Cafe Solo, por favor: July 2011

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Tapas, garnished with Culture

Its week 3 of my Language program here in Cadiz. The weather is still fantastic, my new friends are still surprising me, and I’m still not getting enough sleep. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

This week has been about the culture. The food, the dance, the music, the siestas, the life. We visited the museum of Cadiz, where we were able to step into the times of the Roman empire and the voyage of Christopher Colombus to the Americas. Cadiz was one of the first cities to be invaded by the moors in the 8^th century and also happened to be the port town from which Columbus sailed. My favorite items in the museum were the pieces of jewelry, beautiful gold and turquoise necklaces.

There were also some pretty cool marble statues and some really dark paintings expressing the huge role the catholic religion plays in Spanish culture.

No good museum goes without mummy...

Of course, after having absorbed so much knowledge we needed some brain food and headed to a chocolate shop where we sampled dark and milk chocolates, one delicious piece having candied ginger mixed into it.

Last week we also made it to a free Flamenco concert. Little known fact, Flamenco is not just dancing, but also consists of guitar playing and singing. Every Tuesday, in a different plaza, there is a Flamenco singing and guitar concert. We made it to this one where this woman had an incredibly powerful voice that echoed throughout the packed plaza.

This weekend, we slept in, hung out at the beach and headed for tapas. I munched on some tasty sautéed bell peppers while serenaded by an accordion player that wouldn’t leave until I gave him 60 cents.

It was crowded in the streets of Cadiz Saturday night on account of the Carnival, an annual festival where various groups of choirs, some amateurs, some highly trained, dress up in costumes and sing in the streets and plazas. Many of their songs are satirical or making fun of Cadiz and Spanish lifestyle. We saw a group of cucumbers, pigs, pirates, devils, lions and cross dressers.

After carnival, we headed to the discotecas, where we managed to dance until 6:30am, and were able to watch the sunrise on the ocean next the cathedral. After all that, I still managed to score a croissant from the café that has a tendency to run out of them right before I come in for breakfast.

After all these cultural experiences, I was forced to crack down on my studies and prepare a presentation to be given to our class on some Spanish topic. My partner and I chose the castles of Spain, relevant considering Cadiz alone has at least two castles within walking distance. Spain at one point had over 10,000 castles. I am on the road to becoming a castle aficionado and will be continuing my castle tour of Spain in the upcoming months.

Today I met with an intercambio our program director set me up with. We met for coffee, spoke in Spanish so I could practice and then switched to English so she could. She’s a cute salsa dancer who offered to give me lessons, along with one friend. Alright boys, the competition begins now. Olé!

¡Hasta Luego Amigos!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Dear Spain, I Love You

Backpacker's essentials in front of the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral

Hola amigos y familia!
I have now been in Spain for 31 days, a month that began with walking 10 days straight over 160 miles and has wrapped up in the Andalusian town of Cadiz, where I will be studying until mid-August. I have passed through small cobble stone villages, explored castles, and eaten delicious paella. I jumped off a 20ft bridge into the Atlantic ocean, walked through Roman ruins, and seen the remains of a 2,000 year old apostle. My typical week day now begins with a strong cup of espresso and a piece of toast, class from 9:30-2, usually a beach trip and ends with exploring the streets of Cadiz in the evenings, when Spain comes alive. We have taken two days trips, one to Jerez where we walked through a castle and then tasted wine at the unique Tio Pepe wine bodega, and the other to Tarifa, a wind-surfing beach town with crystal clear waters and sand dunes you can slide down. Oh I almost forgot, I'm studying Spanish too. In class we work on grammar in the mornings and Spanish culture in the afternoon. We exchange with Spanish students who are trying to practice English, trading off in the languages we speak on our "intercambio dates". Although the practice is much needed and they are great resources for help on homework, the best thing about my intercambios is that they have made me tortilla, my new gastronomical obsession. This little piece of digestive heaven consists of potatoes, onions and peppers held together in egg, almost a keesh like consistency. When I crave something sweet, which happens quite often, I simply have to walk about 40 feet out of my building, which happens to be in a Cathedral plaza with an ocean view, to one of the many Cadiz bakeries for a chocolate croissant. The thought of them make my stomach smile.
Spain is fantastic. The people, the food, the weather, the lifestyle. These 31 days have been incredible and its only the beginning. With this blog I hope to give you a snapshot of my experiences, and introduce you to the people I have met and the adventures I have had. The locations, languages, and faces will change. My Spanish will improve while my cultural awareness will grow. Each day I will learn something new about someone, a new perspective on global history, or taste an exotic food. I am approaching this new life with an open mind and an eagerness for adventure, aided with a little caffeine energy boost. Everyday I begin with un Cafe solo, por favor and then explore. Bring it on Spain.

A Taste of The Camino de Santiago