Spain is made up of provinces and communities. On the map the communities are all the same colour (with the names) and the provinces are inside of the communities. There are 17 communities and 52 provinces. Madrid is a community and province in one. There is a dot on the map for each province we were in.

August 5, 2008

viva los novios







some wedding pics....

galicia







we took a trip to galicia for jenniffer and miguels's wedding. it was the first time for both of us so we did some sightseeing at the same time. we went to santiago de compostella where we saw a lot of pegrinos ending their trip from "the way of santiago". we also went up north to the beach one day....brrrr. we stayed in a rural area where there are very tiny towns. i think our town had around 6 houses. they don't have any stores of course so it didn't feel like a town to me. 


June 17, 2008

curious spain

Here are some things I’ve noticed here that are different. They are not meant to be offensive:

 Olive oil is an essential ingredient of Spanish cooking.
 Why bother using a garbage can in the bars when you can throw it on the floor.
 Bars here are like coffee shops for me. They are open morning till night… go there to have a coffee or a beer, have your lunch there, watch soccer, read the paper…
 The mullet is not a thing of the past.
 Guys don’t have a problem wearing pink.
 Deep fryers are a part of every kitchen.
 It’s normal to see vans driving around residential areas with people advertising something through a microphone… even on weekend mornings.
 You call your friends “tia” or “tio” which literally means “aunt” or “uncle”.
 Breakfast is a coffee with a little cookie or something sweet. Toast with olive oil is another option. 
 Don’t go shopping between 2 – 5pm. The stores are all closed. But they are open before and after till around 8 to 9pm. 
 There are also hardly any people to be found in the streets between 2 and 5pm… however they are busy before and after these times.
 Lunch is never at 12 pm. I’m still not sure what the regular eating times are here, but on the weekends it goes to the extreme. Lunch between 2 and 3pm and supper can be anywhere from 8pm and on. Never mind if you’re going out with friends to eat. Snack time is my usual suppertime. 
 Don’t bother going to a nightclub before 11pm or later. It will be empty.
 Vodka and orange have new meaning here…. They mix it with fanta orange (this is a pop drink, something like C-plus).
 Meat will probably be a part of every meal you eat.
 They usually have two plates for lunch, as we would eat them together. For example you could eat soup, pasta, or beans first and then have only meat for the second plate. 
 Bread is eaten with every meal.  
 There is a tv in just about every room and if there is someone in the room, it’s usually on. Watching tv while you eat is an everyday thing.
 Dessert usually means fruit. Season fruit is pretty tasty here. 
 People sell lottery tickets on the street.

June 2, 2008

more videos

here are some videos that i wanted to put on before. this one is another from the recortes show. this video is actully what it's all about, because not all of them can do flips over the bull, but it certainly was the highlight for me. in recortes they usually let the bull charge at someone and then they miss the bull by a hair and then run like hell. in this video, the guy did it on his knees. take a look. i know i didn't put any pics from the aussie trip, but this video is too cute. in new zealand we went to feed some wallabies.

May 26, 2008

eurovision

eurovision time has come and gone. Switzerland didn´t make it to the finals with era stupendo. Spain was in the final with chiki chiki but the Russians were the winners, check out their song. i personally liked the song from armenia, qele qele.

May 24, 2008

recortes

Here is a video of recortes, i'm having trouble uploading more videos.

mercado medieval



So I haven't updated in awhile I know.... as some of you may already be aware of, I went on a trip to Australia and New Zealand. It was a fantastic trip. My brother posted some pictures of the trip in his blog, so I won't bother. If you care to see some koalas or roos click here. El Alamo had there mideval festival over a may long week-end like they do every year. I quite enjoyed it. Lots of handcrafts are sold, as well as food, and a mideval wedding. We also went to see "recortes" in another town which was pretty cool. I have some videos which I am trying to upload with no success. I guess I'll have to keep you in suspense if you want to know what it is. :)