakers have admitted they can barely understand. After taking just a moment to appreciate the cultural moment, we moved on to check out the rest of Carnival.

What we found were hordes of people in brilliant costumes: nerds, playboy bunnies in birthday cakes (men, not women), flies with their swatters (and the excrement to come with), Baywatch Babes (again, men - not women), mops (like the kind you clean your kitchen with), showers, and lots of Avatars. I have always regretted not getting to Hollywood during Halloween - but I'm pretty sure I had an awesome taste of what it is like (especially if you just added tons and tons of alcohol). For a couple hours we moved through the crowd to see the costumes, take pictures, and talk to some very friendly (and probably drunk) Españoles.

After running into some cows who were most interested in showing us their udders (no perversion, I mean that literally), the rain started. It was just a little, but enough that we found some shelter in a cool little bar where we found a cozy place to sit and have some drinks and munch on the sandwiches we packed. While we were in there a drumline came in and fired up the crowed by playing and passing out straw hats. After a couple hours, we decided we wanted to check out maybe some other bars or discotecas. Probably a bad move as we were unsuccessful and moseyed on back after about an hour, only this time the bar was far more packed with nowhere to sit and barely any room to stand. Staying only for a little bit, we left again while everything else was closing up.

Of course, this is also while the rain upped the ante and went from a steady drizzle to bullets in the wind. Looking for any type of outdoor shelter, we brainstormed and went to the train station to find a terrace where other people had also decided to camp out. After taking a short walk further to see if there were any other options (that left us very wet as the wind rendered our umbrella practically useless) we came back to the station and set up a fort by a post (umbrella to our backs, plastic bags on the ground) and began to do anything we could to take our minds off the weather and the time we had remaining until our bus picked us up (which we were informed would be 630am instead - a great relief). T-100 minutes.

We played 20-questions, what-would-you-do-if-you-were-on-a-desert-island, filmed videos, sang in that time and near the end, we were suprised to look around and discover that all the people that had originally shared our shelter with us had disappeared. We wondered where they had gone (hadn't we have found the best spot possible anyway??) but prided ourselves on keeping our minds off the surrounding misery. As we left the terrace to see if our bus had arrived yet, we walked past a large temporary building that many of our fellow Carnivalers had piled into to stay dry. Guess that's where they all went to. Wimps.

Finally getting on the bus, we took off our wet clothing (I was tempted to actually take off my jeans, but thought better of it). I was most relieved to ring out my now-soaking socks and put on the dry ones I had stored at the bottom of the backpack. Thank you Mom for being so smart. So, with my dry socks and draped scarf, Vanessa and I snuggled together on the bus to sleep a few winks on the way back to Córdoba and finally end the great adventure that was Carnival 2010.

I'm not going to post any more pictures here because really there were too many to choose from, so please enjoy the full album here.

Torture, Four Days a Week

I have the pleasure and misfortune of walking 25 minutes to and from school Monday through Friday.

I say the pleasure because I do indeed love the walk. It's a mostly peaceful walk in the cool air which gives me the time to run through my classes in days ahead and days past. I practice Spanish in my head (everything I'm thinking I try and translate... which usually boils down to an exercise in seeing how simple my thoughts really are).

And I also say misfortune because those 25 minutes (really, nearly an hour after I make it back home) are utter torture. In the morning nearly every open shop beckons me with the yeasty aroma of fresh bread and slightly sweet from the more delectable and spongy croissants. On my way home (just when I'm hungriest during my day) not only are the smells still wafting around, but now the windows too are filled with merienda-time treats: pastries filled sky-high with barely-sweet cream, chocolate covered and flaky elephant-ears the size of one's head, or shiny cups filled with glistening, sticky flan. With the endless amounts of other tantalizing and mouth-watering desserts, I gaze longingly into each window and door as I walk by (and maybe even taking an extra swallow as I pass).

Anyone who knows even an ounce about me knows that I have a pestering sweet tooth and a huge vulnerability when it comes to desserts, pastries, cookies or nearly anything else that might usually be the finishing touch to my meal. With that, every day has become and exercise in pure self restraint where I simply slip into day dreams about one day actually indulging in the delectable edibles displayed behind that infallible glass counter.

Smashup of the last month

As I'm waiting for my dinner to come out of the oven, I thought it might be a good opportunity to do (I'm sure a long-awaited - not!) update on my blog. I regret neglecting it, but it's probably to the benefit of those who even read. :)

As I alluded to, life in Cordoba has been rather ordinary the last month. But this is definitely not a complaint (anyone who's ever known me would probably attest to the fact that I indeed find much comfort in "ordinary"). It definitely means I've settled in to life in Spain - its joys and frustrations - and simply have gotten down to brass tacks in doing what I came here to do. Along the way, there have definitely been some highlights.

