la Navidad en Granada

The Christmas season has officially arrived. The plazas are filled with Christmas shoppers and the main streets are decorated with sparkling lights that glow late at night. In Plaza Bib-Rambla where a giant Christmas tree made of lights sits as the plaza's centerpiece, the annual "mercado navideño" lures the attention of Spaniards and tourists to each of the different stands with jewelry, art, chocolate, ham, cheese and much, much more. The weather is cold, about 15 degrees C midday, but it feels nice  when the sun comes out. Sometimes it actually feels colder inside than it is outside, which is why I think everyone (including me) is sick :( I am resting up today so that I will have energy tomorrow for my weekend in Madrid! :) 

Besos!

Thanksgiving

On Saturday I was lucky to have the chance to celebrate Thanksgiving away from home!
With Jodi, Gonzalo, and Elsa, I traveled about 30 minutes south of Granada to Fina's house in a small town named Durcal. It was in a valley close to the beautiful snow-topped Sierra Nevadas. The house was full of about twenty people, and it was nice to be able to speak both English and Spanish around the mix of cultures.
It was a feast--we had all the Thanksgiving dishes and TWO huge turkeys, which surprised me since I had been told that turkeys are a rare staple here. Two American girls who are Spanish assistants at a school in Granada helped me in attempting to make a form of Glögg.. It turned out quite well, although we laughed when the Spaniards questioned us how heating up wine with spices could be good!
Dessert time couldn't have been better...eating home-made brownies and pumpkin pie while learning all about Spanish history from my smart teammates in Trivial Pursuit!!

FOTOS! Now that I have internet--here come the pictures!