MARBELLA y esta semana

Yes, i took this picture, no it is not a postcard although, yes, it could be...Marbella....

12 Octubre 2007, Viernes

As I was leaving the casa today, it was literally before dawn. All the stars were still out, and it was chilly as I walked to the bus stop. I got to the bus station before the other girls and bought my ticket. I was hanging out in the cafeteria, and struck up conversation with some surfers from Australia who were traveling around Europe searching for killer waves. They asked me about what fiesta it was because today was Spanish Constitution Day, meaning basically everything is closed, and people were out quite late-early last night.

We got on the 8 o´clock bus to Marbella, a little city by the sea that was supposed to be gorgeous. We all passed out for two hours until the first stop in Ronda. A bunch of people got on the bus there, and I was still sitting alone when I noticed a little Spanish old lady yelling at her male accomplice who was sitting a row behind. In order to make the ride more tranquil and be nice, I asked her if she and her husband would like to trade spots with me so they could talk. She started laughing her great belly laugh and said, ¨Marido? HA….yo soy una viuda. Mira, yo voy a sentarme con la jovencita.´´ (Husband, I´m a widow. Look, i´m going to sit down next to the young girl) Which she did, and talked to me for a bit, before reverting to yelling at her male friend, now two rows back. The whole bus learned about her many grandchildren. The bus ride was quite interesting, as we were going through the mountains and the roads were all twisty and turny. There was many a time when I thought we would teeter over the edge of a cliff. I closed my eyes to try to overcome the nausea I was feeling, but the little Spanish lady next to me hit me repeatedly on the knees and cried, ¨No puedes dormer! Es el día de la fiesta, no puedes dormir!¨ (you can´t sleep, it’s the day of the fiesta). This happened multiple times, so I tried to occupy myself by talking to her. She was headed to meet her daughter and go to the feria (festival) in the next town, she told me she was going to dance flamenco and had her gypsy costume safely packed. She was surprised to learn I was from the US, and I asked her if she had lived her whole life in Ronda, the small medieval town where we stopped. She had. As she got off on the next stop, we kissed good-bye on the cheeks as it is done here in Spain, and I was sad to see my new friend leave.

I turned now to talk to the Slavic couple behind me. The woman had been talking loudly to her companion the whole bus ride, and though it wasn´t Russian, I could easily understand what they were talking about. When I heard them listening to Okean Elzi, I realized they were Ukrainian. They were another of the many people who came to Spain to work, and since it was a fiesta, the woman was on the way to visit a friend in Marbella. She had lived in Spain for a year, and lived with a Spanish family, taking care of the kids. She was actually really nice and told me that although Seville was ok, it was the ¨skovorodka´´ of Spain (frying pan) and the summers held unbearable heat. In the beginning I spoke Russian and she answered in Ukrainian and we carried on quite well, which was quite interesting. Then she switched to Russian.

After passing some literally breathtaking views of the sea meeting land from the mountains, we arrived in Marbella. I bid my Ukrainian friends goodbye, and turned to the problem of finding our hostel. We decided to take a taxi, which dropped us off in what looked like a small alley. We walked the small path, surrounded by white buildings, flowers and beautiful Andalucian style iron bars and balconies into our hostel, Hostal Berlin. It was….amazing. For our measly 23 euros a piece, we got a large room with three beds, sparkling clean bathroom, internet, breakfast, and an amazing friendly and informative staff. Not to mention the little puppy in the lobby. Putting our stuff down and changing into beachgear we headed to the beach.