The weather - After our freak snow flurry, the weather cleared up and it got dry for the first time in weeks. The sun was out, dried out the apartment, and I even got to bask in the warmth that came in through my balcony door on a couple afternoons. One day as I was walking, I even found it warm enough to take off my jacket and scarf and pretend that Spring was upon us. Unfortunately, the predictions now give us rain and cold (and possibly snow again!) for at least the next 10 days (the US blizzard is making its way across the Atlantic), which only makes me appreciate the recent good weather even more, and look forward to the Spring weather to come.

School - The last month with my students has been very successful and I feel like I've finally got the hang of my classes (at least the bilingual classes that have me every week). We began with a unit on Human Rights where students formed countries and created their own Bill of Rights for their countries. I was extremely impressed with what they came up with and even got a giggle out of a few of their bullet points (for example, a restriction on the amount of time given to commercials on TV - totally understandable with the never-ending commercial breaks that is Spanish television entertainment).

Trips - Spring Break plans (or rather "Semana Santa" - Saint Week) were made official. My friend Jenna and I will be spending 9 days touring Italy. I'm so excited. I have already ordered, received and started the initial research in my 2010 Lonely Planet Italy guide (I'm serious about the planning!) and also already completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff to see in so little time. (Only giving reason to not make it my only trip this lifetime.) Days after we return, my friend Lindsay is coming out to visit me and we're going to jam-pack as much of Southern Spain and Madrid into 7 days as possible. I'm ecstatic. And finally, after sending off Lindsay, I head out the same day to visit a friend in Scotland for a 3-day weekend. I'm so excited, but again convinced that it must not be a once-in-a-lifetime event (can't see everything in 72 hours!). Aside from that, I'm hoping to go to Carnival in Cadiz next weekend (still working on my costume) and possibly Barcelona in March. I have realized that my time is running out (and so are good flight deals) and I'm going to pack in as much as possibly in the next 4 months.

Salamanca - I had the wonderful opportunity to go with my frosh roommate, Vanessa, to Salamanca 2 weekends ago. Salamanca is where she had the opportunity to study abroad, so I thought it was a perfect time to go, have a place to stay (a friend from her time studying there) and have a personal tour guide. It was laborious getting there (5 hours to Madrid by bus, and then another 3 hours due west) but completely worth it. The city was absolutely gorgeous and just felt ancient. Although the beauty of their cathedral is far surpassed by others, tourists have the opportunity, for a small fee, to actually go up into the Cathedral and see it from a above, both inside and out. Seeing the beautiful medieval architecture from such a different vantage point was incredible not to mention with a bright blue sky as the backdrop. Overall, the weekend was wonderful - seeing a new place, meeting new people, and catching up with my dear friend. But it was a cold weekend (despite somewhat clear skies it was still bitterly cold for my desert-blood) and I looked forward to returning to a more comfortable latitude.

Finally, this week in honor of Valentine's Day (one of my favorite holidays!) I have given a plethora of candy out to my students and made brownies for my teachers (who are utterly astonished that I made them myself, maybe bringing to light that this is not only uncommon, but a very grand gesture that I was unaware I was making. At least it's a positive one!) This weekend, as the weather is predicted to be gray and wet, I look forward to saying in and pampering myself and maybe even making my way out to H&M for a brief look at their new stuff. A great example of how ordinary - and wonderful - life can be in Spain.

A White Sendoff for the Last Day

Here in Cordoba, and most of Spain (and heck, Europe for that matter), the last few weeks have been wet. Very, very wet. In over three weeks, I only recall 4 separate days (not at all connected) where we've seen the sun. Those have definitely been days to celebrate.

Two of those sunny days were when Mom was here, and we indeed used the opportunities to do a little traveling in Andalucia: first going to Sevilla and the next occasion, going to Malaga.

Two more of these days were this past Friday and Saturday. A perfect ending to my winter break, as if the sun was sending me off as well as my last days of freedom (and I'll always use it as a good omen for the semester to come).

Finally, the sun was to disappear again today indefinitely. Forgetting that according to weather.com I would need my umbrella, I skipped off to the gym this morning forgetting mine. When I left, what to my surprise, was snow - or a snow like substance, as it was really more frozen rain. Skeptical that it would last long, I rushed home passing many others who had faces as surprised as mine.

