Category: Spotted Abroad

Burriana / Las Fallas / Spotted Abroad / Strolling

What’s with all the parades, fancy dresses, and fireworks?

Ever since we moved to the small Spanish city of Burriana, we have been stumbling upon longstanding cultural traditions almost every time we leave our building. Our first week here coincided with an annual festival which includes bulls running through the streets; and while I had promised myself I would never watch any bull spectacles, that resolve quickly disappeared when we needed to go to the city hall, and found bulls running in front of said hall. It was an intense week – even when we stayed home, we could hear cannons, fireworks, music, and general merrymaking from our abode.

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Spotted Abroad

You guys, seriously…

I am very bothered by how all the stamped metal eating utensils here are stamped the wrong way. They do not feel right in my hands. I’m not sure who in America decided your average cheap metal school lunchroom utensil should be concave on the back side, but clearly this is something I’ve taken for granted all my life… until I came to Spain and found every coffee spoon, fork, etc. to be concave on the front side. Is this a holdover from Franco trying to be contrary or what?   EDIT: Literally the day after I wrote this post, we went

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Food / Spotted Abroad

Un Poquito de Homesick

After a jet-lagged week of navigating a new culture, we were bound to feel little bites of homesickness nipping at our heels. I think it’s safe to say after a week of eating out (with one exquisite exception – more on that later), Doer is ready for his own kitchen again. I’m thinking about my family after learning my grandmother passed away. This wasn’t unexpected news, but it’s still very sad, and it lends a bittersweet feel to the days. Even though Spain is very different from where we’re from, we keep stumbling across strange little signs of home. On

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