Photos from my Thanksgiving

A Spanish Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Dinner starts promptly at 10:30pm

I didn’t want to think about Thanksgiving like I did Halloween. I was all prepared to just ignore the holiday here and treat it like any other Thursday. Well, to my pleasure that didn’t happen. I found out about a week before Thanksgiving that Kate’s mom was going to be in Valverde for the holiday and was preparing to cook all of us a wonderful feast of traditional Thanksgiving foods. However, I didn’t find out until Monday afternoon that everyone attending the dinner was suppose to bring a dish AND that there was going to be like 20 people coming. Oye! Well it took me until Tuesday afternoon to come up with a good thanksgiving dish that didn’t require an oven: Mashed Potatoes. One problem didn’t have a peeler. I wasn’t about to buy one so I asked around and lucky enough on Thursday early afternoon Pocho found one for me in her house. After my 4:30pm session I set aside an hour to call my family and wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough time to call Whitney so that was my only regret.

After my calls I raced home and began making my dish. I have never made mashed potatoes before (shocking I know) so I was a little apprehensive about it. I also wasn’t sure how many potatoes to peel so I thought more were better and ended up with two giant pots boiling with potatoes. The peeler that Pocho gave me wasn’t exactly the same kind of peeler I was use to so it took me a little to figure out how to work it. After 5 minutes of struggling with the peeler I realized that the peeler was meant for a left handed person and therefore the only way it was going to work is if I peeled the skin of the potato towards me. Any good chef knows that’s a dangerous thing to do so it took me double the time it would normally take to peel potatoes because I had to be extremely careful and the peeler wasn’t always cooperating with me as well. The whole ordeal was one big mess. However, the one thing Spain has that helped me make my dish faster was a puree machine. The machine is a little hand-operated device that puree’s foods very quickly. It helped me make up the time I lost with peeling the potatoes. To finish off the dish I made the potatoes garlic and cheesy. Who doesn’t like cheesy potatoes? (Kate…)

I ended up with two LARGE bowls of mashed potatoes, enough to satisfy two Thanksgiving of 20 people. The only problem was I had another tutor session to attend to before we could leave for the dinner. By the time we left the house for Kate and Corrie’s my dish wasn’t warm anymore. I thought I would warm them up in the oven but other people needed the oven for their dishes so mine went in the microwave. It didn’t do the best job so my potatoes weren’t the best they could have been, but Christina thanked me profusely for making them. What’s Thanksgiving without starches?

The final head count at the dinner came out to 16 people. Each person did there part and made a dish. This is what my Thanksgiving consisted of: appetizers of sliced meats (chorizo, salami, jamon serano), toasted bread with cream cheese and jam, bread, olives, and nuts. The main dishes consisted of roasted potatoes, my mashed potatoes, Christina’s green bean casserole (the biggest hit of all the food that night—I had three helpings hehe), deviled eggs, two CHICKEN dishes, 2 different quiches, fruit salad, and potato chips. Lots of food but none of them were very traditional, but it didn’t really matter. Unfortunately in Spain, to make a whole turkey would have cost over $95 so we nixed that idea. I was under the impression that Kate’s mom was going to bring cranberries and pumpkin pie filling but she didn’t. For dessert there was an apple pie that wasn’t too good, ice cream, a whiskey cake (???), and more wine. All in all the meal was a huge success and unlike any Thanksgiving I had ever been to. I talked with different people in Spanish and English and I was forced to pray (a new one for me). The meal started around 11pm and ended at 2am. Not exactly an ideal time to be eating heavy food but what can you do?

Miguel-Angelo, the new roommate had facebook stalked me and asked me about soccer. Finally, someone interested in soccer to talk to!! At the end of our conversation I made a play date with him on Sunday to play soccer. Wahoo! We also agreed to watch the El Clasico together because we were both Real Madrid fans. I forget what I did on Friday, but it mustn’t have been that eventful. OH just kidding I remember! Friday I attended my first Spanish Birthday party!!!! It was awesome. See previous post for details.

