Calcots Day

I can't wait to tell you about my interesting weekend! :) More Catalan traditions....

First on Saturday, it was partying with my good friends in BCN -- my UK and USA teachers :). It was also a little temporary goodbye for my bro who needs to visit motherland. BTW the apartment is so empty without him....It's deadly quiet (no DJ music until the early hours of the morning) and the stove and oven are taking a big vacation. I have to make sure to wipe the spider nets from time to time :). Kidding of course but it is true that they will be in use only a few times...

Decorations on the main plaza

So Sunday was an organized day to visit a town nearby and participate in a Catalunian tradition. It was through one of the meetup groups and I was debating until the last minute to go or not because I had to get up at 7:30am! Now that hasn't happened to me in Spain at all, let alone on a Sunday! Especially when the night before I went to bed around 1:30am.... It's good I had prepaid; otherwise I'd have missed it.

Our guide explaining how to drink the wine

Managed to get to the bus station on time and it turned out that many people had done the same. Our group was about 40 people. Now you are supposed to mingle around and meet people but it's close to impossible and as usual I gravitated around some Americans. Very cool people from San Francisco ;).

One of the plazas with calcots (that smoke was lovely!)

Getting to Valls was fast and easy. From there we had a lovely local guy (head of the tourist office :) who seemed to be making friends with everyone, especially the girls. So what are calcots?! Basically that's griled green onion. That's it. The big secret is revealed! The calcots are thicker and bigger that regular green onion and they are eaten with special sauce called romesco. 

Tons of calcots

Grilling the calcots!

The way you eat a calcot is: be prepared for messiness and black hands; hold the calcots straight and peel down the first layer which is burnt and comes off fairly easily; dip the calcot in romesco and ...bite. Follow with wine. People don't usually use glasses but drink from a glass container with a long pouring outlet (please look the picture with the guide; this is too complicated to explain....). So you hold it high in front of you and pour into your mouth with touching the container. The trick is when you let go to not spill anything on yourself. :)

Making fresh romesco :)

We also tried fresh romesco. Made of tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, parsley, almonds and some spices -- all grinded into a delicious sauce. There was the contest about the most beautiful calcots (apparently they have to be green and straight and some other things known only to the judges), who can eat the most calcots in 45 minutes (285 -- believe it or not), the castellers and the dances -- Sardana is close to "horo" but much slower with easier steps.

Sardana dancing

The contest (won by the big guy #1 on the left)

Castellers

We had to line up to get our bag of goodies -- 12-14 calcots (didn't count them), romesco, wine, orange, bread and a big bib. The line was impressive but moved fairly quickly. The only negative experience that day was the freezing weather, especially when you stand in one place! Oh and the fact that on the way back the train broke, we had to wait for 2 hours and as a result was in BCN around 9pm instead of 6pm....But that's normal here. Getting used to it. 

A small portion of the line

My calcots bag :)

The orange is the traditional dessert after the calcots. I have to admit that it was pretty good. The wine is also special and supposedly 14% alcohol. Good that people had brought wet wipes otherwise there is no way you can clean your black hands with just paper napkins. Sitting in the sun felt great and the calcots are actually not that bad. Apparently their season in only now through beg of March because it is still cold and they can't develop some regular ingredients that later develop in onions when the weather gets warm. I think that's what the guide said. All in Spanish. I hope you were able to get for only a few minutes with me here in Catalunya and experience calcots!

The bottle of a good size

The proof -- I ate calcots!

Teaching

Hm not sure if we are losing readers on the way but will keep writing. Even if just for me...I know 1-2 people still reading so that's great! :)

This week has been a great teaching week. And it is going fast! My kids actually seem to be enjoying the classes. They still drive me crazy and after 1 hour of shouting and working on the discipline I feel like going home. But then I have the teens who need to be entertained and taught at the same time -- kinda like the kids but in a different way. It's been fun though! :)

My in-company (business) classes have been good too. We died laughing today! They know how to make jokes even when we discuss things such as politics, China, Wikileaks, etc. Now one of the funny (and somewhat embarrassing moments) today was when talking about Wikileaks I told my students (who are older men -- 40 and above) that I read on CNN about the creation of a new task force in the CIA, called WTF. Yeah. It means Wikileaks Task Force but it's WTF :). Another example of my thinking that these grown-up men, whose level is intermediate (some maybe a bit higher), would now wtf. Nice try but not really. Once I said WTF and stared laughing I saw their bewilderment and had to explain. Well, how do you actually explain "what the f&^%%"?! I had to write this exact thing on the white board and then a few got it! Yay! But only a few! Because some didn't know f^&*. So the rest helped with some good Spanish translation! Go figure! And some say the first words in a language are the bad ones...

