Pueblo Adventures

Wednesday, December 14 2011

This past month or so has consisted of significantly less traveling, and more taking advantage of the beautiful, friendly town I live in. Every day has been an adventure in its own way. Here are some cool things I’ve been up to in and around Ubrique!

Ocuri – On a particularly warm and sunny November day, Clint and I decided to take advantage and trek to the Roman ruins near our town. Ocuri is an ancient Roman city situated at one of the highest points in the countryside outside of what is now Ubrique. It is believed that some of the architectural remains date even further back than the Romans, to the land’s early Iberian inhabitants. Strategically placed at the highest point, it’s quite a trek to reach the top. We had to walk a few km outside of Ubrique until we reached the Yacimiento, which has a great overlook, a brief introduction to the Ocuri sight, and marks the start of the trail. The trail was beautiful – we had the remains of history up ahead of us and an incredible view of the countryside down behind us. After spending quite some time mozying around and taking pictures at the top, we headed back down just in time to catch the sunset over the mountains.

Cruz del tajo – We were blessed with another beautiful, sunny November day to do some hiking. This time we set our standards a little higher – my adventurous roommate Clint and I were going to tackle the Cruz del Tajo, a goal we had set since we first arrived in Ubrique. The Cruz del Tajo is situated atop of the tall, flat mountain that Ubrique is set up against. There is a glowing cross that can be seen at night when the mountain is illuminated.

There’s no trail. We had no guide. We just went for it. We had attempted once before but only made it partway and lingered in between the mountains. This time I was determined. We hiked up and went around the back side of the mountain where it wasn’t as steep. It wasn’t too bad of a climb except for all of the brush at certain points. Also when we almost reached the top, the rocks became really sharp and jagged and I ripped my new sweatpants! Bummer. It got pretty steep up top, but we took our time and zigzagged what we thought to be the safest route. Somehow we finally made it up to the highest rock, so we were actually looking down on the cross. It was quite the adrenaline rush reaching the top and it was worth every minute of the long hike. The view was OUT OF THIS WORLD. We could see all of Ubrique - the white washed houses looked so tiny from up there, and the distant mountains against the setting sun were just incredible. I could have stayed up there for so long, but the sun was going down and we were losing daylight! We booked it down, trying to remember the way we came up, and made it back to the overlook just as it got dark. Ubrique is beautiful from all viewpoints but this one surely takes the cake. It was one of my favorite adventures and I’ll probably make the climb at least once more before the year’s over.

El Bosque – The last weekend in November, the nearby town of El Bosque celebrated its bicentennial. The entire town participated by wearing typical dress from the 1800s, setting up old fashioned food stands and markets, and there was even a reenactment of the war between the townspeople and the French soldiers. One of the teachers from Clint’s school, Carolina, lives in El Bosque so she and her boyfriend participated and encouraged us to check it out. After some minor transportation issues, we missed the war reenactment, but the atmosphere in the town was still really cool! We had the whole day to explore El Bosque until the next bus came to take us back to Ubrique. Carolina and her boyfriend were so kind to give us a tour of the quaint little town and show us all it has to offer. It’s significantly smaller than Ubrique, but filled with much more charm and natural beauty, making it a popular tourist destination along the ruta de pueblos blancos here in the Sierra de Cadiz.

Benamahoma – The following Thursday, the 2^nd year bilingual students at my school went on an excursion to the tiny town of Benamahoma. The 4 other bilingual teachers and myself had put together a Gymkhana – sort of like a scavenger hunt, or a race with tasks that need to be completed at certain points. The 5 of us teachers were scattered at different points in the town, and the students were divided into groups and given a map. Each group had to find the teachers in a different order and complete the task we had for them, which was written in English and concerned the math, science and art topics that we have seen so far this year. Along the way, they also had to look for certain shapes and architectural features they had learned about. It was a little bit crazy and competitive sometimes but a lot of fun! After the gymkhana we had a quite bite to eat and explored Benamahoma. I took note of the tiny plaza de toros, the memorial to the civil war and we visited the mill in the eco-museum. Afterwards we began the 5km hike through the woods and along the river to El Bosque. It was a fairly easy hike and it was incredibly beautiful. The trees seemed to form tunnels and some of the leaves were falling, which reminded me of home in upstate New York. Unfortunately my camera died during the hike so I can’t share the beauty, but I would love to do the hike again when we get another nice day.