After lunch, the snow continued, with even more ganas as before. My roommates told me to get ready and get warm because we were going to take a little drive to the foot of the Sierras and see more of the snow. So we did.

Taking our warmest jackets and cameras, we headed up to see the rare Cordoban sight. When we made it to what was now a winter-white park, we jumped out of the car. The Andalucian oranges and palms covered in a topping of snow was so strange and so beautiful. Jumping to it, the roommates and their friends starting building a snowman (muñeco). I stayed the observer as I lacked gloved (tragically left in my other purse) and in the end contributed to some twiggy hair. As we were there it was clear we weren't the only ones astonished by the phenomenon as many other Cordobeses drove up and past us, cameras in hand, to take it in. Some families even brought sleds to ambitiously try the powder for themselves.

Although I was most cold and ready to get in the warm car and head back after about 15 minutes, the roommates and friends (who were clearing more accustomed to the cold than my warm-blooded Arizona self) stayed out playing and chatting for a few minutes short of my cold hands and feet falling off.

Finally coming back home, it seemed to take forever for my 20 cold digits to become full functioning again (not being able to zip my sweatshirt, I became legitmately worried - demonstrating how rare it is for me to experience genuine coldness, aka below 70F). But despite the few seconds of panic, I found it was a perfect ending to 3 wonderful weeks now sadly behind me.

Me, the roommates, and our snowman.

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.

Culture Shock

So, it finally happened. I experienced the dreaded "culture shock" last week that I guess I'd been putting off.

The bad news: It really, really sucked.
The good news: I'm pretty sure it's behind me now.

As I've mentioned before, I've lived abroad previously. In college, I studied in New Zealand. Not exactly the biggest cultural difference as I think most the country strives to imitate the United States. The language was the same (aside from the funny accent), the food was mostly the same (rarely could I not find something I was looking for, or at least then I knew what I was looking at when reading labels), the daily schedule was the same, values, customs, life etc. was all generally the same. So although I had lived somewhere else, I definitely never had to face the same sort of challenges that I have had to here.

Before last week, I definitely had my difficult moments: at school, the supermarket, the gym. But last week, a perfect combination of exhaustion and frustration came together to make it particularly difficult to bare.

Cesar (our bilingual coordinator at our school) has the uncanny ability to frustrate me to my core. He is disorganized and defensive. After working at the school for nearly 6 weeks, he decided to rearrange our schedules - changing our classes, teachers, times, frequencies. I was unhappy that 3 of my 5 classes with students were changed from once a week to once every two weeks (a perfect amount of time to really build a great relationship with the students), one of my classes was removed, and replaced with a class that had already been working with the other Auxiliar at my school (I'm sure they loved that - ah, consistency), and added another class which I would be working with every other week. And after the schedule change, 2 of my teachers didn't show up, I was castigated for not inherently knowing where one of my new classes was located (in a school where the teachers don't even know the room numbers of the classrooms they teach in), and 2 more of my teachers show up 25 minutes late to a 55 minute tutor session.

Breath. Just breath.

I think I could have handled it. But I think what I realized that the key to "culture shock" is not so much an overall experience (at least for me). Instead its the little things that I might be able to overcome quickly at home just seem to only escalate here. A bad day at work doesn't always end at work. And instead of having the escape of the familiar, there really is no escape at all. I leave school and I walk to the market and I encounter the packed isles and long lines. I go to the gym and fight off the old man that interrupts my workouts to repeatedly tell me that I don't know much Spanish (I know it well enough to know that he's insulting me and can't say my name right for his life). Then I go back home only to find the same dishes that have been in the sink for 2 days and the one I want is at the bottom at the pile. And now if I could only express my frustration in my non-native language. No escape. That is culture shock.

But as I said before, the good news is, I believe it is all behind me. After having a much needed confession-session with the family and having even the possibility of being able to go home for Christmas (only the possibility, as I've already recommitted to staying in Spain for the holidays), I'm feeling refreshed and revamped. Going to Granada last weekend was a huge boost. Cesar is more calm this week, making me much more calm. I think I've finally found an eating schedule that I think will make me happier (sorry Spain, really wasn't able to adapt to that custom), my only dilemma now being that I really need to make more of an effort to converse with the roomies. I'm enjoying my private classes (ironically, they're with Cesar's daughters, which are precious when they're not squirrely), and have a new intercambio that I think will be very positive.

Overall, I feel like I've weathered the storm and came out fairly unscathed.