Think U.S. unemployment is bad? Try Spain

Direct quote form Cnn.com today

Think U.S. unemployment is bad? Try Spain

It is kind of depressing. I guess I shouldn't feel too bad about only teaching english. At least I have something!

Semana Santa- Spanish Spring Break

In Spain, the week before Easter is a big deal. It is one of the most important religious holidays and one of the biggest travel times of the year. This week is called Semana Santa or Holy Week. Most Spaniards have a four day weekend and some take the entire week off for vacation. The week is filled with religious processions in different cities all around Spain each with different meanings representing different events that happened before the resurrection of Jesus. This is my first time in Spain during Semana Santa and I wanted to learn all about it and see a procession. 

Like a typical Spaniard, we actually left Madrid and headed to the beach. We were invited to spend the weekend at the beach house of our friends Carol and Alberto along with 2 other couples. Their beach place is near Alicante in the state of Valencia, on the Mediterranean. The forcast called for rain the entire time but we hadn't seen water in a long time so we decided to brave the conditions and head to the beach. 

The castle

Semana Santa is one of the busiest travel times of the year and this means traffic. Our gps Lucy told us it would take us 4 hours and 45 minutes to drive to Alicante so we were in for a long drive plus we hit traffic so it was quite the journey. We decided we needed to stop to stretch our legs and get something to drink and thought we'd pass Albacete and then stop. Well as we were driving we saw a sign for Chinchilla and I thought it was a funny name for a town. Then we saw Chinchilla had a castle and we decided here is the place to stop- we love castles! So we drove into the tiny pueblo and headed up through the narrow streets to find the castle.

It has a moat!

And a drawbridge

The main square where we had a beer

The hooded people that are the symbol of Semana Santa

Finally, 6 hours later we arrived in San Juan. We were met with rain but it was fun to see the Mediterranean with big waves and stormy. The group decided they wanted to check out a Medieval Market that was happening so we grabbed the umbrellas and headed out. The market had booths with food and crafts and people dressed up in their medieval themed outfits. There was one tent that served tea and hookas so we all agreed to stop in.

Tea and Hookas

The next day, after a major downpour around 3 am, we woke up to find sun! We put on the swimsuits and sun screen and headed to the beach for a couple hours. It wasn't super warm but it was nice. Pablo, of course, jumped right in the water and made me as well. It was freezing! We took a nice walk down the beach and felt pretty lucky to be chilling at the beach, swimming in the Mediterranean!

Me and Carol- she makes me look short! ha

Pablo the fish

Awww the Mediterranean!

The pool at the complex we stayed at (ocean front)

 I loved this mountain- so neat to see it so close to the beach

Beach walk before heading to Alicante for dinner

That night we headed to the city of Alicante for drinks and tapas. There was a procession happening that evening and everyone was very kind to stop and watch since I'd never seen one and wanted to. We found a nice spots to watch as they slowly made their way past. The processions have, as the Americans call it, the KKK- people that wear outfits that have the cone-shaped hoods that cover their faces. Obviously the spanish outfits were around way before the KKK stole them and it is kind of sad that the Americans associate this spanish tradition with the KKK but they don't teach American's about spanish semana Santa traditions in school, only the KKK.  But when I first saw the people wearing these costumes in person it was really freaky. It really gave me an eerie feeling seeing their faces covered and eyes looking out through little slits.

This group was blue- they come in a variety of colors

The main event of the procession is the massive alter piece that carries the specific statue of a saint or Mary or Jesus (depends on the group and the day). These alter pieces live in the churches and are brought out once a year for Semana Santa. They are extremely heavy and are carried by groups of men, the number depending on how big it is. These groups take this very seriously and train a lot for these processions. Some even walk the route barefoot. For me it is very interesting to see how seriously people take it because even though Spain is a catholic country a lot of the religious holidays are more traditional than religious and are excuses for a party. So when it rained all over Spain and a lot of these processions were canceled and they showed on tv people crying because of the cancelation it was pretty interesting and educational for me. 

