TRUC-O-TRATE

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Here are a few updates:

I played soccer with the API group, our director Juan and a Spaniard from a town nearby, Carlos. I am proud to say that I scored twice! We played for an hour on a soccer field around the corner from my house. It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be and everyone seemed to have a fun time. I couldn’t move the next morning and I had bruises all over my shins… I hope we play again next week!

I had my first (and last) experience at the movie theatre in Spain. The movie was called El piel que habito. It was directed by Pedro Almodóvar, an award winning Spaniard who is notorious for his complex and risqué plots. I have seen another one of his movies and I thought that was by far the worst movie I would ever see. I was wrong however, because El piel que habito is equally as awful, just in a different way. I will spare the details just in case anyone has a week stomach. Juan had to leave halfway through because it was so vulgar. It took a few days for our minds to be cleared of the mental images that haunted us. I will say that as a psychology major, I found the psychological aspect interesting and well done.

It was kind of odd being here for Halloween, because it is only partially celebrated here in Spain. They say that it is an American holiday that appeared in Cádiz in recent years, but no one knows why or how. The elementary schools have costume parties, but with one distinct difference from the parties in the United States: they kids MUST wear a scary costume. Needless to say there were an overwhelming number of witches, zombies, and vampires. Unlike most families in Spain, our house was decorated the house with black cats, jack-o-lanterns, bats and ghosts. The typical Halloween treats are dried fruits and nuts, and sometimes a caramel, but not the Halloween candy that we have back home. The Mortons sent me an awesome mask making kit, so Hayley and I made them the night before Halloween to get into the spirit of the holiday.

The children here don’t trick or treat like we do in the United States. IF they trick or treat at all it is just to their grandmothers’ houses. At night they walk around the town in their costumes. It was adorable! Hayley and I went to an annual Halloween festivity in the fish market. It was really interesting and unique to say the least! The entire town was crammed into the market, trying to fight through the crowd to see the artistic displays. The vendors in the market spend days dressing up their fish, meat or fruit for the Halloween contest. I must say, people were extremely creative! Unfortunately, I didn’t understand all of the political references, but it was still fun to see the contest because it is an important part of the Gaditano culture.

After we got home from the festivities at the market, Hayley and I gathered the candy that we bought for Adrian so he could trick or treat at our door. We were super excited to see him all dressed up in his little vampire costume and say “truc-o-trate”—which is how they say it in Spanish. Unfortunately, we were disappointed because Adrian refused to wear his costume, say “truc-o-trate” or even hold out his bag so we could put the candy in it. He had been in an ornery mood all day so we should have expected it. I remember thinking “okay kid, I listen to you scream every morning for an hour, the least you could do is put on your costume and accept our gifts”. Hayley and I decided to ignore the pain and move on to another holiday, Christmas, by watching The Santa Claus.

November 1st, also known as “Dia de Todos los Santos” or “all saints day” was different than I expected it to be. I thought there would be more going on in the town and in the church, but for the most part people just go to the cemetery and put fresh flowers on the graves of loved ones lost. We didn’t have school on the 31st or the 1st, which shouldn’t surprise me at this point, because it seems like there is a holiday once a week at least. Unfortunately I was sick for most of the long weekend, so I didn’t get to do a lot, but it was actually nice to have a laid back weekend for once.

Yesterday, Mo made Mexican food for the entire family for lunch. It was delicious! Oh how I miss my Mexican food! He made quesadillas with chorizo, refried beans, and some of the most delicious guacamole I have ever tasted. The guacamole was definitely the crowd-pleaser. Most of the family felt that the chorizo was too spicy. For dessert Josefa made crème puff pastries that are typically served around Christmas. I enjoyed it a lot! Julia, the girl from Brazil, is cooking for the family sometime soon and that means Hayley and I only have a few weeks to think of something good to make for our family. The problem we are running into here is that we can’t find the ingredients we need for the things we make back home. Please give me some suggestions if you have any!

Today was significant because I tried something new for lunch—rabbit. Yes, I ate little Peter cottontail for lunch. The flavor of the marinade was really good, but the meat just tasted like tough chicken. I think I will stick to eating chicken, but I was grateful for the opportunity to try something new.

On Friday our group leaves at 6:30 in the morning to go to Granada, which is said to be one of Spain’s most beautiful cities. I am so excited! I will blog all about it when I get back on Sunday.

That’s all for now folks!

Jerica

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Photos

OSU spirit!
This is the mask I made from the kit Melina and Rod sent me!