Travel Break

Hello to my very few faithful followers! I want to let you know I will be taking a short break from the blog these next two weeks. It is Easter/Spring Break/Semana Santa, and I am excited to be doing a bit of travelling. Fill you all in very soon! 

Have a wonderful Easter holiday and see you in two weeks!

Evening stroll in Retiro Park

Salamanca

As my classes on Friday were cancelled last minute, it was time for a impromptu overnight trip! When my sister studied abroad in Spain years ago she was based in Salamanca, and because of her stories I have always wanted to visit. I also know that the university there is one of the oldest in Europe, and because of that it attracts students from all over the globe. I figured the city must be young and full of energy, and for that I also wanted to visit. I posed the idea to Nacho Friday morning, and him being the smart, organized planner he is, quickly jumped online and found an airbnb room for us to stay that night. Within the hour we were on the road (with me behind the wheel!) to make the two hour trip west, into the autonomous community of Castilla y León, into the Province of Salamanca, to its capital city.

Found this style of graffiti all over the city

Toledo Wandering

Last year Nacho and I had a wonderful three day vacation in Toledo. We spent our time strolling through the narrow streets, eating mazapán and continuing to know each other and grow closer with each moment. After that trip, Toledo has always held a special place in my heart. When I hear the name I am taken back to those three fun days. The town is small and enclosed, and I felt as though it was a bubble that only Nacho and I shared. Last weekend, some of my American friends asked if I wanted to join them for a day in Toledo (since it's only forty minutes south of Madrid, it makes for a perfect day-trip). I was hesitant for a moment. I didn't want this trip to change my idea of the city, as if new experiences in Toledo could somehow affect the precious memories I kept from my previous time there. But of course I was happy to go back to this beautiful place and spend the day with really nice, interesting people (who speak English!).

Thoughts on Living Abroad

A year or two as an auxiliar in Madrid is an exciting and invigorating experience. I make enough money to live comfortably in the city and still have plenty of time to explore, travel, and look for the answers to the umpteen questions all twenty-somethings have. It's really an amazing deal, and I'd recommend the experience to everyone willing to take a leap and embrace their independence.

As you know, my situation is slightly different from some of my American friends. Although we are all attempting to answer those questions I mentioned above, many auxiliars I know are doing so while keeping in mind they will be returning home in a year or two. Although I have (slowly..) found some passion in teaching English and began to hold some meaning to my work here, we all know the real reason I came to Madrid was to be with the person I love. And although I know I will be here for another year, what lies beyond that is truly unknown. Really. I literally have no idea where in the world I will be after two years.. Nacho and I talk a lot about living in different countries. We discuss where he may have the best opportunities as a bilingual civil engineer, and also what my opportunities are in those places. The United States is high on the list, but not definite,and because of that both of us are open to living in other countries. Of course in this moment we are only throwing ideas out on the table; Denmark, Singapore, Brazil, Chile..the list goes on. For me this is super exciting. I feel energized thinking about the endless opportunities and paths before me.

I have always embraced the idea of living a 'global life,' one which is aware of cultures, people, places, lifestyles different from my own. But since my time living here, I have realized that an extreme amount of patience, energy, effort and intention MUST go into each and every day in order to live it well. To live far from home (and by home I mean physically close to family and those who love you, and also submerged in all that is familiar and comfortable, or mundane) requires a person to live with intention. Now, I'm not saying that this isn't required of those who live where they know. To be happy anywhere requires living an intent life, this is for sure. But to live in a foreign place seems, for me, to require a little extra something. An intention to make what is uncomfortable, unknown, or unfamiliar just the opposite. To embrace new routines. To put yourself out there in an endless number of ways. And to be able to live with the (constant) pang of homesickness. These are daily realities. For a traveler, they are exciting, amusing, enjoyable even. But adding a sense of permanency to the situation changes things, and life in a foreign place gets harder. I can do it now. I like to do it now. Can I do it in two years? Can I do it in three years? Can I do it for ten or twenty or thirty years?

