Trip to the Cathedral/Christmas day

On Christmas Eve Ingy and I took a trip to the cathedral. We still haven't been because everyday we had a chance to go it was closed for some obscure reason. Before we headed to the Cathedral I went to Plaza de Espana to pick up my Spanish ID card. Since I am a temporary resident I get into most public museums, like the cathedral, for free. We spent a little while inside walking around, then we went home to buy groceries for christmas dinner. Luckily we left when we did because all the stores closed at 8 pm. We made it to El Corte Ingles with 30 minutes to shop. 

Ingy in front of the tomb of Christopher Columbus

From the Girlada

Massive bells atop the tower

dome inside cathedral

haha

From the Treasures room

repenting 

Choir Chamber

After we got back home Ingy cut my hair and we wrapped up the christmas presents. Then Ingy and I made a cheesecake for Christmas day. Christmas was a lazy day. We slept in and hung out around the place all day. We watched Inception and then started to make the food for our Christmas Dinner. We made Shepherd's Pie  and stuffed mushrooms. We exchanged a few presents and then hung out for the rest of the day. We got to webcam with my family for a little bit too. We were both pretty tired and called it an early night. We had a great Christmas but definitely missed our families. 

getting my hair did

Mashed potatoes for shepherd's pie

Dinner 

Present time

I got a soccer ball

Monday we are heading to Granada for 3 days. I am really excited and haven't been back since I studied abroad. We are taking the train early monday morning and leaving sometime wednesday evening. It will probably be a few days before an update, unless we have internet at the hostel.

Christmas Party

Wednesday was our christmas party at work. Jose told me the night before that I didn't have to come in early because we wouldn't be having classes. Ingy and I got up early and went to the mall because I had to buy a present for our "Secret Santa" at work. They call it "amigo invisible" in Spain. The weather on the way to the mall was so horrible. It has been raining non-stop here the past week. The rivers are all high and everything is just saturated with water. We made it about a block before we decided to get a taxi. My feet and pants were completely soaked and we had an umbrella! We got to the school around noon and hung out until our secret santa at 2. We all hung out in the teacher's lounge and exchanged gifts. I got a really cool leather bracelet with the colors of the spanish flag stitched into the center. They didn't want Ingy to feel left out and they also got her a gift; a big box of chocolates. 

Ingy in the teacher lounge 

Exchanging Gifts and eating some food

After we went out for dinner with everyone. We ate at a nice restaurant in Dos Hermanas. I couldn't believe how much food and drinks we got. There was 5 appetizer dishes, main course, and dessert. We also got all the beer and wine we could drink. At the end the gave us a dessert alcohol drink and then a hard drink of whatever we wanted. We were at the restaurant for a few hours and after headed to a bar for a few more drinks.

A few of the appetizers

Carlos and Isabel

Ingy and I

Jose making everyone laugh

Pork loin and potatoes

Ingy and I at the bar

Coworkers

We left around midnight and my coworker Isabel gave us a ride home. Ingy and I had a great time. I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to work with. Everyone is so nice and caring and they make sure that Ingy and I are having a good time and feel at home. I don't work until the 10th of January. Ingy and I are staying in Sevilla for Christmas and traveling to a few cities before she leaves on the 9th. I will make sure to update where we are all going when I find out. 

last few days at work before the holiday break

Tuesday Ingy and I went to work at around 9:00 am as usual however we didn't do much work. Tuesday was their Christmas party day. We didn't have classes because of other events planned for the day. All the kids came out and sat in the entrance hall next to the decorations and waited for a christmas song performance by a group of girls from the town. They school was decorated so well. The parents of the kids are so amazing. I couldn't believe how much time and effort they put into decorating the school for the holidays. I thought they went all out on Halloween but the decorations they made for Christmas were amazing. They were also very creative. They made a nativity scene and had a stone wall on one half of the set. They made it using styrofoam. One of the mothers used a soldering iron and melted away parts of the styrofoam to give the appearance of individual stones. They then spray painted it and made it look like a real stone wall. They spent 2 weeks getting all the decorations put together and set up. I was really impressed on how well everything looked. 

