Thanksgiving in Galicia

Yesterday was Thanksgiving in America, but to Galicians it was a Thursday like any other. Except for a handful of Galicians who came over to a Thanksgiving dinner hosted by Lauren and me. The ironic part was even with the 6-hour time difference between here and home, we had our meal around the same time.

The day started at my teaching job. Don't we get off for American holidays? A few of the classes were having oral exams, and in gym class they told me "Congratulations," an attempted wish for a Happy Thanksgiving. Around 5:00 Lauren and I began the process of cooking. We've never cooked a bird alone before, let alone in Spain. The two chickens we got had a few little feathers and hairs on them, which Lauren diligently plucked for a time. She even tried burning them off, but eventually grew tired of the task and let it be. Aside from chicken (not turkey, pero da igual), we had stuffing, mashed potatoes, and corn. We were a bit concerned there wouldn't be enough, but we even had leftovers. For dessert was an impressive pumpkin pie by Lauren-- she had to buy a pumpkin and puree it the old-fashioned way, since canned pumpkin is not an option here-- and filloas, a crepe-like dessert, made by her roommate. I think we did America proud. ;)

Although 4 people had to sit on the couch to eat, I think it was a perfect number of guests. Nine of us squeezed around the table, but that made it cozier and Thanksgiving-like. We all went around the table saying what we were thankful for. Mostly everyone was grateful to be among such charming & fun company.  After dinner, we were entertained by Diego on the guitar, and some interesting attempts at singing. There were plenty of songs in Galician/Spanish, but we had to pull up the lyrics even for the natives. My 'assignment' was to memorize a song by Os Heredeiros da Crus, "Non quero nada de ti." I worked so hard on it, but still couldn't spit the words out fast enough. Better luck next time.

As a Spanish twist, most guests left by 1 AM, but two of my best friends stayed til 4:30 AM. Evidently we were enjoying each other's company.

Sunny day in Lugo, so I walked the entirety of the wall. And because I don't post nearly enough photos:

Subject is unrelated

Just some thoughts/anecdotes relevant to my time here:

• Spanish people do not eat on-the-go. My theory is that it would end up being a hassle if people ate while walking down the street, because everyone would have to say "buen provecho!" and "que aproveche" every 10 seconds. Here if someone is eating something of 'substance,' acquaintances, friends, and even strangers will tell you to enjoy it. Contrarily, in English this act is so uncommon, we don't even have a phrase for this--we just use the French bon apetit when necessary. 
• What does pity party mean to you? Perhaps eating an entire gallon of ice cream, while crying alone in your room. To our Spanish friends, it is what we would consider a normal night in: watching TV, surfing the net, eating junk food. This weekend we had a sort of girls' night/pity party which was extra pitiful due to our lack of internet. (But we have it at last!) We resorted to playing old-timey games such as Who Am I Thinking Of? And Name All 50 States. 
• Yesterday in class, one of my oldest students asked how to say vasos (cups/glasses). I said, "Glasses, like these" as I pointed to my glasses on my face. He replies, "Nonono, esas son gafas (the word for glasses on your face) quiero decir vasos" It was probably one of those you-had-to-be-there-to-find-the-humor moments, but another student laughed about it for 3 minutes. 
• And here's me working on some promos for Galicia/Spain
• Imagine a land where cheesecake actually tastes like cheese: GALICIA(or all of Spain?)
• Imagine a land where the passing lane is actually used solely for passing: GALICIA (Spain?)

More Magosto

Sometimes I feel bad for other auxiliares assigned in Galicia, because every day I'm more convinced that my instituto has the coolest and nicest teachers and staff. My coordinator in specific is mega-awesome, and we have certainly bonded just in the past month. Out of the entire staff, only three people have not had some sort of conversation explaining things to me.  It used to be four, but today I asked one the difference between bizcocho and torta. (In English I’d consider them both cakes, so it’s not worth explaining here) Oftentimes I don’t even have to ask a question— they just offer comments or cultural tidbits. Such lessons as “you can’t eat octopus without red wine or by yourself— that’s just depressing” or “Skip A Coruña because you can find that kind of city in America.”

On Wednesday to celebrate Magosto, most of the teachers stayed to have lunch together. There were potatoes and chorizo, accompanied by red wine and apple empanada for dessert.  I had announced that I don’t like chorizo, which almost seemed a horrifying concept. I offered to try it again, and to their relief and fascination, it wasn’t half bad this time. They thought I liked it, but more accurately I didn’t dislike it. After the meal we went outside where the kids were listening to techno music and later played traditional games, including musical chairs. Of course chestnuts were available, too (no, gracias). So this Magosto was a good chance for both kids and adults to relax and be autumnal. 

