last but not least Carnaval

CADIZ- Carnival

my most recent adventure: Lisboa

Lisboa, Portugal

finally London pictures

London Part II

Car, Carnival Day! Car car carnival carnival DAY!!!

“Eh eh eh…Tu, De Donde Vas?”

IT’S CARNIVAL TIME!!!!! I can describe my carnival experience in Cadiz in ten words: cold, wet, costumes, broken glass, drunkenness, buses, umbrellas, singing, sleep deprivation, and fried food.

We decided to go to Cadiz in hopes that we would be escaping the cold and rain that has plagued our town but we had no suck luck. The providence that claimed to have sunshine and warm 322 days of the year LIED. If anything I thought it was colder in Cadiz because we were close to the ocean. None of us (Christen, Kate, and I) packed enough warm clothes or prepared to be soaked and cold every single day. That aside our time in San Fernando (where our rented apartment was) and Cadiz (only a 15 minute bus ride away) was full of plenty of memories.

Instead of writing my usual play-by-play of every day in detail, this time I’ll just give the highlights of my trip. So the trip began on Friday February 12^th after only 4 hours of sleep. We got to the train station in Seville and had to wait in the freezing cold terminal for two hours before our train. Once we boarded we got into our seats and stored our luggage. My seat was right across from where you store your luggage so when I noticed this girl having trouble figuring out a place for her enormous suitcase I offered my assistance. I had to rearrange some suitcases and when I moved this one bag this guy who was watching us the whole time got all huffy and mad. Obviously it was his bag and he was mad that I had moved it up one shelf. When Christen and I finished helping the girl with her first bag we decided that it would be better if we didn’t move anything else because people were giving us evil looks. Apparently its better to be an asshole who doesn’t help someone in need then to rearrange a few bags. I learned my lesson.

We get to San Fernando and arrive at our freezing little apartment without any heaters at 3ish in the afternoon. We settle in and have some snacks that we brought and then decided to take a nap because we were all tired. We ended up sleeping until 8:30pm haha!!! That’s some nap. We headed to the bus station and made our way to Cadiz. We spent a better part of the night wondering around the streets to get our bearings of the area and figure out where we wanted to go tomorrow for the BIG celebration. We had dinner at Cerveceria Monoditos, the Spanish version of fast food. Apparently they are all around Spain but this was the first time I saw one. You fill out a card with the number of mini sandwiches, salads, tapas, and drinks you want that go from €1 to €2.50 at the most expensive and then bring your order to the cashier. We each got a drink and two mini sandwiches for a little less than €5. Not a bad deal at all. After dinner we found the theatre that the famous singing troops of Cadiz were performing at to determine the best group of the year. The streets were full of people drinking and waiting for the troops to get out. We stayed for a while but then we made our way back to the bus stop. Along the way we passed a group of 5 guys who said “Hello”. When we responded back in English they stopped and started talking to us. When we told them we were from the USA they got all excited and the shortest (and most drunk) guy fireman carried Christen down the street and back as she screamed and tried not to spill her drink. It was kind of funny so I didn’t do anything to stop it. Once he put her back down we talked some more. Kate and I were fed another wonderful pickup line. These two guys told us that they were gay and tomorrow in honor of Carnival they were getting married. Tonight was the equivalent of their bachelor party and the last time they were “free” so in honor of their last night as free men we were suppose to kiss them. Kate responded that they should kiss each other first as proof to their claim. When they reclined, we reclined. I give them props for originality but they didn’t put much thought in the follow through haha.