Nativity Scene 

More decorations

Even the fire extinguisher was decorated

Once they got all the kids into the main hall a group of girls came out and sang christmas songs to all of the children. They played for about 20 minutes and after words the kids all went back to their classrooms. At this point Ingy and I were bouncing around from class to class saying hello. One class we stopped in was celebrating a birthday of one of the children. We helped cut the cake and hung out for a bit.

Waiting for the Christmas music

fighting for the best seat

Christmas Concert

Ingy was playing train with the kids

Birthday Celebration

A few kids having fun with my iphone

After the concert, each class went to the cafeteria to eat churros and chocolate. I imagine most people know what churros are.  Basically a fried donut in the shape of a long string that you dunk in warm melted chocolate. They are really good, but so rich I can only eat a couple before collapsing from a sugar high. The kids however ate them up like it was they last thing they would eat. After the kids gave letters of what the wanted to christmas to the 3 wise men. They all know who Santa is in Spain, but he isn't the main man during the holidays. Usually children get a present on christmas day from Santa, but the bulk of their presents come on January 6th. This is the Feast of the Epiphany when the Three Kings arrived in Bethlehem. For Spanish children this is the most important day of the year when they wake up to find that Los Reyes Magos (the Three Kings) have left gifts for them in their house. One of the parent's dressed up as one of the Wise men to take the letters and give them a small book to tide them over until the 6th. There are 2 white kings and a black king. The lady dressed as the black king, decked out in a biblical outfit and even painted herself black to fit the role. Some of the kids were scared, but most were excited to give their letters to the wise men.

about to get chocolate wasted

waiting to give their letters to the wise men

kid giving his letter to the king

After the school day was over we headed to a co-workers house for a potluck. Everyone from the school hung out for a few hours to eat and drink. There was a lot of good food and Ingy and I both had a great time. We went back to the school for a minute after because my co-worker was giving us a ride back to Sevilla. The kids were back and were all dressed up to perform a little nativity scene skit that night. It was a really fun day and Ingy and I both had a great time. 

good times

Discussing the chip bag

Kids getting ready to act out their scene 

Christmas Decorations

Ingy and I have been looking at everyone's christmas photos/decorations and all the photos of snow and got a little homesick so we went out and bought a few things to "spruce" up our room. haha. Some garland, a 12 inch christmas tree and a few photos of Santa Claus did the trick. 

Add caption

Instantly happy thanks to Santa

We are starting to plan our trips over my time off. I do not work from the 23rd of December until the 10th of January. Ingy heads back to the United States on the 9th. We had planned on traveling to a few cities in southern Spain and one in the north, but now we are rethinking a little bit. We are for sure going to Granada because I love that town and really want Ingy to see it. 

A few kids playing with my Iphone

Birthday at the school

Tonight after work we are heading over to a coworkers house for drinks and to hang out with all the staff at the school. Should be a good time. 

Alcázar of Seville with Ingy

Today Ingy and I went to the Alcázar of Seville. The Alcázar is a royal palace in Sevilla, which was originally a moorish fort. I have been here a few times before but never have seen as much as I have until this trip. There was an entire section inside that I had neglected to see the past few times I went. We spent some time walking around inside and looking at all the rooms. They also had an exposition on different types of ceramic that was made in Sevilla or used in the city dating back to the 11th century. It was a nice clear day and we spent some time out in the gardens, but it was cold.

Courtyard in Gardens

Ceiling in one of the many rooms

Inside Alcazar

Pretty Kitty

Another Courtyard

Large hand knitted rug from back in the day

The Gardens

Looking down at the gardens

Another shot of the Gardens

We spent quite a bit of time walking around the Gardens of the Alcázar. I can't describe how big this place is. It seemed to go on forever. Courtyards, Labyrinths, gardens, towers, ponds, etc. So much is fit within the walls of the garden. We got bored and spent some time in the labyrinth. Definitely a lot of fun.

In the Labyrinth 

We went out that night for my friend Cherelle's birthday. She was heading back to the States for the break the next day. We hung out at a friends house for a while and then went to the bars until 4 am. We all took a taxi back to our places and called it a night.. morning.