Update from Úbeda 2

The week has been pretty good.  I'm still adjusting to the rhythm of life here and meanwhile have to put up with being called old (by people older than me) for not being able to last until 4:00 AM on a given outing.  Grammar class is kicking my ass but it will be well worth it.  Slowly but surely my speaking skills are coming back but it's still a bit of a chore to have a conversation with the locals.

There's a fair going on this week in Úbeda.  So far we have only seen some flamenco, but tonight we're going to street theatre and then some free live music.  It's still up in the air whether we're going to see a bullfight tomorrow.  None of us want to pay for something we may not be able to sit through.  Tomorrow night we're going to see Los Panchos, a musical group from somewhere in South America that's supposed to be a lot of fun.

We went on a big excursion yesterday to four villages nearby.  Here's a photo documentary of our adventure:


See that bump on top of the hill out there?  That's Iznatoraf, population about 1200.


The view from the edge of the village.  You can see forever up here.


This is a typical street in Iznatoraf, loaded with plants.  It was astonishingly beautiful but we were told that this is nothing.  In May and June everything is blooming.


Because the houses are made of porous stone, any time they knock down a wall to do construction they seal it with this yellow spray-on styrofoam stuff so that water doesn't leak into the adjoining houses.


This village was built back when the average height was about five feet.  Just my size!


See that smidge of white amidst the rocks way out in the distance?  That's Chiclana de Segura.


The gigantic rocks posed no problem for building houses here.  They merely built their houses inside the rocks.


After you climb up several flights of stairs *pant, wheeze* you reach the top of Chiclana de Segura - it's well worth the ascent!


Resident of Chiclana de Segura feeding his pidgeon friend.


This man kindly gave us a tour of his living room which is carved into the mountain side and opens onto one of the balconies in a previous picture.  Notice the array of things he decorates his walls with (the majority of the room contained old family pictures.


In this house if you want to get to your bedroom on the second story you have to go up the "stairs" on the left and enter through the tiny door.  Chiclana de Segura.


Right after I took this picture two fighter jets flew by... BELOW us!

After Chiclana we stopped in Venta de los Santos for lunch.  We were greeted by this adorable puppy.  Gotta love the puppy.


As you can imagine, the restaurant didn't exactly serve much vegetarian fare.  but I got by with salad, french fries, poached eggs, fried sole, and cheesecake.  The siesta meal is a serious affair.


Final stop: Santisteban.  The city below is overlooked by two old castles.  One is on the hill to the left in this picture and the other, mostly a ruin, is directly behind me.


Iglesia Santa María de Collado, the oldest church in Andalucía, was built at the end of the 6th century when Christianity was still illegal in this region.


See that ruin of a castle way up there?


We climbed up there...


... and this is what we got.

Then we went back to Úbeda and got all purty for the flamenco concert.

Here I am, ready to go!

Update from Úbeda

9/19 - 9/23

Here’s the first of many updates, including pictures, which may or may not be weekly depending on how busy I am.

Tuesday-Wednesday:  Flight from Seattle to London to Malaga (Heathrow airport in London is one of the crappiest places I have ever been, by the way).  Jackie and I were able to sleep most of the way so it didn’t seem too long.

Wednesday - Thursday:  We spent less than 24 hours in Málaga, most of it waiting around at the hostel or killing time at the beach - I found a cool seashell while Jackie happened upon ten Euros.  The hostel was nice, although the lack of bathrooms and dependable internet were a little annoying.  Our first two restaurant experiences (which can be very awkward, confusing and embarrassing) were surprisingly pleasant thanks to the sweet waitresses that served us, explaining things on the menu and being patient with our stuttery, nervous Spanish.

Thursday:  Got into Úbeda by bus in the evening, were received warmly by David (one of the coolest professors in the world) and Tanya, a girl who studied here with us last year.  We unloaded our stuff at our apartment and showered.  David invited us out to check out the Tapas Fair that’s going on right now.  It was a little overwhelming - all of Úbeda half-drunk and crowded into a tiny plaza, shouting over each other’s heads to be served modest-sized mostly meat tapas at a Euro a piece.  Jackie and I were starving and too impatient to deal with the situation so we ditched out long enough to grab gyros from a little stand a couple blocks away where we were recognized by the guy who served us.  Later we all made our first appearance at our favorite bar, La Tetería, and were also recognized and welcomed there by a few people, including the owner.  We stayed out until 2:00.

Friday:  Slept in until 10:00 AM (finally some rest!) and then headed to the school to get our schedules.  Were welcomed back by Katrin, the secretary, and Toñi, the other professor.  We got to meet Toñi’s baby boy Alejandro, who is a very adorable and chubby four months old.  Then Jackie and I went to the bus station to greet Kate who was coming in from Madrid.  We walked back to our apartment and gave Kate a bit of a guided tour on the way.  Went grocery shopping and picked up a few things for the apartment from Bazar Oriental (the dollar store that has everything from clothes to porn).  Then we spent the rest of the day just hanging out at home and Kate and I were asleep before 10:00 PM while the rest of our roommates went out and partied until 4:00 AM.

Saturday:  Woke up at 7:30 AM thanks to the previous day’s early bedtime.  Cooked a killer American-style breakfast of fried potatoes and eggs (sorry, Spain, a big piece of bread with olive oil on it just doesn’t cut it for breakfast). 

Went to school for a bit to use the internet and find a book to translate a short story from - looks like it’ll be Borges first.  Did some unnecessary shopping at the only big mall-type store here (don’t worry, Mom, I only spent 6 Euros) and then Kate and I treated ourselves to some gelato that was to die for... and we nearly did while walking uphill back home.  Then we tried to further make up for our gastronomical sin by running up the four flights of stairs to our apartment while carrying a bunch of shopping bags. 

We all unpacked today and then sat around the apartment chatting until we realized we were starving.  Jackie and I decided to be adventurous and head down to a very old-fashioned Spanish café that I had been to before because they had good food.  On the way we saw a hungry kitten that I nearly adopted.  We walked into the place and at first glanced seemed to be the only people under 70 and two of only half a dozen females.  Everyone turned to look at us of course.  There was a big screen TV displaying a soccer game at which the majority of the old men in the joint yelled and swore.  We ordered beer (nonalcoholic for me) and a mushroom tapa that was waaaaaaaay too salty.  Then we had calamari that I thought was great but Jackie didn’t really like, so I ended up eating the majority of it so that the waiter didn’t think we were jerks.  We watched four old men play a heated gambling game of sorts at the table next to us.  They’d have coins in their close fists, which they would pound on the table, then one of them would say another number and they would all release their coins.  After which there was a round of swearing and accusations, and then the game would resume.  While watching this I discreetly tore up some of the calamari, wrapped it in a napkin and put it in my purse to give to the kitten on the way home.  He was, of course, nowhere to be found.

Came home to find that our flame had gone out in the gas water heater and no one could figure out how to re-light it.  We had this problem last year - the hot water would last about 2 minutes and then the flame would go out.  It had been working so I was optimistic but it looks like the problem might be back.  The Bulgarian woman temporarily staying in our apartment managed to get it lit only for it to go out halfway through her shower.  I will go crazy if I can’t have a normal shower for the next 6 months.

That’s all for this week.  I’ll be in touch again soon!

Marie

Arab-style house in Málaga.

Cool house on Playa de la Caleta, Málaga.

Sunrise in Málaga.

Sunrise in Málaga.

Jackie and I on Playa de la Caleta, Málaga.

Playa de la Caleta, Málaga.