Monday
-in the morning I went to the post office and the older man that works there is hilarious because he always tries to flirt with me or something. The first time he asked me questions about the US and then told me that he thinks Americans are an attractive group of people. This time, he told me I had nice eyebrows. I cracked up and said thanks and continued on my way to school.
Tuesday
-right after the sun went completely down and it turned completely black, the sky was the most beautiful shades of blue I’ve ever seen.
-I was walking from one of my conversation sessions and I heard 2 little voices call my name and I turned around to see one of my 5 year old fan club boys running at me at full force from his family’s business into my arms. There’s really nothing better than that.
Wednesday
-I got to skype with my Abby! It was a glorious 40 minutes or so.
-I went to Manuel & Ana’s for conversation with Alejandra and for dinner for the first time in like 2 months. It was so good to be a part of that family again. I’ve missed my meaningful conversations with Manuel. This week he helped me partly decide something huge.
Thursday
-I went to Cuevas in the evening and got to catch up a bit with Celia since I hardly see her anymore.
Friday
-I’m back to running! I ran a 4 mile with no pain! Woo!
-2 of Eddies friends from college came to visit for the weekend ‘cuz they’re both currently studying in Madrid so we showed them the pueblo life introducing them to las Cuevas and our new townie friends.
-We ran into an older man who knows the one guy Angel and he was amazed to find that the guys were Americans and then he points at me and was like “but you’re from here, right?” and I was like “yes, absolutely. I’ve lived here my whole life.” It was fabulous. And his son was wearing a Franklin & Marshall hoodie that he just bought at some store. Kinda a random college hoodie to sell in Spain, no?
Saturday
-We toured them around the town and we discovered the Bullring for the first time ourselves. Haha. I knew the general area, just never went exploring over that way.
-In the evening we were with the townies again. This time for the one guy’s girlfriend’s birthday party. I love that it was held in a garage that had 3 tractors. Nothing too different from what would happen in Bernville.
-And… I finally got a nickname! Well actually I have like 5. Everyone in the small towns apparently has a nickname. Some of the teachers at my school call me Chinon or some variation like that. But within this group, many of them call me Sara because Shannon’s just too hard for them. Haha. So from Sara I’ve become Sarita or Sarilla. And then the one guy calls me Sofía and another Sharon Stone and another just Stone. So now I pretty much answer to anything that starts with an S when I’m around them.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
"if you're an adult, why don't you have a baby?"
Monday
-I met with my new intercambio. Felipe put us in contact. His name's José.
Tuesday
-so there’s some youtube video floating around from back in PA, about some girl falling into a fountain while texting at the Berkshire Mall (where I used to work, for those of you who don’t know) and they totally showed it on the news here in Spain. Like what?! However, they didn't source the location. lame.
-one of my 3rd graders peed his pants…
-I taught one of my 4 year old boys to flirt. It was hilarious. I had winked at him and then he sat there and tried for a while to return it. Adorable.
-attempted to go for a run, but didn’t even make it a mile before I started to experience some knee pain. Last time I ran it had started to hurt after the run but not during. Suuuuck.
Wednesday
- one of my 2nd graders asked me “if you’re an adult, why don’t you have a baby”- Apparently all adults should have children…
-In the evening I went over to Miguel Angel’s and hung out/helped Celia study English/had dinner with them, Pilar and 2 of the new teachers that just started a few weeks ago.
Thursday
-I gave all of the 10-11 year old girls in my afternoon class American names. They loved it. They chose the Spanish name Carla for me. Not sure why, but I’ll take it.
-I went to Cuevas with my friend Sheila & our other teacher friends. It was also part 2 of the Madrid- Atleti game, so I was more involved with that…
-Eddie & I made new friends. Well, there’s always the same group of guys at Cuevas to watch the games and we’ve always exchanged small talk but this time they invited us to hang out with them in their “local” whenever we want. A “local” is usually like a small room where a shop or small business had once been, that groups of friends will rent out so they can have their own space to hang out & do whatever. So we went and the guys played videogames and we all just hung out.
