Happy April Fool's Day!!!

Well, most of you know much I like to pull people’s legs and see how gullible people are, especially my family….my mom’s the worst…she believes everything I tell her! Haha, I love you Mom! I get lots of laughs out of it anyway. My dear friend Allison calls my condition a “compulsive liar.” Nah, not me!

April Fool's Day reminds me of all the practical jokes that go on where I used to work - Medicap Pharmacy. But these are not just once a year pranks, they are everyday! It's great! You guys still carrying on with all of that? Jumping out of boxes to scare each other, putting fake bugs in each other's pockets, you know....good times!

So unfortunately I think it would be cruel to post something not true on my blog and so I have no one to kid…bummer. So instead here’s a story from one of the books I teach with about April Fool’s:

"In 1957, the BBC documentary series Panorama showed Swiss farm workers pulling spaghetti from 'spaghetti trees'. The programme told viewers that the farmers were enjoying an excellent spaghetti harvest due to a very mild winter. As spaghetti wasn't very common in the UK at that time, many people believed the report. Hundreds of viewers even phoned up to ask where they could buy their own sphaghetti trees!"

I can't believe so many people believed that. Well, I hope you don't turn out to be the April Fool today....
Oh, and by the way, I almost forgot to tell you...I got to go sailing on a yacht the other day!! We made a whole weekend trip out of it.

Fútbooooool

Today I went to a soccer game!!! with Ana, José, their father, and their uncle. It was so much fun! Almeria beat Levante (from Valencia) 2 to 1. Almeria scored in the first 2 minutes, but Levante scored in the very last minute. This is the first year that Almeria has become a division 1 soccer team playing teams like Real Madrid and FCBarcelona. They are ranked in the middle while Levante is the last. Tickets were sold out, but fortunately I didn't even have to buy mine! I got to use someone's season tickets....not sure exactly who.....

It was interesting to see people eating their sunflower seeds (of course), bocadillos, and old men smoking cigars. Because there are always so many games going on at the same time, it's not uncommon to see men with headphones listening to another game at the same time.
Almeria plays in the Stadium of the Mediterranean Games, which were held here in Almeria back in 2005. There is also a track around the soccer field as you can see. The stadium holds 22,ooo and the seats all have backs. So much more comfortable! I like soccer games - they last just the right amount of time, not too long and not too short. American football games can get loooong....and uncomfortable.

Here is Ana sportin' her Almeria soccer scarf...

So I realized just how much I miss sports, team sports that is. Running and swimming just isn't cutting it for me. I have always been on an intramural team, either basketball and/or volleyball. I saw some dudes playing a basketball game the other day and I felt like joining them! I really wanted to play. Also, I've always gone to watch BYU or EAC football, baseball, volleyball, or basketball games. I really miss that. So it was good to actually go see a real soccer game here in Spain - too good! I even miss watching games on tv. Someone please tell me what is going on with March Madness!! I feel so out of the loop....

Check it out, so Daylight Savings time changed here in Spain today. So I knew about it for like weeks, but wouldn't you know, I totally forgot to change my clock ahead. So instead of being early for church like I was back in October, I was late. Oops! It's nice to have the sun out so late though. It doesn't get pitch black until about 9 pm. I love it.

Ok, so the Spanish are crazy about soccer. They dedicate a pretty good chunk to it in the newspaper. I decided to count the number of pages one day....there is 17 whole pages dedicated to soccer. That proves just how popular soccer is!

Club Natación

I've found my new favorite way to exercise....swimming laps! I never knew it could be so much fun. It's definitely a good alternative to running. I guess why I didn't like it before was because I never knew how to swim free style appropriately...I could never breathe right. Instead of turning my head to the side, I always brought my head straight up to breathe.

Well, one of the other teachers, Antonio (thanks!), invited me back before Christmas to go swimming at his swim club. I liked it so much that in January I decided to join. So I have been going about 2 or 3 times per week since January. And let me tell you what, I can now swim free style like a pro! Ok, well I can at least breathe right! It's a big accomplishment for me!! At 24 yrs. old I now know how to swim. Haha! It only took me about 3 times swimming to teach myself how to actually breathe right.

So I swim for about 45 min. to 1 hr., depending on how my shin splints feel and alternate laps with free style and back stroke - those are my favorites. On the days I don't swim I go running on the beach. I'm sad though cause my membership ends in a few weeks and it's strictly back to just running. It's been enjoyable, though, and refreshing.

Swimming has got to be the best way to get rid of Relief Society arms!! Seriously, I don't have them at all any more. I'm gonna have to keep swimming when I get back to the U.S. For those of you reading this who don't know what Relief Society arms are, let me explain.....Relief Society is an organization within my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, that women become a part of as soon as they turn 18. It is an organization to help you improve as a person and also serve others. Usually we, as members, think of Relief Society members being older and therefore not as fit as younger people. As soon as you go into Relief Society, the "Relief Society arms" magically appear because at that point you're not as active as you were in high school. So what exactly are Relief Society arms? Well, when you hold up your arm, usually there's some flab hanging down where your triceps are, which tends to move around a little too much. Haha! This only applies to women, you see....
The cure: Swim laps!!!

