Reyes, Navidad, and Noche Vieja

My Uncle Pepe, Aunt Yacko, and my mom

It is the end of the Holiday Season and high time for a report on what I have been doing.  My family and I started out the long holiday break celebrating the Birthday of my aunt here in Malaga.  The next day we headed off to the old olive plantation that my grandfather bought as a summer home when my mom was little.  There we met my Aunt Yacko and Uncle Pepe  along with my two cousins Pepe and Alvaro who had already been there for a few days.

The day after we arrived in the country was Christmas Eve or Noche Buena; we spent the night with my Dad's family in the nearby town of Antequera.  A large part of the family was there and we totaled 23 people.  We had a five hour dinner and stayed up till the early hours of the morning playing games, telling stories, and celebrating the importance of family.  There was a toast that particularly stuck with me that embodied this sentiment, in English it translates, " to our family and friends both here and far away, we loved you yesterday, we love you today, and we will love you forever."

A veiw from the Torcal

In the morning (what is classified in America as early afternoon), we returned to the country to celebrate with the entirety of my mom's family.  There were almost thirty of us and it was some of the most fun I have ever had.  Here it is not  a traditional to give gifts on Christmas; this part comes later in the break.  The next day my parents, Aunt Yacko, and Uncle Pepe took me to see the unique species of Pine trees there are in the Sierra de las Nieves.  They are a relic species of one of the last Ice Ages, and my uncle has been studying them and and other species all over the world in his Career as a Biology Professor. It was so strange to me because the Sierra de las Nieves looked just like the Mountains around my home town of Bozeman do in June.  I was temporarily confused about time and place and had a hard time believing it was the day after Christmas.

La Primera Pista

The next day we went to the Torcal a giant rock forest near Antequera that formed because this part of the Iberian Peninsula used to be underwater, and also lies on a fault line.  The top was formed as a type of kelp forest, and then after it was uncovered the two continental plates rubbed together.  Normally this would lead to a mounding up of earth, this is the way most mountains are formed, but instead it "popped up."  The pressure came from both sides and the Torcal rose up out of the earth in one piece.  It is really a curious place and again my uncle was our guide and local expert.  he grew up exploring the Torcal and has a little cabin nearby it called the Torcalina.

More from the torcal

The next day we packed up and returned home to Malaga thoroughly exhausted.  After a quiet day or two it was Noche Vieja or new Years Eve.     At Midnight we skyped with my parents and my host sister, Angela, who is on exchange in Minnesota.  We all watched the clock in the port of the Sun in Madrid and just after the stroke of Midnight ate 12 grapes, one for every chime. The eating of grapes on the cusp of the New Year is said to be the only thing that the Spanish people do altogether.  During the count down everyone makes a wish, then when the clock chimes they eat a grape, if you successfully eat them all(which is no small trick) then your wish should come true in the coming year and you will have good luck.  After that we went to a family friends house, and after that celebration my sister and I went to a party at our friends house.  The next day we were so tired we slept till 3 in the afternoon.  It was a great way to ring in the New Year!

Views of the torcal

The Holiday season did not end there.  The 4th I met the exchange students living in Marbella in a little tourist town halfway in between us.  We had a really good time decompressing, playing mini golf, and of course eating. The next day my family met up with some family friends for lunch and then headed off to the parade in honor of the coming of the Three Kings.  After that we left directly for Antequera to celebrate Three Kings day with my Dad's family.  That night, after all of the smaller kids went to bed my parents exchanged gifts and we ate a Rosco, which from the information I have gathered should be the same as a King cake that is traditional for Mardi Gras.  Is looks a bit like a giant donut that has candied fruit on top of it, some, like the one we ate, are filled with whipped cream; it was delicious. All of the kids put their shoes around the house and overnight the "Reyes Magicos" put presents and candy in them.  The younger kids tried to wake us all up at 4:30, but seeing as how we had only gone to bed at 2 the adults made them go back to sleep.  The next day was magical, like Christmas.  All the happy cousins, smiling parents, family, and gratitude filled the air with joy and laughter.  After lunch we came home, so I could repack and we could get the gifts for my Grandma. We spent the afternoon at her Residence home and then at 8 I caught a bus to Marbella.

The Main Street of Malaga decked out for Christmas

I stayed with my counselor, Nina, that night and in the Morning our club, all of the exchange students, and some other members of the community went  to Ronda to give out gifts at a nursing home.  After we celebrated Reyes there the students headed of to do a bit of sight seeing.  We headed home early because the next day was school and the end of a very satisfying vacation.






It was definitely one of the most jam packed and interesting Christmas breaks I have ever experienced, and I cherish every moment of it.  I am so blessed to have this opportunity, this family, Rotary,and all of the great people around me who support me in everything I do, Thank you.

