Teaching has been going really smoothly, besides the one class period where I accidentally taught the students the difference between some select words for insulting women. Anyways, I have had a Halloween lesson that I have been presenting in class, with four slides. The first one is titled "Halloween Costumes" and has a bunch of pictures of children dressed up. The kids here are surprised that children in the US don't just dress as scary things, but as princesses and superheros and fictional characters as well. The next slide is "Halloween Food," and I have pictures of candy corn, caramel apples, a pile of candy and cookies that look like eyeballs. I explain that in the United States, during Halloween we like to make food that looks like gross things that you wouldn't normally eat, like fingers and eyeballs and spiders, etc. The next slide is titled "Halloween Traditions," and has pictures of Halloween decorations outside someones home, a haunted house, and a corn maze. It always takes a while to explain what a corn maze is, because it is so different than what they've heard before. And the last slide is "Carving Pumpkins." I have a picture from last year of Brittany, Cassy, and Brayden carving pumpkins (Brayden is VERY excited), and the photos of different types of jack-o-lanterns. After explaining this last slide, I hand out a word search worksheet and explain all of the vocabulary on it, like bat, cobweb, coffin, witch, etc. The hardest one is "pillowcase." First, I have to make sure they know what a pillow is in Spanish. Then I have to explain how it has fabric around it. Once they understand that, I have to explain that in Spain, both ends of a pillowcase are open (The first time I tried to put a pillow into a pillowcase here, it fell right through and I was really confused), but in the US, one side is closed, like a bag. And THEN I have to tell them that some children in the US use pillowcases as bags for their candy. It's a long and tedious process.
Something else quite noteworthy is the fact that I made a grilled cheese sandwich last week for the first time since coming to Spain. I had forgotten just how AMAZING a grilled cheese sandwich was, and so when I ate it, I was SO EXTREMELY HAPPY... it's a comfort food for me, and thank God my friend Olivia mentioned it to me so that I could realize that it is possible to make here!
I have also started going to a Spanish/English conversation group that is on Tuesday evenings... basically people who want to practice their Spanish or English come to the group and we just talk to each other for a couple hours in each language. It's really fun! I get to meet new people, which is something I really enjoy. Also, the other language assistant at my school ended up going back to England this week because he was homesick, but I guess we already have a new one! A guy from Iceland, who I heard looks like he could be 35 and has a 1 year old daughter. I dont know what a 35-year-old would be doing as a language and culture assistant, but perhaps the economy is really bad in Iceland? No idea. Haven't met him yet, but hopefully he's nice.
Also, I got paid today!!!! Yesssss. And Fran talked to me today about coming to a meeting of the kids at my school who are going to be taking the Trinity University exam (and thus need to know English) so I can meet their families and offer my services of private English lessons... I really hope this works out!!
Things I am looking forward to:
1. A skype-wine date I'm having with my besties from home, Claire and Julie, on Sunday morning. (I know, you are asking me why I am having a wine date in the morning... this is because Claire is in Korea and so it will be 3pm for her, and Julie is in the US so it will be 11pm on Saturday night for her. I get the morning this time because last time I had the afternoon. It's okay, we forced Julie to drink wine with us last time when it was the morning for her, haha)
2. A barbeque with my Spanish friends on Saturday
3. The potential for some private classes soon
4. Heading to Scotland and Ireland in early December
5. Christmas dinner with my American friends, and then heading to London and Belgium for the break.
Yay!
But that's about all that's been happening here lately... I hope you all are doing well! :)
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
"Will work for adventures!"
So I figured I should update the blog because the last post was me being quite homesick, and it only took me a couple days to get over that. I now feel much better, mostly because I am no longer sick, I have plans with friends coming up, I am currently planning many trips for myself with various people around Europe, and I'll be getting paid next week. Yesterday while at the grocery store, I had to choose between buying wine or cookies (CHIPS AHOY!), because I had to withdraw money from my credit card to actually have the cash to go shopping. Surprisingly, I chose the cookies, which is a new step for me in life, albeit a sad one. But I figured I needed to wait until I had enough money to buy the good stuff (My new standard is at least 4 euros a bottle)... another new step. I guess this is what you get when you graduate college and no longer want to drink crap. I must be growing up.
I have found myself using British words for things, because here most English speakers learn British English, and for them to understand my English more effectively, I have started using words like "flat" for apartment, "rubbish" for garbage, and "timetable" for schedule. I just know that when I get back to the US people are going to laugh at me for using British words but not having a cool British accent. Also something new, is that I've actually started to learn how to cook. People are appalled when they hear that I don't have an oven, but I actually think of it as a blessing, because with an oven I would cheat. I could make a plethora of oven pizzas and other crap that I would just be eating in the US as well, but because I only have a stove, if I want to eat anything that's actually warm and not a sandwich, I have to COOK. Which for me is a whole new skill. Who would have thought that I just had to travel to Spain to get the incentive to cook? But I have learned how to make fajitas, which to me is even strange... I'm in Spain and I taught myself how to make fajitas. Probably because I miss Mexican food so much! I also have a new Spanish friend that said that he loves to cook and would be willing to teach me how to cook Spanish food if I wanted... honestly, Spanish food is okay but there are other things I would like to learn how to cook, but I figure that because I'm here, I better at least attempt to make some of the food!
I am desperatly looking for students for private classes right now... I am talking to my coworkers and anyone that I can, telling them to spread the word that I am teaching English. I also put up posters around town. That is the strange thing about Spain... if you want to rent an apartment or are looking for an apartment or have a skill that you would like to advertise for a job or want to teach private lessons in anything, all you have to do is put up posters advertising it, and at the bottom put your phone number. This is completely legitimate, and people do it all the time. For me, it seemed like something only creepers would do in the US... we go through more formal options like craigslist or listing it in the paper, which are much less personal and in your face. Here they just put up the signs wherever and people actually respond! Seems like a good system to me.
