La Ribeira Sacra: Our Semana Santa Getaway

This year for semana santa (the week leading up to Easter), Jose and I went to the Ribeira Sacra in Galicia with his son, Sergio. We were only able to stay for one night, because we waited to long to book in a "casa rural", and all the rooms were already booked for the other days. But it turned out great, because we had beautiful weather on Thursday and Friday morning (the days we were there), but then it got cold and rainy again. Here are some pictures of the trip.

Ribeira Sacra is a beautiful wine producing region all along the Rivers Miño and Sil. We visited the San Estevo Monastery, drove through windy mountain roads lined with oak and chestnut trees, stopped at the river overlooks, visited a castle in Castro Cadelas, ate deer and octopus, drank wine and took a ride in a catamiran through Sil Canyons.

Galicia never ceases to amaze me...

Secrets

I've always tried to fit in the best I can in Spain...meaning no flipflops, baggy T-shirts or baseball hats in the street. Most people don't even realize I'm not Spanish/Galician until I tell them my name. But my secret lies within our computer room...

The other day a technician from R, our internet provider, came to fix a problem we were having. He walks into the computer room, looks around, looks at me with a confused look on his face and says..."You're not from here, are you?"...I wonder what gave it away?

After chit chatting for awhile he assumed we were friends and says, "American soccer sucks." To which I reply, "Yeah, but Spanish basketball sucks."

Lunch in Portosin

Well, the rain seems to have cleared up for at least one day. We woke up this morning to sunshine and blue sky. Days like to today are slim, so we had to jump on our chance to get out and smell the fresh air and feel the sun on our faces. We went with Jose's parents to the beach for lunch and to take a stroll. I forgot to take the camera, but it was a beautiful day. We're back in Santiago now. I hope this weather sticks around for awhile, because natural selection was starting to set in, and we were beginning to grow gills and webbed toes.

Torrential Rain

The other day in one of my more advanced classes I was teaching them weather vocabulary. Words like scorching, snowdrifts, mild. But this past week I realized that here in Galicia they really only need to know words like gale, blustery, hailstones and torrential rain. That's what we've gotten here lately and it just keeps on coming.

Pulpo a la Gallega

Yesterday Jose had an itch for Pulpo a la Gallega (Galicia Octopus). We both love it, but we normally eat it in a restaurant. While I was putting together the new shelves I bought for the laundry room, Jose went out a bought a whole octopus. So today we popped the sucker in a pot! Here are some photos of the process...(looks gross, but it is oh so good)

Recipe (for those who are up to the adventure):

1 whole octopus
olive oil
rock salt
spicy paprika

1. Boil water in a large pot (copper pot preferably)
2. Once water boils dip the entire octopus into the water and take it out 3 times (so that the skin doesn't get to mushy)
3. Let boil for about 30-45 minutes.
4. Take pot off the stove and let stand (still in the pot with the water) 30 minutes.
5. Cut up into bite size pieces and place on dish (preferably a circular wooden one)
6. Add a little bit of olive oil on top
7. Sprinkle with a little rock salt and spicy paprika
8. Serve with toothpicks
9. mmmmmmmmmm...good

Swimmer's Ear

My weekend consisted of spending 3 hours Friday night in the Spanish ER waiting for a doctor to tell me I had swimmers ear and to give me some ear drops. Here you normally make an appointment with your doctor during the week and they'll see you right away, but if you need to see a doctor at night you have to go to "Urgencias" the equivalent of the ER at the hospital. You tell the secretary what the problem is, then you wait with about 50 other people in the waiting room until they call you in for "classification". That's where they decide the urgency of your illness. (Of course, people who are injured really badly don't have to go through this process...they are rushed straight in to see a doctor.) Then you just wait to be called. The waiting room is full of flu victims, sprained ankles, broken ribs, ear aches and things like that. Normally I would have just gone to the pharmacy down the street to pick up some ear drops, but Jose insisted that a doctor tell me what I needed. We Americans tend to self-diagnose and self-medicate, but the Spaniards go to the doctor for EVERYTHING. So we preceeded to wait for 3 hours for some ear drops. However, I am happy to say that my ear ache is finally getting better, and I can now chew solid food without being in excruciating pain.

