Activities in May

It's very hard to believe that May already passed by and I'm almost at the end of my project already... anyhow, let's see what happened! :)

At Ecocompartimos I'd say things go "business as usual": we had English and the kids (this time I finally have a pic with them thanks to Dilya :)) and had the 2 monthly intercultural chats as well: the first one about life after death which was not a very intercultural topic, yet it was really interesting. A lot of people came, so we had a lot of controversial opinions and points of view. The second one was about movies: it went like the one with the books, everyone recommended a movie (or two) from his/her country. I'm looking forward to watching them. :)

Our group of kids

Talking about life after death

Besides these, we had a fashion photo shoot: Dilya, Mabel and I dressed up in some of the clothes we have at the shop to promote a bit our "spring collection". It was a lot of fun and the photos look like they are from some kind of magazine. ;) Also now I know how painful models must feel in those shoes that don't quite fit but look nice on the photos.... :P

Here are some of the final pics:

And some from behind the scenes:

I also helped Charo (our Spanish teacher) in taking over the Banco del Tiempo tasks. She already started to coordinate some things and I'm happy to see that she likes it (and the task suits her too). 

I was asked to continue with the quilling/creative classes for May within the Banco del Tiempo, so I had 3 more sessions. At the last one the girl was so nice, she gave me some of the pictures we made together as a present. And we also agreed with her and her mom that we'll get together some time in June before I finish my project to have lunch together. :)

From personal perspective May was again an active month: the weather felt like summer already, so everyone got active. :) 

At the second weekend we went to a Soul Food picnic in Retiro with Dilya and Amber: there were around 50 people mostly from the USA, bringing typical food from the Southern region: banana pudding, fried chicken, mac and cheese, stuffed eggs and many more.

The day after I went again to eat: this time to a street food festival called MadrEAT. It was very nice: there were trucks all over the place with all kinds of food and drinks. The only bad thing was that we had to queue for everything, as there were many people. However the location was perfect, because it was shady and there was a lot of space to sit down in the grass. :)

Cool food trucks

After the festival enjoying some pancakes with milkshakes :)

The third weekend of May was a huge celebration in Madrid: it was a holiday of San Isidro, so there were all kinds of festivities all over the city. We went with Michaela and Filiz to walk around a bit and ended up in a concert at Plaza Mayor. A famous singer called Ainhoa Arteta was singing first some opera songs and then zarzuela (which is similar style to opera), it was very nice.

Plaza Mayor packed with people

And finally at the last weekend of May we had 2 farewell parties: first for Amber on Friday, as she left to enjoy the summer in Italy in a summer camp. And then on Saturday for Filiz, who'll go home to Germany in a few days, because she finished her project. I'm sad that we already had to start this "farewell process", but on the other hand most probably in a few months I'll see the girls again.

April activities

I think the highlights of April were my Easter trip and my workshop that I already wrote about, but of course there were other events as well last month that worth mentioning. :)

We had the usual two intercultural chats (this month we actually managed to have them without the incredible amount food we always have :D): the first about sports and the second about literature, which was I think the best one so far. :) We didn't just talk about literature in general, but as the 23rd of April was the day of books, everyone had to think of a book of his/her country and tell us a few things about it. 
As a 'bonus' the volunteers in Numancia - Filiz and Emmi - joined us and also another Romanian volunteer - Mihaela - who just started her EVS in Esquivias, so we were a more international group this time. :)

Our very international charla

Girl power: Emmi, Amber, Mihaela, me, Dilya and Filiz

Apart from this we had the usual English conversations and games with the kids from what I still have no photos from, since being with them usually consumes all my energy, so I never remember to take photos. :)

One Wednesday after the games we were making some jokes about spying on Paula's (on the right) dance show, so we got "disguised" :)

Also this month I got a bit more active within Banco del Tiempo: I delivered a powerpoint-excel training and a quilling session, so I now I have a lot of hours that I don't really what to use for... yet. :) Also as Sandra got a job and is now very busy it seems that I'll get more involved with Banco del Tiempo things... it's a new challenge. :)

And last but not least another highlight of the month: at the end of April I got to spend 10 lovely days at home with my family and friends. It was great: we celebrated my father's birthday, mother's day, I got to see my best friends and we even went to Romania for a couple of days to visit some friends, so I had a wonderful time.

Easter trip - Sevilla and Córdoba

I knew Easter was a big celebration in Spain, but I couldn't quite believe it until I saw it myself. I'm not religious, so Easter for me usually means a holiday when I go to see my family; however seeing religious festivities here this year was a very interesting cultural experience.

In Hungary Easter is practically celebrated on Sunday and Monday: we usually eat a lot of eggs and ham, color eggs and on Mondays men go and throw water (or in cities perfume) on women so that they won't fade. :)

Here is Spain is very different: they celebrate Easter Thursday and Friday as well (they call the entire week Semana Santa - Holy Week) and there are processions all over the country: they take huge statues of saints and virgins and carry them around the village/town/city along sometimes with music or they sing. These statues are accompanied by people dressed up in special cloaks and hats that covers them entirely, except for their eyes. They carry processional candles or sometimes crosses as well. To be honest with their dresses I found them more scary than holy, but this is really my personal opinion on this. :)

I heard these processions are a bit different in each region and as I was traveling those days, I got to see them in Sevilla:

There were a lot of curious people (like us :)) mostly taking photos.

Aside from Easter celebrations these days were very nice, we spent one day in Sevilla and 2 in Córdoba with a very good friend of mine who came for a visit. :) Both cities are amazing and it feels like already summer there.

Since we didn't have much time, we did a free walking tour in both places and then went to visit the most common sights (Alcázar, Cathedral in Sevilla, Mezquita in Córdoba, etc.) and of course ate a lot of extremely delicious food. :)

Here is the trip in pictures:

Sevilla

Plaza de Espana - the most impressive square of Sevilla 

Selfie with Jerick in front of the Cathedral

Inside the Royal Alcázar - a couple of months ago the new season of Game of Thrones was filmed here :)

Amazing tiles and arches.

The beautiful (and huge) gardens of the Alcázar.

View on the city from Torre de Oro.

View from another angle and sunset colors from a viewpoint called "Las Setas" (the mushrooms :)).

Córdoba

Ruins of a Roman temple

Former bullfighter square

Random street selfie in the Jewish quarter

While queuing to see the mosque... Palm and orange trees everywhere, the latter blooming, so there was a wonderful smell all over the city :)

Inside the Mezquita: arches, more arches and in the middle the Christian cathedral "insertion" that feels like entering a different world.

In the gardens of the Alcázar of Córdoba

View on the city and the gardens

Across the bridge by day and by night

Light show at the Alcázar at night

Green courtyards