My second month here in Galicia has been great, and I am really feeling settled in and even like I am thriving a little bit. Of course, we’ve been exploring more in and around Pontevedra. We got to play tour guide when our friend Alexa visited from Santiago, and we were lucky to have a warm, sunny day to show off Ponte. Getting to travel a little bit, as well as continuing to get to know new friends, has just made me really appreciate all of this – as well as everyone at home as well. It didn’t really rain in September, but that started to change in October, just as everyone promised. However, I don’t really mind the rain (yet).
Here’s a quick overview of what October held in store for me:
- O Grove Marisco festival
- a visit to Vigo
- Canteira Fest
- San Froilan in Lugo
- My birthday
- Porto, Portugal
- Granada, where I saw the sun
- History class at school
- Halloween/Samain
The O Grove seafood fest will likely go down as one of my favorite weekends of this whole experience, as it was just one of those times where all the pieces line up perfectly and the universe feels as if it’s on pause. I went with my friends Amanda, Caroline, and Josh to O Grove, which is further out on the coast from where I teach. The town is really cute, and we spent the whole time there at the festival and its tents. I do not know how to adequately begin describing the food that was there, so I will not even try. It would be an injustice. I’ll just say that I do not think I will ever eat seafood like this ever again and leave it at that; I’ll add some photos below to try and let them speak for themselves!
the food! 
Josh, Caroline, Amanda, and I enjoying the sun at the pier 
the food tents
The next week Caroline, Amanda, Bridget, and I went to Lugo for the San Froilan festival. One of my co-teachers at school let us use her flat there, which was so generous and helpful. We met up with a group of Fulbrighters who were visiting and those who live there, and it was such a good time. Wandering through Lugo and walking along the Roman Wall was really cool, and it was such a great weekend.
Since my birthday always fell during fall break, this was my first time not being home either on my birthday or at least something during that week. It was weird not be with my family, but I am so grateful to 1) everyone from home who reached out AND 2) to all my new friends here who made me feel valued and at home, just in a new way! I was actually at school on my birthday, and it’s tradition in Spain that the birthday person brings treats to celebrate. I went to a local bakery and got some yummy snacks for the teachers’ lounge, as it feels too early in the year to risk baking my own treats for my still-new coworkers. My students were so cute and deeply excited to wish me “Happy Birthday” individually, every time they saw me throughout the day. My coworkers got me a beautiful set of Galician earrings so that I would always remember this school and my year here – as if I could ever forget. Really, this whole turning 23 thing has just emphasized how wonderful the people around me are.
To celebrate, I went to Porto with Amanda for a weekend, and it was such a fun trip! Everyone here raves about Porto, and it’s easy to see why. We took our first adventure with BlaBla car, and it was really positive and quite a fun drive. Our AirBnB house was such a delight and made us feel very welcome, as well as giving us plenty of info for exploring and getting around Porto. One of the most striking images from Porto is that of the azulejos, or the white and blue tiles on and inside many buildings. There is always an inexhaustible number of things to see in do in every city, and I really enjoyed everything we got to do in Porto. We were somewhat lucky with the weather, and it ranged from sunny and beautiful to absolutely horrendous and terrible rain.
Some brief highlights:
The Cathedral – really beautiful, covered in azulejos and an interesting layout; great views of the city!
Torre de Clerigos – it literally went from sunny to raining in the 5.5 minutes it took to climb to the top.
Portuguese Food – I am a fan
Port wine tasting – I am also a fan and I learned a lot
Douro River Cruise – always a fan of a good river cruise
Really, a beautiful city and I’m excited it is so close.
Sometime in October, my friend Lindsay and her boyfriend Alex invited us to go to a local music festival, called Canteira Fest. It was an outdoor concert in Alex’s village, and it was so much fun. When we arrived, a Galicia boy band was on the stage, and various local and regional artists continued to perform throughout the night.
