A Plate Just Fell On My Head

Yes, the title is true. Today is Wednesday, April 11, 2012, and this morning a plate fell on my head. Actually, it was a beautifully glazed deep-dish 9" ceramic pie pan (a rather hefty plate). I opened the kitchen cabinet door to reach for a fork like I have hundreds of times, and the pie pan as well as a few other ceramic/glass dishes came crashing down. I actually have no clue which dish(es) hit me, but the pie pan broke. I think it is the dish responsible for the cut that now spans the bridge of my nose.


Luckily, that cut, a headache, and a goose egg on my hairline are the only outcomes of the incident. It could have been a lot worse. (Let this be a cautionary tale to you. Those dishes have been in the same place for almost two years. Why/how they shifted enough to fall today is beyond me, but you should rethink your cabinet organization if you store heavy objects on the topmost shelves). 

See, I'm just fine! The doctors glued up the cut and everything.

Anyhow, what in the world does this have to do with my Spain blog that I never finished and haven't touched for almost eleven months? 

Wow. Has it been that long already? So much has happened since then. I often think about finishing the blog, but then other things take priority. Job searching, school projects, friends and family, working out, scholarship applications...my list, at times, seems infinite. Today, though, I have decided to turn a crappy morning into an opportunity to start tying up the loose ends from that semester in Spain. 

It's not so much for sharing with you what happened to me a year ago--although of course I love that--as it is for recording the memories for my own sake before I forget them entirely. Plus, I never know when a bunch of ceramic dishes could fall on my head again, potentially leaving me with amnesia and no primary accounts to help me remember my life save this blog.

Falling off the face of the Earth

Yes, it's been sixteen days, and I have at least a dozen posts to catch up on. I hope you'll hang in there until they are done because it's been an exciting month of travels, saying goodbye to friends, and looking forward to seeing those back home. Tomorrow is my last day in Sevilla. After that Mom and I will return to the USA. By the following Tuesday I will have stayed with my sister and her family for a few days, gone home to Hudson to see more friends and family, moved to Madison, and started a new job.


So, I apologize that it may take me well into June to wrap things up, and forgive me if this post's format is goofy. I'm composing it on my mom's iPhone because my computer charger decided to melt itself into two pieces in Italy. Hopefully I'll score a used charger at the Apple Store in Milwaukee and get this blog up and running again soon.

What in the world...?

What in the world is happening to me?

I’ve been downing coffee like there’s no tomorrow, with barely any sugar.

I’m not only drinking red wine but am starting to prefer it, depending upon what I’m eating.

Last week, I think I ate anchovies, and I definitely ate octopus. I’d eat both again.

My favorite part to eat of a duck is the gizzard.

I’ve gotten used to eating lunch at two or three o’clock and dinner at ten.

I traversed on my own through Paris without a real map or any French speaking skills, and not once did I feel apprehensive or lost.

People stare at me all of the time, and I don’t care. I am constantly embarrassing myself, and I don’t care.

Hmm. Looks like someone might be growing up.

Looking forward

In twelve days:

o   Mom

o   Curling iron

o   Big breakfasts

o   Being a travel tour guide (look out, Samantha Brown)

o   No school

In twenty-four days:

o   Family, especially meeting Brock soon

o   Friends

o   Peanut butter

o   Yogurt and granola

o   Driving, although I will apparently go bankrupt doing so the way the price of gas is rising

o   Oatmeal

o   Crossing the street at the intersection

o   Caribou

o   My bed!

o   My pillow!

o   Cooking

o   Doing my own laundry

o   Not cornflakes

o   Having an income

o   Taking pictures of my nieces and nephews

o   Fresh milk

o   Grilling out

o   Not getting weird stares at cafes when I talk into my computer

o   Not being stared at like a freak when I go for a run (or at least not as often)

o   Not wearing shoes all around the house (I am such a Midwesterner.)

o   Carpet/rugs

o   Chocolate chip cookies

o   A full keyboard on my phone

o   Shoes that come in my size

o   Petite clothes

o   PBS

o   What Not to Wear

o   Target

o   Walgreens

o   Baseball—usually I think it’s boring unless I’m watching it at the ballpark, but I’ve been dying to watch a Twins game!

o   Consistent nutrition labeling (not that I’m happy with you, FDA, but here they lack more)

o   Bookstore with Dad (hint hint!)

Spring Break 1 Part 5: La Tele

Since I did not have much to do outside during Semana Santa, I had no problem spending my evenings in with Charo and Lourdes. Now, although they had a stack of DVDs sitting right next to the television, they only seemed to be interested in whatever nightly movie the television channels provided. It seems that they will settle for anything.

For example, on the first night we watched an awfully mediocre film called El manuscrito secreto, in Enlgish, The Bible Code. It was a terrible Davinci-Code spinoff that was so drawn-out and painful that I could not bring myself to finish it. Another night we watched Streetfighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. Remember that these are all dubbed in Spanish. It was unclear to me why Charo and Lourdes wanted to watch these movies over the other ones they had brought. Perhaps they had already viewed the others twenty times each. I don’t know.

One show that I did enjoy watching with them was "Atrapar un millón", a trivia game show that goes through several rounds of questions, each round requiring the contestants to place money on whatever answer they think is correct. They may split the money among multiple answers if they are not sure which is the right one. Money placed next to wrong answers falls away into a bin underneath the platform the contestants stand upon, and money on the right answer is used for the next round. Eventually the contestants reach the final round and can keep the money that hasn’t been trapped by the wrong answers.