In the morning I ran out and bought some groceries so we had some snacks for when we returned from a long night out and for breakfast. Despite the rain we decided to explore San Fernando a bit. We found out first singing troops all dressed up as silver shrimp. The entire town was out and about and all the bars set up outdoor stations to serve an abbreviated menu of street food. They served popular tapas dishes as well as drinks. It looked very good but we wanted to sit inside, away from the cold wind. We found the cheap restaurant that our taxi driver recommended to us called Casa Narca. It was THE place to be but we lucked out and got a table right away. Instead of menus the only waiter/owner of the joint just recited dishes for us. He spoke too quickly for me so Christen did what she does best and ordered on our behalves. After our very cheap and delicious lunch we spent the rest of the morning/afternoon walking to Corte Ingles so Christen and Kate could purchase some last minute additions to their costumes for the night. We spent more time than we had anticipated so there was no time for a nap when we returned, instead everyone showered and got ready for a CRAZY night in Cadiz.

On our way out we all needed to stock up on some cash so we asked where a Santander was. The lady gave us directions and we found it in the mall connected to the Corte Ingles. I tried my card but the machine said it couldn’t process my transaction. Here we go again… Christen asked the man at the desk if there was anything wrong with the machine and guy told us no. Kate and Christen then each tried their cards and got the same message. We then asked the man at the desk if we could take out money from him but he replied that the bank was closed. Then why are you sitting at a desk and answering our questions when you are “closed”??!!? He then told us that for a surcharge of €10 we could use the other Santander machine on the opposite end of the mall. To make things better we saw a Spanish man use the machine without any problem. Why is everything ten times more difficult for foreigners in this country??!?! Christen just about lost it. I was use to it by now so I didn’t let it bother me that much.

Our goal was to be out of the house by 8:30pm so we would avoid really crowded buses and get to Cadiz in time for the alleged parade that was supposed to take place that night at 9pm. Instead we left at 8:50pm and had to wait for the bus for another 15 minutes. It wasn’t that bad because it didn’t rain (FOR ONCE!). It was really cold that night but it was Carnival and I didn’t want to wear a bulky coat or sweater to block any part of my costume so I wore what I could and just grin and bear-ed the cold that awaited me the whole night. Plus the additional “alcohol” coat added another layer to my costume. Because I forgot some sort of purse or bag for the entire trip I tried to bring as little as possible that night since I now didn’t have any kind of pockets. My lack of sleep and packing for this trip at 1am was to blame for my lack of purse, errrrr. Anyways I originally was going to take €20 in cash and just my camera but Christen insisted that I should bring my credit card because they had a Santander in Cadiz and my ID just in case. So I left the house with my credit card, drivers license, €20, camera, and extra batteries all squished into my mini camera pouch. I was also in charge of the bag of booze since Christen was already carrying a large bag with everyone else’s things and we didn’t trust Kate with it. I told everyone that, “No matter what happens my goal for the night is to not lose my camera.”

The bus to Cadiz was full of people in costumes. It was really entertaining. Once in Cadiz we decided to get dinner since we found out the parade wasn’t until the next day. Our meal was WAY more expensive than we had planned and together we didn’t have enough money so Christen volunteered to hit up the Santander with all of our credit cards. Little did I know that was going to be my very last transaction made with that card. As we waited for Christen to return Kate and I saw three “gypsies” go into the women’s bathroom together and I’m pretty sure they weren’t going in their to use the toilet hehehe. When Christen returned we paid for our meal and headed to streets to get our night started. We didn’t really have a plan, we just walked around and took pictures with people in interesting costumes. As we were making our way through the crowded streets we found a group of people dressed up as Musketeers too and so we stopped, took pictures, and chatted for a while. I think our costumes were better despite the fact that they had bought theirs.

I wasn’t planning on keeping any part of my costume after that night so I was rather relieved to have lost my hat and sword early on. I remember exchanging hats with the other Musketeers but I have no idea how I lost my sword. We spent the rest of the night in the same spot just enjoying the night and talking to our new “friends”. It was so crowded that there wasn’t much point to trying to move unless it was for food or the bathroom. It was my turn to seek out a bathroom and I’m pretty sure it was at that moment that I let go of the booze bag and took only my camera with me. When I returned much later I asked everyone where the bag was but nobody knew. Unfortunately I had left my camera pouch with my credit card, ID, and money in the bag. We spent the rest of the night searching every Corte Ingles bag we could find but we had no luck. I retraced my steps and had a following of people help me look for it but it was no use. Everywhere we stepped it was littered with bottles, cans, and more detritus about 3 inches thick so the odds of finding that one specific bag was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Surprisingly I wasn’t freaking out. I had succeeded in holding on to my camera the entire time and that was my main concern. I had some money and my passport back in the apartment so I wasn’t poor or unable to provide identification if I needed it. I was more concerned that someone could easily use my card since it came with an ID or try to steal my identity. However Christen made a good point that nobody would look through the trash after tonight so I shouldn’t worry about those things.

