December in Murcia

I visited a couple new places in Murcia last week. With my language conversation exchange partner, María, I went to Espinardo campus and Thader. Espinardo is the Catholic University in Murcia and Thader is a large shopping center. María did her undergraduate studies at Espinardo so she gave me a driving/walking tour of the place. My overall opinion is that it’s a very big, imposing campus with some nice grounds. At Thader, we walked around a bit and I took some pictures of the giant waterwheel that’s inside the mall. We got lunch at one of my favorite places, 100 Montaditos, and it was just as good as I’d remembered from my days in Sevilla. Actually, it was even better. So basically 100 Montaditos is a place devoted to little sandwiches. It’s fantastic because they range from a euro to at most a euro and a half so you can get a few different ones to try without spending tons of money. Probably the best thing about this place is the chocolate sandwiches. When I would eat them in Sevilla the options were normal bread with a piece of melted chocolate or melted carmel. Now this section of the menu has been upgraded to chocolate bread and yummy fillings that include cookies and cream or white chocolate. I chose a chocolate sandwich with cool whip, melted chocolate and strawberry sauce and needless to say it was incredible. My only regret is that I didn’t think to take a picture of it so that I could have proof that such a yummy thing exists.

Waterwheel!

Another exciting happening of the week was that I lost my voice thanks to a cold. Okay so it’s not exciting, but it made for an interesting Thursday at school. Everyone knew something was out of the ordinary when I showed up with a travel mug. Unlike in the U.S. where it’s super common to see someone carrying around a travel mug containing a hot beverage, it’s not really done over here in Spain. The same goes for getting hot beverages to go from coffee shops/cafes. There’s only one place I know of here that you can take your drink out of the cafe and that’s Piccadilly Coffee which is like the British version of a Starbucks. So anyway, back to my sudden loss of voice. I brought tea with honey in the hope that it would help me get through the day filled with talking. I survived it anyway, but boy was I glad that I didn’t lose my voice until the last day of my workweek. If I was dealing with that for multiple days of almost constant speaking, it would have been miserable. The kids seemed to get a kick out of my half rasp/ half squeak form of talking so I guess it would have brought enjoyment to some. The most inconvenient thing about losing my voice was that I was supposed to help the kids in fourth grade with the lyrics to the Christmas song they’re learning, and I was not able to be of much help with my lack of voice. The song they’re performing for the parents, next Tuesday, on the last day of school is “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”, thanks to my suggesting it to the teacher. I know it’s kind of an obnoxious song when sung by that one kid on the radio, but it’s really quite entertaining to hear a classroom full of Spanish children sing it.  

On Sunday I went to Mass at Murcia’s Cathedral and then, although it was drizzling slightly, I took some pictures of the cathedral because I’ve been meaning to do it for the longest time. As I was standing in the plaza outside of the cathedral I noticed some huge statues of possibly two of the three kings, outside of the Episcopal Palace. So I walked over to take a look and saw a sign to see Murcia’s Belén (Nativity Scene) inside and since it was open to the public I decided to go in. It wasn’t as impressive as the Belén I saw in October at Salzillo Museum, but it was still very elaborate and depicted from the Annunciation up to the family at home in Nazareth after returning from Egypt. After leaving the Episcopal Palace, I wandered down Gran Via Alfonso X el Sabio (a main street) and there were a lot of stands set up with handmade goods to purchase as part of a Christmas market. It had many of the same types of goods as the Christmas markets in Sevilla: cheese, sweets, candles, perfume, jewelry, statues, shoes and the list goes on. Always a good time to be had checking out a Christmas market or just a market in general. 

 Cathedral

 Episcopal Palace

 Belén

Christmas lights

This week my cold was much improved and my voice was completely back. On Tuesday and Thursday I did Christmas projects with the two girls I teach in the afternoons, since this was my last week with them until after Christmas vacation. On Tuesday we made Rudolph, (the one where you trace your hands and one foot) and the girls really got a kick out of that. Thursday’s project wasn’t as successful. I printed out Christmas cards for them to color and give to their parents, but they weren’t as excited about that. I think the main problem was that their aunt and grandparents were over and they were distracted by wanting to visit with them rather than focus on English. However, when we ended they gave me hugs and María del Mar, the seven-year old, gave me a note that said “I love you”. They are just too precious. 

Rudolph

This week was a little on the sad side cause it involved two goodbyes. I was so fortunate this semester to get amazing flatmates and I really can’t imagine what it will be like this whole next semester without them. Ines and Lisa, both from France, finished their semester early so they left this week. Fortunately, I didn’t have to say goodbye to all of my flatmates just yet since Cecilia will be finishing the semester in January. But after that I’ll be the only original inhabitant of the flat with three newbies. So this week I made sure to spend some quality time with the girls before they left. We went to 100 Montaditos for chocolate sandwiches and I again forgot to take a picture. Such a bummer, cause we had a nice platter full of different kinds and it would have been a good opportunity for a photo. Oh well, a good time was had by all. It was sad saying goodbye on Friday to Lisa and then to Ines today (Saturday), but I’m glad I was able to get to know them and in this day and age, internet will help me to stay in touch. On a lighter note, I’m in the process of switching rooms since I had the smallest room and now that two have opened up I’m greedily taking the biggest one. It has drawers for clothing, unlike my other room, and the best part, a balcony! It will be just like my semester in Sevilla. I’m definitely moving up in life, haha. Well this is most likely my last blog post till after Christmas so Feliz Navidad a todos!

Me with my lovely French flatmates, Lisa and Ines