Continuing the theme of travel, I went to visit a fellow Imac grad in Granada! Eleanor is also from Leavenworth and graduated a couple of years after I did, and she studied abroad there during the fall semester. I could not turn up an opportunity to visit Granada, as well as see someone from home! It was a wonderful weekend, and in hindsight I think I really needed to see someone from home, so I’m so glad it worked out for her to be a tour guide for a couple of days! It was warm and sunny the whole time I was there, which was a slightly nice surprise reminder that the rain is not always inevitable. Getting to walk around the grounds of the Alhambra (actual tickets were sold out, unfortunately) and seeing the different neighborhoods of the city was really neat, and it’s always so much fun to have someone show you around their favorite spots. The cathedral and the chapel of the Reyes Catolicos – Ferdinand and Isabel – was especially cool. They are really complicated and more than lightly problematic historical figures, but ones that I’ve always been interested in…seeing the chapel where they are buried and all that it signifies was really powerful.
If there has been any sense of time at all throughout this post, you’re probably wondering if October is almost over, meaning if Halloween had arrived. Yes, finally! American Halloween is slowly becoming more popular here, but the idea of costumes is still pretty new and the idea of trick-or-treating is something most of my students have only heard about from movies or others. However, there is an old celebration called Samain, and so my school celebrated both Halloween and Samain. Additionally, there is a Galician chestnut festival called Magosto (more on that in November), but my school also incorporated this into our party!
I helped put on a little trick-or-treat for the students, set up in the courtyard where the chestnuts were roasted and lots of games and activities were for their mass entertainment. It was really, really fun; they were so excited to trick or treat, and it made me realize the absolute, pure joy of simple traditions. Of course, my friends and I celebrated Halloween on the day of with a party and costumes, and that was also a good time!
some thoughts…
I started this post by mentioning that October involved some adventures outside of Pontevedra, from the surrounding area to other cities. I’m realizing that it’s so often the case for me that I need a little bit of space to really appreciate what a place means to me, and I’m so happy to realize that Pontevedra has started to feel like home (mom pls don’t freak out, this is not in a replacement way!!!). When Amanda and I returned from Porto and I saw the familiar skyline – especially the bridges – I felt that same sense of relief that I have when I see Creighton or Leavenworth. I truly am so comfortable here, and I am really grateful for that; it is a great feeling to have!
My Spanish-speaking skills are constantly evolving, and I’m at a point where I can feel my brain thinking faster than I can spit out the words…this is so frustrating, but I am trying to remember that it’s part of learning. Even though I’m not in school (for the first time in SO LONG), I am still learning and acquiring new knowledge and skills.
I will admit that as much as I enjoy school as a student, it is nice to have a different structure for the time being. Forcing myself to adjust to a new speed of life and a new scheduling structure has also reminded me to take time and relax – I don’t always have to be doing something. The River Lerez runs through Ponte and it is really pretty to walk or run along, and there are different routes and things to see. There are tons of great hiking trails throughout Galicia, sometimes related to the Camino de Santiago and other times not. Regardless, there are so many little wonders to take in, and I’m grateful for the opportunities to do so!
school
A nice tie-in to me loving school both as a student and as a teaching assistant is that I got to teach classes at my school on the American Revolution to 4th ESO, or the 16 year olds. I loved loved loved playing with different activities and getting to share more of the American perspective of the War of Independence. Of course, I teach in English and they did such a good job with it, and it was wild to see how history education comes together in a classroom setting and how it can generate really tough but really important discussions.
The week after my birthday one of my 3rd ESO classes (so 15 year olds, more or less the equivalent of high school freshmen) threw me a surprise birthday party in class. They were devastated that we didn’t have class together on my actual birthday, so they decided to all conspire and give me a little party anyway, but as a total surprise. It was so cute and it took everything I had not to cry in front of all of them – just another demonstration of why I cannot believe I am so lucky to be here!
Occasionally after school, when some teachers at the school have meetings or classes in the “afternoon” (what I consider the evening), I will grab lunch with them somewhere in Sanxenxo. It’s such a fun way to get to know them more, as well as Galician food and the town itself. On sunny days, when I find myself with a break from teaching or a longer wait for the bus, I go to the beach. My students tell me I am crazy to do this when it’s not summer, but I think that any day where it’s decent weather can be a day to visit the beach. It’s a nice 15 min walk to school to the Playa del Silgar, which is beautiful. Carving out time for myself to just be – to think, to journal, to sit – is really important for me, especially as an introvert, and this is one of my favorite places to just be with my thoughts.
I’m so glad we live in a world where there are Octobers
– L.M. Montgomery
my fulbright year 