Alicante: Playa, Pool, Repeat!

Hi!

Last weekend I went on a really fun beach vacation with 7 girlfriends! It was just what I needed. We arrived Thursday very early in the morning and we left late Sunday afternoon, giving us four full days to enjoy the beautiful beach. We rented an apartment for the weekend which was perfect for resting between pool visits and cooking dinners together. Thursday we arrived, settled in and headed for the pool in the apartment complex. We noticed right away the sun is much stronger in Alicante. Actually, the sun is much stronger in Spain in general. I tried to be vigilent with the sunscreen and spend a good amount of time in the shade, but I still got a little sunburnt after the first day. That night we went to a little bar across the street for some fruity cocktails, sparklers included.

Friday was spent at the beach. The beach in Alicante (actually, Santa Pola, a town just outside) was really beautiful. The Mediterranean is in a league of its own. The water was crystal clear and refreshingly cool but not cold. I forgot how much I love swimming in the ocean! I spent a lot of time at the beach for vacations as a kid and I felt like it was just as much fun jumping waves this time.

The beach in Spain has a really different ambience than in the States, and I really liked it! Of course, there is the nudity thing. There were lots of people not only laying around topless but walking up and down the beach sin camisa also. I hardly noticed. But what I really liked was that it was a much more relaxed environment in general. Something that I don't like about California beaches is that there's a lot of pressure to be perfect and put on a big show of how fabulous you are with your fantastic ocean front property and your killer body and your dark tan. There's none of that at the beach in Spain. People aren't there to lay out and look beautiful. They're there to enjoy the beach, the sun, their friends and family. There are people of all shapes and sizes and all ages. It made for a very casual and fun scene.

Saturday and Sunday saw more beach, more pool, and more home-cooked meals enjoyed on our terrace. One fun highlight was on Saturday night when we headed over to Bailey's Bar for karaoke. We were definitely the best singers that night. (We beat out the bartender and Penny, a nice Irish lady). I sang Nsync's "Bye, Bye, Bye" with Kristen and Toby Keith's "I Should've Been a Cowboy" with Blair. Other winning performances included Journey's "Don't Stop Believin" and Will Smith's "Miami". Who knew that Blair was an undercover gangster rapper? We do now.

Sunday night we flew back to Madrid and now here I am, in my last weekend in Spain! It's incredible. My friends and I are doing some fun things this weekend to really celebrate our last few days. Thursday we went to the opening night of the "hipodromo" which literally means race track. In the summer there is a horse track which becomes an outdoor bar/club at night. So we got dressed up and checked it out. It was a really cool environment and a nice Spanish crowd. Hip, but not snoody. We had a lot of fun! Last night we went salsa dancing in Sol which was a blast! Of course, we had no idea what we were doing. But we made it up and even had a few people give us mini lessons. I even loved just sitting and watching the really good couples dance! They are amazing! I don't understand how they know what step to take next and which way to spin, but I love to watch it! Tonight we are having one last party to celebrate our going away. Should be fun!

I fly home Wednesday and could not be more excited!

I plan to write one final blog entry in the next few days summing up the big things I've learned here.

Disfrutad el fin de semana! (Enjoy the weekend!)

Travels and Descansas

So as I mentioned before, I was able to go on two really fun trips in May. First, my roommate Liz and my friend Eimear and I took a bus to San Sebastián, a beautiful town in the northern region of Spain, País Vasco.

País Vasco has a very interesting story, and while I’m not able to tell it all, I’ll tell you what’s important. The Basque region is really, really old. I mean really old. There’s a saying we read in our guide book that is popular in the region: “Before God was God and rocks were rocks, the Basque were Basque.” The language spoken in the region (besides Spanish) is Euskara, and it’s so old that it has no ties to Greek or Latin. It’s like nothing you’ve heard before.

As you can imagine, with such a history the Basque are a proud people and work hard to keep their culture intact. Every sign is written in both Euskara and Spanish. Basque people often have names that are distinctive from normal Spanish ones like Aitor, Iker, Eneko, Aitana (all names of students I teach!). And everyone we met was very proud of their city and region and happy to tell you all about it.

But unlike Cataluña where virtually everyone speaks Catalan and in fact prefers Catalan to Spanish, I didn’t really hear that much Euskara while I was there. That’s probably because not everyone speaks it. The language was strictly oral until a few decades ago when it was finally written out and given grammatical rules. Furthermore Euskara faced a big set back under Franco, who outlawed all languages other than Spanish. Most people estimate between a quarter and a third of people in País Vasco speak Euskara, though a friend of mine from the region says it’s really a higher number.

Another interesting thing many people might know about the Basque region is their problems with ETA, a terrorist organization that fights for Basque independence but does so using violence. While I was in San Sebastián, I saw one graffitied wall with a man hoisting a Basque flag that said “Independencia ahora”. But what I saw far more of were signs that said down with ETA and posters with pictures of those killed by ETA and just general anti-ETA sentiment. The vast majority of Basque Spaniards consider themselves just that – Spaniards, and they want know part of the radical independence crowd.

More than this, San Sebastián is known for its beautiful beaches, friendly people, and delicious pintxos. Pintxos are sort of like tapas, but they are made continually and put on display on top of the bar, so you can browse and pick up whatever looks good. We really liked this system and took full advantage. The nice thing about it was that we didn’t have to deal with a menu and could just grab whatever seemed yummy looking (and had ingredients we recognized). Then when you are finished, you tell the bartender/server how many pintxos and drinks you had and he rings you up. It’s an honor system and one that everyone seems to follow.