After a while I officially gave up looking for my stuff and I noticed that the crowd was trickling down so that meant it was time to head back home. We said goodbye to our new friends and followed the mass of people to the bus stop. It was so late and we were freezing that we got on the first bus we could find that said San Fernando. However we learned that we got on the North bus when we really needed the south bus so it took us an extra half hour to get home because we had to figure out how to find our apartment without a map and at 6:00am. I remember plopping down in my bed when the clock read 6:30am. Oy vey!

I woke up first at 12pm but then I told myself that that was only 6 hours of sleep so I went back to bed. It wasn’t until Kate and Christen got up at 2pm that I got up as well. Christen found out that the parade was suppose to start at 6pm so our goal was to be at the bus stop by 5:30pm. We left the house at 4pm in search of something fried. I was fine with eating the local, cheap, street food but it was really windy and drizzling so Kate insisted that we eat inside. We headed back to Casa Narca and had a good lunch. After lunch we got to the bus stop but ended up having to wait a good 45 minutes for the bus to come. By the time we got on the bus it was 6pm. Punctually wasn’t as high on our list as food that day. In spite of that we ended up seeing most of the parade. In my opinion it wasn’t as exciting as the parade in Seville but it was cool to watch the colorful outfits and listen to the different music. I was thankful that this time we were out of the range of candy so there wasn’t any chance of enhancing my headache. After the parade we mingled with the people from the parade and asked a few locals what we should do or what else was going on for the night but nobody was really helpful.

We decided to just hit up the same areas we had been to already and try to find the singing troops that Cadiz was known for. We ended up finding 5 that night. They were all a little different and had awesome funny costumes to match their colorful songs. I enjoyed listening to each group for a song or two but I didn’t understand what they were singing about so it was hard to keep my attention. I hate the feeling when everyone is laughing at something and you have no idea what they are laughing at and that happened all night long. It kind of put me in a bad mood because I was cold, wet (from the rain), exhausted from standing all day, and tired of not understanding anything. Christen and Kate weren’t making any decisions about what they wanted to do for the rest of the night so I made the executive decision to head back at home. We luckily caught the last bus of the night at 11:05pm. While we waited for the bus we all got soaked because the rain in Spain is horizontal thanks to the wind. I also had to share my umbrella with Christen so the entire right side of my body was drenched by the time we got home.

The next morning was rainy and gross so we had a long brunch and just chilled out until the rain stopped or lightened up enough for Christen and Kate to walk without umbrellas. Meanwhile Kate tried to call her phone company and retrieve her pin number so she could add minutes to her phone but she wasn’t successful. The first time she called the lady told her that an account under her name didn’t exist. The next time Christen called and again was told that Kate’s telephone number didn’t match the name they had on record and when Christen probed further the lady hung up on her. The third time Christen called and asked to speak to the manager but the lady wouldn’t put the manager on the phone so they got into a shouting match (in Spanish). I’m not sure if she ever did get to speak to the manager but after twenty minutes of yelling she found out that the passport number on file for Kate was incorrect. Instead of fixing the problem by phone the person told Christen that Kate needed to fax over a copy of her passport to the store in order for them to fix it. When Christen reiterated for the fiftieth time that we were on vacation, didn’t have access to a fax, and couldn’t wait another week to do this the person on the line told her there wasn’t anything she could do. Talk about frustrating; because some moron typed in the wrong passport numbers Kate’s phone was useless for two weeks. There wasn’t anything would could do at that point but just laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation.

