You Can't Account For Everything

February 24, 2013

This week's post is going to be a little different, as this week was a little different than the previous, and very different from anything I have ever experienced in my life.  And hopefully will never have to experience again.

Last Tuesday, I was mugged at knifepoint.  I was attacked from behind and taken away from public sight and robbed.  In the ordeal, my iPhone, iPod, and 20 euros were stolen from me.  Luckily, I do not carry around my passport or debit card on me just in case something goes terribly wrong.  I was able to walk away from the ordeal unscathed.  It just goes to show that it doesn't matter how many times you've been down the same street, or how well you know the area, this stuff can happen anywhere at any time.

The following days were spend consulting with the Alicante police about the assault and robbery.  I got a personal tour of the inside of the police station, got my fingerprints taken, and had to communicate with the police via my program director as translator.  At the moment, there is very slim hope that my property will be returned to me, but considering how the situation could have turned, I think of myself as EXTREMELY lucky.

I am fine, for those of you wondering.  I am a strong willed individual, and I am not going to let this mishap ruin my perspective of Alicante, Spain, or Europe.  I have not been deterred from normal everyday functions here and will continue to lead in my adventures as planned.  Unfortunately, this incident does leave me camera-free - a problem that will be mended shortly.

In lighter news, Hannah, Katie, and I ventured to the Valor chocolate factory on Saturday in a small pueblo north of Alicante.  The tour was free and offers free chocolate, so of course I was all over that.  The slogan for this brand of chocolate is "placer adulto," which translates to "adult pleasure".  The commercials do not fail to communicate this either, as each one is a sexual innuendo using chocolate as the scapegoat.  Sex sells, and I suppose chocolate does too.

On Sunday, I returned to my roots as a rock gym employee.  Julie, Hannah, and Katie accompanied me and my rocodromo friends in a return trip to Redovan for some outdoor climbing.  I dusted off my old script and, in my opinion, was as good as ever in teaching everyone how to have a great, safe time rock climbing.  I even flashed a 6c here!  That's almost an 11b/c which for a route that is 12+ clips is AMAZING for me.

Unfortunately, my climbing shoes have suffered some casualties, and are in the climbing shoes intensive care unit for the next week.  Resoles here are only about 20 euros, and I just need them to last me until June!

Hasta luego!

Pictures (courtesy of everyone else's cameras)

Waiting outside the chocolate factory ("I think I blinked" - Katie)

Sendage in process

6c Flash! ^_^b

If only I was in the AZR staff shirt

CHOCOLATE

Dream team climbing group :)

Exploring Costa Blanca

February 12th, 2013

I decided to play hooky today and return to Sella for some climbing.  I went with three Erasmus students and one Spaniard.  For those of you not familiar, Erasmus is the European study abroad program.  This group has been in Alicante since September and are beginning to disband and return back to their respective universities.  Not only are they all fabulous people, but they speak Spanish slowly, clearly, and without a heavy accent (usually).  So seeing as this was possibly the last opportunity to converse and go climbing with them, school could do without me for one day.


The day started out cold, windy, and cloudy; the weather forecast called for 40km/hr winds all day.  Not ideal climbing weather.  I would say I felt as though my fingers were going to freeze off, but I couldn't feel my fingers - so I guess that doesn't really work.  However, over the course of what couldn't have been over an hour the skies were wiped clean of clouds, the wind subsided, and the temperature jumped.  We couldn't have asked for better climbing weather!  I worked a couple climbs, including one that easily was the scariest sport route I've done in a long time; the bolts were terribly spaced and during the crux moves.  What's more, apparently whoever bolted it thought that the end was easy enough to not bolt the last 20ft to the anchors.  Sketch.


February 14th, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day!  Unfortunately, Spain killed my tradition of painting pottery on this day.  But compared to all of the wonderful things Spain provides me every other day, I'm willing to let it slide.

