Hey Guys!
I am finally coming home! I cant believe it! Im very excited to see everyone and very sad to leave this place. I come home the 23rd and I get in at night into Detroit! I have been busy trying to get everything done before my flight! I have no idea how I am going to fit all of my things into my two suitcases but somehow its going to have to work!
Also I wanted to post a link to the the New York Times article that was written about Soria. Its a great article and has pictures so if you have time I suggest checking it out. The link is posted below.
Well I am going to get back to classes for my last week and trying to get everything together. I am looking forward to seeing you all soon!
http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/travel/24cultu.html?pagewanted=1
Saludos,
Deidra!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Pictures!
Hey Guys!
So I ran out of space in my Picasa account for posting photos. I started a new account to post pics with Picasa. The new site is:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/robisodl1221
I am posting pics from Galicia there right now so be sure to check them out!
I posted some pics on the old account of San Juan Fiestas too that you really should see just to get a feel for what it was like here during fiestas.
Also I bought a ticket home! I am coming home September 23rd, I get in to Detroit around 10 pm. Hope everyone at home is great! I miss you all and will see you soon!
So I ran out of space in my Picasa account for posting photos. I started a new account to post pics with Picasa. The new site is:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/robisodl1221
I am posting pics from Galicia there right now so be sure to check them out!
I posted some pics on the old account of San Juan Fiestas too that you really should see just to get a feel for what it was like here during fiestas.
Also I bought a ticket home! I am coming home September 23rd, I get in to Detroit around 10 pm. Hope everyone at home is great! I miss you all and will see you soon!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Galicia!
Saludos de Soria!
Hi everyone! This weekend I had the opportunity to go to Galicia with a friend who lives there but works here in Soria, he was headed home and I have always wanted to get to Galicia so I tagged along!
Galicia is an autonomous community in the most northwest corner of Spain, like Asturias it is very green and distinct from the rest of Spain. It’s known as the heart of green Spain and like it’s neighbor Asturias it also has a Celtic history. The language there is Gallego another Latin based language, which was difficult for me to understand, I could follow words and get the message more or less but some of it is just so different from Spanish that I had no idea what was going on.
We left for Galicia on Thursday; it is about a six-hour drive from Soria, for Incio, a small village where Miguel lives. We stayed in Incio on Friday and we drove around to see the views, the village is up in the mountains. For lunch we went to this tiny restaurant in the mountains that is a covered outdoor restaurant where everything is hand made of wood. The owner, who was also our server at times, made everything from the flooring to the bridge over the river next to our table to the locks in the bathrooms of wood. It was gorgeous! I took some photos, but they don’t do the place justice. The restaurants specialty is beef from Galicia, which is supposed to be the best in Spain; we sat right next to the wood fire oven where they cook all the beef. They brought out a cheese plate, a salad and then plates of different cuts of beef with a homemade sauce. Everything was great! For dessert I had Chestnut cake that was great and Miguel had a fresh cheese and honey from the region, which was wonderful!
The views were absolutely breathtaking! Everything is so green and the heather was in bloom so the mountains were dotted with purple (which is why the honey is so good).
Dinner was just as good there were about 15 of us and we cooked out, everyone brought something. We had anchovies, fresh and grilled, which for me was a big deal to eat and no one there had any idea how picky I am about food! They were fresh anchovies about 6 inches long and hadn’t been cleaned or anything, head, eyes, bones and everything! I was proud of myself and I actually really liked them, I ate a few, next was grilled cuddle fish and there was homemade bread and salad.
Next we headed off to Ons Island for the day, this beautiful Island off the coast that’s protected as a wildlife reserve. We hiked all day (took tons of pics) and then spent some time on the beach and went swimming a bit before heading back to the mainland.
Next we went to a small village called Laxe, where some friends had rented a house by the beach for the month and we stayed there for 2 days relaxing and sight seeing again with some friends and their dog. We cooked a lot in the house but would frequently go out for tapas and beer or wine. The tapas that I liked the most from Galicia were the Pulpo (octopus) and these peppers that are quickly fried and lightly salted. The wine was great, a lot of whites and also a friend of Miguel’s has a vineyard and makes his own wine and cider, both were good, but the wine was a great red!!