I'm really proud of myself because Spaniards continue to tell me that I have pretty good Spanish, and I feel that the more I speak it and correct myself and actually think about what I say before I say it, that I learn more and soon will be able to speak correctly AND fluidly! I love Spanish. I love speaking it and hearing it, and my goal is to be able to listen to a conversation that is not directed at me and understand it, because this is always the hardest. The other day when I was at the bus station, the guy and I were talking for about 5 minutes when I said something and he looked at me and said, "Espera, tu no eres espanola?" (Wait, you're not Spanish?). And I said, "No! Soy de los estados unidos!" (No! I'm from the United States!). And he just stared at me for a litte bit and shook his head and said in Spanish, "Wow, your Spanish is really good then!" True, we were talking for just about 5 minutes and it was more of him talking than me, but still. I was super proud of myself! That means that my accent is getting better and I'm not OBVIOUSLY American. It's amazing to see myself improving like this. I feel SO MUCH more confident in my Spanish, and even though it's frustrating at times, I feel like I'm getting better every day.
For now I am saving my money, because I'm going to Scotland and Ireland in the beginning of December for a week with some of my Spanish friends, then after Christmas I'm going with my friend Linnaea to London and Belgium... of course I would pick the most expensive places to visit! I plan on eating bread and perhaps cheese as a luxury to be able to afford these trips, but oh well! I also want to start to travel around Spain, which will be much cheaper but still I'll need money for these trips. But who cares, I'm IN SPAIN. I need to SEE SPAIN. So for the next 2 months I will try not to buy anything excessive, like new clothes or shoes or books... though I'm sure I will bend and end up buying chocolate and wine, like normal. So for Christmas, all I ask for is money because this trip will be the best Christmas present you could give me!! For actual Christmas Day, me, my American friends Kate and Will who live in my town with me, and my friend from college Linnaea (who is teaching English in Spain but up north), are all going to meet up and have a little Christmas celebration! All of us are leaving for London on the 26th, because it's much cheaper. I dont think any of us really know how to cook, so we are going to have to ask around to our mothers and grandmothers for Christmas recipes and then attempt to find these ingredients or something similar to them so that we can have a makeshift Christmas dinner, or at LEAST desserts!! And of course we will have to use someone else's kitchen, because I have no oven. I'm thinking of invading Will's apartment. But I figure we can bake on Christmas Eve, and then on Christmas have our grand dinner and give some little presents to each other and Skype our families and watch some Christmas movies... I think it will be fun, though I'm sure I'll miss my family a lot... it's going to be strange but this is life. It's exciting and boring and strange and breathtaking and ridiculous and I love it!!
I have found myself using British words for things, because here most English speakers learn British English, and for them to understand my English more effectively, I have started using words like "flat" for apartment, "rubbish" for garbage, and "timetable" for schedule. I just know that when I get back to the US people are going to laugh at me for using British words but not having a cool British accent. Also something new, is that I've actually started to learn how to cook. People are appalled when they hear that I don't have an oven, but I actually think of it as a blessing, because with an oven I would cheat. I could make a plethora of oven pizzas and other crap that I would just be eating in the US as well, but because I only have a stove, if I want to eat anything that's actually warm and not a sandwich, I have to COOK. Which for me is a whole new skill. Who would have thought that I just had to travel to Spain to get the incentive to cook? But I have learned how to make fajitas, which to me is even strange... I'm in Spain and I taught myself how to make fajitas. Probably because I miss Mexican food so much! I also have a new Spanish friend that said that he loves to cook and would be willing to teach me how to cook Spanish food if I wanted... honestly, Spanish food is okay but there are other things I would like to learn how to cook, but I figure that because I'm here, I better at least attempt to make some of the food!
I am desperatly looking for students for private classes right now... I am talking to my coworkers and anyone that I can, telling them to spread the word that I am teaching English. I also put up posters around town. That is the strange thing about Spain... if you want to rent an apartment or are looking for an apartment or have a skill that you would like to advertise for a job or want to teach private lessons in anything, all you have to do is put up posters advertising it, and at the bottom put your phone number. This is completely legitimate, and people do it all the time. For me, it seemed like something only creepers would do in the US... we go through more formal options like craigslist or listing it in the paper, which are much less personal and in your face. Here they just put up the signs wherever and people actually respond! Seems like a good system to me.
I'm really proud of myself because Spaniards continue to tell me that I have pretty good Spanish, and I feel that the more I speak it and correct myself and actually think about what I say before I say it, that I learn more and soon will be able to speak correctly AND fluidly! I love Spanish. I love speaking it and hearing it, and my goal is to be able to listen to a conversation that is not directed at me and understand it, because this is always the hardest. The other day when I was at the bus station, the guy and I were talking for about 5 minutes when I said something and he looked at me and said, "Espera, tu no eres espanola?" (Wait, you're not Spanish?). And I said, "No! Soy de los estados unidos!" (No! I'm from the United States!). And he just stared at me for a litte bit and shook his head and said in Spanish, "Wow, your Spanish is really good then!" True, we were talking for just about 5 minutes and it was more of him talking than me, but still. I was super proud of myself! That means that my accent is getting better and I'm not OBVIOUSLY American. It's amazing to see myself improving like this. I feel SO MUCH more confident in my Spanish, and even though it's frustrating at times, I feel like I'm getting better every day.
