 |
| Carnaval |
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Carnaval, Tapas and Intercambios
Hola a todos!! I hope everyone is doing well! Everything is going pretty well here! So let me give you an update on what's been going on! This past weekend was Carnaval here and it was a lot of fun! It is pretty much like Mardi Gras in the sense of partying hard before Lent. So everyone was out in the street drinking and living it up! Also, you're supposed to dress up. I was a hippie, but it kinda looks more like a flower child. Some of the costumes the locals wore were absolutely crazy. As you will see in my pictures, many men dressed like women and some costumes were just absurd and out there! It was such a cool experience. The only thing I didn't like was that there were 2 stages with live music and the one that my friends and I were at, they were playing really old American music, like "You ain't nothing but a hound dog" and songs like that. So we were like umm why are they playing this because no one but us knows what they're saying haha. It was kinda weird. It was just crazy to see the whole city out in the street. There were even families with their kids out. It was just a huge celebration for everyone of all ages.
A common thing here is something called Tapas, which are kinda like appetizers. There are so many different types of Tapas and I pretty much love them all. So I decided to take a 2 day class on how to make some of the main ones. It was really cool because we got to watch a chef make them and then we got to eat them when we were done! We were allowed to help make them if we wanted but I was sick for the first class and I didn't want to risk it for the second class, so I just watched. We got the recipes for them too, so I can try to make them when I come back home, or even make them for my future class! It was a lot of fun and a great way to experience the Spanish culture.
I have met up with my intercambios 2 more times since my last post and every time we have a good time together. It is just really cool actually having Spanish friends that you can talk to and hold conversations with. We keep making all of these plans that we want to do as a group, like go to Vikky's campo (little country house) and eat Paella, or go to the beach and play volleyball, or go out to the barrio. They are really easy to talk to you and it is so great being able to practice Spanish with them. I'm really glad that I got Vikky and Isa because a lot of people have not been able to meet up with their intercambios, so I'm really lucky.
This weekend we are going to Madrid!! I'm so excited! I will take lots of pictures and tell you guys all about it when I get back! And here are my upcoming trips:
March 6-7: Granada, Spain
March 12-15: London, England
March 18: Valencia, Spain
March 19-21: Basel, Switzerland
It's gonna be a busy month, but I'm so ready to travel and see more of the world!! I miss everyone so much!! Muchos besos!! (Many kisses)
A common thing here is something called Tapas, which are kinda like appetizers. There are so many different types of Tapas and I pretty much love them all. So I decided to take a 2 day class on how to make some of the main ones. It was really cool because we got to watch a chef make them and then we got to eat them when we were done! We were allowed to help make them if we wanted but I was sick for the first class and I didn't want to risk it for the second class, so I just watched. We got the recipes for them too, so I can try to make them when I come back home, or even make them for my future class! It was a lot of fun and a great way to experience the Spanish culture.
I have met up with my intercambios 2 more times since my last post and every time we have a good time together. It is just really cool actually having Spanish friends that you can talk to and hold conversations with. We keep making all of these plans that we want to do as a group, like go to Vikky's campo (little country house) and eat Paella, or go to the beach and play volleyball, or go out to the barrio. They are really easy to talk to you and it is so great being able to practice Spanish with them. I'm really glad that I got Vikky and Isa because a lot of people have not been able to meet up with their intercambios, so I'm really lucky.
This weekend we are going to Madrid!! I'm so excited! I will take lots of pictures and tell you guys all about it when I get back! And here are my upcoming trips:
March 6-7: Granada, Spain
March 12-15: London, England
March 18: Valencia, Spain
March 19-21: Basel, Switzerland
It's gonna be a busy month, but I'm so ready to travel and see more of the world!! I miss everyone so much!! Muchos besos!! (Many kisses)
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
¡Gracias, San Valentín!
Happy late Valentine´s Day to everyone!! Mine was different over here. Apparently it´s mainly just celebrated by couples, so my familia didn´t have anything for me. It was weird because usually my mom gives all of us kids goodie bags and cards and stuff like that. I got my familia a card and Amy´s one too. I think they appreciated the gesture. It was kind of a depressing day for me, because it really made me miss home and being with everyone on Valentine´s Day. I was pretty bummed. Plus, I´m sorta coming down with something. I barely have a voice and I don´t really feel like myself. Also, Ivan and Noelia came back from their honeymoon and they had tons of gifts for everyone, except me. I mean, yeah, I shouldn´t expect anything, but I was invited to the wedding, and I´m supposed to be part of the family. So not even getting something small made me feel really left out, and I knew that if I was at home, I would be getting tons of little gifts. So yeah...pretty depressing, but don´t worry it got better...
