Santiago de Compostela

My one month anniversary in Santiago de Compostela just so happens to coincide with the most important day of the year... My birthday, duh! With this quite momentous event right about the corner, I find two things extremely hard to believe: 1. That I have actually been here a month and not written about my life here, and 2. That I am living in a Santiago again, this time on the other side of the world. The former I will address with this post and let all y'all know what my life has been like over here. The latter I can't really explain, perhaps I will settle for the world's default explanation for unexplainable phenomenon: fate.

All of that just made my life sound really grandiose and important, but the reality is that my life is pretty normal over here. I go to work, have roommates, hang out with friends, eat too much, and then struggle to "find" time to work-outs; all of this just happens to go down in Spain and is sprinkled with a little extra travel. There are definitely some cultural differences that take some getting used to, but thus far, I feel really good about where I am. I'm comfortable with my life here and I am really enjoying it.

Santiago is an absolutely gorgeous city! Like most European cities, it has an old zone and a new zone. I prefer the old to the new, but both seem to work together to give Santiago its special encanto (charm). The old zone, dominated by the Cathedral of Saint James, is a maze of cobbled streets, plazas, restaurants and pilgrims. Yes, I just said pilgrims, but not the kind we associate with Thanksgiving. I'm referring to religious pilgrims. The second you type "Santiago de Compostela" into Google and hit enter, you will see hundreds of results for the Cathedral and the "Camino de Santiago." Apparently, I am living in one of Catholicism's holiest cities! As a former Catholic turned Athiest, I am able to appreciate the city, and truly love it for what it is, but I don't foresee a return to Catholicism for this here chica. The new zone, while technically newer, is a lot less aesthetically pleasing, but offers a nice break from all things traditional.

The oh so famous cathedral is under
construction... Does the picture of what it
should look like, draped over the scaffolding,
really help? I haven't made up my mind.

Sunset from Praza do Obradoiro (The main
plaza where the cathedral sits).

Santiago, while beautiful, is also one of the rainiest cities in Spain. If it's not number 1, it is guaranteed to be 2 or 3.  I was talking to the owner of the local craft beer shop (a fantastic find!) and he asked me to think of the rainiest city in the Unite States. I said Seattle and he smiled and said, "Oh yeah! I know Seattle!" and continued, "It rains about three times more in Santiago than in Seattle..." I have had my first full week of non-stop rain and I can tell you that it's no joke. When it rains, it pours. Within two days, my everyday black boots and purse-sized umbrella were replaced by full on rain boots and a heavy duty umbrella, the ones everyone in the states thinks are a little excessive. When armed with the right apparel, the rain is tolerable. But winter is coming, and last year Santiago had 40+ consecutive days of rain. I don't allow myself to think about it. I will find a way to deal when it's here. For now though, I am enjoying the heat wave that has descended upon Galicia. The goal this week is to be outside as much as possible in hopes of storing some extra vitamin D for the winter months.

I have found myself a nice little apartment  in one of the older parts of the city. It's not exactly the old zone, but my street is still cobbled! That's what's really important, right? The neighborhood is really awesome. It's right outside the heart of la zona vieja and close to a ton of bars, restaurants, and taperias, but it quiets down at night so I can always go to sleep. My location is pretty far from the school where I teach, but I don't mind the 25 minute walk, it's good exercise. I have two housemates and I have my own room (Sharing a room is pretty much unheard of here). I live with a Spanish girl, Lara, and a Spanish guy, Emilio. I honestly don't know exactly how old they are but they are in their late 20s. Both are done with school and are now working. It's kind of a miracle that I live with two young Spainards who are both employed. Youth unemployment in Spain is circa 30%... Both Emilio and Lara are extremely nice and really mellow. We don't go out and socialize together, but in the house, all things are gravy. All in all, I am really happy with my living situation!

The view from my kitchen window, looking
away from Santiago and to the east.

This is what laundry day looks like when it's
not raining. There are no dryers. Anywhere.

I almost forgot about my 3rd roommate, Katia!
She is a sassy dalmatian that takes her sweet
time warming up to you. We're buddies now
though. I think it's because I threw her
some chorizo once.

Ok, so how the heck am I able to even live over here? I teach. Technically I work for the Spanish government as an auxiliar de conversación (English language assistant) in a colegio publico de primaria (public elementary school) called CEIP Cardenal Quiroga Palacios. The classes that I am in are all natural science classes. Some auxiliars work in art class, or English class, or even PE; but since I taught natural science in the states, I get to work exclusively with science. In one week, I teach/assist every. single. class/grade. That means I work with 1A/B/C, 2A/B, 3A/B, 4A/B, 5A/B, and 6. That's A LOT of kids to teach. I kind of feel like a celebrity when I walk the halls, the students get so excited to see me and love greeting me, "MAYA!" "HELLLLOOOO, MAYA!!" "HELLO!" "HELLO!" "HOLA, MAYA! oops, ummmm HELLO!!" I told some of the kids that they could also say "Hi" or "Hey" and they were completely flabbergasted. Now, those kids never fail to show off their new-found knowledge, "Hi, hi, hiiiiiiiiii!" was one of my favorite greetings thus far. So much enthusiasm. I don't have any pictures of the kids, but they are sure to come! As a whole, the kids are really great. It helps compensate for the fact that my school is a complete clusterfuck and totally unorganized. As the year goes on, I will also post more about my school, our daily activities, and what exactly I teach them, but this is a pretty good starting off point.

