Felices Fiestas!

Christmas Tree in Praza Maior

26/12
Ah, the day after Christmas. Usually on this day I sleep until 2pm, wake up and eat Christmas leftovers (tamales!!) then go back to bed and watch movies or TV for the rest of the day. Today I woke up at the crack of dawn…er…10am and gave English lessons to a 6 and 3 year-old, packed, cleaned and did laundry until another English lesson at 5pm…packed and finally got in bed for a nap. I’ve had quite the atypical holiday season here in Ourense, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t enjoyable!

Professors' Christmas Dinner

If there's any theme I could enlighten you all with in regards to Spain and the Holidays, it is that they love any excuse to get together for a meal, socializing, and some wine. This has become particularly apparent throughout the month of December. About 2 weeks after Thanksgiving, the professors at my school threw another party, this one at a fancy restaurant to celebrate Christmas. We all got dressed up and met around 10pm for dinner, which was everything I would expect from a nice restaurant: overpriced, measly portions, but the crumbs they do serve you are reaaaaaal delicious and full of flavor! Before the main course I got the chance to try mejillones (mussels), langostinos (king prawn), and various other seafood I can't recall at the moment. I loved it all. This is coming from the girl who strongly disliked seafood before stepping foot on Galician soil.  This restaurant we went to is known for serving ox so I went ahead and tried that as well. They brought out neat little circular stone-top stoves to the table and each person cooked their own sliver of meat. Man it was good!! It was essentially the same texture as steak but with a bit of a different taste, it’s hard to describe, maybe a bit more savory and richer in taste. Buey, as they call it here, is quite expensive and so the meal was 25 euros. Ouch, budget, ouch. Afterwards most of the professors went out for a few drinks in the zona de vinos…overall a very fun night and, just like the cocido party, it was a delight to see all the professors in a relaxed atmosphere and letting their hair loose :)

My friend and me with some students

Once classes let out the Thursday before Christmas, I had a solid week of nothingness to try to fill up before my trip to London/Barcelona/Venice! I had no trouble finding something to do Thursday--this was the night of the students' dinner, but they were not the only class to host a dinner. Every ciclo from A Farixa as well as classes from the university and other schools around Ourense all seemed to be hosting their own dinner Thursday night, so the bars of Ourense were PACKED. My position at A Farixa has allowed me to get the best of both worlds, with both the professors and students being equally inviting, so Thursday night I found myself attending the Christmas dinner with the tourism students. It was not quite as fancy as the professors' dinner, and fortunately not as expensive either! But I still got to try lots of seafood as well as delicious favorites such as croquetas, patatas, and asado.

Saturday I finally made my first trip to las termas de Outariz--the thermal baths that Ourense is known for! Man were they MAJESTICCCCC. You essentially just go from relaxing bath to relaxing bath, with the water temperatures ranging from lukewarm to piping hot. Heavenly, relaxing, meditative, all good things. I will be going back. My house mate Anna left later on Saturday for her Christmas vacation so I was left all on my lonesooooooome. Luckily an Ourense friend saved me from my solitary state and we went out for some drinks with his friends. Our night ended with 5am kebaps, so clearly tuvimos exito that night.

I kept surprisingly busy from Sunday-Thursday. I still gave 5 hours of private English lessons during this time, which in hindsight was hugely advantageous given the amount of spending I did during the London/Barcelona/Venice trip... During these days I also went to see El Hobbit (Allow me to translate: The Hobbit) with a friend, which was shown with Spanish dubbing, and I was proud of my ability to follow the whole movie! I had Christmas Eve dinner as well as Christmas lunch with my student and her family at her grandma's nursing home. While it wasn't the typical environment for Christmas, it made me notice how beautiful it is for families to come spend time with their loved ones in nursing homes. A place which is usually sad and forlorn was actually quite lively and festive with all the extra people, Spanish caroling, and gift exchanges. As cheesy as it sounds, this experience made me think of a quote from my favorite Christmas movie, Love Actually: 

 General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends... If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love, actually, is all around.

The cherry on top was being able to Skype with my family as they opened Christmas gifts back in St. Charles, and to see one of my nephews Damian run around recklessly, babbling words with greater frequency every time I see him :)

Later on in the evening I met up with some fellow American Auxiliares in Ourense for some cooking and baking and homemade eggnogging!! The day before my big New Years Trip, the English teacher from A Farixa took me to a nearby village for some GENUINELY DELICIOUS MEXICAN EATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH MAN CILANTRO GUACAMOLE ENCHILADAS TACOS GALOREEEEEEE. If that weren't enough, she also treated me to some world-renowned (my humble opinion) cañas, cream-filled pastries quite similar to cannoli. The amount of eating I did this afternoon should have served as a precursor to the amount of eating that awaited me in London, Barcelona and Venice. I think I need to go run 50 kilometers before I get to sharing those stories, though.