Magical Magosto

                I didn´t take any pictures, so all you get is words. Magosto is an autumnal celebration in Galicia which consists of gathering with friends to eat chestnuts. It’s not on a set day—and in fact next week I’ll celebrate Magosto at school—but Friday we celebrated with friends. There were about 15 of us: five foreigners and the rest Lucenses. Lauren and I knew mostly everyone from last weekend or earlier, as I feel we have been adopted by the coolest cuadrilla (group of friends) in Lugo. 

                Dinner was at someone’s house—and I mean a legit country home that reminded me of America. We had tortilla de patata, which was a real treat since I can’t make it myself and thus haven’t had it for a while. We also had Diego’s homemade beer, with labels that had the cartoon “Go Diego Go” on them.  Amusing. After the meal came the Magosto part—chestnuts roasted over a fire, in a wood-burning stove.  I don’t even like chestnuts, but I ate two anyway (which is the amount I contributed to the dinner, having collected two measly castañas the day before with one of my teachers). Someone collected 10 kilos in her yard, so there was plenty to go around and everyone had their own newspaper cone.

                Then the jam session began: one guitar, one percussionist using bottles, and a room full of Lucenses singing in Spanish and Galician. The best part was when I actually knew some of the lyrics! They sang two songs I recognized from the Heredeiros da Crus concert during San Froilán: ‘Eu quero josar’ and ‘Non quero nada de ti.’ It was delightful. Then they played some songs in English, thinking we’d know the lyrics but we didn’t. Except for ‘Just like Heaven,’ a classic in my own words. Unsurprisingly, the night left me feeling that I had found a place just like heaven.  (So cursi, yet so true)

Gallegos y Asturianos: Primos Hermanos

 I need to stop labeling things as ¨memorable¨ since pretty much every weekend here is memorable!  :D  This weekend especially, being a puente and all.

Jaloguin:
In Galicia, they have a holiday similar to Halloween— Samhaín. And by similar I mean it’s the original Celtic celebration from which Halloween is derived. At the school where I work there was a pumpkin carving contest, with some impressive results. There was also an assembly where students and I read about Samhaín and Halloween in galego, castellano, and English.  The tradition of trick-or-treating does not exist here, and dressing up isn’t as common with “adults” either. Lauren and I first celebrated at the piso of two Americans. We were all dressed up, obviously. Then we went to hang out with Lugo’s finest (aka my Galician friends and their friends). We got some funny looks for being dressed up—I had a beard (lumberjack!) and another American wore lederhosen. The gang of Lucenses was dressed normally too, except for Diego the monkey haha. En suma, we had an awesome time and stayed out until it was 7 AM and time for us to pack up and catch a bus to Asturias. I feared the no-sleeping-idea would be one of my most regretted decisions, but it turns out it was well worth it and we were able to sleep on the bus/at siesta time.

Asturias:

Our first stop was Oviedo. The architecture was noticeably prettier than in Lugo, and I was later informed that this is because Asturias is/was a principality. The prince of Spain is called El príncipe de Asturias, so duh, I should’ve made the connection.  The weather was rainy basically all Friday, so we spent our time with a little shopping, and sitting in a park. Despite the weather it was pleasant, just having a change of surroundings and enjoying the company of an amiga. For dinner we had Cabral cheese which was too strong for me, membrillo which I already knew I liked, and some seafood (obviously it didn’t blow my mind because I can’t remember it).

Whatcha thinkin, Woody?

Saturday morning we went to Gijón. It’s a coastal city that reminds me of San Sebastián. Teño morriña! Also like San Sebastián, it was beautiful even with crappy weather. We did quite a bit of walking around, without visiting any particular attraction. For lunch we had knife clams which were okay, mostly I’d call them “interesting” for their appearance. Also chipirón a la cantábrica which was delicious. Chipirón (squid) sometimes doesn’t taste great when prepared on the grill, mostly because of the texture. But this was in a sort of casserole, thus tastier. For dinner we went to a sidrería (more Basqueness!) We got there a bit after 8:30, and felt like old people because nobody was there! By the time we left closer to 10:00, the place was packed. We had a bottle of sidra, chorizo, and ham croquettes between the 2 of us. It was fun trying to pour for ourselves like the waiter did behind the bar. Cider must be poured from a distance to let it air out, but man is it hard to aim!