Thursday
-I finally ran again. It was like 4º Celsius and windy. It was an unenjoyable run. This winter’s gonna suck. And it might kill my determination.
-my class with my 10-11 year olds was frustrating and put me in a bad mood, as it did on Wednesday too. I’m so ready for Christmas break from these kids.
Friday
-I spent my entire day in Toledo all on my own. I went to pick up my foreigner card that lets me stay here even though my visa expires at the end of this month.
-I caught a bus to the mall in Toledo. I kinda understand the bus system but at the same time, not. Haha. It was my first time in a mall since being here. I still don’t understand how jeans are sized in this country. There is no consistency amongst stores. If you think it’s bad in the US…
-I walked a lot a lot in and was exhausted and slept on my bus ride home.
-In the evening was the Christmas dinner party for the teachers at my school. There were like 30 of us. I love how the party only started at 10 and didn’t start eating until like 11.30. And of course there was a lot of amazing food and I ate way too much.
-Afterwards we all went out dancing. Nothing like going dancing in a bar with a few 40-60 year olds, including 2 couples that are like your parents… haha. But that’s totally normal here.
Saturday
-I made Eddie watch the Polar Express, in Spanish of course. He was terrified. But really, it is an awful movie.
-In the evening we went to Cuevas to watch some fútbol. But it was a rainy ugly day so that’s really all we did all day.
Sunday
-I went to Madrid with my friend Javi to see the city all decked out for Christmas. We walked everywhere but it was a really fun day.
-I ran into one of my students and his mom on the metro. Really random. And then later, we ran into Javi’s cousin, who’s also from Quintanar. I mean, what are the chances that we’d run into people we know from our small little town twice in one day? Madrid’s huge!
-There are signs in Madrid that said in Spanish “this is New York” I was really confused. I still don’t get it. But whatever.
-We went to a Starbucks and were sitting outside and this little pig just appeared and the owners just kinda let it wander around. The boy next to us, probably about 8 or 9 years old, was super entertained by this. But as soon as the pig came near him, he like freaked out. The owner called the pig out from under our table and the kid was like “mom, I’ve never seen a pig in a restaurant before!” and he turns around to watch it wander off and do something else that caused him to say with excitement “…and I’ve never seen a pig poop before!” it was hilarious. I lost it and couldn’t stop laughing. And then the kid scampered off to check it out and him mom’s like “just don’t touch anything!”and he came back to report that it looked like a normal animal’s. it was totally the funniest thing of the day for me. And his mom was like “well now you have something to tell your friends at school.”
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
“I don’t understand you, but I love you”
Friday
-I was bored all day. Luckily my teacher friends stayed in town and I had people to hang out with in the evening.
Saturday
-I went to Villanueva, a town super close to here, with Pilar and her boyfriend Ramon to hit the outdoor market. It’s like a smaller version of the one I went to all the time in Sevilla. I got churros and they were delicious. However, they didn’t settle too well with me so as soon as we got back to Quintanar I headed home and took a nap.
Sunday
-I made lentejas for lunch. Carlos’s dad had taught me how to make them and I decided to attempt it and I succeeded. They were fantastic. For those of you who don’t know what it is, it’s a kind of soup thing with lentils, chorizo, tomato, onion, olive oil (every Spanish dish has olive oil), chicken broth, chile powder, carrot… and I think that’s it. But it’s super yummy and mine came out perfectly. So now I’m a little bit more Spanish :)
-After church my friend Kiko (Javi) came over to watch a movie, which makes him the first friend that came over to hang out and not just drop in for a minute.
Monday
-I feel like everyone around here knows everything that I do or everywhere I go. A woman that works in the school cafeteria asked me how my weekend was and specifically asked how my time was a certain place. I asked her how she knew I was there and she was like “my husband was there and told me.” I swear I’ve never met her husband… but apparently he knows who I am… I find it all hilarious.
-I met with Felipe for the first time in what felt like forever. I feel like every time we meet he has a hilarious, bizarre story to tell me. I love it. And he declared me officially Spanish. Wooo!
Tuesday
-I asked one of 3rd grade girls a question in English and she said to me in Spanish “I don’t understand you… But I love you.” Haha. It was adorable. I loved it. Hence it being the title.
-At Pilar’s we had hotdogs for dinner. And they were just like the American ones, unlike the ones I’d eaten in Sevilla. And for dessert… a brownie! Ah! Sooo gooood.
-This week the boys had me playing videogames. Something with cars and racing. They’re totally like having little brothers.
-I was bored all day. Luckily my teacher friends stayed in town and I had people to hang out with in the evening.
Saturday
-I went to Villanueva, a town super close to here, with Pilar and her boyfriend Ramon to hit the outdoor market. It’s like a smaller version of the one I went to all the time in Sevilla. I got churros and they were delicious. However, they didn’t settle too well with me so as soon as we got back to Quintanar I headed home and took a nap.
Sunday
-I made lentejas for lunch. Carlos’s dad had taught me how to make them and I decided to attempt it and I succeeded. They were fantastic. For those of you who don’t know what it is, it’s a kind of soup thing with lentils, chorizo, tomato, onion, olive oil (every Spanish dish has olive oil), chicken broth, chile powder, carrot… and I think that’s it. But it’s super yummy and mine came out perfectly. So now I’m a little bit more Spanish :)
-After church my friend Kiko (Javi) came over to watch a movie, which makes him the first friend that came over to hang out and not just drop in for a minute.
Monday
-I feel like everyone around here knows everything that I do or everywhere I go. A woman that works in the school cafeteria asked me how my weekend was and specifically asked how my time was a certain place. I asked her how she knew I was there and she was like “my husband was there and told me.” I swear I’ve never met her husband… but apparently he knows who I am… I find it all hilarious.
-I met with Felipe for the first time in what felt like forever. I feel like every time we meet he has a hilarious, bizarre story to tell me. I love it. And he declared me officially Spanish. Wooo!
Tuesday
-I asked one of 3rd grade girls a question in English and she said to me in Spanish “I don’t understand you… But I love you.” Haha. It was adorable. I loved it. Hence it being the title.
-At Pilar’s we had hotdogs for dinner. And they were just like the American ones, unlike the ones I’d eaten in Sevilla. And for dessert… a brownie! Ah! Sooo gooood.
-This week the boys had me playing videogames. Something with cars and racing. They’re totally like having little brothers.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
We are a Pineapple/ Pinecone
Friday
-I got to see the beautiful hour of 4 am and I was surprised to find a dusting of snow waiting to greet me. It wasn’t much but it was pretty.
-My bus to Madrid was me and a bunch of old Spanish men. I was literally the only passenger under the age of 50. And female.
-I discovered that I can do the Madrid metro all by myself without any problems :) successsssssss!
-At the train station in Sevilla I had two guys waiting for me: Pepe and Carlos- Abby & Amy’s boyfriends. It was fantastic to 2 quality people meeting me with great excitement. The 3 of us did coffee and breakfast and caught up.
-later Carlos and I went to Plaza España and Parque Maria Luisa. This time we didn’t get locked in. haha.
-We met Pepe and a group of his friends for tapas. I’ve never eaten so many tapas in one sitting. But I got to eat Pringa so I was super happy.
Saturday
-Because of my dumb cold I pretty much had no voice left after a full day of talking so I ended up sleeping until noon. It was fantastic
-better yet was that Carlos’s mom totally served me a little breakfast in bed. It was adorable. Carlos’s parents are both fantastic and just like my families in Quintanar, they spoiled me.
-I spent most of the day with Pepe and his friends. Pepe’s probably one of the funniest people I know and his friends are pretty hilarious too. There’s never a dull moment with that group.
-I got to watch some fútbol with the guys. For the first game we went for coffee and I think coffee and fútbol is better than beer and fútbol. And for the Madrid game we had fajitas at the one couple’s house.I got a lot of crap for being a Madrid fan. Ok, that was all weekend. And because it’s Sevilla I get it even worse for being a Ramos fan. Haha.
Sunday
-In the evening Carlos and I met with some people for a Bible study. But I had to leave before we started the actual study because we all wasted so much time talking and I had told Pepe and his friend Juan that I’d meet them to watch the Sevilla game.
-Later my friend Antonio came and joined us for another fútbol game (it was a glorious weekend filled with lots of soccer). I was pretty excited to see Antonio because I hadn’t seen him since I was last in Sevilla (unlike Pepe and Carlos who I’ve seen since) and he reminds me of one of my best friends in the US.
-I got to try some chestnuts too. They’re pretty good.
Monday
-It was a holiday in Spain, hence me still being in Sevilla. After lunch Carlos & I wandered into center city and browsed through the dozens of little book shops set up in the one plaza until Pepe came to join us.
-We went to the one international beer places and met up with more friends. I tried this amazing pineapple flavored beer. I swear it was like 99% juice. Haha. And here I had my first experience as a “sinpa” and therefore I am a little more Spanish. But it was all a mistake/miscommunication.
-Afterwards we moved on for the typical Spanish tapas and wine.
-The day ended with me, Pepe, and Carlos belting out “Hey Soul Sister” together which really made me laugh.
Tuesday
-I went shopping by myself for a little bit in the morning. And I ended up buying 2 pairs of boots. Because they were cheap and cool and I couldn’t resist. Now I’m better prepared for winter and the rain.
-Speaking of rain… it was a crappy weekend of weather. It rained Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Which is really rare for Sevilla. It sucked.
-Carlos’s dad taught me how to make lentejas. I’m really excited to try it out. It seems super easy and I love it.
-I watched part of the movie Eclipse with Carlos’s dad too. It was funny to me cuz he was all excited to watch it and I honestly found it really dumb.
-Later Carlos and I went to Triana, my old neighborhood. We stopped in to visit with Concha, my host mother and it was really good to see her again. Apparently I was the last American that she decided she’s going to host. I joked with her that “the same thing happened with my parents. After I came along they said ‘there’s no way we’re having any more’”.
-Later we met with Pepe and his friends for food and fun. It ended up being a super late night that was concluded with churros from my favorite place, just like old times. Cuz churros are best at odd hours of the night :)
Wednesday
-This morning Pepe and Carlos took me to the train station and we said our goodbyes and I headed home to Quintanar where the rain apparently followed me.
-But I had such a fun weekend visiting Sevilla -getting to see old friends again, making new ones, eating amazing food and finally fighting off this cold! Now let’s hope it stays away.
-I got to see the beautiful hour of 4 am and I was surprised to find a dusting of snow waiting to greet me. It wasn’t much but it was pretty.
-My bus to Madrid was me and a bunch of old Spanish men. I was literally the only passenger under the age of 50. And female.
-I discovered that I can do the Madrid metro all by myself without any problems :) successsssssss!
-At the train station in Sevilla I had two guys waiting for me: Pepe and Carlos- Abby & Amy’s boyfriends. It was fantastic to 2 quality people meeting me with great excitement. The 3 of us did coffee and breakfast and caught up.
-later Carlos and I went to Plaza España and Parque Maria Luisa. This time we didn’t get locked in. haha.
-We met Pepe and a group of his friends for tapas. I’ve never eaten so many tapas in one sitting. But I got to eat Pringa so I was super happy.
Saturday
-Because of my dumb cold I pretty much had no voice left after a full day of talking so I ended up sleeping until noon. It was fantastic
-better yet was that Carlos’s mom totally served me a little breakfast in bed. It was adorable. Carlos’s parents are both fantastic and just like my families in Quintanar, they spoiled me.