How can I even describe the beauty we saw? The sea was a dark blue, hitting the sandy shores of a beach full of little tiki shade umbrellas and sunworshippers. The beach stretched out into the horizon, which revealed the beautiful mountains. We strolled down the boardwalk which was full of touristy shops and cafes. After walking for a while, we settled on the beach, Natalia and I choosing lounge chairs which we thought were free (they weren´t as we soon found out) and Petra choosing the sand. Taking our own sandwiches prepared by Señoras in Sevilla, we chowed down. It was fabulous. We chilled for a while, Natalia braving the cold waters of the Mediterranean for a photo´s sake. After a bit, we grew restless, and walked around Marbella. The city has a old city within it, which is full of tiny winding streets, cafes, and general beautiful Andalucian buildings, complete with flowers. From my pictures (of which there are um, quite a few) you will be able to see what I mean, dear reader. We literally stumbled into what happened to a Russian store, and Natalia and I spent, a lot of time looking through DVDs, Cds, and generall Russianness, which we both miss. I bought sushki, a CD, and a couple of DVDs.

We found a nice little place by the beach to have dinner. It turned out to be the best decision ever, as tapas were only 1.50 euro, the cheapest I´ve seen in a while, we shared a bottle of wine, and paella. We had patatas ali-oli (Natasha´s obsession) salpicon de mariscos (my obsessions) chicken curry (the obligatory new tapa) and mixed paella. Add a beautiful view of the sun setting over the mountains of Andalucia and the Mediterranean Sea…once again, it was fabulous. After dinner, we went back to the old city and after a while, went to a téteria to have some tea and dessert.

We were pretty tired at this point, but had another drink at a trendy little bar before heading back to the hostel. Petra turned in for the night, but Natalia and I decided to take a walk along the boardwalk to enjoy the night sea air….

13 Octubre, Sábado

After much snooze pressing, we finally got up around 10 AM to have breakfast. We debated the validity of Al Gore´s Nobel Peace Prize (which I am still skeptical over) over bread, butter, and jam. Today, we headed to the old city with one goal in mind…shopping. Wandering in and out of shops, I finally bought myself castañuelos (castanets) before finding an amazing tourist shop. After buying gifts for about everyone I know…yes, expectant reader, you can probably expect to receive something from Marbella, and finding an amazing shoe store, it somehow was around lunch time. We decided to head back to the boardwalk for a little bit, and sat down on the rocks by the beach, similar to the one´s at NU, but oh so different.

For lunch we walked about a mile to SuperCor, a grocery store, and bought bread, tuna, a tomato, cheese, chocolate, pudding and coca-cola lite….the lunch of champions. We took a taxi to the bus station, for it was already 3 o´clock and the bus left at 4. We settled on a table and spread out our goods, Natalia making sandwiches, while I fished out the spoon I keep in my purse (in case of emergency, or occasions such as this). We somehow managed to choose the best tuna I´ve ever had, soaked in vinegar, and the sandwich was one of the tastiest I have ever had. Maybe it was the fact that we were really, really hungry, or the adventure of the situation, or the fact that we were at the bus station…but that lunch was just indescribably good…

The bus ride home I cannot tell you about because I slept the whole three hours.

As we pulled into Sevilla, we passed by a Russian store that I have never seen before, and we visited it before heading to the bus stop. We said good-bye as I headed off into the opposite direction. I noticed someone talking to Natasha though, and she called me over to help an elderly couple find a hotel. She walked away and I tried to give the couple directions in English, but then I realized that they were Russian, so I switched over to Russian. Boy, you could see the relief in their faces. They were a cute elderly couple hailing from Haifa, Israel in Sevilla for just a couple of days while on a whirlwind tour of Spain lasting a week. They were so lucky to find me because I told them EVERYTHING…I think it would take at least a week in Sevilla to go to all of the places I told them to. It was interesting because the gentlemen´s brother lived in none other than Skokie, which is about 3 minutes from Evanston, if that. I was so excited, I didn´t get their names (which is stupid now that I think about it) but I gave them my name and number in case they needed anything.

I don´t know what it was but I was sooooooo happy after meeting them.

I returned home to shower and have dinner. Sometimes I wonder what Señora must think of me because I am really never home, only to eat and shower. But she must understand that this is a temporary only once in Europe type of thing. Everytime I am home for more than an hour, I start to think about the whole world waiting for me outside of my little casa and I feel the urge to explore.