Long time no see

I apologize for being off the grid for a few weeks, my ambitions of a weekly vlog are currently on hold due to my complete lack of skill with video editing and the limited power of windows movie maker.  So now the old fashioned text is coming back, yeah!

No canned pumpkin here in Spain!

Most of the time that I havent written was filled with illness, rain, and school.  There had been some really atypical weather here and it had rained every day without reprieve for over two weeks culminating last Saturday in over 100 liters /m2.  Most of Malaga was flooded, my family and I had planned to go to the Picasso museum, but instead I got a glimpse of Venice because the only vehicles going down the street were gondolas.  My grandmothers were both in the hospital (they are now home and recuperating slowly but surely) and I in good Christine fashion have been testing out every Spanish virus that comes along, and the  specialty of the month is fevers.

Turned out pretty good!

This past week though was a return to "normal" exchange life, we celebrated Thanksgiving in Marbella.  I went up the night before to start the cooking and cooked through all of Thursday at Nina's house, the other exchangettes came after school to finish things up, and that night we took everything to a restaurant (which reminds me of a country club clubhouse, with a pool and everything.)  All of our tutors came as well as next years district governor and we had a great night.

Whoo my first Turkey!!

The view after our hike!

Meeting the locals

Then in a total departure from good American tradition on black friday we went to Gibratler, England and strolled around, bonded with the wildlife, got our exercise in for the year with a hike, and generally had a good time speaking English.

Vlogs, Strikes, and Nuts

Without further ado I give you my first video blog.  There were some technical errors that lead to a late posting, but it should all be running smoothly now.  I will be posting a vlog every Thursday from now until the end of my exchange starting with this one.  If you have any questions about my exchange or suggestions on how to make my vlogs better please let me know in the comments down below.  Thanks for watching!!

Jaen Part 2: Quiero estar aqui siempre

I gave up on the catchy three things in a title, cant do it with this.  Anyway chicos, fasten your seeatbelts and don't close this tab because the second half of my great weekend starts right now.

My day(like the day before it) started with what has become a fabulous rarity while here in Spain, I did not hit my head on anything when I got up.  My bed here is something that must be smaller than a twin, and a bunk bed with an unfortunately placed ladder, which means that every morning I probably wake the whole house with a bang.  After another delicious breakfast and some packing up we ventured to out to the countryside.  Which, in this part of Spain means one of my absolute favorite things, the mountains.  As we were climbing up the mountain my aunt pointed to one of the little purple flowers I had been secretly admiring and said, "Do you know these are?"

I had to say no, but the first thing that popped into my head was, a flower, not sure if that's because of my limited vocabulary or if even in Spain my natural powers of stating the obvious occasionally come through.

Its saffron, I never knew spices could be so pretty.  Everything about this day was beautiful, and nothing I can tell you would do it justice.  We continued our march up the mountain, and once we had all settled in and were enjoying the view my aunt asked if I liked mountains, my Dad who loves to use really obvious sarcasm in situations like this replied, "Noooo, she hates them," we all had a really good laugh.  After I turned to my mom and said, "Yeah this is horrible, because its so wonderful here I am never going to want to go home."

My uncle, emulating the
spirit of the Corps of discovery 

After our hike down we enjoyed a picnic lunch on the ruins of castle, then went to a nearby town to enjoy a cup of coffee, and headed home back to the land of school and civilization.





Jaen Part 1: La Ciudad, Historia, y mas de mi familia excelente

My mom and Carlos in the Palace/Church

On our valiant quest to visit all 13 of my parents brothers and sisters, we travelled this past weekend to see Maria Jesus and Pepe, my mother's sister and brother-in-law(he did his post doc at MIT no big deal.) They, along with there two sons, live in Jaen, the capital city of another province in Andalucia with the same name. 

On Saturday we travelled around the city of Jaen, and got to know a little of its history.  There are a lot of really obvious Moorish influences in this part of Spain, and the architecture of Jaen is no exception, an Arabic bath, palace repurposed as a church, and countless other things were constant reminders that for hundreds of years this was part of a totally different world.  Sightseeing here in Spain is a little different than typical US sightseeing though so before I go any further let me give you a blow by blow of my day.



The inside of the Cathedral
(I think pics werent allowed but I didn't
understand the receptionist sooo)

Since we arrived on Friday night and stayed up until one, we all slept in till 10ish, after I managed to stumble through the shower and into the kitchen my wonderful Aunt laid before me churros with chocolate(side note: here in Spain churros are not rolled in sugar or filled, and are instead served for breakfast with a mug of some kind of thick chocolaty goodness, which is for dipping/drinking/eating with a spoon), fresh pressed orange juice, and coffee. 