-I spent most of the day with Pepe and his friends. Pepe’s probably one of the funniest people I know and his friends are pretty hilarious too. There’s never a dull moment with that group.
-I got to watch some fútbol with the guys. For the first game we went for coffee and I think coffee and fútbol is better than beer and fútbol. And for the Madrid game we had fajitas at the one couple’s house.I got a lot of crap for being a Madrid fan. Ok, that was all weekend. And because it’s Sevilla I get it even worse for being a Ramos fan. Haha.
Sunday
-In the evening Carlos and I met with some people for a Bible study. But I had to leave before we started the actual study because we all wasted so much time talking and I had told Pepe and his friend Juan that I’d meet them to watch the Sevilla game.
-Later my friend Antonio came and joined us for another fútbol game (it was a glorious weekend filled with lots of soccer). I was pretty excited to see Antonio because I hadn’t seen him since I was last in Sevilla (unlike Pepe and Carlos who I’ve seen since) and he reminds me of one of my best friends in the US.
-I got to try some chestnuts too. They’re pretty good.
Monday
-It was a holiday in Spain, hence me still being in Sevilla. After lunch Carlos & I wandered into center city and browsed through the dozens of little book shops set up in the one plaza until Pepe came to join us.
-We went to the one international beer places and met up with more friends. I tried this amazing pineapple flavored beer. I swear it was like 99% juice. Haha. And here I had my first experience as a “sinpa” and therefore I am a little more Spanish. But it was all a mistake/miscommunication.
-Afterwards we moved on for the typical Spanish tapas and wine.
-The day ended with me, Pepe, and Carlos belting out “Hey Soul Sister” together which really made me laugh.
Tuesday
-I went shopping by myself for a little bit in the morning. And I ended up buying 2 pairs of boots. Because they were cheap and cool and I couldn’t resist. Now I’m better prepared for winter and the rain.
-Speaking of rain… it was a crappy weekend of weather. It rained Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Which is really rare for Sevilla. It sucked.
-Carlos’s dad taught me how to make lentejas. I’m really excited to try it out. It seems super easy and I love it.
-I watched part of the movie Eclipse with Carlos’s dad too. It was funny to me cuz he was all excited to watch it and I honestly found it really dumb.
-Later Carlos and I went to Triana, my old neighborhood. We stopped in to visit with Concha, my host mother and it was really good to see her again. Apparently I was the last American that she decided she’s going to host. I joked with her that “the same thing happened with my parents. After I came along they said ‘there’s no way we’re having any more’”.
-Later we met with Pepe and his friends for food and fun. It ended up being a super late night that was concluded with churros from my favorite place, just like old times. Cuz churros are best at odd hours of the night :)
Wednesday
-This morning Pepe and Carlos took me to the train station and we said our goodbyes and I headed home to Quintanar where the rain apparently followed me.
-But I had such a fun weekend visiting Sevilla -getting to see old friends again, making new ones, eating amazing food and finally fighting off this cold! Now let’s hope it stays away.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
A Friend of my Ancestors
Saturday
-the only time I left the house was to go watch the Atleti game at Cuevas, our favorite place.
-Pilar and her boyfriend met us there afterwards and we hung out with them. Her boyfriend was kinda really weird but in the funniest of ways. And they’re probably the shortest couple I’ve ever met. It was cute.
Sunday
-I went to Pilar’s mom’s 74th birthday party at the family’s house out in the country. It was a lot of fun. It was me and like her whole family, yet I wasn’t the only American. One of Pilar’s nephews is dating a girl from Cali (seriously, 95% of the other Americans I meet here are from CA). But this family is funny and like all families, a little crazy and they all treated me as if I was another member of the family. Being with them helped make my Thanksgiving weekend a little bit more complete.
-Of course the food at this party was good too. They made lamb in this huge pan thing over a fire and then they brought it in, put it in the middle of the floor and we all stood around it and just dug in with our forks. I loved it.
-I made it back in time to go to church. This church actually doesn’t have a pastor, so each week a different pastor from one of the nearby towns will come. This week the pastor was actually from Ecuador but he lives in Spain now.
Monday
-I got my 2nd package! This time from the family.
-Felipe and I met for coffee like normal. Just that this time there was a birthday party of one of my students there too. One of my students spotted me, told all the others and soon we were surrounded by 10-15 of my 2nd grade students just starring at us saying hello. It was totally like we were on exhibit in a museum. Thankful the owner came over and chased them off. But yeah, I’m totally a celebrity in this town.
-That’s all. Nothing else happened on Monday. At least as far as I’m concerned.
Tuesday
-Dinner at Pilar’s was funny. The boys (like most kids) were giving their parents a hard time and calling them old: “Shannon, when did your ancestors leave Switzerland?” Javi, “1717” Me “oh, so Mom, were you friends with them?” Javi.
Wednesday
-I didn’t sleep very much because I couldn’t stop coughing. It was awful. I was super frustrated. So I went into school late so I could sleep a little extra. I feel mostly fine during the day, a little coughing here and there but nothing terrible. But at night it just gets like 130 times worse.
-Apparently I’ve got some bullies in my afternoon class of 10 &11 year olds. I’m totally kicking them out if it continues.
-I love going to Manuel and Ana’s because every time they have something new for me to try. This time was this Swedish dessert wine that you drink warm. It was sooooo good. Just like a cider.
-the only time I left the house was to go watch the Atleti game at Cuevas, our favorite place.
-Pilar and her boyfriend met us there afterwards and we hung out with them. Her boyfriend was kinda really weird but in the funniest of ways. And they’re probably the shortest couple I’ve ever met. It was cute.
Sunday
-I went to Pilar’s mom’s 74th birthday party at the family’s house out in the country. It was a lot of fun. It was me and like her whole family, yet I wasn’t the only American. One of Pilar’s nephews is dating a girl from Cali (seriously, 95% of the other Americans I meet here are from CA). But this family is funny and like all families, a little crazy and they all treated me as if I was another member of the family. Being with them helped make my Thanksgiving weekend a little bit more complete.
-Of course the food at this party was good too. They made lamb in this huge pan thing over a fire and then they brought it in, put it in the middle of the floor and we all stood around it and just dug in with our forks. I loved it.
-I made it back in time to go to church. This church actually doesn’t have a pastor, so each week a different pastor from one of the nearby towns will come. This week the pastor was actually from Ecuador but he lives in Spain now.
Monday
-I got my 2nd package! This time from the family.
-Felipe and I met for coffee like normal. Just that this time there was a birthday party of one of my students there too. One of my students spotted me, told all the others and soon we were surrounded by 10-15 of my 2nd grade students just starring at us saying hello. It was totally like we were on exhibit in a museum. Thankful the owner came over and chased them off. But yeah, I’m totally a celebrity in this town.
-That’s all. Nothing else happened on Monday. At least as far as I’m concerned.
Tuesday
-Dinner at Pilar’s was funny. The boys (like most kids) were giving their parents a hard time and calling them old: “Shannon, when did your ancestors leave Switzerland?” Javi, “1717” Me “oh, so Mom, were you friends with them?” Javi.
Wednesday
-I didn’t sleep very much because I couldn’t stop coughing. It was awful. I was super frustrated. So I went into school late so I could sleep a little extra. I feel mostly fine during the day, a little coughing here and there but nothing terrible. But at night it just gets like 130 times worse.
-Apparently I’ve got some bullies in my afternoon class of 10 &11 year olds. I’m totally kicking them out if it continues.
-I love going to Manuel and Ana’s because every time they have something new for me to try. This time was this Swedish dessert wine that you drink warm. It was sooooo good. Just like a cider.
Friday, November 26, 2010
"...Just like my underwear!"
Monday
-I went over to Cristina and Manolo’s for dinner again. The provided me with lots of Spanish ham because they know I love it. I also love how their 2 boys waited to go to bed until after I got there so they could say hi and give me a kiss goodnight. Too cute.
Tuesday
-In conversation with Pilar’s son Carlos and his friend Daniel, we created the boy, fútbol playing version of me on their play station. It was hilarious. And the title of this entry comes from part of the conversation with them. Apparently my nickname Shanno is similar to a brand of underwear over here.
Wednesday
-in my gym classes with the 4th graders, Paco tried to teach them a dance. In the first group, all of the boys were too embarrassed to dance. In the 2nd group, the boys danced better than the girls. The one kid did a perfect robot. It was hilarious and totally unexpected. Both classes were very entertaining though.
-My afternoon classes actually went well. I did various things for Thanksgiving with the kids.
Thursday
-I had a productive morning. I did some grocery shopping, did some laundry, I bought a cactus (and its name is Peter- after my dear friend Peter Knotts who is in Korea teaching too and who has a plant named for me, so I had to return the honor), and I went for an 8 mile run (not bad for not running in 2 weeks).
-It was weird not being around to celebrate Thanksgiving since it’s like my favorite holiday. I wouldn’t have known it wasn’t an average day if it wasn’t for everyone’s Facebook statuses.
-My class with the 10-11 years olds was a little frustrating, but not awful. I don’t think they understand how that Thanksgiving is actually an important day in the US. Here there’s all this hype about Halloween and nothing even mentioned about Thanksgiving and it’s hard to communicate to them the importance of it.
Friday
-Eddie and I attempted to have our own Thanksgiving. I was inspired on Thursday and went out and bought a bunch of stuff and insisted that we could do it. We had green bean casserole, stuffing and turkey burgers. Because turkey is hard to find here and probably expensive if you do find it. And turkey-chicken burgers were the only turkey product I could find in the grocery store. But it was totally a success. Took us longer than we expected, but it came out good. We were pleased.
-I went to see the 6th grade girls basketball game because one of the girls invited me. She’s actually not one of my students but she’s super sweet and always talks to me after and outside of school. And all the kids that were there were super excited to see me there. It was cute. However, the team lost.
-I went over to Cristina and Manolo’s for dinner again. The provided me with lots of Spanish ham because they know I love it. I also love how their 2 boys waited to go to bed until after I got there so they could say hi and give me a kiss goodnight. Too cute.
Tuesday
-In conversation with Pilar’s son Carlos and his friend Daniel, we created the boy, fútbol playing version of me on their play station. It was hilarious. And the title of this entry comes from part of the conversation with them. Apparently my nickname Shanno is similar to a brand of underwear over here.
Wednesday
-in my gym classes with the 4th graders, Paco tried to teach them a dance. In the first group, all of the boys were too embarrassed to dance. In the 2nd group, the boys danced better than the girls. The one kid did a perfect robot. It was hilarious and totally unexpected. Both classes were very entertaining though.
-My afternoon classes actually went well. I did various things for Thanksgiving with the kids.
Thursday
-I had a productive morning. I did some grocery shopping, did some laundry, I bought a cactus (and its name is Peter- after my dear friend Peter Knotts who is in Korea teaching too and who has a plant named for me, so I had to return the honor), and I went for an 8 mile run (not bad for not running in 2 weeks).
-It was weird not being around to celebrate Thanksgiving since it’s like my favorite holiday. I wouldn’t have known it wasn’t an average day if it wasn’t for everyone’s Facebook statuses.
-My class with the 10-11 years olds was a little frustrating, but not awful. I don’t think they understand how that Thanksgiving is actually an important day in the US. Here there’s all this hype about Halloween and nothing even mentioned about Thanksgiving and it’s hard to communicate to them the importance of it.
Friday
-Eddie and I attempted to have our own Thanksgiving. I was inspired on Thursday and went out and bought a bunch of stuff and insisted that we could do it. We had green bean casserole, stuffing and turkey burgers. Because turkey is hard to find here and probably expensive if you do find it. And turkey-chicken burgers were the only turkey product I could find in the grocery store. But it was totally a success. Took us longer than we expected, but it came out good. We were pleased.
