Thanksgiving

We bring home with us when we leave. Sometimes it becomes more acute for the fact of having left.

Is it just me, or was Thanksgiving extra big this year? I mean, it's always a big holiday, but for some reason, it felt like an extra big deal. Maybe I was just overcompensating for missing the holiday at home.

I celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday the right way-- with a family. It may not have been my own, but there's something irreplaceable about having this huge dinner with a family and eating all of this delicious food. Last year was fun-- a potluck dinner with my fellow Americans-- but this year, it was like Thanksgiving was on display. It had to make its best impression on this Spanish family. (And between you and me, I think we wowed 'em.)

We had it all -- the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, corn, cranberry sauce, gravy, butternut squash soup, bread, cookies, and pies... with a few Spanish touches as well -- jamón serrano and queso manchego. (Welcome additions, if you ask me.)

I spent Wednesday afternoon making the pies, and yesterday afternoon with the stuffing and sweet potatoes. My whole afternoon yesterday was spent baking and cooking while listening to Christmas music. Best combination ever. Maybe it's the cinnamon candle I've had burning in my room for the last several weeks, or the way the weather has been getting colder, or the fact that it's getting dark really early... Maybe it's the fact that they already have the belenes* set up near the cathedral, and the Christmas lights are going up poco a poco... or maybe it's just the fact that I have a plane ticket to Pittsburgh for December 18th-- But I'm already in the Christmas spirit, and I have been for weeks now. So now that Thanksgiving is over, I no longer have to feel so guilty about listening to the Justin Bieber and Glee Christmas albums. (Oh, what's that? I probably should feel guilty for listening to those?)

Anyway, while Christmas preparation is in full swing, I'm not done yet with Thanksgiving. I still have at least one more round to go. Here's to hoping the third round is just as good as the first two!

*Belén is the Spanish word for nativity. And these belenes are comparable to the 'villages' that a lot of Americans set up under their tree. Next the cathedral, they have booths set up where you can buy all of the little odds and ends that your nativity is missing -- ham legs, fruits and vegetables, kitchen utensils, barn animals giving birth. If you want it, I'm sure they've got it!

It's been so long!

Dear blog,

It has been a while-- a long while. I have no real excuse, and I'm sorry.

I suppose, to make it up to you, I could recount to you what has been going on during this last week and a half. But I'll try to only share the good parts.

I had my first visitor in Sevilla last weekend! Bailey decided on Thursday night that she'd be coming on Friday! It was a little last minute, but that only made it more exciting! We went out for some bangin' tapas on Friday night, and made a marathon tour of the city on Saturday. And after visiting a plaza filled with birds on Saturday, we decided to spend our evening watching the movie "The Birds" with my roommates. All in all, a fantastic weekend that left me with a slight fear of birds in large numbers.

A large majority of my life these days is being consumed by my living conditions. I've been thinking about moving out. It's a very long story, and one that I probably shouldn't recount on my blog, for the sole reason that anybody could be reading this thing... (cue twilight zone music). But, if you're really concerned, I would surely tell you about it in person, or via facebook or skype or basically any other medium that isn't this blog. (Ok, not to make it sound all serious and secretive, but I'm just not one to write about this kind of stuff on my blog. I only mention it because it seems to be the main topic of life these days.)

Yesterday I felt all homesick. I am blaming it on Starbucks and Christmas music. And Thanksgiving. I have already celebrated Thanksgiving once, with a fairly legit meal, and some fairly legit people-- we had cranberry sauce and everything. This week, I will celebrate it twice more, once on Thursday with my coworker and her novio's family, and once on Saturday, in Madrid. I guess that's reason enough to be thankful! But I promise you, my 'thankful-for' list is long this year!

This weekend I am going to Madrid and Toledo, because I have an appointment on Monday morning with the extranjería. We all know by now how much I love that place... Here's to hoping that everything goes smoothly! Aside from the legal junk, I am quite thrilled about my trip. I still have a deep love in my heart for Toledo. And of course, I will get to see my friends again, which is always lovely. And, in case you were wondering, I haven't traveled at all since arriving here in September. Sad. It will be nice to get a breath of fresh air. (And the weekend after, I will be going to Valencia! exciting!!)

I am sorry that I've failed miserably at updating these last 2 weeks. I promise I won't be a stranger anymore!

Best Field Trip Ever.

Today I took my first field trip with the instituto. We went to a film festival, where we watched a film in English about a group of Spaniards who went to paint murals in Cape Town, South Africa (complicated?). The film was alright. I liked the premise, and I liked the paintings (you can see one of the murals to the right). What I didn't like was the way the film was shot -- totally by hand, with what seemed to be a mini camcorder. The whole thing was shaky, and edited to be fast paced and jumpy. Being sensitive as I am to motion, I had to close my eyes for a lot of it because I started feeling nauseous.

