La Fería Real de Algeciras

A few months back, when I was deciding when to buy a plane ticket home, a friend told me that I at least had to stay for the beginning of la fería. She explained that although Algeciras absolutely sucks the rest of the year, they throw everything they have into this fería, and the result is incredible. I was definitely dubious, but I bought my ticket late enough that I would be here for the first 2 days.

With that in mind, going to la fería this weekend was one of the best cultural experiences I've had this year. I am so happy I stayed! The first night, Saturday, one of those nights where I literally had to work to keep a silly grin off my face. My jaw hurt from smiling so much.

• The fería kicked off with a parade from the port. I thought it was supposed to start at 10 and end right at midnight. Instead, it started at 8 and ended around 11:15. So when Cassidy and I showed up at 11:30 all excited to see a parade......well.........we were a little disappointed. Here's what we missed: 

[Source] (Click on the pictures to make them larger)

• Everybody crowded around the fería entrance around 11:30pm. At 11:59, I heard "cinco, quatro, tres, dos, uno!" and the huge gateway of lights lit up right on cue. It was incredible! Kind of like New Years Eve when everybody counts and the ball drops, only so much cooler because 100,000 little lights all lit up at the same time. 

(I took the rest of these, unless otherwise noted)

• It might have been midnight, but entire families were still out and about. I saw babies in strollers, little girls dressed to the nines in their flamenco dresses, and girls walking around in 5 inch heels. Ow!

• Back home, fairgrounds close down right as it gets dark: so to walk through a maze of carnie games and rides and smell popcorn and see little kids running around and realize that its pitch black out and 1am, was a bit of a surreal experience. 

• A fería is divided into three parts. First there are the casetas, which are individual stalls dedicated to different bars and companies in Algeciras. For example, the club Kube has a caseta, which means that if you want dance music, go to the Kube caseta. If you want to hear Flamenco music, there's a caseta for that too. If you work at BancoSabadell, then you can go to that caseta. So on and so forth. And this year there are 65 of them. You grab a drink, dance a little, and move on to the next caseta. (Bar hopping at its finest.) 

• The second part of the fería is the games/rides/fair food part. 

• And then a little farther down the street, is the Moroccan market. That is something I was not expecting. Grab a drink, eat some fair food, and buy a knockoff leather purse? 

• Cassidy and I had schawarma and churros for our fair food experience. What a strange take on the usual hot dog and mini-donuts route. 

• Saturday night we met up with a group of guys from Gibraltar, who found Cassidy on couchsurfing. There was a Kenyan, a Swede and 2 Italians, and they all spoke English so well that at first I assumed they were American. (Except for the Italians. There is no mistaking that nationality.) Talking in English felt so strange, and I kept accidently reverting to Spanish. I had to make a conscious effort to continue in English. 

• A Spanish song came on at one point that consisted of short verses. I caught this one: (Everyone was belting this out) "camarero! .......qué! camarero.........qué! Champiniones!!!!!!!!" And then everybody started dancing enthusiastically and singing "Champiniones champiniones champiniones champiniones!" (For those of you who don't speak Spanish, this is saying "waiter.....what! waiter.....what! Mushrooms!! Mushrooms mushrooms mushrooms mushrooms!") Oh Spain.

• Then during the day on Sunday I went back for a little bit just to walk around. The first Sunday of fería is when all the women and girls wear their flamenco dresses. It kind of reminded me of Halloween, except that everyone looked gorgeous, not scary. They pull their hair back and wear a flower, and then wear tight, mermaid style flamenco dresses in all colors and patterns.

[Source]

(I took this one too)

• Everybody was in the streets drinking pitchers of manzanilla (sherry) mixed with sprite, snacking on tapas and just having a great time. There were also horses everywhere. I've never seen a horse-drawn carriage in the streets of Algeciras until today. I also saw a little boy riding an even littler pony. Cutest. Thing. Ever.

[Source]

• The only thing I didn't like was that taking pictures is really awkward. Who wants to look up and see a strangers camera aimed at you? Not most people. But I sneakily took these pictures on my way home.

• Sunday night I went back again. The feeling in the air is so contagious that I was completely content to just wander the aisles between the casetas for an hour or so. Cassidy and I spent the night with her roommate and her roommate's girlfriend, having deep intellectual conversations about the fundamental basics of 'society', whether or not Al Queda was really behind the 911 attacks, and wether bullfighting can actually be described as an art form or not. We held all these conversations in Spanish, which is not an easy feat.

