Highlight 3: Last days in Gijon and Cudillero

GIJON:

The last week or so of the program was really hard. It seemed like I was just starting to feel at home in Gijon and then it was time to go. I went through a lot of phases of being a little homesick and then getting really sad about leaving Gijon. 

Ines said goodbye to me the last day of school. I had gotten home a little early for siesta time and decided to actually take advantage of the break since I hadn't gotten any sleep the night before. Ines came into my room and woke me up and I was really drowsy when she told me she was leaving for her Dad's house and wouldn't see me again. That was probably my most emotional goodbye. I gave her a hug and thanked her for being my friend and told her I'd miss her a lot. She told me the same and then skipped off to her dad's car. It was quiet in the house after that with just me and Maite. 

Exams went surprisingly well for how much I'd stressed out about them. I think the teachers might have taken some mercy on us after the last ones and I passed with flying colors. Funnily enough, Ines had helped me a lot because she was convinced I had to memorize the textbooks and made a game out of quizzing me.

We played a lot of frisbie the last week since we'd be leaving the beach behind. After exams, I went to the beach to play futbol but only a couple people showed up. I hung around the beach with the professor and her son until Alex met me there. Just in time for a monstrous hailstorm to strike: 

We waited it out at first until it stopped and the beach was littered with chunks of hail the size of my big toe. I kicked a ball around with Isabel's son for a bit and it was super weird to feel warm sand mixed with ice under my feet. Then a second wave of hail came in and didn't stop.

Prof. Dulfano and Maia during the first storm.

Me and Alex took off to find cover and ended up trapped under a small overhang for about 20 minutes. The hail was blowing so hard that it tore holes in the canopy we were under and left welts all over our legs. Luckily, my umbrella provided a small shield or we would have been pelted even more. I'm told the hail is unusual for Gijon and it's a good thing because it was madness. We eventually found our way to a small cafe to warm up with some Cola Cao and pastries. 

Stranded on the beach.

I went with Alex to her family's apartment to dry off before meeting some of the other kids to watch Spain's futbol match against Portugal. We bar-hopped until we found a bar full of rowdy Spaniards to watch the last few minutes in which Spain won in a tie-breaker. Everyone in the bar went nuts and there were people honking car horns and shouting throughout the night. 

After that, we met up with some other kids to find a bar to hang out at. We met up with Tom (the English kid) and his friend from Ethiopia, Taré. The bar was a bit too mellow so me, Baya, Shelley, Alex, and Victor decided to check out the gay bar down the street. It was pretty dead when we went in but the stage was lit and we found out it was karaoke night. Two guys were singing and doing their own choreography and we befriended them immediately (one of them even took a liking to Victor). Me and Alex were the first to get on stage and busted out some Katy Perry (the English selection was a little limited). I'm sure our singing was horrible but everytime our group would get up to sing, people would join us and dance around the stage. It ended up being a lot of fun. We sang the YMCA, Summer Nights from Grease, and finished with "I gotta feeling" by the Black-Eyed Peas. It was a great way to end one of our last nights together and we didn't get home until 4 AM (Maite gave me a lecture about it when I woke up with bronchitis the next day).

The day after exams we had a small ceremony at the school where the dean thanked us for coming and our professors gave us bookmarks and played a video of our travels. Silvia and Laura (our professors) handed out diplomas to each of us and said goodbye with the usual kiss on each cheek. After that, we enjoyed churros, pastries, bocadillos, and hot and cold drinks out in the main hall. We had to say goodbye to a lot of the other kids and there were a few tears. 

CUDILLERO:

The next day, me, Alex, Crystal, and Morgan decided to go to Cudillero - a small fishing village an hour away from Gijon. Maite was leaving for Portugal that day so I had to say goodbye to her early. We were both running around, getting ready for our trips so it was a bit hectic. She gave me some last-minute chores and instructions about locking up the house when I left. She had stayed up late the night before, making me an empañada because she was worried I'd starve while she was gone.

Then when I got to the bus station to go to Cudillero, I ran into Maite again, catching her bus to the airport. I had just finished telling Alex that I'd never gotten a chance to get a picture with Maite so she sprung at the chance and took a picture for us:

Maite said we look like sisters. Um.....

Cudillero was gorgeous. It's really small so there's not a lot to see, but it's a beautiful place to walk around. I think we mostly loved how calm it was and how nice the locals were. It was a holiday (San... Pedro? I think?) so there were a few vendors selling goods and other things. I bought a pair of little leather pouches for Maite and Ines as goodbye presents from an Ecuadorian vendor. We even ran into another kid from our group who had come with a friend. Small world.