Saturday I had a wonderful morning. I got up at a decent hour and prepared myself for a run. When I opened my door to leave I noticed three of my students across the street. Naturally they came up to me and asked where I was going and if I lived there and so forth. I talked to them for a little but when I left I forgot to tell them that I wanted to play soccer and that they should have come back to my door at 2pm to play. Rats! I began my run down the hills of Valverde taking a different route. I couldn’t tell you what streets I ran through but somehow I ended up at the start of the green path that I wanted. The combination of my good mood, great fall-ish weather, and my excellent playlist made my run really enjoyable. I challenged myself to run farther than I did the weekend before. I ended up running a little over 6.5 kilometers in total. I felt great and although I ran it very slowly I didn’t stop to walk and I wasn’t too tired. My stamina since arriving in Valverde has disappeared and I’m ashamed to call myself an athlete. I don’t really get to the chance to exercise anymore, so I’ve lost every muscle and replaced it with a thick layer of fat that has turned into lovely rolls around my stomach. I am a disgrace to my former self and I vow to change my habits as soon as I get access to the pool. Unfortunately that is a whole other blog’s worth of details and another example of Spanish bureaucracy at its finest. Don’t even get me started…

I felt great after my run and was looking forward to my shower but the warm water never came. It took me ten minutes to get my shower at a decent enough temperature for me to enter even though I was still shivering. NOT OKAY! One of my pet peeves is being cold in a shower. I hate it. After my shower I did a full two loads of laundry, cleaned my bedroom, read my book (finished The Lost Symbol—by the way I totally saw the twist coming and if anyone had been around me when I was reading the book they would of heard me shouting out the twist throughout the book. The book was good but now I don’t have any more English books to read. I have to wait until my winter break trip, when I’m in an airport, to purchase a new English book to occupy my weekends), and wrote an email. I turned on the TV and was delighted that an EPL game was on. During the game Corrie called me and asked if I wanted to go to Seville with the usual group to see a movie. Corrie wanted to see New Moon (I really wanted to see it as well but not in Spanish…) and Ruben wanted to see a Spanish movie Celdo 211 (Cell 211). By the time everyone was ready to go we figured there wasn’t enough time to see a movie if we drove all the way to Seville, so we headed to Huelva instead. It didn’t matter to me, I was just happy to be going to a movie instead of the usual, go to a bar and talk. We ended up at a mall and ate dinner at an eatery across from the theatre. The food was really good. I noticed that there was a flashing word next to the entire New Moon movie times and figured that it meant the movie was sold out. Sure enough I was right. Are choices were now the Celdo 211 or Planet 51 in Spanish. After talking it over we all decided to see Celdo 211. It had a famous Galician actor that Ruben loves (Ruben is from Galicia so it makes sense that he would like the actor).

Well I knew that I was not going to understand most of it so when Ruben offered to sit in between us to help translate I was all for it. Unfortunately he sat between Kate and Corrie, not me. I understand the least amount of Spanish than anyone and therefore need the translator the most, yet I never got one. Figures. Kate leaned over twice during the movie to tell me a sentence of information in English that I had already figured out. Thanks. The movie was sad but very well acted. I really enjoyed the main character, Juan. I had a few questions at the end that I needed explained to me but for the most part I understood what happened. I recommend the movie (with subtitles of course) if you’re into prison dramas. After the movie, the group wanted to go get a drink in Huelva. Rocio lead the way because she had a Nav System but we ended up in circles and getting lost numerous times. After a half hour Ruben pulled aside and made the decision to just get a drink in Valverde. I wanted to go home but I couldn’t say so because I was with the group. We got to La Estacion and it was crowded and incredibly smoky. So smoky in fact, that I started to cry and anytime I tried to talk I would cough profusely. I made it clear that I was heading home after 15 minutes and Christina and Ruben followed me out the door. Ruben was nice enough to give me a lift back to my far away house.

On Sunday I was looking forward to my soccer date but when I woke up it was rainy and cold. Shucks! I didn’t really do anything that important all day but when it was time for the Clasico I put on my purple sweater and headed to the bar that Sergio told me to go to. After arriving I wasn’t quite sure why he told me to watch the game here because it was very smoky, all men (no surprise there), no tables, and not really a great environment. Oh well, I stuck it out. Miguel joined me and so did the Corrie and Kate, although they left at half time. They truly don’t understand the importance of this match to Spaniards. Whenever Madrid got close to scoring this guy in front of me would pump his fist in the air in the perfect spot to block out the TV for me. It was funny at first but then I got annoyed. After Barce scored Miguel lost hope. He had predicted earlier that the game would be a 1-0 affair and he was right. Good news, I’m still a good luck charm for Barcelona. Every time I watch them play they win. Too bad I’m normally rooting for the other team.