-I went to see the 6th grade girls basketball game because one of the girls invited me. She’s actually not one of my students but she’s super sweet and always talks to me after and outside of school. And all the kids that were there were super excited to see me there. It was cute. However, the team lost.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Piden que los niños viajen solos
Last week went decent except that I’ve been fighting a cold the whole time. And therefore I haven’t run in what feels like forever. Hopefully I can be back at it this week. My Wednesday classes were frustrating like usual, however Thursday’s went better. My little fan club is still going and still adorable. Little Jorge asked me this week “cómo se dice ‘amor’ en ingles?” which means “how do you say ‘love’ in English?” haha. Too cute.
On Thursday night Eddie and I got together with some of the teachers from his school like usual. They made me try pig ear. It wasn’t too bad actually. The cartilage part was kinda gross, but the other parts were alright. And I’m officially friends with the owner of the restaurant/bar that we always go to with the teachers. I ran into him in our building because he lives on the first floor and he said that if we ever need anything we can ask him and his family. I love how basically everyone I’ve met in this town says that, and I feel like they all really mean it. And then later we made the connection that he lives directly below us and therefore it was his patio that my pants fell on. Now if it happens again, I won’t be so embarrassed.
On Friday I wanted to travel to one of the nearby towns but it was rainy and crappy weather so I opted not to. However I did finally open a bank account here. Woo-hoo. In the evening Eddie and I went to hang out with Felipe and his friends and they were a lot of fun. They said they’re going to make me as Spanish as possible by the time I leave.
Saturday Eddie and I went on a random trip to Madrid with Felipe. We went to a Mexican celebration in the one Plaza, got some good food and met up with Felipe’s Mexican friend, Antonio, who was pretty funny. Later the 2 of them and I caught the metro to another part of the city and Eddie went to meet up with one of his friends. We went for food and a beer and then off we went to an Arcade Fire concert. Antonio’s girlfriend was supposed to go but she had to back out so they gave me her ticket. It was a lot of fun. They’re this group of 8 Americans/Canadians who like all change instruments for different songs. I only recognized one of their songs but they had a really good show. I was really impressed. And this was a huge show. There were at least 15,000 people there. And I love that I was one of few that understood every word they said between songs. Haha. After the concert we hung out a bit before going to Felipe’s girlfriend’s family’s house where we spent the night. But yeah, it was a really fun, rather random weekend. I loved it. However, because of the concert, I had to miss the Madrid game and of course this is the game where my Ramos scores… Thank goodness for news programs that care to show highlights.
On Thursday night Eddie and I got together with some of the teachers from his school like usual. They made me try pig ear. It wasn’t too bad actually. The cartilage part was kinda gross, but the other parts were alright. And I’m officially friends with the owner of the restaurant/bar that we always go to with the teachers. I ran into him in our building because he lives on the first floor and he said that if we ever need anything we can ask him and his family. I love how basically everyone I’ve met in this town says that, and I feel like they all really mean it. And then later we made the connection that he lives directly below us and therefore it was his patio that my pants fell on. Now if it happens again, I won’t be so embarrassed.
On Friday I wanted to travel to one of the nearby towns but it was rainy and crappy weather so I opted not to. However I did finally open a bank account here. Woo-hoo. In the evening Eddie and I went to hang out with Felipe and his friends and they were a lot of fun. They said they’re going to make me as Spanish as possible by the time I leave.
Saturday Eddie and I went on a random trip to Madrid with Felipe. We went to a Mexican celebration in the one Plaza, got some good food and met up with Felipe’s Mexican friend, Antonio, who was pretty funny. Later the 2 of them and I caught the metro to another part of the city and Eddie went to meet up with one of his friends. We went for food and a beer and then off we went to an Arcade Fire concert. Antonio’s girlfriend was supposed to go but she had to back out so they gave me her ticket. It was a lot of fun. They’re this group of 8 Americans/Canadians who like all change instruments for different songs. I only recognized one of their songs but they had a really good show. I was really impressed. And this was a huge show. There were at least 15,000 people there. And I love that I was one of few that understood every word they said between songs. Haha. After the concert we hung out a bit before going to Felipe’s girlfriend’s family’s house where we spent the night. But yeah, it was a really fun, rather random weekend. I loved it. However, because of the concert, I had to miss the Madrid game and of course this is the game where my Ramos scores… Thank goodness for news programs that care to show highlights.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Que Vida la Mia
Saturday-
-Pilar and I went to a nearby town to try to go to their outside market but because it’s some town holiday thing they didn’t have it. But I got to see some other small towns around here.
-We stopped at a cheese shop (La Mancha region is known for its cheese) and I was exploring the store and whatnot and I discovered a picture of Iker Casillas at that exact cheese shop with the owner. So I’ve officially been to the same tiny cheese store in a random tiny town in La Mancha as THE Iker Casillas. Pretty sweet, right? I think so.
-Back in Quintanar, we got some churros and I bought a quality magazine with some quality stuff on Sergio Ramos. Quite possibly the best 3 euros I’ve ever spent.
-In the evening Eddie and I went to his favorite restaurant/bar place to watch some soccer. We kinda made friends with this hilarious group of college kids sitting next to us.
Sunday-
-There was a big race here in town today. The 30th year for it and it’s apparently a big deal. People from all over the world come to run in it. Like there were people from various African countries, South America…
-Pilar, the principal, had been asked to help translate for those that didn’t know Spanish but spoke English and she had asked if I’d come along and help her. So I went with her and her husband. It was pretty great. The weather was crappy- cold and overcast with random drizzle. But being around so many runners was fantastic. And I got to hang out in the VIP section with the mayor.
-And I got to meet the one guy who apparently won the European Championship for different running stuff. I’m told he’s a big deal in Spain. I heard someone say “Philadelphia” and I look over to see the mayor pointing me out to this champion runner. I’m telling you, being American in this town is synonymous with being famous. It cracks me up.
-We went through most of the afternoon not being needed for translating until the very end. The most important race of the day. The press wanted to do an interview with the top 3 and at least one of them didn’t speak Spanish. So we go and they tell us what to do and we’re both getting kinda nervous. And then they freakin’ make us get on stage and they wanted us to translate in front of all of these people and cameras and stuff that would end up on the Castilla-La Mancha channel. We were both kinda like “what?!” They ask the guy a question and then it turns out he doesn’t speak English or Spanish. Haha. So they couldn’t do the interview. So we lucked out.
-But when I got on stage and they were trying to set stuff up for this interview and I turn to this big deal Spanish runner and was like “this life I live… how do I get myself into these things?” and he just laughed at me and was like “you speak decent Spanish right? You’ll be fine” But the whole thing was random and hilarious. Thank goodness I didn’t have to translate in front of those hundreds of people that would then be put on TV… But the whole race thing was broadcasted on the Teledeporte channel which is probably like the Spanish ESPN, for the whole nation to see so I probably ended up on TV since I was hanging out in the VIP section next to the stage all day.
-I walked away from all of this with a bag full of free chocolate. Like 2 months supply for a normal person.
-Afterwards, I went out for Chinese food with Pilar’s family. I feel like I ended up talking most of the meal because they were asking me questions about being Protestant/Evangelical. Whenever people here find out that I’m not Catholic, they always ask me a bunch of questions. I feel like I’m always talking about religion here. It’s interesting. And then later we talked about homelessness, so we had some pretty heavy/deep conversation over lunch and I loved it.
-oh, and I had fried ice-cream. It's soooo good.
-Pilar and I went to a nearby town to try to go to their outside market but because it’s some town holiday thing they didn’t have it. But I got to see some other small towns around here.
-We stopped at a cheese shop (La Mancha region is known for its cheese) and I was exploring the store and whatnot and I discovered a picture of Iker Casillas at that exact cheese shop with the owner. So I’ve officially been to the same tiny cheese store in a random tiny town in La Mancha as THE Iker Casillas. Pretty sweet, right? I think so.
-Back in Quintanar, we got some churros and I bought a quality magazine with some quality stuff on Sergio Ramos. Quite possibly the best 3 euros I’ve ever spent.
-In the evening Eddie and I went to his favorite restaurant/bar place to watch some soccer. We kinda made friends with this hilarious group of college kids sitting next to us.
Sunday-
-There was a big race here in town today. The 30th year for it and it’s apparently a big deal. People from all over the world come to run in it. Like there were people from various African countries, South America…
-Pilar, the principal, had been asked to help translate for those that didn’t know Spanish but spoke English and she had asked if I’d come along and help her. So I went with her and her husband. It was pretty great. The weather was crappy- cold and overcast with random drizzle. But being around so many runners was fantastic. And I got to hang out in the VIP section with the mayor.
-And I got to meet the one guy who apparently won the European Championship for different running stuff. I’m told he’s a big deal in Spain. I heard someone say “Philadelphia” and I look over to see the mayor pointing me out to this champion runner. I’m telling you, being American in this town is synonymous with being famous. It cracks me up.
-We went through most of the afternoon not being needed for translating until the very end. The most important race of the day. The press wanted to do an interview with the top 3 and at least one of them didn’t speak Spanish. So we go and they tell us what to do and we’re both getting kinda nervous. And then they freakin’ make us get on stage and they wanted us to translate in front of all of these people and cameras and stuff that would end up on the Castilla-La Mancha channel. We were both kinda like “what?!” They ask the guy a question and then it turns out he doesn’t speak English or Spanish. Haha. So they couldn’t do the interview. So we lucked out.
-But when I got on stage and they were trying to set stuff up for this interview and I turn to this big deal Spanish runner and was like “this life I live… how do I get myself into these things?” and he just laughed at me and was like “you speak decent Spanish right? You’ll be fine” But the whole thing was random and hilarious. Thank goodness I didn’t have to translate in front of those hundreds of people that would then be put on TV… But the whole race thing was broadcasted on the Teledeporte channel which is probably like the Spanish ESPN, for the whole nation to see so I probably ended up on TV since I was hanging out in the VIP section next to the stage all day.
-I walked away from all of this with a bag full of free chocolate. Like 2 months supply for a normal person.
-Afterwards, I went out for Chinese food with Pilar’s family. I feel like I ended up talking most of the meal because they were asking me questions about being Protestant/Evangelical. Whenever people here find out that I’m not Catholic, they always ask me a bunch of questions. I feel like I’m always talking about religion here. It’s interesting. And then later we talked about homelessness, so we had some pretty heavy/deep conversation over lunch and I loved it.
-oh, and I had fried ice-cream. It's soooo good.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Eating Swordfish with Frodo
Monday-
After my class with the adults, I was invited for dinner and Cristina and Manolo’s house. They’re in my class and I have both of their sons during my day classes. They’re a great family- super nice. Although Cristina is set on making me try brain sometime… But they apparently have a pomegranate tree. How awesome is that? So they cracked one open for me. It wasn’t as sweet as the ones in the US but it was still good. And she gave me two to take home. Apparently they usually get more than the family themselves can eat so they give them away. Cristina said this year they will give them to me. Haha. I love it.