Afternoon sun on my apartment ceiling 

Cochinillo en Segovia

Cochinillo. Better known in English as a suckling pig. I have been told by Spanish friends that I MUST try a cochinillo in Segovia. I was in luck! Every year Nacho and his friends have a big annual cochinillo lunch in Miguelañez, Segovia. So on Saturday, after a long morning of working for Nacho, we drove northwest of Madrid for about an hour and a half to the family home of Andrés, a friend of Nacho. With 15-20 people and two babies there was never a dull moment, but the day was filled with laughs, love and lots of food!

Oh Happy Day

I have a dilemma every time I sit down to write here. I would love for this page to be like a journal for me. To spill my soul, to have honest conversations with myself and come to wonderful revelations and understandings about my ever-changing twenties. And when the urge comes to write, I suddenly remember the small detail that this blog, however unpopular and unpublicized, is in fact public. That anyone can read what is created here. That small detail stops me, or at least hinders me, censors me.

But slowly, I am trying to be more honest here. And in a way I hope that helps me to be more open in the real world around me. So I have to share this fact: that I am lonely in this busy city. Not all the time. Because I am busy. My busyness serves as a distraction. But then there are days when I have nothing planned, there's nothing on the schedule and I have a moment to catch up with myself. It's in those moments that I am sometimes choked by loneliness. I don't even know what it is I am missing. If it's my family, my friends, my dog. For sure I am happy here. For sure I like my life here, or at least the direction in which it is heading. But sometimes I feel as though there is an old, American, country soul deep in me that longs for the mountains and the smells of my home. My home which is far away, and those feelings seem to also be far from reach inside me as well. As if I can't get in touch with who I am, or who I was. Or that the tranquility and peace I need on those quiet days can only come when I am close to my roots. That's the best way I can explain the feeling.

To Burgos We Go!

Hi everyone who takes time out of their busy day to read this! (Thank you!) What have I been up to lately, you ask? Well, last weekend I went to Burgos!

So Nacho helps to coach a soccer team of girls around my age, whose practices I sometimes go to (cough-once). The girls are so sweet and nice to include the awkward American girl with the broken Spanish. One member of the team, Ana, has a family house in a very small town called Villagutierrez (population- 75!) Because last weekend was a puente (3-day weekend) because of the holiday of Constitution on Friday the 6th, she suggested people of the team, boyfriends and friends stay in the small town for the weekend, eat, drink and be merry together in the ancient country home, and explore the beautiful neighboring city of Burgos. I was up for the adventure!

Spain is broken up into communities, and within each community there are provinces. Madrid is a community with only one province- that of Madrid. Burgos is a province in the community of Castilla y Leon (See below: first find Madrid in the center of the Community of Madrid, then find the much larger community of Castilla y Leon, and within that community you will see the province (and city) of Burgos):

After about a 3 hour drive with traffic, a bumpy, dirt road that went on seemingly forever led us to the tiny town of Villagutierrez on Thursday evening. The house was everything I could have expected and more. I love country homes, and even though this one was thousands of miles from my own, its similarities filled me with a nostalgia for Salem and the simple, country life. Complete with creepy dolls and taxidermied owls, I knew every painting and knick-knack in the house had a story behind it. After exploring the house, choosing rooms, and turning the heat up up up, we gathered around a delicious meal and spent the night warming by the large fire in the fireplace, drinking and playing games. I taught my Spanish friends flip cup-hilarious! 

Villagutierrez

Yep, that's the town. All of it. Who needs more?

Friday was my favorite day. Waking around noon, drinking some coffee (or for others, cola-cao, a nesquick-type of chocolate milk that people are crazy for here..) we were ready to head out in search of some morcilla. 

Let's talk about morcilla. Blood sausage. Sounds tasty, right? Well, it is! And Burgos is famous for its morcilla. It is a sausage that is filled with rice, pig blood, onions, and some other spices- sounds simple enough but the blend of it all is magical. And spicy! It is absolutely delicious. 