We finally headed out to Cadiz in the mid afternoon/evening. Again we hit up the same area of Cadiz in search of more singing troops. We found a few more and listened to them for a long time. After awhile we got some street pizza and beer. The pizza was really good, reminded me of Armand’s Pizza. After our “snack it was back to La Vina neighborhood in search of more singing. It was past 11pm so I knew that we were going to be stuck out here until 5 or 6am so I insisted after a while that we find a place to sit down because I couldn’t stand that whole time. We found a popular joint ordered some tapas and drinks and parked our selves there for the next two hours. At dinner we started reflecting about our trip, talking about personal/intimate subjects, and then tried to play Quarters with Kate’s left over pence’s and Christen’s plastic beer cup. That entertained us for a while haha. Finally the restaurant kicked us out because they were closing at around 2am.

We were walking around when it started pouring so we ran to the nearest awning and I ended up sharing my umbrella with some strangers out of generosity. We started talking and they mentioned this place called Cabra. It was this huge tent that served as the largest discoteca in Cadiz and it was only available during Carnival. As long as they played good dancing music I was all for it. The place was pretty cool: it had strobe lights, two DJ’s, half the length of a soccer field long bars and enough empty space to dance. It wasn’t packed but there was a decent amount of people. At first I didn’t enjoy the music but then they played some better toons and we all got into it. The best was when they played an American song everybody but us stopped dancing. I wouldn’t even call it dancing though, they just kind of stopped moving haha. I swear nobody in Spain knows how to dance. I was enjoying myself but I could tell Christen was ready to go so we dragged Kate out and headed to the bus stop to catch the first bus of the morning at 5:30am. We got home at 6:15am but I didn’t hit the bed until 7am because I wanted to pack up all of my stuff before I went to bed. I got a full 2 hours of sleep before I had to get up and get going. We had to catch an 11am train and we wanted to walk in order to save money but the station was at least a half hour away. Well midway through our walk the characteristic rain of Cadiz hit us so we ended up taxiing it in the end.

We arrived in Seville an hour later. Nobody had any more money so we had to walk from the train station to the center of Seville. I had to walk to the bus station but Kate and Christen had to walk to their Hostel. They were spending the night in Seville and then taking a plane the next morning at 7am to the Gran Canary Islands. Cadiz was already more expensive then I had hoped so I decided not to go along and just recuperative and chill out back home for the rest of the week. Along the way we passed a Santander so Christen helped me cancel my credit card and get them to send me a new one in the mail. YEAH!!! I felt a lot better after that. Christen and Kate got more money and I used my emergency card to get some much-needed money. I had a good four more hours before my bus and there was no way I was going to survive that time without something to eat. After the bank we had a good lunch at this cheap tapas place and then I said my goodbyes to my friends as we parted ways.

I would end my entry here but I have one more wonderful story to tell. So my bus back to Valverde was supposed to leave at 5pm, so at 4:10pm I headed to the ticket window to buy my ticket. There was only one person in front of me and in the middle of her transaction I noticed a brief electrical power outage. It was more like a flicker. Anyways I get to the window and I tell the man what I need and he goes to enter my destination in his computer but it doesn’t respond. The internet doesn’t work any more. I notice that every computer is dealing with the same thing so I don’t freak out, yet. The man tries to restart the computer a bunch of times but the internet still won’t work. Instead of calling a superior, trying to restart the internet connection, or doing anything proactive about the situation the man behind the desk fiddles with his thumbs, texts, and counts his money. Okay its now 4:30pm. I ask him if he can just write me a ticket you know, by hand, but he insists that he can’t do that. He NEEDS the internet to print tickets. Finally he just tells me there’s nothing he can do and I should just wait. WTF??? I ask him if I can just buy the ticket on the bus and he says “NO”. Well the whole line that had now formed behind me all tried to get tickets but only people with this special card was capable of getting tickets. I was really upset but there wasn’t anything I could but wait, so I just sat in the lobby with a bunch of old ladies who were in the same position as me until it was time for me to go. I kept hoping that the man would try to do something to fix the problem that was causing a LOT of people issues, but no. The incompetent man just sat at his desk fiddling around with his f*ing money and telling people he couldn’t give them tickets without his precious internet.

