..and to all a good night.. :)

1. Me with my first graders at the Museum in Cabra for a field trip.
2. Students I tutor and their Christmas tree.
3. Students playing instruments for the Christmas show at my school.
4. Students singing for the Christmas show at my school.
5. Nativity Scene (described below).
6. more nativity scene
Christmas in Spain is unlike anything I've ever seen before. I will try to explain as best I can...
First of all there is a HUGE nativity scene, called a Belén (Bethlehem) in the center of town with fountain type things and real
live plants, (some towns have live animals, too) and many different buildings with other characters that I don't remember reading about in the Bible. If you were wondering what else was happening outside the manger area while Jesus was being born, look no further. :)

In one of the other towns close to me there is a huge Belén made of chocolate.


Every street has lights hanging from above and during the day, all doors are open, welcoming shoppers. Here is a picture of one of the streets in my town on a Monday night. There are people on the street selling lottery tickets and passing out little candies and gifts. I'm specifically thinking of this one girl who stands outside the perfume store in a female version of a Santa suit, but in blue and white. I now have a fake rose from her.

There is a Christmas train for little kids. They ride all around the town clanking the bells of the train and waving at the the people passing. There is also a group of people who march around banging drums. My roommates and I ran out on our balcony to see what the commotion was and they were dressed up as different characters, like Shrek, Minnie Mouse and Bart Simpson. I guess Santa wasn't invited...











Speaking of Santa, he is trying to climb over everyone's balconies here. What happened to the chimney? Can you see him in the picture on the left? :)














In Spain, they also celebrate Reyes Magos in January. This is when the three kings come and give presents to the kids as well. So, some people have 3 little stuffed kings hanging from their balconies so it looks like they are trying to get inside also!

My favorite part is the music. There are speakers in the streets so everywhere you walk, there is Christmas music playing (in Spanish and in English!) and you feel like you're in a movie.
And speaking of movies, I did get to see one Christmas movie this year- It's a Wonderful Life. It was in English but of course I read the Spanish subtitles the whole time to see how different the translation was.

I'm spending my Christmas this year with my friend Tess and her family in Madrid. The day after Christmas, my Dad is coming to visit for a week! We're doing Madrid, Barcelona and hopefully some surrounding towns. When he leaves, I'm flying to Ireland to meet up with my roommate Michelle for 5 days. Then we are meeting my other roommate, Claire, in Scotland for another 5 days.
I will be back on January 10th.

Sorry this post is so rushed and that I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to the layout of these pictures. I really wanted you to see some pictures and I promise I will try harder on my next post to make them look more organized. :)

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

to give light

"Dar a luz," in Spanish, means "to give birth." Literally, the word "luz" means "light" in English.

I love this because it makes me think that mothers everywhere are giving birth to little lights. :)

It also brings me back to the Bible, where Jesus said, "I am the light of the world." I wonder if the origin of the phrase "dar a luz" came from the idea of mothers giving birth to light; Jesus as light in each child entering the world. I've found this in other Spanish words, too. For example, the word "adios" means "goodbye," but literally, "to God.")

I write this tonight because my sister had another baby today! I have Amira, my niece, who is 21 months old, and I now have Emeka, who is about 7 hours old. Emeka is pronounced "uh-meh-kuh" and is Nigerian for "great deeds."

Ironically, the other Bible verse my mind had gravitated towards, when thinking about the Spanish translation for "dar a luz," was this:
Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Interesting.

One more thing-
Today, I taught my 1st graders about Christmas caroling in the United States and we learned the song "We Wish You A Merry Christmas." Then I took all 25 of them to the other 1st grade classroom to knock on the door and sing the song for the children in that class. I think it was the first time any of them had ever been Christmas caroling and it made me really happy. :)

When in Rome... I mean, Spain...

Tonight we went to an “authentic” flamenco show with our friend, Josecarlos. Apparently the shows in Sevilla are not as real as the ones in the little towns because there aren’t tourists in the smaller places. This makes sense… :)
It was so awesome. I think, for me, it was especially wonderful because I was a flamenco dancer for Halloween when I was little; the polka dotted dress with frills and all. I have looked forward to coming to Spain and seeing the flamenco shows for so many years now and even though I’ve been here for two months, I still can’t believe that I’m actually here. Sometimes things feel routine and other times I feel like I have to pinch myself.


Okay so it was cool because of what I was feeling but also because I was blown away by the breath support it takes to sing in the style of flamenco. The men held phrases longer than any singer I have ever heard. Seriously. It was so intense and impressive, not to mention the guitar playing. The rhythms are so unique and hard to catch because they change so much and their fingers move so quickly. There are distinct types of rhythms in flamenco and they announce which one they will be playing before they start.
I love that not only is it a style of music that so very much represents the culture and heritage of Spain, but it is a challenging style to conquer technically, as well. I do think it makes a larger impact if seen in person.
I've been wondering about where the castanets were, though. This is the third flamenco show I've seen now, 2 in Sevilla and now this (real) one. I thought the dancers always used castanets while they danced but it seems like the clapping noises that the castanets made is found in the rhythm that is clapped with the shoes and the hands instead. I need to learn the Spanish word for castanets so I can ask someone about this… :)