Saturday, December 1, 2012

Just Visiting: Valladolid

It seems strange to be writing a blog about Valladolid just a few days after I ranted and raved in my last blog about how happy I am in Navalmoral. But, here goes. 

When the end of the school year came round last June in Valladolid, I was actually sad to be leaving. But, my job was the best part of my Pucelana life, and that, my friends, was super sad. Like Jefferson City, Valladolid is a town I love to visit. I love [some of] the people there and I feel at home when I am there, surrounded by loving friends and students whom I miss every day. 

One of the great things about Navalmoral is its distance to Madrid. With buses and trains every few hours, it's actually pretty easy to get to and from other places in Spain rather quickly. I was able to arrive in Valladolid just before school finished last Friday, so I was able to visit a few classes. Some students knew I was coming, others had no idea. >> it was awesome << I was so happy to be back in the classroom with most of my favourite students from last school year. The good thing about Spanish students being able to repeat year after year is that my favourite students, who should have graduated, were... STILL THERE!

After saying hello x100 and receiving 100 kisses, I went for lunch with 9 of my co-workers from last year. Concha had arranged it and I was so happy of the turnout!  Three of the teachers were from the English department and the others were my "students" who I gave lessons to last year. We had such a nice afternoon catching up! Strangely enough, it felt as though I was still there. Like, I had never left. I like that. I love when you can pick up where you left off, and it doesn't seem like any time has been lost. 

After a short siesta of, literally, 16 minutes, I was getting ready for the next event: hanging with Javi and amigos. I was grateful that I met Javi and his friends last year... as they were some of my only Valladolid-ian friends I made. Again, it seemed like no time had past with them, and for this I am super grateful. We went for drinks. Big glasses and small glasses, I just know we drank a lot of beer. Later, I went for tapas with Antonio, a co-worker from last year, and finally called it a night around 1am, when I physically couldn't eat, drink, or keep my eyes open from so much traveling (and lack of sleep from the night before.) 
Plaza Mayor goes PINK!!!!
Saturday morning started bright and early at 9am. Maribal, another fellow co-worker from last year, and her husband, Luis, picked me up at Concha's house. They took me to Burgos for the day! Surprisingly, it wasn't too cold and it didn't rain on us much, so we had a really fantastic day. I think the company was the best part, as I could hang anywhere with Maribal and Luis and have a nice time. 

We started our tour of Burgos in the Cartuja de Miraflores, a type of monastary where the monks never leave the building. They dedicate their time to prayer and to make rosaries of roses. 30,000 rose petals in each rosary to be exact. It was really peaceful there... but there was no bathroom. Not even a hole like the monastery in Rome. So, Maribal and I went "for a walk in the woods" to find that we weren't the first to make our own bathroom...
Miraflores.
What a beautiful fall day in the woods!
Next stop was to visit Burgos ciudad. I visited Burgos four years ago on a day trip... but this time around, it was different. After living in Spain for several years, I think I have found a respect for Spanish architecture, way of life, cultural understanding... it was just different this time around. A good different. 
How pretty! Crossing the bridge into the city!
In front of the Cathedral with Maribal.
Typical. With Maribal and Luis~
Super proper, with the abuelos.
Burgos' Plaza Mayor is super colorful.
After being tourists, we had lunch. I joked that we had probably been eating for four hours, but when we ended, it was four courses in three hours. It was such a nice meal in a typical restaurant where the waiters served us in traditional dress, kinda like a blast from the past.


Morcilla de Burgos - blood sausage with rice. YUM!
Lechazo - Baby lamb.
Queso de Burgos with nuts and a lengua de gato cookie. :)
After lunch, we had tickets to visit the Cathedral of Burgos. When looking at the Cathedral, you think "wow! that is big!" When touring, you think "WOW!!!! This is so huge... I can't believe there is more." And there always was. It was really beautiful! 
Some of the paintings in one of the chapel ceilings.
Huge ceilings.
Disclaimer: this might be sacrilegious: but is he dancing to Gangnam Style?
We also visited another church, where the altar was made of rock. It was incredible!
Can you believe this is rock???
I found the beam in the middle really beautiful/different!
After touring Burgos, I was extremely tired and went to bed immediately after arriving home. Sunday was spent doing many [great] things. I went to watch a former private lesson student play basketball... not sure if I was good luck, as they lost by 1point with 2 seconds to go in the game. But, it was really cool to watch Juan play! At the end of last year, I asked him what he had learned throughout the year with me and he said "to use all 5 of my fouls." Well, he took my [ok, my dad's] advice to heart, and he fouled out. It was all for a good cause. 
Go Juan! Go #16!
I had lunch with Antonio and his family on Sunday afternoon, which was, absolutely wonderful. I was so happy he invited me to spend the day with him and his parents. After watching some of he Formula One race, I went to meet up with my roommate from last year and Kim, a girl I studied with in Salamanca in 2009. We shared stories from the school year about our students and had a nice catchup. I met with another girl, Natalie, who was an auxiliar in Valladolid last year too, for about ten minutes, before going to the movies to see Amanecer: Parte Dos. I had to take advantage of "the city" and go to the cinema. I had dinner with Antonio and Concha and her husband, Javier, that night at Concha and Javier's house. It was very relaxing and a great way to end the day!
Retracing my steps, through the scary tunnel, like every day last year.
Finally, civilization! ;)
After visiting with my students on Monday morning, I had to get back on the train and come home. I'm still waiting for photos to be uploaded to Tuenti... I was popular and several students wanted photos taken! There were also some new faces in the classes, and I'm sure they thought "who is this girl? and why does everybody love her?" I just explained that I was "Whitney" and not "Winnie" - successful day.

While writing this blog, I realize I didn't take many photos of my time in Valladolid. But, spending time with friends was what was important and I did plenty of that. I am so happy that I met all these wonderful people who treat me like family. 

They say the farther north you go in Spain, the colder the people are. They also say that it takes longer to make friends, but once you have a break through, you have a friend for life. And this I believe to be true.

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