A couple of weeks ago I hopped on a bus at 12 midnight to join a free trip sponsored by AECI for its scholars. I was somewhat hesitating at first to sign up for it since I would need to take some six precious days off my thesis calendar (feb. 8-12). That was a decision that my heart was not prepared to make, but then again the destination was tempting enough to make me realize that hey, it's my chance. So off I went to Galicia. A Spanish region in the north facing the Atlantic Ocean and set apart from Malaga by some 16 butt-numbing hours of road travel. I'd never been to that part of Spain before, so it's a good thing I grabbed the chance!Although slots had been limited, it turned out that the size of the group was sheer, big enough to make the locals think that we were either a bunch of college kids on excursion or a busload of Japanese tourists ready to attack with our cameras at the first sight of a fountain. All in all some 150 graduate students coming from different cities in Spain got together for the event, the majority of whom were Africans and Latin Americans. The group was so big it was impossible to get to know everyone.
We spent most of the time in Sada and A Coruña but for me the real highlight of the trip was Santiago de Compostela, famous more than anything for El Camino de Santiago, which is a pilgrimage to the city's cathedral braved every year by thousands of tourists who come on foot from as far as the Netherlands. Given how lovely this UNESCO-protected city is, I might just be crazy enough one day to do the camino, which according to former pilgrims requires typically 30 days of walking!
Every corner you turn to in the old quarter of Santiago de Compostela seems to be a discovery in itself. There's always something that will fascinate you for a while: an old building, a plaza, a home-made food shop, an old-style house, a bench in the park, and yes, some nice fountains. It was nice to get lost in the narrow streets of the old quarter. Most of the old houses and buildings are well-preserved that it is possible to see the natural stone color of their facades.
During the trip, I found some really fun-loving buddies although most of the time I was drifting from one group to another. In Santiago de Compostela, and even in Sada, we often hanged out in cafes to have a taste of the local fare. The ones that really tickled my taste buds were pulpo a la gallega (octopus cuts in olive oil and paprika) and pan gallego (the local bread). Though I didn't intend to spend too much while on a free trip, I dished out a few bucks to bring home some vino de ribeiro (a regional wine, cheap but really nice) and la tarta de santiago (a local almond cake), for which I would perhaps be willing to kill just to be able to buy them again (they're not sold in Malaga!).
On the second to the last day, we missed the chartered bus that was supposed to take us back to the hotel at night, we decided to have some drinks at a bar. The place was still empty when we arrived so we had the whole bar to ourselves. Slightly inebriated, my fun-loving buddies had the bright idea of taking some "compromising" pictures with their digicams. Too bad most of these fun-loving buddies were women (sigh...). After posing for some "wild" shots, the Russian girl left our table to work up a conversation with the "handsome" waiter stationed at the bar. In the end, she earned the waiter's email address.
After the trip, AECI sent an evaluation survey by email to all the participants of the event. By the way, aside from sightseeing, the trip included a dialogue with an AECI official regarding problems with scholarship rules and a really short group discussion on international cooperation, multi-culturalism and the spirit of volunteerism. To be honest, my thesis-pulverized brain could not exactly decipher the purpose of that event except that we were pampered to our heart's desire and billeted in posh hotels. Because of that, I have purposely put off sending back the evaluation survey, lest I would be forced to tell them that the event seemed quite pointless. After all...I'd like them to pamper again the scholars next year!
