Candelaria and Vino

1. The Museo
On Tuesday, I accompanied my 1st graders and their teacher to the local art museum.  Once again, we walked down trafficked streets with 20 little ones.  Upon arriving, the rule of not touching anything was stressed to them.  Oh and that silence was important too.  (That silent rule lasted about five seconds.)  I really enjoy that my school teaches art appreciation.  And that the students really liked the museum.  The trip itself was chaos.  The art gallery had a lot of open space.  Open Space + Spanish children = them running around and screaming like crazy.  Needless to say, I arrived back at the school completely exhausted.

 Their art magnifying glasses

2. Sick
So far, (knock on wood), I've managed to avoid "gripe" (the flu),  However, the Spanish colds are not something to brush aside either.  This is my third one since arriving in Spain and each one hits hard.  Serious sneezing (I've gone through 12 of those little tissue packets in the last 48 hours), and a serious headache.  Bleh

3. My best friend is visiting!!
March 27-April 6.  I CANNOT WAIT.

4. Candelaria
Friday night was a fundraiser at my school called Candelaria.  The word "candelaria" translates to "bonfire."  The school built a giant bonfire in the middle of the playground.  Beverages were sold (both alcoholic and non alcoholic) along with "Rosca" and the money went towards the field trip to Madrid for the older students at the end of the year.  "Rosca" is a type of bread shaped into a ring.  The bread comes with either fish and olives or the typical Priego chocolate.  At first when this was explained to me, I thought the fish and olives were baked into the bread.  I was relieved to see that they simply just put it in the center of the empty hole that the bread made.  The children played around the fire while the parents and adults socialized around the 20 foot bar.  The event was simple and successful.  (If only American schools could relax some of the rules and regulations and copy this fundraiser-- it was so easy!) 

 Rosca

5. The Rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain...
HA.  The writers of this song have no idea what they're talking about.  To begin with, I am surrounded by mountains, not plains.  Spain is blessed with blue skies the majority of the year.  But once winter hits, the skies are mostly filled with gray clouds and LOTS of rain.  No one prepared me for this.  I'd say it's comparable to England.  I'm also very much over it.     

6. Groundhog's Day:
 The children of Spain, have officially been introduced to this old fashioned American celebration.  Each class voted on whether there would be more Winter or Spring.  I'm excited to reveal the results to them manana!

7. Bodega
Last but not least, I was finally able to get together with my good friends Maggie, Katherine, and Maura yesterday.  We decided to meet up in a town located in the center of all of us-- Montilla.  This town also boasted some famous wineries so of course we had to check them out.  Kath and Maura's friends from their teaching town joined us too.  We started off with a hearty lunch at the bodega.  We feasted on salad, calamari (not fried), potato salad, some kind of fajita thing, and fried eggplant drizzled in honey.  The fried eggplant with honey is a typical dish of Andalusia, and I love it!  These ones in particular were some of the best I've ever eaten.  After a wine and food filled lunch, we headed off with our tour guide to walk the grounds of the winery and learn its history.  (Keep in mind, this was all in Spanish).  I've been to my fair share of wineries in the United States, and it was nice to see the different methods Spain utilizes.  After touring the beautiful grounds, we headed back inside to another room for a wine tasting.  We sampled a dry white wine, a sweet white wine, and some sort of liquor.  The wines from the tasting were good but definitely not my favorite.  I much preferred the ones from lunch.  Lunch, tour, and tasting for 14 euros made for a perfect day with friends! After the bodega, we drove back to Puente Genil where Katherine and Maura live.  Because I had to catch a bus in an hour, we hung out at another bar.  Afterwards, one of their friends drove me to a bus station in another town and an hour later I was back home sound asleep.