Merry Christmas Eve!

My first Christmas spent anywhere other than my parents' home in PA...it's a strange feeling, of not being there to do all the usual traditions. Since it's Christmas Eve, I should be helping my dad make the kipfel (the favorite Stremme cookie) in the kitchen, and finishing wrapping up my gifts. To help sort of follow this tradition, I'm going to go bake another kind of cookie that involves jelly and is German (I think), a linzer cookie. Plus, I do still have some wrapping to do! It's nice to know I can procrastinate in any country :)

One of things I'm most sad about missing is a Christmas Eve church service. The church I'm attending doesn't have one, nor do any of the other churches that we've found. Maybe some of the cathedrals have mass? Anyway, I'll sing Silent Night on my own if I have to!
Christmas is most definitely celebrated here, but the bigger holiday happens on Jan. 6th, el dia de los Reyes Magos (or something to that effect). King's Day. I've been told on the 5th in the evening, there is a parade where the kids dress up in costumes and throw candy into the crowds...I don't know, I'll blog more when it gets closer and I can see for myself!

One thing I have enjoyed is seeing a few different nativities around Alhaurín and in Málaga. There's one outdoors, in front of the main cathedral in town. It has full size figures, and since the floor is filled with hay all the homeless kitties around town have taken up residence beside the baby Jesus. It's really cute, actually! I got a picture of them...

You can see the two curled up together in front of Mary. There were more along the sides of the creche, probably 5 or 6 in all. This was the only life size belén (nativity) I saw.

The others were all in miniature, but were entire villages...the stable was just one part of it! We went to one that was inside a...not a church, I'm not sure what to call it. A place where they store the floats and saints for Santa Semana (Holy week, the week before Easter when they have tons of parades with their favorite saints/icons) Anyway, inside this building they had a little village set up, but when we looked closely we saw that there were little scenes from Jesus' life in different parts. One of him as a boy, while Joseph was working as a carpenter, one of Mary while she was riding on the camel, pregnant, with Joseph leading...it was neat, actually. You could always pick the 3 of them our because their figurines had the gold circle/halo around their heads. I didn't get any pictures, because I wasn't sure if it was allowed, but it was fun to look at. And the nice church ladies inside were playing tambourines and singing. Not so much in a performance way, more like they decided to stand in a little circle and sing together, And they offered us drinks. Like, shots of the anise flavored liquor...I don't know what it's called. But these Spanish ladies knew how to party!
The last belén I saw was yesterday, at the main cathedral in Málaga. It was...confusing? It was in miniature, like the other one, but the scene was more like 18th century. The figurines were dressed more 17th or 18th century, I'm not really sure. One guy had a white wig like he should have been in parliament in the 1700s...then we did see the creche at the end of the scene, but it wasn't really a stable. There were animals, and a decorative fountain in the wall behind them..umm..okay. An interpretation of Bethlehem perhaps? lol...it was interesting!

Well, the cookies won't make themselves so I better get to work. I hope to blog tomorrow at some point, but if not, then please pray for me as I prepare for my trip to Fez, Morocco! I leave on Sunday the 26th, and I'll be back in Málaga on the 30th. Just a few days, but I excited to see Morocco! Who would have thought I'd ever go to Fez??
¡Feliz Navidad!

Christmas in Malaga

Last Friday I had the chance to go downtown with 2 friends, Lily and Theresa, to see the Christmas lights. Let me tell you, they know how to do lights here! It was beautiful! Around the main plaza, la Plaza de la Constitucion, there is a big pedestrian outdoor shopping area, and they went all out with Christmas lights and more Christmas lights, hung from building to building. Plus, as we were standing in the plaza, a marching band came through, just sort of pushing their way through the crowds. And further down there was an excellent string quartet playing off to one side. It was loud, crowded, bright, and alive...as much as I like living in a smaller town, I equally enjoy getting out into the city! After walking around and taking many pictures we found a good sushi restaurant and really, when have I ever refused sushi??
Pictures of the lights...

Ole!