• This is also when I saw my first real bar fight, where each guy had 2 or 3 friends holding him back, and one left with blood spurting out of his nose and completely covering his shirt, as well as the shirts of several friends. It was not a pretty sight. And I can't unsee it.

• After her roommate left, we bumped into two off duty police officers. They confirmed our thoughts that Algeciras really is a dirty, crime-ridden city. It's always been fun to discuss a mutual dislike of this city with strangers. It's a great icebreaker, and we wind up bonding over what an unfortunate place we live in.

This was such a great last weekend to have in Spain. It was such a cultural experience and a great chance to go out one last time. But like always, Spain was there for me, to keep me from getting too sappy and too sad about leaving. There are always little things, like waiting in line for forever and a day for no reason at the bank, or the Spaniard shows up 45 minutes late to meet you, or your friend happens to get locked in her house because in Spain its totally normal to need keys to open the door from the inside. (In America, we reserve this feature for the special rooms that serial killers build to keep their victims.)

So sayonara Spain, nos vemos cuando vemos!

5 Days Exploring Catalunya: Part 2

Since Kaitlin left early Sunday morning, that left me with 2 full days to explore on my own. I spent Monday exploring a little town called Olot, famous for being built around several extinct volcanos. The drive from Girona to Olot was an hour long, but the rolling hills, greenery and medieval towns kept me occupied.

What makes Olot unique is that it's built on the edge of the Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park. Within the city there are 3 small volcanos, and there are around 40 in the entire national park.
I was only there for a few hours, since it was Sunday and everyone knows that Spain shuts down on Sundays, but it was long enough to accomplish my main goal of hiking a volcano.

I showed up in town right during the middle of a festival. Yes, those are giant statues of a king and queen, and yes, the townspeople are holding flowers and each others hands' and dancing in a circle. And yes, there was also a live band. Oh Spain, you really have the whole fiesta thing down to a tee.

 "Hiking" up the volcano. It literally took 5 minutes. 

Poppies! 

 This was the view from the top. In the background you can see another of the volcanos.

 The crater is entirely closed and grassed-over, and on the edge of the crater, there was a church!

 In short, Olot was cool. If you are ever in Girona, I highly recommend a day trip to Olot and....this next city, Besalú. If you like medieval architecture and cool bridges, this city will be your dream come true. Walking across this bridge was like taking a step back in time.

Real chair? Or 2D chair?

I found a hiking path that went behind the city. Not only where the views absolutely stunning, but I was in heaven since I hadn't seen a real hiking path since leaving Wisconsin. 

 Besalú's main city square. Love it!

Catalunya was so much more than I expected it to be; I'd also associated the region with Barcelona, and never thought to explore it any further. I'm so happy I changed my mind! The people were so friendly, and when they heard us speak Spanish they excitedly asked us where we were from. I guess there are so many tourists in that region that foreigners who actually speak Spanish isn't common? I'm not sure. This trip was definitely one of my favorite's from the past year, and I highly recommend visiting this region if you're looking for a fun weekend trip!

Back at the School

So, I stopped by the school today to pick up some papers from my bilingual coordinator. It was a strange feeling. The second I stepped foot in the front yard, I heard the 3rd years scream and saw them, literally, rushing at me. Awww it's so nice to be loved :) I'd only been gone for 2 weeks, but it was nice to know they missed me.

As for the rest of the trip...well..it basically summed up my year's experience there in 1 minute. The bilingual director saw me and said tiredly "I forgot your letter." (Of course you did.) "Can I just email it to you later? When do you need it by?" (No, you can't, because if I let you do that you'll just keep forgetting.) So I said I would come back Monday, and that I needed it printed off and signed. She looked confused, but agreed and walked away. Ever the unhelpful and forgetful one, she is.

Then some of the 3rd years asked if I was coming to classes with them. I said no, with the excuse that I had to be in Gibraltar in an hour. The real reason I didn't however, was that I didn't think the teachers would be pleased to see me show up in class. They would mostly likely be annoyed that I was wasting their "valuable time" that they seem to have so little of. (Let's not get into how when the bell rings they sit around chatting until it's too late to put off going to class anymore. That's where a lot of their "valuable time" goes.)
That pretty much sums up my year. I always felt like I was in the way, or wasting their time. I'd like to leave the school with good memories of my co-workers, but every time I try it just falls flat. At least I'm going out with great memories of my students, and that's really the only part that matters.