UbriqueBaile! – The first weekend in December, we had another puente with several days off. Most of our fellow American friends took the opportunity to travel, but Alysha and I decided to stay in Ubrique. I’m so happy we did because I would have missed one of the coolest events. Ubrique hosted the second annual UbriqueBaile, a gathering of dancers from all over Andalucía and even all of Spain, that come here to give workshops, learn, share and dance the night away. It was a FULL day filled with all types of Salsa and Latin music and dance but somehow we never got tired! Here’s a breakdown of the days events:

12:00-4:00 Various workshops on salsa, bachata, and somba about an hour long each
4:00 Break for Paella lunch
5:00-8:30 Even more workshops on salsa, bachata and some sort of hustle which I still don’t understand
8:30 Alysha and I sneak away to go home, shower, and change for the night’s festivities
10:00 Return to the hall for a delicious dinner and live music
11:30ish Gather to watch performances by various dancers, including our own advanced dancers from Ubrique, and some serious professionals that were PHENOMENAL.
1:00-5:00am Dance the night away.

The music was provided by a live band and a Cuban chick with a ton of energy! People of all levels and ages tore up the dance floor. At times we got a group Salsa going in front of the stage gracias to my super awesome, highly energetic Cuban Salsa instructor, Juan. After putting away my shame at being one of the only beginner levels, I actually felt honored to dance with and learn from so many really good dancers. I think it’s safe to say after the amazing spectacle and the hours of fun I had dancing, I’m pretty much hooked.



Ubrique's own Salsazucar!

Elena and Rafa



Juan dancing Afro Salsa

 

Guy in the black shiny suit is my instructor, Juan. He's the bomb.

 

Leather factory – Apart from the mountains and quaint white-washed houses, Ubrique is actually a monster in the leather industry. Just a few km outside of the city center is an entirely different part of Ubique which hosts several extremely successful leather factories. Some items (mostly purses, belts, wallets, etc) are hand made and sold right here in Ubrique. Others are shipped to retailers in different places. Some factories even do business with huge international fashion icons all over the world! By chance, a Spanish friend mentioned to Seana and I that a woman involved with a leather designing business here might need some help from a native English speaker. The other day, Seana, Kendra and I made the 40 minute walk to the other side of Ubrique, known as el polígono industrial. The woman, Laura, gave us a tour of her business and we got to see the exquisite materials and the process of designing and putting together materials. We also got to check out one of the biggest leather factories in Ubrique. It was a really neat part of the town I hadn’t seen before! I’m going back today to talk with the woman more about the position, but it seems after Christmas break I will hopefully have another part time job in a super cool industry! Too bad I’ve never owned anything of real leather before and my knowledge of this industry is next to nothing, but I’m very excited to learn all about it!

In between…. What happens in between these fun adventures and travels? Real life happens. I’ve only been here a few months, but Ubrique already feels like another home to me. I have my work, my hobbies, my routine, my friends… there are good days and not-so-good days but in the end I always count my blessings and remember how incredibly happy I am just to be here. Furthermore, I never stop learning. Nothing teaches life lessons better than throwing a person into a completely new environment where they don’t understand all of the customs and ways of doing things. Oh and don’t forget that whole language barrier thing, too. Poquito a poco I’m getting the hang of it. While some days I’m still mentally exhausted, I’m also incredibly fascinated by everything and everyone here.

That’s all for now! This weekend begins my 2 week Holiday journey on a limited budget. Wish me luck!

Córdoba and Sevilla

I have been a bad blogger lately. The truth is, I haven’t had much time or energy to reflect and share with you all my most recent adventures, and I haven’t left Ubrique in some time either. I will be honest, though this is the adventure of a lifetime, not every day is made up of fun and sunshine and rainbows and butterflies. That’s life. Living abroad is fun, but it can be difficult sometimes, too. These past few weeks have been… interesting to say the least. I won’t go into details because the ever-optimist in me says to save the blogging only for stories of fun and traveling. So, voila! Here is an entry from a few weeks ago when I took a weekend trip to Cordoba and Sevilla. Enjoy!