Do these people receive no training or no protocol for when something like this happens??? I mean at least ATTEMPT to try and fix the problem instead of looking like a fool the whole time. I mean seriously, a god dam monkey could do his job—better probably. Finally it was 4:50pm so I went up to his window again, with tears in my eyes, and asked him if I could just give him money and he could just write something on a paper for me. FINALLY he says that I can just buy my ticket on the bus. Why he couldn’t tell me that to begin with I DON’T KNOW? If there weren’t Plexiglas between us I would have strangled him. I then asked what number gate the bus was because the TV screens with the gate numbers were also out because of the power surge. He didn’t understand me so I started shouting it and then these old ladies, who understood what I was asking, tried asking him for me. After hearing it 5 more times he finally “understood” and told me gate 15. I thanked THE OLD LADIES, who gave me an understanding look, and I sprinted to my bus. This moron wasn’t going to make me miss THE ONLY direct bus to my town. I was about to go to 15 when I noticed that the bus in gate 14 had a sign to Nerva (the equivalent of Valverde). I asked the few people in line for the bus if it went to Valverde and they reassured me it did. The moron couldn’t even read off a piece of paper properly. I was fuming but happy that I didn’t miss my bus. The bus was about to pull away when this girl, who was originally right behind me in the ticket line, ran to the bus and begged it to stop. She had gotten on the bus at gate 14 because that’s what the guy at the ticket window told her. Like I said, a MONKEY!!!!!

Let the swarming begin ;)

I finally have some time to sit down and catch up on the past weeks events. Last update I was on my way to London. Well the trip got off to a bumpy start. Once I arrived in Seville I decided to be cheap and walk from the bus station to the other bus station only to take the shuttle to the airport, basically I chose to spend €2.30 instead of €25. I was wearing a lot of layers because I knew London was going to be cold but unfortunately Seville was not cold. I started sweating profusely (what’s new) and had to take off my jacket and scarf and lug that across town as well. People would pass me on the street and ask if I was cold because to the locals it was a cold morning. What part of me lugging heavy suitcases while my makeup runs down my face from the sweat would make them think I’m cold, I’m not sure? I was almost at my destination but I had to cross the same street three times just to find the correct bus stop for the airport shuttle and in all the bustle of trying not to miss it my thick, warm scarf fell directly in a mud puddle. Wonderful. I never got the chance to wear it in London.

Once I finally made it to the airport I had four hours to kill before my flight so I had to entertain myself with music and people watching. I made the mistake of thinking that this sign for my airline said I couldn’t check in until 30 minutes before my flight so I spent most of the time in departures area. Later I found out the sign meant I couldn’t check in AFTER 30 minutes prior to my flight. Oops. Once I got to my gate I tried to settle down but then this security guard kicked everyone out of the gate so that they could look at our passports. Everyone else went through without any trouble but not I. The two guards analyzed my passport more thorough than I’ve ever seen: fingering every single page and inspected my visa with great care. I was worried that I was going to have to produce my permiso. Finally after what seemed like 10 minutes they let me through. I tried to get some sleep on the flight but it was longer than I expected so no such luck.

Once in Heathrow I retrieved my luggage and exchanged my money. I went to purchase a snack and I had to pay with pence. I was so confused by all the coins that I just emptied my coin purse into my hand and asked the cashier to take the right amount. I never thought I would be thankful for the Euro, but it is a lot easier to deal with, even more so than the Dollar. My train was delayed a good 30 minutes and I had the stand the hour it took to get to my stop but I was glad to be in an English speaking country again. I was able to successfully eaves drop on every conversation around me. Oh how I missed that. Unfortunately my tube stop didn’t have an elevator and I had quite a few steps to climb so I did my best to go as fast as I could in 2 inch heel boots but gravity was slowing me down. A guy cheered me on with a, “Come on, you’re almost there”, in the cutest British accent. After another step he grabbed my suitcase and carried it to the top for me. I was instantly in love but our encounter only lasted a minute, sigh.