Last night I had the chance to go to a flamenco show at the local cultural center. It was so much fun to watch! It was put on by a local dancing school, and it seemed like a recital of sorts. Which made it all the more fun, because there were dancers of all ages and skill levels- from a 4 year old that stood completely still and just played with  her dress and smiled, to the adults who danced  and moved their hands beautifully. Flamenco is fascinating to watch...so much of it is in the hands and how they twist and turn them in the air. There were several different styles of flamenco, which I never realized there was more than one style. Some involved castanets and soft shoes, and others were more about the stomping and clapping rhythms. And the costumes! Some were wildly inappropriate for little girls to be wearing on stage (gold bikini-like tops? really?) but most were what you would picture for flamenco dancers. Mermaid style gowns with big ruffles that trailed behind on the floor, hair in tight buns and big flowers pinned in. I didn't get any pictures of the adults, but I couldn't resist these little ones in their orange ruffle dresses...they were so cute!

We all had a really good time watching the recital...and at the end they all gathered on stage and had what I refer to as a jam session. Dancing improv, as they clapped to the beat and called to each other to come forward and dance in the semi circle. Oh, it looked like so much fun, it's tempting to find some flamenco lessons! And, at the end of each performance people from the audience shouted "Ole!" Ah, what a Spanish experience.

Tonight I'm headed into downtown Malaga to see the Christmas lights in the shopping/pedestrian area. I saw them up last time I was in town, unlit, so I'm excited to see them all lit up. Pictures will come of that! I did take a pic of my mini-tree. I like it! And it was only 6.49 Euro. Not bad for a little tree :)

Hello, December!

Felices Fiestas!
I've seen that expression in lights around town, and the closest I can gather is that it is the equivalent of our generic, secular Happy Holidays. (Literal translation is Happy Parties...) I prefer Feliz Navidad!

I decided not to go home for Christmas this year. I was going back and forth about it, which meant I waited until flights got to be rather pricey. I finally decided to take advantage of being on this side of the Atlantic and fully experience Spain during Christmastime. It'll be weird to not be home for making cookies with my dad, Christmas Eve dinner and church service, and all the traditions that Christmas brings with it. But I have a wonderful group of people here who are more than welcoming and will gladly draw me in to join in the Christmas festivities. And, I even bought a little tree about 2 ft. tall, and little inexpensive ornaments to decorate it with. Can't have Christmas without a tree :) I would post a picture but I haven't take it out of it's little box yet. Soon, though.

One thing that made it feel like Christmas was going shopping this weekend. There was Christmas music, mostly in English...the mall was all decorated inside with lights and a big tree, and there were huge crowds- just like back home. A mall is a mall, no matter where you are. They had an H&M, Sephora, Claire's, and a few other common stores. The main difference I would say is the food court. Well, I wouldn't call it a food court, because the only fast food option was McD's (of course), then the rest were all little cafes/restaurants where you need to sit down and order. It's just much more common to take time to sit down and eat, especially for the main 2:30ish meal. It's a good thing, to slow down and enjoy each other's company.

That's it for now...I will try and blog more frequently this month!

Water, water everywhere

Things are getting a bit soggy here in southern Spain. The rains have come, which means Winter is upon us! It doesn't get cold enough to snow where I am living, but it does get to be quite chilly. And rainy. It has rained 3 of the past 4 days. I like rain, but not in my bedroom...
I think my family water curse has followed me here. Water is trying to seep in through the bottom of my door that leads out to the patio. Then I started hearing a drip-drip-dripping sound over the weekend, and saw my roof was dripping in 2 spots. (luckily, not over my bed or anything!) I only mention the water curse because these water incidents are on top of my toilet not flushing properly at the moment, the lack of hot water for a week until we had the hot water heater replaced, and the kitchen sink upstairs that is leaking in the cabinet below. I'm not complaining, just realizing that perhaps my family does have a water curse! At any rate, I'm still feeling thankful and blessed to have hot showers after a few days of trickling, cool water showers in the chilly mornings!
On Sunday it did not rain. In fact, it was gorgeous and clear, and I took the opportunity to walk around my neighborhood. Below is a photo of the view from the top of my street. I am living in one of the pinkish houses you can see in the near distance, to the right a bit. So blessed to be here!!