Valverde is now OFFICIALLY cold. Dad, you’ll be happy to hear that my room here is colder than any room in our home in Cabin John. My room is a frozen cellblock that prevents me from getting out of bed in the morning and showering. The worst feeling is getting out of (a normally steaming hot shower but that’s not the case for me) shower and then shivering the rest of the time as I towel off, put on clothes, and wait around in wet hair. Ugh it’s awful! During the weekend I stole Elisa’s heater and used it in my room, but once she returned my room went back to it’s usual cold self. After school I wrap myself in a blanket, curl up on my bed, and lay there, unable to move for hours because I’m afraid of being cold. It’s THAT bad. Today (Tuesday) I was too cold to change in the morning so I wore my pajamas to school. It’s a good thing nobody could tell that they were my Pj’s hehe. In order to get any sleep I HAVE to wear pants, socks, and a sweatshirt to bed. A t-shirt doesn’t cut it; I’ll wake up in the middle of the night freezing. I even take it to the next step and tuck my pants into my socks/slippers to prevent any chills. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Elisa told me today that she would take me to a store on Thursday and help me purchase a heater for my room. She says they are only 20 Euros. She also informed me that my shower problem is normal and that the same thing happened last year. She said a guy is suppose to come to our house to fix the pipe but in Spanish time that could be anytime from December to February so I’m not holding my breath. I’ll just put the heater in the shower with me lol.

During my tutor session with Sergio he told me that his classmate David wanted private sessions with me. At first I thought, nope, I’ll pass it off to Christina, but then I thought about the money… The greed got to me. I figured I wouldn’t have to plan another session because I would do the exact same thing with him as I do with Sergio. Sergio told me that he and David are the best students in the English class and that they are at the same level so that makes it even better. Also, technically I’m not gaining another tutor session because I now only teach Sergio once a week instead of twice a week because he has this Chemistry class that cuts into my normal tutoring hours. I’m not sure if it will work out because David might not be able to hold classes at the times I told him I’m free but if it does work out, it could be fun. I can compare the two high schoolers on my own time. Since I teach at the elementary school, Sergio is my only exposure into the life of the adolescence here in Valverde. It would be nice to get a second opinion. Also, he could be another person to potentially play pick up soccer with.

Now that Sergio is more comfortable with me he talks more. We end up spending at least half of the class talking about soccer, both EPL, La Liga, and his own games. He’s really insightful about soccer and doesn’t just watch the game; he analyzes the teams and the players. The best part is his facial expressions. Sometimes he goes off in Spanish and talks so fast that I have no idea what he is saying but I read his face and understand more. It is very obvious when he is talking about Seville F.C because disgust is written all over his face, likewise with Real Madrid but the opposite emotion. Sometimes I can’t help but laugh because based on his face I can just imagine the words he would be saying in English. I think at the beginning of our sessions he kind of dreaded the classes, but now I think he enjoys it a little more. The turning point was definitely the day I mentioned a while ago when he started off mopey and by the end of the class he was in a great mood and hugged his mom. I’ll never forget that session.

Ugh I have to go to bed now (it’s 11:55pm) but I don’t want to go into my cold room. I’m very comfortable in the living room with the heater placed between my feet. It doesn’t hurt that I’m also wearing a jacket, sweatshirt, t-shirt, sweatpants, socks, and shoes. Transitions are the worst. I wish that I could burn fat by shivering because then I would gladly take more showers and sleep in boxers but sadly that is not the case. 3 days until GRANADA!!!! :)

“I just got out of my PJ’s (8:30p)” - Kate

(i forgot to post this about two weeks ago, whoops!)

I had a phenomenal Saturday. I accomplished a lot for one day and had a wonderful relaxing time doing it. I woke up at a decent hour, had breakfast, and planned out my day. I decided that even though I didn’t know what time Sergio plays at Triana (the soccer stadium in Valverde) I would check it out anyways and watch whatever game was on. On the way to the stadium I took my time and window-shopped at all the boot stores because I was determined to buy a pair of Valverde boots. Realizing that my winter break will consist of cities that are notorious for feet of snow I figured my Chucks just wouldn’t cut it so I knew I needed to buy a pair of boots before my winter break trip. I see boots in the store windows all the time but I always pass the stores during siesta time so I never get the chance to ask the price or try them on. Well today I did. I decided to make my rounds to all the boot places before settling on a pair just to ensure I got the best price and wasn’t missing out on anything. I eventually made my way down to Triana around 11ish and got to the field about 3 minutes before half time. I remained at the entrance for a little in order to scope out the fans and determine if I would stick out too much if I sat by myself. Well I came to the conclusion that I just didn’t care at this point, I was tired of being stared at every time I walk by a bar full of men and peep in to check the TV for the soccer match. Even just walking down the street and passing the outdoor bars and restaurants warrants constant stares no matter how I dress. I don’t think my outfits scream “American” or foreigner for that matter but yet people are always blatantly starring at me. I’m over it. I’ve been here long enough to know that the starring should be over and done with. So once half time started and I saw other people walking over to the stands I made my way over. Before I got to the other side I look at the kids passing on the pitch and I spotted Sergio! Perfect timing, yeah!!!!!! Like any good stalker, I whipped out my camera and discreetly took pictures of him and his teammates lol. I then proceeded to makes notes in my journal about his soccer technique and form. Not to be overly critical, but I expected him to be better than what I saw. He never used his left foot and his passes were average at best. This cheered me up because I realized that I COULD actually play with his team. After watching the entire second half I had no doubt that I was better than most of the players on his team and could easily hold my own against them, that is once I get my endurance up and brush up on my touches.

