Thur. 6/2 – Mon. 6/6
** Sorry for the hiatus of posting. The weekend was quite busy and then the Internet in my house went out for a while.
The crest of Alicante in plant form.
The main boardwalk lined with vendors and shops. Those squiggles are all little tiles!
Thursday
Today was another full day of work. I am definitely getting close to a final product with the pamphlet, so that’s exciting. After work I stopped by the ATM and tried to pick up some more cash. Unfortunately it looked like the transaction went through and then stiffed me. It looked like the little slot was going to open with the money, but then it faked me out. I was worried I would be charged and not have any proof I never got the cash b/c it didn’t give me a receipt, but I saw online it never charged me. It’s a lot easier to access your money here than I expected. There are ATMs (cajeras mecánicas) all over the place that give you money in Euros and if you find the right place the only fees are 3% international withdrawal fee. The exchange rate is still $1.43 to 1 Euro, so that sucks that the dollar is so weak and everything is more expensive. I usually only withdraw 20 Euros at a time so can’t spend it too fast.
Following the ATM bust I went to David and Pepi’s apartment to hang out a bit and have dinner with them. They made some excellent fresh hamburgers and chickenburgers with hardboiled eggs. I had my first Spanish soda (Coca-Cola), it seemed sweeter and was a smaller can (350 mL). The best part was definitely the three flavors of homemade ice cream (very rich chocolate, lichee- a fruit from Asia, and mango). I was as happy as a pig in a blanket when they offered me seconds. We were going to watch a movie, but we decided to save it for another night when we finished dinner late.
Later that night I met up with some friends and one of the guys introduced us to a big group of students who he met because some of them were staying in his house. That’s really how everyone gets to know each other to know each other: they are staying with someone who introduces them to their group and they return the favor so there’s a general web of connections that ebbs and flows as programs of students come and go (which is all the time!). I have met people here for only 6 days and people who have been here since last September. We had a good time showing a couple of the group around the different bars, but it was like a wild goose chase finding one that was full enough to want to stay in (there’s no cover here, which is great). Finally, the girls I was with were convinced by a promoter (there are tons of them who stops you in the streets with fliers for their clubs/bars) that they could get free drinks at this one place. We went and they gave everyone drinks for sure, but then we found out that it wasn’t free. The girls left, but Allan, Quinten, and I stayed around to pay the bill. The bartender felt bad so he gave us a really cool flaming shot that he lit on fire, then put his hand over the cup (which put it out), then we had to rip it off his hand (b/c it had created a vacuum), drink the warm stuff, smell the empty glass, and then breathe in the air inside. If you did all that just right you got a crazy burning sensation in your throat that made you cough. We were impressed.
Friday
During my half-day of work I finished up my brochure and submitted it to the boss and went out again for a coffee with some co-workers. Afterwards, I was still wiped from the late night so I took a long siesta after lunch. When I got up I walked downtown with the intention of going to the beach and walking through the medieval festival that started that day in the streets of the barrio.
Instead of going to the beach I decided I would do something more productive and revisited the two beautiful churches and took some time to pray. I still don’t have as set a routine as I would like and I need to give God some more of His time back. I met up with Quinten and we saw all kinds of shops at the Medieval festival (food, jewelry, Taurot Card readers, purses, ice cream, soap, belts, clothes, old-fashioned toys) and saw lots of performers wandering the streets. It’s a pretty popular event and happens every year. It reminded me a lot of the rendezvous we go to as a family with the colonial/mountain man theme. Except this one was a lot more commercialized and tourist driven. Most of the vendors had very poor costumes that would not fly where we come from! I only bought dried fruit and a trinket from the people who looked into it. Towards the end of our walk-through I ran into this Nativity Scene Museum, which I am def. going back to examine more closely because our family has dozens of nativities that adorn our house every year courtesy of my mom’s collection(M).
I'm checking out all the medieval festival booths in the streets.
That guy on the ground was a contortionist and had great balance doing handstands and stuff. After he bent himself in ungodly way the other people did weird dances and played their music. It was nice that nobody asked for money after their performances, they just walked through the streets doing their acts.
There was one place with a lot of birds (owls, hawks, falcons).
What I thought was the rotate button I found out was actually undo after a while, so sorry but you have to turn your computer sideways. This is me under the Medieval festival sign. Note the swimtrunks, even though I never got to the beach.
A big nativity scene at the museum we found.
A drum and bagpipe corps with two dancers
I went home in time to catch dinner with mamá, her son, and grandson Alex. It was nice to get to meet Alex (he’s 12 and a very competitive soccer player, so he got some plus points). However, he’s a very picky eater and lost points for that because I’m the opposite of picky. Following dinner I went right back to the festival to catch this really cool performance they do to finish off each night. There was some confusing story about a dragon who killed the night (that was depressing), then there was a sorcerer and two minions who ran around like monkeys with torches, to counter that there were these things I thought were woodland nymphs, but turned out to be angels, then there was the protagonist (I think San Fernando) who I have no idea what he really did, then there was a random music troupe. I laughed at the one point where the sorcerer gave him this youth potion and he Fernando went around trying to hump all the nymphs. Even though the story was utterly incomprehensible and they all seemed like they were on drugs, there were some cool parts were this guy did all sorts of stunts and tricks on a fire pole, and then a girl flipped and flopped around while she dangled gymnastically in these ribbons. There were also more discombobulated pyrotechnics, sparks, and fireworks than a motley crüe concert (hopefully that has pyrotechnics).
