Ya di gracias

(Finally) gave my presentation on Extremoduro. YESSSS! I didn't exactly prepare it well, because I knew it would be rushed and really only wanted to be sure that the class got to listen to some of their music. Well first of all, as soon as I pulled up my file titled "Extremoduro," one of the Basque guys in the class did the fake praise motion because he really likes them apparently. Score 1. Then my professor commented on how interesting it was that I am an American, presenting on a Spanish band when everyone else presented on English-speaking artists. And he appreciated the metaphor in the song I played--"the spiderwebs of your heart." Score 2. This isn't the song I shared, but it has a video which demonstrate the lyrics http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f6OTiLL26c

On to Thanksgiving. Buenoooo I prepared mashed potatoes and stuffing for my host family. The mashed potatoes were incredibly easy to mash, I think I will have to make them again because I have missed such heavenly delight! The stuffing was dry, but the stuffing that we put in the chicken was actually good. Oh yeah, we had chicken because the only turkeys they sell are HUUUGE and it was only for a family of 4. Anyways, my padre made me put on an apron and 'modern chef hat' for some photos. Host brother was amused by that. It was nice having a real family dinner, since the bro usually doesn't eat with us. I'd say it was the 2nd best way to spend the holiday, apart from at home with my family. They seemed to like the food too, not just saying they enjoyed it through barred teeth haha. Although they surely exaggerated. My madre said it smelled exquisite, and it did smell like Thanksgiving back home! Dessert was a delicious chocolate mousse cake. Yummm! Adding a bit of Basque culture to the meal, we accompanied it with cider. And after-dessert mojitos for a Spanish twist. Wouldn't be a Spanish holiday meal without a filosophical debate. Yeah, I just spelled that with an F. That's how it's done in Españaaa!

Sacré bleu, in less than a week I go to France! That is very exciting for obvious. But also sad because it means the semester is just about over. Gah! After returning there is barely any class before finals and then I ship back to the States for a while. Bittersweet symphony.

Just another typical Friday

Day after Thanksgiving, and nobody is running around like a maniac looking for Black Friday deals. Todo tranquilo, how pleasant! I was quite productive here in el País Vasco. I went to the police station to renew my visa without being completely confused, and I went to the bank. Taaaakin care of business! After a scrumptious lunch including giant white beans (feves or something), ciabotta bread (which we haven't had before), and lambchop, my host madre realized there was chocolate cake  for dessert. This little commentary cracked me up:

Madre: There's only a little piece left

Me: Okay, halves.

Padre: Well I don't want any

Madre: Even if you did we wouldn't let you have any. Chocolate is ours! 

And there you have it. Thanksgiving post when my padre gives me the fotos. For proof ! :]

Ocupada

Hola a tod@s!

This week I am quite busy with schoolwork and other responsibilities, but taking a break to update the blog. Ohhh yeahhh.

This weekend was a gay old time. Friday night a bunch of friends and I went to a huge fiesta of college students at the discoteca. Found out about it thanks to my intercambio Txetxo (awesome name, right?). That was a good time, and we got home around 4:30. Kind of early by Spanish standards, but impressive by my standards. =) Saturday night Gianna and I went to the concert of my host hermano. I liked it more than expected; haven't been to a concert in a while. They play pretty well, except instead of singing it's more of screaming. Ehhh....but it was in a cool locale at least.

Schedule for tomorrow is pretty jam-packed. I'll write it in Spanish first bc I'm sure Uncle Wayne would love to practice...
Despertarme a las 8
Ir a la comisaría para renovar mi visado
Asistir a clases de Cultura, de Idioma, y de Rock
Quedarme con mi intercambio Miriam
Ir de compras al supermercado
Terminar trabajo de solsticios

O sea: wake up at 8; go to the police station to finish renewing my visa; go to Culture class, Language class, and Rock class; meet with my intercambio Miriam; go shopping at the grocery store; finish my paper on solstices. Then that brings us to Thursday--Turkey day! It doesn't really seem like it without attending the annual feast, pero bueno. Hopefully I won't burn dinner.

