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Thursday, September 30, 2010

"Spelunking"...sort of


I just quickly wanted to post some pictures from our most recent explorations. There are some caves on a bluff just above the freeway between here and the neighboring town of Estepa. I've been eying them for sometime as prospective adventures. Angelines and I finally got on our bikes and headed out to do some amateur "spelunking."

Apparently if you follow the tunnels you can climb all the way through the mountain and come out on top! We were to chicken for such endeavors. Aside from the fact that you'd have to do some serious climbing to reach the tunnels; they were about seven feet up from the floor at the back of the first cavern. Something about the combination of dark and closed spaces send my imagination reeling. It was enough for me to walk to the back wall and peer into some of the hollows in the wall for me to imagine finding cadavers or being trapped by unexpected cave-ins. Apparently my adventurous spirit is limited to superficial exploration. ;)

It was a beautiful day, and great to get out and move. The temperatures have dropped significantly. In the mornings it's getting down to 55 with highs of 75-80. Soon enough we'll be trapped inside our cold house snuggled up with the table heater and blankets, listening to the rain and wishing for one of these September afternoons.


Sunday, September 19, 2010

La Copa de Campillos!

That's right, today was my first race of the season. :) You might remember I had wanted to do a triathlon sprint...well somehow I missed the sign-up date--poo! Anyway, I found today's race online and went for it.

It was 9.5km...if my math is right that's 5.9 miles. The race consisted of four laps through the nearby town of Campillos. I didn't realize it was a circuit race until this morning when I arrived to get my number--a little disappointing, honestly. Still, it had some benefits; after the first lap I knew exactly how to run to keep my time, etc.

(What was your time, Viola!!??)

I am pleased with my race. I came in second for women and second in my age group (16-34...pretty big, if you ask me!). I ran very consistently: nearly 11 min per lap. My time was 44:53 that's an average of 4:43 per km...which I think is about 7.5 min miles. Pretty good. The course was really flat; there was just one slight hill. I happily beat a smug cop from La Roda and kicked past a guy in the last 800 meters or so. The first place girl beat me pretty soundly: 41:30.

You can see in the photo some of the goodies I brought home. The shirts we were given were all size XL... can you tell?? And I got the cool cup trophy and 30 euros for placing second! Tonight I'll take Angelines out to dinner. ;) She joked that today I made more money than her. Ha! Maybe I should start taking my training more seriously.

It's amazing how few women compete here. Really that's part of my success. I don't mean to play down my own abilities, but in the US I doubt I would have placed. There were several men from La Roda's running club at the race and all of them said I needed to keep racing. They assured me I'd have a room full of trophies because so few women race and I am in good shape. I do plan to keep racing. Having a goal is motivation for training... and knowing you've got a good chance at taking home prizes is just an added bonus!

Happy running!

Friday, September 17, 2010

September Storms and Soup

Welcome Fall.

Autumn weather has come to Sevilla one week before the official beginning of the season. I put on a pair of jeans for the first time since May today. And for the first time since the end of spring, we ate soup for lunch.

Today was a perfect soup day. All last night it rained and today was cool and cloudy with intermittent showers. I don't think I've ever been so acutely aware of seasonal foods as I am living here in Spain. From June through August we live on gazpacho, porra, potato salads, pasta salads... cool, fresh food. Nothing is less appealing in the middle of summer than a steaming bowl of anything.

Not so today. Today steaming tomato and roasted red pepper soup was just the ticket. Cold soups are delicious in 100 degree weather, but I don't think there's anything so satisfying as the warm feeling--inside and out--that comes from a spoonful of hot soup on a cold, rainy day.

Here's to the changing seasons!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Granada English Teachers' Association:

I've just got home from the GRETA conference this weekend--REALLY worth it! I'm so glad I went. I am still processing a lot of it. That just means I'll probably write something more coherent in the near future; but in a nutshell, I can say it was inspirational and wonderfully reaffirming to be surrounded by curious, inspired, teachers. These are people who realize that to be a great teacher, you must be a life-long learner. I was surrounded by people working in public and private schools, from Spain, from the U.K. and from the U.S., all of them with the same purpose of personal and professional growth and development.

The speakers were wonderful. I've taken away some really great ideas and inspiration. Honestly, I'm much more excited about this year thanks to the conference. I'm even excited by the opportunities my private classes with afford me to put into practice some of the tools I've been given this weekend.