That night, we had the chance to go to a Hércules soccer game, which is Alicante´s team. We were supposed to go as a group, but we were never given a time or a place to meet to buy the tickets, so Amy and I just took the bus there and made our way to the stadium. We asked someone where to buy tickets and they told us to go to the other side of the stadium. So we did that and decided to ask a security guard where to go from there. He said just wait a second...and he dug in his pocket and pulled out 2 tickets!! And we were like oooh mannn!! Gracias!! And he said it was because of Saint Valentine and that he was in love with us (that is something normal to say over here, so we just laughed it off). So we took our free tickets and made our way inside. We actually scored some pretty good seats, like 10 or so rows from the field. The game was so much fun. We missed the first goal they scored because we were outside, as well as the other team´s first goal. It was just crazy being around all of the crazy Spaniards. My dad would have fit right in because if they didn´t like a call or something bad happened, they would all do a sharp, shrill whistle. And of course there was lots of chanting. We would clap along and chant but we weren´t sure what they were saying sometimes. They also handed out blue and white carnations to all of the girls, and luckily we were able to get them! We took lots of pictures and I will have them up on here soon. Hércules ended up winning 4-2!! Champeones!! Champeones!! I definitely want to go to another game, and I want a Hércules scarf and t shirt too!!
So even though it started out crappy, I had a good Valentine´s Day with my free tix and some great soccer! Tonight, me and Amy are going with our madres to see Australia! I´m pretty excited!
That night, we had the chance to go to a Hércules soccer game, which is Alicante´s team. We were supposed to go as a group, but we were never given a time or a place to meet to buy the tickets, so Amy and I just took the bus there and made our way to the stadium. We asked someone where to buy tickets and they told us to go to the other side of the stadium. So we did that and decided to ask a security guard where to go from there. He said just wait a second...and he dug in his pocket and pulled out 2 tickets!! And we were like oooh mannn!! Gracias!! And he said it was because of Saint Valentine and that he was in love with us (that is something normal to say over here, so we just laughed it off). So we took our free tickets and made our way inside. We actually scored some pretty good seats, like 10 or so rows from the field. The game was so much fun. We missed the first goal they scored because we were outside, as well as the other team´s first goal. It was just crazy being around all of the crazy Spaniards. My dad would have fit right in because if they didn´t like a call or something bad happened, they would all do a sharp, shrill whistle. And of course there was lots of chanting. We would clap along and chant but we weren´t sure what they were saying sometimes. They also handed out blue and white carnations to all of the girls, and luckily we were able to get them! We took lots of pictures and I will have them up on here soon. Hércules ended up winning 4-2!! Champeones!! Champeones!! I definitely want to go to another game, and I want a Hércules scarf and t shirt too!!
So even though it started out crappy, I had a good Valentine´s Day with my free tix and some great soccer! Tonight, me and Amy are going with our madres to see Australia! I´m pretty excited!
Friday, February 13, 2009
I could become a movie star. . .
¡Hola everyone! I hope you are having a great Friday the 13th! Here´s a fun fact for you, over here, the unlucky day is Tuesday the 13th. So there you go! I´ve had a pretty good week filled with classes and good food! I´m enjoying most of my classes, but one of them is pretty boring and hard to get through usually. It´s still been pretty windy here, so that puts a damper on things. Recently, a production crew for an upcoming movie (probably just a low budget movie that will go straight to dvd) called Mr. Nice, came to Alicante University looking for Americans that are willing to be extras in the movie! They said they were looking for California girls, beach type girls, cops and people like that. And we were all like yeah why not!! So we filled out our information and they took a picture of each one of us. I´m not sure when we´ll know if they´re gonna use us. I´m not holding my breath, because I have dark hair, so I don´t really fit the California girl, but I do have a good chance of being in it because they said they could use all of us. So I could potentially become a movie star...haha.
