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Barcelona July 19

I’ve been in Barcelona for two days now and have been laying low. I
needed a break from sight seeing, and took a couple of days to get
ready for the next part of my trip to South Africa. Doing laundry,
getting some warmer clothes (it’s winter there), doing some trip
research for later on etc. I think it’s finally sunk in that I’m not
on vacation anymore. Normal “life” things still need to be done,
errands run etc. That and the novelty of being surrounded by a
language I don’t speak has worn off. Don’t get me wrong – I’m
grateful to be in this place, surrounded by people I don’t understand.
It’s just starting to become “real life”…. complete with a few
minor challenges.

Random things I’ve noticed along the way and not mentioned:

– The street signs are on the walls of buildings, not sign posts.
– They have bins to collect compostable trash on the streets (in
Seville and Tarifa anyway. Haven’t seen it in Barcelona yet).
– The trains and buses I’ve been on have assigned seating. For a
generally laid back country they are very particular about seating.
– Spanish people like to sit and have their coffee. There really
aren’t many places to buy “take-away” coffee, and you don’t really see
people with portable mugs either.
– It is acceptable to put lemon fanta in red wine, and call it a tinto
verano. But completely UNacceptable to do the same to white wine.
– Beer and soda cost the same, and are sold in most of the same places.

The one notable thing that has happened in the last couple of days is
a demonstration going by my hotel. I am staying one street off Placa
Catalunya (basically the city center) and the meeting point must have
been on our corner because protestors converged from 3 streets there
to march. It was a very peaceful demonstration and the police stayed
in the background. Cities across Spain were protesting today against
the latest austerity cuts, and I happened to catch the Barcelona
portion. The highlites – austerity measures including wage cuts for
civil servants and an increase in sales tax, in order to secure 100
billion euro in financial assistance from eurozone banks. With
unemployment edging towards 25%, and being in the middle of a second
recession in 3 years they have it pretty bad. Painful time to be belt
tightening. Pasting some pics at the bottom.

I will be in Barcelona until Sunday. My friend Joyce is coming
tomorrow night to spend the weekend – very excited!!

Tarifa July 16

My third day in Tarifa. It was a 3 hour bus ride from Seville, and the view was cattle/horses, sunflowers, wind turbines, towns and road. Tarifa is full of tourists, but unlike a lot of other places people don’t really come here to see sights. They come here almost exclusively to kitesurf. Or to whale watch or catch the ferry to Morocco, but mostly to kitesurf. Half the shops have something to do with kitesurfing, there are fliers for schools everywhere, and it’s such a part of the lifestyle here that it’s a topic of almost every conversation I’ve heard. The windguru website is the go-to. Where’s the wind coming from? How strong is it? Today 20 knots Levante wind. Tomorrow 30+ knots. Too windy. Steady wind. Gusty wind. Wind is/isn’t here yet

I’ve been here for 3 days now, and have gotten my first 2 kitesurfing lessons in. There is nothing about kitesurfing that comes naturally to me. The first day and a half I spent on the beach trying to understand how to operate the kite. The instructor would tell me what to do and I understood, but somehow that’s not what I ended up doing. I’d mess up, he’d tell me again and I’d say “Yes, yes I know.” I don’t know how to explain it – it was like someone else was responsible for messing up like that, not me.

I made friends with Stephanie who is the only other girl I saw at the school at the same time. She is taking a course to be an instructor, and was shadow-ing the instructors until she starts the training program this week. On my second day she shadowed my instructor and witnessed my disaster of a start to the day. Finally the instructor sent me into the water with the kite, and tried to get me to do a body drag – which is basically using the wind in the kite to pull your body while laying on your stomach in the water. It was kind of a joke how bad I was. Finally he left to spend some time with the other students (I’m pretty sure out of frustration with me. I really don’t blame him – I was truly bad). Once I was alone in the water I gradually started to get the hang of it. Stephanie had stayed behind on the beach to keep and eye on me, and help me out. I think being in the water actually helped because I had other things to focus on besides just the kite. Once I stopped thinking so hard about the kite, the wind, and my role in the whole thing I started to get the hang of it a bit more. By the end of the second day I had swallowed at least a gallon of ocean water, and managed to do a one arm body drag several times.

Today it’s too windy to kitesurf, and I leave for Barcelona tomorrow so that was the last of my lessons. I think I will try it again somewhere along the way on my trip. Not because I liked it, but because I have to at least get up on the board!