Oh I also forgot to mention that on Friday in the afternoon (normally the time of day where I am planning tutor sessions or holding a session any other day of the week) I found a group of guys playing pickup soccer at the Menendez playground. It does exist!!! Oh man this and the game at Triana really inspired me to just go out with my mini soccer ball and just play around when I have some free time and see what happens. While I enjoy making money in order to travel, sometimes when I walk to my sessions I pass all the kids playing in the parks and streets and I just want to jump in and play soccer with them. Perhaps Friday’s I can finally get that chance. During the game I recognized a few of my students and they all said hi to me. A few of them came up to me during the game and asked why I was there. It was great. The only annoying part of the experience was the father I was sitting next to. Not only was he smoking, he had an obnoxious horn (the only person to have a horn) and he would not stop commentating throughout the whole game. He was a parent on the away team (which was awful) so most of the time he was screaming “vamos”, “venga”, or “falta” haha. I decided not to say hi to Sergio after the game; I’ll wait until our session on Monday to bring it up.

Birthday Photos!!!!

Marta's Birthday Party

"Edica, Saca! Saca un Photo!!"

Just experienced my first Spanish birthday party. WOW.

So Marta, the now 8 year old girl who I tutor twice a week and lives across the street (Toni's daughter), had a birthday party today. The day before I received a hand delivered invitation to her birthday party at 5pm at my favorite restaurant La Hacienda del Zapatero. Sadly my favorite waiter was not on duty. I wasn't sure what to expect because I thought it might be odd being the only person over 10 there, but I was not alone. Corrie and Christen also received invitations so I ended up not being alone. When I arrived there were kids and adults running around everywhere.

On this grand table Toni had three cakes displayed and a plate of sandwiches and drinks. It was very Toni-esk: controlled and organized. I started taking pictures of the cakes on the table and Toni informed me that her camera was broken so I became the official photographer of the party. Que Chullo! (Awesome). It was my duty to capture the singing of feliz cumpleanos, the opening of presents, the whacking of the piñata, and the family portrait. It kept me very busy but I loved every moment of it. It was great seeing all of the kids from school at the party. I thought that there would only be kids from the third grade and therefore I wouldn't know that many of them by name because i don't work with that grade but to be great surprise there were kids from all grades. I colored pictures of Hannah Montana and Tinker Bell with some of my 1st graders and 4th graders. I had more fun coloring with the kids than sitting with my English speaking friends. I don't know what it is but I connect better with children than people my own age haha.

Naturally I sampled every cake on the table. In the end there were FIVE cakes to choose from. One was very lemony, another was more coffee tasting, and my favorite was a sponge cake with layers of chocolate frosting. All of them were good. Unlike American birthday's, Marta opened a present the instant she received it. She didn't wait until after the party or at a specific time when everyone would gather around and watch her open them. I thought that was interesting. I guess when your a kid you don't realize that adults hang around as well and chat while the kids run wild. Consequently there was a giant table were all the parents socialized, away from the noise and chaos. I think that was my very first birthday party as a adult. It's a very different perspective when your not the birthday girl or a kid for that matter. Despite the constant screaming and continuous chaos i thoroughly enjoyed the party. I was honored to be invited and thankful that I attended.

I stayed for a good two hours. I think I did a decent job of capturing all the important moments and few in between. An album dedicated to the event will be posted shortly. Now I'm off to dinner with Corrie, Christen, Kate, and Kate's mother in order to celebrate Kate's mothers birthday. Corrie told me that she asked if Kate was going to do anything for her mom and naturally Kate said no. It's her mom's 60th Birthday! That's kind of a big deal... It doesn't surprise me though, Kate has no forethought. Corrie was outraged so she insisted that we all go out to dinner to do SOMETHING to honor it. Entones, I'm off to El Parque for a nice dinner at 10pm. Typical dinner time here. Adios!