Gora Euskal Herria!

This Last weekend included DOS (2) day-trips in the Basque country. And for that I say Gora Euskal Herria! Go Basque Country! Fun fact: The words for Basque stem from the Basque word for sun, eguzki. [I reeeeally hope to learn more Euskera next semester!] Visited the following cities, Basque name in capitals, Spanish name in lowercase.

GERNIKA/Guernica
Considered a sort of capital of Euskadi. Basque Country was probably the first to govern with democracy. Back in the day,  town's had a representative in the fueros, which were hosted in Gernika. They'd meet yearly (or more? no sé) in an oak forest to discuss problems affecting the Basque Country (PV from now on). So to the Basques, the oak tree is a symbol of these fueros, and their democratic tradition.Officers swear in under the official oak tree. While in Gernika, we saw the 300+ year-old oak tree. It's now dead, but has it's own pavilion for display purposes. It's "grandson" is the current Oak Tree of Gernika. It's 21 years old, and was officially planted 3 or 4 years ago. They grow a few saplings from the acorns at all times in case anything happens to the current tree.

Gernika is also very important to the Basques because of its bombing by Franco. Not going to go into too much detail, because I'll just end up cursing in Spanish, but he was a total jerk and thousands were killed on the day they bombed. It was market day. It was also the first civilian-town attack. Pablo Picasso has a very famous painting based on the bombing of Gernika. (We saw it in Madrid at the Reina Sofia Museum I believe)




BILBO/ Bilbao

Aghh spider!

We took a boatride to Bilbao. People waved to us from the shore. Because WE WERE ON A BOAT. The highlight of Bilbao was the Guggenheim. Actually I'm quite sure the only thing we did in Bilbao was eat and visit the Guggenheim. Oh and enroute, there were 2 girls walking around with 'abrazos gratis' signs, so I jumped right on that. Who doesn't appreciate an international free hug? We had a guided tour in Spanish which was convenient because without that insight it would've been boring. One section I did like was giant sculptures which wound around, and you walked through. It was a desorienting experience, but that is what the artist wanted, I suppose.

The Gug

IRUÑA/ Pamplona
On Saturday Gianna, Janelle, and I took a bus to Pamplona. Well funny thing, I was a bit lost, but in the general area of the bus station when I ran into one of my professors. Aupa! Well anyways, he took me where I needed to go and turns out he and his brother were on the same bus as us. What are the odds? Anyways, Pamplona is a cool city. It's very tranquila...except of course, for that week every July where bursts with people there for the encierro, running of the bulls. Enfin, I can imagine myself living there some fine day. Not that Donostia isn't magnificent. Well, maybe it's because Iruña has a lot of older charm whereas Donostia doesn't due to a fire long ago. And it seems to have more parks, which I enjoy.

Our main activity there was looking at architecture, most notably the main bullring (which unfortunately had some food festival in it, so you couldn't just walk around inside). For lunch we had pintxos at the Ernest Hemingway Bar. Got my picture taken with a statue of Papa. That delighted me most, that I was in the city he loved so much and central to one of my favorite novels.

Enfin, seems like we got a good dose of Basque Country

Aizkolari

Agh I still have to recap the weekend day trips, but it'll be faster to just talk about yesterday. Pues, 2 days ago I was the only person in our level 4 class that didn't have plans for yesterday morning. Therefore I got the "task"  of going with students from the Basque class to interview a well-known Aizkolari. It was a bit intimidating, because it was with 2 level 1 students, and my friend Jenn who is in level 3. Not bad, but then I felt sort of responsible for communicating.

Anyways, we got off the bus at the right stop, thanks to some help from the locals. Btw it was on the mountain with a tremendous view of the ocean. We found Joxe Mari Olasagasti outside, with his apparent trainer carving the wood he would later chop. First he gave us a demonstration of the oxen he trains. They were very well trained and followed his Basque orders very well. Then Jenn interviewed him about Aizkolari while I filmed. Jeje I felt useful at one point because I explained a question that didn't make sense. And he would look at me to check that we understood him.

