An afternoon in Padul...

Yesterday, October 12th, was a national holiday here in Spain, just like it was back home in the States. Therefore, I had the day off from work to celebrate the "Fiesta Nacional de España." Like our Columbus Day, the Fiesta Nacional commemorates the exact date when Christopher Columbus first set a foot in the Americas. I've heard that there's usually a big parade in Madrid but plenty of smaller celebrations take place throughout the rest of the country.

Since none of us had work or class, Ana, Anais, Cristina (my other host sister, who's studying for the year in Scotland, is back in Granada for a week!), John and I went to Padul to have lunch with Ana's mother, Ana, her sister, Gema, and Gema's husband, Elías. Padul is a suburb of Granada and it's maybe a half an hour ride by car from our apartment to the town. We went to the family's cortijo (country house) to have paella for lunch and to spend some time walking around enjoying the countryside. Before eating, Elías, Cristina, Anais, John and I went for a walk. It's so lovely here... the southern Spanish countryside is just completely unlike anything in New England. Yesterday was warm and sunny (hard to believe that it's the middle of fall!) and I was able to take some great pictures of Padul and the Sierra Nevada.

Elías, Anais, John and Cristina.

A neighbor's cortijo.

Aren't the views of the Sierra breathtaking?

Me and John.

I love this picture!

Olivos (Olive trees)

Anais with a saltamontes (grasshopper).

After we walked for about an hour, we returned to the cortijo for lunch. Ana was preparing pinchitos as her mother prepared the bread, salad and paella. We all sat down to eat on the patio and, as always, the food was delicious. We ate until we couldn't possibly take another bite... it was a wonderful afternoon!

Pinchitos (pork skewers).

Paella de pollo (rice, chicken and vegetables).

Leche frita (a sweet dessert, I don't know how better to describe it!)

Upon returning home, I prepared a PowerPoint presentation for one of my classes that I had today. After I finished my work, John, Cristina, Anais and I watched a "horror" movie in Spanish about a virus that swept through an apartment building in Barcelona, turning the residents into human-eating zombies. Needless to say, it wasn't the scariest movie that I've ever seen, but it was fun nonetheless. Tonight's another movie night at home but after work tomorrow it's the weekend! I'll post again on Sunday... until then, ciao!