Holiday Recap: A Spanish Christmas

Christmas in Spain

***

I've been in a different country for every holiday since I moved overseas.

Thanksgiving in Denmark. Christmas in Spain. NYE in Ireland. 

Valentines in Nepal. St. Patrick's in Norway. 

Sarah and I have tickets for a birthday in Switzerland.

We expect to be home in time for Independence Day in the USA.

***

I went to visit Jake who was studying in Valencia.

A week filled with:

The Mediterranean. Sundresses. Libraries. Biking. Salsa dancing.

Horchata. Tortilla making. Museums. Towers. 

Cooking. Books. Siestas. Exploring. 

 

We streamed "It's A Wonderful Life" from youtube.

The Christmas lights (we bought from the Chinese dollar store) clicked on and off,

the dogs barked next door, and the smell of urine floated up off the street.

Coziness is a state of mind. 

Christmas Eve: 

Picnic on the beach, wandering the shore, eating ice-cream.

We were invited to dinner with some fellow Americans and Lithuanians.

Attempted to make Spanish tortilla but it fell apart.

"We'll just cover it with cheese and bake it...now it's a casserole!"

Baking lard smells like an old man's feet.

I made sangria. The Lithuanians made beets, herring, and some potent cider.

Spanish cheese. Jamon. Hummus. Cheesecake. Multi-cultural delights.

I spent Christmas morning making sweet potato pancakes 

and then running through Valencia with my suitcase to catch the bus Barcelona.

That evening I grabbed a kabob for dinner before returning to our dirty hostel.

  I sat in a beer soaked couch and tried to Skype my family on a bad connection,

 while holding the power adapter at an awkward angle, in the air, 

so the battery wouldn't die.

Honestly, not my favorite Christmas.

However, Barcelona was breathtaking.

Holiday: Redeemed!

3 days. Gaudi. Paella. Sun. Wandering. Bliss.
Forty dollars will fly you to Dublin.

Holiday Recap: A Danish Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in Denmark

***

I've been in a different country for every holiday since I moved overseas.

Thanksgiving in Denmark. Christmas in Spain. NYE in Ireland. 

Valentines in Nepal. St. Patrick's in Norway. 

Sarah and I have tickets for a birthday in Switzerland.

We expect to be home in time for Independence Day in the USA.

***

Ayla's husband was on deployment, so she bought tickets to Roskilde, Denmark 

to spend Thanksgiving with her childhood friends, The Holgates. 

Denmark and Norway are neighbors. 

Lauren and Ayla graciously extended the invitation to join.

I love Americans. 

The Holgate's hosted Thanksgiving at their church.

The Danes were thrilled and requested another dinner for next year.

Eats included: Danish meatballs, Waldorf salad, thai food, lasagna, bagels and lil' smokies. 

Such a good time.

After dinner, a sleepy Ayla and I walked home in the cold. 
We drank pudding-thick hot cacao on the porch in our pajamas, 
smoking Danish Christmas pipe tabacco and gazing out over the silent city.

 

Overall a delightful weekend full of:

Good conversations. Farmer's market. Wine. Cathedrals. 

Candlelit dinners on the floor. Chocolate. Tombs. La Pipa. 

Dreadlocked head massages. Trains. Soft sweaters.

 Exploring Copenhagen. Christmas Markets. 

Chai lattes. Cozy cafes. Honesty.

Absolutely lovely.

 Hygge

Ayla's Thanksgiving experience: What? Mermaids?

and Lauren's: ladaisi

Over the hills and everywhere.

 Just returned back from a breathtaking week in the far Western mountains of Nepal.

Journey:
9 hour bus ride from Surkhet. Unpaved roads. Someone sat on my head for an hour.

We got stuck in the mud so everyone jumped out and pushed the bus up the mountain.

After the 9 hour Nepali bus ride

When the road ended we hiked for three hours.

Dailekh:

Once upon a time, there was a great mountain of mud.
One day a little village fell out of the sky and plopped down, right on top,
sending a thousand ripples down the hillsides...

...either that or this valley has hosted many generations of hardworking farmers.

Hotel

We stayed in the only hotel. There are underground church meetings in the basement.

Basement bedroom

Hotel hallway

Tegan and Rachael slept here. Cement has never looked this cozy.

 One of my teammates accidentally locked me in the room for half an hour.
When the hotel owner heard me knocking, he couldn't find the key.
"Have not the fear! So sorry!...oh, it is good that you make the laugh!"

Mornings:

Milk tea. Vultures. Watercolors. Woolens. Bible. Cardboard chair. Terraces.

Baptism in a waterfall. Beauty.

We came to provide for a water project.
Someone ran over the water pipe with their bulldozer, cutting off our water supply.
Hailing twenty-five liter jerrycans across town several times a day.

People stare.
"It's the Scandinavian freakshow! Featuring Rachael and Tegan.
With special guest: THE WATER FILTER!"

No water, no shower, no problem.  Nothing but a week's worth of dirt can tame this rootball. :)

Three most used words in my journal:
Beautiful. Dirt. Poop.

Three Nepali nouns I know:
Cheel (Falcon). Tato Pani (Hot Water). Shisno (Nettle)

Ah, my beloved, Shisno

 One morning a little white goat was dragged, bleating, up the road.

That evening was a lantern lit dinner of goat intestine soup.

Since the village only had instant noodles and crackers for sale, we were happy for meat.

School

I have store of delicious memories, 

but the best was seeing scores of children 

racing down the hillside, under the moon, to hear my stories.

They sat so still and quiet as I told them how beautiful and precious they were

and about the man who lives in my heart.

My dearest friend who loves them so

 and walks with me all over this world.

All over America, all over Nepal,
Over the hills and everywhere.

These days, my life is the most savory and wild adventure.