07 January 2010

Colegio Otra Vez

After a lovely Christmas break with trips to Barcelona and Valencia, host family meals, and lots of pages of Atlas Shrugged, I'm excited to be back in school and to see everyone again. Valencia was wonderful! We tried its famous horchata (tiger nut milk) with fartones (light pastries) in the oldest horchatería in the city, saw the left (or is it the right?) arm of San Vicente de Paúl, climbed El Miguelete and to see the heaviest bell in Spain and a panoramic view of the city, and met people from Italy, Germany, Romania, Australia, and England in the hostel.
My days in Zaragoza were filled as well. On the night of my return from Barcelona, my host mother took me to a jota concert with a few of her friends - I had a great time! The jota is the typical dance of Aragón, and it is the happiest dance I have ever seen, and I am absolutely in love with it. The concert began with a few songs sung by the winners of the Aragón jota contest, which even has a children division. Seeing an 8-year-old girl singing a song filled with laments about her drinking husband was hilarious!!
Yesterday for the typical Three Kings Day lunch, my host mother, her sister's family, and my host grandparents went to a Chinese restaurant close to my house. However, the food was definitely given a Spanish twist: everything contained jamón!!! Regardless, they scrounged up some vegetables and rice for me, so I enjoyed it thoroughly. We followed up the lunch with roscón, a typical Three Kings Day dessert, at my host grandparents' apartment. I had baked lemon-ginger mini muffins (thank you Mom for the tins - my host mother couldn't believe that silicone was oven-safe) as a little gift for everyone, and my host cousin had brought me a little stuffed dog that looks just like the beagle their family owns - I was so touched that they'd thought of me!
More details on Valencia later...and now, on to some schoolwork.