"Ahh! it does exist!" --M&M commercial at Christmas

I'm talking about Futbol, not Santa Clause. I finally played soccer. And with children no less. I wasn't thinking correctly and I went to my first tutor session an hour before the actual correct time so after Ana told me i was not suppose to be there I thought about what i could do for an hour to kill time. Randomly, i guess it was destiny, i pull my yellow mini soccer ball in my bag. Finally deciding to pump it up and actually take it out of my closet. Well i wasn't exactly dressed for sports but i said wtf its now or never. I walked over to my school and went to the play ground to kick the ball against the wall and juggle. Its a lot harder than i expected in Chucks, but it is doable.

Well i started juggling and noticed two boys walking by. I heard them gasp at the sight of a girl, with a soccer ball, actually playing with it. Well i asked the one boys if they wanted to pass and one excepted while the other declined. I could tell the boy who declined liked soccer a lot but i think he thought because i was a girl that i wouldn't be good at all and therefore he shouldn't waste his time. HA! I showed him.... I passed with Mustafa (I asked him his name and then he retorted back, "I go to Menendez and you met me so you should know my name." Exucse me???? There were over a 100 kids that i met on my first day. You only have to know one name. I'm sorry if i don't remember YOUR name when i only met you once and for a millisecond.)

Anyways, i showed off my skills as best i could for being rusty and in jeans and chucks but i made a good impression because eventually the second boy joined in when he realized that we were actually having fun and passing the ball well. Well this little boy, maybe 2 or 3 years old, walked by and i knew he wanted to play so i passed him the ball. The other boys passed with him as well. It was very cute. But, the boy (Antonio) decided to run on the blacktop and he slipped and fell on his butt. Naturally he cried and I felt responsible. The mom makes her way over and is all, "No pasa nada (its no big deal). Tranquila. (relax, he's fine)". In America, every mom would run over and cuddle there child and reassure them that they were okay. This mom was like, hey you fell, get up. It was great!

The kid got up and then proceeded to chase the ball again. It was funny. One of the after school classes got out so more kids were hanging outside the school and so were their parents. I noticed all the fathers watching in disbelief. A few kids asked to join in but their parents told them they had to go. It was a short lived soccer experience, but one that i won't forget. I missed soccer so much. It was so good to touch the ball again. God i miss soccer practice. Well my very yellow, hardly used mini soccer ball is now a darker shade of yellow and looks like its been used for a year or so (and only after one day!). Normally i would want to keep it looking new and shiny but i just don't care anymore. If this is what i have to work with than so be it.

Best accident in Spain so far. Tomorrow I attempt to sign up for free swim at the only swimming pool in Valverde. Wish me luck!

I don’t ever want to reach 3rd Age!

I know I haven’t been writing as often as I use to but things have slowed down here and therefore I don’t have as much to report on. November has arrived and so has winter. Andalucía this year decided to skip fall altogether. We had 80-degree weather from my arrival in September until November 1^st. I have separated my bathing suites and shorts from the rest of my clothes and now wear either my sweatshirt or my fleece in my house at all times. The houses and flats here have no air conditioning or heating so we have to bundle up and plug in space heaters. I try not to use the space heater because it increases the electric bill for the month. Every house and flat in Valverde at least also come with heavy duty plastic shutters that when closed all the way block out the sunlight completely and also keeps the rooms warmer. The only problem is in the morning in order to stay warm I pull the shutters closed completely but then I have to rely solely on my alarm to make sure I get up in time because I have no idea if its night or day outside. I don’t really like that feeling but I also hate being cold so I’m working on finding a compromise of some sort.

This past Sunday I had my first emotional meltdown. Like I mentioned in my last post, November is the month to get homesick. Well it happened. I contributed the meltdown to a number of things. I was so upset on Monday that I was about to scratch my winter break plans entirely and come home. I gave myself a day to really think about and I got an email from someone that really helped me put the situation in perspective. In the end I stuck to my original plan and now will be going to three countries and four cities this winter. The plan is to arrive in Berlin, Germany and stay there through Christmas and then head over to Vienna, Austria for a few days. After Vienna we will bus it to Prague, where we will spend a good 3-4 days. This is also the city where we will be for New Years. Finally, we train it back to Germany and head to Frankfurt for a day or two before me get a flight back to Seville. In order to get a good deal on a return flight we cut the trip a little short, but I think it was the best decision because I know by that time we will annoyed with each other and just want to go home to our own beds. This will be quite the adventure. I know the odds of coming home from the trip without something being stolen is very slim, so I’m just hoping that item doesn’t belong to me. I will also be sleeping with my passport tucked away inside my PJ’s just to be safe.