Another exciting thing this week was that we got our "intercambios", which are Spanish students from the University that pretty much become our friends. They help us with our Spanish, and we help them with their English. It´s a good deal. I got 2 girls in my group, Isabel and Victoria. They are both 21, like me, and they are both from Alicante. Their English is pretty good, but they said that my Spanish was better. I was pretty flattered by that haha. After we got to know them and asked some ice breaker questions, they wanted to know if we wanted to hang out that night! We were like sure!! I was so excited that these girls genuinely wanted to be our friends! So we met up with them later that night at a pub for some drinks. We spent half of our time speaking Spanish and the other half speaking English. It was so much fun, and they are really nice girls. When we were done, we scheduled to meet up again another day! I am so happy that this is working out, because it´s really going to help me with my language development. I´m really looking forward to spending more time with Isabel and Victoria.
Tomorrow, we are going to a Hercules soccer game, which is Alicante´s team. I´m really excited because I know it´s gonna be a lot of fun. Right now I´m in the process of planning a trip to London and a trip to Switzerland!! I really hope everything works out! I hope everyone has a great Día de San Valentín!!
Another exciting thing this week was that we got our "intercambios", which are Spanish students from the University that pretty much become our friends. They help us with our Spanish, and we help them with their English. It´s a good deal. I got 2 girls in my group, Isabel and Victoria. They are both 21, like me, and they are both from Alicante. Their English is pretty good, but they said that my Spanish was better. I was pretty flattered by that haha. After we got to know them and asked some ice breaker questions, they wanted to know if we wanted to hang out that night! We were like sure!! I was so excited that these girls genuinely wanted to be our friends! So we met up with them later that night at a pub for some drinks. We spent half of our time speaking Spanish and the other half speaking English. It was so much fun, and they are really nice girls. When we were done, we scheduled to meet up again another day! I am so happy that this is working out, because it´s really going to help me with my language development. I´m really looking forward to spending more time with Isabel and Victoria.
Tomorrow, we are going to a Hercules soccer game, which is Alicante´s team. I´m really excited because I know it´s gonna be a lot of fun. Right now I´m in the process of planning a trip to London and a trip to Switzerland!! I really hope everything works out! I hope everyone has a great Día de San Valentín!!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Tons of new stuff!
So I just posted all of my pictures, which turned out to be 8 albums and I also wrote a new post! Make sure you check everything out! Enjoy!
Museo, Murcia, and Altea!
On Wednesday, a few of us went to the Mueso de Hogueras, which is the Museum of the Bonfires. It's a museum dedicated to their biggest celebration of the year which is la Fiesta de Hogueras. What happens is people, artists of course, create these huge works of art in the shape of people from wood and other materials. They can be stories high. There are smaller ones for the kids too. The festival is from June 19th-24th, and it just a week long of partying. They parade these floats down the streets and on the last day of the celebration, they light them on fire! I will come back some day to see it!
On Friday, we had a day trip to Murcia, which is a little over an hour south of Alicante. It was a really beautiful city with accents of an old European city that are so great to see. We had a full day of activities. First, we went to the Cathedral which was so big and it had so many details in its decoration. Our tour guide took us inside the Cathedral which was pretty cool and explained the history behind it. It was really interesting because Alicante doesn't really have a Cathedral like that. After spending a couple hours at the Cathedral, we went to a museum that was built around some of the remains of the old Arabian wall that surrounded the city hundreds of years ago. We actually got to be in a room with the wall all around us. Of course I had to touch it. It was a really cool museum, but it was hard for all of us to pay attention because we were starving to death. My friends and I ate lunch on a set of steps outside one of the doors of the Cathedral. The sun was shining and finally our bellies were full. Then we were on a mission to find a cute cafe for some dessert and coffee (hot chocolate for me). We ended up at this cute place that had delicious crepes. After the cafe, the group walked around the city to the river which was also beautiful. We made our way to another little museum that was filled with bull fighting stuff. It even had bull heads mounted on the wall which was kinda weird but I liked it...sorry mom...lol. It was really cool seeing all the different pictures from bull fights and all of the matadors and their costumes that they wear. After that museum, we went to one final museum that had parade floats that were of Jesus' last days. The statue things were carved out of wood and they looked so real. They parade them around during Semana Santa, which is the week of Easter. It was a really interesting museum, but sadly, we weren't allowed to take pictures. And, of course, right when we got in there, I looked up at the ceiling and was like oooh man, I want to take a picture so bad. You would have been dying mom haha. Overall it was a really cool trip and a beautiful city.