So on Friday we drove to the neighboring town of Estepar, which is a little bigger and has a general store where we found and bought out their stock of morcilla.

Shopkeeper of the General Store in Estepar- seemingly shocked that her store was at capacity (all 8 of us..)

After that it was off to the cheese factory. This factory, also in the middle of nowhere, was not that big. But I learned quickly that its name is huge! The cheese of Sasamon won the silver medal for best cheese in the world! The man working there was happy to give us a taste and sell us some cheese- but it was lunch time and he was ready to close up shop. Disappointed and wanting a tour of the factory, my Spanish friends explained to this poor man that I was a journalist and potential investor from the U.S. who was quite interested in the factory. After that, he was happy to give us a full tour- and that he did! He spoke at great length to me (I understood about 15%), but I was grateful to have the tour. After stocking up on cheese we had all we needed for a hearty feast, we spent the rest of the day was spent eating, having our siesta, and enjoying another night cozied up next to the fire, playing cards, and of course- after the drinks flowed- getting everyone to speak a little English!  ;)

HUGE CHEESE!

Telling us all about the cheese

mmmmmm mold

Open Spaces. Countryside. A feeling close to that of being home.

Saturday we headed to Burgos. About 20 minutes north of Villagutierrez, Burgos, the historic capital of the Castile region, was home to medieval hero El Cid. So there was some famous medieval guy, and yea, there's this really pretty cathedral, and the Camino de Santiago runs through here, but what has caught everyone's attention here recently is Burgos' newest title, 'The Gastronomical Capital of Spain 2013.'

I really fell in love with this city. The mix of the old, detailed buildings and the trees, flowers and lights which lined the clean streets full of space for walking made me feel on the set of a movie...and ready to move here and live. The people of Burgos (typical of many cities north of Madrid) seem quite posh. Women and men dressed to the nine's perused through the streets with their vintage strollers- hell even the babies were better dressed than me! But I wasn't interested in the clothes or the shoes. I was interested in the award winning restaurants, tapas and wines- dressing like a local is far inferior to me than eating like one! So, after taking in the views of the breathtaking Gothic cathedral which stands high above the surrounding ceramic tiled roofs, we set out for a little tapa-hopping around the city. 

They shape the trees so that their branches connect and form a canopy over us- one that's wrapped in Christmas lights :) So pretty!

Morcilla

Oreja- pig ear! Tasty but the texture didn't sit well with me, the meat was too soft and the cartilage too hard 

Sneaking a pic inside the cathedral

The cathedral was stunning. 

A view of Burgos from above.

Chestnuts (castañas) roasted on an open fire!

Sun setting over the city

A walk near Villagutierrez. Almost looks like Connecticut!

The weekend came to an end on Sunday, after a group lunch together. We were tired, but everyone had a good time. I was happy to have the opportunity to practice my Spanish, and make some new friends in the process. The weekend, I'd say, was a success. On to the next adventure!

Breathing that country air.

It has been a great time living in the city. All around me there is movement, excitement, things to do, places to see, yummy food to try and people to surround myself with. However, within a short time of immersing myself in this new life, I began longing for the country I know and love. The pollution and second hand smoke are a constant bother on my throat. There is never a moment of quiet or stillness. So finally Nacho and I took a trip about 40 minutes northwest of Madrid to the mountains, La Sierra de Guadarrama. The route we planned was a 4 hour hike, but we got lost and climbed for over 6 hours. It was a long, cold day but it was worth it.

Our hike bordered the Community of Madrid and the community of Castilla y Leon 

Camino Schmid was our trail

Here is where I spun in circles singing, "The Hills are Aliveee"

A good spot to stop and have a snack!

Stumbled upon some bulls

About halfway up

Very informative sign- "Danger, in general"

When we finally crawled back to our car after hours of hiking we were exhausted. It was windy and cold, but it was a good day, and coming home to hot soup made it that much better!