Monday night was fun because I had an intercambio with a girl named Rocio. She teaches at the Residencia, which is connected to Don Basco, which is the high school that Corrie and Kate work at. She is a close friend of Reuben’s, Corrie and Kate’s favorite teacher at D.B, and so I’ve met her a few times at the Italian parties and she is very nice. This is her first year taking English classes so she wanted some extra practice. An intercambio is when you talk with someone for lets say a half hour in one language, and then you switch to the other language for the rest of the hour. This way both people get to practice their language skills and it is equally stressful for both people when they have to try and speak the other’s native tongue. I tried to go to an intercambio in Argentina, but too many Americans signed up and not enough Argentine’s so it wasn’t beneficially for me to attend. This intercambio was a lot of fun. It’s a great way to practice speaking in a relaxed fashion. You’re not surrounded by a lot of people, you're not talking about difficult topics, and you can really work on correcting and tweaking your speech. I only wish it was just Rocio and me because since Corrie speaks the best she tends to dominate the conversation when its time to speak Spanish. I also don’t like the pressure of having her there. I would rather just be one-on-one with someone so it forces me to keep the conversation going. Before the intercambio I had a great tutor session with my adults, Paco and Ana. I decided to start the session off with the topic of obesity in America and why American’s are so fat compared to the rest of the world. This evolved into comparing food from America to Spain and then specifically to Valverde. They told me names of dishes that I should order and about local markets to go during the weekend to buy a premade-meal (like the kind you get at Whole foods) for very cheap. These are the kinds of things you would never figure out on your own unless you knew an insider. It was great. There tutor session has become my favorite of the week because we talk about awesome stuff. It’s my intellectual stimulation for the week. I only wish they had more time in the day to devote an hour to the same kind of conversations but in Spanish. That would help me so much but alas all the adults are so busy and I don’t even know how they manage to squeeze in two hours a week for me.

Menendez School got Wi-Fi but it doesn’t work for my computer because I’m American, so really it means nothing to me. I still have to rely on Pocho’s computer to do all my work and check my email daily. I still enjoy my classes and I’m not tired of the kids. I get frustrated with a kid here and there because they call me over every time they finish one part of a worksheet or activity. They need me to say, “Yes, that’s right. Now do the next one.” I started putting my foot down and refusing to come over to their desks until they have completely finished the worksheet. It’s just so tedious and it takes away from my time helping other students who actually need help with something. While my Spanish hasn’t really improved much yet, my ability to talk in English in front of the class to the students has. I somehow found the ability to project my voice without getting to pitchy and can hold the attention of the class. I’ve led a few classes in new topics now so my confidence in that respect is improving. This is good because it will cross over to coaching soccer. Oh I also received an email on Tuesday stating that Christen was on her way to Valverde as we speak and would be here by Wednesday (meaning last Wend Nov 11).

Well Tuesday was also a very eventful day. I had a full day of classes and two tutor sessions. I had a whole lesson planned for Marta my 8 year old but when I arrived her mother Toni had her own plan for the lesson. She wanted Marta to study science. Toni set up two white boards and I had to translate what Toni wrote on one board in Spanish into English. Sounds easy enough. Well the topic was fish and amphibians so it wasn’t something I was well versed in when it comes to Spanish vocabulary. I managed to get through it and I actually kind of enjoyed it because it helped me learn some knew words in Spanish that are now in my long term memory, like Merluza is Hake, Rana is Frog, and Lubina is Sea Bass—all useful knowledge when ordering from a menu. The lesson was pretty intense for Marta though. Her mom is very strict when it comes to academics. She is a no nonsense type of woman so she made Marta repeat everything in English multiple times, she wouldn’t let her fiddle in her seat, or play with her hair. She tested her for an hour straight on only that material. I felt bad for Marta because every hour of the day she has something planned and her mom is very tough on her. Now if I had met Toni for the first time that day I would have said this lady is insane; she is forcing English down her child’s throat, she is a perfectionist, and she treats her 8 year old daughter like she’s in high school. However, that is one side of Toni. This is also the same lady that welcomed me into her home, forced me to take food back with me, and told me if I ever need anything at anytime that I should not hesitate to come over. Also you should know that Toni is a teacher at Menendez so she knows what she is doing. I will admit it was an intense session for Marta, but I kind of found it fun. I’m thinking that I might do that every other week or so with Marta when she starts a new topic because it secretly helps me in the process.

