1. Christmas. Obviously, this is a lot of people’s most important holiday, so I hope it went well for those people. As a Muslim, I was a little intimidated about spending Christmas in an (unofficially) Catholic country, especially since all of my roommates went home to celebrate it! After getting used to seeing them most every day, eating our dinners together and exchanging great stories, I felt a little weird being in the apartment alone. I got “by with a little help from my friends,” though! Cooking my favorite Palestinian dish (Maklouba) for the first time since I have arrived in Spain, watching Taken, and just relaxing after a whirlwind of a semester made me one happy camper on Christmas Day.
2. Inter-holidays. Once the Christmas festitivities were over, my brother (Amjad) came to visit me from the States. After waiting for him for two hours in the wrong terminal, I finally found him and we went back to my apartment so he could drop off his luggage before proceeding on a quick walking tour of the city. The next day, we were off to Morocco! We went to Tangier, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled about the trip. Spending time with Amjad, eating food just like mom’s, and relaxing in such a multicultural city are all experiences to be treasured.
3. New Year’s. Amjad and I arrived back to the apartment on New Year’s Eve to find my roommate busily cleaning for that night’s festivities. We were playing host to this year’s gathering, so I immediately started helping her clean the apartment, shop for groceries, and cook. That night, I believe the apartment had reached its maximum capacity of about 15 people. Space was limited, but good company was not, so it wasn’t a big deal. At around 11PM, Eloise (my roommate) and I prepared 12 grapes in small plastic glasses for everyone to take with them to the Puerta del Sol. The tradition here is to eat the 12 grapes as you countdown to the New Year. There are many theories as to why this is, but the most common one is explained here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Grapes. I’ve never been to Times Square on New Year’s Eve, but I imagine Madrid would give that celebration a run for its money.
4. Inter-holidays #2. On January 2, my friend Megan came to visit me. Also a friend of my brother, we were both excited to have her. Despite her massive jetlag, we had a full day in store for her, including trips to the Reina Sofia Museum, the Puerta del Sol, and a flamenco show. It was a non-stop day, but a great one. The rest of the break, up to 6 January, was spent showing Amjad and Megan various sites in Madrid: the Prado, my university, the different neighborhoods that I frequent, and eating Spanish cuisine (for the most part).
5. Three Kings’ Day. I bet you all wondered why I labeled the period after New Year’s “Inter-holidays #3?” Well, much to my surprise Christmas didn’t truly end on 25 December. Instead, Spain continues celebrating the Christmas season until Three Kings’ Day, which fell on 6 January. The tradition is to buy a roscón de reyes (kings’ ring; circular cake), which is filled with small surprises. The tradition is best explained here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosca_de_reyes. Despite my roommate and I being under the impression that we were heading to a mutual friend’s apartment for the celebration, this friend informed us that we couldn’t have the celebration at her place at the last minute, so we had to play host to another gathering four days after New Year’s! Cleaning was rampant, yet again, but in the end, everything turned out well. We had a great time.
So, now you know everything I have been up to lately. I’m trying to get myself back into the “school” mindset since final exams are coming up soon, but I’m finding it incredibly difficult. I’ll be fine once I get back into my daily routine. I just wish we had had final exams before break!
Enjoy your last two weeks of break, everyone! I’ll try to enjoy my last two days.