It was so great to get to go to Galicia and I am in love with the northern coast of Spain! I also made it through the entire weekend with out English (everyone there also speaks Spanish as well as Gallego). Check out my pics if you have a min. to see where I was! Hope all is well back home! I miss you all and wish you were here!
Check out this site for some info on Galicia and pics!
http://www.galiciaguide.com/
Hi everyone! This weekend I had the opportunity to go to Galicia with a friend who lives there but works here in Soria, he was headed home and I have always wanted to get to Galicia so I tagged along!
Galicia is an autonomous community in the most northwest corner of Spain, like Asturias it is very green and distinct from the rest of Spain. It’s known as the heart of green Spain and like it’s neighbor Asturias it also has a Celtic history. The language there is Gallego another Latin based language, which was difficult for me to understand, I could follow words and get the message more or less but some of it is just so different from Spanish that I had no idea what was going on.
We left for Galicia on Thursday; it is about a six-hour drive from Soria, for Incio, a small village where Miguel lives. We stayed in Incio on Friday and we drove around to see the views, the village is up in the mountains. For lunch we went to this tiny restaurant in the mountains that is a covered outdoor restaurant where everything is hand made of wood. The owner, who was also our server at times, made everything from the flooring to the bridge over the river next to our table to the locks in the bathrooms of wood. It was gorgeous! I took some photos, but they don’t do the place justice. The restaurants specialty is beef from Galicia, which is supposed to be the best in Spain; we sat right next to the wood fire oven where they cook all the beef. They brought out a cheese plate, a salad and then plates of different cuts of beef with a homemade sauce. Everything was great! For dessert I had Chestnut cake that was great and Miguel had a fresh cheese and honey from the region, which was wonderful!
The views were absolutely breathtaking! Everything is so green and the heather was in bloom so the mountains were dotted with purple (which is why the honey is so good).
Dinner was just as good there were about 15 of us and we cooked out, everyone brought something. We had anchovies, fresh and grilled, which for me was a big deal to eat and no one there had any idea how picky I am about food! They were fresh anchovies about 6 inches long and hadn’t been cleaned or anything, head, eyes, bones and everything! I was proud of myself and I actually really liked them, I ate a few, next was grilled cuddle fish and there was homemade bread and salad.
Next we headed off to Ons Island for the day, this beautiful Island off the coast that’s protected as a wildlife reserve. We hiked all day (took tons of pics) and then spent some time on the beach and went swimming a bit before heading back to the mainland.
Next we went to a small village called Laxe, where some friends had rented a house by the beach for the month and we stayed there for 2 days relaxing and sight seeing again with some friends and their dog. We cooked a lot in the house but would frequently go out for tapas and beer or wine. The tapas that I liked the most from Galicia were the Pulpo (octopus) and these peppers that are quickly fried and lightly salted. The wine was great, a lot of whites and also a friend of Miguel’s has a vineyard and makes his own wine and cider, both were good, but the wine was a great red!!
It was so great to get to go to Galicia and I am in love with the northern coast of Spain! I also made it through the entire weekend with out English (everyone there also speaks Spanish as well as Gallego). Check out my pics if you have a min. to see where I was! Hope all is well back home! I miss you all and wish you were here!
Check out this site for some info on Galicia and pics!
http://www.galiciaguide.com/
Verano en Soria!
Hello all! I hope everyone’s summer is going well. I just wanted to post a quick update to tell you all what I have been up to here in Soria for the summer. I am giving individual classes to students and adults that want conversation classes. I have a few classes of adults who want to better their English for work or other things. I am giving one class to two boys that live in my apartment building, their parents approached me to see if I was willing to give them conversation classes and we meet everyday in the apartment to speak in English for a half hour to an hour. I have a few classes with children, ages 8-12 where we play a lot of games now in the summer. I have one class with a 12 year old girl, Alba, who is the daughter of one of the bar/cafeteria owners in the bar that I go to frequently. This is one of my favorite classes because we meet and just talk about anything. Often we take walks through the park, go somewhere to have a drink or walk through the city and talk.
