Fiesta in Almería

This Wednesday Braden and I had a day off from teaching for the Fiesta Nacional de España, so we took a quick trip to the closest big city - Almería! 

On Tuesday night, we got tickets to see El Retablo de las Maravillas, a Cervantes play that was written in 1615. I don't speak much Spanish, and I speak much less Old Spanish, but I can tell you that it was hilarious. There's a pretty good summary of the play here. 

The play was in the beautiful Teatro Apolo, right in the center of Almería.

After the play we wandered around the streets and had a few tapas. We happened upon this awesome statue of John Lennon, who actually lived here with his wife Cynthia while he was filming a movie in 1966. He wrote and recorded demos for Strawberry Fields Forever in this very city!

The next day was Museum Day. We started off our morning by meeting up with a teacher that Braden works with at a local café for pastries and juice, and then he was kind enough to show us around a bit. He left us at the Centro de Interpretación de Almería, a museum all about the history of the city. Then we headed to the Casa del Poeta, where poet José Ángel Valente lived until his death in 2000. It was a beautiful old house. I think Braden may have wanted to move in - good thing the house isn't for sale, or we probably would have made an offer. Especially if the price included the shelves and shelves of books that are still on display in the house. 

 

Next up was the Museo de la Guitarra. It's pretty much exactly what you would expect - old guitars, new guitars, guitars with lots of strings... and my personal favorite, a GIANT guitar. 

Aerial view

Help, I'm trapped inside!

After that we were going to take a tour of the cathedral, but we tried to get in a couple of times, and every time they told us they would start in an hour. So we gave up and ate some more tapas. 

Outside of the cathedral 

Mr. Lion and I are sad we can't see the inside :(

Tapas fix everything!

So there you have it! Some mid-week adventures! And I'm getting VERY excited for our upcoming travels - we are headed to Madrid at the end of the month, and yesterday we booked a Christmas trip to Paris! Woohoo!!! Stay tuned folks :)

Our First Week

After our first couple of days teaching, Abby and I went to the provincial capital, Almería, for a training meeting. The meeting was long and boring, but we have set appointments to get our Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero (TIE), I understand the Spanish education system a ton better than I did before the meeting, and it came with a tasty lunch buffet. So I will say it is a success.

Look! Our training meeting made it into the newspaper!

After the meeting, Abby and I hiked up to the Cerro San Cristobal because we heard it was a great way to see the city. The view was quite nice.

The Alcazaba as seen (terribly backlit) from the Cerro San Cristobal.

The Sacred Heart on Cerro San Cristobal.

It ends up that you probably shouldn't use Google Maps walking directions to get to places in cities that you don't know. Because it can take you to some pretty wild neighborhoods. I won't worry you about it too much, but suffice it to say that every Spaniard we have talked to since has told us that we really shouldn't have been there. Also, some twelve year olds followed us suspiciously. But we made it out with our lives and wallets intact... So I'll count that as another success.

"Hey, Abby... I don't think this is a great neighborhood" 

"Okay Braden, just let me take one more photo and then we will get out of here"

Abby and I spent most of our class time introducing ourselves and fielding questions from students. Donald Trump, our significant other, and American music have been especially popular topics of inquiry. It's amazing how personalities of school children are pretty similar across the world. Also, in case you are wondering, middle schoolers in Spain are almost as obsessed with doing the dab as American middle schoolers.

I have been trying keep up the illusion that I don't speak a single word of Spanish with the elementary schoolers. After class one day, one of the girls in the 3rd grade came up to me and asked "¿no sabes nada de nada de español?" I just shrugged and said "Sorry, I can't understand you." She replied, "Entonces, sí, es verdad. Eres de los Estados Unidos."

Shopping at Mercadona makes me feel like an awkward American.

The music teacher at my high school invited Abby and I to see Mariola Membrives, a Flamenco singer who performs fusion Flamenco with an incredible jazz bassist, at a local cafe. The Cafeteria Alhambra is tucked a way in a cozy little gallery just off of the main Bulevard in El Ejido. It is truly a gem. Membrives' work was fantastic. Before I came to Spain, I thought I knew Flamenco, but Flamenco has to be experienced. Videos and recordings just don't cut the mustard. It is raw, beautiful emotion.

The Cafeteria Alhambra's mission statement is a poem painted on a wall. 

Like I said, raw, beautiful emotion. Feel the duende!

All the Geography and Technical Drawing and English classes left us pretty exhausted; by the weekend we were ready to hit the beach. Ends up swimming in salt water feels completely different from freshwater. I love feeling 20 pounds lighter than I do on dry ground. We are only 10 minutes by car from Almerimar. But we took the bus, so it took a bit longer. Almerimar is funny because there are tourists there from all over Europe. I heard at least three different languages on the beach!

Don't worry! We used sunscreen.

This sums it up quite nicely.

Just one last thing: if you ever have the chance, try the Jamón con Melón. It is worth it.

Ham with Melons. I don't know who came up with it, but I like it!