Parents, Palaces, and Pizza

Hello again, dear readers!

A somewhat obscene amount of time has passed since my last post, though it actually isn’t because I haven’t been writing.  I’ve had some issues with Blogger in the last few weeks, which are hopefully resolved now, and then I was so behind in posts that I didn’t want to post updates without being able to bring you all up to the current moment!  Anyway, I’m now going to post everything I have and soon we’ll be back on track—and as always, thanks for visiting my little blog!

As you all know, I spent last weekend in Granada with my friend Keely and her family.  In the past month I have been slowly but surely making my way to the different provinces of Andalucía and each have been a uniquely fantastic experience.  Granada did not disappoint; in fact, I would say that it’s now one of my favorite cities in Spain.   Obviously my fine company contributed heavily to my enjoyment—when my train arrived, I took a taxi to a hotel nestled away in the adorable city center where I met Keely and her parents.  Albert and Denise were incredibly hospitable and made me feel right at home, a great feat since they were travelers in a strange land themselves!  That evening we went to dinner at a nearby restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet where we had a delicious meal.  As you all know, good food in good company is one of my greatest pleasures in life, so this was a wonderful way to spend the evening.

wild mushroom salad

Denise and Albert at dinner

We retired somewhat early that night so that Keely and I could rise with the sun (well before, actually) and attempt to get tickets to see the Alhambra the next day.  Luckily, our expedition was fruitful and we procured tickets for the four of us, thanks to some ingenious advice from Mr. Rick Steves.  The Alhambra is undoubtedly one of the most popular monuments in Spain, as it draws thousands of visitors every day.  One third of the day-passes are reserved for same-day sale, so that people who don’t plan their visit months in advance can still have a chance to see the site.  We were lucky enough to fall into this category, so Denise and Albert came to meet Keely and I, and the four of us embarked on our day of sightseeing.

waiting for her parents-- Keely is unimpressed by the stray cats

stray cats are ALL OVER La Alhambra

The Alhambra is a sprawling network of ancient architecture that sits on top of the hills surrounding Granada.  While it includes a Christian palace and an abandoned Moorish fort called Alcazaba, the most magnificent of the sights are the Palacios Nazaries and Generalife—the last Moorish palace and the surrounding gardens, respectively.  We walked through the Palacios Nazaries with our guided audio-tour and spent hours climbing through the ancient chambers and ascending towers to see the awe-inspiring views of the city below.  The Moors ruled in Granada until 1492, until the palace itself was overtaken by Christian crusaders.  At that point, Charles V built his own palace atop the hill as a symbol of conquest.  While Charles’ stronghold was beautiful, it doesn’t even compare to the Palacios Nazaries.  The detail of the Moorish architecture was unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

inside Charles' palace

the Wright family!

Granada through Moorish windows

inside the Palacios Nazaries

incredibly intricate design

The Moors saw water as a symbol, because it was such a precious resource in their own homelands.  Because of this, water features are everywhere in the Alhambra—fountains and pools decorate almost every room and the gardens are filled with cascading waterfalls and man-made streams.

the interior palace

Keely and I

ancient pillars

reflection pool

We finished our tour of the Alhambra with a walk through the Generalife gardens, which were spectacular.  Granada actually means pomegranate in Spanish, so fruitful trees were artfully placed on almost every path.

I’m sure I could spend months in the Alhambra without seeing everything, which makes it particularly special.  I love walking through ancient palaces and thinking about the people who used to live there.  Since I come from the west coast of the United States, the oldest building in my city would be considered practically new in Europe.  I love my hometown, but there’s something distinctly magical about living in a place with so much rich human history.

on top of Granada

surrounding hills

Generalife gardens

my favorite flower in Generalife 

pomegranates!

After our Alhambra tour we went to an amazing restaurant for pizza and hummus, a gem that Keely had discovered on her last trip to Granada.  The city, like most in Andalucía, has a very large North African population.  This means that Granada is the place to go for awesome hummus, something I miss so much from home!

That evening, we went on an excursion to find an Irish bar that Keely’s sister, Mandisa, used to frequent during her year abroad in Granada.  We at first found a bar that we were sure was the right one, so we ordered drinks and food only to discover that we were at a different bar with the same name.  So, after our meal we embarked on another journey to find Mandisa’s bar, this time asking five or six Spaniards for directions before arriving at the “other” Hannigan & Sons.  Victory!

en route

all the traffic barricades in Granada are pomegranates!