After we leisurely finished getting ready we left the house promptly at noon, or 12:30.  First we saw a church that was once an Arabic palace, the courtyard was really beautiful.  We walked around the city a little and then toured the Cathedral, which was gorgeous, they were doing some kind of restoration as well, which we got to see. 

Then as all good Spaniards must do we took a break at 2:30 for lunch which was among other things, Paella(for those of you who have not ever experienced this gift God gave to man it is seafood and/ or beef, chicken, etc. with jasmine rice which makes indescribable goodness), then a couple of hours later we finished lunch with a cup of coffee and went to watch Alvaro's soccer game, which his team won. 

Upon returning to the house we looked at pictures of when my uncle and aunt lived in Boston and when my mom and dad came to visit them while we ate fruit for Merienda (afternoon snack).
Sometime around 8 we traveled up the mountain that Jaen resides on to the huge Moorish castle to watch the sun set.

We were starving after having gone almost 4 hours without eating and so for dinner at the request of my cousin Pepe we went to an eerily authentic 50s diner and my father was appropriately shocked when I did not have a cheeseburger(I could figure out why he gave me the look he did when I ordered, until later when I was talking with my sister)

Because we knew we had to get up early the next morning we crawled into bed early as well, around 1 am.

More on Jaen later right now I have to partake of more Spanish traditions, the Madrid/ Barc. soccer match.

Ventas, Ronda, y mi Familia Fantastica

After one of the hardest school weeks of my life I am back to enjoying my exchange.  As any rebound without amnesia will tell you the first week of school is one of the most exhausting, confusing, and exciting experiences imaginable.  I came home for the first few days and couldn't think straight because I was focusing so hard.  It was totally worth it though, it has been fantastic for my Spanish and starting to make some friends.  More to come on that later though.


On Saturday my mother, sister, and I drove up in the mountains to have lunch in a venta with my grandmother and maternal aunts (restaurants located in the mountains, ones seaside are called chiringuitos.)  It was fantastic, I kinda feel like I've been part of this family for along time even in the short period of time I have been here.  Lunch took three hours, we started with a course of salad and something like tempura zucchini with local honey, then a course of local favorites from chorizo and a food kinda like rice made from bread crumbs, finally for desert I had chocolate mousse, and I don't regret a thing.

The view from the Venta

My Spanish family

Then on Sunday we took a trip to Ronda, to meet my dad's sister and see some of the historic city.  In ronda you can find one of Spains oldest and most famous bull fighting rinks, one of Ernest Hemingways houses, and famous river gorges and valleys; not to mention the historic buildings, winding roads and Spanish guitar that can be found all over Spain.  The other thing that can be found in Ronda is more great food, lunch on Sunday took an unprecidented four hours and four courses.  I thought we where going to have a light lunch of appetizers however after course one when they started to bring out a lot more food I started to realized how wrong I was.  First up was Tortilla Espanola, cheese, crackers, and olives.  Next we enjoyed one of the largest steaks I have yet dared to eat, salad, homeade frenchfries, and fresh baked bread(thats right my uncle is a baker.)  After that a course of chocolate, and just when I thought I couldnt eat any more a course of coffee and a light cake.   It was delicous, also making them some of the most wonderful people in the world my aunt and uncle gave to me a jar of peanut butter making me the luckiest and most enviable exchange student in the district.

Malaga, Marbella, y Madrid

Had a really great week meeting exchange students, seeing more of Spain, and generally checking off exchange student must dos. I spent the early part of last week primarily at the beach in Malaga taking in the sun, the view, and the people.

 On Wednesday I travelled to Marbella to stay with my Rotary counselor Nina and meet my host club.  Marbella is very close to Gibraltar along La Costa del Sol, and there I also met Shona and Charissa two other exchange students from the US.  Shona and I stayed at Nina's house and had a really good time talking about being exchange students.  In the morning we went and saw beautiful Marbella walking along the promenade and all through downtown and historic Marbella.  Then we went to the Rotary meeting and Charissa and I were introduced to the club. 

 Shona and I

That afternoon I took the bus back to Malaga to pack for Madrid in the morning Shona, Charissa and I as well as the other two exchange students in our area CJ and Vanessa. After going to the three day orientation Shona, CJ, Charissa, and I walked around Madrid with some of the other exchange students past and present. Right now in Spain the Prime Minister and other branches of Parliament are raising taxes and reducing the pensions of state employees. In Madrid there was a large protest of this which we were there for. We also saw the Prado, the Plaza Mayor, and ate Tapas typical of Spain. After almost losing Charissa in the crowd and almost missing our train we were on our way back to la Costa del Sol.

The Protests

La Plaza Mayor