Friday
-pretty much a do-absolute-nothing day. The only time I left the piso was to go out and buy a watch since mine broke. And I think I started a watch obsession. There are so many cool watches! But I love that I spent like half an hour just talking to the family that owned the watch shop. They were super friendly. And they were able to fix my Fernando Torres watch, unlike anyone in the US.
Saturday
-In the morning Eddie and I went and went and met up with our new friends and met more of their group. 2 of them took us to Toboso, the next town over that is the hometown of Dulcinea, Don Quixote’s lady. But we went for a parade for their Carnivales. It was a really short parade, but still entertaining. And we got free coffee out of the deal because the waitress accidently charged someone else for our stuff thinking that we were all together.
Sunday
-In church, they sang one of my favorite songs for the first time. I listen to it in Spanish more than in English and Felipe’s mom was amazed that I know the song in both languages.
-I met with my new intercambio. Felipe put us in contact. His name's José.
Tuesday
-so there’s some youtube video floating around from back in PA, about some girl falling into a fountain while texting at the Berkshire Mall (where I used to work, for those of you who don’t know) and they totally showed it on the news here in Spain. Like what?! However, they didn't source the location. lame.
-one of my 3rd graders peed his pants…
-I taught one of my 4 year old boys to flirt. It was hilarious. I had winked at him and then he sat there and tried for a while to return it. Adorable.
-attempted to go for a run, but didn’t even make it a mile before I started to experience some knee pain. Last time I ran it had started to hurt after the run but not during. Suuuuck.
Wednesday
- one of my 2nd graders asked me “if you’re an adult, why don’t you have a baby”- Apparently all adults should have children…
-In the evening I went over to Miguel Angel’s and hung out/helped Celia study English/had dinner with them, Pilar and 2 of the new teachers that just started a few weeks ago.
Thursday
-I gave all of the 10-11 year old girls in my afternoon class American names. They loved it. They chose the Spanish name Carla for me. Not sure why, but I’ll take it.
-I went to Cuevas with my friend Sheila & our other teacher friends. It was also part 2 of the Madrid- Atleti game, so I was more involved with that…
-Eddie & I made new friends. Well, there’s always the same group of guys at Cuevas to watch the games and we’ve always exchanged small talk but this time they invited us to hang out with them in their “local” whenever we want. A “local” is usually like a small room where a shop or small business had once been, that groups of friends will rent out so they can have their own space to hang out & do whatever. So we went and the guys played videogames and we all just hung out.
Friday
-pretty much a do-absolute-nothing day. The only time I left the piso was to go out and buy a watch since mine broke. And I think I started a watch obsession. There are so many cool watches! But I love that I spent like half an hour just talking to the family that owned the watch shop. They were super friendly. And they were able to fix my Fernando Torres watch, unlike anyone in the US.
Saturday
-In the morning Eddie and I went and went and met up with our new friends and met more of their group. 2 of them took us to Toboso, the next town over that is the hometown of Dulcinea, Don Quixote’s lady. But we went for a parade for their Carnivales. It was a really short parade, but still entertaining. And we got free coffee out of the deal because the waitress accidently charged someone else for our stuff thinking that we were all together.
Sunday
-In church, they sang one of my favorite songs for the first time. I listen to it in Spanish more than in English and Felipe’s mom was amazed that I know the song in both languages.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Back to the grind
Monday
-back to work. It was kinda good to be back around the kids.
-it was an important day in the world of fútbol because they gave out the Golden Ball for the “best player in the world” and all of Spain (including me) is mad because it should have been given to someone else…
Tuesday
-I started running again. Nothing like having to re-start my training because I hadn’t run the entire 3 weeks of Christmas break but instead ate like there was no tomorrow. But luckily it was like 50º and therefore a lot less painful. Meanwhile, it was snowing back in PA. hahaha. Suckers :)
Wednesday
-it was back to teaching my afternoon classes. Can’t say I’ve missed those. But I started to speak a little Spanish with my 5-7 year olds and they were amazed. I told them I only speak a little but I could perfectly say the most grammatically complex segment, but if I speak slowly, quietly and throw in random English words that I know they know, they totally believe that I only speak the most basic Spanish. And then I told them it was a secret and they all gasped, covered their mouths with their hands and sat wide-eyed. And I said “so you can’t tell you siblings… or your friends… or your parents.” And they were like “oh, ok. We promise.” And then one of my 5 year olds said “but if I tell my brother, he won’t understand. He’s only 2.” So I gave her permission to tell him. They were super cute about it all.
