Weekend in BCN

This weekend I went back to my old Spanish stomping grounds, Barcelona. Chelsea and I decided to take advantage of the puente (long weekend) we had for Rocio, a religious pilgrimage in the south of spain. From what I understand, it is similar to the Camino de Santiago except everyone does it at the same time of year. I’m pretty sure once they get there its just a big party (what else is new Spain) for five days, with a little bit of praying involved. For some reason I still can’t figure out, this virgin is more important than all the others and deserves her own pilgrimage. Before I left on Friday I saw the beginning of the journey to rocio. They are all different depending on the hermandad (brotherhood). Some walk, some drive, some go on horseback. And they dress in the typical southern spain (feria) garb, flamenco dresses and trajes de corto. But, as I’ve been told, the dresses are a little different in that they are more comfortable (finally someone realized its nice to be able to breath in a dress).

Anyway, after deciding not to take part in this religious pilgrimage, I went up north to Barcelona. I had my first couch surfing experience. I have been hearing only good things about couch surfing since I first heard about it freshman year. For those who don’t know, it’s basically a project for young travelers who want to save money. In exchange for offering up a couch or your company in your home town, you are given a variety of couches to choose from in your destination. Now all you skeptics may be doubtful of such a thing, but there are ways to verify that people are not creepers. But yes, it does involve a certain level of trust and maybe stupidity.

Well, I’m alive and well to tell the tale. And all is well that ends well, right? Our host was a student at the university in Barcelona, but he is from Paraguay. He was very friendly and willing to help us figure out what we wanted to do and how to get around town (although I did remember quite a bit from living there in 2007). He also took us out with him on Saturday night, and I really enjoyed meeting new people. 

We spent a lot of our time walking around town because the weather while we were there was absolutely perfect, 75 and sunny every day. We visited the beach, the rambla, Sagrada Familia, the Barcelona Cathedral, Parc Guell, the boqueria, plaza espanya and watched the magic fountain show. We probably did more but that’s what comes to mind right now. Unfortunately I did not get to eat at my favorite restaurant, Cal Pep, because when we went to eat there at 3:30pm they told us they were closed, despite all the customers eating at the bar. I was thoroughly disappointed but I can’t say I was let down by the food I did eat in Barcelona. I mostly ate at places I’d never been before and everything was amazing.

It was great to be in the city during the king’s cup final. Everyone was really happy they won, and I’m pretty sure there was a big celebration on Sunday because almost everyone was wearing a jersey that day.

It was really nice to visit Barcelona again. I think it has to be one of my favorite cities I’ve been to. Although now I am a little more broke, I’d say the trip was definitely worth it!

Now, for my final two weeks in Seville…

Week in Review

(may 10-today)

Despite the unnaturally high temperatures this week (I’m talking 100-105 averages) I had a lot of fun. First of all, in gym class at school we started the unit on lacrosse (a sport that most students have never played or even heard of here in Spain). So I had to start from the basics. Now my Spanish has definitely improved since I’ve been here, but giving a class in Spanish to a bunch of kids that are anxious to run around and throw things is an entirely new task for me. In terms of vocabulary I was okay (I had reviewed the words with a Spanish lacrosse friend who also speaks English) but I still found explaining the basics of catching and throwing quite difficult. Also, due to the lack of knowledge about lacrosse in Spain, it is not easy to buy equipment, in fact it is impossible, it must be bought over the internet. So instead of spending time and money waiting for a shipment of equipment, we made our own sticks out of water bottles and broom sticks (I think). And by we I mean Ismael (gym teacher) and the doorman/caretaker. Although I would have been glad to help make the sticks if I had been asked.

So now, picture me, an American standing in front of a group of young Spanish students (ages 9-11) each of them holding a different colored broom stick with half a water bottle attached to the top, trying to teach the basics of lacrosse. Yes, it is a sport I love and have played for almost ten years, but the skills needed to throw a real lacrosse ball from a real lacrosse stick are very different than what the students needed to successfully throw and catch. As with almost anything, the first class was kind of a test run. I think the kids had fun throwing the ball around, but the class could have gone more smoothly. Also keep in mind that I am not a trained gym teacher.

Anyway, after three introductory lacrosse classes last week I think we’ve finally figured out how to make the most of it. Needless to say, I am enjoying it a lot because I get to go to school and play lacrosse for 2 hours a day. My only complaint is that in each class I have to play goalie when it comes time to practice shooting. Since I am the only one with a real stick, and with experience I was nominated. And even though the kids have never played lacrosse before, some are really strong and have a good throw. So it’s really scary to be in the goal! But at the same time really fun.