This is the dragon fighting the knight (behind him)
The pyrotechnics were cool even if I didn't know what in the world was going on.
They played with a lot of fire.
A really good juggler and musicians wandering the streets.
Saturday
Today I had a lovely sleep-in session before going to the beach at San Juan. The beach was still relaxing and all, but lost some of the wow factor of an unexplored territory since we had been last week. The one event of note came after some vigorous sand v-ball when everyone else was napping and I walked down the beach about a mile (it’s enormous) to see what was there. It was really just more of the same v-ball nets, mini-soccer goal, beach chair rentals, climbing structures, and beach bars, but then I got a work out jogging back. It feels quite lovely to run free on the hard sand as the waves lap at your feet.
We had heard there was a US v. Spain exhibition match going on that night so we went out to watch it after dinner. US was getting crushed 3-0 when we left to go to the rocks, but it wasn’t nearly as big a deal as the Barcelona game last week. (mysteries)
Sunday
Today we planned to go to the small town of Altea, Spain north of Alicante about a 1.5 hours by train. It ended up being just Quinten and I who went, but we had a great time seeing the beautiful, clean, quaint city that made us seem like we were truly experiencing Spain. The most remarkable thing happened on the tram before we got there when we met two Americans, Colleen and Rhonda, who just started living in Altea and ran a Christian-focused art gallery as an evangelizing ministry for the community. They said Altea was a very artsy community with lots of artisans, music, friendly people, and one of the only Art Colleges in Spain. We could tell what the meant immediately upon seeing the city. It’s the perfect environment for an artist. They told us there was a fiesta going on in their neighborhood today and we were gonna be just in time to check it out. We followed them to this secluded plaza and found a lively party where they were serving paella, various drinks, and watermelon (all free). We talked a lot with Colleen and Rhonda and concluded that meeting them was a “God-incidence.” If we all hadn’t gone to church that morning (I went to the other big church St. Mary’s Cathedral and that was really pretty, but sadly a bit empty. Sidenote: the masses here last like 35 minutes because they don’t sing songs and streamline everything. It almost goes too fast for me.) we would have left Alicante earlier and they wouldn’t have taken a tram to a different town for church and we never would’ve met and had such an awesome intro to Altea. Also, it turned out Rhonda (from Cali.) knew of the church Quinten went to in StL and had met his youth pastor (another God-incidence). The two women were definitely doing what they were passionate about and were really excited to be growing a ministry for outreach.
They cook the paella in these giant dishes. This was authentic stuff with rice, chicken, and peppers.
The community fiesta was hoppin.
looking to the north over lower Altea from the watchtower where they used to keep lookout for invading ships.
Looking to the south towards upper Altea with the church in the background. You can see drawings on the tower edge, that's a map of Altea and surrounding peaks.
Cole, Colleen, Quinten, Rhonda, and Boureagard.
Anyway, after the fiesta we left the girls and climbed the hill to the highest point of Altea where the beautiful church was. Every part of the city was so charming from the huge stairs, beautiful views over the sea, surrounding mountains, and cobblestone streets, to the blooming flowers and vegetation decorating everything. There were lots of amphitheaters and gathering spaces and you could tell Altea was big on community. At the top, we walked around the Casco Antigua (oldest neighborhood) and saw the cemetery. My mamá told me a lot about Altea beforehand because she had lived there for 10 years and her parents and husband are buried there. I tried to find their graves in the cemetery, but I couldn’t.
The church at the top of the hill.
A painting of Mary and Jesus on the church wall.
You can see the small stones they made the streets and walkways from on the ground.
The church was built in 1901 and is beautiful white with gold trim and a huge dome.
Once we had worn our legs out we climbed down and walked along the rocky beach and relaxed for a while on the uncomfortable round stones. When we rode the train back we were definitely worn out, but really glad we had been able to explore one of Spain’s hidden treasures. The tram back was a bit more of a hassle though since we had to buy four different tickets to get through all the different zones and appease the Ticketmaster. Also, we had a bunch of old ladies crowding the seats around us and jabbering in Spanish (I’m guessing they just were coming back from shopping in Benidorm or something because they certainly weren’t there for it’s famous nightlife and discotecas!
Monday
From that point, Sunday blended into Monday fairly quickly and before I knew it I was struggling through the first four hours of work until the lunch break. Jose came in sick with barely any voice so I elected not to go to breakfast with him today. My boss eventually got to review the brochure I made and suggested a good amount of changes, but I think overall he was pleased. He even said he picked one of my submissions for the new slogan of the audiovisual production company, Lucentum Digital: “360° of Audiovisual excellence.” Funnily enough, it was the first of the 40 or so slogans I thought up. He said “Making waves in the digital world” came in a close second. So hopefully I am actually making positive contributing to the company, it seems that way.
After work I ran around the town and I am still surprised by the number of people outside walking around or just hanging out in all the common grounds. It was a quiet night.
Hasta luego,
Cóle
vista
I'm in one of the narrow Altea streets. This one had a really cool design made out of the rocks.
what a hunk!
La Plaza de Agua was just completed. These kids were having a blast playing in the fountain that squirts in different patterns. I would have too!
the rocks on part of the seaside. They got much smaller at the actual beach.
This was one of those goofy places where you can dress up in costumes and take a novel family photo.
The tram that took us to Altea was very cheap and goes a good distance north.
*I've taken several videos, but a 10 second one was taking over 2 hours to load, so I stopped it and won't be putting up videos, sorry to ruin your day.
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