For Ashlash, who's never home when I call...

Oh how I love her, let me count the ways...

1. Having old 80s movie marathons and then reciting them constantly over the years
2. Being the only person who would eat at Taco Bell with me
3. Eating candy until our faces started to sweat
4. Sneaking the above mentioned candy into movie theaters
5. Opening Mountain Dew cans in the theater(which had also been snuck in) during the Pepsi commercial right when the man opens his can on the top of a mountain
6. Leaving strange, scary sounding messages on our answering machine for fun, and then dad's boss calling and being completely bewildered by the messages
7. Taking me shopping and spending her own money on me when she didn't have to
8. Hanging out with me on the weekends when she could have been out with her friends
9. Her Sally voice
10. Locking me in the play room in Wilmington
11. Taking me to a New Kids on the Block concert
12. Taking me on Spring Break with her and her friends
13. Making tacky, plastic earrings in the oven
14. Buying a karaoke machine and singing together for hours on end
15. Her Patrick Swayze poster :)

And the list goes on...

Rain on the Window

This weekend was a dreary, rainy, windy, thunderstormy weekend with even a little bit of hail. I love days like that. A good movie, a good book, good company and hot tea, while listening to the rain pound down on the terrace out front and the patio roof out back. It's comforting.

Moments

Today I came across this in John Piper's, "Life as a Vapor":

"Since every moment is the beginning of the rest of your life, and every moment is the end of the past, every moment should be governed by the glad affection of both gratitude and faith...Every moment will be a point of gratitude toward the past and faith toward the future."

Refreshing and Depressing

There's a strange mix of emotions when you show up to teach class and no one else shows up. It's nice because that means I can pop next door and grab a coffee and a piece of the world's best apple cobbler ever. But as I sip and munch, I realize that no one thought my class was worth showing up to. Sad. But oh well, that was some darn good cobbler.

Chocolate Cake and a Tripod

That's all it takes to make me happy. Thanks for my special day, Josiño.

Ich lerne Deutsch

I've decided that I really like learning languages, so I'm learning German. I'm not going to any classes yet, just listening to CDs and following a "Learn German in 30 Days" book (30 days?....right).

Jose's also really happy about it. He needs me to help him translate German documents (that probably won't be happening until a few years from now, though). For most, this probably sounds more like torture than anything else, but I actually really like it!!

My favorite word so far is the number 55: fünfundfünfzig
(now tell me that's not fun to say :))

Mission Accomplished

Before: The Lovely Green Walls

During: First we painted the ceilings and then the walls. We had to strip and sand the ceiling in the hall. Guess who got that fun job...Jose said I looked nice with grey hair.

Finito!!

...Jose has made bets as to how long that new fern will stay alive. I don't do well with plants, but I wanted to take a final stab at it (pun intended).

Graffiti on the Walls

You know it's love when your husband calls you "butt face" and you don't even flinch. The messages were cute until we noticed you could still see them after the second coat of paint. We're not finished painting yet. More pictures to come...

Courtney and Jose's Excellent Adventure

Buying paint is a scary thing. First of all, you never know what it's going to look like on the walls until you've put it there. And in order to 'put it there' you've got spend the money on the paint (which in our case was 75€). The color we chose for the hallway is pretty nuetral, but the one for the living is a little shocking. We'll see how it works. Pictures of the results to come. To be continued...

A Bowling First

Needless to say, I was shocked to find out Jose had NEVER been bowling. So he has now been enlightened to a very important American pastime. His technique was below par, but with the kiddie bumpers he didn't do too bad. There's still room for improvement, but we were privileged to have a "pro" in the next lane, so he studied his every move :). He thought the whole shoe thing was a little weird. Actually, so do I.