After our little interview, he did a demonstration. And I'm sure your wondering what is Aizkolari already. It's Basque competitions of chopping wood the fastest. I've seen it on tv and they stand on a little log, and chop it in half between their feet. Joxe Mari demonstrated by chopping in half one such logling (although it was placed on a stump, not under him). You can't just chop the same spot several times until it goes all the way through. For your information, you essentially have to chop a big V on either side of it until the top finally falls off. The process includes plenty of flying wood chips. With every swing he makes a "AUUUUAAAAGH" or "SHHHHF" sound.

We were quite impressed by this demo, but that was not all. According to his trainer friend, we were lucky because he was apparently in the mood to cut wood. There were two longer logs lying on the ground, and he went at them, chopping them both up. Everytime he swung down, sweat and saliva would fall down too. Now that is a Basque sport! And then he told us what made it even more impressive: he's 52 years old. AI AMA!

 

Then we walked over to the stable by the sidreria. There's where he houses 3 oxen, 1 horse, and 1 bull. On the short walk Jenn and I each got to carry an axe he had used. I'm pretty sure I could barely swing that thing from over my head without knocking my leg out, let alone chop all those logs to bits. Then it was the oxen's turn to show off. They also compete in heavy lifting concursos. A rock probably one foot high, and 3 feet x 3 feet was tied to them. At first the rope broke. But then they dragged it along on the cobblestone driveway so that we could smell the burning of the rocks. It was nuts!

After the deportivos, we went into his sidreria where he gave us all a sample. He told us to come back at the end of the semester to celebrate. And that we should send a photo that we took of us all (which I don't have yet). Then his trainer/friend drove us down the mountain so we wouldn't have to wait for the bus. What started as an intimidating meeting ended in besos, a sign of informality and friendship.

omnomnom

Yesterday was extra neat-o because we went to the new Basque Culinary Institute. Whoa-ho-ho! It just opened in September, and is the first place in Spain that will offer a sort of degree in Gastronomy. Pretty sweet. For some reason I assumed all the 'students' would be middle-aged, but in reality they are our age. They divided us into groups and gave us a tour. The facilities are great! There is a different room/kitchen for each type of food: meat, fish, bread, pastry. And there is a room just for wine-tasting. After the tour, we stopped by the Food Fair that was being hosted. Free samples galore! The guy carved jamón serrano just for us. :) Then all the American and culinary students gathered to have some snacks and dessert prepared by the students that day. Delish! In general, they wanted to practice their Inglish (haha I wrote that, and I'm leaving it that way. English/inglés), but some didn't really know any English. There are students from throughout Spain, and even one from Mexico. Fancy that! I chatted (in Spanish) with a girl from Murcia. Our Spanish teacher reminded us it's pretty cool to have contacts at this school, because their teachers are top-knotch y "tienen futuro." That is to say...they aren't just going to be cooks at Fosters Hollywood (like a Spanish TGIFridays, if you will). I think it's cool because I am a fan of food in general. :D

Speaking of food, I told my host family I'll try to cook some typical Thanksgiving food for them when the time comes. Since I'll be missing the big feast back home. Key word is try. My host madre doesn't know how to make turkey either, but she said the butcher has a sort of 'pre-cooked turkey' so we may cheat jeje.

Then last night after a tasty tortilla de patata dinner, I decided to practice for today's oral exam (already happened, think I did bastante bien). I asked if I could read the examples for my madre while she put away dishes so as not to disrupt her. Oh, but this was not enough. Because then she got really into helping me, so we ended up sitting at the dining room table for a while, her having me read the sentences, then she'd reread them and mark a comma where a native would pause (I rush through sentences in Spanish when I have to read aloud). Then I would read the sentences a few more times. Profesora Marga, as my host padre called her haha. It was really useful though.