This bar was a shots bar clearly frequented by the student crowd.  Luckily, we arrived early so we were able to enjoy a few drinks before karaoke and overly obnoxious Americans overtook the area.  Keely also found her future husband here, a Spanish bartender who looked Irish (yes, apparently that’s possible) and served us flaming shots called “The Afterbang.”  Oh, what adventures.

victorious in Mandisa's bar!

"The Afterbang" 

a great end to a long day!

All in all, the trip was fantastic.  I was overwhelmed by Albert and Denise’s generosity and it was so wonderful to spend a few days with friendly and familiar faces.  Now I’m on the train back to Córdoba, ready to begin the next adventure of moving into my new piso!  Pictures and updates coming soon!

When it Rains, it Pours

This expression was one that Keely and I explained to Charo while living in Sevilla.  We told her that it can be used for either positive or negative situations, but I said that I thought it was generally for more depressing circumstances.  However, I am now using it to describe my fantastic luck!

Yesterday began at 6:45AM, because my morning activity was applying for my Spanish residency card at the police station.  This process deserves its own post, so I will simply say for now that it was one of the most ridiculous experienced I have had in Spain thus far.  Now we’ll fast-forward five hours.

After I returned from the police station, I resumed my piso hunt.  That morning, I received a call from a woman named Estefania.  Because my Spanish phone skills are still lacking, I gathered only a handful of words from our three minute phone conversation.  “Piso,” “tengo un hijo de tres año,” and “quiero Inglés” all led me to believe that my potential living situation was with a mother who wanted her three-year-old son to learn English.  My ideal living situation was to live with another Spanish student close to my school who would speak Spanish with me and not mind if I had friends come to stay from Spain or America.  This did not seem like that kind of situation, but I was pretty desperate so I agreed to meet Estefania at the doorway of El Corte Inglés (think Spanish Macy’s) at 6:30PM.

I stood waiting outside the store for several minutes.  The only other person who appeared to be waiting for someone was a gorgeous young woman who I was sure could not have given birth to a child.  Therefore, when said woman dialed a number on her phone and mine began to ring, I was surprised to say the least.  After our greeting kisses, Estefania asked me if I wanted to go have coffee.  Though I was a bit confused about when I would see the piso, I placidly agreed and followed her to a hip café where she ordered for both of us.

She began to tell me about her family and her idea for her son Marco’s English lessons.  Not speaking any English herself, she wanted her son to be exposed early because she plans on sending him to an English immersion school when he is three-years-old.  I asked how old her Marco was, because I was under the impression that he was already that age.  “Marco tiene un año,” she replied, and went on to tell me that because her son was so young (barely one year old!), she envisioned his English tutoring being simply a listening immersion situation.

As our discussion went on, it became more and more clear to me that I was not being shown a piso, I was being interviewed for a job.  Estefania had seen my posting on a Spanish website called EasyPiso, in which I had identified myself as an American auxiliar in search of housing.  Though I still didn’t have a place to live, I was being offered a second job with steady hours!

Estefania’s husband (an equally gorgeous futbol player) came to join us with Marco in tow.  They explained to me that they were both born and raised in Córdoba and offered to help with my piso hunt if I was feeling lost.  I was overwhelmed by their kindness.  Marco (who is without a doubt the most beautiful baby I have ever seen), looked up at me holding a small stuffed Eeyore and shook his head.  His shyness diminished over the next hour as the four of us chatted and discussed ideas for immersing Marco in the English language.  Estafania and her family live across the street from my school and want me to work for them one hour per day, four days per week, whenever fits best for me around my school schedule.  The job will consist of me speaking English to Marco while we play with his toys or go on walks.  I’m not sure I could have found a more perfect job if I had tried.  The fact that I still lacked a piso faintly weighed on my conscience, but the compassion of these absolute strangers gave me the feeling that I had been desperately searching for in Córdoba: home.

When I left Estefania and her family, I went to meet a new friend from the program named Emily.  She has been wonderfully sweet and agreed to come with me to see my final piso appointment for the day.  We again walked to El Corte Inglés to meet a girl named Auri who I had found on EasyPiso.  Auri’s posting had said she was looking for an English speaker to share her piso (which she affectionately called an attic) because she wanted to be able to practice her language skills.  After identifying Auri, a tall girl with a hip haircut and glasses, Emily and I followed her to her nearby piso.  Though its miniscule size was definitely apparent, the piso was beautiful and cozy.  Auri had pictures of her friends and prints of New York decorating the walls, which she showed me while explaining that she is working towards finding a job in the United States or England.  She is 25-years-old with a degree in bio-chemistry and is currently studying for her English language exams.  The piso is less than a ten minute walk from my school and is directly across the park from Emily’s building.  Perfection!

