Christmas is Coming!

Christmas season is in full-swing here, just as Jasper the Squirrel once said, “day after day, Christmas is on it’s way.”  As you can tell from my having quoted a fictional squirrel, the anticipation is driving me a bit mad.   The holiday is quite beautiful here, but I am beyond excited to come home.  Now, I’m sorry for the delay of this post and the emotional stress it must be causing all of you not knowing what I’ve been up to over here, sleepless nights spent thinking of the Spanish Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum I gave English lessons to, long conversations spent analyzing whether or not I was joking about staying in Bunyola forever, and anyways, I may be SEEING some of you before you read this post, but… here goes nothing. 

The holiday season is very exciting in these parts.  There are tons of markets on the Ramblas and in the two main plazas, Plaza D’Espana and Plaza Mayor.  Everyone is out walking  the decorated streets, and there are vendors selling chestnuts and sweet potatoes that are roasting on open fires!  Also, there are stands selling crepes, churros, candied nuts and other sweets lining the central plaza.   

The Christmas season here is obviously quite popular, but Christmas Eve and Christmas Day have only become really popular for gift-giving in the last 15 years multiple sources have told me.  One of my friends said that Christmas Day has become more of a celebration for adults to share gifts, and that all the kids are more into the Three Wise Men than they are into Santa Claus.  Three Kings Day (Jan. 6) is when the youngin’s here hit the jackpot gift-wise.  It’s great because, the supermarkets and markets are all selling the traditional Christmas turron (nougat), which are basically big chocolate bars, and other little sweets.  There are a lot of cured ham legs being tossed around because nothing says “Spanish Holiday” like a meaty hog leg, and also supermarkets are selling cans of peeled and pitted grapes for the New Year’s Eve celebration.  Here in Spain, traditionally at midnight on New Year’s Eve, everyone eats a grape for every chime of the clock when it strikes midnight.    

What have I been up to other than walking through a winter wonderland?

It’s been cold here, and I had a solid infection that had me unable to swallow for a couple days, but the antibiotics have since brought me back!

Hmm… I got fired/quit from the job with the devil children.  It’s a long story, but it involves, the 5 year-old peeing outside while we played soccer, two other kids getting dropped off to learn from me, and then the mom refusing to pay me for teaching the extra kids.  Instead of paying me, she ended up saying that they didn’t have the money right now, and that I was a bad teacher and that there was no point in my coming back because I did not talk enough to her kids.  Anywho, that was a fun little experience, and unfortunately I won’t be getting pictures of the little plumpsters.

What else?  Oh, I am further immersing myself into Spanish culture.  I made my very first tortilla espanola, and it was delicious.  Also, I bought a ticket with some friends for El Gordo, the Spanish Christmas lottery, and I’m doing Amigo Invisible, or Secret Santa with 15 or so Spanish friends from the neighbourhood. 

Today, I had an amazing day.  Two of my friends and I drove down to Banyalbufar, which is this amazing coastal village up to the Northeast with terraced gardens.  We went to this amazing bodega, where we did this free wine-tasting.  It had the most exquisite artisanal white wine, with accents of oak, vanilla, hazelnut, and fruits.  It was so great.  Apparently, the Mallorcans like their wine strong though, because the wines are all  14.5+% alcohol.  The tour guide gave the tour in catalan, because I was there with a bunch of castellers (the human castle builders) and their families.  I understood most of it, but was able to ask people for clarification in Spanish if I had problems understanding.  It was cool because they had an olive press at the bodega as well, and all the olives and fruit that go into the oil and wine production were all grown on the terraced gardens there on the property.  This bodega was actually a mansion.  The owner bought it in ruins in 1986 and after putting about 120,000 euros into renovating it, it is a spectacular place, sitting 8 terraces directly above the coast.  I was in awe.  After the wine tasting and tour of the property, we did a small excursion, or hike, up through the village to this mountain ravine that led to a pool of natural spring water.  There, we sat down and ate bocatas (sandwiches) and the tour-guide, Guillem, who is a casteller, brought some of the wine from the bodega.  And one of the women had brought home-made sobrassada and foie gras with traditional white bread from Mallorca.  It was so delicious, a lovely little picnic to cap off a lovely little afternoon.

Unfortunately, my camera is somewhat broken so I don’t have any pictures!!  I hope that update has sufficed, and if anything comes up, I will be sure to blog about it!  See you guys soon!