Adventure Weekend!

SATURDAY:

Despite the fact that it's mid-March, we went white water rafting. There were 9 of us in 2 rafts, each with a guide. I was the only female in our raft, and although I don't look like it, I'm quite a professional rower. Or at least I pull my own weight. While we waited on the shore to board, some looneys (almost all) decided to jump in and test the water. Unsurprisingly, they all gasped/screamed/shivered at the coldness. Later, a few minutes after rafting, everyone decided to take a dip. This time I caved...but did only once because it was FREEZING. Even wearing a full wetsuit, I was cold. Not to mention I needed a boost to get back into the raft from the water haha.

The rapids themselves were not as intense as I expected. They were certainly fun though.Our guide said that they got increasingly more dangerous, but I didn't find them to be overwhelming. We did get stuck on one, and the front two guys had to push off the rock with their paddles to send us back into the flow. Luckily I wasn't up front, or I bet we would still be stuck on the side. Overall I would repeat the experience, but when the weather is warmer, por favor!

SUNDAY:
My friend and I joined up with a Galician hiking group to hike the mountains in (relatively) nearby O Courel. It was beautiful even with no leaves on the trees, so I can only imagine that with buds blooming or leaves changing it looks marvelous. I haven't hiked in months, so starting off the day uphill at a pretty quick pace was rough for me. I prefer stroll-hiking at a leisurely pace, however I maintained a place in the middle of the group. As we neared the peak of the mini-mountain, we were met with increasing amounts of...snow! Hooray! I've missed snow. It was a weird sensation walking in foot-deep hardened snow while wearing only a long-sleeve shirt and vest. During the descent in the sun, even less layering was required.

We spent 6 hours on the hike, and 12 hours out of the house. That's because after resting at the end of the trail, the majority of the group went to O Cebreiro, the first Galician town on the Camino de Santiago and now a definite tourist stop thanks to it's quaint buildings, with straw roofs in some cases.

A Coruña

Saturday we took advantage of the warm temperatures and sunshine with a trip to coastal A Coruña. It was my third trip, technically speaking-- 1st time just passing through and getting lost on a bus, trying to reach Lugo, 2nd time an 8-hour stint in A Coruña's enormous mall-- but first for actually seeing the city. It's such a contrast to Lugo, with an actual city feeling and OCEAN! Man, San Sebastián spoiled me with its perfect playas, but A Coruña is also nice. 

The Park of the Tower of Hercules was really nice. The tower was built by Romans as a lighthouse, and later they put a massive compass below it (Rosa de los Vientos) with symbols and names of all the Celtic nations. Cool! But apart from this main attraction, the park boasts a nice trail along the coast: lovely place to stroll. 

Tower of Hercules in the background

Compass of Celtic Nations

Lugo is alive again

Breaking News: The sun has been spotted in Galicia! For an extended period of time-- we're talking almost the entire day! And the weekend's forecast is also looking delightful. Hoping to take advantage with a visit the sea. The sun is really changing the Lugo vibe; it nearly feels like when we arrived in September/October. Today the plaza was full of people-- couples strolling, kids running, old folks huddled on benches, people feeding birds. One of which pooped on me (a bird, that is). Not so bad, because then I got to ask someone for a tissue. Woohoo! I don't mind having crummy weather, because it makes you appreciate the good stuff. Goodbye for a while, fog. Spring and summer are upon us!

The Foggy Muralla Romana de Lugo hace un mes

Entroido (Carnaval)

In Galicia and other parts of Spain/Europe/the World, Carnaval is well underway. Traditionally a time for people to act wild and out-of-character before the somber 40 days of lent, it's now just a time to dress up and have fun.

On Friday we celebrated Carnaval in school. A group of the teachers dressed up as tourists, and I was their tourguide. I've dressed as a tourist before, but this time it was impressive since I didn't have access to my parents' wardrobe. However some of the teachers really went all out to pull off the look. Aside from the teachers, I would say 1/2 or less of the students were dressed up. Disappointing. There were mimes, zombies, guerrillas, a monk, and Minnie Mouses. After the costume contest there was a dessert contest, with chaos reigning around the table filled with delectables. Then everyone went outside to witness the burning in effigy of Sr. Minister Wert, a man loathed by students of all ages for his drastic cutbacks in Spanish education. The school day ended in kids karaoke-ing to classic Galician songs. Cool.

The teachers had a traditional Entroido meal-- cocido, which includes garbanzo beans, steamed cabbage/other greens, pork shoulder, chorizo, steamed potatoes, and other types of meat I ate without knowing the body part (it was better this way, trust me). For dessert we had apple empanada, and the typical Carnaval "orejas", fried dough folded to look like pig ears, and topped with sugar and/or cinnamon. We probably could've rolled out of there, so much food!

 Saturday was a friend's birthday, and an important night for going out Entroido-style. There was an attempted surprise party, but apparently this group has yet to pull off a true surprise party. Anyways, our theme was Noah's Ark, appropriate because of the incessant rain in Lugo this year. We even made a boat out of cardboard, and walked around places in formation. Which reminds me...there was another group dressed as Amish people, and they walked around under a barn roof hahah. Our ark included: a tiger, penguin, rooster, monkey, octopus, turtle, koala, cow, Waldo, and of course the old man Noah himself. Miraculously, it barely rained at night. Tonight we return to the streets in more costumes, because tomorrow nobody works. Happy Carnaval! Bo Entroido!

