“It’s Not a Sunday Without a Unicycle!”

We had a long weekend (Columbus Day… actually celebrated here in Spain!) last weekend, so everyone went on mini-adventures.  I headed back to Sevilla while Jenna went to Cordoba to see Katie, a good friend from our program.  That train runs on the same line, so we got to go together.  I decided to paint my toenails while we waited and realized I had sealed my fave color immensely tight for my journey over from the U.S.  The old men behind the ticket window took pity on me and offered to open it.  They couldn’t do it either.  Frustrated, one of them decided to bang the glass bottle against the counter, which OBVIOUSLY resulted in the bottle breaking and dark gray nail polish all over him, me, his office and the ticket window.  What else can you do but laugh, so laugh is what we did and thanked our new train station friends as they wished us well on our way.  I had a FABULOUS weekend, and when I arrived back in Jaen, my train station friend welcomed me home.  And you know, it FELT like home and I was happy to be feeling such warm feelings as I found laughter barreling through the streets, the walk to be familiar and even friends greeting me in the road, asking about my trip.

I got to go on a field trip with my first year bilingual students!!!!  It was WAAAAYYYY too much fun.  First of all, we went on a 5-km hike through Via Verde del Aceite, a path that follows a since torn-out railway route through the gorgeous olive groves of Jaen.  Aside from the spectacular views of endless olive trees, we also got to pass over a bridge constructed by Gustav Eiffel himself (yes, the man who built the Eiffel Tower!), as well as trek through spooky barely-lit tunnels that I swear have ghosts trapped in them (maybe Michael Jackson).

The other best part of my trip was getting to hang with my students outside of the classroom!  The first-years are my fave class (shhh!!) and they did not leave my side all day.  They wanted to know all about me (in English), while I also showed them my vulnerable side (in Spanish), so they knew we were all in this learning boat together and were more open to learning from me.  The day was A BLAST!

This whole past week was Feria de San Lucas, which is like a national sport here in Spain.  Each city takes its turn having Feria, which is basically like the County Fair, Spring Break and Mardi Gras rolled into one.  I was invited by my school for the annual Feria dinner with all the staff, which was too fun.  I got to try a ton of authentic Spanish food and didn’t speak a word of English for about three hours.  They invited Jenna to join us for drinks after dinner and we enjoyed getting a taste of the festivities!  We waited for Katie and Kelsey to come into town the next night (Friday) to really do it up, so everyone came over to our place beforehand.  We had quite the night and I think we’re all glad that Feria is but once a year!  It was really cool to experience a true Spanish tradition and see all of the traditional costumes about town!  Plus, it officially ended on Sunday night with what we thought were bombs (ahahha) but then realized were fireworks, JUST outside our balconies!  Jenna and I ran down the block and joined the masses as we watched fairydust sprinkled all across our city.  Truly magical  :)

We enjoyed our weekend with our visitors and were pleased that they, too, loved our fine city, even though they had been placed in more well-known areas in Andalusia.  We know Jaen was fabulous, but it never hurts to be reminded!

Check out my pics for all the Feria action and especially our Sunday in the Plaza, where we set out to enjoy some Tinto de Veranos, Tapas and each other’s company (which we did!), but were more intrigued with the nutty performance artist who set up shop right next to us wearing shorts with holes in the seat and who’s main prop was a condom (no one batted an eye but us!!). 

Cuando En Espana Album - Oct. 2009

Crazy Performance Artist Video!

Ah, just a day in the life of a Spaniard!