TMax, ¿ya hablas español?

¡Claro que si! Y, ya esta. Jaja es broma. Sé mas español que antes, pero no mucho. Después dos años aprendiendo en Bélgica y cinco meses aquí en Pamplona, debo hablar muy bien, ¿no? Al menos, yo sé como poner los puntos de interrogación y exclamación. Y no puedo mentir, mi ordenador sabe donde poner los acentos y lo hace su mismo.

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XVII Semana del Pincho de Navarra

Synopsis: I run into a bar last week to grab a quick pintxo and I see a pamphlet on the counter for a festival of pintxo taste testing, happening all over Navarra, with most of the participants being in Pamplona, called Semana Del Pincho de Navarra. Along with my "Pintxo Pals" we hit the streets on a few different days, to try as many as we can of the 76 bars/restaurants participating. 

Below, I only describe the dish, but a lot of them have clever names in Spanish. For more information on the event, and the original names, check out their website. Three reviews. 

All dishes are rated using the Timchelin 5-star system.

Day 1: Three reviews. 

Pintxo Pals

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Girona, Spain: Costa Brava and a Bit of Basketball

Synopsis: Since Emilito has a basketball tournament in Girona during semana santa, the holy week of Easter, the entire family sets out to go support him in his games and take advantage of seeing the beautiful coastline of Costa Brava. This is the first multi-day trip I'm taking with the family, so I'm not going to make any plans and just go with the flow. Plus Emilio is an enthusiastic tour guide and will take us to see some great sights.

Trip Overview:
Day 1: Set out at 2am on a six hour drive. Emilio and I take turns driving while the ladies sleep in the back. Emilito is on the bus with his teammates. We stop at Porta De Barcelona for breakfast, and what do you know - all carbs! Glad I brought my coconut oil.

We arrive in Girona and check into the apartment, in a nice and good location, close to the historic center. We go to Emilito's first game and they are clearly tired and play poorly, but win by one.

Along with the parents of the other players, we head into center of Girona and grab lunch. In the second basketball game, they play way better and win easily. We say goodbye to Emilito for the night and head to apartment for a siesta. Around dinnertime (remember it's late here in Spain), we go to a Japanese restaurant and it's quite delicious. 

Thoughts: Catalan is like Castilian and French had a baby, yet I still don't understand. Thankfully, everyone still speaks Castilian here. I notice many flags and posters for independence, just like I saw in Basque Country. 

Go Emilito!

The family watching intensely

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Valencia, Spain: Las Fallas 2015

Synopsis: Since I only have one year in Spain, I want to go and experience as many of the local customs, traditions, and of course, celebrations, that I can. Valencia is a short 4-5 hour drive from where I live, so my buddy, Greg, and I are gonna road trip it there, and partake in the last days of the Las Fallas celebration (official website in Spanish). We found a sweet deal on AirBnB and this will be our first time using the website to find a place to stay. 

Las Fallas 2015 Valencia, Spain

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10 More Fun Things This American Has Learned About The Spanish Language

If I am doing this post again (and a 3rd time and 4th time and 5th time and 6th time and 7th time and 8th time), that means that I am learning more about the Spanish language, and thus realizing my goal of speaking the language. Yay for me! I think it is funny when Spanish people say that English is a difficult language, as though Spanish is a cake walk and doesn't have over 100 conjugations per verb, compared to the barely 20 an English verb has. 

But, aside from that, the Spanish language is a rich and interesting language and offers me many things to comment on (and share with all of you who are clearly bored or killing time between doing something productive, and reading my blog). To the content!

1. Poco a poco (little by little) - the catch-all phrase for progress or for saying something is not happening right now, but hopefully it will be in the future. How's your Spanish?  Poco a poco. Bill is in the hosptial? How is he recovering? Poco a poco. I hear your kids are doing better in school? Poco a poco. Are you going to eat all of those pintxos? Poco a poco. What do you call a fight between two small children? Poco a poco^TM.

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Zaragoza, Spain: Who knew that Zaragoza = Caesaragusta???

Synopsis:
I've had quite some success with people visiting me in Spain, so far: Guillermo, my parents, and now Staša. We decide to go visit a city that I haven't been to, that is also convenient for her to fly to, so we pick Zaragoza. The Linzoain's will go with us the first day, and then Staša and I will explore the city for a few more days.

Trip Overview:

Day 1:Wake up, eat a deliciously prepared breakfast made by yours truly, and head out with the Linzoain's, 90 minutes by car, to Zaragoza. As we are driving we notice the shift in weather from rainy Navarra to sunny Aragón. Staša is already in the city center of Zaragoza, so we meet her at Plaza del Pilar. We have a coffee and chat before taking photos outside and then entering the Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar. Inside is quite large and we arrive just as mass is beginning. After leaving there we go to La Seo del Salvador but it is closed. We walk over to the Roman stone bridge, over El Ebro river, which is very windy.