What it looks like when someone really good kitesurfs

Last night on my walk home I noticed a bunch of people gathered around the stage by my hotel. It looked like some kind of Flamenco school putting on a performance, because there was a whole age range of women in costume mulling around. No wonder Flamenco performers put on such an amazing show – they must study it from the time they’re kids!! The youngest girl looked like she was 4 or 5. There was one little boy in the whole group, and he looked about 5 as well. So handsome and serious! (Pasting a pic below. Not good quality, but the best I got of him.) They all made the Flamenco face which is kind of a combination of furrowed brow, and angry pouty frown. That must be part of the training as well – and it really does make a difference. I saw a performance in Seville where the girl didn’t make that face and she seemed almost too happy to be dancing Flamenco.

This afternoon I was sitting in my hotel room when I somewhere in the background I started hearing escalating outside noise and a band. When it finally sunk in something was going on I ran to the window, and saw this:

I found out afterward it was some kind of procession in honor of the Virgin del Carmen that villages all along the coast take part in on July 16th. She is the patron of fisherman and the sea. The traditions vary by village, but they all parade their Virgin del Carmen statue down to the sea and a mass is said. I’m still not entirely sure what happened, but I followed the procession down to the port, they traded out statues to a different, smaller one, carried that closer to the water, threw flowers into the water, watched them for a while, said a prayer and then left.

Wandered around for a bit after and took a couple of other shots.

+ high-res version

Seville July 13

Had a great last couple of days in Seville! We of course did more eating and drinking, and in between made an effort to see the sights.

Our favorite neighborhood so far here is Triana. There´s no particular reason really – it just has a nice vibe. It´s on the other side of the river, and a lot of the ceramics and tile you see around the city are made here. From what I read the neighborhood has a long history of fisherman, sailors and Flamenco.

One of our first nights in Seville we stopped in a Macarena neighborhood place called Doctor Bar for a drink, and made friends with a British guy who had moved to Seville a couple of years ago to teach English. We met up/ran into him a couple more times while we were in Seville and he was a source of a couple of great recommendations. The first was to see an evening performance in the gardens of the Alcazar. Sounded good, so we booked our tickets for Tuesday to see a performance by two cellists. I was REALLY bad about doing Seville research so I had barely heard of the Alcazar, never mind had any expectations about what it would be like. Azish and I got there, and right away it felt like a special night. We got there right before sunset (which here isn’t until after 9), and wandered through these beautiful gardens. It felt like something out of an exotic kind of renaissance fairytale with lush greenery, labyrinths, fountains, peacocks and castle walls. I had no idea!! We sat down to a great evening of music, and I made a mental note to come back for a visit during the day.

The next day we got up early and had big plans for the day. To start we were going to pay a visit to a closed convent to buy some candy. Strange right? I had done about an hours worth of research on off the beaten path types of things to do in Seville, and had read about how a couple of closed convents sold candy as a way to make money. Never one to pass up an opportunity to try new candy I was all over it. We circled the convent for a pretty long time before we even found the door. So the way it goes is – you walk into this unmarked entry-way. There is no one in there of course because it is a “closed” convent, so the nuns don’t have contact with the outside world. You walk up to this big wood cupboard looking thing and ring the bell. Then you wait for the nun to say “Ave Maria Purisma”. You respond “Sin pecado concebido”. (Of course I looked up what all of that meant online before to make sure I wouldn´t be saying something inappropriate to the nuns. Apparently it’s part of a roman catholic rosary so I was safe.) Then you put the money onto the turning-door-tray, and it gets turned back around to you with candy! I was super nervous walking up there, but it went exactly like they said (except the nun corrected my pronunciation). I got a little wooden box full of “yemas”. Which were reaally sweet, and after all that I ended up not eating them. But it was worth it for the experience! Although I’m still feeling a little guilty about not liking them….

After that we walked to the Cathedral which is the biggest Gothic Cathedral in the world, and supposedly where Christopher Columbus is buried. It’s definitely big and impressive. But ultimately it was too much, and we took a lap around the block before deciding to appreciate it over a drink on the rooftop of the EME hotel across the street.

That afternoon I decided to give up my siesta in order to go back to the Alcazar and find out a little more about it. I was so happy I did!! It was originally a moorish fort in the 10th century, and from what I can piece together some version of it has been a palace since the 12th century. Different additions have been added over time, so it´s a mix of Mudejar, Gothic, Renaissance, etc. There is nothing I could really say to do it justice. Posting a couple of pictures below so you can see for yourself. And it’s even better in person!!

Thursday was our last day together before Azish left to go back home. We felt like we had a pretty good feel for Seville, so we hopped on the train to Jerez de la Frontera for a day trip. It´s safe to say Azish is fond of wine, and apparently sherry can ONLY be made in this area, so it made sense to make the trip and learn more. After a tour of the Gonzales Byass Bodega I found out I don’t really like sherry. So like yemas, the experience was a lot more fun than the product! Gonzales Byass is a pretty commercial place, but for some reason the only pictures I liked make it look like a very small old timey kind of place. Don´t be fooled – it´s not!