After that session I ate a quick dinner and then met up with Corrie and Kate at a bar in the city center to meet their first Couch Surfer. -------Couch Surfing is a social network like facebook or MySpace but it’s for people looking for a couch to sleep on while they travel around the world. You make a profile stating whether you have a couch for someone to sleep on, that you’re looking for a couch to sleep on, or both. There is a creepy, “I don’t know you and I’m staying in your house” factor that comes along with this, but its at your own discretion, its free, and you can message the person before hand and talk to them and explain your bottom line so that there is no confusion. Some girls have said that when they stay with a guy there was a miscommunication that they were looking for a relationship. Things like that happen, so you have to be careful, but I know way more success stories than creepy stories so I definitely think it’s a cool concept. ----------That brings me to Joaquin, like the actor. He is from Granada and is a clarinet player. He only works two months out of the year, but for the months of October and November he travels every few days to different locations in Andalucía to give presentations and play his instruments for kids. It’s a cool gig but not one I would want. What do you do for the other 10 months??? Anyways, he was really nice. He spoke really good English so that was a nice surprise. He taught me some Andalucian slang terms and colloquialisms that were really useful to know. For example, Spaniards refer to people over the age of 65 as “people in the third age”. I really liked that term so I plan on using it for now on. The most interesting thing he taught me that night was about the province Almeria (its next to Granada province in Andalucía. It’s the direct opposite of Huelva, so southeast). Apparently Almeria has a desert region and back in the day American westerns were filmed there. Now there are tourist locations in Almeria where you can learn about the influence of the American western cinema culture on the region. He told me Spaghetti Western was filmed there along with The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. You know that famous whistle that all westerns have when the bad guy and the good guy meet for a dual? Well that came from Almeria, Spain!!! He also told us that he loves Dolly Parton and every time he hits the desert he plays her cassette. How funny is that? It was all very fascinating. We ended up getting kicked out of the bar because they were closing. Hah, that’s a first! Even though it was late and a Tuesday I wanted to hang out with him some more so I went back to Corrie and Kate’s place and then Joaquin asked if we wanted to watch a movie. A MOVIE? Do they still exist??? I haven’t watched a movie since August. We all said, “OF COURSE!” He picked the movie that none of us had seen but was in English with Spanish subtitles, which was perfect. I spent most of the movie reading the Spanish because I found it really helpful. We watched A Happy Accident, a movie I had never heard of (a first, I know) so I was really excited to watch. It was a romantic comedy and it was very interesting. The movie ended at 3am and sadly I had to go back home. Ugh sometime I really dislike the 15 minute walk back home. Although tired, I was really glad I met him. I plan on staying on his couch for a night or two when I visit Granada in December.

Wednesday was a lot of fun as well because it was the night of Elisa’s birthday party (her real birthday is 11/12 but her mom wanted her to be born on 11/11 so she always has her party on 11/11. Cute right?). For anyone that knows me well, knows I like to celebrate birthdays, and this one was no exception. I bought Elisa an ice cream cake, I made her a birthday card, I wrote happy birthday all over the apartment, and I bought food for the party. I only had one session today so I dedicated most of my down time to exercise, organizing, showering, and getting ready for the party. My tutor session was with the adults, Ana and Paco, and I decided to talk about stereotypes. It was a great topic because I got to see what aspects of American culture really make an impact in this country and to their generation in particular. Ana mentioned that her daughter thought the most significant difference she noticed with American students verses Spanish students was that Americans travel everywhere. They go all around the world whereas Spaniards might never leave their town, let alone their country. I told them it was because the drinking age everywhere else in the world is 18, so students really like to study abroad or travel during the summer when they’re in college.

This reminded me of something I had just read from the new book The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. I know the book is fiction but I think the following comment that he made in the book holds true. The lead character, a professor at Harvard, asked his students how many of them had traveled around the world to major cities like London, Paris, and Rome. Almost every hand went up in the class. Then he asked how many of them had been to DC. Only a few hands went up. He says, “Washington, DC has some of the world’s finest architecture, art, and symbolism. Why would you go overseas before visiting your own capital?” It’s a good question. I’m actually no better than those fictional students. Yes I’ve run around every monument in DC, but I haven’t toured the Capital, the White House, or any other important landmark in our nations capital. I’m far more interested in visiting the Pantheon in Rome and the Berlin Wall in Germany. Not sure why that is but I’m being abroad (and reading a book about DC) has made me want to really take advantage of my proximity to DC when I return—and I don’t mean more running.