Other than classes I meet with Kim a lot for coffee or for walks. The city is full of terraces to sit and have a beer or coffee at any time and just watch the entire city go by, great people watching and you’re sure to run into people you know.
Kim and I went with some friends to El Cañon del Rio Lobos, a nature reserve area that includes a canyon with caves and hiking trails, for a friend’s birthday. We climbed through caves with some really great formations and hiked about 8 kilometers. When we finished we had a huge picnic lunch with homemade bread full of meats and we had cheeses, tortilla and pasta salads with a wine drink, like a sangria. After a nap in the park we went to El Burgos de Osma, a village in Soria, for a mid-evil market.
For the fourth of July I went kayaking with some friends in the Rio Duero. Some of my friends are expert kayakers. It was my first time kayaking! I did ok, I managed to make it almost the entire way with out flipping, but 30 seconds before we finished I ended up in some branches and flipped. I went with a big group of about 15 other people; some went down the river in inner tubes and the rest in kayak. After we finished we headed to a small village in Soria for a dinner. There was tortilla and salad and kidneys (didn’t try them!) and tripe (intestines, again didn’t even try them). We sat around outside drinking beer mixed with a lemon soda (like a shandy) out of a traditional glass container that gets passed around and poured into your mouth. Afterwards they moved the table and everyone danced and had some after dinner drinks.
Just outside of the city of Soria (you need a car to get there) there is a water reserve that I have gone to a couple times to swim in. It was made years and years ago by damming the river and allowing the valley to fill up, however there is a village that’s under the water, they just filled the reserve up over it and still when the water is low you can see the church tower and the tops of some buildings. It’s beautiful there and the water is great! They made some sand beaches and there are a few spots where there are huge rocks sticking out of the water you jump off of into the water. We spent one night there, watching the sunset and then cooking dinner, they have something like a grill there for the public to use. After dinner we sat around with some friends that all play instruments listening to their music. Because it’s outside the city there are no lights so the sky is very dark and I have never seen so many stars, it was amazing!
Other than that I have been with friends in bars that we frequent talking and hanging out. I have really enjoyed the summer here, the city’s atmosphere changes dramatically in summer. The people are always in the streets having a beer (at any time of day) and enjoying the summer for all its worth and I’m loving every second of it!
Other than classes I meet with Kim a lot for coffee or for walks. The city is full of terraces to sit and have a beer or coffee at any time and just watch the entire city go by, great people watching and you’re sure to run into people you know.
Kim and I went with some friends to El Cañon del Rio Lobos, a nature reserve area that includes a canyon with caves and hiking trails, for a friend’s birthday. We climbed through caves with some really great formations and hiked about 8 kilometers. When we finished we had a huge picnic lunch with homemade bread full of meats and we had cheeses, tortilla and pasta salads with a wine drink, like a sangria. After a nap in the park we went to El Burgos de Osma, a village in Soria, for a mid-evil market.
For the fourth of July I went kayaking with some friends in the Rio Duero. Some of my friends are expert kayakers. It was my first time kayaking! I did ok, I managed to make it almost the entire way with out flipping, but 30 seconds before we finished I ended up in some branches and flipped. I went with a big group of about 15 other people; some went down the river in inner tubes and the rest in kayak. After we finished we headed to a small village in Soria for a dinner. There was tortilla and salad and kidneys (didn’t try them!) and tripe (intestines, again didn’t even try them). We sat around outside drinking beer mixed with a lemon soda (like a shandy) out of a traditional glass container that gets passed around and poured into your mouth. Afterwards they moved the table and everyone danced and had some after dinner drinks.
Just outside of the city of Soria (you need a car to get there) there is a water reserve that I have gone to a couple times to swim in. It was made years and years ago by damming the river and allowing the valley to fill up, however there is a village that’s under the water, they just filled the reserve up over it and still when the water is low you can see the church tower and the tops of some buildings. It’s beautiful there and the water is great! They made some sand beaches and there are a few spots where there are huge rocks sticking out of the water you jump off of into the water. We spent one night there, watching the sunset and then cooking dinner, they have something like a grill there for the public to use. After dinner we sat around with some friends that all play instruments listening to their music. Because it’s outside the city there are no lights so the sky is very dark and I have never seen so many stars, it was amazing!
