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.
Friday, November 26, 2010
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.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)