So I've been home for exactly 2 weeks now. Although there are many things that feel strange about being here and although I miss Spain like crazy, it is good to be home. I love this little quote from TS Eliot's poem "Little Gidding" from which I stole the title to this entry:
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Here are some of my observations of things that really stuck out to me about being different from here and there:
-country music!
-soooo many American flags and patriotic stuff
-pick up trucks
-everyone in passing speaks English (that really threw me off at first)
-gross beer such as Budlight and Miller
-but great beer like Yuengling
-sporting events are quieter compared to Spain.
-crazy hot and super humid weather with ridiculous heat storms to follow
-no drinking in the streets before and after games
-jeans, shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops are everyday attire. acceptable for most locations
-gangster rap
-ghetto talk. Philly slang! I suddenly don't know any of it.
-yellow school buses
-smoking in a bar?!?!
-I no longer know who or how much to tip
-2nd hand shops/thrift stores!
-contact solution cost me $6 for 2 bottles in stead of $15 for 1
-15 foot pythons are found in my neighbor's yard... uh what?! did I suddenly move to the Amazon?
-National futbol games are only on the Spanish channel and certainly not in any of the bars
-uh... soccer. sorry.
-I can call and text whoever and whenever I want :)
-churches have 100's of people
-the coffee needs A LOT of help
-most vehicles are unnecessarily large
-no one knows who Javi Martinez, Juan Mata, Muniain, Bojan or De Gea are when I tell my story about meeting the national sub 21 team in the airport.
-I can wear heels and not tower over EVERYone. Just mostly everyone :)
-good bread is hard to find. and it costs more.
-however, good Mexican food is always right around the corner... (menos mal)
-People can actually pronounce my name!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
wrapping up & saying goodbye
Sunday
-went to church in the evening. Then one family from a nearby town was there, I had only met them once. But for some reason the son had fun chasing me and trying to poke me. We discovered we share the same birthday, he’s just 10 years younger. He was amazed by it.
Monday
-I woke up early and took at 6.40 bus to Valencia. It was a trip I decided last minute. I had wanted to go to the beach but decided last minute I was definitely going to go and that I was going to go to Valencia because it was a little more convenient to get to. And I found really cheap hostel.
-the bus ride was like 4 hours. But it only cost 10 euros.
-I found my hostel with no problems but I was early to check in so I changed into my bathing suit, ditched my bag there, wandered to find a bus that I never found and that no one knew where to pick it up at. So eventually a man just told me to take a different bus to a different beach. Haha.
-I love Valencia beaches. They’re great. The weather was perfect too. Not too hot and with a continuous breeze. I think I enjoyed like 2 or 3 hours and then it started to cloud over and on my walk from the bus to the hostel it started to rain.
-later in the evening I went out for a walk around the city with the Canadian guy that occupied the bed above mine. I was surprised at how much I remembered my way around parts of the city since the last time I was there 2 years ago.
Tuesday
-I got up at a decent hour and caught another bus to the beach. Again, the same perfect weather. This time I only made it about an hour before it decided it wanted to rain. So I headed back to the center of the city.
-I hung out in the hostel and met some fun people. In the evening ended up going out for a bit with some Argentines and a Chilean. They were really funny people although I had moments where I really struggled to understand them and their accents.
Wednesday
-I checked out of the hostel and then walked around exploring a little bit, killing time until my bus.
- I got to the bus station and hour early, checked with information that my bus left at 3 just like the internet and the Quintanar station said. The man said yes and said I just pay when I get on. So I waited the hour, went to get on a bus and the driver was like “uh, your bus left at 1… the scheduled changed like a year ago.” And there’s only one bus that goes to Quintanar a day. Fantastic right. So I went upstairs and kinda yelled at the man in information. Ok, so I didn’t yell but I did go back and let him know that he gave me the wrong information and that I wasn’t very happy with it.
-so I called Eddie and asked him to look up the trains. Took a cab to the train station and bought a ticket for a train to Alcazar (a town 22 km from Quintanar) and waited the 2 hours for my train.
-on the train I got a hold of my friend Pilar and she said she could come pick me up.