Yesterday I tried my hand at ultimate frisbee on the beach.  After creeping for about 10 minutes with Julie, another girl from my program, we were beckoned to join in.  We ran through a couple of drills and afterwards played some matches.  I knew I wasn't great at frisbee, but comparatively speaking to the other players...ouch.  We played for three hours.  We ran for three hours.  In the sand.  I can't wait for next week already :)

Afterwards, I met up with some friends from another program to attend what was described to me as a "Funeral for Sardines".  It is supposed to signify the end of Carnaval, as well as be a political holiday of sorts.  People wearing the same costumes as the festival last Thursday came out with a giant paper sardine covered in profanity and the faces of political leaders.  This was followed by a guy with a megaphone getting the crowd all riled up to parade down the streets chanting about Spanish political complaints.  I didn't understand most of what was being said, but I hardly understand the political issues of my own country, so I just rolled with it.  They were giving out free cookies, so how could I say no?

Valentine's Day isn't nearly as blown-up here as it is in the states.  Yes, there is chocolate, and yes, it is recognized.  But I didn't walk around and feel like I was drowning in a sea of red hearts and "forget-me-nots".  Nor did I see Easter take over the next day.  It is kind of nice to enjoy a holiday for the holiday, not the sales.  Plus, I received a nice little Valentine's day surprise of my i-Pod, filled with music, from the US ^_^  My bus rides are now that much more exciting.


February 18th, 2012

Calpe.  Penon d'Ifach.

Saturday, I organized a a group to travel north to Calpe to hike the breathtaking Penon d'Ifach.  I figured since I am not experienced enough to do the multipitch or trad climbing offered by said mountain, hiking to the top would be the next best option.

I was not let down.  After a two hour tram ride and one hour "Okay, how do we get to the mountain from here" walk from the station, we began.  The difficulty of the hike changed drastically as you continued upward; from paved winding switchbacks to slick boulder scrambles perched on steep cliff sides.  My attire followed suit as I went from being bundled in three layers to just a sports bra and shorts.  I even got to enjoy a beer at the summit :D  Despite cloud-cover in the morning, it turned out to be a wonderful day of sun, exercise, and laughs.  And some VERY good seafood for those of us who stayed around the port for a while afterwards.

However, I did not leave the mountain unscathed.  When I arrived home that night, my ankle decided that it was actually in quite a bit of pain.  Ignoring this, I went out today to climb with some people from the rocodromo at Lliber.  Probably the the most unproductive climbing day ever.  I slept on a rock for the first half, too exhausted to even move from Saturday.  The second half, well, my ankle would not have any of it.

I guess that is what I get for doing a four hour hike in Converse.

We already have some tentative plans for more adventuring around Costa Blanca next weekend.  Stay tuned!

Pictures:

Sella is beautiful

Don't know the dude, but he's like 60 years old and climbing, so that's pretty cool

The Profanity Sardine

Making our way to the top

The hiking group 

Kitties on top of the mountain

The panoramic on top of Penon d'Ifach

Low hanging branches on the trail

Celebratory beer at the top

Penon d'Ifach from the port

Carnaval

February 6, 2013

I did it.  I confronted my madre about the white bread.  Now all of my sandwiches are gloriously Spanish-styled with a soft, fresh wheat baguette.  All is right with the world.

Yesterday Leila, Katie, and I took on the tasks of concocting homemade sangria, recipe courtesy of our Spanish professor.  According to him, the sangria served at the American bars is "mierda", or shit, and that true sangria needs at least 24 hours for all of the ingredients to marinate.  And boy, did it marinate.  The apples and peaches were soaked to the core in red wine, and essentially were shots in themselves.  Two small 8oz. glasses later, I didn't stand a chance.  Of course, we enjoyed our sangria to it's fullest:  in tandem with watching (and singing along to) Hercules and Taylor Swift music videos.

Two major changes to my school schedule:

1.  Successfully switched to the 12-3 Spanish block.
2.  This week marks the start of my International Business course, Marketing in the EU.

My new Spanish class is significantly more lack-luster and monotonous than my previous class.  However, the style of the class works better with my way of learning.  Also, it's just nicer to not wake up so early :P


February 7th, 2013

Flashback:  Every morning my mom give me an orange, six crackers, and a slice of chocolate cake.  she packs me a sandwich for what I think of as second breakfast, as we do not normally eat lunch until about 3pm.