I checked into my room for the night and after putting everything down I was off in search of a hair cuttery. The bell boy was very friendly and pointed me in the right direction however when I got there they were all full for the night but had plenty on available slots in the morning, so I booked an appointment and returned home. I noticed I had a voice message so I checked it and it was from Jon, my roommate for one night and XL Travel tour guide acquaintance. For the second time that day I fell in love with that adorable British accent. When I got back to the hotel I asked the same bell boy if it was possible to get my scarf washed and he assured me that the housekeeping would be able to take care of that for me. So I got back to my room and met the voice behind the message in person as well as my other roommate for the night, Dave, another XL Travel guide that I had not met before. After introductions I called housekeeping and asked if they could wash my scarf. The woman on the phone spoke English but said she had no idea what I was asking. I tried to describe what a scarf was and then asked Jon if they called a scarf something different but he told me they didn’t. After 5 minutes of that the woman told me to call the main desk and tell them what I want and then they would tell her. I was really confused at that point. So I called the front desk and told them my problem but then they told me that they don’t provide that kind of service. He told me that I should call a private dry cleaning and get it back in a day. Huh?? I gave up at that point.

I got in touch with a friend of mine who was living in London and made plans to catch up for a drink later in the night. Since Jon and David had plans of their own I set off on my own in search of a place for dinner and a chance to take in the Kensington neighborhood. I settled for Thai food since I don’t get that in Spain. I was too embarrassed to eat alone in the restaurant since it was a Friday night and everyone was with friends, so I got the food to go and ate in the hotel room with David. I was half way through my dinner when my friend called to say he was in Kensington so I saved my dinner for later and was off to me him. When I returned both Jon and David were back and told me that I was suppose to help with pickups tomorrow which meant we were waking up at 4:30am. Oy vey, at that point it was 12:30am so it was definitely time for bed. The funny thin was my cot was at the foot of Jon’s bed and he was too tall for the bed so his feet poked out into my bed. He said, “if you play your cards right you could end up with a back massage before morning.” Haha.

The next morning I was given some sweet XL Travel gear to sport when I picked up people at the airport. We successfully found everyone from the group, including my family. At this point I was no longer an XL Tour Guide, I was officially on vacation. After everyone settled into the hotel I went to get my haircut. Kate accompanied me as this very stylist woman cut my hair and dried it, She made my hair look so good, too good actually. The hairstyle was appropriate for a night out, not a soccer game. Oh well…. In the afternoon we saw Tottenham verses Aston Villa at the Spurs’ stadium. Our seats weren’t the best, but there really aren’t any bad seats in the Spurs’ stadium. Even though the game ended without any goals it was still very exciting and I enjoyed the game a lot. That night I went out with my mother and sister and had a few drinks while we all shared some interesting stories. I was happy to be in their presence.

The next day we had to wake up early (7:00am) in order to get breakfast and make our tour of Wembley Stadium. Since the tube had a lot of construction and maintenance going on we ended up taking buses to the stadium instead. After the tour we returned briefly to the hotel and then it was off to Stanford Bridge to watch Chelsea verses Arsenal. We got to the stadium early so people had the chance to find a place to get lunch. Everyone but my father ended up getting fish and chips. This game wasn’t as enjoyable because my team lost, but the atmosphere was a lot better. Even though I really don’t like Chelsea I really liked the song that’s associated with the team and the songs that the fans chanted. After the game Kate went off to meet her friend so my parents and I had a lovely Lebanese dinner. One of my goals for this trip was to have food that I couldn’t find in Spain and humus and pita was on top of my list.