The conference proved to me that I really do love teaching. I love listening to the creative, inspirational ideas these people had and found myself salivating at the thought of using them in the classroom. You all know that I had my ups and downs last year, but I think the key lies in tapping into my own passion for learning, sharing that with my students and continuing to learn from and with them. I finally told my friend, Gracia, who's been after me for three years to become a teacher, that I have realized I am ready to not be an assistant any longer. It's time to move on. And so I've begun looking for programs at universities to get a degree in Primary Education.

All that said, I was frustrated anew by just how closed the Spanish education system is in terms of getting a job in the public sector. I MUST go back to school, which is fine in itself (I think I fall in the category of 'life-long learner'), but it means about four years and then a CRAZY difficult test before I can actually get into the classroom. Getting a teaching credential in the U.S. is nowhere near this difficult; and in any case it's a moot point because in the U.S. it's your resume and individual merits and experiences that get you a job, not a government mandated test that then guarantees you a position, but without the freedom to choose WHERE!

It's frustrating because in the area of Language Assistants, for example, I would consider myself relatively knowledgeable. After all, I do have three years of experience, not to mention the work I did as a Spanish assistant at Pacific. Still, it is impossible for me to get a job at the government seat in Sevilla simply because I haven't taken the gruesome "oposiciones" (the CRAZY difficult test I mentioned) to become an educator. So although my experiences as an Auxiliar give me a perspective that NO ONE who's passed the oposiciones has, I am excluded from working toward improving a program I am passionate about, that I feel is desperately needed in Andalucia, and also is in desperate need of improvement.

Like so many things in Spain when it comes to government, this is pure bureaucratic bullshit. It almost squelches the desire to keep pushing and fighting for what I want.

In an effort to ward of the familiar feelings of powerlessness in the face of such an inane system, I've decided to become a member of the Association GRETA. :) I've decided it can serve as a great support group.

(I just almost deleted this sentence because I realized it was something every one of my college professors would cringe at, but for the sake of levity and English language learning, here it is: "...but being left with no remedy other than to bite the bullet and jump through the hoops... " Yikes!) ;)

...Oh, by the way, my talk went very well. I'm afraid I spoke too quickly, but everyone had good things to say about it, so I feel I was able to make some contribution among such accomplished company.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

La Virgen de los Llanos

My day started with the bike ride I told you all about...only I had to leave early because I needed to be back here by 12ish to help Angelines with preparations for the paella and porra. So after boiling nine eggs, chopping peppers, onions, garlic, tomato (probably at least two pounds) and chicken breast, it was off to the pub for set up. I'll cut to the chase and tell you all that the picture below is the only one I have of the FANTASTIC paella we made. It looks good, doesn't it? Well it tasted even better, but unfortunately for my taste buds, and fortunately for out checking account, I was too busy serving people to properly enjoy it myself.


Opening at midday with food was a success. Antonio and Jesus made the paella--every time they do it, it gets better--and there were nothing but compliments for my porra. In the end, there wasn't a grain of rice left and we only had to dispose of half a plate of porra. It wasn't a huge money maker since beers are cheap and we were charging 2 euros a plate; but we covered the cost of the food many times over and everyone had a good time. By 9pm we were closed and out enjoying the festivities ourselves. :)

However, I didn't stay out long at all. My legs were so sore from standing all that time at the bar and after having gone for a bike ride in the morning, it was all I could do to watch the procession for about 20min and then collapse into a chair at el Leiva and eat dinner. I was 100% worn out.

Under normal circumstances I might have made an effort and endured a bit more of the fun, but today I am going to Granada in the afternoon. There's an English teachers' conference and I'm going to be a speaker! (I'll tell you more about it when I get home on Saturday). I definitely wanted to be well rested so I was home and in bed by 12:30. Although I didn't actually get to sleep until past 1:00 because they began shooting off fireworks. :) I had a great view from my little second story piso and so this was the first time I've EVER gotten really good pictures of fireworks. Enjoy!




Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Midnight Pilgrimage

Tomorrow is the nativity of the Virgin. I'm sure you all knew that, but just in case... ;)

Most virgins have a day dedicated to them. The 12th of December is the day of the Virgin of Guadalupe (patrona of Mexico), for example; and Our Lady of Pain's day is Good Friday. But there are a number of virgins that are "day-less" (for lack of better words) and they celebrate their day on the 8th of September since it is the Virgin Mary's birthday.