On Saturday, me and 3 other friends went to Altea for the day. It was around an hour south from Alicante, and that's actually close to where my family is staying when they visit me, remember mom? Right when we got off the tram, we immediately walked to the beach and we were in awe. It was so beautiful. The water was greenish blue and it just looked perfect. Of course there were palm trees everywhere. And the beach was made up of white pebbles. It was so sunny and we couldn't stop staring at everything. It was just too cool. We wandered around the main street by the beach that had tons of places to eat and was filled with British people on holiday, so it was funny to hear a lot of English being spoken for a change. We decided to find the famous church with the blue top, so we started walking around the city. We took a lot of back roads that had all those cool alley ways that everyone loves. We finally hiked up to the top and it was so beautiful. The view from the top was incredible too. You could just see forever. We stood there for a while because we couldn't look away. After that, we decided to stop at a cafe. Well, we picked one and sat down and they handed us the menus and we realized that we didn't want anything on it. So we decided that we were gonna make our escape when the waitress left. So when she did we quick grabbed our stuff and didn't look back. We then went into a French cafe that looked pretty cute. We asked for some Goffres and some crepes and we decided to get cocktails because that's just what you do in Spain. Well, the drinks were pretty strong, so every time we took a sip, we would each make a face, and then we would chase it with our desserts haha. It was pretty funny. After that, we went back to the beach to wait for the next tram. We threw pebbles in the sea and listened to the water against the pebbles. It was pretty much the best sound in the world haha. It was a great day trip and we all want to come back when it's warmer!
On Friday, we had a day trip to Murcia, which is a little over an hour south of Alicante. It was a really beautiful city with accents of an old European city that are so great to see. We had a full day of activities. First, we went to the Cathedral which was so big and it had so many details in its decoration. Our tour guide took us inside the Cathedral which was pretty cool and explained the history behind it. It was really interesting because Alicante doesn't really have a Cathedral like that. After spending a couple hours at the Cathedral, we went to a museum that was built around some of the remains of the old Arabian wall that surrounded the city hundreds of years ago. We actually got to be in a room with the wall all around us. Of course I had to touch it. It was a really cool museum, but it was hard for all of us to pay attention because we were starving to death. My friends and I ate lunch on a set of steps outside one of the doors of the Cathedral. The sun was shining and finally our bellies were full. Then we were on a mission to find a cute cafe for some dessert and coffee (hot chocolate for me). We ended up at this cute place that had delicious crepes. After the cafe, the group walked around the city to the river which was also beautiful. We made our way to another little museum that was filled with bull fighting stuff. It even had bull heads mounted on the wall which was kinda weird but I liked it...sorry mom...lol. It was really cool seeing all the different pictures from bull fights and all of the matadors and their costumes that they wear. After that museum, we went to one final museum that had parade floats that were of Jesus' last days. The statue things were carved out of wood and they looked so real. They parade them around during Semana Santa, which is the week of Easter. It was a really interesting museum, but sadly, we weren't allowed to take pictures. And, of course, right when we got in there, I looked up at the ceiling and was like oooh man, I want to take a picture so bad. You would have been dying mom haha. Overall it was a really cool trip and a beautiful city.
On Saturday, me and 3 other friends went to Altea for the day. It was around an hour south from Alicante, and that's actually close to where my family is staying when they visit me, remember mom? Right when we got off the tram, we immediately walked to the beach and we were in awe. It was so beautiful. The water was greenish blue and it just looked perfect. Of course there were palm trees everywhere. And the beach was made up of white pebbles. It was so sunny and we couldn't stop staring at everything. It was just too cool. We wandered around the main street by the beach that had tons of places to eat and was filled with British people on holiday, so it was funny to hear a lot of English being spoken for a change. We decided to find the famous church with the blue top, so we started walking around the city. We took a lot of back roads that had all those cool alley ways that everyone loves. We finally hiked up to the top and it was so beautiful. The view from the top was incredible too. You could just see forever. We stood there for a while because we couldn't look away. After that, we decided to stop at a cafe. Well, we picked one and sat down and they handed us the menus and we realized that we didn't want anything on it. So we decided that we were gonna make our escape when the waitress left. So when she did we quick grabbed our stuff and didn't look back. We then went into a French cafe that looked pretty cute. We asked for some Goffres and some crepes and we decided to get cocktails because that's just what you do in Spain. Well, the drinks were pretty strong, so every time we took a sip, we would each make a face, and then we would chase it with our desserts haha. It was pretty funny. After that, we went back to the beach to wait for the next tram. We threw pebbles in the sea and listened to the water against the pebbles. It was pretty much the best sound in the world haha. It was a great day trip and we all want to come back when it's warmer!