However, since I have to be back at the school on Monday anyway, the teachers will just have to deal with me crashing their classes this time :)

5 Days Exploring Catalunya: Part 1

I just got back from a 6 day trip exploring Catalunya, and can I just say how happy I am I saved this for my final trip, instead of going earlier in the year. If I had gone any sooner, I would have spiraled down into a deep depression about what a sad city I have spent my last year in.

But thankfully, that didn't need to happen.
Instead, I'll only have to spend my last week in Algeciras really, truly hating the city.
So it could definitely be worse.

My friend Kaitlin and I met up in Girona last Thursday night.

The city was gorgeous, full of life and old architecture, and everything that Algeciras is not.

Thursday night we explored the city and splurged on fondue for dinner. Which is something I don't understand. First of all, we couldn't order it to share: we each had to order a separate serving. Secondly, a single serving of fondue should really be enough for 2-3 people. Thirdly, add that to the amount of bread needed to eat all the cheese, and we wound up feeling pretty sick that night. The whole idea of it just doesn't make sense...so apparently we have a lot of educating to do on the subject of fondue etiquette.

I loved all the medieval architecture and window decorations.

 Girona Cathedral

River-side houses.

Friday, we traded the big city for a small Costa Brava beach town, L'Estartit. There's not much to say for the town, except that it is a hotspot for those interested in exploring the Medes Islands. (Which we were.)

The Medes Islands are a group of 7 tiny islands just off the coast of northern Spain. The waters around them are protected by the Spanish government, so the number of boats, scuba divers and snorkelers allowed each day is carefully regulated. There is an incredible diversity of fish and plant life, and lots of underwater caves and tunnels to explore. These islands were my original reason for going to Costa Brava, for scuba diving. However, after some problems with my contact lenses, I had to "settle" for snorkeling instead.

The water was fuh-reezing so we had to wear wetsuits. 

The wetsuits made it easy to float, so instead of struggling to swim we could just float quietly and watch the fish swim by underneath. Or, if you're like me, you could dolphin-kick with the fins and chase after schools of fish like real dolphins do. It was so exhilarating! (I might have had a ridiculous amount too much fun doing this.) The guide caught my eye during the middle of this, laughed underwater, and gave me a huge thumbs up.

When I took the time to calm down, it was equally exhilarating to be as still as possible and watch all the little fish swim by in front of my goggles. In the words of our Dutch friend, "Look at all the fishes!!" (I love non-native English speakers!)

Speaking of our Dutch friend, we quickly befriended him on the boat, and before long he was offering us a place to stay if we ever made it out to Amsterdam. Awesome, right? Until Kaitlin and I left without getting a name or number. Fail. Just...........fail. That day will forever be remembered as the day we let Holland Man go. Dammit.

On Saturday, we went to explore another nearby town, Lloret de Mar. We knew absolutely nothing about this town before going, except that it had a really pretty garden that was highly recommended on Viator. So, when our bus dropped us off in the middle of this.............we were highly unprepared.

There are so many things wrong with this picture...should we start with Burger King and the Statue of Liberty?

Kaitlin and I called this place "the love child of Hollywood, Las Vegas and Cancun." That was the shortened version, anyway. 

Despite the strange beginnings, we did eventually find the garden. And it was worth it. 

From the garden, we looked down the coastline and found a small, rather hidden, pebble beach. The 20 minutes I spent swimming in the ocean was one of the most exhilarating, cleansing, refreshing feelings I've had in a while. There's nothing quite like a swell of icy cold salty ocean water knocking you off your feet to make you feel like a kid again. 

This was also the day Kaitlin and I checked 'visit a nude beach' off of our European to-do list. But it was actually more like: 'stumble accidently onto a nude beach and then run away with as much dignity as possible'. There were sooo many old naked man butts. Too many. 

To top off our spectacular weekend, we wound up getting surrounded by a group of kids pounding on drums in the middle of the town square back in Girona. We were just standing by watching, when all of a sudden the group dispersed and each kid grabbed the hand of somebody watching. They said "come on!" And then when we were in the circle and surrounded, they yelled "dance!" and started playing again. It was sheer madness, and one of the coolest things I've ever been a part of. And yes, those tall people are girls on stilts. Talk about talent!

Stay tuned for the last 2 days of the trip, after Kaitlin left and I did some exploring on my own!