We can't go to Palacio de la Aljaferia because it's closed, so the Linzoain's decide to head back to Pamplona and Staša and I go off into the city. We end up at a tapas restaurant, La Pilara, which happens to be in the renown "El Tubo" district. Head to the hotel, Hotel Avenida, to drop off our stuff and head back out to the city. We snap photos and walk along a new route. We stop at a quaint cafe, La Bendita, that is actually pretty crowded, despite it being siesta time. 

We walk around some more and find ourselves back at Plaza del Pilar with an amazingly lit up Basilica. Stop at a tapas restaurant on the plaza, Piazza, with pretty good tapas, and quite cheap.


The hotel has some awesomely thin walls, so the people in the hall and other rooms who come in late and make various disturbing noises, are very clearly heard.

Thoughts:Quite a lot of people out and about for a Sunday, especially since all the stores are closed. Barbershop and salons around the city are open and crowded. Murals and graffiti (street art) are everywhere and really good. Africans selling stuff. Ridiculously windy all day.

The whole group ready to explore the city

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14 Random Things This American Notices About Spain and Europe

I am learning something new everyday here in Navarra; usually it's a new Spanish word that I immediately forget or the name of someone I've just met. My brain is always working, whether actively to help me reach my goals, or passively causing me to zone out in Spanish class and think about unrelated things. Whenever I think of something, I write it down so I don't forget it. Well, if you do that enough, you end up with a list of random things that you decide to share with people via a blog. Here's that list:

Spain related things

1. I have no idea why (and if anyone wants to chime in and explain, please do) but Spanish gas stations have plastic gloves for use while pumping gas. I have not seen this outside of Spain and I have never used the gloves.

2. It seems it is taught in Spain that there are only 6 continents. North and South America are not individual continents because the are connected, unlike Europe and Asia... I also learned that in the past, people were taught there were only 5 continents (hence 5 Olympic rings) as Antartica is just a block of ice and not land. I'm sure there were some offended penguins somewhere.

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17 Interesting Things This American Has Learned About the Spanish Language

Since I've been in Navarra a little over two months now, I am basically fluent in Spanish, as I know about 1.78% of the common words; but I know them really well. You will never hear anyone say 'hoe-lah' (hello) and 'ah-dee-yo-ss' (goodbye) as fluently as me! But, on my quest to learn the language, I have found some interesting things that really don't make sense in, or have no relation to, the English (or French) language. I'm sure a lot of these are specific to Navarra, but maybe some apply to Spanish in general. Most of these are not so much grammatical, but rather the manner in which the Spanish speak. Of course, some of the grammar is interesting too... Behold, the 17 most interesting things that I have learned thus far.

Check out part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8

1. Whenever you see M^a written, it means Maria. 

You KNOW why this picture is here :-P

2. Molestar means "to bother". You could imagine my surprise when I first heard kids talking about being "molested" by their parents and other kids. 

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15 Interesting Foods This American Has Had While Eating in Navarra

My first two weeks here I could tell I was gaining weight. I couldn't help it since I had to try every new food that I saw and everyone around me was enabling this behavior. Now, I have finally realized that I will be here for a year and I can take my time trying all the new foods. So, until I go out and try more new foods, I will share the 15 most interesting foods I've tried while living in Navarra.

1. Pintxos - So this is a pretty broad category of foods that many below fall into, but pintxos is the word used in Navarra and Pais Vasco for tapas which are small dishes, usually served at a bar. There are so many kinds and very few that I haven't liked. I had the opportunity to enjoy the Semana del Pincho de Navarra.

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First 10 Things This American Had to Get Used to in Navarra, Spain

Now that I've been living in Spain for over a month, I can finally comment on my environment and how I have been assimilating. It's been a great experience and I am learning so much. There are some things that I knew, from living in Germany and Belgium, that are specific to Europe and not in the U.S.; and now there are a bunch of new things that I have only encountered in Spain, specifically, the Navarra region. Here are 10 things that I had to get used to while living here.

1. Five meals a day, all with names

I like to eat just as much as the next American, but we only have names for three meals, and the rest are just snacks.  The interesting part is not that the Spanish eat five meals a day, but that each meal has a name.

-8:00am - desayuno - breakfast, magdalenas and coffee, or cereal, or yogurt and fruit.
-11:00am - almuerzo - a snack, a small sandwich or some fruit.
-2:00pm - comida - lunch is typically a large meal, and of course, followed by a siesta.
-6:00pm - merienda - an afternoon snack similar to almuerzo, possibly some tapas.
-9:00pm - cena - dinnertime, a large meal (same or smaller than comida) before relaxing and then going to bed.