Monday, February 2, 2009
My abuela tried to run away...
Today took an interesting turn for sort of the worst. I started doing my homework and my grandma who is really old and has Alzheimer's came into my room to talk to me. Usually when we talk, I just nod my head and smile, because she is hard to understand sometimes. But today, I understood her. She asked me if I was going anywhere and I told her that Amy and I were going to an Internet Cafe. She asked when and I said 6:30 because I figured we were just making conversation. She asked to come with me and I said oh...I don't know. She said that she would pay for herself. Then she asked me about going to the beach and stuff like that. Eventually she walked out of my room and into her room but left my door slightly cracked open. Then I heard the front door shut and both me and my madre got up and walked into the hallway and realized that she escaped! My madre ran out and meanwhile my abuela made her way downstairs and out another door, but there is also a gate that she would have to open to actually get out. It was so crazy because she just wanted to get out. For the next hour Amy, my madre and I had to babysit her and make sure she didn't try to leave again, which she did but we stopped her. She gave herself away because she would have her coat in her hands. She just kept asking Amy and I to take her with us wherever we were going. We kept telling her that we weren't going anywhere because we had homework. She asked us if we knew where the bus goes and if we could take her there but we said no that we had to stay here. And then when we left to go to the cafe, she was right behind us trying to get out. I just felt so bad because she didn't want to listen to my madre and she was so confused as to why she couldn't leave. It was a crazy night, and needless to say, I couldn't do my homework during that time because I was on Grandma watch. Yeah, I thought that she was my great grandma, but the lady that I thought was my grandma is my padre's sister. It was just another crazy day in Spain, but any advice on how to deal with her because I know that Poppy had Alzheimer's too. And my abuela always asks me where I live and if I am going home to my mom, and I always tell her that I live here and that I'm from the United States. It's kinda hard because I don't know how to handle people that are losing it. And my madre was pretty frazzled too, and she thinks it was because she gave my abuela too much coffee haha. Who knows. Now I know I just have to keep an eye out just in case she goes A wall again!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
A Wedding to Remember: Enlace Iván y Noelia
This wedding was by far the best wedding I have ever been to. The fun actually didn´t start on the wedding day, but the night before the wedding. I was in the computer room around maybe 11ish and I was pretty tired, so I was getting ready to go to bed soon. But then I heard some loud voices and it didn´t seem like it was coming from the tv or the radio. And then I heard some commotion in the living room and so I came out to see what was going on and everyone was looking outside, which was where the loud voices were coming from. When I looked out the window, it was Iván, my hermana Noelia´s fiance, singing to her, which a big group of their friends and her family. There were guys playing guitar and everyone was singing. Iván was even wearing a cape haha. He also had a huge bouquet of flowers for her. They also set up a small canon of fireworks that just shoot out sparklers. It was sooo cute. She couldn´t believe it and she kept saying "the neighbors the neighbors!" because it was late haha. When they were done singing, they all came upstairs to our apartment! Right then, my madre and my aunt-in-law, went right into party mode. They moved the table and pulled it out to make it bigger, put tablecloths down and cookies out. When the whole group came upstairs, they were still singing and playing their guitars. And they brought tons of food too! By this time, it was around 11:30 and the party was just getting started. Noelia was just so surprised. People stayed til after 12 and then we cleaned everything up.