Tuesday-
It rained. And then it was really really windy and therefore cold. I went for a run and it went great on the way there. Then on the way back… against the wind… it was a lot of work. The rest of my day was pretty typical. In the evening I went to Pilar’s. I spent the first hour working with her youngest son and the daughter of another teacher Pilar. They’re both like 13 and conversation went well. The 2nd hour was with the oldest son and his best friend. Who it actually turns out is the younger brother of one of the girls I met through Isabel. I love that I’m connecting people in this town, because they all are connected some way or other. Afterwards we had dinner. We totally had swordfish, which I absolutely love. I fell in love with it back in Sevilla, so when I found out that’s what we were having, I got quite excited. But this family is quite hilarious, like I always seem to laugh a lot with them. The boys are really funny and the youngest one, totally looks like Frodo and the father kept making Lord of the Rings references and kinda making fun of him.
Wednesday-
I got my first package. It was from the Post High/LOFT group. I picked it up at 8.30 am and had to carry the box around with me all day, literally all over town, until like 11.30 pm. And it was quite the big box filled with all sorts of goodies from the US. I let Estefania try a Reese’s because she’s never had peanut butter before. Unlike most Spanish, she actually liked it.
Thursday-
We had to go back to Toledo for our NIE, which is a number that like overrides my visa and lets me stay here legally even after my visa expires. Something like that. This time our posse was me, Eddie, Casey and Natalia. She works at the high school in Quintanar but lives in Alcazar, a town 20 km away. So it was me and 3 kids from Cali. The 4 of us had a lot of fun together. We talked the whole bus ride, grabbed some coffee and pastries and then met up with a bunch more Americans to get our fingerprints done. I actually met 2 people from Lansdale. Finally! People from the east coast! And the Philly area yet at that! After all the important stuff, the 4 of us went to lunch at what I think is now like our little place in Toledo before catching the bus back. It was a nice day with tons of laughter. For dinner I went over to Pilar’s house (the 27 year old, not the principal) with some of the other teachers. There were 9 of us. Food was great but I was very lost in the conversations because there was too much going on at one time that I couldn’t follow it. I’m good with a group half the size, but this time was overwhelming and therefore not much fun for me. We ended the night playing a board game and I had more fun as conversation was channeled to mostly one person talking at a time.
After my class with the adults, I was invited for dinner and Cristina and Manolo’s house. They’re in my class and I have both of their sons during my day classes. They’re a great family- super nice. Although Cristina is set on making me try brain sometime… But they apparently have a pomegranate tree. How awesome is that? So they cracked one open for me. It wasn’t as sweet as the ones in the US but it was still good. And she gave me two to take home. Apparently they usually get more than the family themselves can eat so they give them away. Cristina said this year they will give them to me. Haha. I love it.
Tuesday-
It rained. And then it was really really windy and therefore cold. I went for a run and it went great on the way there. Then on the way back… against the wind… it was a lot of work. The rest of my day was pretty typical. In the evening I went to Pilar’s. I spent the first hour working with her youngest son and the daughter of another teacher Pilar. They’re both like 13 and conversation went well. The 2nd hour was with the oldest son and his best friend. Who it actually turns out is the younger brother of one of the girls I met through Isabel. I love that I’m connecting people in this town, because they all are connected some way or other. Afterwards we had dinner. We totally had swordfish, which I absolutely love. I fell in love with it back in Sevilla, so when I found out that’s what we were having, I got quite excited. But this family is quite hilarious, like I always seem to laugh a lot with them. The boys are really funny and the youngest one, totally looks like Frodo and the father kept making Lord of the Rings references and kinda making fun of him.
Wednesday-
I got my first package. It was from the Post High/LOFT group. I picked it up at 8.30 am and had to carry the box around with me all day, literally all over town, until like 11.30 pm. And it was quite the big box filled with all sorts of goodies from the US. I let Estefania try a Reese’s because she’s never had peanut butter before. Unlike most Spanish, she actually liked it.
Thursday-
We had to go back to Toledo for our NIE, which is a number that like overrides my visa and lets me stay here legally even after my visa expires. Something like that. This time our posse was me, Eddie, Casey and Natalia. She works at the high school in Quintanar but lives in Alcazar, a town 20 km away. So it was me and 3 kids from Cali. The 4 of us had a lot of fun together. We talked the whole bus ride, grabbed some coffee and pastries and then met up with a bunch more Americans to get our fingerprints done. I actually met 2 people from Lansdale. Finally! People from the east coast! And the Philly area yet at that! After all the important stuff, the 4 of us went to lunch at what I think is now like our little place in Toledo before catching the bus back. It was a nice day with tons of laughter. For dinner I went over to Pilar’s house (the 27 year old, not the principal) with some of the other teachers. There were 9 of us. Food was great but I was very lost in the conversations because there was too much going on at one time that I couldn’t follow it. I’m good with a group half the size, but this time was overwhelming and therefore not much fun for me. We ended the night playing a board game and I had more fun as conversation was channeled to mostly one person talking at a time.
Monday, November 8, 2010
A Clash in the Piso
This weekend I stayed in Quintanar and had a very calm, rather boring weekend. However I got my first paycheck, which is always exciting. And today I got my health care card, so I officially have health care. Woo-hoo!
Yesterday I went to the Evangelical church I heard about. It was different from what I’m used to because there were only 12 of us. But I loved it. It was simple and very personal. It's kinda what I imagine the early churches were like. I got to meet everyone and they were all like “we were looking for you last weekend” but I explained that I was travelling. But everyone was just so kind and welcoming, it was fantastic. I think they liked me because they already were trying to set me up with the one guy’s sons. And Felipe’s mom said she’s going to invite me to play Rummicube with her and her friends sometime. And the pastor would randomly use me for examples in the sermon (we were looking at James 2 and talking about not showing favoritism, so he would said about not treating an American different from a Moroccan and stuff like that). So yeah, I think I’ll go back :)
Afterwards, Eddie and I went to the bar to watch the Madrid derby. This was a big deal for us because I’m a Real Madrid fan while he’s an Atleti Madrid fan and they were playing each other… Therefore when it comes to fútbol, there's quite the clash (we like opposite teams and Esther hates the sport haha). Lucky for me, my team ended up winning 2-0. Yay :) But it was expected... We ran into Isabel (Manuel’s oldest daughter) and her friend Alba. Both girls are fantastic. Alba is this energetic, always happy 17 or 18 year old that’s probably friends with everyone.
Today was back to school and it was a good day. The kids were crazy in the cafeteria after school. More so than usual. I think it’s the weather (storms are apparently coming). But there’s this one 4 year old boy that’s normally pretty wild and has a guy that works with him to give him the one-on-one that he needs, but Javier just got a job at another school this week. But this kid was crying and having a fit about something and they couldn’t get him to staying sitting. So as I was walking by I put my stuff down, put him in the chair, sat next to him and started rubbing his back and then he was fine. But this kid makes me sad. I don’t think he comes from a very good family where he gets the attention he really needs or something. He's got behavioral problems and his younger sister is 3 and she has yet to start talking. I don’t know. He particularly broke my heart today.
Yesterday I went to the Evangelical church I heard about. It was different from what I’m used to because there were only 12 of us. But I loved it. It was simple and very personal. It's kinda what I imagine the early churches were like. I got to meet everyone and they were all like “we were looking for you last weekend” but I explained that I was travelling. But everyone was just so kind and welcoming, it was fantastic. I think they liked me because they already were trying to set me up with the one guy’s sons. And Felipe’s mom said she’s going to invite me to play Rummicube with her and her friends sometime. And the pastor would randomly use me for examples in the sermon (we were looking at James 2 and talking about not showing favoritism, so he would said about not treating an American different from a Moroccan and stuff like that). So yeah, I think I’ll go back :)
Afterwards, Eddie and I went to the bar to watch the Madrid derby. This was a big deal for us because I’m a Real Madrid fan while he’s an Atleti Madrid fan and they were playing each other… Therefore when it comes to fútbol, there's quite the clash (we like opposite teams and Esther hates the sport haha). Lucky for me, my team ended up winning 2-0. Yay :) But it was expected... We ran into Isabel (Manuel’s oldest daughter) and her friend Alba. Both girls are fantastic. Alba is this energetic, always happy 17 or 18 year old that’s probably friends with everyone.
Today was back to school and it was a good day. The kids were crazy in the cafeteria after school. More so than usual. I think it’s the weather (storms are apparently coming). But there’s this one 4 year old boy that’s normally pretty wild and has a guy that works with him to give him the one-on-one that he needs, but Javier just got a job at another school this week. But this kid was crying and having a fit about something and they couldn’t get him to staying sitting. So as I was walking by I put my stuff down, put him in the chair, sat next to him and started rubbing his back and then he was fine. But this kid makes me sad. I don’t think he comes from a very good family where he gets the attention he really needs or something. He's got behavioral problems and his younger sister is 3 and she has yet to start talking. I don’t know. He particularly broke my heart today.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Meeting Fernando Torres in Albacete
Thursday
-In the evening Eddie and I went over to Alvaro’s piso. He’s one of the teachers at Eddie’s school and he invited us over for some party he was having. And let me tell you, it was A LOT of fun. There were like 15 of us and the one guy was playing the guitar and everyone else was singing all these popular Spanish songs. I only knew one. But the guy would randomly play English songs for me and Eddie to sing to everyone. Very entertaining.
Friday
-I went to school to help out with the Halloween party thing. I borrowed a costume from Pilar and half the people didn’t recognize me until they were like right next to me
-Miguel Angel, one of the teachers, had invited me to go to his hometown to spend the weekend with him and his girlfriend Carmen. So I met up with him in the evening and then off we went to La Roda and then Chinchilla, like an hour away.
-That night I was feeling like crap. I had a stuffy nose and just felt awful. But they took good care of me, made me some Cola Cao and gave me some drugs and sent me off to bed early.
Saturday
-I felt a little better in the morning. We met up with M.A’s sister and brother in law for coffee.
-For lunch we all gathered at M.A’s parents’ house. We had homemade PAELLA so I was super happy. But there was soooo much food. It was amazing how much food I packed away.
-in the evening we went to M.A’s best friend’s house for dinner. They had the cutest little 1 yr old daughter.
-and once again, they fed me well after I told them to stop giving me food.
Sunday
-I woke up feeling almost completely better. Carmen took me for a tour of the town of Chinchilla (yes, like the animal) and oh.my.goodness. it’s quite possibly the cutest town I’ve ever seen. If you come to visit me, I’ll probably try to take you there :)
-For lunch Celia and her Javi came over. We had amazing salmon meatball over mashed potatoes. Once again, a boat load of food. Pilar came over afterwards and we all ended up playing a board game. It was funny but I was limited as a player.
- that night they brought over Carmen’s sister’s dog. And I fell in love. It was one of the cutest dogs ever. And she loved me too. It was fantastic. I want to kidnap her and bring her home. She would come willingly.
Monday
-It’s a holiday in Spain (All Saints Day) so we didn’t have to be in Quintanar. Since it was actually not raining, we went to Albacete- the biggest city nearby. It’s a modern city, lacking the historical stuff that most other Spanish cities have but a nice city nevertheless.
-they took me for lunch at an American restaurant. At first I wasn’t really looking forward to it. I haven’t really craved any food from home yet, but the closer we got, the more I started to crave a hamburger. Like a real one. Made from beef. But holy frick. The amount of food I consumed was unreal. Like, it’s a good 10 hours later and I still don’t want to even think about eating in the near future. Actually, all the food I ate in this weekend alone is more than any normal person should eat in a week. Seriously, it was bad.
-but on our way to lunch, I got to meet Fernando Torres. Sadly, not the beautiful Spanish fútbol player but M.A’s friend with the same name. Sorry for the let down/fake out.
-After Albacete we went back to Chinchilla to get our things. And on the way to the piso we stopped at the castle. That’s right. Not only is the city super cute and charming, but it has a freakin’ castle.