The alter piece carried by the men in white

Here is a video of the men caring the alter around a corner. Sorry you have to turn your head to watch it!

After the procession we headed to the bars for some beers and wine and tapas. On our way to a bar we ran into another procession and actually followed behind the alter because it was the only way to get the bar. Therefore, we became part of the procession! Tradition and bars- typical spanish!

The last day we went to the beach again but it was too cold to swim, even though Pablo did! For lunch we enjoyed traditional paella. The service was horrible but the food was good! Then we headed back to Madrid a day early to try and beat the traffic but we weren't so lucky. But it was ok, we had a great time!

Tomato Plants

Forever we have had dreams of having our own garden where we could grow all kinds of vegetables and save lots of money! But living in Madrid, in an apartment makes it a little difficult, so when we saw this apartment and the terrace we jumped on it because we have been dreaming about a terrace for so long and had visions of tomato plants dancing in our heads.

So after we moved in and got settled, the first thing we did was buy two tomato plants and sweet pea seeds. We have now become obsessed with the spanish equivalent of Lowe's and Home Depot. Instead of buying a dinning room table we buy flowers, soil and pots. We didn't even know what kind of tomatoes we bought, we just found the plant, which was kind of hard, and bought two. Went straight to IKEA to buy two pots with wheels on them and planted them that night. We cheated a bit since the plants came with already developed green tomatoes on them but we helped them turn red and now we have tons of little cherry tomatoes to pick and eat. We are in heaven!

Our first tasting

I also planted my sweet peas at the same time as the tomato plants and now they are starting sprout. I can wait for them to bloom and fill the house with the wonderful smell! And use the vases I got for my wedding! he he!

Sweet Peas

La Folixa

Last weekend we went to Mieres to celebrate the annual festival of Folixa. It is a folk festival with traditional Asturian bag pipe players, folk music concerts and the opening of the freshly fermented sidra from the fall harvest. I think it was one of the last remaining festivals/parties/celebrations that I had never been to so we had to go this year. We brought with us two of our friends Carol and Alberto to join in on the Asturian traditions. They are both from Madrid, born and raised, and don't know much about Asturias so for once in my life I didn't feel like the complete foreigner. They were the newbies and they are Spanish! ha ha! 

Sidra Time in Mieres!

In between our sidra drinking, we took the Madrileños on a hike. We did the Ruta de Xanes, which is one of my favorites because at the top of the mountain is a little pueblo with one restaurant/bar. So after hiking an hour+, uphill,  you are rewarded with traditional Asturian food- fabada and pote! It makes the hike a lot easier when you know food and sidra waiting for you at the top!

At the start of the hike

On the trail

We came from way down there

This way!

The Madrileño pouring sidra at the top

Our tapa

Drinking sidra before lunch

New Jobs

For a long time Pablo has been unhappy with his job more specifically, the person he guarded. He would complain about her endlessly and has been talking for awhile about changing. He wanted to stay at the same courthouse and doing the same job but with a different person. For months we thought a change would be coming and never did. BUT finally we found out three weeks ago that his request to change was granted and he now guards a new and friendly person. He has 3 new partners whom are all very friendly and works a different schedule than before, no more 1 week on, 1 week off. His days are much, much shorter now since this person doesn't have the same type of social life as the other one. I think the latest Pablo has arrived home during the first two weeks on the job is 8:30 pm. So far no 1 am or later arrivals, which is very nice. Also, in the new apartment we have the subway stop right in front so Pablo commute is way shorter, no more bus and subway, it is subway all the way in, very convenient.

