Carnival is here!

 

It's already February, wow.  This month has always been my favorite of the year, may sound crazy to all you summer lovers but February is the best! First of all, there's Valentines Day, Mardi Gras (the date varies), my birthday (28th), and last year my little nephew Harper was born on the 24th. 

Me last Mardi Gras season

According to the locals around here, Badajoz has the third best carnival in Spain after Tenerife (one of the Canary Islands) and Cadiz.  I've decided to take advantage of my vacation days and travel to Dublin, Ireland instead of experiencing the carnival here just because I've done Mardi Gras before. I haven't always known what this crazy season is about though. Being from the North of the USA, I had "heard" of Mardi Gras but didn't really know how much tradition, history, and religious connections it has.  I put together a presentation for my students this week to explain it to them. 

Origins: Dating back to when Christianity arrived to Rome.  The celebration was a prelude to lent and spread from Rome to France, Spain, Germany, England, and several other places. 

Mardi Gras = (Fat Tuesday in French) because of the binging and excess consumption of meats and cheese before they were given up for lent

CARNIVAL comes from the Latin word, Carnelevarium "to remove meat"  Carne is meat in Spanish.

The first Mardi Gras in New Orleans was in 1699 because some French settlers brough their traditions with them to Louisiana.  When the Spanish settlers came in, they abolished the parties and they weren't revived until 1812 when LA became a state.

Traditions.....

King Cake! Yum, a delicious cinnamon flavored cake which sometimes has varied fillings.  King cakes are decorated in purple, green, and yellow sprinkles or frosting to represent the colors of Mardi Gras.  Purple represents Justice, Green represents Faith, and Gold represents Power.

There is a plastic baby within the King Cake (baby Jesus).  After the cake is cut, whoever gets the slice with the baby has to bring the next King Cake to a party in the future (as tradition goes)

In Spain, I saw similar cakes arrive after the 3 Kings Day.  Christmas is celebrated all the way until January 6th, the day when the children get their presents from the "3 wise men".  Their version of King Cakes are called Roscon de Reyes.  The circle shape represents the routes the 3 wise men took to find Jesus. 

Un Roscon de Reyes

 

Beads & Parades in New Orleans

People throw beads at the floats in the parades

The Muses Parades

Zulu Coconuts

 

In addition to beads, my favorite trinkets to catch are the high heel shoes from the Muses parade and coconuts from Zulu
 

Other famous carnivals around the world are in; Brazil, Paris, Venice, Belgium..and the list goes on.

Venice

Paris



Brazil



Brazil

This year I'll be without a carnival but I'm off to Ireland instead! 

 

 

Learning to live on less

There are things that I used to do back in America that I would have never thought twice about until moving abroad.  Things which I will forever think twice about from now on- they will not only benefit me financially but they are also economical. 

1. Wasting water; hotels post signs reminding us "water is a precious thing, save it!" Never have I shut off water when it wasn't necessary in the shower, or when cooking.  I've done a much better job here of monitoring my use of water.  I even hand washed some of my clothes the other day!  Sometimes not everyone flushes the toilet, I don't know about getting used to that one but hey at least they're trying to save. 

2. Lights, TVs, plugging electronics in; our first electricity bill here was fairly high.  Although it was an estimate...my roommates and I have been careful with using lights when not necessary.  A lot of Spaniards here use day light until you cannot anymore.  Some of my classrooms are also lit by sunlight when it's a nice day out.  Every building that I have stepped foot in here has automatic light switches.  Not so common in the states.  You have to press on the hallway lights when you need them in my apartment complex, or any apartment complex for that matter. 

3.  Gasoline; I've been without my car for 4 months.  I've done this before but I'm happy to say I don't miss it.  Now to be fair, it is possible to walk around my city here in Spain.  This country is about the size of Texas.  However in the states, not the case.  Public transportation is almost looked down upon in some parts of the USA.  Having a car at the age of 16 is almost an expectation, I just wish everyone would realize how fortunate we are to have these luxuries.  The legal driving age in Spain is 18, but most young adults take the bus or walk.  I remember in high school I used to drive around just because I had nothing to do- a Spaniard would think that is crazy! Gasoline is super expensive here and a lot of people carpool to work.

4. Grocery shopping; Spaniards don't waste food.  They cook and eat nearly every part of the pig...no thank you :(  I was served PIG CHEEKS in a restaurant a couple weeks ago- I barely like ham as it is (to us Americans).  I hope to start being cautious of how much food I use and what I need.  Anyways...my point here is that Spaniards frequent small and local grocers, fruit shops, bread shops, butchers, etc.  Most women can be seen with their own grocery bag on wheels.  The bigger markets charge you if you choose to use their bags for your food.  Most people "go green" and bring their own bags.  This has been a trend in the states for years now but almost 90% of Spaniards bring their own bags to the store. 


This is an example of their grocery bags the women wheel around

5. Buying produce; I hope I never catch myself buying produce in a Wal- Mart ever...again.  I enjoy grocery shopping here way too much.  Every Monday, I go to the same local produce shop and load up on fruits and veggies.  It is SO cheap!  I spent 20-30 euros a week on food.  Most of this food can last me almost two weeks sometimes.  I might cry when I go back home and remember how expensive food has gotten.  I was so impressed with my last trip to the store that I thought I'd show y'all.