I've had other embarrassing moments with that same group. Like me trying to draw a flip-flop on the board and ending up drawing something which looked like a penis! Don't ask me how......But standing in front of these grown-up men with that drawing (which took me a few seconds to see; they had already started laughing..).....Perfect moment for my red face!

Anyway, the important thing is that we are having fun. Like today me playing the bull and a teenager the bullfighter in my teen class but I got him in the end. :) Or jumping like a frog with my kids or pretending to be a monkey.....All kinds of interesting moments. Days like these make me happy and I feel like I'm doing something (even teaching "wtf"). Parents meeting coming next week so we will see what they say!

Quick update on running: today it was 35 mins with no break!!!! And some of it on the sand which is haaard! Weather is getting colder here -- I just have to see how I will run in the cold! Stay tuned, comment if you can and join if you are reading and haven't done so yet! Love you all!!!!!!!!!Rxxxx

Running and more

Running path :)

Well, there goes my regular blogging....Last post was 6 days ago....Hopefully there are a few out there still reading. We are getting very spoiled here in BCN. I woke up this morning to no sun and that was no fun :). Sunny, warm, no-coats, gloves, boots, etc weather makes you forget about winter easily. To my delight, it took the sun only an hour to come out and now it is shining brightly as I was used to seeing it.

Believe it or not but I haven't put on my winter coat and accessories since I came back from BG. It's all spring clothes. That, however, doesn't mean that the locals agree with me. In the middle of the day when the sun is actually strong and it the weather is short of hot, you can see people dressed as if they are on the North Pole (or South) -- coats, gloves, hats, big scarves. Now don't get me wrong. I lived in DC where I have seen people wear flip-flops in the winter and I am a firm believer in seasonal wear but wearing flip-flops when it is freezing or hats and gloves when it is spring temperatures is a little off. :)

Sunday on the beach

Anyway, here is my report on running -- on Friday (day 3) I ran for 20 mins straight, then a walking break and then another 20 mins :). Today I can proudly say that I ran for 30 mins with no break (some of it on the sand), then did some exercises on the beach and then ran another 10 mins. Yay!!!!!!!!! :) I have to admit that my running is prob more like jogging for some but it's the best for now. I am nicely surprised at the ease this happened considering I've never run and I hate it. Or should I say this in the past?!

Running doesn't seem to be so scary and hard. It really is more a mindset than anything else. Once you start going, then you just go. And keep going. As I said before -- running by the sea makes it so much better. Put me in a gym and we will see if I will think the same. I have to figure out a way to bring a camera or the iphone with me so that I can take some pics and show you. It is lovely!

I'm still trying to get into the routine after the long vacation and it's been a little hard. The weekend was lazy with walks on the beach, coffee and some movies. Friends too! :) It must be the spring lethargy (I know it's early but you can't tell here) or something but I feel like hibernating.....And teaching.....Aaaaaah, who has time and energy for that?!?

Some people played volleyball while I enjoyed the beach

OK, gotta go teach some ENG. Stay in touch! :)

First day after vacation

So I survived the first teaching day of the new year. The kids came running, full of energy, shouting, sing fast Spanish which I don't understand and, I have to admit, creating a wonderful kids-like atmosphere. I kinda missed them. Don't quote me at the end of the week. My teens were also somewhat enthusiastic even though by the end of class had no energy for ENG whatsoever and couldn't wait to get out of school. At least my last class is a grownup who is preparing for an exam and is not only serious about studying but I can als talk to him about regular life stuff. Try that with the teens. Good luck...

I should have started the blog with something very important -- I ran today!!! Well, "ran" is a little too much if you consider my total running time of 15 mins (broken by walking). I went to the beach, ran, walked, exercised and the weather was gorgeous! This I can prob get used to doing. But inside some gym....Nope. Thanks Alex for the advice and the info :). I actually found out on my own that there is no way I can just run. It was running and then walking and then running again. As far as a marathon -- hahahahaha. Yeah, sure! ;) Cava is great, right?!

