Flamenco Friday

Last Friday night our program director, Carmela, had some of us over to her house for tapas. For those of you who are unfamiliar with tapas, they are small plates of food that are served in restaurants and bars around 7pm. Spaniards eat dinner very late, so they often go out for tapas to hold them over. Carmela served us some wonderful tapas including: 


Tortilla Española: It is actually nothing like a tortilla, it is more like an egg-and-potato omelette. Here is a picture: 

Empanadas

Meat with a carrot sauce (the vegetarian in me didn't take a pic of that one)


And my favorite...shrimp with the heads on! Okay I was not going to take one because it was just more than I could stomach. Carmela demonstrated how you first rip the head off, then scrape out the "membrane" and then eat it. I was already queasy at this point but she INSISTED I take one, so I did. I ripped the head off and there was something extra hanging off of it. Carmela looks over and goes "Oh Holly, you got a girl shrimp, that extra meat means it is a girl!" I don't feel the need to say more. 


Lucky for me I got to wash this all down with some fresh melon :) 


Later, Carmela surprised us and came out in full flamenco-garb and put on a little show for us. It was quite entertaining. THEN (get ready) she brought out her daughter's old flamenco skirt and scarf and insisted I put them on and dance with her while everyone else was on the couch watching. I really don't know how to flamenco so I followed her moves, it's a lot of arm movement. Lucky for me, Carmela picked one of my friends and got her a flamenco skirt too.


As you can see, I laughed a ton:

And was VERY glad when my friend joined me: 

And finally, the best part of the night...her house tour. She has 4 Salvador Dalí drawings in her house, two of which are made out to her. Apparently her family was friends with him. It was a full cultural experience between the food, dance, and museum-like art :) 

A bit of everything

Barcelona is a complete vacation, you get your touring, your beach, and your shopping...what could be better?? 


Here are some highlights: 

The port

 Park Guell: A park designed by Antonio Gaudí, who is a very famous artist/architect from Barcelona. This park was absolutely gorgeous, as you can see. It also reminded me a lot of Dr. Suess :) 

 La Sagrada Familia: This is a cathedral that was started in 1882 by architect Francisco de Paula del Villar and was taken over a year later by Gaudí. Believe it or not, this cathedral is still not finished! Predictions say it will be done in 2038, but that all depends on funding. It is hard to tell from the picture, but the outside of the cathedral has all sorts of religious scenes sculpted into it. 

Holly leaves outside Sagrada Familia :) 

Beach!

Candy at the market 

Sagrada Familia from the inside

 Here you can see a part that is still under construction 

Barcelona part 1: Getting there!

Last weekend the entire group went to Barcelona, courtesy of GWU :) We had a 7:30 AM flight which meant we had to be at the airport by 6:30 AM. Ooof!

• Side-note: My friends and I have noticed that Spaniards use "ooof" all the time! At first it was a running joke to use "ooof" because it sounded so funny to us. However we have now found it to be a convenient little word and incorporate it into our conversation as well. Little by little we are learning to speak like the Spaniards as opposed to the Spanish textbooks. 

Back on topic...6:30 AM at the airport. For those of you who were in Campo de Kiddies, remember the song that tells you to "dar una vuelta" (turn around)? 

Well, I beeped through security so the security guard had to go over my body with a portable metal detector. First they went over the front and then they told me to "dar una vuelta." Good thing I understood because I wouldn't have wanted to seem suspicious or anything. See, we found a practical use for the song :) 

Back on track...I'll have you know that despite my beeping, I was not once asked for any form of ID. Eeek. 

A sleepy hour-and-a-half later we landed in Barcelona!

A weekend in Valencia

Valencia is a gorgeous city located on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Even though they speak Spanish in Spain, the official language here is "Valencian" which has a lot of French and Spanish mixed into it. Lucky for us, all the important signs were in both Valencian and Spanish. 

Valencia has...

Gorgeous cathedrals-- There were quite a few that were open for people to step in and out of. We also saw many wedding parties in and near the cathedrals. In one of the cathedrals we walked up a long and steep spiral staircase. We all decided we needed to start going to the gym! The bell tower, however, brought us to: 

A wonderful view of Valencia! So the workout was definitely worth it :) 

Vast beaches: 

Yummy food:

This is paella, which is a rice dish that is cooked in a huge pan and then served right out of the pan! In fact, the name paella originated from the old French word "paelle" which means "pan." Many tourists consider paella to be a dish of Spain. However, Spaniards consider it to be a regional dish of Valencia, as that is where it originated. Paella And in case you were wondering, I did not eat that all by myself! 3 of my friends ordered the same dish so it came all together. 

Each paella is made with rice, oil, veggies, garlic, paprika, saffron, and and tomatoes. After that, you can choose what you would like to add (chicken, meat, veggies, seafood). 

...and finally: oodles of palm trees!

My First Three Weeks

So far I have been here three weeks but it feels like it has been three months! When I first landed I had to find my way to my suitcases and you are not going to believe this but, I had to take a train IN the airport to the baggage claim area. Madrid airport is by far the largest one I have been to. After collecting my two very large suitcases, I headed to the hotel and met up with the rest of the George Washington University group. The first three days were spent learning about Spanish culture as well as learning about our classes, how to get around in Spain, and so on. 

Here are some interesting cultural differences I learned during my first weekend: 

• Spaniards rarely ever use their hands, not even to eat an apple! They use a knife to cut off the skin and then eat it with a fork and knife. 
• Here is proof: I got an apple at the school café, expecting to eat it while on my way back to the apartment, and this is how it was given to me:

• In the US, most people do not walk around their houses with their shoes on ALL the time. However, in Spain, it is actually considered rude to walk around the house barefoot. I had to go out and buy some "chanclas" (flip-flops) for this purpose. 
• Spanish children usually meet up and play in the parks. It is unusual to invite a friend over for a play-date.
• It is polite to eat meals with both hands on the table and is impolite to put your hands in your lap. Today at lunch, Paulo had one and in his lap and was using his fork with the other. His mother scolded him, told him to put his hand on the table, and then said "No seas Americano" (Don't be American). 
• Yes, that is the other thing, my family for some reason thinks if they speak quickly enough I won't understand, but I do. Hehe :)