Llamamiento

Well, I got my new calling in the Ward yesterday - Young Single Adult Representative! There are only about 7 or 8 of us, so we'll see how it goes. The day before, Saturday, we had an activity where we had lunch and watched a movie, but it lasted like 5 hours and I had to leave before the movie even finished. Some people forgot to bring their food and stuff so it didn't even start until 2 hours after I got there. Crazy! Oh well, it was fun anyway. But the activities I plan are not going to be like that...

Streets of Almeria

Well my dad has been wanting to see some pictures of Almeria for quite some time now, so here they are Pops! This first group are pictures from downtown - the old city center.

There are 2 main streets downtown. The first is the Paseo de Almeria, where most people do their shopping.

Then there is the Rambla de Federico Garcia Lorca, where people walk or rest around fountains and just enjoy the outdoors.

These other pictures are in my neighborhood: Cortijo Grande

I'm fortunte enough to have even this view out my window. Most apartment buildings are surrounded by other buildings so you can't see much. I live on the very eastern edge of the city and I love it! There is lots of construction as you can see. I don't know what I'd do without the view of the mountains or the sunlight....

Pronunciation...it's more important than you think!

One thing that I really get a kick out of is listening to my students pronounce English words. Sometimes I don't even know what they are saying...it's like a whole other language! Some of them ask me how to pronounce words, but others just give their own version, after which I usually have to correct them.

I already told some of you this story, but it's too good to pass up. The other day in class we were talking about Fashion and how lots of clothes are made in other countries, where the work has been outsourced and the workers are exploited by working long hours for meager pay. So my students kept saying "exploit the people" in whatever they were saying, but the pronunciation wasn't exactly right. It came out sounding more like "explode the people." I corrected them and told them they HAD to pronounce that word right, or else they would be exploding people. They thought that was pretty funny, as did I!

La Borracheria

This was the name of the pub/restaurant that we went to for my latest night out for tapas. "Borracho" means "drunk," but no worries...I drank strictly Fantas! Some teachers from the school went out to say goodbye to a couple of teachers who were leaving. This was my list of tapas that I ate:

Patatas a lo pobre (potatoes and onions)

Montadito de la casa (slice of meat on bread)

Pipirrana (salad with lots of strange flavors combined)

So in Spanish, "rana" means frog. So when Paqui, one of the teachers, told me that, you can imagine why we were both laughing so hard....!!!!

I've Joined the Recycling World!!

Yep it's true! Everyone in Spain is verrrrrry conservative with their resources - electricity, water, recycling, etc. If you go to the kitchen for even 1 minute, you must turn off the light from the room you left. It's insane. So now I recycle all my plastic bottles, glass, newspapers, etc. I haven't quite reverted with the water yet....I love my long hot showers too much!

One thing I can't figure out, though, is that everyone litters. I don't get it. They throw their trash on the ground like it belongs there, yet they are so conservative with everything else. Doesn't really make any sense...

Adventures in Cooking

Well, with my limited income, I can't afford to eat out a whole lot, so I get to make my own version of Spanish food instead. I've made paella, pisto (my favorite), croquetas, and patatas bravas among other things. I use olive oil for just about everything! Things in the grocery store are a lot different than the things in the grocery store in the USA. For example, here there is no sour cream, brown sugar, syrup, etc. I brought all of my recipes from home, but I've only used them once or twice I think. I have to invent my own recipes. I usually just eat some type of meat with either rice or potatoes and then lots of fresh vegetables. I get all my vegetables at the local outdoor market each Saturday. Mom, I made your tomato soup the other day cause the last time I went to the market to buy tomatoes, she wouldn't give me any less than 1 kilo, about 2 lbs. I told her there was no way that I was going to eat them all, but she didn't listen. Look at this ginormous green pepper that I got at the market! It's just about as big as the cutting board! That's the great thing in Almeria because they grow so many vegetables around here...I can get them fresh and cheap!


Whatever you do, DO NOT make pancakes in Spain! It's disastrous! There are so many different types of flour here it's crazy. My so called pancakes were anything but pancakes - not good at all, especially with no syrup. So consider yourselves lucky to be able to eat pancakes!!

Running on a treadmill, but not any ordinary treadmill...

Have you ever gone running outside and found yourself not going anywhere? Exactly. It’s like being on a treadmill. It’s torturous! I went running this morning, but it was so windy that I wasn’t moving hardly at all. Haha! I’m sure it was entertaining to see. There were thousands of little pieces of sand pelting me on the legs and face. I’ve never seen such big waves here either. As you can imagine, I had to cut my run a little short today…Glad I made it back alive!

Winter on the Mediterranean

Ok so I knew the weather was going to be warmer here, but I never thought it would be this warm! It's fantastic! Great! Ideal! I love the sun and the heat so it's perfect for me. Today it is 73 degrees! I'll definitely be going to the beach soon...sooner than I thought! I don't think it has ever gotten below 50 degrees, even at night. I'm thinking I need to live in the Mediterranean forever!

