Notes from Spain is over a year and a half old now and has grown into something neither Marina or I could have imagined. Most of this has been due to your involvement – commenting on the blog, listening to the podcasts, and joining in over at the forum. And now we find we have a vast project on our hands. NFS podcasts and posts cover travelling in Spain, living and working in Spain, food, not to mention the Notes in Spanish side of things. So, the question we would love you to answer, below in the comments, by e-mail, or in the forum, is, what would you like to change? What would you like to see more focus on? More travel? More about living and working here? More about (our) daily life in Spain? At the moment it feels like we have a (big and friendly!) monster on our hands, and we’d love to steer it gently into the future! Your opinions really count. Most of the good ideas on this site have come from you, the readers/listeners, forum-goers, so, please let us know what you think. Thanks, Ben and Marina.
Author: Ben
In a recent podcast I was lamenting the state of Spanish underwear/lingerie stores, saying that the way the window dressers pinned out the wares was hardly, well, sexy (the French are much better at this sort of thing!) I was taking a look at my Rastro photos again today when I realised that this image presents a wonderful variation on the theme: tangas strung along a washing line with clothes pegs! See the full sized photo here – an ocean of colour if ever I saw one!
http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=8446102146715722322&hl=en
The sound in this video is coming from the bizarre dustbin lid/UFO-shaped instrument in the guy’s lap. Have you ever seen something like this before? Does anyone know what this mesmerising instrument is called?
The Rastro takes place every Sunday morning in Madrid, and is one of the Spanish capital’s most lively spectacles. All of Spain is on display here in the middle of Madrid, why did I wait 8 years to go back for another look?! More photos here, and comment in the forum as ever!
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Madrid Rastro Video, Podcast later!
http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-8627312981980477890&hl=en
Marina and I went down to Madrid’s Rastro Market this morning to record a podcast. While I get round to editing that, here is a random video taster to whet the appetite!
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Sept. 23-30th: See you in the forums!
Ben and Marina will be on holiday in the UK from September 23rd until September 30th, so I won’t be posting here on NFS this week. We will still be logging in to the forums every day however, and posting at Notes in Spanish.
So, until next week, why not come and say hi in the forum? – Ben and Marina
Marina takes on the local butcher as she tries to out-do his Pincho Moruno kebabs!
Ingredients
1 Kg or 2.2 Pounds of pork meat
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp of sweet paprika
1 tsp of hot paprika
1 tsp of ground pepper
2 tsp of thyme
3 bay leafs
4 tbsp of olive oil
Preparation
Start by chopping up the meat into 1.5 cm or 1/2 inch cubes. Then add the crushed garlic cloves and add all the spices to a bowl and mix them with a spoon before adding the olive oil and mixing a little bit more. Add the meat to the mixture and mix until all the pieces are covered with the spice mixture. Leave in the fridge to marinade for at least 12 hours (and up to 2 days) before cooking. Before barbecuing the meat, make the kebabs by putting four or five cubes of meat onto metal kebab sticks.
Tips
1. If you want even more Moorish flavour, add a tsp of cumin seeds or powder.
2. If it’s no longer barbecue season in your part of the world, you can always cook these under the oven grill (broiler).
Discuss this episode in the forum
Based on my own experiences, and reports from our forum, it’s never too late to move to Spain forever. In 9 basic steps, this is how it works:
1. Make up your mind to start a new life in Spain.
This is the really hard part, believe me! I mean we all know we want to move somewhere hotter, friendlier, and a good deal less dangerous, but everyone back home insists on telling us we are mad or just plain irresponsible. Ignore them, shut out the rising feelings of guilt, and:
2. Fix a date for departure.
Make it sooner rather than later to avoid procrastinating your way out of the decision. If you are from outside the EU you will need a return ticket to make sure the Spanish let you in. If you are from inside the EU, get a one-way ticket to ensure you don’t do something stupid, like return after less than at least 12 months.
3. Sell everything that won’t fit into a couple of suitcases…
…or your old bedroom at the parents’ house (Ebay is your friend!)
4. Have one last drink with the mates and get on that plane.
Don’t get morose. Soon you’ll be drinking colder beer in a warmer climate. Warning: Do not get so drunk that you change your mind or miss your plane! Life is about to get really exciting…
5. Work in whatever field you can upon arrival.
And if you can’t do anything else, then be an English teacher. Not qualified? No problem. If you can read this, then you can certainly teach English in Madrid or Barcelona. It’s the law of supply and demand. 😉 Same goes for bar jobs in Spain’s Irish pubs.
6. Get an intercambio language exchange.
Which is a lot like a blind date with an excuse, really helps you to learn Spanish and make friends, and will often lead you to:
7. Marry or move in with him/her.
Warning: do not go out with, marry, or move in with a non-Spaniard. Sooner or later they will screw everything up by trying to take you back to where they came from (risk revising this rule only if they come from somewhere even nicer than Spain).
8. Get the job you always wanted.
Your Spanish is good enough by now, and, more importantly, you have all the enchufes (nepotistic contacts) you need via your new Spanish husband/wife/partner.
9. Sit back, relax, and remember that…
… You did it! ¡Olé! You triumphed where others feared to tread! And it wasn’t really that difficlut, was it?
Still need a bit more inspiration? Why not…
- Read Errant in Iberia, for the in-depth version of how I made the move…
- Learn Spanish with our Spanish podcasts…
- Chat about the nitty-gritty of this exciting move in our forum.
This post was inspired by a writing project at probolgger.net
The UK’s Hay Literary Festival (usually held in Wales) is bringing authors from around the globe to Segovia next week. Both the festival and the town are described very nicely in this week’s Guardian…
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Madrid Podcast on Amateur Traveler
Ben chats to Chris at Amateur Traveler about eating, drinking, and wandering around Madrid, plus Ben’s Madrid highlights, and some of the less visited corners of Spain’s capital.
Amateur Traveler page
Direct MP3 link
Plus… Travel Guru Rick Steves has a recent podcast on Spain, featuring an interview with a Madrid-based travel expert, and a member of the tourist board explaining the role of the siesta.
Notes from Spain by Ben Curtis 