Already tired, and already having felt ill the entire morning, it wasn't long before I accidentally dozed off during a portion of the film. I felt horrible!

Anyway, after the film we had to wait around for about an hour before the bus would arrive. Being in Spain, the only natural thing for the professors to do was hang out at one of the restaurants in the mall and have a beer. We've talked about this before. Having a beer in Spain is about as controversial as having a Coca-Cola. But imagine my surprise when the teachers asked if we wanted to go grab a caña. During a field trip. At 1:00 in the afternoon. I, of course, obliged.

My afternoon has been very uneventful. It's threatening rain outside, which, as we all know, makes for the best napping weather. And of course, after an afternoon beer or two, nothing is better than a little siesta. I read my kindle for a little while, cooked a frozen pizza for lunch, and updated the look of my blog. (You like!?) I decided to cancel my afternoon plans, stay inside, listen to some good music, and chill out for the rest of the night.
What a relaxing, uneventful, wonderful day! :)

a change of taste

So, it's not official or anything, but I ate fish today and I liked didn't mind it. While I don't yet consider myself a fan, this is a major step for me. I didn't just try one kind of fish, either-- I had a few. I ate cod, calamari, some sardine-like things, and then some bigger sardine-like things. I didn't really enjoy the sardine-like things, but I didn't hate them either. The calamari was good, and it wasn't chewy like I've had in the past, but the texture was still a little too strange for me. It was the cod that I actually enjoyed. And yes, all of these fish were frito, so that might have something to do with why I didn't mind it. But the important thing is that I tried it all, right?

Honestly, my tastes have changed a lot since I started living in Spain. When I arrived for the first time a few years ago, I hated olives, fish, coffee, and mushrooms, and I was disgusted at the thought of uncooked (though cured) jamón serrano that sat out on a counter for weeks or months until it was consumed. Nowadays, though, I miss the jamón when I'm in the United States, I drink coffee on a semi-regular basis, I buy olives to eat at my own apartment, and I add mushrooms to whatever I'm cooking.

I'm not sure if the change in taste is due to sheer exposure, or maybe it's just a result of growing up, but whatever it is, se nota.

One thing I haven't caught onto yet is the legumbre family.. the lentils and garbanzos and alubias. If anybody thinks they can make a mean dish of lentils or garbanzos, I'd be willing to try it... but until then, I have no plans of convincing myself to like these things. If I do end up converting, my blood might literally turn Spanish... so I better be careful.

knock knock...

I have a serious question to ask -- and be honest.

Is knocking on doors an American thing?

I am always caught really off guard when I am in the bathroom, and somebody tries to enter without knocking. Luckily, I am smart enough to keep the doors locked. But Americans, am I alone in thinking that a closed bathroom door means that somebody is probably in there? If I ever approach a bathroom door and it is closed, I knock -- without hesitation. It's a small gesture that can save 2 people (or more) from a very uncomfortable situation.

Europeans, do you knock? Or does it just so happen that every European I have ever lived with overlooks it?

Is this why nobody else likes knock-knock jokes?
I'm just wondering here.

A rather strange thing happened to me the other week -- where somebody tried to enter my room ... without knocking. I was really taken aback. (And so were they when I said "hola?!" ... and they took off down the hall!) The whole situation could have been avoided with a simple tap on the door.

I'm just wondering if anybody else questions the door-knocking norms worldwide. Lately it has been bothering me...I'd like to know your opinions!

Penniless

So the majority of these last two weeks have been spent in a constant state of financial worry! I haven't gone grocery shopping in a few weeks (aside from veggies here, a frozen pizza there) because I haven't had enough money to really stock up! Ridiculous!! I survived mostly on pasta, cereal, €1 montaditos, and dinners with friends. But the most important thing is that I did survive!

I am beginning to think that life in Sevilla is much more expensive than life in Toledo. Can free tapas really make that much of a difference? Our motto last year was "We drink to eat..." And it was true. We would go out, order a beer or two, and get enough free tapas to make a dinner. I definitely miss those days! In Sevilla, you've gotta pay for it all... but I'm learning, poco a poco, the little places with the good deals. €3 for 5 botellines? Yes please! €1 montaditos? mmmhmm! €5,90 for a menu of the day? You bet!

I suppose I also realized how much I love being able to arbitrarily agree to meet anybody, at any time, for a coffee or a beer. Having no pocket change means no coffees! And let's face it, no coffees makes for a boring week.

The good news is that I finally did get paid! The money showed up in my account yesterday! And I feel like a human being again! I'm finally beginning to give some private lessons now also, so that money should help out as well. I'm still not rich by any means, but at least now I can postpone my plans to acquire various dogs and hole up in the doorway of an abandoned storefront in the center of town. But I guess there's always next month...