Then came the wedding day!! I got ready and showered at Amy´s apartment, which is the next door down, so that I wouldn´t be in the way. I heard people up before 7 and hair and makeup people were coming at 8:30, and the wedding started at 12. So I got out of that chaos pretty quick. When I finally came back, Noelia had her dress on and was in the living room taking pictures. She looked so beautiful with everything put together. And don´t worry, I will get my pictures up as soon as I can. When we got to the church, we sat in the middle section, and thanks to my crazy mom and her brainwashing...I mean...great parenting, I made sure I got an aisle seat so that I could try to get the best pictures (and I was in the second row mom. Thanks for making me a picture freak too). The church was really beautiful. Simply decorated too. And to the right, there was a section where people sit if they want to sing. There was a projector that put up pictures of them and lyrics to songs. There were also guitar players. All of the songs were great. They talked about how the party is here and sharing love and songs about praising God. During the ceremony, her brothers and one of her brother´s wife (who helped a lot during the wedding) read selections from the Bible. Also, the minister talked about their love story, and some of the younger family members came out with cartoon pictures that illustrated what he said. It was so cute, and then he talked about what brought them together and what they have in common, and each kid flipped their heart paper and some of them said music or God and things like that. And then when 2 people started singing, we heard a lot of little kid voices singing too, and in walked the class of students that she teaches, all holding paper hearts. That´s when Noelia started crying because she was so surprised and happy that they were all there. Then some of them said a little blurb about love. And I hate to admit this because my mom is gonna hate me but....I didn´t get a picture of the kiss. But it wasn´t my fault!! I had my camera up and everything and they did a super quick one! You would have been really mad mom, and had them re-do it later haha. They also had their first communion together as a married couple and everyone else did it too...except for the 3 American girls that stuck out like sore thumbs haha. The last thing they did was sign their marriage license. Then the craziness started...PICTURES. It was a mad house. There were so many people, and the photographer didn´t really organize them. He just kinda had them get close and then snapped it...maybe you shouldn´t read this part mom, because you might go crazy. But like some people had their coats on and some people weren´t paying attention, or they were too far back in the line up so you couldn´t really see their face that well. It was definitely different from our photo sessions. Once the pictures were done, we all went outside and threw rice at the novios. Now it´s time to party!
The reception was at a restaurant right on the sea. There was glass, so you could see the water and the castle too. We all started with appetizers and drinks. There were too butchers cutting a leg of a pig, and that meat is called jamón serano, which is just a salty ham, but I don´t like the taste. There´s actually a leg of a pig just hanging out in my kitchen. I will take a picture of it to show you guys what I´m talking about. The apetizers were soooo good. I sat at a table with my 2 hermanos and their wives, one of the wives´ mom and a cousin and his wife...I think. The photographer was going around to each table and taking pictures of the couples and I felt left out because I know I´m not a real part of the family, I am for the time being. So after all the couples got their pictures taken, my one hermano, "Francie", asked the photographer to take a picture of him and I and that made me really happy. He actually comes to our house every day for lunch. So that made me feel better. The food was good but it was really different. I tried everything and I kinda liked it, but it´s just tricky have a couple different tastes and flavors in your mouth. With most of it, I would eat half. Francie kept hounding me because he said I wasn´t eating anything, and I kept telling him that I eat, I just don´t like salad or the taste of something. I ate all of the main meal though, which looked like a pork fajita or somethng. The dessert was really good too. They didn´t cut a cake though. Instead, they had a chocolate fountain which was sooo good. While we were eating, if we wanted the novios to kiss, everyone would start chanting "que se bese" which means that they kiss. And then they would count how many seconds they would kiss for and everyone would be oooing and awwwing and shouting. They would also scream "Viva los novios" or "Viva el novio" or "Viva la novia" and they all mean long live the couple, groom or bride. Also, the people at my table were crazy. They associated my name with Hollywood, and they wanted to know what the words Holly and wood meant in spanish, so I just said that holly is like a little tree and wood is like the trunk of the tree. And then the joke was that they were going to go to Hollywood and stuff. Oh and like every other Spaniard, when they asked me where I was from and I said Pennsylvania they said "Oh!! Like Dracula!!" and I´m like noooo, that´s Transylvania, and they were like oooooh hahahha. And I was like yeah....haha. Also, like every wedding, there was a creeper that like us American girls and he even asked for a picture with me, like I was an American novelty or something. But I don´t even look that foreign but whatever...haha.
Then the party really started...DANCING! And let me tell you, the Spaniards in my familia are crazzzzzy. Everyone was dancing. My other brother even brought my great grandma out on the dance floor. It was so cute. She looked like she was having a lot of fun. All of the guys were doing a bunch of crazy dance moves with each other and it was hilarious to watch. Like one of them would be doing something one way, and another would do it the other direction. They would also dance really close to each other like right up against each other and in each other´s faces haha. It was actually really funny. Even my padres were dancing. I danced with my hermanos and my padres. It was so much fun because you could dance however you wanted because you knew that the guys were doing crazier stuff than you! And the music was great because 90% of it was actual Spanish music which was great. I was hoping to catch the bouquet but of course there was an even taller girl that me who caught it because she didn´t even have to jump. Cheater. The gifts they passed out were cigars and chocolate for the guys and herb type stuff and cigarettes for the ladies, which I thought that that was kinda weird to give cigarettes as a gift, but everyone smokes in Europe so it´s not that big of a deal. Also, one of their friends put together a little powerpoint of pictures of Iván and Noelia throughout the years. There were some really cute baby pictures. And he also had pictures and videos of the bachelor and bachelorette parties. The girls went out to a bar and the guys went up to the mountains. Iván wore a batman costume for most of the party weekend which was really funny. It was so nice of their friend to put something like that together for them. We danced like fools until 8, and then the party moved to a bar type place for more dancing and drinking!