I also have a new job. Back in November I got an email from one of my old co-workers in Seattle about helping them out with editing projects. One of my old co-workers started his own video production company in Seattle and another old co-worker was working with him and they needed some extra help editing. Apparently me being in Spain and them in Seattle wasn't a big deal. I was little shocked to hear from them but flattered at the same time since they remembered me and wanted to work with me again. I wasn't sure I had all the tools to complete the project here but luckily a few years ago I purchased the edit program needed to edit incase one day I would be freelance in Spain. But in the end I end up doing freelance in Spain for Seattle. HA! All they have to do now is mail me a hard drive with raw video media on it and I edit from home on my computer.
After helping out on a couple projects and figuring out a process for around the world editing, they asked me if I wanted to be part of their team as an editor. I am not really sure what this means exactly because I basically work freelance, they use me when they don't have capacity to do it in Seattle, so it isn't consistent but it is something. They even put me on their website so now it looks like I have a job!!! When I did the first editing project for them, even though it was so basic, I really realized how much I missed editing and post-production. It has been great for me to feel like I have something productive to do and to do something I enjoy. I'm still rusty being out of the industry for 2 years and in video that is a lifetime with technology changing so quickly, but so far it has been a positive experience. I completed two projects in March and hopefully more will come my way in the near future.
Here is the website and my bio if you want to check it out. NOTE: my pictures are ALWAYS HORRIBLE so don't look at them!
http://spincreativegroup.com/
I'm also still teaching English and that is going well. I currently have 11 students; 4 children, and 7 adults. It is a little different now living in the new apartment because now I have to commute to work. I take the subway back to Las Tablas everyday now. Luckily it is close and only takes 15 minutes from our house to arrive in Las Tablas. It was one of the sacrifices I made moving to the new place but so far it hasn't been too bad.

More House Pictures

After two weeks of being internet-less, we are finally back online so I can update the blog! We are pretty much settled in the new place but that doesn't mean everything is in working order. We still have a lot to do  such as buying furniture and decorating. Our main items of purchase include, dinning room table and chairs, coffee table, storage cabinet for the kitchen/laundry room and outdoor furniture. But here are some more pictures of the house so far

2nd Bedroom

Kitchen

Laundry

Reverse Kitchen from laundry looking at dinning room

Dinning room

My flower pot on the balcony

View of the Sierra Mountains from the balcony

View from balcony (there is a park in front)

Stairs in the dinning room, bar

Second floor living room

Reverse living room

Third Bedroom aka office

Guest bathroom

Master bath

Master bath

Master bedroom and Alkie and balcony

Reverse master

We Moved!

After two years living in the neighborhood of Las Tablas we decided to move the neighborhood of Tres Olivos (Three Olive Trees) in Madrid. Our new neighborhood is only 10 minutes away from our old house so it isn't a major change since we are staying in the same area.

Our contract ends April 6th on the old apartment and after a year of bathroom troubles and no solutions we decided we had to move. Originally we wanted to stay in the same neighborhood but couldn't find anything we like for a price we could afford so we branched out and found a great place. We are both really excited about this new place for many reasons but the biggest is the huge terrace to enjoy the Madrid weather and start a garden.

The new place has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms- bigger for our guests! It is two floors so there are stairs! It has a small living room on the first floor that we will turn into the dining room and small siting room and up stairs in the bonus room which we have made into our living room with couch and tv. Off the bonus room is the terrace. It doesn't really have any views- just other buildings- but you can see the tops of the 4 Towers so you don't forget you are in Madrid!
But the views from the dinning room and master are of the Sierra Mountains and they are beautiful! The front windows are super cute french doors with half-moon shaped windows on top and two have little balconies- one of my favorite parts of the place!
The only major sacrifice was on the kitchen. It is a lot smaller so that means a lot less storage. We are trying to become crafty in how we arrange everything hoping one day it will all fit. But the stove is gas so that is a plus- my first time ever using a gas stove!

We are now busy trying to organize everything and buy furniture because when we moved into the new place we only had a couch, two beds, a dresser and two night stands! IKEA is now our best friend!
Here are a few pictures for now, more to come when we get internet in the house!

Terrace

Other side of the terrace

Alkie enjoying the views from the master

The Bar

Door out to the terrace