Other than that I have been with friends in bars that we frequent talking and hanging out. I have really enjoyed the summer here, the city’s atmosphere changes dramatically in summer. The people are always in the streets having a beer (at any time of day) and enjoying the summer for all its worth and I’m loving every second of it!
LISBOA
The second weekend in July I went to Lisbon for a 3 day Music festival with Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Rage Against the Machine and Ben Harper headlining the event. Kim and I went and we spent our evenings at the concert and exploring Lisbon during the day.
I was really amazed at the differences between Spain and Portugal. The architecture was a bit different and the city just had a different feel. The people were very nice and always helpful. Neither Kim nor I speak any Portuguese but we got by with both English and Spanish. The woman who worked at the hostel didn’t speak either language, but could understand Spanish, so we spoke Spanish and she spoke Portuguese and we would understand each other for the most part. The city itself was beautiful and has a lot to do and see. The tile work in Portugal was beautiful! The tile was a bit different than what I am used to seeing here in Spain but it was gorgeous, I took a lot of tile pics!
We spent one day on the beach, which was great! The beach was very clean and the water was cold so it felt great, it was the perfect way to relax before the concert that night.
The concert was amazing! Rage Against the Machine was amazing live, better than any CD! Bob Dylan was good, but he didn’t move very much! Neil Young put on a good show and I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed Ben Harper! I also go to see The Hives and Roisin Murphey. We met a lot of people there from Australia and England as well as some Spaniards. We had a great time in Lisbon and it was really nice to see something so different! Our last day there we found this café just above the old city center and we hung out there for hours. It is an outdoor café with couches and beach chairs that has amazing views of the city and the river. If you haven’t see my pictures of Lisboa yet check out my picture site!
Side note I still have no ticket home but I am planning on coming back towards the middle-end of August, so I will see you all soon!
Besos y Abrazos a todos!
I was really amazed at the differences between Spain and Portugal. The architecture was a bit different and the city just had a different feel. The people were very nice and always helpful. Neither Kim nor I speak any Portuguese but we got by with both English and Spanish. The woman who worked at the hostel didn’t speak either language, but could understand Spanish, so we spoke Spanish and she spoke Portuguese and we would understand each other for the most part. The city itself was beautiful and has a lot to do and see. The tile work in Portugal was beautiful! The tile was a bit different than what I am used to seeing here in Spain but it was gorgeous, I took a lot of tile pics!
We spent one day on the beach, which was great! The beach was very clean and the water was cold so it felt great, it was the perfect way to relax before the concert that night.
The concert was amazing! Rage Against the Machine was amazing live, better than any CD! Bob Dylan was good, but he didn’t move very much! Neil Young put on a good show and I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed Ben Harper! I also go to see The Hives and Roisin Murphey. We met a lot of people there from Australia and England as well as some Spaniards. We had a great time in Lisbon and it was really nice to see something so different! Our last day there we found this café just above the old city center and we hung out there for hours. It is an outdoor café with couches and beach chairs that has amazing views of the city and the river. If you haven’t see my pictures of Lisboa yet check out my picture site!
Side note I still have no ticket home but I am planning on coming back towards the middle-end of August, so I will see you all soon!
Besos y Abrazos a todos!
FIESTAS SAN JUAN!
Hey Guys! First off, sorry for not posting! I have no internet in my house right now so communication has been a bit difficult, but I am alive and well!
I don’t know where to start! June and July have been amazing! The end of June started the fiestas in Soria, which I have been hearing about since I arrived in January. The city filled up with tourists. In the past there were twelve neighborhoods that would participate (and still do) by buying a bull for the fights and celebrating in each area with its members. The fiesta is five days long, each day has different events and the neighborhoods and peñas participate. Groups of friends have shirts made to match and everyone wears these overall things, because whatever you wear is going to get covered in wine, so you wear things that are for San Juan or old clothes. There is a traditional bottle, made of leather, with a string to hang around the neck that is filled with a sweet red wine that everyone carries and shares with everyone else by squirting it directly into your mouth (check out my pics to see it).