-When I got off the train I was pleasantly surprised to see not only Pilar but Celia and Beatriz as well. And they told me that Miguel Angel and Jesus were on their way to meet us so we could all do dinner together. I like that group.
-so in the end everything worked out. I just got home a lot later than planned. And the train cost double than the bus. But I do like trains a lot more.
Thursday
-I went to school for just a tad to see the people.
-Went to Cuevas in the evening to hang out with some of the teachers and then later 2 of the guys.
Friday
- went to school to pick up a paycheck. And ended up going to 2 classes with my 3rd graders. Those were always 2 of my favorite classes.
-the one class was super cute. The girls were constantly giving me hugs and telling me not to leave.
-got a surprise visit from the landlady at like 10 pm (only in Spain is that acceptable) just to discuss the whole us moving out issue.
-started getting ready to pack
Saturday
-met up with some of the boys for a beer and to plan out the rest of our day.
-after lunch the same group of us met up again for coffee and then did some grocery shopping. Grocery shopping with these boys was so much easier than with the guys in the states. They were like “whatever you want, just throw it in the cart”
-while we were just chilling on the “paseo” we caught a random “parade” for someone’s bachelor party type thing. It was hilariously random. Only in Spain really.
-later we all went to Sergio’s for a chorizo dinner while watching the Spain vs. US friendly futbol match. They loved that Eddie and I showed up in Spain jerseys and that I hands down will always cheer Spain, even against the US. Spain has been my team since the beginning of my obsession for futbol, even before I came here.
-afterwards we went out for some drinks and a little dancing and it was all a ton of fun. I’m really gonna miss these guys.
Sunday
-went to church. They were all really cute about saying goodbye to me and gave me a CD of something I still have to check out. They put me on the spot and asked me to say a few words… haha. that was kinda awkward.
-afterwards I went over to Manuel and Ana’s for one last time to just talk and ended up staying for dinner. I’m gonna miss that family like crazy.
Monday
-cleaned the apartment a little and did some more packing.
-closed up business with the landlady and got some money back.
-got offered a better position with my summer job.
-said goodbye to Esther and then later to Eddie.
-went over to Bea’s apartment to celebrate her birthday with Pilar, Miguel Angel, Jesus and Celia.
Tuesday
-ended up back at the school to say goodbye to Pilar, the principal.
-stayed most of the rest of the day inside, due to bad weather and being done with saying goodbyes. I decided I couldn’t really handle anymore. Sometimes I prefer to just disappear. Instead I enjoyed watching some of my favorite shows that I’ll miss back home and futbol, of course.
Tomorrow’s the big day. I head home. Manuel’s gonna pick me up sometime between 6.30 and 7 tomorrow morning and help me take my stuff to the bus station. From the bus station in Madrid I’ll take a cab to the airport and my plane leaves at 12:30, stopping first in Lisboa, Portugal for a few hours before taking me to Newark. The second flight is suppose to take 9 hours. Can’t say I’m at all looking forward to sitting in one seat for that long. I can think of about 3276 things I’d rather do doing those 9 hours.
-went to church in the evening. Then one family from a nearby town was there, I had only met them once. But for some reason the son had fun chasing me and trying to poke me. We discovered we share the same birthday, he’s just 10 years younger. He was amazed by it.
Monday
-I woke up early and took at 6.40 bus to Valencia. It was a trip I decided last minute. I had wanted to go to the beach but decided last minute I was definitely going to go and that I was going to go to Valencia because it was a little more convenient to get to. And I found really cheap hostel.
-the bus ride was like 4 hours. But it only cost 10 euros.
-I found my hostel with no problems but I was early to check in so I changed into my bathing suit, ditched my bag there, wandered to find a bus that I never found and that no one knew where to pick it up at. So eventually a man just told me to take a different bus to a different beach. Haha.
-I love Valencia beaches. They’re great. The weather was perfect too. Not too hot and with a continuous breeze. I think I enjoyed like 2 or 3 hours and then it started to cloud over and on my walk from the bus to the hostel it started to rain.
-later in the evening I went out for a walk around the city with the Canadian guy that occupied the bed above mine. I was surprised at how much I remembered my way around parts of the city since the last time I was there 2 years ago.