Thursday
-in the evening I met with my intercambio Felipe to watch the Madrid game. He’s a Barca fan and therefore we clash there but I think he was entertained by some of my comments and my reaction to the best part of the game… my Ramos scoring.
-it was rather sad because Felipe’s moving to Germany on Monday so this was our last time hanging out unless I go visit him and his girlfriend. But it’s sad cuz he was like my first friend in Quintanar, at least outside of school. but I’m super excited for him to go to Germany.
Friday
-a day of absolute nothingness
Saturday
-In the evening Eddie, Pilar and I went to a bonfire that was in honor of the one Saint. There was chorizo fresh off the grill and wine for a euro, traditional manchego dancing, and a ton of people. It was fantastic.
Sunday
-I went to my church for the first time in like a month. It was good to be back. And the one couple gave me a worship CD because they saw it somewhere and thought of me because it's in English. I thought that was fantastic.
-afterwards I made Eddie watch Fired Up with me. haha. He likes it. He's a fan. Now when I quote it, someone finally understands me. However, it's not the same as watching it with my EU crew :(
-back to work. It was kinda good to be back around the kids.
-it was an important day in the world of fútbol because they gave out the Golden Ball for the “best player in the world” and all of Spain (including me) is mad because it should have been given to someone else…
Tuesday
-I started running again. Nothing like having to re-start my training because I hadn’t run the entire 3 weeks of Christmas break but instead ate like there was no tomorrow. But luckily it was like 50º and therefore a lot less painful. Meanwhile, it was snowing back in PA. hahaha. Suckers :)
Wednesday
-it was back to teaching my afternoon classes. Can’t say I’ve missed those. But I started to speak a little Spanish with my 5-7 year olds and they were amazed. I told them I only speak a little but I could perfectly say the most grammatically complex segment, but if I speak slowly, quietly and throw in random English words that I know they know, they totally believe that I only speak the most basic Spanish. And then I told them it was a secret and they all gasped, covered their mouths with their hands and sat wide-eyed. And I said “so you can’t tell you siblings… or your friends… or your parents.” And they were like “oh, ok. We promise.” And then one of my 5 year olds said “but if I tell my brother, he won’t understand. He’s only 2.” So I gave her permission to tell him. They were super cute about it all.
Thursday
-in the evening I met with my intercambio Felipe to watch the Madrid game. He’s a Barca fan and therefore we clash there but I think he was entertained by some of my comments and my reaction to the best part of the game… my Ramos scoring.
-it was rather sad because Felipe’s moving to Germany on Monday so this was our last time hanging out unless I go visit him and his girlfriend. But it’s sad cuz he was like my first friend in Quintanar, at least outside of school. but I’m super excited for him to go to Germany.
Friday
-a day of absolute nothingness
Saturday
-In the evening Eddie, Pilar and I went to a bonfire that was in honor of the one Saint. There was chorizo fresh off the grill and wine for a euro, traditional manchego dancing, and a ton of people. It was fantastic.
Sunday
-I went to my church for the first time in like a month. It was good to be back. And the one couple gave me a worship CD because they saw it somewhere and thought of me because it's in English. I thought that was fantastic.
-afterwards I made Eddie watch Fired Up with me. haha. He likes it. He's a fan. Now when I quote it, someone finally understands me. However, it's not the same as watching it with my EU crew :(
Sunday, January 9, 2011
La Navidad. A little bit of everything
highlights of the last 3 weeks
-the Christmas program at school. Most of my 3 & 4 year olds were dressed up like Santa or Sheppards. It was super cute.
-Afterwards was a lunch with the teachers at the school. I had a lot of fun there. I love the other teachers I work with. For me it compensated the Hess Christmas party I missed out on the weekend before because I was surrounded by good people and good food.
-I spent Christmas break with my various teacher friends. I visited 7 different towns and stayed in 5 of them in the region of province of Albacete.