For now I am saving my money, because I'm going to Scotland and Ireland in the beginning of December for a week with some of my Spanish friends, then after Christmas I'm going with my friend Linnaea to London and Belgium... of course I would pick the most expensive places to visit! I plan on eating bread and perhaps cheese as a luxury to be able to afford these trips, but oh well! I also want to start to travel around Spain, which will be much cheaper but still I'll need money for these trips. But who cares, I'm IN SPAIN. I need to SEE SPAIN. So for the next 2 months I will try not to buy anything excessive, like new clothes or shoes or books... though I'm sure I will bend and end up buying chocolate and wine, like normal. So for Christmas, all I ask for is money because this trip will be the best Christmas present you could give me!! For actual Christmas Day, me, my American friends Kate and Will who live in my town with me, and my friend from college Linnaea (who is teaching English in Spain but up north), are all going to meet up and have a little Christmas celebration! All of us are leaving for London on the 26th, because it's much cheaper. I dont think any of us really know how to cook, so we are going to have to ask around to our mothers and grandmothers for Christmas recipes and then attempt to find these ingredients or something similar to them so that we can have a makeshift Christmas dinner, or at LEAST desserts!! And of course we will have to use someone else's kitchen, because I have no oven. I'm thinking of invading Will's apartment. But I figure we can bake on Christmas Eve, and then on Christmas have our grand dinner and give some little presents to each other and Skype our families and watch some Christmas movies... I think it will be fun, though I'm sure I'll miss my family a lot... it's going to be strange but this is life. It's exciting and boring and strange and breathtaking and ridiculous and I love it!!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Homesick
I spent some of my food money on a coat and a scarf, because it's FREEZING here at night and our apartment must have no insulation and thin walls (I know this is true, because I can hear the people above us walking around and talking all the time, and I always hope that something interesting happens... like hearing them have a fight, just so I can get some entertainment out of the fact that I can hear everything they do). I dont know where all my money goes... honestly, all I do is pay for food at the grocery store (which is cheap) and I went to Granada this last weekend, but oh well. I get paid soon, finally.
I was sick with what some people would call a "loose digestive tract" for several days earlier last week, with stabbing pains in my stomach that at first only got worse when I began taking the antibiotics my mother sent with me (THANK GOD... for the antibiotics, not the pain). Being sick in a foreign country really made me pissed off at all the little things here in Spain that are different than home... like how there is no carpet anywhere, just cold tile floors, and how there are bars on all the windows, and that the shower nozzle is in the CENTER of the shower rather than on one of the sides, and there is no central heating and I can't eat Tillamook Cheese and there is NO GRASS except in that one park, and all the trees surrounding my town are damned OLIVE TREES, and that I have to line dry my clothes because I dont have a dryer, or an oven, or a microwave, and my town is super small and there is NOTHING to do, there isn't even a movie theater, and the nearest place I can get to is Granada, which by bus takes 1.5 hours but if I had a car it would only take 45 minutes, and my room is tiny and with boring white walls and I can't afford to buy anything to put on them because I am POOR right now, and they don't have good tea here...
But they do have good chocolate. And good wine. And not having a oven or microwave forces me to cook, which is something that I never had to learn in the US and is a great skill to have. And the clothes are pretty cute and the people are really nice and actually long bus rides aren't bad because I can listen to my iPod or read, and the architecture is pretty nice, and I'm close to some of the most amazing places in the world and soon I'll be travelling to Scotland, Ireland, London, and Belgium, whether I can afford it or not. Whenever I start to feel homesick I go to that park, or I take a walk around my town and buy a pastry and remind myself that I'm here in SPAIN, living my dream, and that home will always be there and I have this wonderful opportunity, so just suck it up and like it.
And so I do. And the homesickness passes. And I am thankful and thrilled once again.
I was sick with what some people would call a "loose digestive tract" for several days earlier last week, with stabbing pains in my stomach that at first only got worse when I began taking the antibiotics my mother sent with me (THANK GOD... for the antibiotics, not the pain). Being sick in a foreign country really made me pissed off at all the little things here in Spain that are different than home... like how there is no carpet anywhere, just cold tile floors, and how there are bars on all the windows, and that the shower nozzle is in the CENTER of the shower rather than on one of the sides, and there is no central heating and I can't eat Tillamook Cheese and there is NO GRASS except in that one park, and all the trees surrounding my town are damned OLIVE TREES, and that I have to line dry my clothes because I dont have a dryer, or an oven, or a microwave, and my town is super small and there is NOTHING to do, there isn't even a movie theater, and the nearest place I can get to is Granada, which by bus takes 1.5 hours but if I had a car it would only take 45 minutes, and my room is tiny and with boring white walls and I can't afford to buy anything to put on them because I am POOR right now, and they don't have good tea here...
But they do have good chocolate. And good wine. And not having a oven or microwave forces me to cook, which is something that I never had to learn in the US and is a great skill to have. And the clothes are pretty cute and the people are really nice and actually long bus rides aren't bad because I can listen to my iPod or read, and the architecture is pretty nice, and I'm close to some of the most amazing places in the world and soon I'll be travelling to Scotland, Ireland, London, and Belgium, whether I can afford it or not. Whenever I start to feel homesick I go to that park, or I take a walk around my town and buy a pastry and remind myself that I'm here in SPAIN, living my dream, and that home will always be there and I have this wonderful opportunity, so just suck it up and like it.
And so I do. And the homesickness passes. And I am thankful and thrilled once again.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
OUCH.
First week of classes shaped out to be pretty good! Things are just moving right along here, as I get my life in order and finally down to a routine. Hopefully I can find some private lessons to teach soon because my afternoons are boring right now! But anyways, after classes on Thursday I met up with my co-teachers in the cafeteria that they have here, and we basically sat around and talked, laughed, drank and ate. It was the perfect staff meeting! And I got to try some AMAZING Spanish wine... they said it was about 30 euros for the bottle ($40), so I can never buy it myself, but it was wonderful to be able to try it! But one of the teachers told me that if you buy any bottle of wine from 4-5 euros, it should be pretty good.
After the meeting I got on a bus to Cordoba because the next morning I had to go to the police department there to apply for my Foreigners Identification Card. I met up with my friend Ashley and we went to her apartment, where her Spanish roommate was making fajitas!! We stayed up late talking, drinking wine and playing Taboo with all her Spanish roommates (she has 3), which was really fun! But I decided to go to bed at 2:30, and they decided to go out. So when I got up to head to the police station, Ashley was just getting back and into bed... crazy Spanish nightlife. But I woke up and went there, and instead of getting a meeting with someone, I just got a number. I have to go back the 20th of October for my actual meeting, which is annoying but such is Spain.