I got my Nutella today. I got home and after a nice salad had to have a few small spoons, still thinking about the book from yesterday. It turns out (I did some online research) that the author, Carole Matthews, has tons of books and they are all...romantically written. I mean -- don't get me wrong. She is no Danielle Steele (I mean this in a positive way) and her books seem to be written in a funny, yet somewhat down-to-earth way but you still get the gone-bad relationship, then the life which sucks, then the prince on a white horse and so forth. Hm, maybe not now. Thanks.

Another important news is......a dear dear friend will be my first guest in BCN!!!!! :) January 28th and we are conquering BCN! Spring is coming people and then summer. Do not wait too long -- who knows where I might decide to move next.....Center-city apartment, beautiful city, sea and me -- what more do you need?!

OK, as you can see I'm trying very hard this year to keep the blog updated regularly. That might mean shorter blogs and sometimes no pics but you get to read my wonderful writings and stay in touch with me. Still not all details go out here but if you are dying to find out, shoot me an email! Hasta pronto! xxxxx

Time and chocolate

It's such a luxury to have a few hours free time to be able to read a 300-page book! I've always appreciated the small things in life but am realizing some I never really paid close attention to. One of them is time. I have a lot of free time here -- there are no relationships to take care of (well, almost none or should we say no serious relationships ;), no studying, not many friends (this is a negative aspect). Besides work I have all the rest of the time for myself (and my bro but I have to admit he is not very needy). It is amazing!

It's another story that the book I read (took it from BG, in Bulgarian) turns out to be this witty-written book about relationship and chocolate and girlfriends.....I should have been more prepared before starting it. And even though the cover says that I should have tons of chocolate before I start reading, I didn't think I'd need it. However, now that I'm done with it and it is almost 12am, I realize I should have listened to the advice.

Most of you know that I'm not a chocolate fan, as a matter of fact I used to say that I don't really like chocolate that much and can live without it. Well, that was before. Things change. People change. I still can live without it but am craving and eating more sweet things than ever before. This started maybe 2 years ago -- I think it's age. People change.

So after reading "The Chocolate Lovers' Club" I feel like some chocolate now. However I will have wait until tomorrow to get some. I have to admit that the chocolate I can eat with the spoon without stopping is the Nutella chocolate spread....Before one small spoon would do it and that was enough. Now....Give me the jar and wait and see!

To all chocolate lovers -- enjoy! :)

Happy New Year!

In Bourgas

My dear friends,
Wishing you a wonderful new 2011! Be creative, live every day as much as you can (even if that means sitting at home in front of the TV -- if it makes you happy, do it), believe in miracles, follow your dreams and do not give up, stop and look around you more often -- life is beautiful, say "I love you" more often to your friends and family, follow your heart!!!!! :):):)

BCN lights

More....

So I took a very long vacation not just from BCN, the blog, people, etc. Enjoyed my stay in BG completely with my parents who were so extremely happy to spend the holidays with me that in the end it was hard to leave. I ate and drank a lot, had a wonderful family time, saw some dear friends (the few I have left in BG), felt real freezing winter and now am back in BCN. It's 20 degrees here (around 70 or so for the USA people) and I'm loving it!

Bourgas -- wine (pelinche) and meatballs (kuftenca) in the cold

Kuftenca :)

  

Bday with mom and dad :):):)

It feels great to be home during the holidays. The atmosphere is so different.....Having been away for so long I had decided to fully enjoy it and make the best of it. And I did! :) It is also so great to be spoiled by your parents -- for a little time to let them take care of you.

Black Sea in the winter

New Year's

Cava from BCN :)

 I also have to mention that I can't get enough of BG food -- that is why as of Monday I have decided to try and do something which many people do but I hate and don't think I can do it -- running! I've decided that I can't spend money for a gym membership and I have to do some physical activities -- the jeans look a size smaller and I really don't feel like buying new clothes....

New Year's -- sarmichki, parjolka s gabi i oriz :)

At my aunt's -- popchenca i razni drugi ribki

So keep you fingers crossed for Monday when I will my body to the running test -- can I run more than 5-10 min?!?! Another resolution I have decided to follow is Spanish! I desperately need to learn it and need to get off my lazy butt and do something about it. Besides Spanish I have decided to focus on myself -- reading, writing, using more of that grey matter in my head. I forgot to mention that my dear cat is living "peacefully" with the family dog :). They are the true examples of "a cat and a dog".

I hope everyone had wonderful holidays and is ready for the new year whatever it may bring us. Stay in touch! :) Smiles and kisses from sunny BCN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rxxxx