The bar was a lot of fun too because Iván and Noelia were dancing with everyone. She really got her wear out of her dress. Francie bought a Piña Colada for me which was pretty good and we danced the night away. It was such a fun atmosphere. Around 10:30ish or something, Iván and Noelia said that they wanted to get something to eat and we could all come, so of course I wanted to so we went to a place around the corner. Many tables had to be pushed together on the patio and they even turned on a heater thing that was thankfully set by me so I was nice and toasty. We all ate tapas which were sooooo good. And we talked and laughed and had a really good time. Around midnight we called it a night and the novios made their way back to the hotel, and I got home around 1.
The wedding was one of the highlights of my life, because I feel that it brought me closer to my family than the other students in the program. I was able to just relax and let loose around them and have a good time. I am now dreading any American weddings that I have to go to because they can´t compare to this. It was just a different atmosphere and we were able to spend so much time with Iván and Noelia. It seemed like an actual celebration instead of just a boring wedding that you are only going to for the free meal. Also, there was no chicken dance, the macarena, electric slide or any other lame dance song. It was all salsa sounding music that was great to dance to. I just loved it, and now I want my wedding to only have Spanish guests because they know how to throw a good wedding. I am just so glad that Noelia let me come and be a part of her special day because it was amazing. It was definitely a wedding to remember. Viva los novios!!
Then came the wedding day!! I got ready and showered at Amy´s apartment, which is the next door down, so that I wouldn´t be in the way. I heard people up before 7 and hair and makeup people were coming at 8:30, and the wedding started at 12. So I got out of that chaos pretty quick. When I finally came back, Noelia had her dress on and was in the living room taking pictures. She looked so beautiful with everything put together. And don´t worry, I will get my pictures up as soon as I can. When we got to the church, we sat in the middle section, and thanks to my crazy mom and her brainwashing...I mean...great parenting, I made sure I got an aisle seat so that I could try to get the best pictures (and I was in the second row mom. Thanks for making me a picture freak too). The church was really beautiful. Simply decorated too. And to the right, there was a section where people sit if they want to sing. There was a projector that put up pictures of them and lyrics to songs. There were also guitar players. All of the songs were great. They talked about how the party is here and sharing love and songs about praising God. During the ceremony, her brothers and one of her brother´s wife (who helped a lot during the wedding) read selections from the Bible. Also, the minister talked about their love story, and some of the younger family members came out with cartoon pictures that illustrated what he said. It was so cute, and then he talked about what brought them together and what they have in common, and each kid flipped their heart paper and some of them said music or God and things like that. And then when 2 people started singing, we heard a lot of little kid voices singing too, and in walked the class of students that she teaches, all holding paper hearts. That´s when Noelia started crying because she was so surprised and happy that they were all there. Then some of them said a little blurb about love. And I hate to admit this because my mom is gonna hate me but....I didn´t get a picture of the kiss. But it wasn´t my fault!! I had my camera up and everything and they did a super quick one! You would have been really mad mom, and had them re-do it later haha. They also had their first communion together as a married couple and everyone else did it too...except for the 3 American girls that stuck out like sore thumbs haha. The last thing they did was sign their marriage license. Then the craziness started...PICTURES. It was a mad house. There were so many people, and the photographer didn´t really organize them. He just kinda had them get close and then snapped it...maybe you shouldn´t read this part mom, because you might go crazy. But like some people had their coats on and some people weren´t paying attention, or they were too far back in the line up so you couldn´t really see their face that well. It was definitely different from our photo sessions. Once the pictures were done, we all went outside and threw rice at the novios. Now it´s time to party!
