I moved to Galicia in October, to teach again for the school year and my lease ends in May. It’s a fun word to say, it sounds like the name of a person. Gah lee see ah. Galicia rests in the northwest just above Portugal. It's got beaches and the mountains, woods and fields, the best of both worlds for some. But alas, they also have a part known as the ‘death coast.’ People used to rob shipwrecks for wealth that were taken down by the rocks and waves. A lot of surfing takes place.
But Galicia is known for the rain. It is the least sunny part of Spain. It takes several days for clothes to dry. For a country without dryers, this is a real pain. There is a 50 degree (Fahrenheit) humidity blanket on us at all times. I have never seen fog so often, every single morning. I would describe Galicia as that foggy vision of treetops, rows one after the other. I love that. They are not shy to tell you how they too are affected by the weather. I have been told multiple times how the suicide rate is highest here… The lack of sun is definitely affecting me, I checked–I got that seasonal vitamin D deficiency. Before, I would’ve said Pennsylvania was rainy. It rains maybe a couple times a week, that’s what I would’ve said. It did not prepare me for the amount of precipitation. It’s Seattle (I assume) and then some. I often say to myself that even when it’s sunny, sometimes it’s still raining, which provides lots of rainbows. I’ve never seen so many in my life, but to them, it is now a mundane experience. Rain comes and goes quickly. This has fooled me on more than a couple hikes. I brought a rain jacket, but that’s nothing for the monsoon, every layer wet despair that I’ve experienced.
They speak Galician, and Spanish, and generally little English. Galician is most similar to Portuguese, instead of ‘buenos dias’ it’s ‘bo dia.’ It sounds kind of like a stereotypical "Italian" in the way of their speaking pattern, dramatic, booming. It is very different. Basically one of the most different parts is that x is the ch sound, and the Hs in Spanish turn to Fs. Galicians try to convince you it’s not that different but I would argue it is. On the bright side, they speak much more slowly than people in Madrid.
The English level is definitely different from Madrid as well. In Madrid, I would say American culture was present. You could find Americans in the street fairly regularly, usually in groups of young people. At school, I would say the high schoolers were conversational. Their teachers often studied/lived abroad for years in England or the States. Here, no shade, but the teachers often make basic mistakes. The kids are just shy of conversational, and that’s the best of them. A jarring difference is the kids don’t watch TV here, they hang out often outside or near shopping centers. I do have the unique experience of being at both a high school and an elementary which has given me a wider scope. There’s definitely more pressure, being one of the very few Americans these people may meet. I’ve only met like 2 people that could speak English that weren’t English teachers.
Galicia is known for its octopus. Don’t knock it till you try it. It's quite good. They boil it, (and honestly beat it with a stick, I think) and it’s very important to cook it correctly. They have regulations of how many and when they can be caught which makes me feel a bit better. They are a bit expensive, it’s definitely not an everyday thing. The best kind is chewy but not leathery. They also eat barnacles… from the rocks, which are carefully harvested and cooked in salty sea water which are also expensive. I haven’t had the privilege of trying them yet. I’m told I may not enjoy the texture. Zamburinas are very fancy scallops in purple shells served with herbs. They’re amazing. They’re also very into bread, as most Spainards are, there are bakeries everywhere. They even have a bread truck that stops at nearby villages. One of my favorites is pimientos de padron which are green peppers, cooked whole until almost blistering with random spicy ones.
A Coruña is one of the cities, but also the name of the region of Galicia that I live in. It’s 30 minutes by car and about an hour by bus. (I read somewhere that you can spot an American by describing distance in time between places and now I feel self conscious about it.) It has a Tower of Hercules that stands on the coast, it’s the first place I went. It has a cool interactive science museum called Domus. One of my favorite places in town is the mall, it’s called Marineda and they have an overpriced American food store and an Ikea, a movie theater, go karting, bowling, a sports store. I once saw three famous Galician women called the Tanxugueiras perform there. I do wish I had chosen to live in A Coruña as every part of me has always loved cities.
Santiago de Compostela is the other closest city. It’s located on a giant hill. The city has a cathedral with free admission. It sits at the end of the Camino de Santiago which is a really long multicountry hike all throughout Spain into France and Portugal. They call the tourists that do it ‘pilgrims.’ It has a nice park that overlooks the cathedral and the sun hits it at sunset. In that same park there’s a statue called the two Marias which are two ladies named Maria. Maria is a very popular name as you might have guessed.
Where I actually live is a city called Carballo (car bye o). I live on the end, between the highway and ‘downtown.’ My building is pink. It has a little street parking and a parking garage that costs extra so we don’t use it. I live on the first floor. It has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It also has a giant terrace, a laundry room, a kitchen and a living room. It’s huge. The worst thing about it is the heating, it’s heated by big orange propane tanks including the water. We’ve had a few problems with it, pressure, calling people to switch out the tanks every time. Humidity leads to some interesting problems in the home.
Galicia is old men at bars and dogs in the street. It's waterfalls, and hiking out to see them when it rains on you, every time. It's the end of the world to Christopher Columbus. The edge. The last sunset in Europe. It’s a beautiful place. It’s been an experience. I learned more, I grew more. I wouldn’t say it’s the place for me but I’ll keep exploring.