-But yeah, that’s pretty much the highlights of my weekend. I tried to keep it short. I’ll try to post pictures later. If not here, definitely on Facebook.
-In the evening Eddie and I went over to Alvaro’s piso. He’s one of the teachers at Eddie’s school and he invited us over for some party he was having. And let me tell you, it was A LOT of fun. There were like 15 of us and the one guy was playing the guitar and everyone else was singing all these popular Spanish songs. I only knew one. But the guy would randomly play English songs for me and Eddie to sing to everyone. Very entertaining.
Friday
-I went to school to help out with the Halloween party thing. I borrowed a costume from Pilar and half the people didn’t recognize me until they were like right next to me
-Miguel Angel, one of the teachers, had invited me to go to his hometown to spend the weekend with him and his girlfriend Carmen. So I met up with him in the evening and then off we went to La Roda and then Chinchilla, like an hour away.
-That night I was feeling like crap. I had a stuffy nose and just felt awful. But they took good care of me, made me some Cola Cao and gave me some drugs and sent me off to bed early.
Saturday
-I felt a little better in the morning. We met up with M.A’s sister and brother in law for coffee.
-For lunch we all gathered at M.A’s parents’ house. We had homemade PAELLA so I was super happy. But there was soooo much food. It was amazing how much food I packed away.
-in the evening we went to M.A’s best friend’s house for dinner. They had the cutest little 1 yr old daughter.
-and once again, they fed me well after I told them to stop giving me food.
Sunday
-I woke up feeling almost completely better. Carmen took me for a tour of the town of Chinchilla (yes, like the animal) and oh.my.goodness. it’s quite possibly the cutest town I’ve ever seen. If you come to visit me, I’ll probably try to take you there :)
-For lunch Celia and her Javi came over. We had amazing salmon meatball over mashed potatoes. Once again, a boat load of food. Pilar came over afterwards and we all ended up playing a board game. It was funny but I was limited as a player.
- that night they brought over Carmen’s sister’s dog. And I fell in love. It was one of the cutest dogs ever. And she loved me too. It was fantastic. I want to kidnap her and bring her home. She would come willingly.
Monday
-It’s a holiday in Spain (All Saints Day) so we didn’t have to be in Quintanar. Since it was actually not raining, we went to Albacete- the biggest city nearby. It’s a modern city, lacking the historical stuff that most other Spanish cities have but a nice city nevertheless.
-they took me for lunch at an American restaurant. At first I wasn’t really looking forward to it. I haven’t really craved any food from home yet, but the closer we got, the more I started to crave a hamburger. Like a real one. Made from beef. But holy frick. The amount of food I consumed was unreal. Like, it’s a good 10 hours later and I still don’t want to even think about eating in the near future. Actually, all the food I ate in this weekend alone is more than any normal person should eat in a week. Seriously, it was bad.
-but on our way to lunch, I got to meet Fernando Torres. Sadly, not the beautiful Spanish fútbol player but M.A’s friend with the same name. Sorry for the let down/fake out.
-After Albacete we went back to Chinchilla to get our things. And on the way to the piso we stopped at the castle. That’s right. Not only is the city super cute and charming, but it has a freakin’ castle.
-But yeah, that’s pretty much the highlights of my weekend. I tried to keep it short. I’ll try to post pictures later. If not here, definitely on Facebook.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Sipping Shots at School
-I decided I really like my class with the parents. They’re a lot of fun, they listen, they ask good questions, I’m allowed to speak Spanish with them and good conversation always happens in and after class.
-On Tuesday I got my library card. I’m really excited about that because now I can read whatever Spanish lit I can find. I’m starting with some Julio Cortázar.
-I bought myself a new Fútbolista magazine. I love it. Now I’ll have more pictures to hang on my walls :)
-I ran into 2 of my students at the park and they were hilarious because they were trying to tell me stories in Spanish and they got really creative in explaining things to me by acting things out. It even involved climbing a lamp post. Haha
-I found an abandoned dog. I want to adopt it. It’s cute in a mutt way. Eddie said I can adopt it as long as it doesn’t live in the apartment. So next time I go back to that area of town, I’m putting chorizo in my bag and luring him home :)
-My classes with the kids have been better this week, not great, but better. I did Halloween activities with them. Hopefully today’s class goes well too.
-Yesterday was the one teacher’s 60th birthday so we had some cake and churros to celebrate during the recess break. I love other people’s birthdays :) But they had this drink thing and the birthday guy poured me some and said I had to try it because it’s very typical of this area. I don’t know what it was, but I could have sworn he said it was made from grapes before they fermented, which may have been true but something was definitely fermented and strongly so. So there I am, sipping a shot of something with all these teachers during the 30 minute break. And when I finished, he poured me another. Maybe that’s why my afternoon classes went so well :)
-I had fun with Alejandra and Estefania and our conversations in English. They both decided to talk to me about boys. Always a good topic with 13 and 15 year old girls. But Alejandra is hilarious. We came up with this plan to meet Pique and Casillas (Murrison, don’t worry I’ll send Casillas your way and just use him to lure in the Ramos).
-I love my conversations with Manuel too. They always start out so light and full of jokes but then end up pretty deep and thoughtful. Last night we ended up talking about immigration in the US and Spain.
- And… I found an Evangelical church. Apparently Felipe’s mom is Protestant so I asked him where she goes to church and then he walked me there so I knew how to get there. I’m pretty excited. He said he’s going to show her a picture of me so she can introduce me to the whole church. Haha. So I’m going to try to be around this Sunday so I can go.
-On Tuesday I got my library card. I’m really excited about that because now I can read whatever Spanish lit I can find. I’m starting with some Julio Cortázar.
-I bought myself a new Fútbolista magazine. I love it. Now I’ll have more pictures to hang on my walls :)
-I ran into 2 of my students at the park and they were hilarious because they were trying to tell me stories in Spanish and they got really creative in explaining things to me by acting things out. It even involved climbing a lamp post. Haha
-I found an abandoned dog. I want to adopt it. It’s cute in a mutt way. Eddie said I can adopt it as long as it doesn’t live in the apartment. So next time I go back to that area of town, I’m putting chorizo in my bag and luring him home :)
-My classes with the kids have been better this week, not great, but better. I did Halloween activities with them. Hopefully today’s class goes well too.
-Yesterday was the one teacher’s 60th birthday so we had some cake and churros to celebrate during the recess break. I love other people’s birthdays :) But they had this drink thing and the birthday guy poured me some and said I had to try it because it’s very typical of this area. I don’t know what it was, but I could have sworn he said it was made from grapes before they fermented, which may have been true but something was definitely fermented and strongly so. So there I am, sipping a shot of something with all these teachers during the 30 minute break. And when I finished, he poured me another. Maybe that’s why my afternoon classes went so well :)
-I had fun with Alejandra and Estefania and our conversations in English. They both decided to talk to me about boys. Always a good topic with 13 and 15 year old girls. But Alejandra is hilarious. We came up with this plan to meet Pique and Casillas (Murrison, don’t worry I’ll send Casillas your way and just use him to lure in the Ramos).
-I love my conversations with Manuel too. They always start out so light and full of jokes but then end up pretty deep and thoughtful. Last night we ended up talking about immigration in the US and Spain.
- And… I found an Evangelical church. Apparently Felipe’s mom is Protestant so I asked him where she goes to church and then he walked me there so I knew how to get there. I’m pretty excited. He said he’s going to show her a picture of me so she can introduce me to the whole church. Haha. So I’m going to try to be around this Sunday so I can go.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Random Observations and Whatnots
This county ceases to amaze me in the way that eggs and milk don’t need to be refrigerated in the store and yogurt apparently doesn’t expire for a whole year. Everything closes down every day from 2-5ish, with the exception of random restaurants. The streets are dead during those hours and during Saturday and Sunday afternoons. On the weekends at night mostly, people appear from nowhere, people I’ve never seen before- mostly college kids home for most weekends. I still haven’t figured out the ringing of the church bells in this town because they seem to ring whenever they want. Rarely on the hour and sometimes with only a five minute break in between episodes. I love that after normal Spanish dining times the streets are usually occupied with people out for a stroll. I love how the one old man stopped me to give me a piece of hard candy when I walked by on my first week here, I want to find him again. I love how this is a small town where everyone knows everyone else, usually by name too, and if they don’t, they have a friend who knows them and they can report back to you in 5 minutes what that person is like. I’m anxious to be one of those people that everyone knows in town, and not just knows me as the American girl in town, cuz I’m pretty sure I’ve already accomplished that, but knows me in the way that if someone asked about me they could report back something about me and my life. I love that I can buy some of the best bread in baguette form and only have to pay like 45 cents. I love that I can watch El Hormiguero and Doctor Mateo without having to upload it onto my computer. Even more I love that I can watch every Real Madrid game on a big screen TV surrounded by lots of people who care in a bar owned by a man who is also a Madrid fan and insists on ringing a bell every time the team scores.
Life here is so good. I am pleased. Estoy super contenta :)
oh, and the only Protestant church in this town is Romanian. So not in either of the languages I speak. Looks like I have to find myself a Romanian translator who can teach me the language too haha :)
Life here is so good. I am pleased. Estoy super contenta :)
oh, and the only Protestant church in this town is Romanian. So not in either of the languages I speak. Looks like I have to find myself a Romanian translator who can teach me the language too haha :)
Thursday, October 21, 2010
My first bad day
Tuesday was an average day. I don’t remember anything spectacular happening at school. In the early evening I met with Estefania, the one girl that I’m tutoring. I’m there to help her practice English conversation. It was kinda awkward. She’s 13 and her level of English is pretty basic so it was hard to think of things to say and ask. The rest of my evening was free so I enjoyed watching Madrid win against AC Milan. Always a good thing.
Wednesday was my first bad day here in Quintanar. I just wasn’t in the best of moods. At school everything was fine. I really like my 4th grade girls and I like that they seem to be content with just being around me even if we can’t really talk about a lot of things. At lunch we (Eddie, the one teacher Jesús, and another random woman that I’m not sure where she comes from) got into quite the conversation about religion, mainly focusing on the Catholic Church. It was certainly interesting. At 4ish I had my first afternoon class with the 5-7 year olds. And it was a disaster. It was me and like 16 kids with way too much energy. Some of them were wandering around, some were just off in their own little world. The most frustrating part is that I’m not allowed to speak Spanish to them (I still have them fooled), therefore I can’t really discipline them, but if you can’t even explain a fun activity to them, it’s difficult. And you try to tell them not to do something, and they pretend they don’t understand you, whether or not they really do. Right after that class I had one with the 4th-6th graders. It started off better and then it went way downhill. I tried playing a game with them but it got too far out of control, cuz once again, they did their own thing instead of listening to simple instructions. I don’t know. Maybe it was just because I was low on patience to begin with or maybe I just like my classroom a little bit more structured than they’re used to, but all I know is that I left super frustrated and ready to cry. But Wednesdays are my crazy day so I just had to keep moving. I met with Estefania again and this time it went really well. The hour passed by really quickly and it put me in a way better mood. Then after that I went to meet Felipe for coffee. And right after that I went to Manuel and Ana’s to work with Alejandra and for dinner. They brought home kebabs cuz they knew I loved them. And they were great because they were spicy. Like decently spicy. But I love that family (I probably say that every time I mention them). After dinner, Manuel and I sat and talked about a whole bunch of stuff, from life to traveling to Spanish literature. It was just a great way to end such a stressful day.