It started on a Wednesday night with the Pregon, or kick off of it all in the Plaza Mayor. There are different organizations that take part in the fiestas called peñas that play music, the bands play drums, horns, and the dulcena (sounds like a bagpipe with out the bag) and more. Wednesday night there were stages set up throughout the city with bands playing everything from traditional music to pop music, these stages stayed all through the fiestas and there were Verbenas (concerts) every night. During the fiestas they allow open containers in the streets so you can grab a beer, calimocho (red wine and coke a cola) or whatever you want and just walk.
Thursday the entire city goes to the natural reserve area outside the city where the bulls are and they let the bulls out to run around with the people. This was the second or third time they let the bulls out for fiestas and there were no serious injuries or deaths, but I have some friends that took some pretty serious hits! Thursday evening they run the bulls into the city to the bullring. Thursday night was more of the concerts and more of the peñas and their music. The Verbenas (concerts) last until around 3 am or so and then the bars fill up afterwards (I took some pics to show everyone what the area of bars looks like at 8:00 am, full of people). At 8:30 every morning the peñas and bands would start to play a sort of “wake up call”. It never stopped! I loved it!
Friday was Viernes de Torros and there were the bullfights. I went for the first 10 mins or so of one, when the tire the bull out, before they start to hurt it. I am defiantly not a fan of it! Outside the bullring was great! For the rest of the time Kim and I hung out outside the bullring, which is surrounded by bars and was packed with people. The people dress in costumes, there were a ton of men in dresses everywhere (again you have to see the pics!)! It was really hot so everyone had squirt guns and hoses and again you ended up soaked and covered in wine.
Sunday Spain played for the Euro cup against Germany. There was a big stage set up in the middle of the plaza mayor and the whole city turned up to watch the match. When Spain won the entire city went crazy singing and cheering! It was great all the bars were full, everyone was wearing red and yellow with their faces painted with the flag (again in the pics) and there were more concerts all night.
Monday was on of my favorite days. There is a parade down to the river and the entire city walks to the river down these narrow old streets and the people in the apartments above dump buckets of water out the windows on to the people below, it was a blast! Again people had filled huge plastic bottles with wine and random strangers would just pour wine in your mouth as you walked down to the river. At the river there were bars set up and tons of food vendors and people everywhere. Then it was back to the city for another parade and more fireworks in the park in the center of the city.
San Juan was absolutely amazing, I have never seen anything like it and I will definitely be returning for it again! I was really surprised by how smoothly everything went. There were kids out all the time, dancing at the concerts until 2 or 3 am. There were families celebrating in the midst of everything with no problems. There were drunk people out and about at literally all hours of the day and I never saw one fight or any problems at all. The people were just happy and celebrating and there were no problems in bars or in the streets. We met so many people and made a ton of new friends during fiestas here in Soria. There is a link to my pictures from fiestas below and there are a few websites that post pictures from fiestas that really give you a good feel for what goes on. I hope all is well back home, I will continue to try and update as often as possible.
BESOS Y ABRAZOS!!!!
MY PICS: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/robisodl
***Check out this site for photos and some videos of San Juan this year:
http://www.fiestasdesanjuan.org/SANJUANEANDO/sanjuanes2008/fotossanjuan.htm
Also here are some youtube videos of the fiestas:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=San+Juan+Soria&search_type=&aq=f
I don’t know where to start! June and July have been amazing! The end of June started the fiestas in Soria, which I have been hearing about since I arrived in January. The city filled up with tourists. In the past there were twelve neighborhoods that would participate (and still do) by buying a bull for the fights and celebrating in each area with its members. The fiesta is five days long, each day has different events and the neighborhoods and peñas participate. Groups of friends have shirts made to match and everyone wears these overall things, because whatever you wear is going to get covered in wine, so you wear things that are for San Juan or old clothes. There is a traditional bottle, made of leather, with a string to hang around the neck that is filled with a sweet red wine that everyone carries and shares with everyone else by squirting it directly into your mouth (check out my pics to see it).
