Ultra Española!

Madrid. It is the epicenter of all things Spanish. I took a bus there last weekend and it was like stepping into the pages of my high school Spanish textbook. On a visit to Madrid, one of the first places you must go is to the Puerta del Sol (Gate of the Sun). This plaza is the very center of the city.  Since Madrileños name the center of their city after the sun, I enjoy ascribing them an egotistical nature that may or may an accurate portrayal of the people of this city. I like to pretend that all things Spanishy radiate from this plaza. Spilling over into Plaza Mayor,  through old alleys to get to the Palacio Real and from there bursting in all directions across Spain and finally across the Atlantic. I humor myself and join the Madrileños for a weekend of believing that it is the sun of Puerta del Sol that has led to the 350 million Spanish speakers of the world today.

I was privelidged to spend my weekend with some Madrid experts. I stayed with friend Hailey, who is on her second year of being a Language Assistant there and was able to meet up with an old Madrileña roommate who had just moved back home. We bypassed the famous museums and other tourist sites in favor of a weekend of tapas, dancing, and wandering. Here are some of the places my guides took me. If  you ever get to make the pilgrimage of the center of the Spanish world- these are the places where you can have some quality fun- only after paying homage to el Sol of course.

My first stop en Madrid was El Tigre. Madrid is famous for its Tapas bars. Unlike in the the Basque Country, it is customary to get a complementary, small plate of food (tapa) when you order a drink. The reason El Tigre is so amazing is that they give complementary , LARGE plates of food. Hailey and I both ordered tintos de verano (red wine with fanta) for 3€. Our prize was a bottom layer of Paellla, toped with chorizo, bread, tortilla, jamón, and something similar to chicken wings. Apart from the food, it also has everything you would want out of a Spanish bar. It is loud, crowded, and smokey.  If you look below you the floor is covered with used napkins and above you there are large pig legs hanging from the ceiling- waiting to be eaten. What a happy place.

After being treated so kindly at El Tigre, we still thought we deserved something sweet to celebrate my arrival to Madrid. San Gines was our answer. I have have previously spoken of Spain’s churros con chocolate. This is a restaurant completely devoted to this decadent treat. Best part- it is open 24/7. Churros for breakfast, lunch, and dinner- and for your 4am post-going-out snack (which is when I usually want them).

Eating in Madrid should be your priority- so here are a few more places. La Soberbia- enjoyed a group dinner here. Friendly atmosphere and and “puntas de solomillo” to die for (pork tenderloin in sweet mustard sauce). Naturbier- Here is some of the best Spanish-made beer you can find. Naturally brewed in-house. Two options “la tostada” (dark) and “la rubia” (light). I enjoyed both.  Casa Granada – amazing restaurant on the top floor overlooking central Madrid. It is minimally advertised and you must ring the doorbell to be let up. This made me feel special. My last taste of madrid was in Café Anticafé. It is an underground, rebellious little place that serves a great blackberry milkshake.

So what did I do besides eat in Madrid?? Well, not much, but I did dance my Saturday night away at Sol y Sombra. I also went window shopping along calle Fuencarral. Apparently this street is the gay/indie/underground hub. My old roommate took me to the Mercado de Fuencarrel.  She described it as the “centro comercial no comercial.” Great place for Spanish urban style. Finally, even with all the food and dance merriment, we were able to make it to church on Sunday. Hailey goes to The Community Church of Madrid. It is an international church. It was so refreshing to be able to worship in English with the ex-pats of Madrid.

My journey to the Spanish sun was an absolute success. I hope to continue making trips there- so feel free to let me know your recommendations for how to eat, shop, dance and worship in the most Spanish city there is.

 

Protests witnessed while on the way to the supermarket.

Twice, while trying to go grocery shopping, I ran into massive manifestations. It is very eery walking outside and hearing hundreds of people chanting in deep-voiced Basque. If you have heard Basque before, you can probabaly imagine why sounds so unsettling. Slowly my ears are becoming more atuned to the rhythm of this language. Back when I saw these protests- the language was still in the “this must be how aliens talk” stage in my brain.

Realizing that the drone noises were just coming from my friendly neighborhood Basque independence supporters, I started snapping pictures.

Note the guy with the mullet and the woman with the very short bangs. Hairstyles of choice for many young Basques. I live in mullet country.

As a foreigner here, I never talk about issues of independence and Basque politics. It is a touchy subject on which I do not have a right to give an opinion. Since it is rarely spoken of around me, I easily forget it is even an issue. Then I walk outside and hear hundreds of families and friends chanting in unison, and I am reminded of the deeply felt sentiments that are still molding Basque society.

 

Happy food moments of the last few weeks.

Lately, food has been bringing me and unhealthy amount of happiness. My friends and I have truly been taking on the principal “eat to live”. Here are a few major food events of the last few weeks.

El Pavo

It was incredible. A group of American girls I know threw a big Thanksgiving dinner. The told the guests to only bring a bottle of wine and managed to put everything else together themselves!. The most impressive part, was the turkey. Buying and roasting an entire turkey is unheard of here. They had to special order it from the carneceria (meat store). The butcher thought they were crazy. It was a ten kilo bird that barely fit into the oven by tying its legs together with dental floss. It was all worth the effort though because it fed 15 guest some a moist, flavorful main course.

REAL pumpkin pie!!

Over here, real pumpkins do not exist. The entire population of spain has been led to believe that butternut squash are actually pumpkins. They do not distinguish between the two. My friends were able to get some pumpkin from the States to make pie. Diedra and I are so happy in this picture because since Halloween we had been complaining daily about living through Fall without pumpkins. Iker (spanish) and Martin (british) are about to find out what they have been missing out on for their entire lives.

Christmas and hot spiced wine!

