Whatever happened to those little piggies anyway?

Children and those still young at heart please do not continue reading…Assuming that I am now speaking to adults who can handle the truth I will start by stating the obvious; Santa Clause is not real, the Easter Bunny does not lay candy eggs in your lawn on Easter, and the Tooth Fairy does not come and put money under your pillow when you have lost a tooth (however some crazy mothers do hold onto those rotten baby teeth (I know…WeIrD right?))… Anyway I believe that you now get the point. Sometimes the story does not always have a happy ending.
Jeanna and I had the honor of tasting the end of “The Three Little Pigs”. The wolf may not have had his way but, Rafa, the Spaniard, was able to trick the wee ones into the Spanish horno! According to Senor Rafa (the host of the party) he was able to get these little pigs to “train with him” before he took them to the “little pig candy store” or butcher as we like to say back home. These were some “fit little pigs” and as a result they were tasty! Cochinillo was the name for the fire backed little pigs. As you can see in the photos they put the whole thing in the oven…nothing goes to waste when you are talking about the cerdo here in Spain!
This was another cyclist get together! That makes one per month since we have been here. A lot of this has to do with the holiday season but Spanish people never need much of an excuse for a get together! Jeanna and I had a really good time practicing our espanol with the people and trying some new food with a Spanish twist. The meal was wonderful and the company was great. Jeanna and I are really fortunate to have found these people who have taken us in and treated us as part of the group.
The cochinillo was in a little pueblo outside of Jaen. In fact, it was only twenty kilometers from the city of Granada! The pueblo was called Colomera and it is Rafa’s pueblo. He raised the pigs and he invited the people to eat them! After the meal was finished, Rafa decided that we all must see “El Santo” de Colomera. “El Santo” was Jesus crucified on a cross in a small little Iglesia at the top of the city. According to Rafa el Santo is very important in the town of Colomera and the people come to see him often. When they need rain for the olives, etc… It was very beautiful and Jeanna and I were both happy to walk off a little of the cochinillo!
The holiday season is now officially upon us and poco a poco the Christmas décor is making its way out. Jeanna and I are looking forward to the long Christmas break and all of the Spanish celebrations that will be taking place this month. Next week is another long weekend (four days) for the celebration of The Virgin Immaculation. We are officially done teaching on December 18 and do not have to come back until the 7th of January. It will be difficult finding things to do here in Andalucia with all of that free time but we will be sure and keep you up to date on the difficulties of a month off in Spain.
We hope that you are all doing well and that everyone had a wonderful Turkey day back home. You are all on our minds this holiday season. Enjoy the time with friends and family and know that are hearts and minds are there with all of you during these times of celebration!