Ferrol

Plaza de Armas

Several buildings in Ferrol have either been gorgeously refurbished or are in ruins, barely reflecting their original glory days

View from Castillo San Felipe

Castillo San Felipe entrance

San Felipe's twin castle across the bay

Laura C (my roomie is Laura B) called this a escalera de caracol. Translation: snail staircase.

Our cheesy album cover photo

Laura and Castro (our landlords)

One of Ferrol's beautiful beaches

My Apartment!

After a couple weeks I'm finally feeling more settled. Still missing a couple things in my room like a desk lamp but slowly and surely everything is coming together. Below are a few pictures to give you an idea of my awesome apartment.

The desk in my room with my turquoise cactus plant :)

My comfy bed (every bed in Spain is teeny tiny, so I'm blessed with a bit more of a spacious bed)

The view from my window

Aroma Cafe is to the left with the patio cover (thought you'd enjoy that JP) 

My lil' closet

The hall to the left of my room, the front door is the one on the far right, guest room on far left

Our guest room/office

The hallway straight ahead of my room, the right doors lead to our living room

Our lovely living room with comfy leather couches

Our dining table (our landlords left full glassware in the cabinets)

The view from our living room

The bathroom I share with Laura - yes that's a bidet hahaha

Our kitchen

The quad where everyone hangs their clothes to dry (no dryers in Spain)

Laura's artsy room

Callie's spacious room

The end. Hope y'all can visit sometime :)

A Coruña and Lugo

This past weekend I got the chance to explore Galicia more. I first went to A Coruña to visit my friends Shelly, Jordan and Mara. On Saturday night we walked to Calle Orzan. This street is filled with restaurants, shops and pubs. It is the best spot to go in A Coruña if you're looking for a fun night of dancing and bar hopping. Of course, it being Spain, people typically don't start going out until 2 am hence the street below looking a little empty.

Delicious churro dipped in chocolate

On Sunday we saw a live traditional Gallego folk band play. Because of Galicia's strong Celtic influence the music is comparable to something you'd hear in Scotland and Ireland. The band played amazing tunes using a base drum, a gaita (similar to the bagpipe) and several percussion and wind instruments. 

On Monday, the girls and I hopped on an autobus and headed for Lugo to catch the end of Festa de San Froilán. This holiday every October 4-12 celebrates the patron saint of the city of Lugo. This being a festival of national touristic interest, it attracts over a million people to the city each year. Lugo is a gorgeous town that is surrounded by a spectacular Roman Wall. The coolest part is you can actually walk along the top of the wall. 

Since everything was booked we had to stay in a creepy hostel, luckily we had our own room

The streets of Lugo with Shelly and Jordan

Shelly and I

Saludos

Hello friends! Last time I blogged I mentioned having my Internet being connected the next day...well, still waiting on that, ahahaha. I guess I have to learn that things tend to take a little longer here (kinda missing instant gratification). I'm also sick at the moment :( Hopefully, it will be a one-time thing and I will be used to the climate and schedule here.

I'm still getting accustomed to life in Ferrol. Businesses open from 8:30 am until 2 pm, then  close for siesta (some people nap, most eat). Stores reopen at 5 pm and close at 8:30 pm.

I started work last Friday and the kids are amazing! Today I went to a meeting in Santiago de Compostela (Galicia's capitol) and met several auxiliares like myself. Some I recognized from Facebook, others I met completely anew. This weekend is a 4 day weekend, as this coming Tuesday is Dia de Espana! Ole! If I'm feeling better I'm hoping to go to a festival in Lugo.

Enjoy my pics below and I promise to update you all again soon! XOXO

The lovely welcome sign my niños made :)

They heard I'm from Los Angeles so they made me an Oscar award

All the auxiliares and profesores today at the meeting in Santiago

Victor, the other teacher I will be assisting in Esteiro besides Maria

My buddy Shelly and I (she's from Cali too)

Galicia-isms

Where to begin...well, I'm currently sitting in a cafe directly across from my apartment building (our internet is getting connected tomorrow). It's very crowded because everything is closed on Sunday's except apparently Aroma Cafe. And of course the fact Real Madrid is playing Deportivo could also be a contributing factor.

I finally moved into my apartment Friday. On Saturday my roommates and I decided to go to the grocery store and "el chino" for some much needed essentials. Now, I must explain, el chino is a Chinese owned store that you can pretty much find on every corner. They specialize in selling every knick knack imaginable at a very cheap price. In short - they're the Big Lots of Spain. So the roomies and I decided to walk (2 miles) to the biggest mall in Ferrol called, Odeón and visit the big el chino store. Of course, we went crazy and bought lots of goodies. This left us with the problem of carrying it all back. Let me tell ya, with Ferrol's high winds this was no easy feat but nonetheless we made it back unscathed if not a bit buffer ;)

Later on that night, our landlady Laura and her boyfriend David (pronounced Dah-vi) took us out and introduced us to their friends. Let me preface by mentioning Laura and David are in their late 20's and are the BEST landlords a person can ask for. Anyways, David picked us up around 11:30 pm and we met up with Laura and several of their friends that were finishing dinner. Apparently in Spain it's customary to dine very late. From this point we proceeded to bar hop. Instead of things progressively winding down places just got more and more crowded. This was a pleasant surprise of course because Ferrol is a very small town so it was nice to see many people my age. Unfortunately my roommates and I were very tired after the week we had so we left early (3:30 am). This is of course very early for our new lively company but they understood and made us promise we'll stay out later next time. 

All in all, my experience in Ferrol has been a pleasant culture shock con mucho vida. Looking forward to what's in store these next 9 months. 

My landlady and new friend, Laura

David, Callie and I