-1st was La Roda with Miguel Angel and his family. The first full day of vacation we went with his friend Pepe to see the city of Cuenca (town number 2). I’d been wanting to go for a while and finally got to go. It’s small but quite cute and charming.
-I spent Christmas Eve with the family of Miguel Angel. There were a lot of people and a lot of food like shrimp and chicken. The children sang Christmas carols (instruments included), some of us played bingo and Santa Claus even showed up. I love how the family party lasted until 2 am, children included.
-Christmas day was spent with Miguel Angel’s girlfriend Carmen’s family. Very calm but enjoyable.
-Town # 3. Chinchilla! I just adore the town, maybe I’ll live there after I retire. The one night Carmen and I went on a walk right as the sun was going down and it was just gorgeous. Rather chilly, but
-on the 30th, 9 of us from the school, including significant others, had a big dinner together with amazing food.
-Town #4. Fuente Alamo. The town of my friend Pilar’s boyfriend Ramon. A small town of about 3000 people. Pretty ugly, with nothing to see. And literally in the middle of nowhere. Full of farmers and hunters. Quite possibly Spain’s version of Bernville :)
-I bonded with Ramon’s 3 sisters while the 5 of us girls did our hair, nails and makeup together for New Years Eve.
-For dinner we stayed in the house. We were “12 + 1.” I learned how to eat different seafood. In Spain at midnight, the bells chime 12 times and each time the bells ring, you have to eat a grape. It happens really fast but it’s fun. The family had their own tradition where you write 3 desires for the new year and you stick the paper and 20 euros under your plate for all of dinner. After midnight, the grapes, a toast of champagne, we went outside and burnt the paper with desires (but not the euros). It was 2 am before the one sister’s boyfriend decided it was a good time for us all to go to his house to wish his family a happy new year. And his parents, aunts and uncles, all in their late 50’s-late 60’s were there awake and excited to see us. We didn’t leave there until about 4 am. Oh Spain… :)
-there were 2 people in the town that were exactly like 2 characters from Doctor Mateo. Like so similar behavior wise it was creepy.
Town #5- Pozohondo. Pilar’s hometown. Super small. 1500 people. Super calm with not much to see or do. Here I was served freshly squeezed orange juice for breakfast and also tried pig tail and rabbit brain. And trust me, both are a lot better than they sound. The brain was actually pretty good. And I knew what it was when I tried it because I watched Pilar spoon it out of the skull.
Town #6 Albacete. 8 of us gather again for dinner, this time at Andres & Lourdes’ house in the province’s capital city, therefore bigger than all the other towns combined. It’s a decent sized city with plenty of things to do but still on the calm side. They have a big outdoor market about the same size of my Sevilla market. I went with Lourdes, Celia and Pilar. Of course I loved it.
- I went to a parade for 3 Kings Day (it’s another part of Christmas here where instead of Santa, the 3 wise kings bring gifts.). We appeared on TV for all of Castilla La Mancha to see. Lourdes’ father called to tell us he saw us. Woo-hoo! We’re famous!
-In order for the 3 kings to come we each set out a shoe and left chocolate and water for the kings and their camels. I love that Andres & Lourdes made me celebrate El Día de los reyes like I was a little kid since it was my 1st experience of the holiday.
- we went to the movie theater to see 3 Metros Sobre el Cielo. It was alright. I like parts of it but found other parts really frustrating. Haha.
- And I went wedding dress shopping. No worries, Mom, it was for Lourdes’ best friend, not for me :) But that was nice since I’m missing out on that experience with 2 of my best friends back home.
-We had another dinner with the same crew of teachers and significant others. This time at Celia's house.
-I got to visit Peñas de San Pedro (town #7), the hometown of Lourdes. It's small but rather cute. and it has a castle type thing! well, it's all in ruins and it was mainly used as a fortress but it was super old and super cool. And I had to climb a mountain to get there. It was a great little adventure!
-the Christmas program at school. Most of my 3 & 4 year olds were dressed up like Santa or Sheppards. It was super cute.