I ended up going home right after my appointment rather than sticking around and doing touristy things, which turned out to be a wonderful idea because I was able to skype with my best friends from college, Claire and Julie. Claire is in Korea and Julie is in Portland, which means that we were all about 8 hours apart, so for Julie it was 7am, for me it was 4pm, and for Claire it was 11pm... we had decided earlier that this was going to be a wine date, so even it was early for Julie, we begged her to have a glass of wine with us, which DOESN'T make her an alcoholic, just a very good friend. And also, it seems that the rest of the world is much less puritan in all things than the US, but especially in rules about drinking. Basically... there are no rules about drinking anywhere else, like you can't start until 5:00. Spanish people would laugh at you if this was your rule.
Yesterday it was raining, which was actually really comforting to me. I love the rain, and going so long without it so far was really starting to weird me out. So I was inside all day, and I decided to get down to planning my Christmas break plans. I decided that I'm going to leave the day after Christmas (because it's WAYYY cheaper) and go to London for 5 days, then to Bruges, this town I randomly picked on the map that was between London and Brussels (I googled it and looked at the images and they were BEAUTIFUL, and this was my deciding factor) for 4 days, and then to Brussels for 3 and fly out of Brussels back to Spain. I even looked up hostels and found some good ones to stay in! At first, I was going to go alone, mainly because I couldn't find anyone who wanted to go with me, and because honestly it's extremely easy to meet people in hostels and make new friends, so I wasn't worried. But my plans to go alone changed last night.
Later that evening, I met up with some new American friends (Kate and Veronica), Will (ex-travelling partner in crime) and James (that British dude), and I met a guy from France as well! His name is Clemente (I think this is how it's spelled), and he knows barely any English... so when I met him I instantly asked, "Hey! Can you teach me how to speak French??" and he said, "If you pay me!" to which I replied, "Well, what if you teach me French and I teach you English?" And he looked at me and said something to the effect of, "That would be awesome!" Then I was talking to the girls and telling them about my Christmas plans, and I found out that though Veronica won't be here for Christmas, Kate will be and doesn't have any plans yet, so I invited her along with me on my newly created plan, and I think she's going to come with me! I really dont know how things like this just fall right into my lap... it fascinates me.
Anyways, so we all met up and we played some good ol' America drinking games, like Flip Cup and Beer Pong. We didn't have ping pong balls so I resorted to what Claire, Julie and I did while camping... aluminum foil balls. We are very resourceful. And I think the French guy and the British guy liked it! And us Americans got to feel back at home again for a little while... ohhh chugging beer. How American. Our game for next time- Kings Cup.
I had to leave at 11:40ish to meet up with my Spanish friends for botellon (like pre-funking, or if you prefer, pre-gaming), where we drank extremely delicious mojitos that my friend Sonia made! We went out to the club around 2, and at around 5 I sliced my foot open. We were at the bar and a glass fell off the table and onto the floor next to me, so I picked up some of the big pieces and the STUPIDLY tried to sweep the rest of the glass to the wall with my foot, and of course was stabbed by some glass. I bent down and saw that I was bleeding, so my friend Montse gave me a napkin and we went outside, and I sat on the sidewalk and held the napkin to my foot. Clemente came out to see if I was alright, and actually stopped my freaking out by talking to me and Montse... I was worrying about my foot getting infected and I jokingly asked them if I was going to die, and he cheered me up by saying, "Ohh yes. Don't worry, I will find a machete and fix that right now. Where is that machete??" Which made me laugh and really lightened the mood for me, something that I needed at that moment! After my foot stopped bleeding for the most part, Montse said she had to go home so Clemente walked me home... or should I say, he walked and I limped. I got home and put alcohol on the cut and wrapped it up so hopefully I stopped any possible infection right in it's tracks! I guess the price I have to pay for a great night is a bloody foot. Magda came home and was worried about me, which was sweet, haha. Me and Magda get along really well, and I'm so glad I found this apartment with her! Maria is nice but she's older and likes to do other things than we do... but this is fine. In general I'm really loving my life here in Spain... well besides my injured foot.
After the meeting I got on a bus to Cordoba because the next morning I had to go to the police department there to apply for my Foreigners Identification Card. I met up with my friend Ashley and we went to her apartment, where her Spanish roommate was making fajitas!! We stayed up late talking, drinking wine and playing Taboo with all her Spanish roommates (she has 3), which was really fun! But I decided to go to bed at 2:30, and they decided to go out. So when I got up to head to the police station, Ashley was just getting back and into bed... crazy Spanish nightlife. But I woke up and went there, and instead of getting a meeting with someone, I just got a number. I have to go back the 20th of October for my actual meeting, which is annoying but such is Spain.
I ended up going home right after my appointment rather than sticking around and doing touristy things, which turned out to be a wonderful idea because I was able to skype with my best friends from college, Claire and Julie. Claire is in Korea and Julie is in Portland, which means that we were all about 8 hours apart, so for Julie it was 7am, for me it was 4pm, and for Claire it was 11pm... we had decided earlier that this was going to be a wine date, so even it was early for Julie, we begged her to have a glass of wine with us, which DOESN'T make her an alcoholic, just a very good friend. And also, it seems that the rest of the world is much less puritan in all things than the US, but especially in rules about drinking. Basically... there are no rules about drinking anywhere else, like you can't start until 5:00. Spanish people would laugh at you if this was your rule.