The next day was our free day so we decided to sleep in a little and then head to the British Museum. I told my family that I didn’t care what we did but to be honest I wasn’t thrilled about going to another museum. However, the British Museum was unlike any museum I’ve been to and it was actually really cool. I ended up really enjoying the place except for the fact that it was freezing inside and I got a bit tired of standing all the time. After spending 3 hours at the museum we headed to the Sherlock Holmes Pub for a rekindling of our first trip to London as a family. That was the only thing Kate really wanted to do while in London, eat Shepherd’s Pie at the Sherlock Holmes Pub. Later that night we had tickets to see the play A Cat on A Hot Tin Roof starring James Earl Jones. I liked the play but I thought it could have been done a little differently. Mom was a little more critical of the play and of the acting but that’s because she knew a little more about the play writer Tennessee Williams and the background story associated with the play. After the play we returned to the hotel and had a drink at the hotel together. It was a nice send off to my vacation.

The next day we took the infamous red Double Decker Tour Bus around all of London. I enjoyed just relaxing and taking in all of the sights. I could do that all day long. It was finally time for me to head back to the hotel to collect my things and then head off to the airport. My dad and I had one last lunch together and then I said my goodbyes and begrudgingly headed back to Heathrow. However, I was returning to Spain with a new collection of books to read and DVD’s to watch, so I wasn’t too upset. I didn’t know how long it would take me to get to the bus station by taxi so I played it safe and decided to stay over in Seville with a friend. Turns out I could have made the bus back to Huelva, but that’s not important. It was nice reconnecting with my friend Emily again since the last time I saw her was in November for my failed Gibraltar trip.

After 2 hours on a bus and one hour waiting in the bus station I finally got back to rainy, cold Valverde on Wednesday around 3:30pm. I didn’t feel like doing much of anything so I just unpacked a little and watched my new Will and Grace DVD. While I was lounging I got a call from Corrie who invited me to get a drink with her and the girls because her boy friend was here visiting and it was the last time I would see her before her birthday. Even though I was really tired and not in the mood I agreed because I knew that it was important to keep in touch with everyone. After my tutor session at 7pm I got home had a small dinner, showered, and then met up with everyone at the usual spot, Tablejero. It was nice to meet Corrie’s boy friend and wish Corrie an early happy birthday. At around12:30pm we called it a night so it was back up the hill for me.

I was in a pretty sour mood the next day because I really missed my family and I wasn’t happy to return to my ice cube and life of isolation. It was hard to get motivated for school but I went. I got to my first class of first graders and all of them greeted me with “EDICA!!!!!!” Apparently they kept asking the teachers where I was since I missed Tuesday. It was nice to know that somebody missed me. At the end of class I passed out a little Valentine’s Heart for every student in honor of Valentine’s Day. After the kids got their heart candy I was mauled with hugs. At that point it was almost impossible to be in bad mood. I couldn’t stop smiling. The next class of first graders was the same way. They all greeted me as if I had been gone for a month, not a day. They made my day, hands down. After class I had to start preparing for my two tutor sessions. After I spent a good hour prepping at home for the lessons I got a knock at my door. Toni decided to cancel our lesson 5 minutes before it was to start. Thanks for the heads up. My next session was with Pocho’s kids and it was at this session that I decided to give the girls the sweatshirts that they had asked for. They LOVED them and promised me that they were going to wear them the next day at school. Pocho really liked them as well and she couldn’t stop thanking me (and my mother) for the gifts. It really meant a lot to the girls. That was the second event of the day that cheered me up.

After an hour of so of watching more Will and Grace I headed over to Kate’s house to start making my costume for Carnival (we were leaving in the morning for Cadiz so it was now or NEVER). My excuse for not having completed it was London, Christen and Kate didn’t have an excuse. They just never got around to it. Well I didn’t want to waste any time because I still had to pack for Cadiz and organize my belongings from London. I wasn’t planning on staying for dinner because I really needed to get home and pack but Christen was making two vegetable dishes and they smelled so good. She’s a really good cook so I decided not to pass up the opportunity to eat something different. I ended up getting home at 11:30pm. I spent the rest of the night packing and organizing my life. I went to bed at 2am only to have to wake up at 6am in order to shower before I caught the bus. Another night of barely any sleep.