14 Octubre 2007, Domingo

I slept until 2 PM today, unwillingly, cursing my inability to set the alarm as I realized what time it was when I got up. I had lunch and wrote in you, my little blog, until leaving to explore the Russian store from yesterday, which wasn´t that exciting, and then Santa Cruz. I swear, I have been to Santa Cruz so many times, and it is always different, with hidden streets and little alleys.

We had pastries at Campana and walked Tetuan, the main street. As we were walking down Avenida de Constitución I heard some banging from drums, so we went to check out the action.

It was ridiculous. The noise came from an orchestra which was leading a huge religious procession, very similar to the ones during Semana Santa. There was the Virgen de Rosario (we asked) on a huge golden float intricately decorated and filled with flowers. The streets were filled with incense and tourists, as the beautiful float made its way down the street. The way the floats move is by costeleros, men who carry the float on their shoulders, it usually takes about 50 of them to carry the darn heavy thing at once, and they must practice for months in advance in order to move all in unison. I stood openmouthed, amazed at my luck and in awe of the grand sense of tradition. I took about 8312098 pictures and videos. As the Virgen made its way close to the Cathedral, the bells in the Giralda started to ring, and the people around us began to sing, raising their voices in prayer. I got goosebumps down my arms as I looked around me at the spectacle. I hope this crazy tourist luck of mine continues…

It´s interesting, but I want to record that I have noticed that my thoughts are in Spanish now. Even my memory is, because I was thinking about some memories today which were in Spanish, but definitely now at the time. Though in the beginning I complained about my lack of speaking ability, I need to note that I can now officially call myself fluent because I have no problems communicating and understanding local people, although sometimes there are accent issues, which is common no matter where you are. It´s a nice feeling to have, I mean, I have a looooong way to go in terms of improvement, but aside from writing this, I have no English in my life. And it´s nice. I love being able to just go between Spanish and Russian.

Also to note, those yogurts which I thought were the solution to my ice cream problem….were definitely Juan´s which Señora told me yesterday, as I greedily ate the last one. She made it clear they were expensive and she wasn´t going to buy them. Sigh, oh well…..

15 Octubre 2007, Lunes

Today I returned to el Sagrado Corazón de Jesus to share my Americanness with the little Spanish children. I volunteered in two different aulas (classrooms) today. The first was a class of about 35 children ages 10 to 12, a very elementary class where they were reviewing uses of ¨to be¨ in English. The teacher was nice, but really ridiculously impatient with the children and made fun of them, making me, an American used to much praise and a classroom full of love, candy, and happiness, very uncomfortable, as if I was witnessing something illegal. After class, I talked to the teacher who was frustrated because the kids had forgotten everything over the summer. I promised her I would try to think of something to share my cultural diversity with the class and make it fun next week. The next hour, I worked with older kids, age 12 to 14, who were much smarter and more interested in learning. I learned all of the names in my group, who I think enjoyed me, because I was ¨cool¨ and let them talk instead of doing the stupid book exercises, I think they learned a lot more just talking with me about America and practicing. Let´s see, there was…Pablo, Javi, Manual, Maria, Nuria (?), Elena, and two other I cannot remember. I honestly enjoy going to that school because there are so many things that are different between this culture and America´s, which just gets amplified when I talk to the kids. For example, today I was telling them how most of the time, American kids go away and live far from their homes during university…one girl asked ¨but don´t they miss their parents?¨ while Pablo I believe and looked at me in wide-eyed wonder and said ¨joder…¨ It was also somewhat shocking to see that these kids made the same errors in English that we made in Spanish class, over and over again. When I think about my classes in GHS halfway around the world, it makes my head spin…

I also had quite the hefty conversation with my intercambio, Cristina, who I am absolutely falling in love with. For seventeen, she is quite mature, and we talked for almost an hour and a half about religion today. She participates in her pueblos religious processions during Semana Santa, but recognizes the hypocrisy in giving money to make a statue that one worships more beautiful while there are hungry people asking for money outside of the church. I told her about being Jewish and some customs we had, she of course, loved the 8 presents per night concept of Hanukkah, and told me about some of her Navidad customs, which they don´t celebrate Christmas here, it´s the three king´s day, I´m not sure what it´s called in English.