I like trivia, but I’ve decided that I should definitely not try out for this show because I did not know the answers to most of the questions due to popular culture differences. I did, however, answer correctly that Shrek was the monster who made candles out of his own earwax and that people from New Zealand are nicknamed Kiwis after the flightless bird native to their land. Neither Charo nor Lourdes knew those ones.

Spring Break 1 Part 4: The Worst Coffee Date Ever

Upon returning to Puerto de Santa María, I had to take a city bus from the train station back to the apartment complex. After getting off at my stop, I was approached by a guy who had also gotten off at that point who asked me if I spoke English. I said that I did, and he replied that he thought so, that I looked different, like I was from the UK or something. I told him I was from the States. He asked if I was vacationing here because he was. I said yes, and he said that he wasn’t usually so bold, but he had seen me on the bus and thought I was beautiful and asked if I wanted to grab a beer or a coffee.

My first reaction was no, like it always is. I started making up excuses about lunch or having work to do, but he wasn’t really having any of it. Then I thought, well, it takes a lot of guts to do what he’s doing, we are in a very open and public place with lots of people, and it’s clearly way too early for lunch despite my lame excuse. So, I said yes.

It turns out that he was from Turkey but has lived all over the place and was currently living in Madrid. He bought me coffee, we continued chatting, and everything seemed to be going well...until he started talking about EVERY ex-girlfriend he’s ever had. Awkward. I really don’t care. Then he started asking me about ex-boyfriends. Um, hi, none of your business! Also, I just met you thirty minutes ago. Twice during all of that I tried to switch the topic to the weather, and twice I failed. Fortunately, the conversation eventually turned around to more normal topics.

After finishing coffee he asked if I’d like to take a walk, and since it was actually somewhat nice out and there is a nice walkway along the beach, I said yes. While we were walking he tried to hold my hand and put his arm around me. Again, awkward. Remember how we just met? He asked me what kind of music I liked, and I said that I liked almost any kind—rock, acoustic, rap, hip hop, whatever—it just depends on who’s singing and what it’s about. Apparently my open-minded attitude to music meant that I also like Turkish music, because that is what he started singing to me. I kind of blame myself for that one.

Once the song was wrapped up he told  me that I was unlike other girls my age, that I was very mature, that I seemed to care very much about other people, that I was beautiful and that he liked my green eyes. Well, I mean, I’m not going to disagree with you, man. But, then he said that he really wanted me to be in his future, that I should come to Madrid soon. Excuse me? Are you nuts? I said that I had to go, and he told me that he knew that this seemed strange because he knew my personality but that I shouldn’t feel that way. Oh really? You know my personality? Then you should have known that I would be super creeped out by all of this and that I would be enraged that you would think that you could know everything about me within one hour of meeting me. NOT okay.

That’s not the last of it. As I started to turn away, he tried to kiss me—tongue first. Are you fricking kidding me? I said thanks for the coffee and adios, but he said that we should meet up tomorrow, that he’d wait for me right there at noon. I told him he shouldn’t do that. He asked why not. I replied that I was not coming, so he should not waste his time. Even as I was halfway back to the apartment he asked if he could get my number or look me up on messenger. NO! It’s better that I look you up anyway, dude. What name will you be under? Crazy McCrazersons? I am glad that I have met nice, non-crazy guys here so that I do not take back that stereotypical image of the much-too-forward European guy.

For those who will ask me out for coffee in the future, good news: I can assure you that it will never be worse than this.

Spring Break 1 Part 3: No Pasos

On Tuesday of Semana Santa, I woke up early to a seaside view in order to catch a train to Sevilla for the day. I was hoping to see some of the processions in Sevilla, and the weather forecast had said that Tuesday was looking like the best bet for a day without rain.

Wrong. It rained almost all day, but I still walked around for a few hours taking in the toned-down yet still festive atmosphere. I also bought Annie and me an Easter egg to share on Sunday. Easter eggs here are not the same as at home. They are usually made of chocolate and can be the size of your hand or bigger than your head. The tradition is that godparents give their godchildren these eggs for Easter. No Easter bunnies around here!

I don't even think that one front row center would fit into my Easter basket. Good luck hiding that bad boy.

The trip back was not a total loss. Plus, I had not packed any cold-weather clothes because it had been so hot in Sevilla the previous week, and I did not take into account that the wind would make temperatures feel much chillier than what the actual forecast was. Way to go, chief. I swapped out my shorts and dresses for jeans and sweaters, spent the night at my normal apartment (internet functioning all the while), and caught a train back to Puerto de Santa María the following morning.

I wish that I had been able to see a paso (procession), but at least I was able to experience the atmosphere. Processions from other cities in Spain were also broadcast on live television throughout the week if they were able to get out onto the streets without rain interference. The reason that rain ruins these processions is that the statues and details on the pasos are so old and subject to damage caused by rain. People wait all year for these processions, and when they can’t leave, many people ranging from small children to grown men openly cry. It’s a big deal to them.

This is the mantel of one of the Virgin Mary pasos being restored. You can see why the rain would be a disaster for such a paso.

One of the depictions of the Crucifixion that had yet to be placed on its paso.