We are doing well and continuing to enjoy our time here in Spain. :) We have been on a few excursions and adventures over the last month, and Nathan is preparing to go to Germany at the end of the month for a choir project. It is hard to believe that we are already half-way through February!
Below are a few random stories of the past month to share with you :)
El mejor aceite del mundo, según Joaquín...
Olive oil is big here. Spain produces, consumes, and adores olive oil. Olive oil here is like wine - it is delicious, cheap, and there are an infinite number of flavors. I think I´ve written in the past about how olive oil is literally poured on everything here. As a dairy-free person, the change from milk and butter in everything to the obsession with olive oil works for me, although there are some days where we think longingly of some of the hippy/health options we have at home. The food here is definitely richer than what we normally consume on the west coast in Canada :)
My friend Joaquín told us a while ago that every year he drives out to a little village close to Córdoba where they produce the best olive oil in the world, and that we were invited to come along as he planned to go sometime in January. And with such a claim to quality, we obviously had to go :)
Baena is the name of the little village (under 2 hour´s drive from Granada) and it has one of the largest co-operative factories for producing olive oil in the country. Upon arrival, not only did we have the opportunity to buy oil, we were also given a tour of the whole factory, from the grinding, pressing and spinning to the bottling and labeling. It was neat to have the chance to learn about the process, and fun to skate through some of the rooms that have a permanent residue of olive oil on the floors. We bought 2 litres of fresh oil for ourselves (pressed and bottled only 15 days earlier), but in total our group (Joaquín, the two of us, and a couple of other friends) bought over 80 litres of oil! (A year´s supply for several families... but this still seems like a lot of oil to me!) We then went for lunch at the co-op´s restaurant (where we they serve their own oil, of course, along with fresh bread) and then for a walk around town and finally to the museum (which was an experience in itself as Joaquín, as artist and professor is probably the most ideal friend to have along at a museum if you want to learn and understand more about what you are seeing).
And while we haven´t sampled enough olive oil world-over to make an absolute claim, we can attest that this olive oil is pretty amazing! Mildly sharp, slightly sweet, with a fresh floral fragrance... you can taste and small why the oils are compared with wines here!
Voluntariado
A new thing we have been doing lately is spending one evening a week volunteering with an organization called Mirame, that works with autistic children and youth. Once a week we head out to a suburb of Granada to spend 4 hours hanging out and playing with kids aged 3 - 15. It is a creative and social time for the kids (we play games, do crafts, sing and dance, play outside if it is not raining) and also gives a much appreciated break to the parents of the children.
There are always several staff who are there plus enough volunteers to have one adult per child. Previous to joining this volunteer group, we didn´t know much about autism, so it has been really interesting as we get to know these children and learn from the other staff and volunteers in how to best relate and interact with the kids. This week we will actually be taking a course that Mirame offers to learn more about autism and support methods.
The volunteer evenings are definitely intense. The children do not stop for a moment. And the energy required to engage with them to encourage them to learn and connect is also very intensive. But the love and acceptance these children show is quite awe-inspiring. When you receive a hug or smile or cuddle from one of these kids who struggle to connect emotionally, it is very very sincere. We are looking forward to learning even more about their world in our course this week.
Los Candyces
As foreigners, especially foreigners with difficult-to-pronounce names (as most names are in another language) we have talked and laughed about our names a lot. Normally we introduce ourselves using a Spanish-style pronunciation of our names (NAH-tan y CAHN-dees) because if we say our names as we would in English, Nathan´s name gets repeated back as something like NA-ee-than (which is pretty close) and I just get bewildered stares as if I just said something in Japanese. :) Both the vowels in my name are extremely Canadian, so literally no one has been able to say my name as it is pronounced in Canada! In fact, if I am speaking Spanish and try to say my name with its normal pronunciation, I can hardly even do it. It breaks too many language rules, especially when it is in the middle of a sentence!
One interesting name tradition in Spanish is how names are pluralized. When speaking about a family using their last name, e.g. ¨the Johnsons¨, in Spanish you say ¨los Johnson¨. However, if you are referring to a couple you also have the option of using the girl´s name instead of the last name. For example, David and Ana can be ¨los Ana¨. It is also possible, of course, to just call them David y Ana (and, in fact, that is the more common thing to do).
However, due to the fact that both of our names are a bit hard to say (and our friends especially try to say our names as we would in English, instead of just using the easier Spanish-style versions), two of our closest friends started calling us Los Candyces (los cahn-DEE-ses) and this has caught on in our group of friends here. This also includes an English joke of pluralizing the name, as grammatically speaking they should just say Los Candyce, in addition to allowing them to change the accent placement, as it seems cahn-DEES is easier to say than CAHN-dees.
Since we normally go by Nathan´s last name in Canada, it has been fun that we can go by my name here! :) We get a kick out of hearing someone announce that ¨los Candyces¨ have arrived, etc.
And now, some photos:
(festival of the patron saint of Granada)
At the festival they were giving out handfuls of beans (habas) for free since they are in season at the moment...
Nathan went on a mountain bike trip with some friends.
A hike with some friends in the hills above Granada.
Los Candyces
Part of the hike was through, of course, more olive groves.
Chatting and enjoying the view.
Another beautiful view of the Sierra Nevada
We hope you are all doing well and that you are having a great winter! Time seems to be flying by very quickly this year. We will all be in spring before we know it.
Until the next time!
In peace,
Candyce (and Nathan)