We also talked about Spanish democracy in Macarena´s class today which was very interesting. I was talking to my Señora about the Monarchy today, and her thoughts about the royal family. Señora prefers not to talk about politics, but to talk about how much she hates the Prince´s wife, a journalist who was divorced when she met the Prince. I swear, Señora talks with disgust about how the Prince should have chosen a princess with royal blood to be his wife, not some common person. I swear to you, shocked reader, that she said this, and this is the year 2007. And apparently, most of the country feels this way. She told me that when she talks about this with other ¨chicas Americanas¨ they tell her it´s romantic. I just think that the monarchy has no place in modern government, although I do recognize the luck this country had with such a great king during a time of political

upheaval in the ´70s when Franco died…

Anywho, I´m still searching for a dance studio…

16 Octubre 2007, Martes

This morning in cine we began to watch La Lengua de las Mariposas, a magnificent film that I have seen once before for a Spanish class, about the history of the beginning of the Spanish civil war. It’s amazing though, now that I am watching it and know so much about the history (thanks to Luis, my fabulous teacher) it’s like watching a brand new film, full of symbolism I totally missed the first time. In my El Mundo Actual class, we learned how to say “kolhos” (a kind of Russian communal farm) in Spanish, coljosa, as we are studying the economic and political structures of the world (yes, the world) in the 20^th century. I’m a little worried because sometimes I can’t keep up between listening, translating, and writing notes, but I think I will be ok.

There was a healthy living campaign inside the university today, and they were giving out free bags of bread, olive oil, and fruit, which was quite nice. They were always weighing and measuring people, but I ran the opposite direction when I saw that…although it wouldn’t have meant anything to know since I have no sense of the metric system, thanks to America. I met up with my intercambio, Cristina, who I am ABSOLUTELY IN LOVE WITH. (caps lock necessary to express enthusiasm). Today we had the most interesting conversation about stereotypes…the same ones exist in Spain as the States! For example, gangsta types, who wear caps (gorras) sideways and have their pants hanging to their knees are called “canes” (con-EEs) and preppy girls with popped collars are called “pijas,” although unlike the states, being preppy is not associated with being rich, just stuck up. There are also goth people called “goticos” but there is no such thing as emo. It was so much fun talking about this, and I mentioned Mean Girls to Cristina when I realized we jumped another cultural hurdle…the only American movie Cristina has ever seen is Titanic…um yeah….

She lives in Oliveras, south of Sevilla, and just 10 km from her house is her family’s farm which has thousands of olives, grapes, oranges, plums, apples, tomatoes, onions…basically everything, even farm animals and rabbits….to eat. And the most exciting part is: she invited me over to her house to meet her family!!!! Yes!!! I get to go and meet all of her cousins and grandmas and everybody, none of whom have ever met an American, not to mention a Russian Jew American…haha, I will be representing like crazy…

The only other notable thing I did today was go to spinning class, which is always fun…also, I came to the realization today that perhaps the reason the gym classes are not as strenuous as the States is because everyone smokes, so therefore there lung capacity does not equal that of a healthy American….

Vocabulario para tomar clases de “spinning” en España:

“SIGUE!!!!” ....continue pedaling as hard as you can

“detras”………bent down over the handles

Arriba……up

“SIGUE!!!!”…..ditto

Tomorrow I go to Paris….the city of love, crepes, and apparently transportation strikes as there will be no public transportation on Thursday….ahhh Pareeee…