I wasn't ready for this photo, but
this is the only pic I have that
is anything school-related.
I clearly need to step up my
photo-documentation game.

Pinxos, pinxos, pinxos

Pinxos is Basque for tapas which is Spanish for amazing bite sized foods that should be consumed more frequently in the United States. San Sebastian, the next leg of the trip with my Dad, is known for their incredible pinxos and bar culture in general. Apparently, there are more bars per capita in San Sebastian than anywhere else in the world! I'm not 100% sure if that's true, so don't quote me on it.

BEHOLD! You get a plate and then are allowed to load up
as much as you want. Seconds are encouraged.

San Sebastian has captured the hearts of nearly every person I know who has been lucky enough to travel there. Reviews from "the prettiest city in Spain" to "my favorite place in Europe" to "the absolute shit!" pretty much led me to believe that I was also going to love this city before I ever set foot on those cobbled streets. There is something intangible about San Sebastian that makes everyone love it. Maybe it's the bar and pinxos culture, or the playa concha (shell shaped beach around which the city is built), or the incredibly picturesque old zone, or laid back surfer-ish vibe of the city. Whatever it is, I want more of it. San Sebastian, you will see me again!

Round 1

View of Playa Concha and the city from Monte Igueldo

Deciding to celebrate my dad's birthday in San Sebastian
was a fantastic decision.

Just some layers of the Earth's surface!!!

Beachcombing! I found an incredible
amount of beach glass.

Getting Country

There is so much more to France than just Paris, and while that's the first association for most people, the French countryside should not be overlooked! My dad and I decided to rent a car in Paris and drive from Paris to Bordeaux with some planned stops along the way. As soon as we got in the rental car, I was ready to get out of Paris. Not because I was sick of the city itself, but because I was scared for my life. The drivers there are absolutely insane, but it's the mopeds you really have to watch out for! All their zipping and zooming and cutting off and braking really discombobulates you and you're left hoping and praying that when you go to switch lanes (not that there are actually lanes in Paris), you won't hit a moto. Fortunately we didn't hit anyone, we just got yelled at a lot.

I made my dad pull off the road so I could
take this picture. I don't even know where
we were when I took it.

Once on the road, it was smooth sailing! Or so I thought. Anyone who has driven in Europe as a foreigner has got to have somewhat of a hilarious toll road story. Ours unfolded about 2 hours into the drive. I really needed to go to the bathroom so we had to pull off the road and pay our toll at the exit. The damage? €9. Not that bad. The machine said it took credit card, but it didn't take ours. Shit. We hit the "call" button and the woman on the other end was extremely helpful, "You're card is rejected." Thank you. It was so nice of her to point out the blatantly obvious. We tried another card and again it was rejected. Keep in mind that the entire time this is transpiring we are being honked at like crazy (a substantial line had built up behind us at the toll exit) and  we even had the pleasure of being verbally assaulted by an old French lady who was red in the face from yelling at us from her rolled down car window. Good thing I don't understand French. We had only €50 notes (our mistake), but it was our only option. The machine gave us change, in coins. There happened to be some construction workers who were working on the road and upon hearing the dropping of all the coins into the change dispenser, they looked at us, laughed, and yelled "Jackpot!" I'm actually really glad they said that because it made me laugh and up until that point tensions were seriously rising. And then, violà, the gate opened and we were free.

Aside from the toll gate experiences (yes, there were more mishaps), I really enjoyed the drive. It was quite beautiful once you were out of the city and on the highway. We rented a cottage  in the town of Les Pinsonnières for two nights. I don't even think you can call it a town, it's more like a collection of houses and a bakery. It was so charming though and exactly what we wanted. It was my first time using VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) and it was definitely a positive one. My Mom has used VRBO for plenty of vacations in the past, but I felt like a real adult when I booked it and contacted the owners myself. It was so nice to be able to buy our own food and eat at a table in the yard instead of a restaurant or cafe with hundreds of pedestrians sizing up your food choice. There was no wifi or cable, but it was nice to be disconnected for a bit and literally wake up the the sound of birds singing outside my window.

La Chapelle Blanche. A tiny town that
we passed through while searching
for Les Pinsonnières.

Our little cottage! At this point, we were just thankful we
found it. The houses don't have numbers because it's a
small town and they are all "easy" to find.

Being all domestic

So, Da Vinci had a house here. It's actually in the town of
Amboise (also adorable), but they have turned his mansion
and his gardens into a museum that displays his original writings,
drawings, paintings, inventions, etc. IT WAS AWESOME!
Le Cloce Luce is a must visit! This man was incredible.

The Loire River. All along this river is a fantastic wine region
known as the Loire Valley. Yes, we tasted wine. Yes, we
bought some bottles. Yes, I already drank them.

Chateaus literally everywhere you look

In the town of Amboise, looking up at
the city's famous Chateau.

This portion of the trip was the most unplanned, but it was really awesome. We got to play things by ear and do whatever we were in the mood for. Having a rental car made such a difference and we wouldn't have been able to explore these places in the same way if we didn't have one. Most of the things we did and saw happened by accident or random discovery, it's a way of traveling that I have really come to enjoy.