Wednesday was my first bad day here in Quintanar. I just wasn’t in the best of moods. At school everything was fine. I really like my 4th grade girls and I like that they seem to be content with just being around me even if we can’t really talk about a lot of things. At lunch we (Eddie, the one teacher Jesús, and another random woman that I’m not sure where she comes from) got into quite the conversation about religion, mainly focusing on the Catholic Church. It was certainly interesting. At 4ish I had my first afternoon class with the 5-7 year olds. And it was a disaster. It was me and like 16 kids with way too much energy. Some of them were wandering around, some were just off in their own little world. The most frustrating part is that I’m not allowed to speak Spanish to them (I still have them fooled), therefore I can’t really discipline them, but if you can’t even explain a fun activity to them, it’s difficult. And you try to tell them not to do something, and they pretend they don’t understand you, whether or not they really do. Right after that class I had one with the 4th-6th graders. It started off better and then it went way downhill. I tried playing a game with them but it got too far out of control, cuz once again, they did their own thing instead of listening to simple instructions. I don’t know. Maybe it was just because I was low on patience to begin with or maybe I just like my classroom a little bit more structured than they’re used to, but all I know is that I left super frustrated and ready to cry. But Wednesdays are my crazy day so I just had to keep moving. I met with Estefania again and this time it went really well. The hour passed by really quickly and it put me in a way better mood. Then after that I went to meet Felipe for coffee. And right after that I went to Manuel and Ana’s to work with Alejandra and for dinner. They brought home kebabs cuz they knew I loved them. And they were great because they were spicy. Like decently spicy. But I love that family (I probably say that every time I mention them). After dinner, Manuel and I sat and talked about a whole bunch of stuff, from life to traveling to Spanish literature. It was just a great way to end such a stressful day.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Excuse me, can I have my pants back?
On Thursday afternoon I went for a run. This time I made it 7 miles. Pretty sweet. I hope this continues. Afterwards I went out with Eddie to meet up with 3 of the teachers from his school. We hung out a little bit and it was fun. I love meeting new people. Afterwards I hung out with my friend Giovanni. He’s pretty funny.
On Friday I didn’t have class so I just kinda hung out for part of the day. I did my first load of laundry and when I went to hang my pants on the clothesline, and they fell on to the patio on the first floor. So I had to go down and ask for my pants back, but no one was there so I had to leave a note. I was slightly embarrassed, but the woman brought them back when I wasn’t around. I had been out with my intercambio (my language partner) Felipe. He somehow found me on Facebook and asked if I’d help him with his English and offered to help with my Spanish. He’s great even though he’s a Barca fan and he hates Enrique Iglesias and all other Spanish music I like. But he really wants to improve his English so he can get a job in Germany which is where his girlfriend is studying. Jobs are hard to find in Spain these days and apparently there’s a need for computer engineers in Germany, which is what he does. But it’s good to have another friend here in Quintanar.
On Saturday Eddie and I built my wardrobe. It was quite the project because there were no instructions. We had to imagine how it went and do it trial and error style. It went a lot smoother than I thought.. In the evening we went to the one bar around the corner to watch fútbol. Felipe told me it was the best place to watch the games because they project the games on a big screen. It’s fabulous. We caught part of the Atleti game, the Barca game (which started so good and then ended bad) and the Madrid game (which was fabulous the whole time through, except for the fact that my Ramos was injured and therefore not on the field…) but the owner is a Madrid fan too and he would get really excited about things. It was fantastic.
On Sunday we finished my wardrobe so I finally got to unpack everything and decorate with my pictures so now it feels more like home. And I got to watch Doctor Mateo. Now I made Eddie a fan of it, which proves that it’s not a Spanish soap-opera but that it’s actually a good, funny show.
Today I was back to school. Mondays are interesting. My one class of 4 year olds is… AWFUL! Honestly, I hate it. It’s the longest hour of my life. They scream, run and do everything but listen. And the teacher just kinda lets it happen and I don’t feel like it’s my place to discipline which sucks since I’m used to having to do so and it drives me crazy to have such chaos in a classroom like this. Like I can’t handle it. But then I end the day with my favorite class, my fan club of 5 year olds. They all just so funny. Later I helped with the 2 classes with the teachers. I love the teachers at my school. They’re fantastic. Afterwards I met with Felipe for coffee and then I had my first evening class with the adults. My lesson was short because I mainly wanted to see what level they’re at. And then we spent the second half just talking in English which was really good. I think I’ll have fun working with them, but it’s a little intimidating cuz I’ve never taught adults before.
On Friday I didn’t have class so I just kinda hung out for part of the day. I did my first load of laundry and when I went to hang my pants on the clothesline, and they fell on to the patio on the first floor. So I had to go down and ask for my pants back, but no one was there so I had to leave a note. I was slightly embarrassed, but the woman brought them back when I wasn’t around. I had been out with my intercambio (my language partner) Felipe. He somehow found me on Facebook and asked if I’d help him with his English and offered to help with my Spanish. He’s great even though he’s a Barca fan and he hates Enrique Iglesias and all other Spanish music I like. But he really wants to improve his English so he can get a job in Germany which is where his girlfriend is studying. Jobs are hard to find in Spain these days and apparently there’s a need for computer engineers in Germany, which is what he does. But it’s good to have another friend here in Quintanar.
On Saturday Eddie and I built my wardrobe. It was quite the project because there were no instructions. We had to imagine how it went and do it trial and error style. It went a lot smoother than I thought.. In the evening we went to the one bar around the corner to watch fútbol. Felipe told me it was the best place to watch the games because they project the games on a big screen. It’s fabulous. We caught part of the Atleti game, the Barca game (which started so good and then ended bad) and the Madrid game (which was fabulous the whole time through, except for the fact that my Ramos was injured and therefore not on the field…) but the owner is a Madrid fan too and he would get really excited about things. It was fantastic.
On Sunday we finished my wardrobe so I finally got to unpack everything and decorate with my pictures so now it feels more like home. And I got to watch Doctor Mateo. Now I made Eddie a fan of it, which proves that it’s not a Spanish soap-opera but that it’s actually a good, funny show.
Today I was back to school. Mondays are interesting. My one class of 4 year olds is… AWFUL! Honestly, I hate it. It’s the longest hour of my life. They scream, run and do everything but listen. And the teacher just kinda lets it happen and I don’t feel like it’s my place to discipline which sucks since I’m used to having to do so and it drives me crazy to have such chaos in a classroom like this. Like I can’t handle it. But then I end the day with my favorite class, my fan club of 5 year olds. They all just so funny. Later I helped with the 2 classes with the teachers. I love the teachers at my school. They’re fantastic. Afterwards I met with Felipe for coffee and then I had my first evening class with the adults. My lesson was short because I mainly wanted to see what level they’re at. And then we spent the second half just talking in English which was really good. I think I’ll have fun working with them, but it’s a little intimidating cuz I’ve never taught adults before.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Toledo Part II/The Kid Part III
Tuesday was like Spain’s Columbus Day. I got up and went for a 5 mile run. It was suppose to be just a 4 mile, but sometimes, things happen :) I went to my school to use the wifi, so I awkwardly sat out on the small ledge along the road since the gate was locked. Kinda like my days in Sevilla. One of my 5 year olds biked by and tried to talk to me. I’m still holding strong on this not speaking any Spanish. Then he went to get his sister so she joined us too. It was kinda funny. I like that my students apparently just want to spend time near me. For dinner, Eddie attempted to make a Spanish tortilla. Not too bad for a first attempt. We also made rice and we chopped up 2 of my small “illegal” peppers from C&C’s and they spiced it up really good. They must be some pretty wicked peppers straight. I love it. And during dinner was the Spain vs. Scotland Euro Qualifier game which was a pretty sweet game. Spain won 3-2.
On Wednesday Eddie and I had to go to Toledo for stuff to get our visa extended. The program emailed us on Friday, but because we don’t have internet (and were traveling) we didn’t get the email until Tuesday, but it said we had to come to Toledo either Monday or Wednesday. So that left us with Wednesday. We went to our schools in the am to make copies of everything we needed. Arturo in the office helped me fill out another paper I needed and showed me how to get to the building I needed by literally walking me through it on GoogleMaps (I love just how helpful these people are). So we caught a bus and off we went. We ended up meeting Casey, who’s a part of our program in the next town over, on the bus and then at the bus station in Toledo we met Jake who’s also in the program whom I had met on my flight to Madrid and then again at orientation. So the 4 of us ventured off together and found it no problem. We handed in our stuff and then moved on to better things. Aka: lunch. I indulged in a bacon and tomato sandwich. I can’t get over how amazing the bacon here is. It’s super super thick and bendy. And then it’s on the best kind of bread ever. Oof. Sooooo goooood. After lunch, Eddie, Jake and I walked around the park and explored a bit looking for where we’ll have to go next time. We never found it but the 4 of us decided that we’ll try to coordinate our schedules to go together next time since it worked out so well.
but the best news about today... WE finally got internet in our apartment. So if you want to Skype, it'll be much easier to schedule a time. And now I'm never going to get anything important done...
On Wednesday Eddie and I had to go to Toledo for stuff to get our visa extended. The program emailed us on Friday, but because we don’t have internet (and were traveling) we didn’t get the email until Tuesday, but it said we had to come to Toledo either Monday or Wednesday. So that left us with Wednesday. We went to our schools in the am to make copies of everything we needed. Arturo in the office helped me fill out another paper I needed and showed me how to get to the building I needed by literally walking me through it on GoogleMaps (I love just how helpful these people are). So we caught a bus and off we went. We ended up meeting Casey, who’s a part of our program in the next town over, on the bus and then at the bus station in Toledo we met Jake who’s also in the program whom I had met on my flight to Madrid and then again at orientation. So the 4 of us ventured off together and found it no problem. We handed in our stuff and then moved on to better things. Aka: lunch. I indulged in a bacon and tomato sandwich. I can’t get over how amazing the bacon here is. It’s super super thick and bendy. And then it’s on the best kind of bread ever. Oof. Sooooo goooood. After lunch, Eddie, Jake and I walked around the park and explored a bit looking for where we’ll have to go next time. We never found it but the 4 of us decided that we’ll try to coordinate our schedules to go together next time since it worked out so well.
but the best news about today... WE finally got internet in our apartment. So if you want to Skype, it'll be much easier to schedule a time. And now I'm never going to get anything important done...
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
A Bridge in Madrid
On Friday Eddie and I caught a bus to Madrid around 5ish. Then from the bus station we caught the metro to his one friend’s apartment. We hung out at the apartment for a while before heading out to a Paraguayan restaurant for some yummy food such as yucca, croquettas, and Paraguayan tortilla. It was all sooooo good. And I discovered that I think I might like mustard. Then later a group of 7 of us went out for the one roommate’s birthday. Mar is from Andalucía so I loved listening to her talk cuz it was just like Sevilla. Haha. And her 2 friends were Mexico and they were hilarious. All 3 girls were super sweet and funny and I had a lot of fun hanging out with them. In general it was a really fun night, but like typical Spain, it was a very late night. Therefore we all slept in really late as well.
