Magical Kings? Yes Please!

When does your family start packing up the Christmas ornaments and putting away the tree?  The day after Christmas? Before January 1st?  Well, whichever day this is for your family, just know that in Spain, the party has only begun! 

When I came back to Spain on the 27th of December I noticed that every street was still adorned with Christmas lights, the bakeries were still full of Christmas goodies and the plaza that sits below our balcony was still rockin’ with music and inflatable jumping rings for the children.  Every day for a week and a half I was still able to find all of these things going on outside the warm walls of my apartment building.  Then on the night of January 5th, my roommates and I were all gathered together outside, on our balcony, gazing down at the crowded street below.  The cool night air was a buzz with energy and the people were becoming more and more excited with every passing minute.  I looked over at Sarah Crooks and asked “what the heck is going on?”  Then, from our nice 4th floor view we could see what it was that had all of our neighbors in such a frenzy on the street below.

Roscon, a very typical treat on the 6th of January.

Los Reyes Magos (the magical kings)

It was a parade! And let me tell you, it was like no Macy’s Day parade that I had ever seen.  Interesting looking dinosaurs with neon green eyes were slowly prowling up the street.  As they got closer I saw that they were in-fact, T-Rexes, being propelled by the legs of a few bikers.  T-Rex crisscrossed back and forth across the street, nearing the crowd, extracting screams of excitement and uncertainty from the young spectators.  Following the prehistoric creatures, large floats rolled on by, filled with characters such as Kermit the Frog and Cinderella.  Candy soared through the air sending children scrambling on their hands and knees, trying desperately to fill their pockets with sweets.  Music resonated from every speaker, however, the songs were not your typical Christmas carols.  Instead of Alvin and the Chipmunks filling the air, Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” was enjoying the lime light. 

We stood there, watching for several minutes, admiring the differences in this Spanish parade from those back home when Sara Castrillo disrupted my thoughts with the news that we did, in-fact, need to get going to practice, especially since we were already late. 

The people responsible for all this parade excitement were, Mechior, Gaspar, and Balthasar, the three kings.  In Spain, January 6th is called Three King’s Day.  This day is celebrated with more pomp and circumstance than the 24th and 25th of December.  On this particular day the three Kings arrive in cities around Spain by means of this parade, where upon the children have the opportunity to ask them for gifts, a lot like Santa Claus for us.  On the night of the 5th, instead of hanging stockings above a fire place, the children set their shoes out in hopes that come morning they will be full of gifts.  The common dessert during this time of celebration is a cake called “Roscon de los Reyes.”  The cake itself looks like a big ring, complete with candied fruits that symbolize the emeralds and rubies that adorned the robes of the three kings.  Inside the cake is a buried treasure.  The lucky person that receives the piece of cake beholding the treasure is then crowned King or Queen for the remainder of the day.

So, for many people, it is not until after all of the festivities are over on January 6th that they return to work, which is why Sarah and I did not go back to teaching English until this week.  I will continue working with Roberto on Monday mornings, but it was just brought to my attention today, that I may or may not be having class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  The students pay for their classes on a monthly basis and many of my students are currently unemployed.  Today when I showed up for class, Carolina was my only student who returned after the holiday break.  So, until more students sign up for class, I will not be teaching:( 

Ok, now onto the basketball portion of last week.  On Wednesday, our free day, one of our assistant coaches gave us tickets to go and watch the Real Madrid mens team play in a euro league game against Germany.  I think I have spoken about the Real Madrid team in a previous e-mail, but they have built up quite an empire for themselves here in Madrid.  They have won 22 Spanish Cup championships, 8 Euroleague Championships and 2 Triple Crowns.  Anyone remember a basketball player out of Richfield, Minnesota named Troy Delvon Bell?  He played on Madrid’s team just a few years back.  Anyway, the arena  was not your typical arena that one would find in the States, but rather an old bull fighting ring that has since been metamorphisized into a basketball venue. 

The arena is called Palacio Vistalegre, but was previously called Plaza de Toros de Carabanchel.  The building was built in 1908 and served as a bull fighting ring until 1980 when it closed.  20 years later and after some major renovations, the ring opened back up and has since been home to the Men’s basketball team.  Capable of holding between 14-15,000 people, there doesn’t seem to be a bad seat in the house due to the fact that the interior structure is completely circular.  I found the history of the building quite interesting, unfortunately I can’t say the same about the game.  Real Madrid is a very respectable club and they play well as a team.  Germany on the other hand, was a different story all together.  More often than not, a single player would bring the ball down the floor, play one on one for a couple dribbles and then fire off a horrible shot from well behind the 3pt line, with the defender in their face.  Madrid had no problem putting this German team away. 

I am proud to say that just like Real Madrid, Alcobendas did not have any problems putting away  their competition, either.  We played at home last Saturday against, Chajeba.  Chajeba came from the southwestern part of Spain and the province of Cadiz.  I don’t recall that we were ever trailing during the game and the end result was a comfortable 83-61 victory.  Now we are one game closer to seeing our 60 year old president, Vicente, with red hair. 

Face Slap? 2 POINTS!

Blockeo or Screen.

“Julie and Julia” attempted to make a succulent little appetizer that was consumed on the night of our team dinner at, Ciao, but fell just short.  Which in my mind is A-OK because now we know how we will adjust it for the next time.  We sliced an eggplant (in spanish, Aubergine) into thin strips and put them on the stove to steam.  Once the eggplant was pliable, we placed a slice of ham and cheese on-top of each strip.  We then rolled up each strip, dunked them in egg yolk, covered them with flour and fried them in some olive oil.  Once they were done, we lifted them onto a plate and bathed them in a sauce that we made out of onions, garlic, tomato and cream.  A rather fast and easy dish, that is awfully tasty. 

Leslie’s Loose Ends

 Birthday traditions in Spain.  Sarah Crooks turned 26 this past week and when we arrived at practice one of our teammates began tugging on Sarah’s earlobes.  Every year deserves one tug of the lobe, but I guess this tradition is more common with young children, I wonder why?

 In basketball, when a player makes a lucky shot the common phrase that you may hear afterwards is “Que Churro.”  Many of you have probably eaten a churro.  They are long, fried pieces of dough that are covered in sugar.  A Churro is sweet, and the shot is sweet as well. 

Churros, a breakfast delight!

 You know you have nice neighbors when you find your undergarments hanging on the railing in the elevator.  We live on the 4th floor, the top floor of our apartment building.  Normally, I hang my clean clothes on the clothesline that is located on the balcony.  Well, the other night it must have been incredibly windy because my undergarments blew clear off the balcony and either landed in someone’s flower pot or down in the courtyard.  Either way, I found them hanging up in the elevator for the whole flat to see.  Ha, I’ve laughed about this many times since then. 

 I was talking with a man last week who had spent some time in Michigan.  The family that he was staying with took him on a road trip and one of the states that he happened to visit was Wisconsin.  While in Wisconsin, his family insisted on buying him a.......Cheese hat! When he returned to Spain he had to wear the hat because he didn’t have any more room in his suitcase.  His Spanish family was at a loss for words when they saw him in baggage claim.  I had a good laugh over this bit of news.

The Cheese Heads are taking over...

LETS GO VIKINGS!!!!!
besos,
Leslie