We all went to the dance show of the studio where Avril takes classes and they were in La Llotja (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Llotja_de_Lleida), a huge super pretty theater. Avril's group did one dance, as did some of the other younger groups, and the older groups did several. There was also a woman who did aerial silks, which was amazing.
Unfortunately, I didn't get videos of the all the best dances, since my phone doesn't have much memory :(
On Christmas eve we went to Alcampell and had dinner with Noelia's family. I got to watch the kids do this odd tradition of the Tio de Nadal... they hit a log with sticks and sing a song telling it to poop candy and pee champagne. Then when they pull off the blanket there is candy underneath it.
Laura made these yummy pastry thingies with squash inside. Yum! There were also some with spinach and raisins, and one with chocolate. My favorite was the squash though.
After midnight we went downstairs and the floor was covered with presents! Santa came! He even found me ;)
I got two hairsticks, a metal one and a wooden one, some super soft slippers (that actually fit!) and a fluffy cowl. Thanks Santa!
On Christmas day we had lunch at our house with Jose's side of the family. They even had a fire going in the fireplace. How homey!
Then came a week of relaxing (and knitting on my part). Then when New Years Eve came, one of Noelia's friends came over with her husband and two kids. We all had dinner together then counted down to midnight! At midnight, with every chime of the clock you have to eat a grape, for good luck for the next year. They even have these handy little New Years grape kits with 12 seedless grapes in them.
Time to eat grapes!
Of course my family back home was celebrating with me, even though they had another 7 hours to go until their New Year. :)
On Jan 2nd, I moved in with my next host family. Goodbye to the smurf keys I've had for the last three months...
I moved in with Mar (16 year old, 4th ESO student), and her parents Ramon and Maite. Plus their dog Milka. I also got a package from Ryan, which included his iphone 5, since he just got a 6 plus. So, of course, I had to take advantage of finally being able to take panoramic photos!
(That red thing is my closet!) I have a large room with a squishy foam mattress bed and my own balcony! It'll be nice to go out there and knit once it warms up! Though, compared to MN it's still warm here. It's been in the high 40's or low 50's during the day and high 30's at night. Still a bit chilly to knit in though.
TV time
This apartment is so pretty! A spiral staircase and loads of built ins. Plus a full sized keyboard! It's awesome to be able to play an instrument again!
On Jan 5th we went to a parade for the Three Kings. It was super foggy, but not too cold.
Apparently they have a story that they tell children, where when you're old enough to give up your pacifier they say they need to feed it to this dragon. I'm not sure of the entire story. So they had this dragon with a bunch of pacifiers hanging from it's mouth.
Here's another thing Maite had to explain to me... The kings bring presents to your house by climbing the ladders of fire trucks (they don't go down the chimney like Santa). They each have their own big truck full of toys to deliver (rather than a sleigh like Santa).
Thought I'd try a panoramic shot of the truck as it drove by... seemed to work pretty well!
On the 6th (Kings day) I got some presents! Some perfume, and a little basketball for the hoop that is in my room.
Another tradition: they have this cake thing, with whipped cream in the middle. In the whipped cream there is a fava bean and a king figurine. If you get the fava bean in your piece you have to pay for the cake. If you get the king, you get good luck and get to wear a little crown that came with it. I didn't get either, because I had Maite take the cream out of mine since I'm avoiding dairy. It was pretty tasty, though they put anise in a lot of their baked goods so it tasted kind of like black licorice, which I still find odd.
During the 2 week break from school I managed to knit a shawl. I spun all the yarn on my Jenkins Turkish spindles since I got to Spain, then knit up this Thinking of Waves shawl. I really like how the gray yarn turned out with variation in it. It looks kind of brown in the pic, but I assure you it is gray.
That's about it for now... I have to go to bed soon, since we start school again tomorrow!