Yesterday it was raining, which was actually really comforting to me. I love the rain, and going so long without it so far was really starting to weird me out. So I was inside all day, and I decided to get down to planning my Christmas break plans. I decided that I'm going to leave the day after Christmas (because it's WAYYY cheaper) and go to London for 5 days, then to Bruges, this town I randomly picked on the map that was between London and Brussels (I googled it and looked at the images and they were BEAUTIFUL, and this was my deciding factor) for 4 days, and then to Brussels for 3 and fly out of Brussels back to Spain. I even looked up hostels and found some good ones to stay in! At first, I was going to go alone, mainly because I couldn't find anyone who wanted to go with me, and because honestly it's extremely easy to meet people in hostels and make new friends, so I wasn't worried. But my plans to go alone changed last night.
Later that evening, I met up with some new American friends (Kate and Veronica), Will (ex-travelling partner in crime) and James (that British dude), and I met a guy from France as well! His name is Clemente (I think this is how it's spelled), and he knows barely any English... so when I met him I instantly asked, "Hey! Can you teach me how to speak French??" and he said, "If you pay me!" to which I replied, "Well, what if you teach me French and I teach you English?" And he looked at me and said something to the effect of, "That would be awesome!" Then I was talking to the girls and telling them about my Christmas plans, and I found out that though Veronica won't be here for Christmas, Kate will be and doesn't have any plans yet, so I invited her along with me on my newly created plan, and I think she's going to come with me! I really dont know how things like this just fall right into my lap... it fascinates me.
Anyways, so we all met up and we played some good ol' America drinking games, like Flip Cup and Beer Pong. We didn't have ping pong balls so I resorted to what Claire, Julie and I did while camping... aluminum foil balls. We are very resourceful. And I think the French guy and the British guy liked it! And us Americans got to feel back at home again for a little while... ohhh chugging beer. How American. Our game for next time- Kings Cup.
I had to leave at 11:40ish to meet up with my Spanish friends for botellon (like pre-funking, or if you prefer, pre-gaming), where we drank extremely delicious mojitos that my friend Sonia made! We went out to the club around 2, and at around 5 I sliced my foot open. We were at the bar and a glass fell off the table and onto the floor next to me, so I picked up some of the big pieces and the STUPIDLY tried to sweep the rest of the glass to the wall with my foot, and of course was stabbed by some glass. I bent down and saw that I was bleeding, so my friend Montse gave me a napkin and we went outside, and I sat on the sidewalk and held the napkin to my foot. Clemente came out to see if I was alright, and actually stopped my freaking out by talking to me and Montse... I was worrying about my foot getting infected and I jokingly asked them if I was going to die, and he cheered me up by saying, "Ohh yes. Don't worry, I will find a machete and fix that right now. Where is that machete??" Which made me laugh and really lightened the mood for me, something that I needed at that moment! After my foot stopped bleeding for the most part, Montse said she had to go home so Clemente walked me home... or should I say, he walked and I limped. I got home and put alcohol on the cut and wrapped it up so hopefully I stopped any possible infection right in it's tracks! I guess the price I have to pay for a great night is a bloody foot. Magda came home and was worried about me, which was sweet, haha. Me and Magda get along really well, and I'm so glad I found this apartment with her! Maria is nice but she's older and likes to do other things than we do... but this is fine. In general I'm really loving my life here in Spain... well besides my injured foot.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Roommates
I want to add a disclaimer to these following stories before I tell them. I really do like my roommates a lot. They are becoming more sisterly than anything, and though this is comforting at some times, at others it's rather irritating. Today Maria walked into the kitchen... and whenever my roommates walk into the kitchen as I'm making something to eat, I cringe a little bit. I know they are much better cooks than I am... I have never shared an apartment with someone who are as accomplished as they are in this area. So Maria walks in, looks at what I'm making, and says, "You eat pasta a lot. You know, this is not good for your body." Which, as I shrugged outwardly and pushed her over internally, made miss my roommates from my senior year at Linfield DEARLY... Claire Carter and Katie Cowgill. THEY wouldn't judge me for my cooking skills, as they are as about as knowledgable in the ways of being a chef as I am. In fact, they would be PROUD that I have been grilling vegetables with spices and olive oil... even if it DOES happen often. Even though I eat almost the same dishes almost every day, I feel extremely healthy about my food choices and I am not tired of my meals yet, so until that time comes, do I really need to get more creative with my food? And also, the food that I eat is inexpensive, which is great for me because the possibility of traveling to different parts of Europe is more appealing to me that getting experimental and fancy with my meal choices.
I will explain to you briefly what I have been making for myself so far. Firstly, "bocadillos," or sandwiches in English. I buy fresh sandwich-sized loaves of french bread about every other day, and put olive oil, white delicious cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, and chicken that has been grilled in oregano and pepper on one. And I usually add a piece of fruit on the side. This is one meal. Another meal that I like to cook is pasta. I make the pasta, and add cheese, olive oil, grilled mushrooms, and spices to it, and then I also grill up a sliced up red pepper and zucchini and some other veggies in spices as well. This is another meal. Also, I can simply make a salad with the chicken and vegetables... All of these meals are easy, quick, and delicious. And for now, they are good enough for me. Sometimes I eat chocolate. I did just find tortillas today at the store, so I will be reverting back to some of my go-to meals in the USA, but that is besides the point. I feel extremely healthy with these food choices, and also I dont have a car, so if I go anywhere, I walk. Another healthy activity.
Then later today, I walked into the kitchen and Maria looks at me and says, "Why aren't you wearing shoes?? Aren't you cold?" I looked down at my bare feet and shrugged yet again. All the floors here are tile. There is no such thing as carpet, so of course my feet were cold. But I have been conditioned, through every adult female of my childhood, to "TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU ARE IN THE HOUSE!!" I could only look at her and say, "Yes I am. I don't know."
And finally, tonight Magda and I went out for drinks, and I got red wine. Magda looked at me and said, "You drink a lot of wine." To which I could only agree, and yet again gave a salute my ex-roommates.
