Oh!

Oh, and I got a haircut.

Cha-ching!

In other late and great news, my hot water turned off. Curveball! Isn't actually so great. I'm pretending like it's fun to boil water in order to shower, but it wasn't yesterday and it probably won't be today when I wash my newly cut hair with it. C'est la vie. I'm already getting sick from the weather and the germs, but I own a hair dryer now... so I'll be taking advantage of that bad boy and its diffuser. Hopefully the water is fixed by tomorrow, and until then, wish me some happy boiling.

A

Thanksgiving, Fleet Foxes, and more

Another couple of weeks have gone by, and I think I'm finally starting to get that familiar feeling. I have a routine (albeit a wobbly one at a 4 days work- 3 days weekend ratio), I know my way around, and although I don't totally feel like a Spaniard, I'm starting to feel like I live here. Being here now is a different experience than being in Barcelona for study abroad. I'm not studying, which is weird enough in itself, so the free time I have is basically mine to keep. Besides that, there's no firm expiration date on my stay, and I think that has an effect on my experiences here. I can't begin to explain the way time has been passing by for me... Sometimes it's fast and other times it's slow, but in the blink of an eye December is arriving, and that's pretty surreal.

I was happy that Thanksgiving came around last week for many reasons. Mainly, because I think it's my favorite holiday. Secondly, it reminds me of home. Thirdly, I got to teach the kids at school all about it.

1. Positive: We celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday night with Americans, Spaniards, turkey, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cornbread, casserole, pies, and wine.
1. Negative: On my first attempt at making pumpkin pie filling from scratch, I forgot to replace the water while steaming the pumpkin and effectively smoked it instead. Goes without saying that I had to re-do it.

2. Positive: I got to skype with my family and see people I hadn't seen in a while (via my sister's iphone)
2. Negative: Even though I'm lucky to have celebrated Thanksgiving with my friends, I got a little homesick. First Thanksgiving away from home, I guess this means I'm growing up.

3. Positive: We made Pilgrim + Indian hats/headbands and watched a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.
3. Negative: I don't think many children actually understood the meaning of Thanksgiving, or even what I explained to them at all. Most of them thought I was talking about Pirates.

Thanksgiving pictures! (that Karina took)

Munchkins at school on T-givs

The night after, I went to Fleet Foxes with some other Americans that I knew from my hostel days, and they were so good. Helplessness Blues is a great album, if you haven't checked it out, and it was even better in person. There's almost nothing worse than a band who can't perform live, and Fleet Foxes was the opposite. The venue was packed, full of screaming Spaniards and also screaming Americans. I probably haven't seen that many Americans in one place in a while. And plaid- so much plaid. Felt a little like home. Exceeded expectations, and I even got to talk to a few of them afterward. One signed my ticket with a heart. So that was sweet. There's one advantage of being American in Spain!

Beards+Plaid= America?

This has been the most plaid-laden blog post ever... let's see if I can top it one day. 

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La Tabacalera

It's rare that I find a place so intriguing that I have to go back again the day after finding it. La Tabacalera, however, is such a place. I heard through the grapevine that it was worth checking out, and after it popped up several times on a website I was looking at, I decided I would have to go soon.

This building/venue/place is hard to describe. For starters, it's huge. It used to be a tobacco factory back in the day, and now it's a 'centro social' that is 'autogestionado'- something like an independently run social center. It's located in Lavapiés (direct translation- wash foot) which is an area known for its wide array of social and ethnic backgrounds, among other things. It's a little rough around the edges, but it's cool. From what I've seen, this 'centro social' is made up of spaces for performances, leisure classes, art displays, child care, counseling, and for just hanging out. It's covered in graffiti and there is art hanging all over the walls. It's dirty and smelly and pretty great. One walk through the plastic sheeting that they use as a room separator and you feel like a real bad-ass. The first night I went, there was some sort of video art showing/rave going on in one of the big spaces. There was a DJ and a projector and strobe lights. If that didn't make it surreal enough, the smoke wafting through the air definitely did. The graffiti on the walls was eerily illuminated, and I wandered into the basement (also full of art and junk) even though it was mildly frightening. I enjoyed it so much that I had to see what it was like during the day.

So... I did. Ester and I went back the next day (yesterday). I walked into a large room that probably wasn't open the night before, and was met by the smell of tobacco in the air. A huge curtain of tobacco leaves hid a projection room in which a video was playing on repeat. Could this place get any cooler?