So today was my madre's birthday.  59 years old!  Her two sons came from Murcia, and the four of us went to birthday lunch at a charcuterie restaurant in downtown Alicante.  If you reference the flashback, you will understand that I have already had all of this to eat, so I wouldn't classify myself as "hungry".  But, if you reference my track record when it comes to food, I am always hungry.

The lunch is very Spanish style;  potatoes, chorizo, eggs, ham, and bread all in tapa-form for the entire table to share.  I try to be modest and only take a little bit of everything, seeing as I've already eaten and I want to make sure everyone else gets enough food.  But apparently all three of them must think I'm starving. They constantly urged me to eat more, and would just leave whatever food wasn't eaten right in front of me (my only weakness).  So I eat it.

Afterwards, we return to the house for champagne and birthday cake.  We sing, Puri blows out the candles, and begins to cut slices.  She cuts this MASSIVE slice, and then three slivers.

Guess who got the slice the size of Texas?  Is it because I'm American?!  Does my reputation as a human garbage disposal precede me that much?!

It's a vicious cycle:  Puri gives me a lot of food thinking I'm hungry enough for it.  I'm not, but I eat it all because I love eating.  Because I finish it all, she thinks she needs to give me more.  And so on.


February 8-10th, 2013    CARNAVAL


Thursday marked the first day of Carnaval.  Carnaval is a three day festivity filled with music, costumes, parades, fire, free food, and insanity.  And so began my first adventure:

Thursday:

Following a late-afternoon siesta, I decided drag my lazy ass butt to the rocodromo, about an hour after I told people I would be there.  Around 10 pm, I began my trek home and decide to take the scenic route, down the major street called Rambla de Mendez Nunez.

Out of nowhere came a parade of people.  They were dressed in black and red from head to toe, swinging around fire and sparklers, and marching to the sounds of drums and oboes.  Other people were dressed in fur costumes on stilts, and one man was in a chariot rallying the group. It essentially looked like a cult.

The parade continued down La Rambla to a small plaza just outside of El Barrio.  There, a stage was set up along with small kiosk for beer and free sausages. At this point, the parade had gathered quite a few followers, including some other girls from my program.

The Spanish people have no concept of fire safety.  In the middle of the crowd, people began juggling, breathing, and swinging around fire, in addition to handing out sparklers to anyone and everyone.  I felt little singes on my head as dozens of drunk Spaniards waved around their sparklers around carelessly.  A band began to play and called for the bartender to bring up a bottle of tequila for shots onstage.  The bartender hopped up, birdied a shot for the band members, and then began made his way through the crowd just pouring alcohol down the open mouths of spectators.

Friday:

Friday marked the first night of "not-grandma-status" for me, Hannah, Katie, and Leila.  Seeing as the Spanish don't begin to go out until 12-1am, this was the first night in about three weeks that all of us managed to say "no" to sleep and actually go out.  We killed the sangria, danced our pants off, and managed to not spend a single euro on drinks all night.

Saturday:  

Saturday is the day of Carnaval that resembles a Halloween party for adults.  On crack.  Before the festivities really kick off (at 1:30 in the morning).  I had to get creative with the costume part, as I don't have a lot to work with from what I brought to Spain.  I ended up being a boxer:  taped my hands, wore a hoodie and a sports bra, and put on war paint.  I thought it turned out well.

I joined my friends from the rocodromo for pizza and beer before going out to the main party.  Apparently three of the guys in our group that night were actually clowns, so I learned how to make a doggie from a balloon!  While attending full-fledged Spanish outings are really good for practicing my Spanish, it is made that much more difficult to understand what anyone is saying.  When majority of the pre-gaming includes making balloon animals and conga-lining around the flat, who needs words?

The main street was PACKED with people.  Two stages set up on both ends of the street blasting Top 40 dance remixes.  The open bottle and smoking law didn't exist tonight;  everyone had a beer, bottle of wine, or straight liquor in their hands smack dab in the middle of the mob of people thrash dancing and jumping in front of the stage.  Our group conga-lined our way to the front of the stage and promptly began dancing in a manner very similar to that of the Harlem Shake.  Look it up.

I ended up getting home around 5 in the morning.  My game is weak :P  But now, I enjoy being a hermit in my house and writing my blog from the comfort of my soft, cozy bed :)


Pictures:

Arizona, you got some competition.