I told Auri that I wanted to be her new roommate and went out for celebratory tapas with Emily and some other auxiliares.  While at the restaurant, Keely called me to congratulate my success and ask if I would come to Granada to meet her parents.  Denise and Albert came to Spain last week to help Keely with the move-in process, but she was lucky enough to have found a piso during her first day in Almeria.  They were now traveling as a family throughout Andalucía and wanted to meet me, so they generously offered to put me on a train the next afternoon.  This tremendous gift pushed me into absolute elation—it must be true that good things come in threes.

I moved out of the hotel this morning because I can’t move into my piso until Friday.  Emily kindly offered to house my suitcase and backpack in her room while I am gone in Granada, so I moved everything over to her piso and watched some Spanish music videos with her before leaving for the train station.  I can already tell that it’s going to be wonderful to have her as my new neighbor!

Now I am on the train to Granada, getting ready to see one of my closest friends in Spain.  Being away from the network I built in Sevilla has been difficult, and though things are definitely looking up, it will be fantastic to spend a day or two with Keely and her family.

Thank you for your kind thoughts—I know that all of your good energy has been what got me through my rough week.  If anything, this experience has reminded me that even the darkest moments eventually pass.  I am so grateful to have outstanding family and friends at home and in Spain.  I feel your love even when I am far away—I hope you feel mine too!

And Then There Was One

Sometimes it seems that we make decisions that require great thought and calculation.  Other times, our choices are utterly random and careless.  I’m not sure that I could qualify my decision to come to Sevilla as either of these types of judgment, but rather as “Well, we’ll see how this goes…”

Could I have been any luckier?

In Sevilla, I lived with the most wonderful family, saw the most incredible sights, and met the most marvelous people.  If I could have engineered the experience myself, I would not have been able to come close to the fantastic reality of my time there.

gorgeous girls

so happy!

Kike and Emilio framing an ecstatic Keely

Because of this, leaving Sevilla was awful.  I finally felt at home in a Spanish city, and was expected to leave with great excitement for what was to come.  While I am excited to begin work in my school, I don’t have a network in Córdoba.  I know these things will come in time, but at the moment, I’m just missing the life I have already established.

fountain in the main square
(does this look like the Heritage Fountain in Olympia to anyone else?)

Plaza de Tendillas

I arrived in Córdoba two days ago, and I am currently staying in a hotel next to La Mezquita with very spotty internet access.  Thus, I will be uploading this post when I find myself a home.  The next five days are devoted to finding a piso (apartment) in Córdoba.  I am, in a word, terrified.  It turns out that piso hunting in Spain is just as aggravating as in America, only now I must do it alone and in a different language.  Yesterday I spent the day walking around the city with two other girls from the program.  We pulled paper tabs off flyers advertising pisos for rent and then made zillions of phone calls.  Many were already occupied, some were very far from my school, and a handful of the people were so hard to understand that I gave up with a mumbled, “Gracias, hasta luego.”

Luckily I was able to connect with some other auxiliares for tapas last night, which made me feel like I wasn't alone.  There are several people who are placed in the city of Córdoba and around the province.  Networking with everyone made me feel better, and there are several nice people placed in the city with me, so hopefully I'll be able to connect with them over the next few weeks.

auxiliares tapas group

I am feeling more than a little discouraged at the moment, but I know that everything will fall into place.  It’s really difficult to be so far from all of my new friends as well as not being able to easily contact my family and friends at home.  There are a handful of auxiliares like me here in Córdoba, but right now we are all so piso-focused that it’s difficult to form relationships.  Two girls who I met through CIEE already have a beautiful piso very close to my school, so I know it’s possible.  Now I just have to be persistent without getting too disheartened.

On a brighter note, I visited my school this morning!  It is in the middle of a beautiful garden-esque park called Plaza de Colón.  I walked around unable to find it for twenty minutes until I realized that it was actually inside the park!  My bilingual coordinator is named Mariló, and she is very sweet.  She was excited to hear that I am a musician, and told me that I would be able to teach music classes in English!  The children were adorable and the school is very charming, so despite my piso discouragement I am excited for the year to come.  

fountain in the center of Plaza de Colón, where my school is located

 Now, to find a new home.  Wish me luck!