It started on a Wednesday night with the Pregon, or kick off of it all in the Plaza Mayor. There are different organizations that take part in the fiestas called peñas that play music, the bands play drums, horns, and the dulcena (sounds like a bagpipe with out the bag) and more. Wednesday night there were stages set up throughout the city with bands playing everything from traditional music to pop music, these stages stayed all through the fiestas and there were Verbenas (concerts) every night. During the fiestas they allow open containers in the streets so you can grab a beer, calimocho (red wine and coke a cola) or whatever you want and just walk.
Thursday the entire city goes to the natural reserve area outside the city where the bulls are and they let the bulls out to run around with the people. This was the second or third time they let the bulls out for fiestas and there were no serious injuries or deaths, but I have some friends that took some pretty serious hits! Thursday evening they run the bulls into the city to the bullring. Thursday night was more of the concerts and more of the peñas and their music. The Verbenas (concerts) last until around 3 am or so and then the bars fill up afterwards (I took some pics to show everyone what the area of bars looks like at 8:00 am, full of people). At 8:30 every morning the peñas and bands would start to play a sort of “wake up call”. It never stopped! I loved it!
Friday was Viernes de Torros and there were the bullfights. I went for the first 10 mins or so of one, when the tire the bull out, before they start to hurt it. I am defiantly not a fan of it! Outside the bullring was great! For the rest of the time Kim and I hung out outside the bullring, which is surrounded by bars and was packed with people. The people dress in costumes, there were a ton of men in dresses everywhere (again you have to see the pics!)! It was really hot so everyone had squirt guns and hoses and again you ended up soaked and covered in wine.
Sunday Spain played for the Euro cup against Germany. There was a big stage set up in the middle of the plaza mayor and the whole city turned up to watch the match. When Spain won the entire city went crazy singing and cheering! It was great all the bars were full, everyone was wearing red and yellow with their faces painted with the flag (again in the pics) and there were more concerts all night.
Monday was on of my favorite days. There is a parade down to the river and the entire city walks to the river down these narrow old streets and the people in the apartments above dump buckets of water out the windows on to the people below, it was a blast! Again people had filled huge plastic bottles with wine and random strangers would just pour wine in your mouth as you walked down to the river. At the river there were bars set up and tons of food vendors and people everywhere. Then it was back to the city for another parade and more fireworks in the park in the center of the city.
San Juan was absolutely amazing, I have never seen anything like it and I will definitely be returning for it again! I was really surprised by how smoothly everything went. There were kids out all the time, dancing at the concerts until 2 or 3 am. There were families celebrating in the midst of everything with no problems. There were drunk people out and about at literally all hours of the day and I never saw one fight or any problems at all. The people were just happy and celebrating and there were no problems in bars or in the streets. We met so many people and made a ton of new friends during fiestas here in Soria. There is a link to my pictures from fiestas below and there are a few websites that post pictures from fiestas that really give you a good feel for what goes on. I hope all is well back home, I will continue to try and update as often as possible.
BESOS Y ABRAZOS!!!!
MY PICS: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/robisodl
***Check out this site for photos and some videos of San Juan this year:
http://www.fiestasdesanjuan.org/SANJUANEANDO/sanjuanes2008/fotossanjuan.htm
Also here are some youtube videos of the fiestas:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=San+Juan+Soria&search_type=&aq=f
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Im ALIVE!
Hey guys! Sorry about the lack of posts! I am with out internet right now! I am working on some posts for you guys that I will post soon! I hope all is well and everyone has had a great July! Just a quick update of whats to come in the posts; Fiestas from the end of June here in Soria were amazing! I have never seen anything like them and will definitely be returning next year for! Lisbon was great as well, I got to see Lisbon, spend some time on the beach and see 3 days of great concerts (Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Rage Against the Machine and Ben Harper). Everything is good here in Soria right now, hot weather, but it gets chilly at night. I am still not sure when I am coming home, but I will let you all know soon! Hope all is well! Miss you all tons!
BESOS y ABRAZOS a todos!!!!!!!!!
BESOS y ABRAZOS a todos!!!!!!!!!
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