Teaching today was a little different... It seems that every day that I teach I will be doing something new. Today one of my classes was the 1st year students... 12 year olds. Unlike the older students, they were overly enthusiastic about everything and we ended up spending the ENTIRE HOUR doing introductions... basically them asking me all sorts of questions, including Do you have a son? ("I am not married and have no childre of any gender") Do you have a boyfriend? What is your favorite futbol team? Where are you from? What street do you live on? ("...I dont know.") Do you like the rain or sun? Do you like the beach? What is your favorite color? ("Green"... I miss trees!) Do you like Spongebob? Do you like Spanish men? ("I like all Spanish people... They are very nice.") Do you have a secret love? What is your favorite movie? and so on... I think they were doing it so the teacher wouldn't actually start class, but it was interesting all the same.
I will explain to you briefly what I have been making for myself so far. Firstly, "bocadillos," or sandwiches in English. I buy fresh sandwich-sized loaves of french bread about every other day, and put olive oil, white delicious cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, and chicken that has been grilled in oregano and pepper on one. And I usually add a piece of fruit on the side. This is one meal. Another meal that I like to cook is pasta. I make the pasta, and add cheese, olive oil, grilled mushrooms, and spices to it, and then I also grill up a sliced up red pepper and zucchini and some other veggies in spices as well. This is another meal. Also, I can simply make a salad with the chicken and vegetables... All of these meals are easy, quick, and delicious. And for now, they are good enough for me. Sometimes I eat chocolate. I did just find tortillas today at the store, so I will be reverting back to some of my go-to meals in the USA, but that is besides the point. I feel extremely healthy with these food choices, and also I dont have a car, so if I go anywhere, I walk. Another healthy activity.
Then later today, I walked into the kitchen and Maria looks at me and says, "Why aren't you wearing shoes?? Aren't you cold?" I looked down at my bare feet and shrugged yet again. All the floors here are tile. There is no such thing as carpet, so of course my feet were cold. But I have been conditioned, through every adult female of my childhood, to "TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU ARE IN THE HOUSE!!" I could only look at her and say, "Yes I am. I don't know."
And finally, tonight Magda and I went out for drinks, and I got red wine. Magda looked at me and said, "You drink a lot of wine." To which I could only agree, and yet again gave a salute my ex-roommates.
Teaching today was a little different... It seems that every day that I teach I will be doing something new. Today one of my classes was the 1st year students... 12 year olds. Unlike the older students, they were overly enthusiastic about everything and we ended up spending the ENTIRE HOUR doing introductions... basically them asking me all sorts of questions, including Do you have a son? ("I am not married and have no childre of any gender") Do you have a boyfriend? What is your favorite futbol team? Where are you from? What street do you live on? ("...I dont know.") Do you like the rain or sun? Do you like the beach? What is your favorite color? ("Green"... I miss trees!) Do you like Spongebob? Do you like Spanish men? ("I like all Spanish people... They are very nice.") Do you have a secret love? What is your favorite movie? and so on... I think they were doing it so the teacher wouldn't actually start class, but it was interesting all the same.
Monday, October 4, 2010
First day of teaching!
Today, besides being my first day of teaching, was also the day my roommate said this: "You drink your water cold?"
And I looked at her like she was had sprouted a third ear. Of course I drink my water cold! I had noticed that no one else puts their water bottles in the fridge, but it had never crossed my mind that they NEVER did that, that it was UNHEARD of.
I replied, "Umm, yeah... you don't??"
"No! Do you even drink it cold in the winter?"
"...Yes... What the hell, you don't drink cold water?"
"No, never!"
And that right there was when I had to stop the conversation out of incredulity.
It was also interesting to talk to my roommates about homosexuality last night. Maria and I seem both rather liberal about it, which for me is because I have several homosexual friends that I love dearly and the fact that I don't really care in general. Homosexuality is personal, and if you're a good person living happily in the world, it makes no difference to me if you're gay or if you'e green. But Magda, being from Poland, has a much more conservative view about it. She did say she has one friend that is gay, but she kept repeating, "I just dont understand it!" and putting her head in her hands. And Maria and I would laugh and try to explain our viewpoints, and she would listen politely, and then repeat her mantra. I found out that apparently homosexual people can get married in Spain, but they can't adopt children... the exact opposite of the United States.
Anyways, back to my first day of teaching. My director had sent me my schedule this morning before school, which was rather late but I was not surprised as this is rather typical of Spain. So I ended up being with Maria for my first class. She teaches natural sciences, and today I began by introducing myself and then asking all the kids (she was teaching 12-13 year olds) their names and then some questions about them, like how old they were or if they had any brothers or sisters or what they liked to do after school. And then Maria passed out a worksheet in English with bar graphs and a chart on it, and I wrote all the necessary words down on the board and asked them to explain it to me in English.
My next class was my favorite. It was the 4th year students, around 15-16 years old, and supposedly the highest level of English, though they didn't have the level I thought they would. I had prepared a powerpoint presentation about myself, with pictures of my home, my family, dancing, Beaver games, Mexico... When I got to the picture of me and my friends in Las Vegas, Fran (the teacher), asked me what there was to do in Vegas, so that I could elaborate more on my photo. I looked at him to see if he REALLY wanted me to answer this question, and he nodded, so I said, "Well, in Vegas, we went to the clubs a lot to go dancing... some people gamble a lot. Do you know what gambling is?" The class looked blank. "It's when you bet money on a game..." They still stared at me. I looked at Fran. He said something in Spanish and they all nodded in understanding. Then Fran looked at me and said, "What else can you do in Vegas?" He might have winked.
"Umm... well you can drink. A lot. All day if you want to."
The class stared at me yet again.
"You know, drinking? You go out with your friends and drink?"
Still nothing.
I cheated and used Spanish. "Beber alcohol?"
"Ahhhhh!" They all said, and started laughing. Whatever, Fran asked for it!