After lunch we capped off our day in Jerez by a visit to the Hammam Andalusi (an Arabic bath). It was a great, and clean way to wrap up our visit to Jerez!

Azish left this morning to go home, and I had to get out of the heat! I hopped a bus for Tarifa this afternoon – second suggestion from our friend from Doctor Bar. I am spending the evening at a cafe/bar with free “wee-fee”. (That´s how they pronounce it.) Tarifa is a touristy surfer town on the southern most coast of Spain. It sits in between the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, and looks across the Straits of Gibraltar to Morocco. THE thing to do here is kite surf, so I plan to spend the next couple of days learning. Wish me luck!

Farm to Seville July 10

Sorry for the long pause! Trying to blog with my Ipad is not working out the way I had hoped. I have to write the blog, and then find an internet cafe in order to insert pictures and video where I want them…. Argh.

We capped off our time at the farm with a big 4th of July party. At first it felt strange to be celebrating 4th of July with Brits in Spain – but then Azish reminded me that we celebrate Cinco de May in America and I started to get used to the idea. Even with my new found acceptance I still couldn´t have prepared myself for this 4th of July celebration. It was already feeling surreal, but then started to feel even more like a strange dream when a van waving the confederate flag pulled up. Party time? The country music came on and cowboy hats came out. There was line dancing, paintball shooting, a pop quiz and even a costume change where two normal looking Brits were replaced by American Indians (whuh?). We had burgers, hot dogs, french fries – and my personal favorite New York style bakewell tart. I’ve never heard of bakewell tart before, but I’m a fan now! Especially with the cream mine was swimming in.

After the party we spent the next day cleaning up, and finally made it to the fountain/pond in the village. Much bigger than the stream we dipped our feet in, and freezing cold!!

Followed that up with a stop in the village for lunch. By this point it has become a kind of tradition for us to go looking for lunch during siesta when the village closes up. We settled in for bocadillo, olives and beer at a bar in the square where it was practically empty except for our party of 3. By about 5pm a single old man shuffled out and sat at the table next to us. He seemed like he might be half asleep as he sat there and stared off into the distance while sucking his teeth. We were fully relaxed by this point and silently smiled as we looked him over and then stared off into the distance ourselves. We were sitting like that for a while I’m sure when the sound of sucking teeth somehow seemed to multiply. I looked over at the old man who was still in a trance, and sucking away exactly as he was the last time I looked at him. Then I looked over at Azish and Zach who had somehow transformed into old men in training as they stared trance-like at the mountains and sucked away on olive pits….. That broke the spell and we started laughing and talking again. Then another old man emerged and sat down at the table with the first one and had a coffee. Then from a different door another old man came out, and another and another. By about 5:30 there must have been a dozen old men sitting next to us having coffee. You could tell this was probably their daily ritual and we had interrupted, but they barely seemed to notice. I wish I had taken a picture, but didn’t want to be disrespectful….

The next day we said our goodbyes and headed out for Alicante before we left for Seville. Alicante Chocolate factory!

We got to Seville Saturday and have spent most of our time wandering around, eating and drinking. We are staying in the Macarena neighborhood. Yes, Macarena like the song. Our hotel is a mix of old style Spanish with beautiful tile work in the common areas and a courtyard, contrasted with contemporary hotel rooms. Strange combination, but it kind of works.

It is almost impossible not to get lost in the streets here. They are brick and super narrow. If there is a car driving through you practically have to squeeze up next to the wall. You can’t see over the buildings on either side, and there is a bar, a church and some unopened shops on almost every street so they all look almost exactly the same. Especially in the heat of the day when you’re starting to lose your grip on reality a bit anyway. I totally understand siestas now. Come about 2 o’clock you don’t really have much of a choice – your body just starts going in slow motion until you’ve stopped completely. Hopefully you’ve made it home by then. He didn´t.

One night we went to see a Flamenco performance at the Flamenco museum. That was by far the most beautiful and “Spanish” thing I’ve seen since I’ve been here. Totally controlled, but kind of violent and passionate. I tried to take some pictures, but my camera was no match.

More to catch you up on since I wrote this including my favorite part of Seville so far – the Alcazar. But that will have to wait until next time.

Rural Life July 1

After a week at the farm Azish and I are spending the weekend at a little tourist town called Guadalest. I’ve been struggling with what to say about this last week. On the one hand I’m experiencing a lifestyle which is entirely different from my own….exactly what I wanted. On the other hand it’s not quite the experience I had in mind. Which is fine I guess.