Birthday Week 2014 (A really long post)

Last Saturday began what I named "Birthday Week 2014," starting with the birthday of my friend Diego. First of all, Friday was supposed to be a birthday dinner with all of his friends, but conveniently we all cancelled on him. Felt kinda bad about it, because I had to lie and say I was sick *cough cough*. But in the end it was the right thing to do, because we planned to kidnap him on Saturday after his basketball game. Aw yeah!

Five of us jogged into the gym wearing creepy white masks and toting plastic guns. At first the "leader" with the megaphone ran past our target. En fin, it wasn't perfectly executed. We tried to tie his hands and put a bag over his head, not realizing he was in a bad mood thanks to an awful referee. Some of the looks we got were priceless, although notably nobody did ANYTHING to stop us. He wasn't screaming or anything, but you would think somebody would say something. Guess we were pretty intimidating. From the game we took him to the center of town where he had to complete 6 tasks, including playing the guitar for money, drinking a disgusting vegetable smoothie, telling the story of Lugo's Roman Wall to a runner & someone in English, and dress as Sherlock Holmes, asking passersby if they'd seen his friend.

After the laughs, we split up as he was supposed to have dinner with 3 buddies. The second part of the surprise was that 10 of us came to dinner. Yay! This was followed by the usual night out.

Thursday as part of Birthday Week, we hosted an Olympic-themed game night. I told people to wear togas, but nobody listened. However we just happened to have enough sheets for everyone to wear one muahaha. Some might say it was cheesy, since I played the Olympic theme as people entered and handed them the "torch," but I enjoy themes! We did some Olympic trivia, a Jell-o eating contest, and a frozen t-shirt contest. Except the t-shirts weren't as frozen as they should've been so it was too easy. And we played our favorites--charades & the character game. Man, does charades bring out a competitive side to Lauren and I haha.

Los molones

Friday was nothing special. Saturday I woke up eager for my birthday brunch, except my friend who was going to make the chocolate chip pancakes was ill. And the only pancakes I can make are scrambled. Amazingly, Funny Fani saved the day and came with the pancake batter made, and took me to the supermarket where we got quite a selection of brunch foods. We tried to go for American things like bacon and sausage--well, instead of real sausage we had hot dogs haha, but it was a tasty spread, complete with Bellinis and Bloody Marys. Afterwards we played our classic games, and a wee bit of guitar.

After plenty of siesta time, we reconvened with more friends for a night out, to all of my favorite rock bars. First of all, Fani made me a birthday crown, and little matching bottle pins for everyone to wear. I was so excited! They also got me a framed picture of our cuadrilla (group of friends) and a Galician t-shirt. Feelin' the love! In one of the places they played "Cumpleaños Feliz" which made me even happier. And in another place that was empty they played Extremoduro just for meee, the birthday girl! Needless to say, it was a very memorable birthday. Even better than my 21st which I celebrated in Spain. And yesterday I even got to blow out the candles via videocall with my parents. Unfortunately I didn't get to eat the chocolate cupcakes.

Well I Guess This Is Growing Up

While working 12 hours per week in Spain is probably not described as a "real world job," I think I'm growing up. Or maybe it's just my upcoming birthday that's making me feel old.

Food
Today I took advantage of my random day off (every school gets to choose 2, and this was ours. Viva!) to prepare a lunch of breaded chicken and fries. Never have I ever...cooked chicken. And although it didn't turn out Michelin star-worthy, I was highly satisfied with the 'labor' I put into it. Buying the meat in the carnicería, breading it and frying it myself; buying a sack of potatoes in the frutería, cutting and frying them myself. Supposedly real Spaniards do this kind of thing on a daily basis. It only took 1 month into my New Year's Resolution for me to start. I hope to advance with my culinary attempts and perhaps one day say adiós to frozen croquetas-- NAHHHHH! I'll be content when I've mastered the tortilla española and some seafood.

Finances
Auxiliares de conversación (my official job title) are given a monthly stipend to take care of living expenses. In most autonomous communities, the payment starts months later, and reasonably so thanks to the state of Spain's economy. But luckily for us, Galicia is one of the most consistent and prompt when it comes to paying auxiliares. As of today, we still haven't received last month's money. Among the other auxiliares, madness ensues. But I'm going to toot my own horn, porque no tengo abuela (in Spanish the expression "don't have a grandma" is used to describe someone who brags about herself. Grandmas usually brag about their grandchildren, but if you have no grandma, you have to do it yourself). Wouldn't my parents be delighted (and surprised) to know that I'm fiscally responsible? That I have enough money for rent and food while others are ready to revolt against the Galician government?

With the cash-paying private English lessons on the side, it's easy not to need to withdraw. I happily haven't used my American accounts since early December. It's not that I'm rolling in the dough, I just have it under control. A ver si I feel so financially sound after my birthday/Carnival/Semana Santa...

Sneak peak of Birthday Week 2014 celebrations