11 euros (15 dollars) worth of produce; this is a lot of food for cheap! It's also better quality 

 They say traveling opens your eyes and mind to a lot of new things.  It's definitely true.  I've changed my perspective on a lot of things because of the fact I've been fortunate to live abroad and see them through the eyes of other people in the world. Maybe this post could influence other people to start living more with less :) 

Ronda (Rown-dah)

Day trip #2 was to Ronda.  A very mountainous city in the province of Malaga.  Ronda is home to the oldest bullfighting ring in Spain and the famous "Puente Nuevo", which spans a gorge over 300 feet deep. Puente Nuevo means "New Bridge" yet it was built in 1793!  Which gives you an idea of how unchanged Ronda has been over the years.

The countryside of Ronda

 Ronda is known as the modern birthplace of bullfighting, even though the ring is only used once a year.  Bullfighting has come to be a very controversial sport in Spain and not everyone agrees with it.  Although when most people think of Spain they think of 1. Bullfighting 2. Flameno 3. Maybe Paellla.... but no, I figured out a long time ago that these "images of Spain" do not come close to reflecting the various regions of the country.

Kate, Tara, and I didn't have much interest in going to the bullfighting museum so we headed straight for the bridge.  It was hard to get a good picture of it at first because it's so tall, so we walked around a bit to get a good view.

The gorge is called El Tajo and it carries the Guadalevín River through its center

 

Ronda is known to be one of Andalucia's loveliest towns

 

Miss Kate and I

 

 

Miss Tara and I

I love this picture.  The countryside is very peaceful and the fleur de lis gate reminds me of New Orleans

The bridge and the countryside were pretty much all there was to see in Ronda, which made for a relaxing trip.   We had ourselves a nice lunch and some drinks in the sun before heading back to Malaga for the night. 

Nerja

Nerja, often referred to as the "Jewel of La Costa del Sol" is about an hour and half away from Málaga. Nerja has fame for it's caves, a series of huge caverns stretching for almost five kilometres and home to the world’s largest stalagmite.  Now to be honest, I've never been in a cave before so I had no idea what to expect but woah these caves are super impressive! In 1959 some little village boys were playing and searching for bats when they stumbled upon these caves.  In 1960 they were open to the public. We weren't allowed to have our flash on inside the caves so these pictures are the best I could do. 

Kate and I messing around in the caves

We had nothing to do in the caves except do a photo shoot

These caves are massive

The caves are pretty much what put Nerja on the map as far as tourism goes.  What else does Nerja have to offer? Um, gorgeous, beautiful, and outstanding views of the ocean.  Nerja has a population of around 25,000, of which about 25% are foreign residents.  It was easy to spot who was Spanish and who was a foreigner who relocated themselves to this beach town.  Clue number #1, blonde hair.  Clue #2, wearing shorts and flip flops in January.  Clue #3, All of the British accents, German and French being spoken. It was perfect weather during our entire break but not "flip flop and swimsuit weather"...maybe to the English it was.  I hear they have terrible weather up there.  Needless to say Spaniards have a very low tolerance for the cold and they wouldn't be seen wearing beach wear in January. 

My mid day coffee in Nerja :)

Yes, this is from my own (new) camera! (thanks Kyle!)

This area is called the "Balcony of Europe" and was formerly a fortress designed to keep out British pirates and privateers

The Balcony of Europe again

Although I only spent an afternoon in Nerja, it has to be one of the most beautiful beach towns I've seen yet in Spain. There are plenty of cute shops and restaurants to choose from as well. Kate and I sat down to have lunch over looking this view.  It was delicious and super cheap (the perks of living in Spain = cheap food and coffee).

I wouldn't mind living in one of these cute little white apartments, you?

These orange flowers are spread out throughout this area, not sure what they are

Málaga

Málaga will forever be one of my most memorable vacations of all time.  Not only was it the starting and ending point of our trip, but it's a gorgeous port city with sunshine and mountains.  Mom and I had a beautiful hotel over looking the ocean on Christmas Day.  I can't think of a better way to celebrate our first Christmas abroad.  Although we had a poor internet connection, we were still able to Skype with our family in Iowa.  This Christmas wasn't about presents for us, it was about being together and enjoying a well deserved vacation in a beautiful country.  To be perfectly honest our Christmas dinner consisted of champagne and the free nuts served along side it.  You know one of the reasons why I love my mom so much? Because she was perfectly okay with that :)

It was super windy up there!

 

 

 

The gorgeous view thanks to the Marriot Malaga hotel

We spent Christmas Day walking around Málaga.  The boardwalk, the park, the town square, pretty much everywhere worth seeing. After we left Granada, we were back in Málaga on January 1.

The Cathedral isn't finished so they gave it the nickname "The One Armed Lady" because only one of it's two towers are complete.  You are looking at the unfinished side.  



Málaga is the birthplace of Pablo Picasso (this is a statue of him) 

After Mom flew out on January 3rd, I was lucky to have my friends Tara and Kate to travel with and distract me from the sadness I felt when she left. Since our Christmas vacation wasn't over yet, we decided to book a hostel for the next three nights and do day trips.  The whole southern coast around Malaga is absolutely gorgeous with many little villages worth visiting.  We decided to make a day trip to Nerja and another to Ronda, which will be in my next post. 

Random Facts about Málaga

-The home of Antonio Banderes and Pablo Picasso

- Where London Beefeater Gin is made  (out of the oranges)

- They get 330 days of sunshine out of the year.

- 53,093 foreigners live in the Malaga provine, mainly on the costline