And for the academically curious, I have a 7 page paper to write in Myths & Legends. Topic: Summer solstices. Oh yeah! I'm excited, because the celebrations of Midsummer in different cultures have fascinated me for a while. Qué más... I think I get to write a paper about my favorite Spanish band (Extremoduro, claro), but maybe not. Por lo menos I have to give a presentation and analyze 2 of their songs. Must I pick only 2! Haha. And yeah, then there's regular classwork stuff. It seems like we learned a bunch of Basque words today. Aupi!

Lisboa Parte 2

Little Vasco de Gama in the background, Oceanario

Sunday night we went to a Fado performance. Concert? I don't know. But it was so authentic, Rick Steves would have flipped out! We got the address from one of the hostel workers, so it seemed legit. When we arrived there were a few people standing on the street, in the doorway because the inside was packed. It was located in a family-run bar/restaurant, presumedly below where the family lived. The owner whose image was on the restaurant sign was running around inside delivering drinks and yelling "SILENCIO!" when the show started. There were 2 guitarrists and a drummer, plus various singers, one at a time. Fado is a typical, sad Portuguese song. Really beautiful, even if you don't speak the language, because the guitar is amazing. It seemed like it was electric, but it was a plain little Portuguese guitar. One local talked to us; he seemed excited to practice his English because everyone else inside was from the neighborhood. Then some older gent asked our British friend if she sings. It may have been in Portuguese, but I understood it in Spanish. When we explained we were just there to listen, he told us he was a Fado singer. Apparently some of the best Fado singers perform in this restaurant, entonces..we talked to a well-known Fado singer! Woohoo! We didn't see his performance though, because we had to catch the last metro home heh.

I fit right in!

Monday we rode to a part of town called Belém. There we saw the giant monument to exploration, Monumento aos Descobrimentos, and the grandiose monastery. And to top it off, of course we had to get pasteles from the famous Confeitaria de Belém. Their masterpiece is little egg tarts, and the line perpetually goes out the door. They were pretty good, but I prefer chocolate treats :P

Monastery of Belém

Also, it was Halloween. We didn't expect much festivities-wise, because it's more of an American holiday. But the Spanish people we know have told us lately it's becoming more and more common to celebrate in the American traditions. In the evening, while we had an after-dinner ice cream and stroll, we witnessed a parade of zombies! How fun is that! It seemed to be neverending...people dressed up in all sorts of dead/bloody costumes. One zombie couple even came towards us pretending to grab at us, saying "Mmmm! Santini's!" (ice cream company we were eating). At night we went to a Halloween Hostel Party.

New friends celebrating Halloween

Tuesday was our last half day in Lisboa. We went to a noted literary café, A Brasileira. Tried to eat lunch, but en fin Gianna and I just got some pastries at the counter. Delicious chocolate, fudgy goodness to be specific.  For lunch we went to a fancier place, and ate outdoors (on November 1st!!). There was a Portuguese school group performing in front of the café. Yeah entertainment! We wandered around town for a while, said our goodbyes, and then caught the train back to San Sebastián. Really enjoyed my time there, but after 5 days I was glad to be back in mi hogar español.

A note on the Portuguese language: To me it sounds like Russians speaking Spanish. They pronounce "s" as "sh" which gives it an Eastern-European effect. (Apparently they don't do this in Brazil). I knew some useful phrases like bom dia, boa noite, obrigada, é thanks to my pal Marlon. And from what I have picked up from signs in Portugal, I am a fan of their contractions! (Spanish only has 2 contractions: del & al) It seems for their 2 definite articles there is o (masc) and a (fem), so many prepositions that go before them get mashed together like ao, da, no. I dunno, I just find it interesting. Me fascinan las lenguas!!!

Pastelerías, librerías, y vistas

In three nouns, that is what Lisboa is composed of: bakeries, bookstores, and views. Such beautiful views! Well, maybe it should be architecture, but there are great, hilly views of lovely architecture. I took a boatload of pictures, so I guess these are what I consider to be the best of the best. Anyways, here goes my thorough travelogue...

