it´s been too long since last we met

well well well. so much has happened since the last post. the two biggies of course are thanksgiving and the puente. lets start with el día de la acción de gracias. thanksgiving was simply wonderful, a crapload of work, but well worth it! we had thirteen people at our piso: five americans, three brits, and five spaniards. quite the mixture, i know. luckily everyone got along really well and there was plenty, i mean plenty, of food to go around! i got up at 530 on the saturday morning (we decided to celebrate the saturday instead of the thursday due to work) to stuff and cook the 9 kilo turkey which we bought at el corte ingles. a valiant attempt was made at gravy but alas, it tasted like tire grease, which ana our spanish roomie actually loved. blair made a tasty goat cheese salad and a spicy corn side dish. our friends brought mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumkin pie and lots of other goodies. we still have three bottles of wine left over and i only just threw away what was left of the turkey. during dinner we all said what we were thankful for, in spanish and english...claro. it was quite touching actually, and i realized how happy and grateful i was for all the friends, old and new, with whom i was able to share that special meal (corny and sentimental factor: high). everyone had a great time, especially the spanish girls because suprisingly it was the first time most of them had seen a turkey. it was like a movie for them which i thought was so funny!

moving on... el puente. in english this means a long weekend. it was constitution day on saturday and the immaculate conception on monday, and so we had a long weekend...and by long i mean longer than our normal three day weekend since we had monday off too. we went to the sierra nevada for two nights and granada for one night. the sierra nevadas are a mountain range in the south of spain where you can actually ski. we went skiing all day saturday and spent friday night and saturday night in a small village in between the mountains and granada city. this village was so small that i think we saw a total of 7 people including a group of rowdy jovenes hanging out by the playground waiting to start some trouble. skiing was so much fun, that is after the hour it took to get equipment and clothing, during which time i was told i needed the largest size possible in ski pants because clearly im obese, and of course also after another hour of waiting to get on the gondola to actually get to the ski lifts. i chose to rent blades because that is what i am used to now, but poor, frail blair rented skiis and they were so heavy she had trouble turning on the mountain. but i have to say, for not having skied for 8 years, she was pretty damn good. she managed to avoid all the gillipollas snowboarders that i think were pretty much on the mountain to form obstacles for skiiers. at lunch time, we enjoyed what were called "hamburgers" on the menu. they obvioulsy use this term lightly as we are still not sure what kind of meat was used. blair, audrey and i devoured our lunch while waiting for our friend angel who, we later found out, got lost on the top of the mountain and ran over a small child...it was his first time skiing. all in all it was an enjoyable day. blair and i made sure to get our money's worth of skiing and so we skied the entire day until the last ski lift when of course there was mayhem to get to the bottom of the mountain. all levels were funneled into one pista (slope) and i'm quite surprised no fatalities were reported. when we got back to our jamón-smelling hostel, we all passed out and slept until 11 when we awoke with hunger, ate some burger king and returned to sleep.

on sunday, we left for granada. we walked around the city but as it was a sunday, clearly most shops were closed. our hostel, el clandestino, was quaint...lots of graffiti, winding skecthy hill to reach it, and a mangy, sad looking dog that sat outside the door. however, appearances can be deceiving. it wasn't as crappy as it appeared from the front, and actually it turned out to be a perfect little place to stay for one night...i emphasize one night. we had a private room and bathroom and access to the kitchen. and so we prepared a feast of spaghetti and hotdogs for comida that we bought at the frutos secos, the only store that was open. we also splurged on a 3 euro bottle of tinto. when we finished eating, we all relaxed on the rooftop terrace and listened to what else but cuarenta principales, the saving grace of our road trip since no one had been able to burn cds. we decided to go for another stroll that evening before going out for the night. we walked around the arab quarter of granada and had some lovely tea at one of the many tea houses. we returned from our walk refreshed and ready to salir. calimocho (a mixture of cheap red wine and coke) was in order, claro. we drank our concoction and got ready to the sounds of french rap coming from the music of the guy that worked at the hostel. i think blair, audrey and i all had a little crush on him as he was quite good-looking, although clearly lacking in the motivation department since he was working in two hostels and tried to sell us weed. don't think you need a college education for that. we left the hostel and walked to calle elvira which is known for its tapas bars. we enjoyed the various tapas that came with our cañas. our favorite bar was la bella y la bestia where the tapas got better after each round of cañas you ordered. (we only ever made it to segundas). by two we were exhausted, and since audrey and angel were getting up early to go to the alhambra, we thought it best to head back to the hostel.

it rained all day monday but we were still able to fit in a last stroll through the arab markets where we picked up some presents and tea. we also enjoyed our last meal in granada with some chicken schwarma. exhausted and wet, we headed home in the car. blair had to take over driving for angel because he was exhausted and she did a great job with stick (that's what she said)! we arrived home after the almost 5 hour drive safe and sound!! over all it was an amazing weekend and everyone had a great time. now of course i must detox my body from the amount of crap that i ate and drank!

back at work now, trying to get into a regular schedule but its so hard when christmas is so soon, and there are so many things to think about! hopefully blair or i will be able to blog before christmas break. if not, well, too bad! besos