Families are Families

As I quickly approach my last moments in Sevilla, I find myself reflecting on my time here.  The past week has been filled with philosophical conversations between Keely and I and our host family as we prepare for the year ahead.  Elena and María left Sevilla last night to begin the next phases of their lives: Elena is moving to New York for a month, and afterwards will find a place to live in Segovia with her boyfriend; María will be living with her father for the next few weeks while she searches for a job as an au pair, hopefully in France.

My Spanish family

Charo spent the evening helping her daughters gather their laundry, pack their bags, and wiping her own tears.  The parallelisms to my own family were uncanny; I felt as though I was reliving the end of August in my own home when Kenzie and I packed up our lives to begin new adventures.  I think the most important piece of knowledge that I have gained from this experience is that families are families, no matter where you are.  Dinner included a carrot cake because Charo’s birthday is next Thursday.  We sang and cried and ate Elena’s delicious concoction while discussing the upcoming changes.

Mama and daughters

After dinner, Charo asked Keely and I for a talent show.  We gathered up our sheet music and came downstairs to find five shots of cherry liqueur on the coffee table, ready for celebratory toasts.  After I played a Ravel piece and Keely sang and Irish tune, we demanded some Spanish talent as well.  This resulted in Charo and Elena dancing flamenco for us while attempting to contain uproarious laughter.

Salud!

A class act

Dancing queens

 Keely and I finished the evening with Jess, Kerry and Kelsey at the best sushi restaurant I have ever been to.  I’m not sure why this gem is tucked away in Sevilla, but I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Last night with the girls

Best sushi in the world

My train leaves this afternoon but I will be accompanying Keely to the station this morning because Charo is bringing us there for the earlier train to Almeria.  We received an email from CIEE that explicitly told us to get to the bus or train station without our host families, as they were not obligated to transport us.  When Keely and I told Charo this, she said simply “I don’t care what they said.  I’m bringing you to the train station!”  I have the best Spanish mama in the world.

I am feeling pretty depressed about leaving Sevilla, but I hope that Córdoba eventually becomes my home in the way that this city has.  The upcoming task of apartment hunting in Spanish seems daunting right now, but hopefully it will be easier than I am expecting.  In any case, I am excited to start teaching and using my Spanish more, so hopefully that will help with this transition.  On to new adventures!

Globetrotters

The past week has been extremely busy for me, due to the fact that I have the best friends in the world.  I had the pleasure of receiving visits from both Bryson and Katherine, which was fantastic.

Bryson and Keely enjoying some American delights
(yes that is a beer from McDonalds)

Bry at Plaza  de España

Bry arrived in Spain via Nepal, where he spent the last month providing eye care for people in the rural kingdom of Mustang.  His visit to Spain bridged the gap between his time in Nepal and his rendezvous with his parents in Paris.  Bry spent five days with me, which included plenty of sightseeing, beach-going, and tapa eating.  Because I still had to go to school during the week, he spent some time getting to know the city by himself.  For example, I was informed one day after class that he had spent the early afternoon eating “an entire octopus.”  (This dish is called pulpo in Spain, and it’s unreal).  Getting to introduce my best friend from the States to my new best friends in Spain was really great, and it was hard to say goodbye.  Luckily, Bry has promised me another visit—hopefully this winter!

The little mermaid

Beach!

Bryson and Keely became fast friends

Katherine was my next guest, coming to me from Madrid where she had just gotten herself established.  Like me, Katherine is going to be a Language and Culture Assistant in a primary school.  We got to spend the weekend together, which was wonderful.  Highlights were cooking American dinner at Kerry’s host family’s house, seeing the sunset view of Sevilla from the top of the amazing seta building, and summer discotek hopping.  It’s great to have a close friend from home living in the same country, because I know that I’ll always have a lifeline whenever I need.  And obviously I’ll be headed to Madrid once I get established in Córdoba!

Katherine and I on top of Sevilla!

All in all, it’s been an amazing couple of weeks.  I’m starting to get really sad about leaving Sevilla, since it’s rapidly becoming my home.  It will be really nice to know people all around Andalucía, as all of my new friends are spread out throughout the region, but it’s also going to be very difficult to leave them.  Luckily, I still have a bit more time though, so I’m going to reap the benefits while I can!