Tuesday
-I got up at a decent hour and caught another bus to the beach. Again, the same perfect weather. This time I only made it about an hour before it decided it wanted to rain. So I headed back to the center of the city.
-I hung out in the hostel and met some fun people. In the evening ended up going out for a bit with some Argentines and a Chilean. They were really funny people although I had moments where I really struggled to understand them and their accents.
Wednesday
-I checked out of the hostel and then walked around exploring a little bit, killing time until my bus.
- I got to the bus station and hour early, checked with information that my bus left at 3 just like the internet and the Quintanar station said. The man said yes and said I just pay when I get on. So I waited the hour, went to get on a bus and the driver was like “uh, your bus left at 1… the scheduled changed like a year ago.” And there’s only one bus that goes to Quintanar a day. Fantastic right. So I went upstairs and kinda yelled at the man in information. Ok, so I didn’t yell but I did go back and let him know that he gave me the wrong information and that I wasn’t very happy with it.
-so I called Eddie and asked him to look up the trains. Took a cab to the train station and bought a ticket for a train to Alcazar (a town 22 km from Quintanar) and waited the 2 hours for my train.
-on the train I got a hold of my friend Pilar and she said she could come pick me up.
-When I got off the train I was pleasantly surprised to see not only Pilar but Celia and Beatriz as well. And they told me that Miguel Angel and Jesus were on their way to meet us so we could all do dinner together. I like that group.
-so in the end everything worked out. I just got home a lot later than planned. And the train cost double than the bus. But I do like trains a lot more.
Thursday
-I went to school for just a tad to see the people.
-Went to Cuevas in the evening to hang out with some of the teachers and then later 2 of the guys.
Friday
- went to school to pick up a paycheck. And ended up going to 2 classes with my 3rd graders. Those were always 2 of my favorite classes.
-the one class was super cute. The girls were constantly giving me hugs and telling me not to leave.
-got a surprise visit from the landlady at like 10 pm (only in Spain is that acceptable) just to discuss the whole us moving out issue.
-started getting ready to pack
Saturday
-met up with some of the boys for a beer and to plan out the rest of our day.
-after lunch the same group of us met up again for coffee and then did some grocery shopping. Grocery shopping with these boys was so much easier than with the guys in the states. They were like “whatever you want, just throw it in the cart”
-while we were just chilling on the “paseo” we caught a random “parade” for someone’s bachelor party type thing. It was hilariously random. Only in Spain really.
-later we all went to Sergio’s for a chorizo dinner while watching the Spain vs. US friendly futbol match. They loved that Eddie and I showed up in Spain jerseys and that I hands down will always cheer Spain, even against the US. Spain has been my team since the beginning of my obsession for futbol, even before I came here.
-afterwards we went out for some drinks and a little dancing and it was all a ton of fun. I’m really gonna miss these guys.
Sunday
-went to church. They were all really cute about saying goodbye to me and gave me a CD of something I still have to check out. They put me on the spot and asked me to say a few words… haha. that was kinda awkward.
-afterwards I went over to Manuel and Ana’s for one last time to just talk and ended up staying for dinner. I’m gonna miss that family like crazy.
Monday
-cleaned the apartment a little and did some more packing.
-closed up business with the landlady and got some money back.
-got offered a better position with my summer job.
-said goodbye to Esther and then later to Eddie.
-went over to Bea’s apartment to celebrate her birthday with Pilar, Miguel Angel, Jesus and Celia.
Tuesday
-ended up back at the school to say goodbye to Pilar, the principal.
-stayed most of the rest of the day inside, due to bad weather and being done with saying goodbyes. I decided I couldn’t really handle anymore. Sometimes I prefer to just disappear. Instead I enjoyed watching some of my favorite shows that I’ll miss back home and futbol, of course.
Tomorrow’s the big day. I head home. Manuel’s gonna pick me up sometime between 6.30 and 7 tomorrow morning and help me take my stuff to the bus station. From the bus station in Madrid I’ll take a cab to the airport and my plane leaves at 12:30, stopping first in Lisboa, Portugal for a few hours before taking me to Newark. The second flight is suppose to take 9 hours. Can’t say I’m at all looking forward to sitting in one seat for that long. I can think of about 3276 things I’d rather do doing those 9 hours.
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