After a fun week of lacrosse at school, I went to my first ever Spanish concert. It was a singer named Pablo Alborán who sings kinda slow, romantic music but has a beautiful voice and plays both the guitar and piano. I went with my friend Sam who is obsessed with his music. I didn’t know it too well but it was still a fun time.

The next day I went to the beach! I thought it was my first beach experience in Spain so I was excited, but as I write this I am realizing that during my three months in Barcelona I spent a fair amount of time at the beach there. So correction, my first trip to a beach in southern Spain! Still exciting. Since I don’t have a car, nor do I want to rent a manual car, we went on the bus. The only problem with the bus is that you have to go when the bus wants to leave or else you are stranded at the beach. And unfortunately, the last bus left at 6pm, at which time there was still prime beach weather. Although I wish we could have stayed longer, I enjoyed the time we spent there. We met up with my friend Isabel, who was there with her boyfriend and some children (not quite sure whose they were, nieces maybe). So I got to practice Spanish, and be 10 years old again playing in the waves on a boogy board. Good times all around.

We got back to Seville just in time to watch the Betis-Barcelona match. I have to say, even though it was a tie, it was a good game. I wish Barcelona hadn’t scored that goal in the last 15 seconds of the game, and Betis would have won, but a tie against one of the best teams in La Liga ain’t bad.

This morning (now two days ago), I went kayaking with the Ismael and kids and neighbor and kids. I have now done this about three or four times and I really love it. It’s so nice to be on the river in the middle of Seville, especially on a hot day like today. There was lots of splashing of the disgusting river water, but it was quite refreshing. We went on an adventure of sorts, under pedestrian bridges (probably shouldn’t be doing that with my height) and navigating through sticks and leaves in the water (the part of the river I’m pretty sure you aren’t supposed to kayak on but whatever I was just following my orders). Things did get a little crazy at times with kids spinning in circles in their kayak, and 4 year olds accidentally getting pushed into the middle of the river without a paddle. But we all survived and had a wonderful Sunday morning. 

Feria de Sevilla

April 24-29

I have been so delayed with my posts lately, and I'm sorry. I have been very busy travelling and having fun. I have just finished writing a few different posts that I will upload throughout the week. Unfortunately, they will not be in chronological order so I've decided to put the dates of each event at the top of the post. Happy reading!

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the portada (entry way)

Every spring in Sevilla, there is a giant fair known as Feria (Spanish for fair). It takes place approximately two weeks after Easter, and it is basically a week long celebration of spring and happiness in general. It involves women (and little girls) dressing up in beautifully colored flamenco dresses, and men in suits from a 1950s horseback riding film (at least in my mind). Of course, you can dress however you like, but this is the typical wear. There are hundred of tents called “casetas”, and these tents are essentially people’s homes for the week of feria. There is food and dancing and drinking of course. The typical drink of feria is called rebujito, and it consists of manzanilla (a variety of sherry wine) and sprite. It is certainly not my drink of choice but to get into the spirit of feria, I definitely drank a fair amount of rebujitos. They also set up an amusement park of sorts I suppose to keep the children entertained. But let me tell you, it kept adult children entertained too. If the rides didn’t cost money, I would have spent much more time at the attractions than I did.

A very important part of feria is the special type of music and dance, called sevillanas (very original name). All year various people have told me that if I want to enjoy the feria, I have to learn sevillanas. I did not learn the dance before feria, but I did pick it up a little during the fair. Every time I met up with a Spanish person they asked if I had learned yet, and when they found out I hadn’t, they took me straight to the dance floor. The music that accompanies the dance is really nice. The songs usually have a guitar and they follow a certain beat that you can clap to if you are danceologically challenged like me. Also, these songs are generally expressions of someone’s pride to be from Seville or Andalucía in general. They talk about how great it is to be from the south and how Seville is the best city there is. It’s nice to hear how proud they are, but it’s clear that these singers have never been to New York!

Now the problem with feria is that it is not officially a holiday in Seville, although many people don’t work/go to school that week. However Pilas, my pueblo, did not have vacation for feria because there aren’t too many Pileños that go to the feria. But you’re only an American living in Seville during feria once. So I had to go every day (didn’t have to of course but really wanted to because its lots of fun). There was a bit of struggling at school that week, with only 4-5 hours of sleep each night but I survived. Also that week Katie was visiting from Switzerland so we were busy sightseeing and walking around during the time we weren’t at feria. Very busy week but I’m really glad I got to experience the feria of Seville. Hope I can be back here for next year’s!

the scene

me and katie before feria one day