We grabbed some popsicles and wandered along the harbor until we found some rocks to sit on and enjoy the view. Then we hiked up a windy trail that cut through the village to a lookout point on top of the hill:

Here are a few more pictures:

A marching band for the San Pedro festival.

The last day in Gijon, me and Alex had one last walk around downtown Gijon and visited the beach for the last time. 

The mother statue. She symbolizes Spain during the

dictatorship, reaching out for her children who left

the country as immigrants.

 We grabbed some gofres (waffles with ice cream on top) and sat on the boardwalk for a bit. Then we went home to pack for Barcelona. Here are a few pictures I took of my neighborhood and other parts of Gijon:

Alex on a sundial.

The front of the mother statue.

There was an oil spill near the beach. That's what the 

lighter part of the water is.

My bus stop.

One of the trail-markers for the Camino de Santiago

right by my house.

The park I walked through ever day to catch the bus.

My house.

My room. Super nice, right?

 Leaving Maite's house was really hard. I left the leather pouches I'd bought for Maite and Ines on the counter with handwritten notes inside thanking them for everything.

 My hands started shaking when I went to shut the door behind me because I knew I wouldn't be able to go back in once it was shut. 

I got to the bus station and met Alex and her host parents. It was sad to say goodbye to them too since they'd always been so welcoming when I'd gone over to visit. 

The bus ride through Asturias was beautiful as always and made me even sadder to leave. Then it was off for the next adventure. 

Highlight Reel 2: Universidad Laboral, Peter Pan, Oviedo, and the Roman Ruins

And the blogging marathon continues....

I wasn't sure how to organize everything here but I decided to bunch these ones together since they're pretty brief.

Universidad Laboral


So the week before the bonfire, the class toured the Universidad Laboral. I had actually been given a tour by Maite my first week in Gijon when we went to pick-up Ines there so I knew the building fairly well. It is literally across the street from my house so I didn't have to deal with the bus system this time. Anytime I find myself walking home, the giant clock tower of the Laboral would lead me home. It is a historical landmark from Franco's dictatorship and the venue for many plays and events in Gijon.

Kyle and Morgan... our comedic pair.

The clock tower.

At the top of the clock tower.

I can see my house!

Peter Pan

While we were touring the Universidad Laboral, some friends and I decided on a whim to get tickets to see the Peter Pan musical playing in the theater there.

Apparently, when Alex was telling her host family about seeing the play, they didn't understand until she repeated "Peter Pan" with a Spanish accent. I've noticed a few names like that where I have to say it with a Spanish accent for people to know what I'm saying. It always feels like I'm mocking their accent but it's seriously the only way to communicate sometimes.

The play took place the evening of La Noche de San Juan and was a nice filler while we waited for the festival to start. The show started with fog and a laser show that at times looked like fairies were flying all over the theater and at one point it was almost as if it were a simulation of flying through space. They did some amazing stuff with it.

The fog.

 It was actually a really cool experience and the Spanish have a very fun take on the story. This play had it's own original music written just for the Spanish audience and Captain Hook's vocal range was phenomenal. The girl playing Peter Pan did an amazing job of playing a kid as well and Wendy had a beautiful operatic voice. The dancing was just as amazing, each group (pirates, mermaids, Indians, Lost Boys, etc.) had their own unique song and dance.

The Lost Boys dance.

There were a lot of kids in the audience and during costume changes, some of the actors would stall by getting the kids involved in what was happening. They would call them up to the stage and have them call out the characteristics of a "lost boy". Then when Tinkerbell was dying, everyone had to stand up and sing with Peter Pan and the adults had to put their children on their shoulders to bring her back to life. It was adorable to see the kids' reactions. They also called Neverland "Nunca Jamas" (Never Ever), which was weird at first for us along with the random English words thrown into the script since the characters were supposed to be British. At the end, they did a reprisal of just about every song and we weren't sure if they were ever going to close the curtains. The songs were really catchy though. It was a really fun and unique experience and I'm glad I got to see that. We'd seen a Spanish movie in the theater the day before that was...um...shocking... so it was an interesting contrast to see a fun family-oriented show.

Oviedo


Oviedo is another city in Asturias about 30 minutes from Gijón. It, as well as Gijón, suffered a lot during the Spanish Civil War and many of the buildings still hold the bullet holes from that period. It's the site of a Gothic cathedral that's attached to some Roman ruins. The city was beautiful and it was really a shame we couldn't stay longer.