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Battle of the Kitchens: España vs. USA

Now that I've lived here for over a month, I have raided Virginia's refrigerator enough times to know the differences in the staples that she keeps versus what I would normally have in my fridge. Some things are wonderful new additions that I will likely incorporate in my fridge, and others will stay in her repertoire only. I am beginning to understand that Virginia's fridge is not your typical Spanish fridge, since Maria Asun's fridge is more similar to mine. Here is the showdown and the 12 differences of Virginia's kitchen vs. Mine.

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Forget Santa, the Three Kings are Coming to Town

Synopsis: So I had been hearing quite a bit about Three Kings Day, here in Spain, and not really understanding what it entailed. I knew the three kings were the three wise men from the Bible, and that was about all I knew of the tradition. I didn't realize there was an entire two-day tradition that went along with the celebration. But, I am always ready to find out, which is exactly what I did.

Night of January 5
We bundle up to go watch the cabalgata de los tres reyes, or parade of the Three Kings. When we arrive, there are already hordes of people lining both sides of the street for about 750m. There are drummers and bands playing music when we arrive, as well as different organizations, dressed in costumes, marching along the street. There are flag twirlers from Italy who are really good, doing tricks with their flags. Then, we hear a loud boom, and a one-minute fireworks display can be seen in the sky.

The parade continues, as real camels pass by, followed by the first float, which has a man and woman on it directing the chants of the children, who call out "Melchor, Gaspar, Baltasar", the names of the three kings. The first king, Melchor shows up on a giant turtle. He and his helpers are throwing candy into the crowd. Next is Gaspar, who is on a giant swan, and he and his helpers are also throwing out candy. The last king, Baltasar, has a float with a giant jaguar, but he is not on top, but rather on the street and greeting people up close and personal. His float is followed by fire twirlers, firefighters, and the end of the parade.

Then to dinner with Emilio's family around 9:30pm. I get to meet his parents, a lovely Peruvian woman and a well-versed-in-life Spanish man, both of whom are very friendly. Also, two of his sisters and their husbands and children attend. One big happy family. We eat dinner around 10:30pm. This is followed by roscón, a gigantic donut with cream filling, fruit on top, with a king inside - for the person who will have great luck for the year, and a bean inside - for the person who has to buy next year's roscón. We follow up a great meal with a very-typical-to-Navarra drink of Basarana, a sweet liquor. After lots of great conversation and food, we head home.

Before we go to bed, I am instructed to leave my shoes under the tree so one of the three kings can fill them with gifts. I wish I had bigger shoes.

Thoughts: It's worth mentioning, like the interesting holiday tradition with Zwarte Pete in Holland, Baltasar in the parade was a white man with black face paint on, since Baltasar was from Arabia or Northern Africa, and I guess they couldn't find a black guy to be in the parade. His helpers were also in black face, men and women.

I didn't even know the name of the three kings. Part of the tradition was explained to me, that you write a letter to your favorite king and ask for what you want them to bring you, and on January 6, it may be in your shoes that you left under the tree. Also, other people can write on your behalf.

The legions of people lined up for the parade

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A Day in San Sebastián

Synopsis: Take a day trip with the Linzoain's to San Sebastián, about an hour drive from Zuasti, where we live. 

Trip: Drive up into Basque country (Euskadi) through the mountains. It is a beautiful sunny day. San Sebastián is on the sea, so we can see the water as we drive downtown in the city. It's Saturday, it's really crowded, and all the parking garages are full. While driving around looking for a parking space, we see almost half of the city. Emilio is like a tour guide and knows everything about the city. He points out the Maria Cristina hotel, where celebrities stay for the festival de San Sebastián (a film festival like Cannes). 

After finding parking, we walk along the pier with an excellent view of the bay and the island in the middle of the bay. It's time for la comida, so we go to three different pintxos bars. At the bars you are supposed to throw your trash (toothpicks and napkins) on the floor, under the bar. I try all kinds of foods that are typical to the area, and I don't ask what any of it is until after I finish it. All the food I try, I like. After, we head to Constitution Square, where we have a coffee. 

From there, we walk along La Concha beach, named so because it is shaped like a shell (concha). We go back onto the boardwalk after passing La Perla, a royal summer house in the early 1900's, and now a public gym, spa, restaurant, and cafe, overlooking the beach. There, we have hot drinks while watching the sunset on the sea, capping off a great day.

"Selfi" is the word of the year in Spain for 2014. We are perpetuating its popularity here in front of the town hall and Monte Urgull 

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