Sunday November 6, 2011

Last weekend we had our first Puente – a long weekend break from school. (It’s called a Puente meaning bridge because if the holiday falls on a Tuesday, in this case All Saint’s Day November 1, the schools bridge the holiday from the weekend and take off Monday, too. Apparently it happens often, so I’m pretty excited for more vacation time!) Apparently the holiday is to celebrate ancestors that have passed away (similar to Día de los Muertos that is celebrated in Mexico, but not to the same extent). Most locals used the free time to spend with family and friends, so some of the other American girls and I took this opportunity to travel a little bit around Andalucía. We spent 2 days and 2 nights in Córdoba followed by 2 days and 1 night in Sevilla.

I had never heard much about Córdoba, but I’m very glad we went; the city was beautiful and there was a ton of things to see and do. As a typical Andalusian city and the capital of the province of Córdoba, there were lots of old streets with fun shops, restaurants and cafés, parks with pretty fountains and lights, and of course interesting characters out on the streets. One amazing thing about Spain is that there is an incredible amount of history and culture here including but not limited to influences from the early Iberians, the Romans and the Moors. To name a few touristy sites, we visited the great mosque and cathedral, the Jewish quarter, the alcazar (Moorish castle), beautiful gardens and the Roman bridge. We also ate some delicious food including the gigantic, world-famous Tortilla Española from Bar Santos (twice, it was so good!)

Cathedral at night

Eating world famous Tortilla





Roman Bridge





Interior of Cathedral





Biggest Tortilla I've ever seen

  In Cordoba, I also attended my very first Flamenco show. It was pretty incredible, I have never seen anything like it. Unforunately, the speaker was broken, so the beautiful Spanish guitar was difficult to hear over the clapping and singing. I plan to attend another show, probably in Sevilla in the future.

On the third day, we caught the train back to the incredible capital of Andalucía, Sevilla. The train ride was such a treat from the buses that we typically have to take out of Ubrique. It was very relaxing and nobody got sick this time. :) We grabbed a cheap hostel for the night and did some exploring of Sevilla. This included the very famous (and very large) Cathedral, another alcazar, the Torre del oro, the Guadalquivir river, plazas, parks, gardens, a fun outdoor market, and a modern structure with an awesome view of the entire city. Monday night was also Halloween. Though it is not celebrated in Spain to the extent as it is in the States, some people still dress up and/or go out to celebrate. During the weekend we saw a few niños dressed up in costumes – ALL of which were in classic frightening costumes, such as vampires, ghosts, or skeletons. I did see one little princess, that was a nice change. On the night of Halloween, Seana, Kendra and I decided to make friends with some fellow travelers and attend the hostel pub crawl. I met some cool people from Brazil, Mexico, Germany, the Netherlands, the States, France, Italy and England. While the sites, the food and drinks are excellent, I still say my favorite part about traveling is meeting and conversing with people from all over the world. It’s so much fun to swap stories, even if you have to mix three different languages to attempt to communicate. You and your fellow travelers share a common bond: traveling outside of your comfort zone. They become your BFFs if only for one night and sometimes you even cross paths in the future. It’s a pretty awesome sensation. Anyways, we didn’t have costumes, but it didn’t matter because only a few people dressed up. Mostly, they just like to paint their faces really scary. There was also one guy dressed as Jesus. Though Halloween is not very popular here, there is a Spanish holiday in February called Carnival that is a HUGE celebration and everyone dresses in fun costumes then, so I am looking forward to participating in that tradition!

The last day of our trip, some of the girls did some shopping. Seana and I did some more walking around the city with very many stops to sit and rest and admire the good weather and our beautiful surroundings. (I swear I need to buy a pedometer, I must have walked hundreds of miles since I’ve come to Spain. The proof is in my shoes that are worn out after less than a month, and the fact that all my pants are finally too big on me, score!) We figured all of the walking we did entitled us to 2 heaping scoops of delicious gourmet helado. It was fantastic. We caught the late bus home in time to get a good night’s rest and prepare for classes the next day. 2 days was certainly not enough to get the full Sevilla experience, but I know I’ll be back again.

Kendra Almendra

All in all, it was an excellent weekend getaway. I haven’t left Ubrique since and I have been enjoying my relaxing time here. Since I’ve finally received my first paycheck, I am trying to save up some money and am starting to plan some more trips for the springtime. The wintertime may potentially consist of some very special visitors, so I am getting very excited for things to come! The time is going to fly by, though… it already has!

Besitos