Back on point, the hour session was quite entertaining and I didn’t want it to end. Both sessions with Ana and Paco this week were simply delightful. When I returned home only one guest had arrived for the party. Eventually more people arrived and I was introduced to all of Elisa’s friends (finally). I had invited Corrie and Kate but they ended up not showing up until much later and by then everyone had headed home because it was a Wednesday night and a lot of people had to get up early the next day. The party was fun. I talked to Ruben most of the time and listened to the other conversations that were going on around me. Elisa’s boyfriend had bought this giant box of amazing sweets but nobody was eating them because apparently they had all attended a BBQ at the school right before so they were full. What a shame, more for me :) Before anyone left Elisa opened all of her gifts. Her friends had chipped in and bought her a beautiful ring and matching earrings. Once people started leaving I began cleaning up and refused to let Elisa clean anything since it was her party. She loves to clean so it was very hard to get her not to help haha.

Corrie and Kate finally arrived after I had just put everything away. The reason they were late was because they helped Christen (who likes to be called Christina because its easier to say in Spanish) settle into her new flat. So I finally got to meet the infamous Christina. She is from Ohio and went to OSU but currently lives in Tampa, FL. She is 25 even though she looks 21. She has studied Spanish for over 6 years and lived in Cuba for one month and Mexico for three months. In Tampa she works for a law firm that deals with immigration and she’s the translator. So yeah, her Spanish is perfect. My confidence goes up with every new language assistant I meet here in Valverde haha. The only obstacle she faces is that she speaks Mexican Spanish so a few words here and there are different but that’s hardly an issue if you ask me. Anyways, she was very nice and I’m excited to have her here in Valverde. No I won’t be the third wheel. I’m really relieved that she didn’t end up living with them because then I would be COMPLETELY out of the loop at all times and it would make my time her pretty awful to be honest. The reason why I was so excited for Christina to finally arrive was because now I can FINALLY get a set timetable of classes and I get one free day!!!!!!!!!!!! Wahoo, no more Friday classes. :)

So on Thursday I finally went over the schedule I wanted with Pocho. I kept all of my favorite classes and told her I wanted Fridays off (which she already knew). Well after Christina made her schedule Pocho realized that there weren’t enough bilingual classes for both of us to attend because the last hour block on Friday had 4 bilingual classes scheduled. Somebody did an awful job at planning out the schedules. Unfortunately that means that 3 bilingual classes never get a native speaker. Nothing I can do about. Well with the shortage of bilingual classes to attend Pocho now wants to give Christina some of my classes. She can have the 4^th graders but I refuse to give up the 1^st graders!! Yes its selfish but they are just too cute to give up and I don’t want them calling me Christina by accident. I have enough issues with kids calling me the previous assistant Kayla. When that happens I refuse to acknowledge them until they say the correct name and I say, “no Kayla!!”

Later that night Corrie and Kate decided to cook dinner for Christina, Ruben, Rocio, and their new roommate Michele-Angelo (Michael Angelo!!). I was under the impression that they were going out to eat so I packed my own dinner and planned on using the Internet while they were at dinner. When I arrived I found out I was misinformed (as usual), but decided to eat my dinner since it was so good. Plus they were making Macaroni and Cheese and I’m not a big fan of that. Well everyone had a great meal and we talked well into the night. I didn’t get home until 11:30pm. This was my fourth night in a row staying out late. Definitely a record.

I finally got to sleep in on Friday and have the whole day to do whatever I pleased. Since Elisa departed for Seville like clock work the night before I had the whole place to myself so I blared my music really loud as I exercised and did abs in my room and left the news on while I ate breakfast and wrote emails to people. While its relaxing have the place to myself I hate that Elisa always leaves because I’m always alone on the weekends. I’m separated enough from everyone but then my own roommate “vamos’s” so I’m all-alone. Well I made my own plans to hit up the Youth House and clock in some quality Internet hours because I needed to finalize certain parts of my winter break. After I finished planning my break I finally got the chance to Skype with my best friend. OMG it made me soooooooooo happy. At first her video was delayed by two minutes or so, so if was entertaining to see her reactions after the conversation was over haha. The video finally corrected itself and we talked for a good 2 hours I think. It put me in the best mood because I had been trying to contact her for over two weeks and every time I was unsuccessful, so it was great to hear her voice and see her. I was able to completely be myself and I haven’t had that chance in awhile since I’ve only been emailing most of my friends. I didn’t even care that it was another Friday night spent at the Youth House rather than “going out”. I prioritize my friends and family before drinking any day.