A Wonderful Winter Break!

Happy new year, everyone! I hope that everyone's 2011 is off to a good start and that you're all finding it easy to stick to your resolutions! (I myself forgot to make a New Year's resolution this year... does it still count if I make one now?)

It's been a long time since my last post but don't worry, I haven't abandoned my blog! I had a wonderful, a.k.a. jam-packed, winter break here in Spain. I did a lot of traveling, a lot of relaxing, a lot of eating and a lot of visiting with friends... a pretty great combination if you ask me!

As you already know from my last two posts, I spent Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) and Christmas Day with Ana, Anais and Cristina here in Granada. On Christmas Eve the four of us went to Ana's mother's house in Padul to celebrate Christmas with the family. Ana's two sisters, Juani and Gema, their husbands, Antonio and Elías, and Juani and Antonio's daughter, Elena, were there as well. Juani brought Santa hats and reindeer antler headbands for everyone and we spent the night eating delcious food and appetizers, drinking cider and singing Christmas carols. Around midnight, after we had finished eating, we all bundled up and left the house to walk around the town singing Chrismas carols in the streets. When we were too cold to continue we made our way back to the house and ended our Christmas Eve celebrations.

The Pérez family, minus Juani. (L-R: Cristina, Ana, Elías, Abuela, me, Antonio, Gema, Anais and Elena.)

Anais, Elena and I in Padul, singing Christmas carols in Padul.

Although it's tradition in the United States to exchange gifts on Christmas morning, here in Spain gifts are brought by the three wise men as opposed to Santa Clause, and thus are typically opened on the morning of January 6th, Three King's Day (the Epiphany). However, I wanted to give my gifts to the girls on Christmas Day and therefore told them that Papá Noel made a stop in Spain the night before. My Dad had sent over a package with gifts for the girls, too, and Ana, Cristina, Anais and I spent Christmas Day lounging around in our pjs, listening to more Christmas carols and enjoying each other's company. Later that night we watched Elf, one of my favorite Christmas movies. I missed everyone back home terribly, but I had a great Christmas with my Spanish family in Granada!

The next day, December 26th, was the first of three days in which many of my friends from two years ago came back to Granada! This year, as most have graduated from the University of Granada, most of my Spanish friends from when I was abroad are doing similar programs to the one that I'm doing. This is very exciting for them as they are teaching Spanish or taking classes in Germany, France, the USA, etc. but a little sad for me as I'm back in Granada missing all of them! I had a great time in the city with everyone! We spent the three days walking around the city and going out for tapas. I wish they could have stayed in Granada a little longer!

Friends! (L-R: Simon, Miriam, Juanpe, Virginia, Jose Maria and Jose Alberto.)

Miriam, me and Virginia on our way to the Albaicín.

Jose Maria, me and Simon.

On New Year's Eve I was up early to catch a bus to Madrid. I left Granada at 10:00am and got to the Madrid bus station a little after 3:00 that afternoon. I ate a quick sandwich as I waited for my friends Juanpe and Simon to arrive. The three of us decided to celebrate the new year together in the capital. The boys showed up about a half and hour later at which time we took the metro to find our hostel. After checking in, we relaxed before getting ready to go out for the night. We had dinner and rang in the New Year at Juanpe and Simon's friend Bélen's apartment that she shares with her brother. There were ten of us in total and it was quite the international crowd- one American, two French, two Germans and five Spaniards! At midnight we all gathered around the television to watch the bell tower toll from Madrid's Puerta del Sol. In Spain, the New Year's Eve tradition is to each a grape with each of the twelve chimes counting down to midnight. The chimes are three seconds apart and you're supposed to stuff your mouth with the grapes, eating them as fast as you can so that you can eat all 12 in time to have good luck each month in the year to come. Well, I didn't do so well with the grape-eating and only made it to five before I started laughing and couldn't stop! It was just too funny to look around and watch everyone's cheeks swelling up with grapes, quickly cramming them into their mouths with each bell chime! So, apparently my good luck with run out after May... I'll just try for better luck next year! After toasting to a great new year with a few bottle of cava, Spanish champagne, Simon, Juanpe and I headed into the city to celebrate the rest of the night in various bars. It was crazy- so many people in the plazas, streets and bars. We went to a few different places and around 5:30am we called it a night and headed back to the hostel to sleep. We spent the next two days walking around Madrid, drinking coffee and enjoying being outside. We went to the Parque del Retiro and the Palacio Real and many different bars at night for tapas. It was a great three-day trip to Madrid!

The Spanish New Year's Eve tradition: champagne and grapes!

Part of the Nochevieja group. (L-R: Belén, Simon, me and Juanpe.)

Exploring and enjoying Madrid!

More wandering around the city...

The lake in the Parque del Retiro.

Sunset in Madrid- isn't the sky beautiful?

After our three days in Madrid, Juanpe and I said goodbye to Simon on Monday morning and the two of us took a bus to Lorca to spend a few days at his house with his family. Juanpe lives in a house just outside the city with his sister and parents and most of his extended family lives, if not right next door, just a few minutes' drive away. His family is incredibly nice and welcoming, it was great to spend some time in Lorca with them! On Tuesday, Juanpe and I walked around the city and on Wednesday morning I drove around Lorca with Juanpe's mother, delivering bread to various customers and homes in the area. (Juanpe's parents own and operate a bakery- needless to say, I gorged myself on delicious breads and pastries the entire time I was there!) Later that afternoon we met up with our friend Jose Maria, who also lives in Lorca, and picked up one of their friends named Ulrich from the bus station. The four of us spent the evening at the Cabalgata de los Reyes Magos (the Three Kings Parade) in Lorca and later went out for a drink in the city. The following day, Juanpe, Ulrich and I drove a half an hour to Águilas to spend the afternoon walking around some of the area's beautiful beaches. After lunch at Juanpe's grandmother's apartment, we headed back to Lorca and spent our last night with Juanpe and his family.

Ulrich, Juanpe and Jose Maria before the start of the parade.

Even Sponge Bob was a part of the parade!

Juanpe, Ulrich and I got to meet the three kings... only in Spain :)

The Mediterranean Sea in Águilas in January... how lovely!

I was thrilled to be on the beach in January as opposed to shoveling snow... I could get used to warm winters!

Exhausted after a very busy week, I returned to Granada on the morning of Friday, January 7th; as soon as I was home and unpacked, I took a nap! That weekend I didn't do much more than plan my lessons for the following week because work began again on Monday the 10th! I had a good but very busy week back at Alba Longa and this weekend is pretty much the same as last weekend- I'm busy trying to plan my tutoring sessions as well as a few presentations for school for this upcoming week. I don't have any trips planned for the new future but I've been looking at flights to Dublin for the end of February to visit my friend Ashton who's studying this year at Trinity. I've seen a few good deals and hopefully I'll have that trip booked and planned this week! That's all for now, more on life in Granada and my job in my next entry!