To Astigi, with love

Click here to see my last week as a teacher at CEIP Astigi in Ecija!

Cue Martha and the Vandellas!

A heatwave has definitely arrived in our town:

Way to live up to your nickname as the "Frying Pan of Andalucia," Écija.

For those of you unfamiliar with the metric system, 42°C roughly translates to 107°F. Gah.

I can now cross "caracoles" off the ol' bucket list.

IMG_2501, originally uploaded by meajanerin.

Every year around this time, Spaniards get their panties in a bunch out of excitement for the seasonal arrival of "caracoles," or snails, on literally every dining establishment's menu in Andalusia. And I'm not talking about escargots soaked in butter. I'm talking snails. Still in their shells. Intestines and excrement included ("It adds flavor!"). And the Spanish go wild for them!

In my opinion, I think it has something to do with the association to summertime approaching, along with scalding hot weather. It's kind of like Americans and barbecues. As soon as it hits 50 degrees (Fahrenheit) in my hometown, people will flood the supermarkets to stock up on disgustingly over-mayo'ed salads, corn husks and pasteurized beef. It's an iconic moment (especially for men) when people can finally allow themselves to feel a little glimmer of hope that the snow is indeed gone for the next few months (sometimes only two to three in my hometown).

Anyway, we tried it and it wasn't TOO bad. HOWEVER, it's still weird to see a fully-intact face (antennas included), which you have to bite onto to pull out the rest of the snail from it's shell.

     

                     Click on the photo above for a closer encounter

Fan me, please. It's hot at Feria.

Fan me, please.
Originally uploaded by meajanerin

Jules and I headed to the Feria grounds last weekend to experience one of Andalusia's most beloved festivals. Known as the official home of Feria, Sevilla was decked out to the masses with casetas (tents), trajes de gitanos/as (traditional flamenco outfits for men and women) and plenty of food and drink.

We arrived around 3 pm with our friends Silvi and Javi, and spent the better half of the afternoon with them and our other friends Rozi, Natalie and Felipe, bouncing from one private caseta to the next.

As you can obviously see, I donned a traditional flamenco dress, which was beautiful (and owned by a 17-year old, go me!!), but literally taxing to wear. The separate skirt weighed at least 2-3 lbs., by the end of the day I felt like I was lugging around small children within the folds of my skirt. But overall, it was an amazing experience.

The little girl in the photo with me, who I am asking (not commanding) to fan me, is the daughter of one of Silvi's co-workers at SaFa in Ecija (a private elementary school). She became our little shadow at Feria, and can basically dance better Sevillanas than me. Oh well. Be sure to click on either the photo or links to check out all of my photos from Feria!

Enero 2010 (Vienna and Prague)

     After spending Christmas in Berlin, we shipped off to Vienna for a few days. Vienna was definitely our most laid-back part of the trip, which provided us sufficient time to rest between Christmas in frigid Berlin and New Year's Eve in Prague, a force not to be reckoned with.

Vienna (Dec. 26-Dec. 29)

The palace gardens.

Front of the palace, after they'd started breaking down the Christmas markets.

Polly pocket in front of the palace entrance.

Erica, me and Jules on the grounds in the garden.

Inside one of many cathedrals we passed through.

Stephansplatz Cathedral in the center of Vienna.

Really cool housing project on the outskirts of the city.

Belvedere Museum, where we saw the largest collection of Klimt paintings in Austria.

The Viennese Opera House, where we saw The Nutcracker for 3 euro.

Cast of The Nutcracker


Prague (Dec. 29-Jan. 4)

Such a beautiful, unique city.

In the center, where they still had Christmas markets up and running!

Bird's eye view of Prague.

Astronomical clock in Prague's city center.

Done up before we experienced the rain and haziness that was New Year's Eve in Prague.

Fireworks on the water.

Happy New Year! :)

We found Maria!! Our friend from Ecija was in Prague for NYE, as well.

The entire group - Americans, Chileans, Spaniards, Scots and New Zealanders.

Our last day in Prague, at the end of our Euro-trip.

Enero 2010 (Barcelona and Berlin)

    OK, so here goes it. January was a well-traveled month, which was a good thing, because it started raining in January in Ecija, and didn't let up until mid-March. Bleh. ANYWAY, back to the travels! Technically we started our holiday Euro-trip at the end of December, but I'm tying it all into the month of January. Let's begin:

Barcelona (Dec. 19-23)

Christmas lights! It was so interesting to see the variations in each city we visited.

Casa Batlló, a residential work by Gaudí.

The Sagrada Familia, also done by Gaudí. Really upset by all the cranes in the shot.

Jules and I at Park Güell on our only sunny day in Barca.

The famous mosaic tiles. Absolutely amazing to see in person.

The architecture in the park is incredible. Eerie and beautiful at the same time.

Tourist shot, claro.

Then it rained. EVERY DAY. We amused ourselves one afternoon by going to the worst aquarium EVER. 

We also found this awesome indoor market with the most vibrant-looking foods. This kept us occupied for a while.

Hot tamale, haha.

Yum! Chocolate stand! This was our breakfast one morning.

Statue of Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus) doing his best Hugh Grant impression from Love Actually.

Rainy walk through Barcelona on our last night.

Berlin (Dec. 23-26)

I fell in love with Berlin. This is hands-down my favorite city in Europe. We flew there after Barcelona to spend Christmas with our friend, Erica, another English assistant in Spain. And there was snow!!!

In front of Parliament (rebuilt after Hitler destroyed it during WWII).

Being tourists at Brandenburg Gate in the center of Berlin.

Holocaust Memorial in Berlin.

The Berlin Wall.

Checkpoint Charlie

Froheweihnachten Christmas market!

I love Christmas trees.

East Side Gallery in Berlin.

One more Christmas market!

We found eggnog!