Spain likes to party

Hello my faithful readers! All two of you (hi Cecily!!) deserve an UPDATE!

Things have been nice. I've been finally coming out of shell and feeling a bit more like myself lately. Which is always a good feeling.

I went to my first "botellón" (which is what the young and free do here to spend their evenings) with a lovely group of Spaniards and it felt like a high school drive-in. I was surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of youth, broken glass, plastic cups, and cars that were parked by the river to blast music (and it was a Monday night.) People just talk for hours until the wee morning hours. I left at 3AM and I was one of the first ones... I should have taken pictures so you can SEE the hoards of girls in sexy clothing and men wearing cologne and smoking strong cigarettes. It's such a sight. I'll do it eventually, I just didn't want to lug my Texas-sized camera on my first real date with Españoles....

Last weekend I participated in the Carrera Nocturna del Guadalquivir (the night run by the Guadalquivir river.) I signed up, all super cas. about it, and didn't know that it was a 12K until the day of. Ah, well. It was time that I started running distance again...! Anyhow, it started at 10 PM and there were 20,000 people there! Some serious athletes but also, men dressed up in drag and women wearing animal outfits. Even "Bob de Esponja" made an appearance. (Yes. SPONGEBOB!) And he got to the finish before me. No importa. I had a blast. Even though I needed assistance walking downstairs the next morning ;)
Spaniards know how to make EVERYTHING fun. Really. To them, it's not about WHAT you're doing--it's HOW you do it. And man are they good at that.

When I got to the finish line, I was so thirsty and I couldn't find water?
What was there TONS of instead? Beer!
Yes. Cruzcampo (Spain's leading beer company, owned by Heineken) was pouring thousands of cups of beer for everyone. I know athletes in the US would be horrified to hear this. In thirsty desperation, I lunged for a cup (alcohol-free, of course) and it was gone in 60 seconds. After that, I felt oddly refreshed and when I asked my señora about it later, she told me that a lot of people drink the alcohol-free beer in Spain for the yeast.

Well I'm off to go bake some chocolate cupcakes at a house. He's letting us use his oven!
Speaking of food, here are some photos :)

I made Arroz con Leche (rice pudding) and my señora and I were getting giggly from all the tasting...

Alvarito (there are three Alvaros in the family...) is pretending to like my pudding, but in reality, he despised it

Puente de Triana (Triana Bridge) Triana is the most fiercely spirited Sevillan barrio (neighborhood) and I love it

Some nice things

1. Yesterday I went on an 8 mile hike through the forests/mountains of Huelva. We came across: figs, walnuts, chestnuts, edible acorns,  apples (which I later, drank...), peaches, pomegranates, and tomatoes. We drank from a stream and a waterfall.

Along the pass, we stopped to lunch in a small town called Castaño del Robledos.
While we were eating our "bocadillos" in the central courtyard, there was this little boy running around from person to person with a tray of glass jars and a large pitcher of brown murky liquid.
It was fresh pressed apple cider that they were preparing on the street in a wooden barrel. It was so delightful to see that IN entered those golden apples and OUT came ambrosial cider.

2. I went for a run today in a park and after, went to the playground. It made me very happy to see that in addition to all the cool things for kids to do, there was a section of playground for "personas mayores" (senior citizens) to work on balance, movement, and flexibility.

3. Kids get out of school at 2:30 PM, so they are all home in time for lunch, which they can eat with their family.

4. I might be taking a class called "Música en el espectáculo audiovisual" in the communications dept. at U. Sevilla. It's all about the use of music in movies and advertisements to evoke certain reactions within the audience.

5. "Spanish boy of the week" coming soon...

lunch today and the museo de bellas artes

It was incredibly delicious.
A cold pasta salad with shrimp and cheese and olive oil, pokemon pasta shapes, smoked turkey, and apple vinegar. Scrumptious it was.


This afternoon I rode a bike to the Museo de bellas artes and saw some magnificent work that has been restored from hundreds of years ago. Here are a few that made an impression on me: (the photos say nothing of their beauty...) 

In the Retablo del Convento de San Agustin- "Jucio Final" (Final Judgement) by Martin de Vos

Santa Isabel de Hungría curando un enfermo  by Lucas Valdes

Las Cigarreras  by Gonzalo  Bilbao (whose work I like)

La muerte del maestro (Death of the Teacher) by José Villegas Cordero

Retrato (Portrait) de Sra. Malinowska by Ignacio Zuluaga

Spanish Blunder #2

Today I visited a bakery and have been wanting to try this dessert very badly. It looks like a triangular wedge of chocolate eclair. They are called cuñas. I wish I had said that.

Instead, with that Alia-can't-wait-to-eat-sweets enthusiasm,
"! Hola, un coño con mi café, por favor!"

Direct translation:
Hi! A coochie with my coffee, please.

Funny Spanish Mistakes no. 1

What I said:
¡Mañana, voy a probarte!

Direct translation:
Tomorrow, I´m going to taste you!