Another picture of happiness. We had a long weekend. I had one requirement for my travel destination. I had to be able to get spiced wine, at a Christmas market. This desire led me to Bordeaux, France. They were having their annual Marche de Noel. Our hotel was about 30 meters from the market. Upon arrival, I immediately bought Vin Chaud. It warms both belly and spirit.

CHURROS!

These I actually deserve an entire post to themselves. I will have to return to them. They are donut sticks that can be dipped in hot chocolate or just sprinkled with sugar. Winter has caused little churro stands to pop up everywhere. Very dangerous…

Tourist Picnic in France

We felt like we were living the French Dream. Sitting by a the river in Bordeaux two of my friends and I enjoyed a market-bought lunch. This included fig bread, eggplant spread, garlic olives, raclette cheese and a I believe pickled herring- or another tasty, one-bite fish.  This was my favorite and my cheapest meal in France. It is funny how that works.

 

Hondarribia: The Trilingual Beach Town

Last weekend Diedra and I decided it was necessary to escape Bilbao and play tourist. A teacher at her school recommended we visit her hometown, Hondarribia aka Fuenterrabía aka Fontarribie.  It is a quaint beach town on the right on the edge of France. It was a weekend of tricultural indulgences. Here are the highlights, organized by country.

Spain: I would say Spain has some of the best beaches I have ever seen. Fuenterrabía is a perfect example of Northern Spain coastline: Smooth Appalachian type mountains in the distance and jagged coasts with hidden Peter Pan like lagoons.  We had great weather and were able to do a little hiking. Foodwise, I had some of the best Rabas I have ever tasted. Rabas are calamaris- significantly better prepared here in Spain than in the U.S.

Basque Country: The Basque country stretches into France. So for the local Basques the river in between France and Spain is not a Country divide. I heard more Basque on the streets than I do normally in Bilbao. There was a strong Pintxo (Basque tapas).   We had fantastic pintxos from a bar that boasted titles from Pintxo competitions in Sans Sebastian. We would have made Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain proud with the way we savored basque cuisine.

France:  Take a five minute boat ride and for 1,30 euro and you are in Hendaye, France. Our boat driver greeted us with and “hola” and left us with an “au revior”. We went to a charming Saturday morning market there. Like typical Americans in France we made a picnic with market purchases: Gruyere cheese, champagne grapes, and quiche. Diedra showed off her french and I just smiled and pointed to what I wanted. We enjoyed our picnic on the beach which truly felt like surftown USA. Groups of surfers everywhere had arrived in VW busses to take advantage of Hendaye’s waves. We ate and watched and desperately wished that we had learned to surf back home.

There are some highlights. Overall it was a weekend full of delicious eats, beautiful scenery and linguistic adventures.

 

Zein da zure izena?

“What is your name? Again? Sorry Basque names are so difficult for me!!”

I Around 90% of my students have Basque names. I thought I was coming to a land of Marias and Juans- but life is not that easy! I have had to say the above phrase uncountable times to my students.”What is this American girl’s deal?!” – they think- “She has been with us for four weeks and she still sounds funny saying our names!” I am working on  it! Eskerrik asko (thank you) very much!

Before coming here I knew very little information about the Basque language.  I knew that it was mysterious and weird looking- that was about it.  You forget how characteristic of a language its names can be.  My students names are filled with the standard Basque X’s, K’s, and Z’s.  Some of them are sweet sounding, some are harsh. Knowing these names have made the language seem more personal and beautiful to me.

Here are some of my students names off the top of my head. Look how much I have learned!

Boys: Asier, Jagoba, Iker, Aitor, Mikel, Aritz, Julen, Eleder, Andoni, Gorka, Eneko

Girls: Iratxe, Nagore, Nerea, Uxue, Haizea, Lexuri, Ainara, Juncal, Zuriñe,Onintze

Were they what you thought they would be like? If you are looking for any unique baby names- Basque names are a great place start. You will also be giving their poor  teachers for their first 18+ years a true pronunciation challenge.

 

Here comes the sun!

Yesterday, while walking home from the supermercado with my groceries, “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles suddendly popped into my head. This was a ridiculous song to have in my head at the moment, because it was RAINING basque gatos and perros. I was clutching my two grocery bags while splashing through puddles. I felt like I was in a game a bumper umbrellas with other pedestrians. Nevertheless, I sang the song to cheer myself even though, by the looks of the weather on my computer dashboard, the sun has taken a week long vacation.

I have a running wishlist of Bilbao weather gear to buy when I get paid or get more private tutoring jobs. This includes- a solid pair of boots, oversized umbrella, stylish coat from Zara, gloves, and Singing in the Rain hat.

All of this rain makes me long for last week- and our visit to the beach of Sopelana with Sheena. It was a glorious day- and as soon as the sun comes back to work- I am going back!

Here are a few photos from the beach day. Notice the sunglasses and shortsleeves. I am already missing these things. This Floridian needs to toughen up!

 

Let’s give this a try…

This week I welcomed my first days of November in Bilbao.  They were marked by crisp air and a delicious amount of sunshine.  For some reason, November feels like a new beginning to me. Maybe it is because after a month, I finally feel moved in. I have moved into a new room in my apartment- complete with desk and exterior window. Bilbao street names- even the ones with Basque names- are connected in my mind with cafés and parks I enjoy. Entering my third week of teaching, I know my favorite students and I am communicating more clearly and slowly.  Finally, I just finished a round of visits with friends from Florida. Allie and Skyler in Barcelona and Sheena in Bilbao. There is something about having close friends actually take physical steps with you around a new environment that is so motivating.

So, a big BIENVENIDOS to you, November. I feel refreshed, joyful, and less afraid.

With that thought- I have to say- it is HIGH time I started this darn blog. I can’t wait to see where it goes.