As I mentioned we are spending two weeks WWOOFing on a farm. To give a little background WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) started in England in the early 70s by a secretary in London who recognized a growing interest in organic and rural lifestyles. The idea behind the organization is to connect people who would like to learn more about organic and sustainable living, with farms who could use helping hands. The farm hosts the worker, providing food and a place to stay in exchange for an agreed upon number of working hours a day. Now there are WWOOF opportunities in 99 countries around the world covering all kinds of farms including horse farms, vineyards, vegetable farms etc.

The farm that we are staying at is in the Valencia region near the East Coast of Spain. It is in a very rural valley with huge looming mountains/cliffs, terraced hillsides, and relentless sun and heat. The farm grows mostly almond trees, some olive trees, has a vegetable garden and chickens. I think where they make a living though is by running a bed and breakfast and paintball business. Having a business aspect attached to the farm seems to be pretty common here. Apparently the weather is warmer than normal for this early in the summer with temperatures reaching over 36 degrees celcius (97 farenheit). The heat is intense, and the vegetable garden has seen better days. Sadly so has my personal hygiene by around noon every day since I’ve been there.

The couple that own the farm are British. They’ve lived in Spain over 12 years, bought the farm I think about 10 years ago, and spent the first several years getting it livable and working again. Both of them are really nice and funny. The husband has this awesome 50s rock-n-roll kind of style. Pompadour hairstyle, t-shirt with rolled sleeves, belt with a 2 guitar belt buckle. So great!! I think part of what has surprised me and contributed to this not being the experience I expected – is that neither of them speak Spanish. There is a large British ex-pat community in the area, and they pretty much just interact with them. Which I’m sure is easier than trying to learn a new language as adults

The power for the farm comes from a combination of wind and solar panels, along with a diesel run generator, and their water is trucked in to them. Between having a limited water supply, and the general drought like feeling of the area you definitely realize how valuable water is and make an effort to conserve. At the farm they conserve in a lot of different ways including obvious things like turning off the tap while scrubbing dishes, soaping up, brushing teeth etc, to more sophisticated techniques like reusing water that would normally make its way down the pipes to some treatment facility. They save the dishwater and use it to water the plants, and the “grey water” from the showers and washing machine is saved to water the vegetable garden.

The work day starts by 8am or earlier, and generally goes until 11 or 12 with a break for tea. Then we take the afternoon off to stay out of the direct sun and heat, and start up again around 6 or 7. We’ve been doing a lot of weeding, and helping them prepare for a 4th of July party they are putting on for their business. Cleaning up one of the terraces, preparing an outdoor kitchen, digging out a tree root, some more weeding, disassembling and moving a giant shade etc. A lot of hard physical work! There hasn’t been a whole lot of work to do in the garden which is a little disappointing. I’m hoping to at least learn more about composting before I leave.

We got there Wednesday night, and by Tuesday Azish and I were getting stir crazy during our long afternoon work break. We decided to do the hour walk into the nearest village and go for a swim at the municipal pool. The hour walk turned out to be a 1 1/2 hour walk along dirt roads, up and down the steep hillside during the heat of the day. It was practically uphill both ways, and the weeds ripped at our shins along the way. By the time we got to town it was siesta time and everything was closed. We got disoriented wandering around the little streets and probably spent a good 45 minutes lost. By the time we made it to the swimming pool we were hot and cranky, and wanted nothing more in the world than to jump into the cool water. Except the swimming pool was closed until the following weekend. So the town was basically shut down for siesta and the pool was closed. We decided to go across the street to the park pond and at least cool off there. Only we didn’t have the energy to walk far enough back, and at the rate we were going weren’t entirely convinced there would actually BE a pond. Instead stopped at the small stream and dipped our feet in before heading back to the farm. Oh – did I mention we’ve become hitch-hikers? Well we’ve tried anyway. Were only successful once. (Sorry family.)

The following night we adjusted our work schedule so we could finish up by afternoon, and did the long walk into town again to watch the Euro Cup soccer finals. Spain was playing Portugal, so we figured the town would be out and it would be a good time. We went back to the pool and watched outside on their TV. We had a great time actually! Watching the game with the giant Castellet Mountains surrounding us. The pool was back in our good graces – even if we couldn’t swim in it.

Thursday we rented a car, and went into Benidorm which is a vacation beach town. Lots of high rise condos and tourists. And stag parties.

After work on Friday we left for the weekend to try and find some Spanish culture. The couple that own the farm recommended we head to a small tourist town called Guadalest which was about an hour away. Population under 200. It’s a great little town with a couple of restaurants and shops. Everything opens around 10, and then the town mostly shuts down by 8 or 9. We rented an apartment, and have been relaxing for the weekend.