Initiatic Well, Quinta da Regaleira

Alison, Gianna, and I left on the Thursday night train to Lisboa. The guy directly behind us fell asleep early on. Good for him, bad for us because he snored and remained asleep almost the entirety of the journey. Bah! It wasn't so easy to get comfortable, but we all go sufficient sleep to be able to consciously get off on the right stop. We were able to maneuver the Lisbon metro system enough to get to the hostel, even though the kiosques are in Portuguese. Bam!

Indiana Jones would appreciate this grotto in Sintra

We stayed at the Lisbon Poet's Hostel. Appropriate, no creís? It was such a nice hostel, it will probably be the best I ever stay in. It was all of our first time staying in a hostel, and we definitely got spoiled. We were in a room of 4, and oddly enough they paired us with an American for all of our stay. We had dinner at the hostel for only 8 euros the first night, which was not only a good deal, but it allowed us to make friends with our fellow travellers. Hooray! There were 2 cousins (an Aussie and a Brit) who just happened to be staying the same days we were. Plus our American roommate and a Norwegian fellow. The first night we all went out on the town, getting to hear some great live music. The first place had a guitarist/singer and drummer in the corner, and not much standing room aside from that. The second place had a live jazz band with a really animated singer, which we all danced to. They played old songs like "You Never Can Tell" by Chuck Berry. Now that's class!

Beginning our Sintra adventure

Saturday was spent in a day trip to Sintra. Maybe that was my favorite part. It was a small town about 30 mins by train from downtown Lisboa, noteworthy for its Palacio and Castelo dos Mouros. First we went to the Quinta da Regaleira (my choice and certainly my fav part). It contained the former summer house (and by house I mean mansion) of the Carvalho Monteiro family. Clearly, people with style. We didn't even bother with the house, because the grounds were most interesting. I seriously wish it were my yard. You could wander in it for hours. Most notably was the terrace of the gods, which had statues of Greek gods all lined up. Especially relevant since I'm taking a Mythology class hey hey! There was also a labyrinth grotto which Gianna and I dared to enter. Not going to lie, I got kind of scared at times because it was so dark and we only had our measly cell phones to light the way. Not to mention there was an actual underground tunnel that led to the Initiatic Well, which basically let you feel like you were in a well, without the water. The gardens also had a tower with a nice view of Sintra. It was a mythic place. After lunch of the menú del día (not much different from Spanish travels) we went to the Castelo dos Mouros (Moorish Castle). We intended to walk to it before realizing it was at the top of a fairly steep hill. Gotta love buses! The views at the very top of the castle were tremendous. Joee! It was really difficult to ascend them though because after so many centuries, rock stairs tend to get out of place. Definitely worth the hassle though. Unfortunately the Palacio was closed when we arrived, but para mí, we definitely saw enough wonders to make it worth the trainride.

Terrace of the gods, Quinta da Regaleira

Explorer pose, Castelo dos Mouros

Dinner that night was at a Brazilian steakhouse, so skip ahead if you're a vegetarian jaja. I've never eaten at a Brazilian restaurant, and it was a sweet experience I hope to repeat. First, I said "tresh", so the waiter assumed we spoke Portuguese, and started talking and pointing. We understood enough to sit at the right table. The deal is first you go to a salad bar/buffet, and then the waiters come around with sticks of meat and cut you off a fresh slice. So you get to have various types of meat in one meal...steak, pork, some other beef, sausage, etc. And the seasoning was super-rico! Plus it cost us 10 euros. Qué locura!

Sunday we went to the Oceanario. It was pretty cool, all of the oceans were represented. Bueno, it wasn't my favorite part, but it wasn't too painful. :P Although, the restaurant there had really satisfying donuts (Spain is lacking in quality donuts btw). And we did get to see them feed the otters! So precious! After the Oceanario we went to the Parque das Naçãos, Park of Nations, which had the flag of every country. From this park is also a splendid view of the Puente de Vasco de Gama-- longest bridge in Europe. It is ridiculously long. 17,2 km...I don't even know the equivalent but just looking at it you could tell it was tremendous.

View from Castelo dos Mouros

Um, well I think I went a bit crazy with the pics and details, so I will finish recapping Lisboeta adventures after dinner. :)