Some of the ruins.

That... is a giant butt.

The fat mama. I forget the real name.

I'm not gonna translate what hijoputa means....

La Regenta statue, dedicated to a novel/movie that we 

studied in class, which takes place in a ficitonal

version of Oviedo.

If you look close, you can see some of the bullet holes.

We've come to a consensus that I have a weird fixation

with clerical figures. Especially nuns. But look

how cute they are!

The cathedral's built to look like a hand pointing up.

More bullet holes?

This is not a satanic ritual. It's just my professor...

in the crypt.

Roman ruins - the figures' bodies used to be painted

on the walls with 3-dimensional heads.

Chillin' by the tomb.

Our two professors: Laura and Silvia gave us a tour of the city and it's cathedral. Laura is our art and Spanish history professor and seems to know EVERYTHING. A couple of ladies attached themselves to us in the cathedral and followed our group through the rest of our tour. It was kind of funny and Laura just went with it, answering any questions they had.

Roman Ruins in Gijón


Our last week in Gijón we hiked up a hill overlooking Gijón to see the remnants of an ancient Roman community. I was sick that day and exhausted from being up all night so it was hard for me to focus on the tour so I might not have my facts straight. The community was fairly small but sustained itself through mining and panning for gold. It was built on the top of a cliff with a man-made ravine to protect it from attacks.

All that's left of the houses are the outlines and a few wells but further along the coast is another site that is more distinguishable:

Where the baths used to be.

What's left of the mosaic tile floors.

Highlight Reel 1: La Noche de San Juan

So, I've been a slacker the past few weeks as far as blogging (actually I was studying for exams so I guess I've actually been responsible for a change).  So, since I have a lot to catch up on, I'm just going to start a series of posts that I'll refer to as the "highlight reel" of my Spain experience.

El Primero:

La Noche de San Juan (June 23rd, 2012)


Spaniards like to party. I think that's pretty common knowledge. And being predominantly catholic with over 10,000 saints to name holidays for, they never run out of excuses to have a fiesta. Thus we have La Noche de San Juan - a festival in Gijon to celebrate the end of school and the summer solstice.

It involves some of this:

And this:

A street performer after the Dixebra concert. And that is

a joint in his mouth. My friend, Alex, finally learned

to recognize the smell if weed that night.

And this:

The party really starts around midnight when they light the 3-tiered bonfire. There's the parade of celtic dancers  and bagpipes (Asturias has a lot of Celtic background), fireworks, and as soon as the fireworks end, a series of firecrackers ignite the big fire.

I went with some kids in our group of students and met up with some others as well as a kid from England who is teaching English in Gijon as well as our professor. We all wandered around the beach for a while so see all the little bonfires and check out the site where the giant bonfire would be lit.

Before....

When the fireworks went off, me and one of the girls in our group, Bettymaya decided to go right to the edge of the water to get a closer look. Of course, the aerials started bursting directly above us and I've never been so terrified in my life. They are HUGE up close and I'm still amazed my hair didn't catch fire. As soon as we turned around and walked back to the 3-tierred pile of wood, the bonfire burst into flames. It was kind of amazing. 

After...

There are a few traditions linked with La Noche de San Juan such as taking a midnight swim, jumping over a bonfire, and burning a lover's name. People also burn things they want to get rid of or cleanse themselves of or else they will burn their hopes and dreams in hopes that they'll come true. A lot of students burn their textbooks and homework.

Goodbye emotional baggage!

Me and some friends put our items in a water bottle and threw it into the fire. Mine was a list of bad habits and regrets that I'd like to let go of. It was pretty liberating. I also burned my broken headphones.

The fire burned on throughout the night and every once in a while, some logs would fall and create a massive wall of embers.

There was an Asturian band playing a little ways down the boardwalk and me, Alex, and Crystal went to check them out. They were an awesome group with some celtic influence called Dixebra. Alex immediately bought their shirt and I bought one of their songs when i got home. While we were there, I jumped off a wall and knocked into a guy who was drinking with his buddies. When I apologized, he looked me up and down and said, "No pasa nada, Princesa" (which pretty much means "no worries, princess") and it's become a running joke with us.

We ended the night with a group hug - that may or may not have included some drunken antics - and a walk down the beach, finished with some Turkish Kebap. Completely beautiful night.