Saturday was pretty chill because it was raining allll day and was just really crappy out so we stayed in and watched TV and I read some. We only left in order to find Kebabs for lunch. After all, we were in the Kebab capital of the world :) Mar and I, plus the 3 guys went out later in the evening when it stopped raining. We first went to this taco place that was like really good and authentic. Good Mexican food is super hard to find in Spain, but this place certainly qualified. I tried one with cactus and it was sooo good. If you ever get the chance to try a cactus taco, do it. I highly recommend it. We hit two more places and did our fair share of walking. But let me tell you something. Madrid certainly is a one of a kind city. I swear it’s the only place where there are more people out on the streets at 2am then there are in the afternoon. And it’s not just young people out drinking, it’s all ages- some small children with their families, or some mid-aged couples just strolling or going out for a glass of wine. Like, it’s kinda ridiculous in a beautiful way.
We all slept in pretty late on Sunday as well. Especially the boys. Later me and the boys went out for Austurian chicken. Oh man was it sooo good. I swear it was just like Kauffman’s back home, maybe even a little better. Then we walked around the city just for something to do. But I just love Madrid. It’s such a fabulous place. Back at the apartment the boys watched baseball while I sat and read my book because I would rather go a whole month without chocolate than watch a game of baseball. And then I ended up falling asleep. Once again I was up hours before everyone else so I used my morning to read and do some reflecting and therefore it was a good morning to myself. It was like 3.30 when Eddie and I peaced out, grabbed some more kebabs and then headed to the bus station. For most of our trip we were worried we were on the wrong bus because apparently the outside of the bus said Quintanar del Rey which is not our town. Haha. But we ended up in the right place. Always a good thing. But Monday and Tuesday are holidays here which is why we didn’t have school so it’ll be a really short week.
Saturday was pretty chill because it was raining allll day and was just really crappy out so we stayed in and watched TV and I read some. We only left in order to find Kebabs for lunch. After all, we were in the Kebab capital of the world :) Mar and I, plus the 3 guys went out later in the evening when it stopped raining. We first went to this taco place that was like really good and authentic. Good Mexican food is super hard to find in Spain, but this place certainly qualified. I tried one with cactus and it was sooo good. If you ever get the chance to try a cactus taco, do it. I highly recommend it. We hit two more places and did our fair share of walking. But let me tell you something. Madrid certainly is a one of a kind city. I swear it’s the only place where there are more people out on the streets at 2am then there are in the afternoon. And it’s not just young people out drinking, it’s all ages- some small children with their families, or some mid-aged couples just strolling or going out for a glass of wine. Like, it’s kinda ridiculous in a beautiful way.
We all slept in pretty late on Sunday as well. Especially the boys. Later me and the boys went out for Austurian chicken. Oh man was it sooo good. I swear it was just like Kauffman’s back home, maybe even a little better. Then we walked around the city just for something to do. But I just love Madrid. It’s such a fabulous place. Back at the apartment the boys watched baseball while I sat and read my book because I would rather go a whole month without chocolate than watch a game of baseball. And then I ended up falling asleep. Once again I was up hours before everyone else so I used my morning to read and do some reflecting and therefore it was a good morning to myself. It was like 3.30 when Eddie and I peaced out, grabbed some more kebabs and then headed to the bus station. For most of our trip we were worried we were on the wrong bus because apparently the outside of the bus said Quintanar del Rey which is not our town. Haha. But we ended up in the right place. Always a good thing. But Monday and Tuesday are holidays here which is why we didn’t have school so it’ll be a really short week.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
The strange girl in town
Tuesday was a good day at school. I’m in 2 gym classes, an art class and a class with I think 4 year olds. They could be 5. I don’t remember. But I have another fan in that class. I did half of the class by myself playing games with flashcards having them identify the different classroom objects they’re learning. After school I went to lunch at the school cafeteria. It was definitely an experience eating there because all of the students that were there would randomly yell hello to me or just stare as I ate. They make me feel famous. The one little girl came over and said something about me being Jorge’s girlfriend who is the little boy in my last class on Tuesdays that started yelling “No te vayas!” (don’t leave!) when I started to head to towards the door. Haha. Oh boy.
After lunch I went to finally pay for my hostel. When I checked out on Saturday, they just told me to come back another day because Andres wasn’t sure how to do everything. I love that he trusted me so much to come back and pay. Back at the piso, the 3 of us did a little shopping for food and miscellaneous items and researched our wi-fi options. Eddie and I made our first attempt at making an actual dinner. Our spaghetti and salad were a success :)
Wednesday was our orientation thing in Toledo for the program. One of the teacher’s Eddie works with drove us and Piedad. Toledo’s like an hour away and it was a nice way of seeing the countryside. Our meeting was awfully boring. We sat there forever listening to people talk about all sorts of things. It was like death. Then we had lunch which was decent. Then we escaped for some coffee to wake me up. The rest of our meeting thing was a little less boring and then we were finally set free around 5. Soon after we got back I went for a run. I ran 4 miles around the city on Sunday but this time I ran out of the city, towards who knows where and it was a fantastic run- about 6 miles maybe a little more. But it’s like the perfect route, there’s this path along side of the road and it just goes on forever and I passed a few other runners, bikers and random cute old people out for walks together or with their dogs. They all looked at me really funny but smiled and responded as I greeted those I made eye contact with. But I totally feel like the weird girl in town when I run because people literally stop and stare at me. Oh well. They’ll just have to get over it.
After lunch I went to finally pay for my hostel. When I checked out on Saturday, they just told me to come back another day because Andres wasn’t sure how to do everything. I love that he trusted me so much to come back and pay. Back at the piso, the 3 of us did a little shopping for food and miscellaneous items and researched our wi-fi options. Eddie and I made our first attempt at making an actual dinner. Our spaghetti and salad were a success :)
Wednesday was our orientation thing in Toledo for the program. One of the teacher’s Eddie works with drove us and Piedad. Toledo’s like an hour away and it was a nice way of seeing the countryside. Our meeting was awfully boring. We sat there forever listening to people talk about all sorts of things. It was like death. Then we had lunch which was decent. Then we escaped for some coffee to wake me up. The rest of our meeting thing was a little less boring and then we were finally set free around 5. Soon after we got back I went for a run. I ran 4 miles around the city on Sunday but this time I ran out of the city, towards who knows where and it was a fantastic run- about 6 miles maybe a little more. But it’s like the perfect route, there’s this path along side of the road and it just goes on forever and I passed a few other runners, bikers and random cute old people out for walks together or with their dogs. They all looked at me really funny but smiled and responded as I greeted those I made eye contact with. But I totally feel like the weird girl in town when I run because people literally stop and stare at me. Oh well. They’ll just have to get over it.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
China in Spain
Monday was my first official day at the school where I actually followed my schedule. My first 2 hours are with the 3 year olds. They're cute. I've never been afraid of germs or anything but I couldn't help being dismayed by at the snot and uncovered coughs and I think I sat there wide-eyed thinking "oh no! there's no hope to me not getting sick several times this year." My last class of the day is with a group of 5 year olds. And they're pretty crazy. I have a fan club of boys in that class. Like the whole time they're calling me "guapa" (beautiful), asking if I have a boyfriend or if I want to be their girlfriend. It's really funny but at the same time a little much for me. The teacher just lets them go on and I get to use the excuse that I don't understand anything they're saying. But it'll be an interesting 8 months with these kids. Oh, and 2 of them are twins (one named Alejandro. hahaha) and I keep running into them outside of school. I can't escape my five year old fan club.
After school I went out for Chinese with some of the teachers and that was fun. Then we had a meeting followed by an English class for some of the teachers. I didn't know what to expect or how to prepare so it was a little awkward. I only had to do a little part of the lesson though. Like the conversational part.
After that I was invited to go out for drinks with 3 of the younger teachers and the one guy's girlfriend. And that was a ton of fun. They're hilarious. The taught me a whole bunch of phrases and sayings and slang and whatnot which I love to learn. I'm excited to use them all. haha. We were out until 11 and then I went back to the piso. Esther moved in so now we're complete. And she brought a TV so that's nice too. And that's about it. I should get going cuz I have a 3rd grade class to go :)
So far, they still think I don't speak Spanish and they teach me random words like "sunglasses"
After school I went out for Chinese with some of the teachers and that was fun. Then we had a meeting followed by an English class for some of the teachers. I didn't know what to expect or how to prepare so it was a little awkward. I only had to do a little part of the lesson though. Like the conversational part.
After that I was invited to go out for drinks with 3 of the younger teachers and the one guy's girlfriend. And that was a ton of fun. They're hilarious. The taught me a whole bunch of phrases and sayings and slang and whatnot which I love to learn. I'm excited to use them all. haha. We were out until 11 and then I went back to the piso. Esther moved in so now we're complete. And she brought a TV so that's nice too. And that's about it. I should get going cuz I have a 3rd grade class to go :)
So far, they still think I don't speak Spanish and they teach me random words like "sunglasses"
Monday, October 4, 2010
First Weekend
Friday I went to school, even though I won’t normally be in on Fridays. I did a little bit more work with the kids, like I led the one class in an activity about prepositions and another with school materials. After school I went to Manuel and Ana’s again. They’ve definitely taken me in and I feel like a part of their family. I even have a pair of slippers to leave at their place. Haha. And unlike my host mom in Sevilla, they let me help with things like set and clear the table, which makes it feel more like home, instead of always being served. They’ve been introducing me to different foods like mussels, some sort of goose paste, artichokes with anchovies and all sorts of things. And like a normal Spanish person, I have wine and coffee every day. It’s pretty great.
In the afternoon I went to meet a girl named Esther. One of the teachers at my school had heard that a new teacher in the next town over was still looking for a roommate and had put us in contact. So we walked all around town for hours looking for numbers to call and places to check out. We found one that we liked pretty well and agreed to it after a little more searching. And it’s a pretty sweet place (pictures coming) and a decent price cuz we have a 3rd roommate, Eddie who’s in my program but at a different school. I’m so glad Esther was there to do all the talking and asking questions, otherwise I would have had no idea about anything. That night I hung out with 2 of the guys that work in my hotel. They obviously knew I was new in town and had invited me out to show me around a little bit. And it was a lot of fun. They were hilarious. So yay for making friends completely all on my own!
On Saturday Manuel, Ana and Anita helped me move my stuff in the apartment which was very helpful. A little later Eddie moved in. Ana insisted on meeting him so she could approve and make sure he was a nice person and not a creeper. I showed Eddie how to get around the city and then we went over to Manuel and Ana’s f or lunch. I ended up taking a nap in their lounge lawn chair and it was just perfect. Like I was sitting there in the nice warm sun of La Mancha, having just consumed some of the best food, there was a gentle breeze and it was just a still, quiet afternoon. Just sounds of birds singing, the occasional church bell ringing and tractors from the nearby fields working during the grape harvest season. It was a beautiful moment. I couldn’t help but to feel so spoiled and so blessed for just everything so far.
Later Eddie and I returned to our piso and then to buy random things like a few groceries and sheets. The guy at the store where we got our bedding was hilarious. We had fun chatting with him and he apparently really liked us because he gave us like a 10% discount. That night Isabel, Manuel and Ana’s oldest daughter invited us to hang out with her and her friends. It was interesting just because they’re all like 18 but it was a good night of people watching and observing some of the really different cultural differences. I’ll expand on those as my time here goes on, but this is already a long enough post.
the hallway as you enter our piso
the bathroom Esther and I share
One side of our kitchen
The other side of the kitchen...
The dining room area
Living room
Other side of the living room. (we now have a TV here too)
In the afternoon I went to meet a girl named Esther. One of the teachers at my school had heard that a new teacher in the next town over was still looking for a roommate and had put us in contact. So we walked all around town for hours looking for numbers to call and places to check out. We found one that we liked pretty well and agreed to it after a little more searching. And it’s a pretty sweet place (pictures coming) and a decent price cuz we have a 3rd roommate, Eddie who’s in my program but at a different school. I’m so glad Esther was there to do all the talking and asking questions, otherwise I would have had no idea about anything. That night I hung out with 2 of the guys that work in my hotel. They obviously knew I was new in town and had invited me out to show me around a little bit. And it was a lot of fun. They were hilarious. So yay for making friends completely all on my own!