After explaining all my photos and asking them clarifying questions about it at the end, (How old is my little brother? What is my favorite football team?), we worked on some grammar that Fran had prepared. I basically got to run the class, and I loved it! It made me excited to look up lesson plans online and make some of my own... hopefully this enthusiasm sticks around.
My last class was in a technology class of third year students who knew less English than the second year students in Marias class did. All I did though was write vocabulary on the board and read the vocab off in English so they would pronounce it right. The teacher would then tell it to them in Spanish. And that was my whole hour. It was boring.
But of course Fran doesn't have my schedule figured out for tomorrow or this week, so I guess I will have to think on my toes tomorrow if a teacher wants help with a lesson! In general though, I think I'm really going to love this teaching English thing... so much that I'm already looking into TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) courses that I can take all around Europe when I'm done in Spain in June. I'm thinking France, so that perhaps I can exchange my knowledge of English for some French lessons... a language that I would have learned in a heartbeat over Spanish if our high school had had a French program... but I'm of course quite happy that it didn't, because I adore Spanish :)
After classes I just basically sat around and talked to people on skype... it's getting boring without those private English classes yet. After I said Good Night to Eric and Good Morning to my mother, I walked out of my room and said to my roommates who were sitting in the living room, "I'm bored!" This is when Maria started talking about her classes for tomorrow and what I could do in them. I mentioned making a Powerpoint of the organs of the body, and she told me she had no idea how to use a Powerpoint. I shook my head in disbelief and then thanked God for my extensive knowledge of Microsoft thanks to the many profesors and teachers throughout the years that forced our knowledge of those multiple Office programs... I never knew I would meet anyone who didn't know how to use them! I was pretty stoked that I could teach someone something that I know so well... I guess that is the story of today!
When we were done, she gave a little yelp of joy, hugged me, and said, "Thank you! Now I will teach you to cook." Excellent.
And I looked at her like she was had sprouted a third ear. Of course I drink my water cold! I had noticed that no one else puts their water bottles in the fridge, but it had never crossed my mind that they NEVER did that, that it was UNHEARD of.
I replied, "Umm, yeah... you don't??"
"No! Do you even drink it cold in the winter?"
"...Yes... What the hell, you don't drink cold water?"
"No, never!"
And that right there was when I had to stop the conversation out of incredulity.
It was also interesting to talk to my roommates about homosexuality last night. Maria and I seem both rather liberal about it, which for me is because I have several homosexual friends that I love dearly and the fact that I don't really care in general. Homosexuality is personal, and if you're a good person living happily in the world, it makes no difference to me if you're gay or if you'e green. But Magda, being from Poland, has a much more conservative view about it. She did say she has one friend that is gay, but she kept repeating, "I just dont understand it!" and putting her head in her hands. And Maria and I would laugh and try to explain our viewpoints, and she would listen politely, and then repeat her mantra. I found out that apparently homosexual people can get married in Spain, but they can't adopt children... the exact opposite of the United States.
Anyways, back to my first day of teaching. My director had sent me my schedule this morning before school, which was rather late but I was not surprised as this is rather typical of Spain. So I ended up being with Maria for my first class. She teaches natural sciences, and today I began by introducing myself and then asking all the kids (she was teaching 12-13 year olds) their names and then some questions about them, like how old they were or if they had any brothers or sisters or what they liked to do after school. And then Maria passed out a worksheet in English with bar graphs and a chart on it, and I wrote all the necessary words down on the board and asked them to explain it to me in English.
My next class was my favorite. It was the 4th year students, around 15-16 years old, and supposedly the highest level of English, though they didn't have the level I thought they would. I had prepared a powerpoint presentation about myself, with pictures of my home, my family, dancing, Beaver games, Mexico... When I got to the picture of me and my friends in Las Vegas, Fran (the teacher), asked me what there was to do in Vegas, so that I could elaborate more on my photo. I looked at him to see if he REALLY wanted me to answer this question, and he nodded, so I said, "Well, in Vegas, we went to the clubs a lot to go dancing... some people gamble a lot. Do you know what gambling is?" The class looked blank. "It's when you bet money on a game..." They still stared at me. I looked at Fran. He said something in Spanish and they all nodded in understanding. Then Fran looked at me and said, "What else can you do in Vegas?" He might have winked.
"Umm... well you can drink. A lot. All day if you want to."
The class stared at me yet again.
"You know, drinking? You go out with your friends and drink?"
Still nothing.
I cheated and used Spanish. "Beber alcohol?"
"Ahhhhh!" They all said, and started laughing. Whatever, Fran asked for it!
After explaining all my photos and asking them clarifying questions about it at the end, (How old is my little brother? What is my favorite football team?), we worked on some grammar that Fran had prepared. I basically got to run the class, and I loved it! It made me excited to look up lesson plans online and make some of my own... hopefully this enthusiasm sticks around.
My last class was in a technology class of third year students who knew less English than the second year students in Marias class did. All I did though was write vocabulary on the board and read the vocab off in English so they would pronounce it right. The teacher would then tell it to them in Spanish. And that was my whole hour. It was boring.
But of course Fran doesn't have my schedule figured out for tomorrow or this week, so I guess I will have to think on my toes tomorrow if a teacher wants help with a lesson! In general though, I think I'm really going to love this teaching English thing... so much that I'm already looking into TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) courses that I can take all around Europe when I'm done in Spain in June. I'm thinking France, so that perhaps I can exchange my knowledge of English for some French lessons... a language that I would have learned in a heartbeat over Spanish if our high school had had a French program... but I'm of course quite happy that it didn't, because I adore Spanish :)
After classes I just basically sat around and talked to people on skype... it's getting boring without those private English classes yet. After I said Good Night to Eric and Good Morning to my mother, I walked out of my room and said to my roommates who were sitting in the living room, "I'm bored!" This is when Maria started talking about her classes for tomorrow and what I could do in them. I mentioned making a Powerpoint of the organs of the body, and she told me she had no idea how to use a Powerpoint. I shook my head in disbelief and then thanked God for my extensive knowledge of Microsoft thanks to the many profesors and teachers throughout the years that forced our knowledge of those multiple Office programs... I never knew I would meet anyone who didn't know how to use them! I was pretty stoked that I could teach someone something that I know so well... I guess that is the story of today!