The reception was at a restaurant right on the sea. There was glass, so you could see the water and the castle too. We all started with appetizers and drinks. There were too butchers cutting a leg of a pig, and that meat is called jamón serano, which is just a salty ham, but I don´t like the taste. There´s actually a leg of a pig just hanging out in my kitchen. I will take a picture of it to show you guys what I´m talking about. The apetizers were soooo good. I sat at a table with my 2 hermanos and their wives, one of the wives´ mom and a cousin and his wife...I think. The photographer was going around to each table and taking pictures of the couples and I felt left out because I know I´m not a real part of the family, I am for the time being. So after all the couples got their pictures taken, my one hermano, "Francie", asked the photographer to take a picture of him and I and that made me really happy. He actually comes to our house every day for lunch. So that made me feel better. The food was good but it was really different. I tried everything and I kinda liked it, but it´s just tricky have a couple different tastes and flavors in your mouth. With most of it, I would eat half. Francie kept hounding me because he said I wasn´t eating anything, and I kept telling him that I eat, I just don´t like salad or the taste of something. I ate all of the main meal though, which looked like a pork fajita or somethng. The dessert was really good too. They didn´t cut a cake though. Instead, they had a chocolate fountain which was sooo good. While we were eating, if we wanted the novios to kiss, everyone would start chanting "que se bese" which means that they kiss. And then they would count how many seconds they would kiss for and everyone would be oooing and awwwing and shouting. They would also scream "Viva los novios" or "Viva el novio" or "Viva la novia" and they all mean long live the couple, groom or bride. Also, the people at my table were crazy. They associated my name with Hollywood, and they wanted to know what the words Holly and wood meant in spanish, so I just said that holly is like a little tree and wood is like the trunk of the tree. And then the joke was that they were going to go to Hollywood and stuff. Oh and like every other Spaniard, when they asked me where I was from and I said Pennsylvania they said "Oh!! Like Dracula!!" and I´m like noooo, that´s Transylvania, and they were like oooooh hahahha. And I was like yeah....haha. Also, like every wedding, there was a creeper that like us American girls and he even asked for a picture with me, like I was an American novelty or something. But I don´t even look that foreign but whatever...haha.
Then the party really started...DANCING! And let me tell you, the Spaniards in my familia are crazzzzzy. Everyone was dancing. My other brother even brought my great grandma out on the dance floor. It was so cute. She looked like she was having a lot of fun. All of the guys were doing a bunch of crazy dance moves with each other and it was hilarious to watch. Like one of them would be doing something one way, and another would do it the other direction. They would also dance really close to each other like right up against each other and in each other´s faces haha. It was actually really funny. Even my padres were dancing. I danced with my hermanos and my padres. It was so much fun because you could dance however you wanted because you knew that the guys were doing crazier stuff than you! And the music was great because 90% of it was actual Spanish music which was great. I was hoping to catch the bouquet but of course there was an even taller girl that me who caught it because she didn´t even have to jump. Cheater. The gifts they passed out were cigars and chocolate for the guys and herb type stuff and cigarettes for the ladies, which I thought that that was kinda weird to give cigarettes as a gift, but everyone smokes in Europe so it´s not that big of a deal. Also, one of their friends put together a little powerpoint of pictures of Iván and Noelia throughout the years. There were some really cute baby pictures. And he also had pictures and videos of the bachelor and bachelorette parties. The girls went out to a bar and the guys went up to the mountains. Iván wore a batman costume for most of the party weekend which was really funny. It was so nice of their friend to put something like that together for them. We danced like fools until 8, and then the party moved to a bar type place for more dancing and drinking!
The bar was a lot of fun too because Iván and Noelia were dancing with everyone. She really got her wear out of her dress. Francie bought a Piña Colada for me which was pretty good and we danced the night away. It was such a fun atmosphere. Around 10:30ish or something, Iván and Noelia said that they wanted to get something to eat and we could all come, so of course I wanted to so we went to a place around the corner. Many tables had to be pushed together on the patio and they even turned on a heater thing that was thankfully set by me so I was nice and toasty. We all ate tapas which were sooooo good. And we talked and laughed and had a really good time. Around midnight we called it a night and the novios made their way back to the hotel, and I got home around 1.
The wedding was one of the highlights of my life, because I feel that it brought me closer to my family than the other students in the program. I was able to just relax and let loose around them and have a good time. I am now dreading any American weddings that I have to go to because they can´t compare to this. It was just a different atmosphere and we were able to spend so much time with Iván and Noelia. It seemed like an actual celebration instead of just a boring wedding that you are only going to for the free meal. Also, there was no chicken dance, the macarena, electric slide or any other lame dance song. It was all salsa sounding music that was great to dance to. I just loved it, and now I want my wedding to only have Spanish guests because they know how to throw a good wedding. I am just so glad that Noelia let me come and be a part of her special day because it was amazing. It was definitely a wedding to remember. Viva los novios!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