Back to school

Wait. I thought that was only in the Fall! Well, I'm gad to be back anyway. I forgot how much I enjoy teaching and associating with my students. I get to laugh everyday - the best job ever! Especially since usually we get mixed up with each other with the language differences and so sometimes I think they say something else or the other way around. For example, I was telling one class how during Christmas time you get together with your aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. One lady gave me this blank look like, what in the world? Well, in Britain, they pronounce "aunt" like "aaaahnt" so she thought I said "ants." Too funny! My joy is my students.

I told my students about my trip, of course, to The Netherlands & Belgium. So there a few well-traveled people like myself, but only a handful. Most people haven't been to very many places in Europe and a lot never even out of Spain. It shocks me!! Everything is so close and you can find flights so cheap. Plus Spain has like twenty million holidays each year - they have a celebration for everything! I would be on the plane every other weekend to go to another country if I lived here! Oh wait I do! I'm saving all my travels for the end though, in June. Hay que aprovecharlo!

Rebajas

The famous sales have begun! They started the day after Reyes Magos, January 7, and last until March 7…two whole months! And we’re talking sales like 50% off. What a deal! I made the mistake of going to the mall the day they began and it was insanely crazy. I was going to try some clothes on in H&M, but I said heck with it; I have two whole months!

Los Reyes Magos

Instead of Santa Clause coming on Christmas and bringing presents, the 3 Wise Men (Reyes Magos) come on January 6 and bring presents. But first, it's a must that you write a letter to the 3 Wise Men…”Queridos Reyes Magos…” asking for what you want to receive.

I didn’t get visited by the 3 Wise Men, but Santa Clause did bring me these presents. Thanks Elise, Sonya, Ryan and Maranda!

It’s also customary to eat Roscón de Reyes, a ring shaped cake. Except, it’s no ordinary cake! There a few things hidden inside it! One of them is little figurine of a king. Whoever finds this in their slice gets to wear a crown and has good luck. The other is a bean and whoever is unlucky enough to find this in their piece of cake has to pay for the cake next year!

La Cabalgata de Reyes…

is a parade celebrating the coming of the 3 Reyes Magos. Everyone in the city must have been there!

First of all, they started walking from the Castle to the Cathedral, where the Bishop of the Cathedral and the Mayor greeted and welcomed them to the city. They did this from the balcony of a palace across from the Cathedral. Now this is the Spain that I remember…
The Bishop and Mayor also presented the children of Almería as being worthy to receive their presents because they had behaved well and worked hard all year. One of the 3 Wise Men then spoke briefly to the children, and then there were some fireworks.

A while later the parade officially started. It was more of like a circus than a parade, in the American tradition anyway. They 3 Wise Men were interspersed between different floats and bands. Very interesting to say the least. All of the floats threw out candy like nonstop, seriously. I’ve never seen so much. In fact, tons of kids were following the floats with bags full of candy! I didn’t get very many pictures because it was night and the floats were moving…a bad combination, but I did get some videos.

¡Feliz 2008!

Happy New Year! The bringing in of the Spanish new year is a little different. They bring in the New Year by eating grapes for each of the bells counting down to midnight. So with the ringing of each bell (campanada), you eat 1 grape…a total of 12. This is to bring good luck for the coming year. You only have good luck, though, if you have eaten ALL the grapes by the last bell. The grapes taste terrible to tell you the truth! There are giant seeds in them and the skin is like chewing rubber. All that fancy packaging for nothing! At least I’ll have good luck for the coming year!

So I thought for sure that there would be a million people out and about around the Cathedral for New Year's, like any other big city. There is a huge bell tower on the Cathedral so I thought that's where they'd ring the bells. So I walked there around 11 pm or so, only to find absolutely no one! There wasn't so much as a soul outside anywhere. Even all the bars where closed. What the hay?! I was shocked and disappointed. So I got a cab back home in order to watch the festivities going on in Madrid on TV and eat my lucky grapes....

THE NETHERLANDS

So I had a wonderful 6 day trip to northern Europe! I guess I didn’t really realize how far north I was actually going…my flight was almost 3 hours. And boy was it cold!! I actually got to bust out my winter clothes! I left upper 60 degree weather to lower 30s. It was quite refreshing, though, to actually experience some real cold this winter, although I was extremely relieved to be back in the Mediterranean where the weather is a bit more mild and sunny.

AMSTERDAM

The first thing that I like to do when I visit a new city is walk around to see what there is to see and then narrow it down from there, so that’s exactly what I did. That’s the great thing with cities in Europe…everything is within walking distance, if you like to walk that is! I couldn’t believe how many tourists there were!! Incredible! I can’t imagine what it’s like in the summer…

The great thing about Amsterdam is that there are soooo many things to see and do, such as museums, bicycles, canal boats, not to mention the great architecture. That was one of my favorite things, just walking around the streets and admiring the different houses and styles. I had 2 ½ days in Amsterdam, then I took 2 tours…one to the northern countryside of the Netherlands to see windmills and the other to Belgium.