When we were done, she gave a little yelp of joy, hugged me, and said, "Thank you! Now I will teach you to cook." Excellent.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Living in Priego
It is 6:00 in the evening and I have only been awake for 3 hours... I believe Sundays here will be known from now on as "The Day of Recovery." Friday night and last night I finally experienced the never-ending party that is Spanish nightlife, which for some time now I had been dreading. It's rather intimidating to hear that Spaniards stay out until 7 in the morning, sometimes later, every weekend. But now that I have actually experienced this, it is a bit easier to see why it's this way.
Spaniards don't usually eat dinner until around 9 or 10, and then they wait a few hours before going out on the weekends. On both Friday and Saturday night, my Spanish friends met up with me and Magda, my Polish roommate, at midnight. We then walked to one of the few parks in our town in which it's completely legal to drink, and settle ourselves for a good 1-2 hours. We drink tinto de verano (a sweet, bubbly red wine), talk, laugh, take a walk around the park and talk to other people, and drink some more. Last night during this time I learned about 5 new words in Spanish, so if this continues I'll be fluent in no time! We also got onto the topic of English cuss words, which I think is always an interesting conversation as people from both groups yell these new words into the night, and the teachers erupt in embarassed laughter at the sound of "Shit" and "Bitch" being said so casually by people who only understand the significance and not the impact. And now I know how to say the "F" word in 3 different languages, which is always a great thing to add to any resume ;)
Anyways, so we sat in the park for a few hours and then finally headed to the clubs around 2:30. It's interestig because there are many different types of bars/clubs and there are specific times of the night in which you should go to these. Bars/cafeterias are places where you go first. This is where you simply sit and can have any sort of drink you like, alcoholic or not. Then we move on to the pubs, which to them is like a staging area for the dance clubs (discotecas). Here you drink and talk and are squished in with a ton of people, and sometimes you dance. And THEN you finally head to the discotecas around 5 in the morning, even though at this time it's still pretty empty, but the line to the bathroom is short! And this is where you supposedly dance, though I might not have stayed long enough last night, as it still seemed that it was mostly people yelling to each other over the music rather than dancing. It does make me wonder if they dance at all like they do at home, or if discotecas are just another place where girls dance with girls in circles and guys stand and watch awkwardly. I dont know if I'll ever make it out long enough to see how this works out, as I stayed out until 6:30 am last night and that is about as much as I can take.
On a different note, I start classes tomorrow. Friday I went to the school and it was basically an introduction day. We signed some papers and met a lot of the teachers and introduced ourselves to 2 of the advanced English classes (which, I must note, are not very advanced). Mostly the students sit there and are pretty unresponsive when you ask them questions... you really have to call on a student to get them to speak at all. Thank God I'm just a language assistant this year! If I do want to go on to make teaching English a career, this will be good training. Though they did seem to know the difference between an American accent and a British accent, as James and I introduced ourselves at the same time. My director has yet to send me a schedule for this week, but I know that I'm supposed to make some sort of presentation for the classes tomorrow about myself and my home and my culture. Hopefully that goes well!
Spaniards don't usually eat dinner until around 9 or 10, and then they wait a few hours before going out on the weekends. On both Friday and Saturday night, my Spanish friends met up with me and Magda, my Polish roommate, at midnight. We then walked to one of the few parks in our town in which it's completely legal to drink, and settle ourselves for a good 1-2 hours. We drink tinto de verano (a sweet, bubbly red wine), talk, laugh, take a walk around the park and talk to other people, and drink some more. Last night during this time I learned about 5 new words in Spanish, so if this continues I'll be fluent in no time! We also got onto the topic of English cuss words, which I think is always an interesting conversation as people from both groups yell these new words into the night, and the teachers erupt in embarassed laughter at the sound of "Shit" and "Bitch" being said so casually by people who only understand the significance and not the impact. And now I know how to say the "F" word in 3 different languages, which is always a great thing to add to any resume ;)
Anyways, so we sat in the park for a few hours and then finally headed to the clubs around 2:30. It's interestig because there are many different types of bars/clubs and there are specific times of the night in which you should go to these. Bars/cafeterias are places where you go first. This is where you simply sit and can have any sort of drink you like, alcoholic or not. Then we move on to the pubs, which to them is like a staging area for the dance clubs (discotecas). Here you drink and talk and are squished in with a ton of people, and sometimes you dance. And THEN you finally head to the discotecas around 5 in the morning, even though at this time it's still pretty empty, but the line to the bathroom is short! And this is where you supposedly dance, though I might not have stayed long enough last night, as it still seemed that it was mostly people yelling to each other over the music rather than dancing. It does make me wonder if they dance at all like they do at home, or if discotecas are just another place where girls dance with girls in circles and guys stand and watch awkwardly. I dont know if I'll ever make it out long enough to see how this works out, as I stayed out until 6:30 am last night and that is about as much as I can take.
On a different note, I start classes tomorrow. Friday I went to the school and it was basically an introduction day. We signed some papers and met a lot of the teachers and introduced ourselves to 2 of the advanced English classes (which, I must note, are not very advanced). Mostly the students sit there and are pretty unresponsive when you ask them questions... you really have to call on a student to get them to speak at all. Thank God I'm just a language assistant this year! If I do want to go on to make teaching English a career, this will be good training. Though they did seem to know the difference between an American accent and a British accent, as James and I introduced ourselves at the same time. My director has yet to send me a schedule for this week, but I know that I'm supposed to make some sort of presentation for the classes tomorrow about myself and my home and my culture. Hopefully that goes well!
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