Halloween, November Writing, and Toledo

Halloween! So Halloween day was ridiculously crazy for the kids; some moms from the parent teacher alliance equivalent here came in and had mask making activities to do in science class, which meant we also just watched videos on youtube. You would think Halloween themed videos, and certainly, Thriller is very Halloweeny, but after Thriller we then watched... every other Michael Jackson video out there. I never would have expected kids under 10 in Spain to be as in love with Michael Jackson as these kids are. It's really kind of amazing, but also weird. I dressed as a black cat because it was something I could use my own wardrobe for. The kids understood what I was but Halloween is so much more of a scary holiday here than in the US that they did not get why I wouldn't want to come as something scarier. There were no princesses here; Batman was the least scary costume I saw. The girls were all witches, or vampires and the boys were all vampires, batman, devils, or skeletons. Basically your standard scary stuff. That night was the open mic and Steve and Melanie played together for the first time in public, and it was really wonderful. They are both very talented and it is awesome hearing them play individually, let alone as a group. Steve and I watched Zombieland, in true Halloween fashion, but no parties for me. I was exhausted! 

Friday... I did... something... I'm sure... 

Saturday, Sam, Melanie, Hannah, Steve, and I all went to Toledo for the day! First of all: I could get used to the mild weather here. It is November and I hardly even need a coat most days! I think this week has been more mild than normal, but still. People are still eating outside at the restaurant and wearing light jackets. We got to the bus station at Plaza Eliptica at 10:20, as planned, to leave on the 10:30 bus. At least... most of us did. Sam and Jill were late, and Jill ended up not going because she had just gotten out of bed by the time we were supposed to meet there... oops! Sam and I were both starting to be sick (I was more than starting, and really I should have stayed home) but we really wanted to see Toledo. It took about an hour to get there and then we walked up the beautiful hills to the top of the city, and believe, there is quite a view there! 

Talk about a gorgeous countryside! We really just wandered around for a while, and because of that, and since we got there later than we had planned, we didn't end up getting to do everything we wanted to. But it was still really fun and a good day. We saw the cathedral, which is HUGE and seems bigger because of how small everything else in the city is. 

And Hannah, Melanie, and I went into a museum with an exhibit on Leonardo Da Vinci; it was of all his drawings and inventions, which they had recreated. 

Hannah and my favorite was definitely the "Worm Hoister." We know the "worm" part is about the kind of machine it is or something... but the idea of hoisting worms was just too funny. "Gotta hoist those worms somehow!" 

There was also a dungeon in the museum, which was the cause of great amusement to Melanie, who, having come from England, knows what real dungeons are. 

These dungeons! Pah! Too well lit, not damp or musty enough, too big, too comfy. Even their torture instruments are tame! Look, that one looks like a kitty! 

So we had fun in there while the boys, I dunno, got a beer or something lame like that. 

One site we could not pass up was the El Greco museum, especially because it was free when we got there since it was after 2pm. It was really beautiful and fun to look around; I felt like the grounds of the museum were more interesting than the paintings, but that might have just been my opinion... 

The cellars under the museum. 

The view from the 2nd story balcony. Beautiful! 

My favorite painting was definitely the one with the lion wearing the red hat. (Okay, that's not what it was... but it looks like it!)

We got a decent group photo in the gardens and moved on. 

Our plan was to get food and go see the Jewish Synagogue that was built in the 1300s, but Spain has a way of making you take your time sometimes. We sat down at a restaurant and spent the next hour waiting for the waitress to even come up and take our orders, so that by the time we left the restaurant, the synagogue was closing. Guess that just means we'll have to go back! We took our time wandering back to the bus station, wanting to see some of the nighttime happenings. 

Beautiful river with what seems to be the remains of a base for a bridge. 

Loving the weird sun spot on Hannah... haha. 

The cathedral with Sam and a random couple in the background... 

The rest of this week has just been me being very sick, not leaving the apartment Sunday or Monday and sleeping most of the time, and working on my National Novel Writing Month novel for November. I am currently at 8000 words (just about on target). My roommate Laura is also sick and at first we thought we had the same thing, but I have a sinus infection and it turns out she has pnemonia! Yikes! Hopefully she will get better soon. Begoña also went home again and brought back a bunch of fruit from her family; tangerines and pomagranates. I forgot the word for pomagranates is granada in Spanish, so when she first told me I thought she was saying she had gone to Granada. We cleared that up quickly enough, though. After this week of highs and lows, I'm hoping for some calm. 

Ciao!