Sailing Get Together

Today we went out to some kind of party in Torre Vieja (I think). Basically, Pep's old sailing partner and the rest of their circle of sailing friends get together once a year. That once-a-year happened to fall on today.

We drove for awhile to get out the the farm/ranch/hacienda. There were a TON of people, none of whom I recognized. Basically they talked and ate and that was about it. It was interesting. There had a paella "competition." Paella is a traditional Spanish dish with rice and veggies and meat. We had some in Madrid at the orientation, but everyone says that doesn't count as real paella because the coastal zone is where the best paella is. There were 4 groups that made paellas and one that made gazpacho (a type of soup/stew). They also had a potluck dessert, which I think was a "competition" too. After everyone ate, at the end of the day, they gave out awards for the desserts and the paellas.

I got a little bored, mainly because I didn't know anyone and I felt a little out of place, since everyone else knew each other already. And since I don't know anything about sailing, a lot of the conversation didn't really make any sense to me, as such, didn't interest me. But it was still kinda fun.

The lobster one group was using to make their paella. It was still moving. I didn't take them up on their offer to hold it.

Cooking the paella (with the lobster cut up and put in).

The completed paella. Usually the rice is mixed in with the rest.

Another group and their paella.

A girl, Luis, Elena, another girl, and me. They know the girls from sailing, but since I only met them once I don't remember their names (I'm still bad with names here...lol).

Currently listening to:
Song: Do No Wrong
Artist: Thirteen Senses
Album: The Invitation

A Weekend with Joaquin

This weekend, Elena had a conference in Madrid, and Pep went with her, so Joaquin Solbes, one of my Rotary contacts, invited me to spend the weekend at his house. Which worked nicely since Friday I went to the first meeting of the Rotaract club of Alicante. It worked nicely because his daughter, Carmen, has been setting the meeting up and getting everything ready.
We went to the meeting together . The meeting was kinda dull, but then it was mostly technical stuff: when will we meet, what day, what time, what kinds of events do we want to do, etc. Sofia, my friend, had expressed an interest in joining the group and participating in the volunteer projects, so I invited her too. It was a little weird, because the rest of the group is made up of college students, and Sofia and I are the only two (that I know of) that are still in high school that joined. After the meeting, Sofia said she was planning on going to see Twilight, and invited me along. I still don't understand what all the fuss about Twilight is.

Anyway, when I got back to Joaquin's house and we were talking about everyone's plans for the next day, I found out that they fence! Both Joaquin and his son fence, although they haven't done it in years. The country club was starting a new fencing club and Joaquin was going to go. I told him about how I used to fence, so he invited me along. It was an interesting experience. In fencing, there are three types of swords: foil, epée, and saber. Each one has a different style, different scoring area, different rules, etc. Here in Spain, epée is the popular one. I learned foil. In foil, the target is the torso. In epée, it's the entire body. It'll be interesting to get used to that. Joaquin signed up two people for the course, so he'll either take me or his son, depending on who can go. I'm looking forward to it.

After fencing, we cleaned up and went to the grandparents' house for lunch, where I finally had paella, real paella. We had some at the orientation in Madrid, but everyone says that doesn't count. It was good. The paella here, not in Madrid.

The rest of the weekend, what little remained, was kinda slow. Joaquin, the son, and I played pool and some Xbox. Sunday afternoon after lunch, Joaquin took me back to my house and I got ready for another week of school.
But now I have Rotaract and fencing to look forward to.


Currently listening to:
Song: Courage Is...
Artist: The Strange Familiar
Album: You Can't Look Back