The patrona of La Roda is the Virgin of the Plains (La Virgen de los Llanos). Legend has it that a farmer stumbled upon the carved image of this virgin one day as he was plowing his field just a few miles from the pueblo. Being a day-less virgin, our fiestas patronales are on September 8th. Today there was a small procession of people and representatives from the different brotherhoods of town to present flowers to Our Lady of the Plains. Tomorrow evening she comes out of the church in a procession and during the day there are different festive events. One of them is a bicycle race through La Roda's municipalities (tiny towns that fall under the juristiction of La Roda's city hall: Los Perez and Los Perenos); I will be participating. :)

Angelines has decided to take advantage of the day's festivities, too. She'll open at midday and we'll have paella and porra (a thick gazpacho) for 2 euros a plate--just enough to cover costs--and hope that people stay and drink for most of the afternoon. I've made a HUGE tupperware full of porra and tomorrow I'll to go to Mercadona to buy the shrimp, etc. for the paella. I hope this is a success; Angelines is more depressed by the day with the way business is going. There are a lot of factors, but the bottom line is we're breaking even (if we're lucky). It's been that way for the past 5 months and she assures me that things will get a lot worse before they improve. I hope she's wrong...

But I didn't start this post with the intention of whining about our financial situation! I wanted to tell you about the Virgen de la Fuensanta. Do you remember one of my bike trips earlier in the year when I visited a hermitage next to some caves where the famous bandito Jose Maria el Tempranillo used to hide out? That hermitage is La ermita de la Fuensanta. The Virgin Fuensanta is another virgin who's day is celebrated tomorrow. There are a lot of devotees in the surrounding area and traditionally in the week before September 8th they make a pilgrimage to her hometown, Corcoya. Corcoya is 11 kilometers from La Roda.

Last night I got a call from a few friends that they were planning to go to see the Fuensanta. Of course, I signed up! So at 9:30pm, with reflective vests and the darkness of a new moon, we headed out of town. You can see in the picture that we were well hydrated before heading out. ;) We stopped at the last bar in town for a cervecita and tapa before really hitting the road...you've got to love Spain!

And this is the little Virgin Fuensanta. The statue isn't much more than 2ft. tall--very little. Today was her flower offering (just like here in La Roda) and tomorrow is a procession that takes the Fuensanta out of the church and up to her hermitage. Apparently the little town of Corcoya doubles or triples in size for this particular fiesta. I won't be attending since it all coincides with our own festivities, but maybe some year. It sounds like something worth seeing.


After a friend drove us back to town last night, I met Angelines at the ice cream place-- side note: being called an heladeria doesn't exclude the prevalence of alcoholic beverages. So as I began sipping my gin tonic, the bar tender asked me very earnestly, "Do your holidays in the U.S. have to do with virgins and saints, too?"

I had to laugh.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Aunt Viola

Just quickly:

Yesterday we made the trip to Sierra de Yeguas (a nearby town) with my mother-in-law to visit Angelines's sister who lives there. She has two kids, a daughter Lucy's age, 17, and a son who's nine (I think). Gonzalo, her little boy, is the youngest of the nieces and nephews, and by far the least affectionate. In the past, Angelines has scolded him for not giving me two kisses upon arrival or when we leave. I have just given up. No point in chasing the kid around the house if he's not into kissing. He's usually even evasive with his Aunt Angelines (whom he adores) and his grandma, so I never take it personally.

Yesterday, however, was different. We arrived and he came running out of the kitchen to give Angelines a big hug (!) and two kisses. I didn't ask for kisses. I'm used to the routine. However, during the visit he was a lot more engaging than in the past, showing us his favorite websites (tractor toys--actually really cool!) on the new laptop and playing soccer in the patio.

The three of us had a contest in the patio with his tractor and trailer. The goal was to back the trailer into the garage (between my feet) in the least amount of time possible. He beat Angelines twice and then insisted that I try. As I was struggling with the trailer he was cackling with the stop watch in hand and when I said, "Nino, you're making me nervous!", he corrected me saying, "Nino, no, nephew." I was shocked, but let it go by. When it was time to go he willingly gave me two kisses.

My other sister-in-law refers to me as "tita Viola" when she's talking to her son (13), but he doesn't call me tita. So although I am technically their aunt, none of Angelines's (my...our) nieces or nephews call me aunt. It's probably partially an age thing: I've joined the family late to be called Auntie. I was blown away and touched when Gonzalo corrected me and several times during the visit he called me tita. :)

--Auntie, Tita, Viola.