The Mediterranean in the distance. I can't get enough of these views!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Living outside of the US doesn't stop us Americans from taking time off from work/school and stuffing ourselves full of turkey and mashed potatoes! Sure, there were a few elements missing (the Macy's parade, football, the snow that apparently fell in Philly...??) but those aren't what really makes Thanksgiving a great holiday. As much as I love eating all the food, one of my favorite parts of the day is the time spent cooking with others in the kitchen. I like the chit chat and time spent together as you do even the most mundane tasks, such as peeling potatoes or chopping vegetables. At least this year I didn't have to fight off 4 cats who know how to jump up on the counters :)
Our little community of 11 came together yesterday to have Thanksgiving, and it was a really great time of fellowship and laughter, with a few small cooking missteps (ovens in Spain are weird. Though from what I hear, it can be normal for a house/apartment to not even have an oven.) But the turkeys came out great, as did all the side dishes. I was in charge of mashed potatoes and broccoli salad, naturally. The kids had all made little Pilgrim and Indian dolls from toilet paper rolls, and created a little village! I love the creativity these kids have.
There is just so much to be thankful for right now...thank you to everyone who has been praying for me and supporting me. I'm truly thankful for God's provisions for me here and everything he has done in the past few months. Amazing! 

Happy Thanksgiving, and Happy Black Friday shopping to you all!!
And now I can start listening to Christmas music ;)

Our village people!

Ready for dinner

Discount Shopping and Hot Engines

Today I went shopping! There have been signs all over Alhaurin and Malaga for a huge discount shopping weekend at the Malaga Convention Center, where vendors come and sell maybe their overstock? Or items that are out of season? Anyway, it involved clothes, shoes, children's clothing, housegoods, and even some kitchen appliances. My friend Lily invited Doralicia (mom of my students) and me to go, so the 3 of us ladies piled in the car and headed over this afternoon. After we exited the autovia (highway) and were approaching the convention center, suddenly the little screen in the middle of the console beeped and flashed a message at us to inform us that they engine was too hot and needed coolant. Sure enough, the little gauge was all the way over in the red, and in the middle of the area in front of the driver there was a red light and kept flashing STOP STOP STOP over and over at us...yikes! Luckily, we were already there so we were able to keep going long enough to park safely and let the engine cool while we shopped.

And shop we did! It was overwhelming...we realized we came right after siesta, so there was a huge rush of people that arrived the same time we did. I had expected a crowd, and it was a bit crazy at times. Sometimes just walking down the aisles I almost started throwing elbows just to get through :) But they did have some good deals..I realized it is a tad chillier here than I had anticipated, so I bought another long sleeved blue cardigan. I also found a pair of green flats (shoes) that were on a good sale. I was tempted to buy a pair of cute boots, but I restrained myself. (Well, plus the ones I tried on didn't zip all the way up my leg. Boo for having fat calves :( But the ladies at the shoe booth were friendly and patient with my broken Spanish!
Also, we got a microwave for my little kitchen area. hooray! After doing a little research in the past few days, we got an idea of the prices of microwaves in the main stores around here. They had a nice looking microwave today for 39 Euro, which was by far the least expensive we've seen. It wasn't fun to carry it all the way through to convention center out through the parking lot to the car, but hey, we got it there!

We pile in the car and go to drop off some people who met us there and sure enough, after about 5 minutes the car is again yelling at us to STOP STOP STOP! and we're in the red again. Lily's friend points us in the general direction of where she's pretty sure there's a gas station and after a scary 5 minutes of not seeing anything, the bright BP sign is like a haven. Thank you Lord! We pull in to where you get air and water, and luckily there is a guy there who had just finished putting air in his tires. Dora (who is fluent) goes up to him and asks if he knows anything about radiators (like, where they are under the hood...?) and explains the situation to him. He very kindly helped us out by not only finding the radiator, but filling it with water for a quick fix to get us home safely. We got in the car and again said thank you Lord for sending us this guy! We made it home safe and sound and tired from a long evening of shopping. But it was a good time :)