Problems with Pictures

I can't seem to figure out how to post pictures with our Mac laptop. The program I normally use is only for PCs, and I'm too lazy to transfer the photos to the other computer. I'm working on it....

Why is this pig happy??

a. We're leaving tomorrow to go to the States for Christmas.
b. I finally passed my driving exam.
c. I'm almost finished with my Christmas shopping.
d. All of the above.

Correct answer: d

Cry Today and Laugh Tomorrow

I'm sure one day this will be a funny anecdote that I'll tell my grandkids, but for now I'm pretty much just ticked off. I failed my Spanish driving test for yielding when I didn't need to. I wanted to turn around in my seat and say, "I was driving before you were out of diapers, son." The only problem is that he was a 60 year old man, so that wouldn't have worked. I mean, if I had run a red light or hit a pedestrian I'd understand, but all I did was YIELD. I told you it was a mafia.

Fast Forward

(Photo by Ben found here)

The days, weeks and months seem to be flying by. Have we done anything significant since September? The answer...no. Wake up, get up, get dressed, quick coffee, class, class, class, run home, quick lunch, class, class, class, class, drag myself home with aching back and feet at 10 PM, eat whatever we can find, watch TV in bed, fall asleep during first commercial break. Then everything just repeats the next morning. There's the occasional Tuesday and Thursday where I don't work until 10 PM that Jose and I go to the gym, the only change in schedule are the last two classes, because we still drag ourselves home with aching back and feet! The rest has already been mentioned.

Everything seems to be in fast forward (just without the catchy circus music playing in the background). We're looking forward to me getting my spanish driver's licence and being able to escape on the weekends, which I will hopefully have before Christmas. Getting in the car and getting away is the best way to disconnect from the constant routine. Something that we desperately need! Right now we would settle for a relaxing dinner at Fogar de Santiso! As Jose says, "durante la semana somos unos vegetales". No translation needed. (9th grade spanish should suffice...sorry for those of you who took Latin or French).

You must be wondering, "If you're so busy, why are blogging right now?" Easy answer, my 9 AM private lesson cancelled on me this morning...said she wasn't feeling well...pretty sure it's just a hangover (she likes to party harty into the wee hours), but I'll let it slide...heck, her late night partying gives me an extra hour to do something constructive like putting a load of dirty clothes in the washer...but what do I do?...I blog :))

Why is that when you're a student time seems to drag on forever, but when you enter the working world it whizzes by you?

On peace

One of my favorite songs: "Peace" by Sherri Youngward

Peace, Be still
Lay all your worries down
Be still, oh my soul
For our God is in control
And if God is for us
Then whom shall I fear
And our God is for us
So lay down, be still
He is God
Hallelujah, our God has overcome
Hallelujah, our Lord Jesus Christ
Has won
Be sill my soul
He has won

Strike Happy

Over the years I've come to learn that the people in Spain like to go on strike and have protests a lot. Protests include everything from solidarity with the Palestinian nation to increases in University tuition. At first I didn't really understand why the people protested so much, because nothing ever changed. But now I realize they are just excercising their right and they want to be heard.

However the strikes really drive me crazy. This summer there were numerous strikes with the garbage collectors. You never really pay much attention to their job until one day they up and decide to stop collecting the garbage. The smell is not pleasant, especially in 95 degree weather. They were on strike because of low pay...I felt bad for them until I realized they earn DOUBLE what I earn! What are they complaining about?!

These past couple of weeks the delivery trucks all over Spain decided to go on strike because of the taxes they have to pay and the high gas prices. The supermarkets have been EMPTY. You would think we were expecting a hurricane or something. No milk, no yoghurt, no bread, no fruit, no veggies, no fish, no nothing. Factory production has completely frozen. Pretty much everything that requires a truck has been on stand still.

As inconvenient as it is...it does add a little spice to your life, I guess.