In Amsterdam itself, these are some of the things that I was able to see. First of all, the typical houses on the canals.

Centraal Station with a tram in front of it.

The Koninklijk Palace, which the Dutch royal family still occasionally uses. It was originally built as the Town Hall.

The Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), which is right next to the Koninklijk Palace in Dam Square. And yes, that’s its name!

The Begijnhof was built in the 1300s as a sanctuary for a Catholic sisterhood who lived like nuns. It is a square enclosure with these beautiful houses.

The Anne Frankhuis where I saw the hidden rooms where her family and others hid from the Nazis during WWII, accessible behind a bookcase.

The Westerkerk is right next to the Anne Frank house and has a spectacular view of the city and canals, so I’m told anyway. The tower is closed in the winter unfortunately.

And of course, the famous, or infamous, Red Light District. So I was walking and saw a tour group and decided to follow them and before I knew it I was right in the center of the Red Light District! In the picture there’s a police car driving through…

The Oude Kerk (Old Church) is right in the heart of the Red Light District, but was closed so I didn’t get to see inside.

The Nieuwe Markt with a castle-like building.

Bloemen Markt is a floating flower market on the canals selling tons of flowers and tulip bulbs.

Leidseplein is a popular area for night life and there was an ice-skating rink for Christmas.

Rembrandtplein is also an area popular for night life, as well as a tribute to Rembrandt, obviously.

The Rijksmuseum, which is the Dutch museum comparable to the Louvre in Paris, the Prado in Madrid, the Uffizi in Florence, the Vatican in Rome, etc. There are a couple famous pieces on display here, the most famous being The Night Watch by Rembrandt. It amazes me how these painters made such ginormous pieces of art…I think it would be hard to get the proportions right. Rembrandt lived and worked in Amsterdam during the 17th century. Here is a picture of his house.

In the Rijksmuseum, there are also many things from the Dutch East and West India Trading Company on display (Pirates!!), delftware (which is famous blue and white porcelain made to offset the shortage of Chinese porcelain because of a civil war), and giant dollhouses that was fashionable for Dutch women to display in their houses…very expensive! One woman paid the equivalent of a canal-side home for hers! ¡Qué loco!

Amsterdam at night. All the bridges have lights on them.

Bicycles

They say that every 1 in 2 people in the city own a bicycle and the population is about 800,000. I didn’t get around to renting a bike because it was dang cold, but maybe this summer…

So these aren’t the kind of bikes that you’re thinking of, they are actually bicycles. They look old school. They come fully equipped with a headlight to drive at night and a bell to warn people you are coming through. Other options include a satchel to drape over the back tire for groceries, a basket for the front, a second seat, an attachable trailer, etc. The sky’s the limit! Because the land is so flat there are bike trails all over the whole country, like miniature highways. You can bike from one city to another very easily.

Zaanse Schans Windmills, Volendam & Marken

This was my first tour. I was fortunate enough to have both of my tours in English and Spanish so it was very enjoyable. Our first stop was to see the famous windmills and a little village. These were used in the past to pump water, but not so much anymore. In the 17th century there were over 10,000 windmills, but there only about 1,000 left today in the country.

We also visited a wooden shoe shop where we saw how they make the shoes. They used to carve them by hand, which took about 3 hours, but now they use a machine, which takes a couple of minutes. The reason they wear the shoes is because the land is so marshy and wet. They are also a lot warmer and protect the feet better. But they only wear them in the country, not the city, obviously. Also, the ones they wear aren’t painted like these ones. These are just for the tourists!

Our next stop was a cheese factory. Look at all the cheeses! They explained to us how the cheese is made and then we got to try all the different kinds. Gouda is delicious I must say! There was also a sausage flavored cheese…interesting. They roast it over a fire to give it a smoky taste. So they make cheese from cow, goat, and sheep milk. They only add flavoring to the cow milk because they produce tons more milk. The goat and sheep milk is always natural. So these cheeses are wrapped in a special kind of plastic and can be stored without a refrigerator for several months and in fact, taste better after a few months of sitting when they become more mature.

Our last stop was Volendam, a small village right on the ocean and is actually lower than the sea. Scary! Family - it was like a Dutch Zermatt…very touristy and practically as cold too! The harbor had ice in it! There isn’t really any authentic Dutch food, except they do serve Pea Soup only from November to February so I had some to warm me up. We then drove to Marken just to see it. It used to be an island until they built a dike to connect it to the mainland. The countryside is beautiful though! It’s like a flat Ireland with a lot more water. The land is always green!