I Can Still Be Shocked!

I thought I've gotten accustomed to all the odd traditions, manners and general activities here in Spain.
I'm used to turning off lights and taking quick showers.
I can ignore cat calls and general bias from people thinking I'm a guiri tourist.
I even know how to do a pretty mean 'smoke bomb' (inside jokes for any English-speaking Spaniards)

I've sampled all the finest delicacies this fine country has to offer...

but when I walk into the kitchen and see this:

well, let's just say that I was short of words for a few seconds!

Don't get me wrong.... PULPO is one of my favorite meals here in Spain! But I enjoy it when it's already cooked, cut and covered in yummy cream sauce!

For exampple this delicious steamed potato and octopus salad! DELICIOUS!

Not sitting on my stove, boiling next to a cup of its own ink!

Ugh, talk about loss of appetite!

Birthday #24

Another birthday flew past me about 6 weeks ago.  Once again it shot upon me unexpectingly as I was still on a family high from my aunt and grandmother coming to visit just a fews weeks prior and adjusting to a new work schedule. 

I followed the same theme as last year- simplicity.  Like I explained, summer months are usually tight on the wallet especially later in the month.  So I invited everyone to my apartment (my 2 wonderful roommates made absolutely gracious hosts), I cooked a variety of American dishes and bought liters and liters of beer for everyone.  My apartment is substantially bigger than the apartment I was staying in for my last birthday so I got to decorate and invite a lot more people.

I got a much better turn out than last year... especially considering I've made a lot more friends over the course of this year.  However, something still wasn't the same.  Dani, my Spanish best friend, didn't come and some other close friends that I was expecting had other personal reasons that kept them away.  But those who did, had a very good time if I dear say. 

ME AND MICHELLE

I spent hours preparing all the goodies.  One of my best friends here, Michelle came over a little early to help my prepare.  She also brought me some goodies including my adorable birthday cake.  My amazing roomie, Nikki helped my cook and clean all day too.  When everyone started to arrive, they were met with an incredible assortment of snacks like pigs in a blanket, spicy chicken dip, deviled eggs, pasta salad, all the essentials.  To top it off, for dessert we had Michelle's cake and tirumisu and mini- French Toast bites.  A breakfast food in our culture.... but a complete culture shock for all the foreigners! Everything was a big hit!

 I spent majority of my party in the kitchen but it was well worth it to see everyone having a good time. The beer and liquor flowed steady for the next 3 hours or so. When all the food had been administered, one of my favorite students asked me about a promise I had made to teach the Spaniards some American drinking games. haha! it was hilarious watching them trying to master flip cup and understand the rules to beer pong. We were all laughing so hard that it actually brought my next door neighbor over to complain about the noise level. Oops! I mean c'mon.... it's Saturday night, my birthday and the first time we've had anyone over at all. But I told my nosey neighbor that we'd be leaving soon and we'd try to keep it down until then.

I kept my promise as 20 minutes later we ran out of alcohol.  So obviously it was time to move on.  I didn't have a specific after-place in mind.  I figured we'd take suggestions and see how many people actually wanted to head out after.  Majority we still wanting to party and my good friend Martin knew a place not far from my house that played decent music and was a fun but chill place.  Everyone supported his choice and we headed there.  It was a really fun bar that played a mix of american rock and pop with some spanish singles.  We stayed there till I'd say around 530-6 when the place closed down.  I still had some energy left but everyone else was pooped so we called it a night and went home.

Overall, it was one FANTASTIC birthday.  The actual day was nothing special. I had work all day and called my family at night.  A lot of my friends and family sent me cards which is always a nice suprise :)  The party beat all my expectations... so than you to everyone who was apart of my special day! MUCHOS BESOS Y MIL GRACIAS A VOSOTROS!

JALOGUIN 2010

I officially survived my first Halloween in Spain. Well, there's really not much to survive as most of what is celebrated comes from the American traditions.  Anyways, last year I wasn't able to take part in Spain's version of Halloween as I was back in Chicago for my aunt's wedding.  So this year, I was really looking forward to see what kind of show Madrid puts on for this event.  I must admit that I had lowered my standards for a few reasons: 1.) Halloween has always been my favorite holiday so I take it very seriously  2.) My university boosts to reputation of having the US's best Halloween! (GO BOBCATS)  3.) I normally spend a minimum of 5 weeks planning out my costume, decorations and plans for that weekend.

I knew that Spain would never come close to my past experiences but I was still looking forward to having a good time.  This year Halloween fell on a Sunday.  For all you Catholics, November 1st is Dia de los Santos (All Saint's Day).  Therefore being in Catholic Spain, that Monday was a national holiday which meant no work. Considering this, my friends and I decided to go out big on Halloween night.  Friday and Saturday I took it pretty easy as I wasn't feeling 100% and I wanted to be well rested for Sunday.

We started rather early at around 4:30 to get ready.  We all met at my friend K's house to do our makeup.  The week before, we discussed our costumes and plans.  Each of us chose an average person like a cop, biker, schoolgirl, ect... then we would ZOMBIE-FY the heck out of it.

You see in Spain, they keep to the original tradition of Halloween where one must dress up as something terrifying- if you decide to dress up at all.  So there are no children dressed as their favorite Disney characters or superheroes, there's no portrayals of our favorite musicians, actors, or other celebreties and there's absolutely no young women dressed in provacative costumes.  All that remains are witches, devils, ghouls and.... zombies!

After we were pale, scabbed and bloodies up, we met some other friends and headed to this abadoned factory that was taken over and turned into a free venue for the weekend.  My friend M is a really good DJ so him and another friend got a space in the factory to play some jams.  This was seriously the perfect place to host a crazy Halloween party.  The factory had been abadoned for what seemed like decaded as all the wall and floors were collapsing around us.  Every inch of the place was covered in spray paint and had random chairs, boxes, and other slightly disturbing random objects.  Normally, I wouldn't be caught dead in a place like this but for Halloween... it was PREFECT!  To make things better, it was BYOB so we stocked up at the local convenience store before and spent the next 4 hours drinking, dancing and mingling with other ghoulish creatures.

We headed out at about 10 to get a few more drinks and tapas.  As we strolled the streets, almost every person stopped to stare at the spectacle we were.  (Again I must reiterate that Halloween is not anywhere as popular as it is in America)  After, we stopped again at K's house to do make-up touches and eat some dinner.  Then we found more friends and went to a Halloween costume party nearby.  By 1ish, we left to hit some more bars and clubs... most of which I don't really remember.  I took my Zombie-self home around 4am in a taxi wondering why the driver was giving me such weird looks! Then as I got into my apartment building and caught my reflection, I realised how ridiculous I looked. hahaha I had already forgotten that I was covered in zombie gook.  I poured myself in bed with delight at how well that night had been. 

I must say that Madrid definitely beat my expectations I had had for Halloween.  No, it's nothing like America but Spain always knows how to throw one crazy party!