-Afterwards was a lunch with the teachers at the school. I had a lot of fun there. I love the other teachers I work with. For me it compensated the Hess Christmas party I missed out on the weekend before because I was surrounded by good people and good food.
-I spent Christmas break with my various teacher friends. I visited 7 different towns and stayed in 5 of them in the region of province of Albacete.
-1st was La Roda with Miguel Angel and his family. The first full day of vacation we went with his friend Pepe to see the city of Cuenca (town number 2). I’d been wanting to go for a while and finally got to go. It’s small but quite cute and charming.
-I spent Christmas Eve with the family of Miguel Angel. There were a lot of people and a lot of food like shrimp and chicken. The children sang Christmas carols (instruments included), some of us played bingo and Santa Claus even showed up. I love how the family party lasted until 2 am, children included.
-Christmas day was spent with Miguel Angel’s girlfriend Carmen’s family. Very calm but enjoyable.
-Town # 3. Chinchilla! I just adore the town, maybe I’ll live there after I retire. The one night Carmen and I went on a walk right as the sun was going down and it was just gorgeous. Rather chilly, but
-on the 30th, 9 of us from the school, including significant others, had a big dinner together with amazing food.
-Town #4. Fuente Alamo. The town of my friend Pilar’s boyfriend Ramon. A small town of about 3000 people. Pretty ugly, with nothing to see. And literally in the middle of nowhere. Full of farmers and hunters. Quite possibly Spain’s version of Bernville :)
-I bonded with Ramon’s 3 sisters while the 5 of us girls did our hair, nails and makeup together for New Years Eve.
-For dinner we stayed in the house. We were “12 + 1.” I learned how to eat different seafood. In Spain at midnight, the bells chime 12 times and each time the bells ring, you have to eat a grape. It happens really fast but it’s fun. The family had their own tradition where you write 3 desires for the new year and you stick the paper and 20 euros under your plate for all of dinner. After midnight, the grapes, a toast of champagne, we went outside and burnt the paper with desires (but not the euros). It was 2 am before the one sister’s boyfriend decided it was a good time for us all to go to his house to wish his family a happy new year. And his parents, aunts and uncles, all in their late 50’s-late 60’s were there awake and excited to see us. We didn’t leave there until about 4 am. Oh Spain… :)
-there were 2 people in the town that were exactly like 2 characters from Doctor Mateo. Like so similar behavior wise it was creepy.
Town #5- Pozohondo. Pilar’s hometown. Super small. 1500 people. Super calm with not much to see or do. Here I was served freshly squeezed orange juice for breakfast and also tried pig tail and rabbit brain. And trust me, both are a lot better than they sound. The brain was actually pretty good. And I knew what it was when I tried it because I watched Pilar spoon it out of the skull.
Town #6 Albacete. 8 of us gather again for dinner, this time at Andres & Lourdes’ house in the province’s capital city, therefore bigger than all the other towns combined. It’s a decent sized city with plenty of things to do but still on the calm side. They have a big outdoor market about the same size of my Sevilla market. I went with Lourdes, Celia and Pilar. Of course I loved it.
- I went to a parade for 3 Kings Day (it’s another part of Christmas here where instead of Santa, the 3 wise kings bring gifts.). We appeared on TV for all of Castilla La Mancha to see. Lourdes’ father called to tell us he saw us. Woo-hoo! We’re famous!
-In order for the 3 kings to come we each set out a shoe and left chocolate and water for the kings and their camels. I love that Andres & Lourdes made me celebrate El Día de los reyes like I was a little kid since it was my 1st experience of the holiday.
- we went to the movie theater to see 3 Metros Sobre el Cielo. It was alright. I like parts of it but found other parts really frustrating. Haha.
- And I went wedding dress shopping. No worries, Mom, it was for Lourdes’ best friend, not for me :) But that was nice since I’m missing out on that experience with 2 of my best friends back home.
-We had another dinner with the same crew of teachers and significant others. This time at Celia's house.
-I got to visit Peñas de San Pedro (town #7), the hometown of Lourdes. It's small but rather cute. and it has a castle type thing! well, it's all in ruins and it was mainly used as a fortress but it was super old and super cool. And I had to climb a mountain to get there. It was a great little adventure!
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