Sangria experts.

How about dem apples?

First night of Carnaval

Pre-Carnaval climbing

I MADE IT ALL BY MYSELF (minus actually blowing up the balloon)

She was a streetlight.  Lol.

Espana debauchery.

Carnaval Saturday night.

The masses.

One Month

January 31, 2013

The weather is starting to really warm up during the day.  I have retired the larger jacket in the mornings because I know it will be too much by the time I head home after class.  I look forward to being able to watch the sunrise as I walk to school as I continue the 8am M-F class through March.

My hammock has officially been broken in on the beaches of Spain :)  Took me 3 tries at different locations and about 20 minutes to figure out how to set it up.  Apparently hammocks are not a common thing on the beach here.   I felt like a spectacle; people would slow down running or on their bikes to look over at my setup.  There was even an old dude with a scooter who literally stopped, stared at me until I waved, and then continued scooting along.

I don't know how to break it to my host mom that I'm getting tired of her food.  She makes the same meals over and over again.  If I have to eat one more piece of presliced processed white bread I think I am going to die.  It's not like the food is bad, per say...it actually is relatively tasty and healthy most of the time.  I even get chocolate cake every morning :D  I just need a little more variety.  But how do you go about telling a Spanish woman that her cooking is basically not good enough?  You don't, I guess... :/

February 4, 2013

It's officially been just over one month since I arrived in Alicante.  At least I have almost 5 more too look forward to :D  I finished my first class of the semester, as well.  Pulled off a B in the class, which isn't bad considering I was in a class with people who have been studying Spanish their entire college careers.  I'm proud to say that I have actually improved quite a bit and can relatively hold a conversation. ^_^

The afternoon after exams on Friday was crazy on the beaches of Alicante.  The beach was America.
Every study abroad student went straight to the beach for sand, swimming, sports, and sangria immediately following school.  Most students are not taking another month block of Spanish five days a week, so for them it was a day of celebration!  For me, as I have two more months of 8am classes, simply set up my hammock and relaxed the afternoon away.  The American day-drinking extravaganza morphed into a drunken night of debauchery in El Barrio without the slightest hesitation in between.

The crazy wind from the prior week returned for an encore this weekend.  It was even strong enough to keep me from going out for ice cream Saturday night.  Anything that can overpower my craving for ice cream is a force to be reckoned with.

Sunday was another glorious day of climbing in a new area called Redovan with Barbara, Raul, and Jose.  Even this location was not safe from the blistering winds of the day before, making the first half of the day a tid-bit nipply.  All of the routes were 12-14 bolts and gorgeous.  The rock was so textured that I, Melissa Merrick, was actually comfortable smearing.  The crag was bustling with people, but everyone managed to get in 4-5 routes (and I managed a crag nap as well) before the day was out.  It's hard to tell if I've gotten stronger or not when I never had a sport climbing base to begin with.

Afterwards, the four of us retreated to Raul's brother's house for vegetarian fajitas and beer.  Now, I've been climbing for 3 years now, and I can honestly say I have never been surrounded by so many dreadlocks and so much weed in one sitting.  I felt like I had walked into a haboob when I walked into this house.  As I introduced myself to the four other housemates, one of them exclaimed,

"Melissa?  Your name is Melissa?  Like the weed!"

To which I reply, "What?"

Apparently, there is a medical marijuana that is fabulous for helping insomniacs, and it is called Melissa.

I digress; they were incredibly nice people, very hospitable.  Moreover, they complimented me over and over about how I speak very well for someone who has only been in Spain for one month :)  Ego boost!

Speaking another language legitimately poops you out.  The amount of energy used actively thinking and translating words all day transcends anything I ever expected.  After three hours of speaking Spanish all I want to do is sleep.  That's alright, because all it takes is a little cerveza to get the cogs in my mind oiled and turning again!

Until next week!

I have a nice view on the walk home every day

What better way to spend the afternoon after an exam?

Redovan group, muy fuerte!

Every route has a plaque with the name and grade on it.

Panorama of the view from the mountain.

Redovan was pretty popular on Sunday.