On Saturday Manuel, Ana and Anita helped me move my stuff in the apartment which was very helpful. A little later Eddie moved in. Ana insisted on meeting him so she could approve and make sure he was a nice person and not a creeper. I showed Eddie how to get around the city and then we went over to Manuel and Ana’s f or lunch. I ended up taking a nap in their lounge lawn chair and it was just perfect. Like I was sitting there in the nice warm sun of La Mancha, having just consumed some of the best food, there was a gentle breeze and it was just a still, quiet afternoon. Just sounds of birds singing, the occasional church bell ringing and tractors from the nearby fields working during the grape harvest season. It was a beautiful moment. I couldn’t help but to feel so spoiled and so blessed for just everything so far.
Later Eddie and I returned to our piso and then to buy random things like a few groceries and sheets. The guy at the store where we got our bedding was hilarious. We had fun chatting with him and he apparently really liked us because he gave us like a 10% discount. That night Isabel, Manuel and Ana’s oldest daughter invited us to hang out with her and her friends. It was interesting just because they’re all like 18 but it was a good night of people watching and observing some of the really different cultural differences. I’ll expand on those as my time here goes on, but this is already a long enough post.
the hallway as you enter our piso
the bathroom Esther and I share
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
...And the lies begin...
This morning Pilar picked me up to take me to Cristóbal Cólon, my school. I met all of the staff and we talked about my schedule. With my program, I’m required to only work 12 hours, Monday-Wednesday but they offered me Thursdays too, so I’m taking those hours. I got a tour of the classrooms and was introduced to each class. I’ve heard sooo many names, but luckily that was the only overwhelming part of my day. I stayed in 2 English classes with Piedad. She had them ask me questions about who I am and such. It was cute to hear them use their basic English. The first class (I think 3rd grade) won me over because 2 girls came and gave me hugs as soon as I walked in, and then gave me kisses on the cheek before I left and most of the class was cutely shy. The second class (4th grade) was hilarious because all they wanted was to ask me a million of questions, for example if I like sausage or the Jonas Brothers. But this position is going to be hard in the way that I have to pretend that I don’t speak any Spanish. I told the kids today that I can only say “hola, sí, no, y adios.” Oof. Today wasn’t too hard there, but I can imagine it getting tricky. But isn’t it kinda ironic that in essence, I’m getting paid to lie? It’ll be interesting for sure.
Later I went to the market with Manuel’s 15 year old daughter Alejandra. She didn’t have school because there’s a country-wide strike of some sort. It was apparently pretty crazy in other parts of the country, but not really evident in Quintanar. But this market is an outdoor one, a smaller version then the one I fell in love with in Sevilla. But I got some churros (what else would you expect from my first full day in Spain?) and those of Quintanar totally pass my test :) We walked around the city a bit and stopped at a little bar thing for tapas. Oh, Spanish food, how I’ve missed you. It’s great to have you back in my life.
Back at the school, I sat and talked with Arturo, the school’s secretary, while the other teachers had a meeting of some sort. He’s in his last year of an English program and wants to practice the language as much as possible and as he said “I’m going to take advantage of you” haha. He’s really funny and his English is great. My favorite part of the conversation was when he was teaching me a word that kinda means “jerk” but depending on how it’s used, it’s really harsh, another teacher passed by and cracked up laughing as I was repeating it a few times over. But I love how the Spanish use normal words as swear words and swear words as terms of endearment.
After that, I went to Manuel’s house to have lunch with him and his family. They’re great people- really funny and super friendly. And their 6 year old daughter is one of the cutest children I’ve ever seen. I love that after the main course we went outside and sat in their perfectly gorgeous patio to sip some café (or rather, straight expresso). It was fantastic. Soon after, we all piled in their car and headed to Alcazar de San Juan, a town about half an hour away. On this ride I couldn’t help but to think that the region of La Mancha, is in some ways like living in Spain’s version of Berks County, due to the vast amounts of fields and tractors we passed. San Juan is a cute city, a little bigger than Quintanar and it was fun exploring while getting to know Manuel’s family.
But all is going well here. I think I’m going to really enjoy the next 8 month.
here's a link if you want to read a little more about the strike: http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2010/09/29/espana/1285763230.html
Later I went to the market with Manuel’s 15 year old daughter Alejandra. She didn’t have school because there’s a country-wide strike of some sort. It was apparently pretty crazy in other parts of the country, but not really evident in Quintanar. But this market is an outdoor one, a smaller version then the one I fell in love with in Sevilla. But I got some churros (what else would you expect from my first full day in Spain?) and those of Quintanar totally pass my test :) We walked around the city a bit and stopped at a little bar thing for tapas. Oh, Spanish food, how I’ve missed you. It’s great to have you back in my life.
Back at the school, I sat and talked with Arturo, the school’s secretary, while the other teachers had a meeting of some sort. He’s in his last year of an English program and wants to practice the language as much as possible and as he said “I’m going to take advantage of you” haha. He’s really funny and his English is great. My favorite part of the conversation was when he was teaching me a word that kinda means “jerk” but depending on how it’s used, it’s really harsh, another teacher passed by and cracked up laughing as I was repeating it a few times over. But I love how the Spanish use normal words as swear words and swear words as terms of endearment.
After that, I went to Manuel’s house to have lunch with him and his family. They’re great people- really funny and super friendly. And their 6 year old daughter is one of the cutest children I’ve ever seen. I love that after the main course we went outside and sat in their perfectly gorgeous patio to sip some café (or rather, straight expresso). It was fantastic. Soon after, we all piled in their car and headed to Alcazar de San Juan, a town about half an hour away. On this ride I couldn’t help but to think that the region of La Mancha, is in some ways like living in Spain’s version of Berks County, due to the vast amounts of fields and tractors we passed. San Juan is a cute city, a little bigger than Quintanar and it was fun exploring while getting to know Manuel’s family.
But all is going well here. I think I’m going to really enjoy the next 8 month.
here's a link if you want to read a little more about the strike: http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2010/09/29/espana/1285763230.html
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
The journey and first impressions
So I made it. After the longest trip of my life. We left the house at 4.30 am and I flew from Harrisburg to Chicago, where I hung out for about 4 hours, luckily there were plenty of interesting people to observe. We boarded the plane and then had to sit for an hour and then some, due to the weather in NYC, our next stop. Because of this, I was going to miss my connecting flight, but I wasn’t freaking out about it like half of the plane was. My flight to Madrid was also delayed, so I didn’t miss that. We boarded an hour and a half late and then sat on the plane for over an hour. Apparently someone checked their bags and then didn’t take the flight so it looked all suspect. But after an hour of these unclaimed bags sitting below us, they had to go and remove all of the luggage. It felt like forever before we finally took off. And then the flight was another 6 & a half hours or so. Let’s just say I’m not meant to sit in one place for that long. Especially when personal space is limited. And it didn’t help that my stomach wasn’t feeling the best for the last 2 flights.
On the last flight I found another girl from my program so we stuck together in the airport. Neither of my bags were where they should have been. One ended up in the special baggage bin and the other showed up randomly on another belt 30 minutes into me waiting in line to figure out where it went. Once we had everything we caught a cab together to the bus station & then split up cuz we got her on a bus that left right away. Then I got to wait another hour and a half for my bus. I found 2 other kids from the program on my bus. The girl is in a town that’s apparently 6km from mine so that’s cool. We’re gonna seek each other out at orientation. The bus ride was about an hour and a half (seems to be my time frame). I dozed off and on so it passed quickly. And then, I was finally here in Quintanar de la Orden, at about 2.30 pm local time, 8.30am back home. So yeah, a looong day.
At Quintanar, I waited at the bus stop for like 5 minutes and then Pilar and Manuel, 2 of the English teachers at my school came and picked me up. But while I waited, one of the first townies I see is this man who is obviously a dedicated runner, and it was a good first sign that I’m going to like this place : ) Anyways we did lunch, and like a typical Spanish meal, there was way too much food. I ate fish, since I’ve been deprived for a little while now and I liked my squid a lot more than I remembered. But it was good talking to Pilar and Manuel, they’re both super nice people and very easy to understand which is encouraging. After lunch, they helped me carry all of my stuff to my room upstairs of the restaurant. It’s a cute little room. The view to the left outside looks like Bernville. All I see are fields and trucks driving by (I’m right at the edge of town). Too tired to do much else, I took like a 2 hour nap, waking up to watch the Madrid game. So I apologize for any typos of this post, cuz I started typing most of it during the half-time but I was still distracted.
But yeah, that was my trip and my first impression. Sorry it’s a long post. Tomorrow I will go to the school and then hopefully do some exploring.
and FYI, Madrid won :)
On the last flight I found another girl from my program so we stuck together in the airport. Neither of my bags were where they should have been. One ended up in the special baggage bin and the other showed up randomly on another belt 30 minutes into me waiting in line to figure out where it went. Once we had everything we caught a cab together to the bus station & then split up cuz we got her on a bus that left right away. Then I got to wait another hour and a half for my bus. I found 2 other kids from the program on my bus. The girl is in a town that’s apparently 6km from mine so that’s cool. We’re gonna seek each other out at orientation. The bus ride was about an hour and a half (seems to be my time frame). I dozed off and on so it passed quickly. And then, I was finally here in Quintanar de la Orden, at about 2.30 pm local time, 8.30am back home. So yeah, a looong day.
At Quintanar, I waited at the bus stop for like 5 minutes and then Pilar and Manuel, 2 of the English teachers at my school came and picked me up. But while I waited, one of the first townies I see is this man who is obviously a dedicated runner, and it was a good first sign that I’m going to like this place : ) Anyways we did lunch, and like a typical Spanish meal, there was way too much food. I ate fish, since I’ve been deprived for a little while now and I liked my squid a lot more than I remembered. But it was good talking to Pilar and Manuel, they’re both super nice people and very easy to understand which is encouraging. After lunch, they helped me carry all of my stuff to my room upstairs of the restaurant. It’s a cute little room. The view to the left outside looks like Bernville. All I see are fields and trucks driving by (I’m right at the edge of town). Too tired to do much else, I took like a 2 hour nap, waking up to watch the Madrid game. So I apologize for any typos of this post, cuz I started typing most of it during the half-time but I was still distracted.
But yeah, that was my trip and my first impression. Sorry it’s a long post. Tomorrow I will go to the school and then hopefully do some exploring.
and FYI, Madrid won :)
Sunday, September 26, 2010
The Prelude
So tomorrow's the big day. In about 13 hours from now a plane should be leaving from Harrisburg to Chicago with me on it. Kinda crazy to think about. I'm reallllly excited but rather nervous at the same time. This is kind of a big deal. I've never traveled like this alone before, which is why I am a little nervous, but I am not too worried. I am sure that everything will go just fine. But this shall be my blog thing where I share some of my adventures in La Mancha, Spain. Hopefully there will be many typical Shannon stories for your entertainment :)
Also, the title of my blog comes from a quote from St. Augustine. “The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.”
But that is all for now. There is some bacon calling my name from the kitchen :)
Also, the title of my blog comes from a quote from St. Augustine. “The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.”
But that is all for now. There is some bacon calling my name from the kitchen :)
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