Then we went back to where we were the night before, and it was just as good as it had been then. Probably better, because there were less people around. In a simultaneous moment, I felt both like I shouldn't be there and like I belonged there. It's a good feeling. I took some shots and we explored the back area a bit, which either hadn't been open the night before or was too scary to venture into.

Either way, I will be returning to La Tabacalera, and if you're in Madrid and don't mind getting a little dirty (Ester mysteriously got ink all over her hands) I would recommend checking it out.

http://latabacalera.net/

A

A practicar o portugues!

Hello friends and family and whoever else may be reading this:

It's been a while since I've updated this so I'll try to keep it short. Somehow.

In the past two weeks I:

-Had fun
-Went to Lisboa on my 5 day weekend
-Got sick from forementioned trip (possibly something to do with the 9 hour bus ride) and called in sick for the first time
-Went to work (barely... I have every Friday off plus yesterday was a holiday)
-Came home to a new washing machine in the apartment (this was today... hopefully it works better than the last)
-Have taken quite a few photos. And will be taking more, of course....

Those are some of the highlights, details time!

Lisboa sunrise

So, a little about Lisboa. I had been there last year while backpacking, but it was only for one or two nights. Not nearly enough time, but more destinations had to be seen, and I liked it a lot. This time around, however, I really loved it. We arrived bright and early on Friday and left on Tuesday morning- in this case, four nights were better than one. As you can see, the first sight we were able to see was the sunrise. After waiting for a bar to open and having a coffee we wandered aimlessly to the sea, as is so easily done in Lisboa, and were surprised at our perfect timing. Needless to say, we didn't wake up for the sunrise on any other day. The sunset is a different story... but I'll get to that.

Since I was wearing my camera around my neck for basically every daylight hour of the trip, I decided I would take as many photos of Portuguese people that I could. Toward the end of the trip I kind of eased up a bit, but these are some of the people I snapped. Mostly everyone was pretty willing to let me, especially if I asked them in Portuguese. Which of course I did- when else do I get a chance to practice my rusty Brazilian Portuguese? If it can't be Brazil, then let's make it Portugal.

 

 

   

Speaking of my accent, I kept things really short when talking to people- whether ordering a coffee or asking for directions or being social. That being said, I got asked so many times if I was either Portuguese or Brazilian that I was laughing happily basically every time I spoke. I guess I order a mean cafe com leite to get these people thinking I'm a native. I'll take it!

Lisboa is a beautiful city, and it made me realize how much I miss the ocean. I'd settle for any body of water near me. Madrid is great, but it's missing that. Unless I'm looking for a cloud of rainwater to fall on my head, it can't really offer me much in the water department. I am thrilled to post that I went sunbathing for what is surely the last time this year. It felt better than I would've imagined to be laying in a bathing suit on the sand... especially because I had to take off my pants, socks, and shoes to do it. I'm already tired of wearing pants, socks, and shoes. But let's save 'me vs. the cold' for another day. Back to the sunbathing... we took a train (more like a metro-ride) to Cascais, a beautiful little town right next to Lisboa. It took no time at all and made all the difference in the trip! Perfect weather, perfect everything. The waves were so big on one side of the beach that fully clothed people were getting soaked on the boardwalk. I melodramatically and quickly walked past those areas for fear that my camera would get wet (again, that thing was permanently around my neck).

I'm hoping that the tiny bit of sun I got that day will last me the entire winter. A girl can dream.

We also went to Sintra, now a UNESCO world heritage site which was a teeny town that resembled some old fashioned princess kind of town. It was complete with a castle, a palace, and a beautiful quinta (Quinta de Regaleira). Oh, as well as a waiter who gave me a dozen flirty sugar packets because he could see how much I liked the Portuguese phrases on it. I can't help how my face lights up when I'm into something! Anyway, we chose to stroll the Quinta because it was the talk of the town. With beautiful gardens, caves, and towers, I can see why. It kind of reminds me of the Labyrinth Park in Barcelona, but more beautiful and old fashioned. More Portuguese. 

Quinta da Regaleira 

Sintra

To close off, I have to say that the sky in Lisboa is possibly the most beautiful sky I've ever seen. Whether it's the sunrise, sunset, or just plain the middle of the day- it's something worth looking at. Not sure I've ever seen such vibrant colors... and of course everything just looks better with the water reflecting it.

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