The Feria of Albox = Buenisimaaa

Yesterday was my first trip out of Almería since arriving! Martín, Tomás, Endika, Juanmi, Fran, Cheti, and I went to the feria in Albox, a small town about 10 minutes from where Martín is from. I think I may have briefly explained this in a previous post, but a feria is basically a town holiday. Every town has a saint and every saint has a day, so when a town’s saint’s day rolls around, the whole town celebrates! It’s more or less like a carnival with tents, vendors, rides, games, etc. We got to Martín’s house in Arboleas around 1ish. He cooked us some food and then we left for the feria. Friday was the first day of the feria and it was really early, so there was pretty much NO ONE there haha. Thus, we just hung out on the street outside and drank by the car. Sergio, or as he is called within the group, Loco (crazy), met up with us there. He lived in the piso with Martín and Tomás last year.

 

Reppin' the US of A

We befriended a street vendor named Malik (pictured below) and he hung out with us for like AT LEAST 30 or 45 minutes. We all bought hats from him and some people bought glasses. He had a pair with stars and stripes (also pictured below) and I couldn’t say no to repping America, so I bought them! When he first came over to us, the hats were 5 euros each. By the time we were done haggling with him, he gave us 3 hats for 5 euros hahahah. Way to go Tomás and Juanmi! Nevertheless, he did make like 20 euros off of us before he left so I'd say he did pretty well. Here are a few pictures from the beginning of the Feria...

 Cheti (left), Malik (center), and Tomás (right)

Back row (l to r): Me, Endika, Fran, Martín, Cheti, Loco. Front row: Juanmi and Tomás

Me, Fran, Juanmi, and Loco

 Juanmi decided to try on Malik's pink, rhinestone studded reading glasses haha

Around 8, we decided maybe we should actually enter the feria at some point haha. So, we went into one of the tents, listened to some music, danced (I use this term loosely as we all know I can't dance to save my life), etc. Tomás, Juanmi, Endika, and I also went on one of the rides. It was like the old rocketship ride at Astroworld except it never went fully upside down. It was more fun than the one at Astroworld though because instead of sitting, you stand in a little cage at the back or front of the ship with no seatbelt! 

Shortly after this, we left and went back to Martín's house to eat dinner. He lives in a really cool house with a bar that his family owns below. The bar isn't up and running anymore, but it was a really cool place to hang out. There's an oven built into the wall, so Martín's parents cooked us some delicious barbeque! Also, there was a foosball table and a FULL-SIZED ping pong table! I got to prove to the guys that I actually can play ping pong and that the size of our table at home is the only reason I look like I'm so bad! I beat Tomás many a time and it was glorious! (Side note: I beat Tomás on our little table for the first time the other day! yayy!)

After we ate, Martín's brother, Antonio, got out his guitar and Loco sang and played a bunch of songs for us. He has a really good voice and is good on the guitar--self taught! I was very impressed. Plus Spanish guitar is awesome.

Around 1am, after everyone had showered and gotten ready, we went back to the feria. We ended up just sitting out on the street, drinking, and listening to Loco play the guitar and sing. Part way through the night, a gitano or gypsy joined the circle and started singing with Loco hahaha. We never actually went back into the feria that night, and around 6:30, we went back to Martín's. Instead of going to sleep, like we should have, we stayed downstairs in the bar and continued to drink. Poor decision to say the least haha. Juanmi decided he wanted to practice his bartending skills and was twirling bottles and throwing cups in the air. The night ended abruptly for me following a mixed shot of vodka and gin courtesy of bartender Juanmi. I barely stomached it and then flopped down on the couch and slept.

3 of the roomies posing with the hideous painting whose twin we have in the piso

 Behind the bar. Being back there really enhanced Juanmi's ability to mix drinks...NOT

Creations of Camarero (bartender) Juanmi...beer with lemons?

C

 I'm glad they only took a picture with me. Thy weren't so kind to Juanmi. He woke up with black lines on his face hahaha

The next morning, I woke up to a magnificent assortment of food on the table. Martín's mom had prepared, ensalada ruso (basically a version of potato salad with tuna and veggies added), tortilla de patata (like a potato and egg omelette), potatoes, and roasted chicken. DELISH. After eating and showering, Juanmi, Tomás, Endika, Cheti, and I headed back to Almería and Martín, Fran, and Loco decided to stay in Arboleas for another night at the feria! They are champs. Great first trip out of Almería. Martín's parents are so awesome for hosting us, making us food, etc. As they say here, his family is muy buena gente (very good people)!

Other random happenings...

Wednesday, I taught the 4 year olds some of the high five games that I play with Zeke.

“Gimme 5. Up high. Down low. TOO SLOW!”

And…

“Gimme 5. Up high. Down low. In space…IN YOUR FACE!”

They thought it was the funniest thing ever and I literally had a mob of kids encircling me, jumping up and down and yelling, “Yo! Yo! Yo!” (Me! Me! Me!) They are suchhh a cute class! One of my favorite kids, Ismael, is in this class. For a 4-year-old, he's impressively not shy about attempting to speak English. He's always the first one to speak up when I tell them to repeat something. When I had them tell me their names, he raised his hand to say (roughly) "My...name...is...Ismael," at least 7 or 8 times! Don't worry though Zeke, you're still my favorite 4-year-old, hands down!

After another week of work, I’ve started noticing something funny. Every morning when I walk down Avenida Mediterranea to get picked up, it’s nearly the exact same. I see the same lady walking her dog, the same cute guy on the bridge, the same group of 3 people wearing their matching white jackets and going for a morning walk, and even the same nearly empty bus passing me with only a mom and her son on board. Same people, passing in the same place at the same time, every day. I feel like I’m in Groundhog Day or something haha.

Since I don't work on Fridays and we went to Albox, I missed the school-wide Halloween party :( I wish it had been on Thursday so that I could've seen all my precious little ones in their costumes! All week, they've been preparing Halloween posters, building mini haunted houses, coloring signs, and learning the trick-or-treating rhyme that they would use on Friday when they go trick or treating around town. Yolanda taught them this one...

Trick or treat! 

Trick or treat!

Give me something good to eat.

Halloween, Halloween!

Ghosts and witches can be seen.

I wanted to teach them the better version...

Trick or treat! 

Smell my feet!

Give me something good to eat.

If you don't, I don't care.
I'll pull down your underwear!


...but I didn't think that would be appropriate haha.

Random side note: I just realized the other day that the stop signs here say “STOP” instead of “PARE.” I asked Yolanda about it this morning and she said that some people say it stands for “Siempre Tienes Obligación de Parar,” but that’s not really why. Apparently they’ve just always said STOP. Weird.

Jose's in town this weekend, and hopefully we're going to hang out tomorrow. I'm going to his house to hang out with his sister & co for Halloween, so hopefully he'll be there for at least some of the time I am. I'll update again after Halloween to let y'all know how the holiday here compares to the holiday there.

Also, here's the link to my PHOTO ALBUM for all who aren't on facebook...ENJOY!