Happy New Year

“¡¡¡Feliz Año 2008!!!”

We spent our New Year's Eve (nochevieja) in our "new" house. It has a patio roof, so we ran up there to see the fireworks all over town, but didn't stay long because it was cold. Fireworks and partying all night long, but we went to sleep instead. The Spanish have a traditon (las doce uvas) of placing 12 grapes in their mouth at midnight-one for each chime of the clock. Interesting, but we didn't try it.

The Belén

After dinner with the Steffens we walked down to see our Town's Belén, which means Bethlehem. Most Spanish cities have some sort of replica of Bethlehem which is constructed and torn down each year. Very intricate models with running water, lights, and moving parts. They start in about March and work on it all year. After the holidays, they destroy it and start over. Seems like a shame to put so much work into a project only to tear it down, but hey, it's tradition. And Spain is all about tradition. Here are some pictures.

Christmas Day

We were invited to have Christmas Dinner with a charming family called the Steffens, who have lived here in Spain for many years. The glazed ham, decorated house, and pumpkin pie made it feel more like Christmas at home. We did have Spanish appetizers however: serrano ham, manchego cheese, and langostinos. Spaniards swoon over serrano ham which looks like this:

and is cut from a pig leg that looks like this:

May not look appetizing to you, but the average Spaniard's mouth would be watering over this picture.

Langostinos are pretty much gigantic shrimp, served cold. Now those of you who know us know that we are not exactly shrimp people, but we got the low-down on how to twist off their heads, pry off their armor, discard the legs and use the tail as a handle for insertion in the mouth. The flavor was very nice once you got past the chewy-tendony-bursting texture. Aunt Chrissi would be proud. Brian went back for seconds, though probably just for the morbid pleasure of ripping off something's head.

Manchego is a delicious cheese made from sheep's milk and you can find it in the States nowadays, so give it a whirl. Melted on slices baguette-style bread is best.

The Christmas Tree

We had no intention of buying a Christmas tree this year. You can get fresh ones, but they are maybe 3 feet tall and look more like a bush in a pot. Or you can find fake ones, which are a little pricey. But when we spotted a deal on a "returned"-looking tree in a beat up box, we thought we would give it a try. Found a set of plastic ornaments for cheap, strung some popcorn and voila! It was just like the end of a Charlie Brown Christmas Special. Doesn't that look Christmasy?

The Day after Thanksgiving

The day after Thanksgiving we asserted our Americanism and went to a mall. Unlike American malls however, this one was a ghost town. Since the don't have Thanksgiving here, they obviously don't have Day-After-Thanksgiving sales. Nor, of course, do they have the rampant American materialism, but they are working on it. We went with a family called the Fields and had a nice time getting to know them. Corrie and Julia have become bosom buddies. It took about 30 seconds to establish "best friend" status on the day they met. Had Chinese food in the food court. It's been at least a year since we have indulged in the Mandarin Orange/MSG-glazed chicken (?) chunks that have so eloquently been described by those among our acquaintance as "notches and knuckles." It was quite a treat and it gave us that sick and over-full feeling reminiscent of our favorite Chinese dives at home. Why do they mound five pounds of rice and knuckles onto each serving? The mall also had an indoor ski slope, so we entertained ourselves by watching the skiers and snow-boarders.

Felices fiestas y'all

Woke up this morning in the mood to blog, you lucky audience, you. Sorry you had to spend so long looking at what one of our adoring fans calls "the disturbing boy." We have our excuses for not blogging lately, oh yes, we do, but who wants to hear them? That was last year. We shall try to bring you up to date. Here's a picture of two impertinent little gnomes in one of those cheezy rides that slowly go up and down about six inches. What a waste of a euro. The kids beg and plead for these whenever they see one, and when they finally get to ride one, the look on their faces says, "This is not really as fun as it looked like it was going to be." But of course they would never admit it. Philosophical question: If one is under the impression that one is having fun, is that the same thing as having fun?