written by Matt
It’s been quite a while since we posted on here last, but for good reason. Over the last few months, while Sevilla’s short winter arrived, peaked, and came to a quick end, Katie and I were busier than a Spanish nightclub at 4:30 am. That is to say, very busy.
Our January return to Sevilla was a homecoming of mixed feelings. We were ecstatic to return to the city’s busy energy, sunny skies, and fruiting orange trees on the one hand. But we were nervous about our unresolved visa applications, thin apartment walls, and fruiting black mold in the bathroom on the other hand.
In that way, January and February were difficult. The month’s colder, wetter weather kept us inside while simultaneously making our living space less inhabitable. Either Katie or I (or both of us) was sick for most of that stretch.
Our first real break came at the end of February. That’s when we travelled back down to Cadiz for Carnaval, a yearly celebration of everything that makes Spain silly. Gaditanos (people from Cadiz) don costumes to raid the streets and party for 10 days. The most sophisticated of these partiers form groups called chirigotas: song-writing, skit-performing street bands with a knack for satire. Their goal is to make fun of Spanish culture and politics through song, and they perform both on stage and in the streets for the public.
some of the chirigotas I was talking about… I won’t even try to explain what the costumes and songs are about because 1. I don’t fully understand and 2. even if I did, the jokes are so Spanish it wouldn’t make sense to anyone outside of Spain
Our group went in-costume as Ratatouille (Katie played Remy and I her puppet, Linguine) and had extra occasion to celebrate on our friend Zach’s birthday (he’s playing the critic Ego in the image below). We laughed with chirigotas, drank in the streets, and flash mobbed with a group whose costume meshed Jane Fonda with haggard grandma.
Another break during that stretch was the introduction of Nahuel into our lives.
Katie began volunteering at a local animal shelter back in January where she met a 9-year-old lab mix in need of a foster home. We were in a good position to help out, so we welcomed the old smell factory into our home. I could go on and on about Welly, as we call him (along with other names like Wally Pockets, Big Stink, Smelly Welly, Happy Doo, or just plain Happy), and the influence his pure spirit has had on us in just a few short weeks. It’ll suffice to say for now that he’s carved out a lab-sized niche in our hearts (as well as on our couch) and that he has an absolute heart of gold.
Anyone who meets him falls in love, and for good reason. He’s terminally happy, and nothing will ever change that, not even the years of trauma he’s endured on the streets and in the shelter. We’re hoping we can land him in a forever home soon, though we would gladly take him ourselves if our living situation were more stable.
A few weeks after bringing Welly into our home, we also got to welcome my parents to Sevilla. It was really cool to show them around the city we’ve come to call home, even if it was only for a few short days. We saw the Alcazar, climbed the Giralda, ate tapas til we dropp-ad (?), and overall had the most pleasant visit that we could have expected.
some scenes from the Alcazar followed by me, Katie, my mom, and Nahuel
Being with my parents is more like being with friends, really. To me that’s special because I know they’re always in my corner, they’ll always have my back. So hanging out with them is like hanging out with the most loyal friends. It must be fun for them too, or else I don’t know why they keep coming around just to end up paying for my dinners! Kidding aside, I know it’s special for them to visit me while I adventure, and I especially know how much they love me, care about me, and enjoy watching me thrive.
OK, OK, enough mushy love talk.
After my parent’s visit we were pretty much right off to Morocco with Katie’s family, which is where I’m writing this blog now. And by the time I publish this blog, we’ll be back home in Sevilla. There’ll be lots to share from Morocco, but we’ll have to save that for the future. For now I’ll let you imagine all the fun and adventure we’re having between lounging by the pool in dreamy riads, bartering with pushy souk owners in the market, and sipping mint tea before big tajine dinners with couscous.
One last thing…
I didn’t quite have space above to include a few other adventures we had this winter, but still wanted to mention them.
One was a trip to Setenil de las Bodegas, a small Andalusian town with a unique aspect: it was built in a hole! The town is deep in a river canyon, and many of its houses are built directly into the canyon walls. Other houses are set up in an amphitheater-style arrangement going up the hill. It was a really unique place and a very fun visit with friends (we rented a car to drive there).
Another cool thing that happened was a backstage visit to Cirque du Soleil. Katie was taking a friendly Australian shepherd for walks throughout January and February whose owners (little did we know) are circus artists! They offered to give us a tour of the circus and have us watch the show from backstage. It was really cool to watch contortionists, jugglers, acrobats, and muscle-men warm up right next to us and then to see them perform in front of a huge crowd. We felt like a part of the circus family, and if we stayed any longer we might have ended up packing up with them for Vienna the next day. We’re really thankful to Lucas and Silja for the experience!
Bueno, ya está y ¡hasta luego!
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