All Quiet on the Western Front

Things continue in a state of calm here in Southern Spain, in the city of Cadiz.

What I have lost in freedom has been made up in tranquility, and the days glide by in classes, excursions, cultural education and endless cups of strong, delicious coffee.

Yesterday we headed down to Tarifa with the entire group of thirty five students. Tarifa is the southernmost city in Spain, and on a clear day someone with good eyes can see all the way to Morocco.

Tarifa is famous for its wind, and as a result, also for its windsurfing. This is all good and well unless you enjoy sitting on a beach. The famous winds of the Strait then become a terrible hassle, blowing sand that stings the skin and upsets the eyes. Yesterday, I fell asleep for fifteen minutes on the beach and woke to find myself half-covered in sand.

Last night we went to a Celebration of Carnaval Music here in Cadiz. Cadiz, like Rio de Janeiro, Venice and New Orleans, is famous for its Carnaval celebration, and in the week before the start of Lent, the city becomes the stage for a hedonistic, bachannalian festival. People dress up in matching costumes, drink copious amounts of all sorts of alcohol, and fill the streets with urine and vomit. The city, while filled with disgusting smells, is beautiful during Carnaval.

One of the most important aspects of the Gaditano (from Cadiz) Carnaval is the music. Groups of people, dressed in amusing costumes, sing songs of criticism, humor and protest, accompanied by drums and guitars. For one week, the air of the city is filled with the sounds of songs that have taken a year to write and practice. As soon as one year´s Carnaval ends, people begin to prepare for the next year. Events like last night are a chance for these groups to perform outside of the small February time frame normally reserved for their music.

And that is that. The students have been great, although there have been (as there always will be) a few incidents that have required discipline and seriousness...but that is to be expected. For the most part, they have been wonderful, and their presence is really what makes this job so easy and such a pleasure.

That´s it. More to come soon.