La Navidad has arrived!

The ham and wine that are part of the traditional "cesta de navidad" (christmas basket) that employers normally give to their employees.

Christmas spirit is all over Madrid. Lights are in place, trees have been mounted and decorated, music and carols are everywhere and Papa Noel (aka: Santa Claus) and the Three Kings are vying for the priviledge of being the most popular present bearer of the season. (This is a huge polemic here, since the Reyes, the three kings, are Spanish tradition, but the commercialization of Santa and the convenience of his earlier arrival is winning over the yonger generations.) And as you can see from the picture they are breaking into many houses all over Spain, probably in attempt to brainwash the children.

In my school, we celebrated on Friday the kid's Christmas pageant. They had been preparing and practicing for weeks and it definitely paid off. Maybe I am biased, but I think my 2nd gradeer stole the show. They did a cute play (in Spanish) and then sang a Spanglish Christmas song. Check out the video here and you can let me know what an unbiased opinion is.

I have already gotten many Christmas gifts, mostly from students and other teachers. But the best gift I have ever gotten came last Thursday night when Paco asked me to marry him....officially!!!!!! (of course I said yes!) So I won't be needing any other Christmas gifts this year!

(He, he he! Saved the best news for last!)

And the big news just keeps on coming!

My sister's getting married!!! Amy and Colin got engaged in Champagne, France this weekend. I am even more excited to go home now. Wedding planning for this one should be interesting to say the least!

I'd write more but my week with the flu and then my week recovering really don't have any highlights that compare. I do need remark, however, that we managed to get away for the weekend last weekend (despite my miserable flulike symptoms) to Logroño (In La Rioja, Spain's wine region) and to San Sebastian in Spain's Basque Region, making a quick stop in Burgos to eat some morcilla. It was what you might call a gastronomic tour. We ate often and well. Unfortunately we didn't get to really visit any of the wineries because we went in off season and during a holiday weekend. (In Spain commerce doesn't take advatage of things like holiday weekends to make money, but rather to take vacations. It's a concept that we Americnas cannot really comprehend.) Anyway, we did visit a really interesting wine museum at a winery; my favorite part- the collection of over 3000 corkscrews from all over the world throughout time. Here are some pics:

Burgos: the cathedral La Rioja: freezing in the vineyard, outside the wine museum.

San Sebastian: view from the hills, some serious surf on the beach, a beautiful sunset.

The past month in "short"

I have been quite lax with the blogging recently. I do have excuses, not that you’re interested in my lame excuses. But the bottom line is that the 12 hour Spanish work day is not agreeing with me. (obviously.) I am very happy with my job(s) with the exception of a one private classes and the crazy schedule. But, of course I am sick every month, even though I swore I wasn’t getting sick again. But at least a day at home gives me some time to catch up on things, like my blog.

So here’s a “quick” summary of the month of November:

November 10:

Went to a wedding at a castle in the outskirts of Madrid. It was a very nice event that lasted over 12 hours. (yeah 12) The ceremony was at 2 and we left the wedding site at 3ish. It was grueling, but a lot of fun. The bride was Spanish and the groom English, so they tried to combine some traditions of both cultures.

Thanksgiving was prepared by a fellow Middleburiana, Vanessa. Way too much delicious food and a lot of people, but of course there were no cowboys, pilgrims or Indians, so it cannot even begin to compare with the festivities of last year. That will remain a legend for many here in Spain.
(Sorry no pics for this one.)

November 25: Paco’s birthday complete with two family meals…yep two…in one day. However we didn’t go out much because we had both had long weeks so we waited until the following weekend to really celebrate, along with the great news that he was granted a huge research grant from a major insurance foundation. Don’t ask what he will research because I don’t understand even the title. Needless to say we went all out, and I actually think this is what pushed me over the edge into sickland.

I finally met baby Javi, and saw proud parents Javi and Marta, who are gleaming with excitment. And, who wouldn't be with a baby this tiny and cute who barely makes a sound! I am only speaking to the little guy in English and have already arranged that he will be my exchange student in the US when he is older.

I also saw all of my "Spanish family" (the Paredes) which was nice becuase I haven't seen Javi and Laura's parents since before I left.

Welcome to the world Javichu!

This past weekend I also decided to deck my little halls. After decorating my 2 foot tree and hanging the stockings with care (from the bookshelf, obviously, we don’t have a chimney) my place has a nice air of Christmas spirit. Madrid is lit for the holiday as well. It’s nice to walk down the streets in the evening with the holiday lights shining, it makes me want to fill my MP3 with Christmas carols….but I don’t have any. I’ll work on that.

This weekend is supposed to be La Rioja, but seeing as though I am sick again, it’s in limbo. I will be so mad!

Last interesting bit: Remember how I notice now all the English language clothing? Well, I get to see a lot in school. It seems kids’ clothes are not produced in Spain, only English speaking countries. (Or probably not even, more likely China or Taiwan, but the point is that any words are almost always written in English.) Normally the kids’ clothing is pretty innocent; superheroes, princesses, sports phrases, etc. However yesterday in school I could not stop stating at one boy’s sweatshirt. I mean really, I may have made him uncomfortable. The poor kids kept looking back at me like “But I am not doing anything wrong!!!” I was quite close to whipping out my camera phone to document the insanity, but though better of it given the situation. (class and what not.) The thing about this particular Bart Simpson sweatshirt was that it said “Show business is a hideous bitch goddess.” Profanity on a child’s sweatshirt aside, does that even make sense?? Anyone want to help me explain that one?