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Well, there’s no Easter Bunny, baskets, decorating eggs, jelly beans, Easter egg hunts, blowing up Peeps in the microwave, or any of that here in Spain…just a whole week of religious processions. I think it’s great that they haven’t lost the significance of the reason for Easter unlike the U.S. where it is so commercialized and lots of children don’t even know what we are celebrating….the resurrection of Christ! I celebrated by getting a hair cut...

There are a few Easter treats here, and I thought you’d get a kick out of this one…! Instead of pigs in a blanket, you have eggs in a blanket! Real eggs! Sorry, but that’s not very appealing…

Cabo de Gata

Today Kirsten and I went on a small tour to a part of the Cabo de Gata. We saw some watchtowers, which are all over the southern coast of Spain from here to Málaga. They communicated between them by using mirrors, torches, or smoke.

We then saw a small round ermita (church) on the beach. The waves, I tell you, were huge! We are talking like surfing waves. Too bad I don’t have my own car or I would pick up some surfing in my spare time…

We then went to see some salt flats where there was an old abandoned church and piles of salt – most of the salt here in Almería comes from here. There are small salty lakes where they extract the salt from with all kinds of birds. In the summer there are supposed to be tons of flamingos inhabiting them. We observed the birds (no flamingos dang it) from inside a little shack. It was a fun little tour!

I went to Morocco!!!

And boy was it fantastic! Ok, not really. I didn’t really go to Morocco. Kirsten and I opted instead for a Moroccan restaurant here in Almería that I had seen. And was it an adventure! If we couldn’t go to Morocco, we at least wanted to try the food. So there was like no one inside because the processions were going on so I asked this dude if it was open. He gave me this non-responsive look and so I asked where we could sit. He pointed to a table and as we turned around, I noticed that there were indeed other people in the restaurant – all Moroccan men staring at us. Haha!

So we ordered our food…couscous & tajin de carne. I was a little wary after our initial response, but it turned out really good! Here is a picture I snuck of the food, and the menu in Arabic. I had to be sneaky since we were already stared down. The waiter then brought us a huge bottle of water without consulting us. Hey, maybe we wanted sodas! Hehe. So when we went to pay we were counting on paying for the bread and water (which is always extra in Spain), but we actually didn’t have to pay for either and even got a further discount on our food! That’s what happens when you wink and smile at the waiter! Haha! Not, we didn’t really do that….we just got lucky!

More on Semana Santa...

So I’ve become a fanatic of Semana Santa – like a little child so excited to see and experience everything! Just ask Kirsten…I’m sure she got sick of going to so many processions. I wanted to see them all! When I get excited about something I REALLY get excited about it! We were able to see quite a few, so here’s some more pictures from the different days of Holy week.

Each procession has the basics, each in a bit different way. Each procession belongs to a certain brotherhood, who prepare the whole year for the procession. The procession starts out with someone carry a giant cross, then people carrying candles and/or crosses, then people waving around incense, then the giant image from Christ’s life, then the band playing music, then more people carrying candles, then the mantillas (women dressed in black carrying rosaries with a lace scarf worn over the head and shoulders), then the Virgin Mary to end the procession. Each brotherhood has their own colors and such. Also, some of the people go barefoot...

These are the typical ways that the Virgin and Christ are portrayed. There were big posters on the side of a church where I took these pictures.

Here a couple images that I took inside of a church taking a break from the processions.

Sábado de Pasión (Saturday of Passion)
We didn’t go to any processions because we went to Granada instead…see below…

Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday)
See post below titled “Semana Santa” for pictures from this day…..but, here are a few more pictures.

Lunes Santo (Holy Monday)
I caught snippets of 3 different processions this day, but didn’t get to see much cause I had to catch the bus back home. What an ordeal too! I was running all over the joint to figure out where to catch it. They changed the bus stops, you see, because of the processions and it was a bit confusing…but I finally made it. I didn't get very many good pictures because it was dark and I was a bit far away.

Martes Santo (Holy Tuesday)
We didn’t see any processions this day. What a shame!

Miércoles Santo (Holy Wednesday)
Both of the processions we saw this day began at the Cathedral.

Jueves Santo (Holy Thursday)
Unfortunately, not many of the processions occurred this day because of the rain. Two were canceled and the third only made it part of the route. We went to watch one at a church close to where I live and waited for almost an hour, but they decided not to go through with it. I was in a prime spot to take pictures too, dang it! That’s one thing when I really like being tall!! They brought out the images just barely out the door of the church for the people to see and that’s it. There were people crying…for good reason too! A year of hard work all for nothing….

Viernes Santo (Holy Friday)
This was a much more solemn day for the processions because this was obviously the day that Christ died. All of the brotherhoods wore black clothing, there was less music and less cheering from the crowd watching. We went to the carrera official (the main street) to watch the processions where they had rows and rows of bleachers set up. It was nice to sit for a change instead of standing, as well as eat a delicious kebab as we waited! We stayed out till about midnight watching the processions. They were interesting to say the least. There was a black cross draped with white cloth. The main image we saw was of Christ inside a glass case. I'm not gonna lie, it was all a bit creepy with so much silence and blackness...

Sábado de Gloria (Saturday of Glory)
There aren’t any processions this day…the only day out of the whole week.

Domingo de Resurrección (Day of Resurrection)
Instead of going to processions (I guess I had finally seen enough....) we went to church of course!