No Time to Stop

As about half a year has gone by since I’ve written on this blog, I’ll do my best to try and fill you in (in as few words as possible) what’s been going on in my life.

In January, I went to Lisbon for the second time.  This time was even better than the first because I went with a big group of Spanish teachers and we were chauffeured around to lots of places and didn’t have to think about anything. We went to Cascais and Sintra while we were there as well, I got to eat my favorite ice cream in the world again, and we even ran into the seniors from my school that were on a field trip there. They bought me beer...

Heladooooo.

Sintra was just like a Disney castle.

I also went to a festival, called Jarramplas, in a nearby town. Basically it’s total chaos and everyone is throwing small baby-sized turnips at a man dressed in fabric-covered armor.  I had to be light on my toes that day so I wouldn’t get a turnip to the face.  Super strange, but super fun. 

February was full of Carnaval preparation.  Whitney and I had signed up to be in the big parade with a group from the local gym, so we spent every Saturday night sweating our butts off, practicing the dance.  I also spent all of my days going in and out of Chino stores searching for materials to make my costume...my AVATAR costume.  The Chino stores didn’t disappoint, as after hours and hours of labor, the costume came together and it was awesome!

Carnaval arrived with a bang in the beginning of March and my cousin, Allison, flew into Spain to join in on the fun.  We spent the nights partying and the days parading.  Our Avatar group came in third place overall in the parade (there were some really intricate costumes), but we definitely had the best dance.  I don’t think I’ve ever danced for so long continuously (about 2 hours straight).

Cousin superheroes!

After Carnaval, Allison and I journeyed to Barcelona.  I had never gone before and to be honest, it had never really called to me...but I ended up loving it!  We saw all of the typical sights: Sagrada Familia, Las Ramblas, Parque Guell, the port...and found some off the beaten track restaurants where we ate arguably, some of the best Spanish food I’ve ever had...specifically, patatas bravas.

The next weekend, I went to my first Spanish wedding.  Travelling with Juan’s family down to Córdoba, the weekend was full of food, good wine, and lots of flamenco dancing. 

My second Spanish wedding happened in the beginning of April in Talavera.  It also was full of food and wine...although the flamenco dancing was missing.

For Semana Santa in the middle of April, after three years, my parents finally made it to Spain! They arrived and we hit the ground running.  They saw Navalmoral, Mérida, Trujillo, Salamanca, Valencia, and Madrid...in just 9 days! I had an incredible time with them, showing off my life and the country I’ve come to love so much.  They were pretty impressed and especially loved the food/café con leche (who wouldn’t??).

Rowboats in Retiro!

Valencia- my home away from home.

Sharing the best mojitos in the world with the best parents in the world.

LA MEJOR PAELLA!

Right after my parents left, Whitney and I went to Valladolid to see a professional production of Les Miserables.  It had been so long since I had seen theatre that I felt like I was going through withdrawal.  Seeing the show definitely helped and made me miss performing a lot and gave me some serious flashbacks to BRHS’s productions. Master of the hooooooouse!

As the school year came to a close (yes, I did indeed work this year), I said my goodbyes to the teachers at Zurbarán at the end of May and realized just how much I was going to miss it next year.  I just hope the school I get in Madrid is as welcoming and kind as Zurbarán has been to me for the past three years. 

Graduation ceremony before these seniors convinced me to go to the discoteca with them.

 After going to graduation (and drinking copas with my freshly graduated seniors), I joined Whitney and two of her American friends who were visiting for a weekend trip to Málaga.  The beach was a beautiful sight and for I think the first time in a long time, I didn’t even get sunburned! We also took a day trip with an organized tour to Tangier, Morocco.  In Tangier, we took a bus tour, rode camels, ate couscous, looked through Arab rugs, and were harassed to buy stuff on the street...so it was a pretty typical trip to Morocco.

Generous sized tapas in Málaga.

Morocco!

Camel selfie.

I spent my last month in Navalmoral enjoying my time off and hitting up the gargantas as often as I could to escape the sweltering heat.  When time came to pack up the apartment, I thought I would never be able to get all of my stuff out of there. Four boxes, three suitcases, and a laundry basket full of stuff later, I left the place I had called home for the past three years and made my way towards Madrid...