Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad!

La Virgen se esta peinando, Entre cortina y cortina, Sus cabellos son de oro, El peine de plata fina...Pero mira como beben, Los peces en el rio, Pero mira como beben, Por ver al Dios nacido" - you know I had to quote this, it's my favorite Christmas carol!

This will be a very short Christmas story, as most of my posts have been lately, because I am tired and it has been a whirlwind month.

Because I did not have enough money to go home for Christmas, I went to visit family friends in Spain. It goes without saying that I had no reason to complain and was incredibly grateful, but more so than this, I was touched by the small blessing that it was to spend Christmas with people who were like family. Our families have known each other since before I was born, and they lived across the street from us in Cuba…now, much like us, members of this family are spread all over the world (Canada, Cuba, the US, Spain, Germany). I first went to Murcia, where Anita, Mario and their daughter and my friend Maite, welcomed me with open arms.

Murcia, which is located on the southeastern part of Spain was extremely warm in comparison to Paris, and more much interesting in terms of natural beauty since it is surrounded by mountains and built on a fertile plain that is covered with citrus and olive orchards. There is not much to see in the city, but what tourist attractions existed, we saw. We went to the outdoor holiday market, walked around the Gan Via, visited the Plaza Cardenal Belluga, walked along the Glorieta, and saw the Catherdal itself. I was pretty tired, but Anita was highly excited about having us two girls home, so we both had to rouse ourselves from work-induced stupor and go sightseeing. In the end, it was absolutely worth it! My favorite spot in Murcia was the Sanctuary of the Fuensanta, Murcia’s patron. It is located in the mountains and there is a small café where the four of us sat, sipping café con leche, and looked at the city.

Noche Buena [the 24th of December] was spent at a friend’s restaurant, in the company of 20 or so rowdy Cubans doing the things that rowdy Cubans do. Despite certain moments of obnoxiousness, the food was delicious and it was nice to be speaking Spanish for the second consecutive day! Then, the son of the hostess took Maite and I out on the town until 4am….suffice it to say that in Spain, much like I had been told but had refused to believe, people start their nighttime festivities at 1am, so it virtually impossible to come home before daybreak!

On the 25th, having spent 2 days in Murcia, Maite and I parted for Madrid, where she only recently moved from Germany. I stayed there until the 30th, greatly enjoying the company of Maite, with whom I have been very good friends since childhood, and her roommates, whom I immediately took to. Diana, one of the roommates, even cooked me a special meal for my last lunch!

In Madrid, I tried to do a lot, but, still being tired, was set on pacing myself well. Since my favorite thing about a new city is just walking around and seeing it, I did a lot of strolling down the Gran Via, calle de las Huertas, and especially Paseo del Prado. I also went to several art museums, of which I can say that the Museo Nacional Reina Sofia was my absolute favorite. In fact, I can say that it is one the best museusm I have ever seen which, taking into account how many museums and galleries I’ve been to, is quite a compliment. Aside from housing a lot of Dali’s, Picasso’s “Guernica,” and a bunch of other renowned paintings, it also has rooms upon rooms of contemporary Spanish artists that I would not normally be able to see in person. Incidentally, it also has one of my favorite Picasso paintings, the unfinished “La Salchichona” (1917) which looked better in person than I has imagined was possible.

In general, Maite and I explored the city together, and it was wonderful to have more time to catch up with her. I will not go into too many details, you can just click on my pictures if you want to see what I actually did, however, let me finally mention that I met up for tapas with my best friend from Mexico, Diana Pineda! We had not seen each other in 12 years, but had managed to keep in touch via letter and emails since then! Not only were the tapas delicious, but it was also wonderful to see the twenty-two year old woman standing in from of me and still be able to pick up pieces of the ten year old girl I’d listened to that first Shakira CD with.

And so, after a great trip away from Paris, I returned on the 30th and, not surprisingly, since that has been the theme of the last several months, felt at home, even with the thongs of tourists invading the city for New Years.