Every year when summer is about to begin people organise a soap box derby in the streets of Ribadavia. "Carrilanas" as they are called here. A route through the town is blocked off and with a lot of clattering the soapboxes roll down the streets. The harder they crash the louder the crowd cheers because that, of course, is what they want to see!

I tried to upload a video but I didn't manage it. I would have to upgrade...sorry!

Yes, I know it is difficult to be a vegetarian in Spain. And, no, it is not impossible!

The fact that I eat neither fish nor meat does not mean I can never go out for dinner. The variety of food is simply not that big. It's true, though, in Galicia you don't find many vegetarians compared to Germany, for example. 
In Ribadavia are a couple of normal Spanish Restaurants and one Italian Restaurant. 
As typical for Spain, you can order a all kinds of tapas. They are served on big plates and everybody at the table can have a bit of everything. Mostly that's jamón (ham) and queso (cheese), ensaladilla rusa (a salad with mayonnaise and tuna), pulpo (octopus), gambas (shrimps), tortilla, ensalada (normal salad) and empanada (some kind of big pastry or pie with meat or tuna filling). Sometimes there are also croquetas or mushrooms for me. And there is always bread with it. Afterwards, the people like to drink a shot of either licor café, licor hierbas or licor créma de orujo. Everybody has a favourite. I like the herb one the most. It's quite strong but the crema one is too sweet and I don't like coffee.

Here, the people eat very late and also party very late. So dinner at 10pm is absolutely normal and if you go to  a bar or club before 1am you will probably be the only one. Therefore the night ends at six in the morning (of course I'm talking about the weekends here). Unfortunatly, there is no club to dance in Ribadavia but a lot of bars to sit and have a chat and a drink. 
I will tell you a bit more about parties and music some other time!

At home I cook for myself and I have to say, I quite enjoy it, now, that I figuered out how to use the gas stove and oven without burning down the kitchen. I find everything I need in the supermarket and I can easily cook bigger amounts and put some of it in the freezer for another day. The water from the tub is not very good but we have a well with tasty water just a few meters down the road.

Two weeks ago I've been to the famous city of Santiago de Compostela! It is the capital of Galicia and the destination of the Camino de Santiago. 
My flatmate's friend dropped me off, because he had an American Football match in Santiago and I could spend the day walking around in the beautiful parks and the famous historic old town. Santiago is very touristic. Souvernir shops, pilgrims, restaurants with traditional food, pilgrims, bars, pilgrims...but there is also a university and a couple of wonderful parks with big old trees, which I really loved (mainly because the weather was so nice and sunny with a pleasant warm wind) Outside the old town, it's rather quiet, because the tourists stay near to the cathedral.

The team of my flatmate's friend won the match so afterwards we had dinner all together.

As soon as I catch up with all the blog posts on my trips and so on of the last weeks (which actually isn't that easy because they don't get less ;) ) I will write something about food here and my work and just more general daily things that might be interesting!

On my way home from Madrid I had to stop in Valladolid for a few hours. I went to the "Campo Grande" which is a big park in Valladolid. I really enjoy wandering around in such green spots in the middle of a city. This park is famous for its peacocks. I love these gorgeous animals. They are amazingly beautiful! I have never seen one spreading its tail, though. However, on this lovely day...

I just couldn't get enough!

Photographer's heaven :)

After the week in Valladolid I went to the wonderful capital of Spain, Madrid. My aunt and uncle were visiting a friend there and I could stay at her house, as well. It was quite centrally located and so I could easily reach all the important sites of the city. 
The weather was simply splendid! 
I also visited the "Prado" one of the famous arts museums of Madrid. I owed this to my arts teacher from school, I reckon :)

When you travel alone you easily get into conversation with all different kinds of people. In Madrid I met a man in his mid-fourties on a bench. He was walking his dog and I was taking a rest. We started to talk, his English was quite good, because he has been to America for some years or so, and he told me his philosophy, how he achieved to be happy and eventually basically the whole story of his life. I couldn't quite believe it, though. It sounded made up, like in a drama or a hollywood movie. He told me he was an opera singer but has not always been one. Before, he studied in Italy, got a good job, was handsome and had a wonderful girlfriend. However, he wasn't happy, his girlfriend left him and he had to face serious problems. So he decided to start a whole new life and become an opera singer. When he was a little kid he had watched an opera and had been very impressed by the performance. He took this childish excitement and used it to fulfill his dream. And now, he sings in leading roles in the opera of Madrid and also abroad.
Sound very magical, right?
He gave me his name.
I googled him.
It is true.
He is an opera singer.

I still can't quite grasp this whole thing. It's just too fantastic...maybe, I should write a book about him!

I am a big fan of black and white fotografs. So, here you go!

From the 19th to the 14th of May I took part in a so-called "On-Arrival Seminar". It is a right and a duty for an European Volunteer to have a preparation, an on-arrival and for longer services also a mid-term seminar.
We were a group of 20 volunteers from all over Europe staying somewhere in Spain. Most of us were Italien, but also Bulgarian, Polish, Latvian, Russian, German, Danish, Egyptian and French. It was a great group of people and I enjoyed this week very very much! We had a lot of programme during the day. Things about differences, stereotypes, the EU, our insurance, language classes and much more! In the evening we played games, watched movies, went to town or did something else. We communicated in both English and Spanish because of all the different language levels.
Valladolid is the former capital of Spain. I liked the town a lot.

There also was an international theatre festival starting at the end of that week and we had the chance to see some of the great acts!

Lusco e Fuso! Very entertaining for everybody. They made a mix of comedy, dance and acrobatics. I loved it!

And Borja Ytuquepintas! A mind-blowing act with puppets, sand art and music! Unfortunately, I lost the videos...but they told a story about dreams and love and travelling the world. And all of this without saying a word. Check out their website!

On the day after visiting Ourense my friend Aranzusu and her mum took me to the beach near Vigo. It took us about 1 1/2 hours to drive there. The sun was warm but it was a little windy. I was the only idiot who went swimming :D The water was freezing but I just can't go to the beach without going swimming in the sea... Aranzusu also showed me which mussels you can eat and which ones not. Well, since I don't eat ANY seafood...nevertheless, it was interesting and I had a relaxed day :)

It is quite a while ago now but I have been to Ourense which is the next bigger town near Ribadavia. Galicia is divided into four provinces. One of them is called "Ourense" and the town "Ourense" is its capital. 
There are a lot of bridges crossing the river and the old town is quite nice, as well.

Every allergic person should have stayed at home on this sunny weekend! Because this stuff here was flying around everywhere! It was like fluffy huge snow. Beautiful for all the non-allergic people, though!

I'm very sorry that I haven't posted anything for quite a while now! It is not like there wouldn't be anything to talk about, on the contrary, I have done heaps of exciting things the last two weeks! However, unfortunately, I have serious issues with a stick of mine on which I have saved all my photos...:( 
So you have to wait until I figuered out how to fix it...
Keep your fingers crossed that someone manages to get back all those photos! And then I'll tell you about: my day at the beach, Ourense, Valladolid, Madrid, Santiago, my flatmate, my work and my progress in learning the Spanish language...