The past two months have been pretty crazy. In order to try to sum them up, I’m going to describe some of the trips I went on, some experiences in class, and things that have stuck out in my mind for one reason or another.
For Christmas, my mom and step-father came to visit and we spent about 5 days in Galicia with a friend of mine (Pedro) who had invited us to his small pueblo outside of Baiona. This was an amazing experience, since I’ve never spent much time in rural Spain, and I had no idea what a Galician-Christmas would be like. Pedro’s family was ridiculously nice and welcoming, and after sharing several meals with about 20 members of his family, my parents and I felt more than comfortable being there. The largest meal took place on Christmas Eve, and it comprised of pork, chicken, prawns (literally hundreds of them), bacalao, cabbage, mussels, home-made wine, and turrón. After stuffing ourselves until it was painful to walk, the family members dispersed to either play cards, go to sleep, or get ready to go out in Baiona. Pedro and I opted for the latter, which meant taking an hour nap until 12:30, and then bar hopping for a few hours around the small city.
Among the amazing food that my family consumed at Pedro’s house, my favorite was the tuna that his father caught off of the coast of Africa. Pedro’s father has been a fisherman for basically his entire life, and each time he comes back from working on the ship, he’s allowed to take 12 jars of fresh tuna home. By far, this was the best tuna i’ve ever had. It’s a brilliant white color with no distinctly “fishy” smell, and it’s deliciously flaky, yet buttery at the same time. It’s definitely one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.
About a week after returning to Madrid, I had the opportunity to witness the Three Kings’ Parade, which I assumed would be pretty straightforward. However, when I was standing in Plaza de Cibeles with thousands of other people watching assorted, multi-faced monster balloons and a woman float by suspended from balloons, I knew this was not your typical parade. The plaza was filled with kids on ladders (which parents bring so that their kids can have a better view of the parade while everyone else suffers), and spectators brought their umbrellas with them to catch candy thrown by the Three Kings. Speaking of the Three Kings, one of the most memorable parts of the parade was seeing Balthazar atop his glowing, blue float. Apparently, it was too difficult to find an African man willing to dress-up as Balthazar in the parade, so instead he was played by a Caucasian man who painted his face black. I guess this seemed like a viable solution, but once old Balthazar started sweating from all of the waving and candy-throwing that came with his role, his face began to melt. Needless to say, that was both really strange and kind of disappointing. But, the fireworks were awesome!
On a note semi-related to the Balthazar debacle, I gave a presentation on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and there were easily ten different kids who came up to me and asked if the picture of MLK Jr. was Obama. It’s times like those that make me happy to know that I can at least make a difference here by teaching the kids something about America, American History, and racial sensitivity.
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Over the past few weekends, I’ve been to:
The Thyssen Museum – an amazingly vast collection of artwork ranging from Picasso to Hopper to Van Gogh
The MAPFRE Foundation – had on display a really amazing exhibit on impressionist painters from the Musée d’Orsay
A Spain vs. Russia rugby game – witnessed my first rugby game and wasn’t surprised when Russia was victorious
A Carnaval celebration – attended my school’s Carnaval celebration and was slightly confused by the mixture of cross-dressing, fire, and dancing
Budapest – loved the mineral baths, pastries, and mixture of impressive castles, bridges, and monuments
Hiking in a pueblo outside of Toledo – went with a group of teachers from my school hiking in the Sierras and had a great time getting out of the city and chatting with my co-workers without thirty kids screaming in the background
On another note, it was extremely rainy in Madrid during December and January, and I really missed the perfect, California weather.
