The Holidays in Spain

jess & i at karaoke!
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My Holidays!

So, I thought I’d give a fun update on what the holidays are like over here in Spain... Obviously both Halloween and Thanksgiving have passed here, and its quite different to be away from home for these very american holidays, but we definitely made the best of what we had here, and had our own fun.

we have definitely had to make the best of what we had here for these american holidays, but we had our own fun.

me and jon at karaoke
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Halloween was a Friday night, so we got all dressed up (I was a sheriff/cowgirl...Here’s some of my roommates costumes: a leprechaun, Neo (from The Matrix), Gunther (an awful european pop singer with a mullet), princess, devil, lumberjack, a woman (it was a boy...), a cat, a schoolgirl... who knows. there were tons of us...) We headed out for a bit but it was absolutely pouring. We had our own fun, and went out for a little bit, ended up trying to just stay dry and getting a shawarma on the way home... yum yum. If I haven’t discussed these yet, shawarma is basically a sandwich, but its usually in some sort of pita roll, with chicken, lamb or falafel, olives, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, white sauce, and hot sauce if you want, carrots, beets.... oh gosh everything. and then they wrap them up tight and throw them on a grill. oh how delicious they are!! Its a turkish/middle eastern thing I think originally, but they are cheap (Like 3 euros!) and SO DELICIOUS. If you’re interested, here’s wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawarma The thing is, mine look so much better than that picture.. and I’m not bragging. haha. Oh i will miss them so much when i leave!

a bunch of amigos at shawarma on thanksgiving night.
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Anyways, next big holiday was Turkey Day! HAPPY BELATED THANKSGIVING! :) our program was hosting us a dinner, so we were all very excited to have some restaurant food, and have everything paid for, but we had NO clue how traditional or anything, this dinner would be... We were all feeling very sentimental, and missing home so it was nice to do something. I think it would have been very hard to not do anything for thanksgiving! As much as you all know that thanksgiving food is not necessarily my favorite, I realized, by being away from home, just how much I appreciate the most important part, the family... So we all met at API and had no clue where were going. It was so cute, because we all dressed up a little bit for the dinner just because its sort of tradition at home to look nice on thanksgiving... ;) So we started walking, and realized that we ended up at a Mexican Restaurant. La Chile Grande... What the heck? Mexican for Thanksgiving.... Just when I had thought about long enough, and kind of accepted that we could do tacos for thanksgiving... They brought out enormous plates of everything you can think of that you would have a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner... We went around the table and gave thanks in spanish (and english) for spain and for being here, but also for all the things we miss about home.... and we just had a good time. :) Then after dinner, they brought out the best part, DESSERT! a little sliver of both pumpkin and apple pie! How delicious. :) It turns out I did get turkey for Thanksgiving and Pumpkin pie! What a great surprise! Afterwards, feeling like we needed to speak english and think about home a little bit, a bunch of us headed to the irish pub in town, where it was thursday night, karaoke night. We sang Christmas carols and just had fun thinking about Thanksgiving and family and friends... 
I wish that I could have been home for the Holiday, but it was a good second option to have turkey and pumpkin pie (in a mexican restaurant...) But also, to be around friends who understand and who also miss their families. I’ll never forget my spanish thanksgiving, but I can’t wait to have Thanksgiving next year with my family! I miss you guys!

me and adriana on halloween
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So now we’re getting into Christmas time, as you are well aware, by the ringing in of Black Friday, Christmas carols everywhere, things I assume are going on at home. Granada just put up TONS of christmas lights in the streets, and every shop window says either “Feliz Navidad!” “Felicidades!” or simply “Merry Christmas!” Yes, in english. But its just fabulous. We’re all anxiously awaiting them to be turned on, and for them to be lit up during the night time. We thought maybe december 1st, but that has come and gone, now I’m thinking that after this weekend, the Immaculate Conception (which is a national holiday here... we don’t have class on monday!), will be the big ringing in of the christmas season... The yummy christmas “candies”/baked goods have been out in bakery windows for awhile now, (I plan on bringing some home for you all to try, don’t worry!) and everything feels is beginning to feel like Christmas here too! Especially looking at snow in the mountains everyday, and the dang temperatures. Today I walked to class and saw the degrees on a flashing sign. -3 degrees celcius. at 9:00am. Ridiculous! The high today is 4 degrees celcius. about 38 degrees fahrenheit. I can’t believe it.... Its so cold! I’m beginning to really miss the weather at home!

jake (gunther) & chelsea
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Things other than the holidays are going very well. I have only 8 more days of classes here. I’m in a high advanced level of spanish, and still don’t believe its true... I have fallen in love with everything here. life, home, the language, the culture... I can’t believe i will be home in 2 weeks... Its just ridiculous how fast this time has gone by... I’m really torn about life here, versus returning to life at home. I never imagined how this could feel, so its been really hard. I don’t think I ever thought that Spain, and especially Granada, would become a new “home”... Its fantastic though it really is. And in all honesty, and I cannot wait to get home and see you all! I miss you so much!

chase, adriana & jon
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So I had my last real trip this past weekend after Thanksgiving. Kelly and I went to Barcelona, and it was fabulous. I promise to write about it soon. Maybe later today or Tomorrow. But first I thought you deserved a catch up on my holidays and life here... I hope you are all doing well. Take care of yourselves and I will see you soon! xoxo

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