¿Dónde Esta El Pavo?

El Pavo is Españish for The Turkey! We have not been able to encontrar the pavo and so we have decided that we must modify a few of the T-Day customs/traditions to fit the Espanish manera de vivir. What better way to change it up than to head to the PLAYA!?! Como se dice “Road Trip” en espanol? I don’t really know but it starts with buying a ticket at the bus station and heading to Almeria!
Jeanna and I met the “Almeria Girls” back in Seville during orientation week. We shot an email and asked for a floor to crash on. They were more than willing to give us a place to dormir and even offered to show us around a bit! We arrived in Almeria late Friday night. Just in time to check out the local Tapas scene. The girls showed us a couple of Tapas bars that we both really enjoyed. We ended the night with a midnight Kebab run! Ohh yeah, that is right…Kebab in spain…What is a kebab you ask? GYRO baby GYRO…SOOO good! Tortilla, lamb kebab, tiziki sauce, tomate! Love the kebab!
Saturday morning came a little later than normal but we were amped for a day on the beach. I must say that a mi me gusta the playa aqui en espana un poco mas que la playa en OREGON. Keep in mind that it is the end of November. Miss Jeanna was able to rock a skort and T-Shirt from ten o’clock in the morning on! You cannot do that in August on the Oregon coast! I cannot imagine what it is like in the summer but I am guessing it is awesome! Jeanna was excited to see the Mediterranean Sea while soaking in the rays. We could not have asked for a more beautiful day.
After a long walk down the beach front we headed to the local market of greatness! This was a market filled with fresh fruit, veggies, fish, meat, meat, and more meat (check out the fotos of the Jamon Serrano and Chorizo). We both enjoyed checking out all of the local food offered and the amazing varieties of meat, and fish! We picked up some fruit along the way but decided that the cabeza de sword fish was a little too spendy…Maybe next time, for now the foto will have to do! We then tried a new restaurant for a Spanish lunch @ the normal time of THREE in the afternoon! We are turning Spanish poco a poco! The meal was great and allowed us to finally try some of the Spanish fish. Four different types of fried fish served on a plate; head, tail and all! Unfortunately we forgot the camera for this expedition but rest assured it was an experience. The fish was great and it was cool seeing all of the little heads staring back at you!
From lunch, we headed to Alcazaba. This is Almeria’s fortress/castle that sits above the city. There are gardens inside and the views from above the city are amazing (check out the fotos). We really enjoyed the experience and were delighted to find out that it would not cost a dime (always a bonus)! We then had an American/Spanish dinner back at the girls’ apartment. A few other participants from the program came over and we all prepared a favorite dish. We all shared and had a nice visit/late night potluck. All and all it was a great experience. Did we mention that we were able to wear shorts comfortably on November 22, 2008? I am sure that it was nice back home as well…
The other fotos were taken at a party we had last Sunday with some Spanish friends we have made over here. Jeanna and I have been taken in by some “Spanish Angels”! These friends have been incredibly kind to Jeanna and I. Their family wanted to make Migas (a very traditional Spanish meal) for us. We all got together on Sunday (after training of course) and had Migas. I was given the opportunity to help and now know how to make Migas for everyone upon our return. It was an incredible experience that we both really enjoyed. We have truly been blessed on this journey in our lives and are constantly reminded of all the things that we have to be thankful for. Even though we have been unable to find the Pavo, we will attempt to make a Spanish/American Thanksgiving dinner and we will be thinking about all of you back home. We wish you the best this Thanksgiving and hope that you all have a wonderful time with friends and family! We miss all of you very much and wish that we could be there to share the holidays with you. In the mean time we will try to make the most of this hard winter we are having here and most importantly try to remember the sunscreen… It would be miserable trying to deal with a sunburn in December…Is that possible? I don’t know but we will keep you posted. Enjoy the warmth of the fireplace, or heater for those more “modern” peeps! Love you all,
Eli and Jeanna