Speaking of food, we also had some simply delicious seafood paella one day for lunch. The thing about paella is, if it’s really good, they make it when you order it and it takes a long time. So we sat and munched on bread for at least half an hour before our paella was served, but when it was… it was worth the wait!

We didn’t see a lot of “sights” in San Sebastián but spent a lot of time just walking around the city. The beaches are truly beautiful, with teal blue water and cliffs on either side. The streets are small and cobblestoned and cute. The whole town isn’t very big and we easily did everything on foot. I don’t know if this is a coincidence, but I found the people in San Sebastián to be much nicer than Madrileños! The lady at the post office smiled and helped me warmly. The man at the pintxo bar cracked jokes. The salesperson at the store asked where we were from and chatted us up. All things I rarely experience in Madrid!

All in all it was a fantastic weekend in San Sebastián. I would love to go back and I highly recommend it to anyone who spends time in Spain!

The very next weekend I was off to Munich with my friends Eimear, Blair, and Anna. I really didn’t know much about the city and to be honest I didn’t have that much desire to go, but two of my friends had been before and insisted I would love it. We arrived on a Thursday night and got to bed early so we could take a bike tour the next morning. The bike tour was so much fun and the perfect way to get a feel for the city! We rode beach cruisers all over town for about four hours, stopping here and there for bits of information, as well as stopping at a beer garden for a German sausage lunch!

I was immediately impressed by how beautiful the city was, but in a really different way from other Western European cities. It was very green and wide, with fewer high buildings and more sky to be seen! Everything was impeccably clean. Way, way, way cleaner than Madrid (which really isn’t a dirty city minus all the dog crap). I was also pleasantly surprised to see so many tall men and women! I felt right at home other than not being blonde.

Highlights of Munich include the Marienplatz, Residenz, and English Garden. Marienplatz is a big square that contains the old and new town hall. Residenz is a beautiful museum/government building with lovely courts we were able to ride our bikes through. English Garden is a simply beautiful, very large park. It’s bigger than Central Park in Manhattan and I loved it because it was much more natural than a lot of parks in big cities. It was much like a forest with paths throughout. We spent a lot of time at the park since we were lucky enough to have wonderful sunny weather all weekend. There was also a really cool part of the river that runs through the park where they somehow created an artificial wave and people go surfing! Who knew!

We also went to the Hofbrauhaus which is a big beer hall that's pretty famous. It's just like you would imagine, with long wooden tables and benches and women in tight frilly dresses who serve you big jugs of beer. A fun experience.

I really enjoyed Munich and can see why my friends wanted to go back! It was also nice to have two weekends filled with nature!

The following weekend I spent in Madrid and had some fun meals and nights out with my friends. We realized it was one of the last weekends we would all be together in the city.

This weekend is a funny story. I had tickets to go to Mallorca, a very beautiful island in the Mediterranean and home to one of my favorite athletes, Rafa Nadal. But on Thursday, I was so tired and the thought of another trip was so draining that I decided I wouldn’t go. I realize I might never have another chance to see Mallorca, and I’m sure I would have had a nice time. But traveling, even when for a “relaxing” beach weekend, is tiring. And I needed a weekend to relax and do very little. And that’s just what I got!

On Thursday I went to sleep instead of heading to the airport. Friday morning I went for a run in the park, and then realized I had a whole weekend ahead of me with no lessons, no plans, and no commitments. How fabulous! Most of my friends were out of town except my roommates and Blair, so on Friday we did a little shopping and grabbed a tapa or two in La Latina, one of my favorite neighborhoods in Madrid. On Friday night I came home with grand plans of watching a movie and writing this blog. As soon as I got to work, the power shut off! It was very dark at this point, especially because our apartment gets little natural light anyway. So we scrambled for some candles and matches. We called our landlord but got no answer. There was really little that could be done at that point, so I just took it as a sign that I should go to sleep early! And that I did.

Saturday the friend of our landlord came over to take a look at the problem. We had already found the breaker and tried several times to switch it with no luck. When the gentleman friend arrived, he looked at the breaker, flipped the same switch we had flipped a hundred times, and voila! LIGHTS! He looked at us and said, “Ya esta.” (That’s it.) Of course.

My roommate Melanie had already purchased several candles since we thought we would be without power all weekend. So we decided to have a candlelight dinner anyway! Blair came over and the four of us had pasta and salad and wine and it was very fun.
This morning we had a big American style brunch with two friends, Meagan and Theresa. We ate our weight in pancakes. We came home to find the power was back off and flipping the switch worked for about five minute increments. So I spent the day cleaning, reading and taking a walk in Retiro. I love parks!

I’m writing this blog in a café near my house and some sort of soccer game is on, making for a fun environment. With no electricity I’m going to take refuge at Blair’s house so I can take a shower!

One thing my roommates and I were laughing about is that if this had happened to us in October, we would have been flipping out. We would have been angry and frantic and upset. Now our reaction is, well they’ll send an electrician sometime this week. Maybe. And in the meantime we have books and candles and non-perishables. See, Spain may have just changed me for the better!

Next weekend I am going to Alicante, a beach town, with 7 girlfriends. This is a trip I won’t miss!

One last thing. In my last blog I said I had finally decided on a law school and I was going to NYU. Surprise! I had a change of heart. There are too many reasons to mention, but I’m happy to say I’ll be attending Berkeley Law in the fall. I’m so happy and excited and I know I did the right thing. Only good things ahead!