So yeah I had one day and a half at home in Valverde before I was off on my next travel trip to Cadiz for five days in honor of Carnival. I hadn’t done any preparation for this trip, I left everything up to Christen since it was her idea to go to Cadiz. This was her baby. The only prep I did for this trip was the finishing of my Three Musketeers costume the night before. So unlike me, I know. Okay good night.

my children in the flesh

here is a link to my school's main webpage so you can check out all of the photos from the past holidays and events. I HIGHLY recommend it. Please enjoy!

http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/averroes/menendezypelayo/index1.htm

Tell Me WHyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

So when Pocho said the International Day of Peace was going to be next Friday, what she really meant was this Friday (January 29^th, 2010). That being the case, I was able to see the final products of three plus weeks of planning for this day. It was actually really cool idea. I’m not sure if every school in Spain did something to celebrate the day or if it was just our school.

To start, Christen, Sara (Pocho’s student aid from the university until March), and I finished completing the two giant posters for the main hallway. The first consisted of large letters saying, “INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE” and then an outline of a globe filled in with blue and green doves that several classes had written greetings on. Most of them were focused on Peace in general, but a few were specific to Haiti. The second poster was giant peace signs that the other classes had decorated with the heading, “PEACE TO ALL”—my idea. When you look at the posters they don’t look that intricate, but let me tell you, it took a lot of man-hours to finish both posters. For starters, Spain doesn’t have tape dispensers. They only have rolls of Scotch tape that you have to manually cut pieces off with scissors. Manually cutting each piece of tape just takes about twice as much time. Second, the positioning of the peace signs and letters for the titles of the posters required the assistance of a latter which took about ½ an hour to acquire. Lastly, I had to re-do the tape job on the majority of pieces because they weren’t in the proper place to maximize sticking, if that makes any sense. I’ve had 16 years of poster making under my belt so I think I have the right to call myself a tape master, so I know how tape should be stuck and I could tell Sara hadn’t had much experience in that department. Alas, we finally finished and got to rejoin the rest of the school in the special events.

In Pocho’s class we had to set up individual laptops for ALL of the desks. Then we had to turn them all on and bring up the proper page for the students. While the teachers argued and fused about how to set up the projectors and sound system we finished setting up all of the laptops. Throughout the entire day every class in the school, even the first graders, were brought to Pocho’s class for a presentation on peace. Ana, the special education teacher, presented the music video Tell Me Why by Declan Galbraith (this kid from American Idol who made this song popular) and a Spanish music video by Rosario something. Both songs were about peace and about helping people in need. After the videos the kids were suppose to post on the school’s blog a message of peace. It was suppose to be directed towards children and specifically the children of Haiti. It was really cool idea. The older kids had no problem posting the messages but the younger kids struggled. From the third graders and down we had to help each individual kid type out their message so that they completed the task in time before the class was over. It was hectic but somehow we managed.

During the day, in all of the classes, the kids made doorknob hangers with messages of peace in Spanish. They got to decorate them and then bring them home to their parents. This was crucial in speeding up the typing process because I would just copy what the kid wrote on the holders instead of trying to listen to them and type what they said to me. It was a clever idea and one that all of the kids really enjoyed. If you want to check out the messages of peace from my school here is the link:

http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/averroes/centros-tic/21002914/helvia/bitacora/index.cgi?wIdPub=245

A half and hour before school ended, every one in school gathered outside on the black top for a small assembly. All the kids were in a circle with their classmates and teacher. Someone brought out speakers and the two songs that had been playing in the classroom all day were broadcaster out loud. All the kids, from primero to sexto, had the lyrics and were singing along. Once the Spanish song started playing EVERYONE finally started singing. It was really cool and I’m glad I got to see it. I only wished my camera had batteries that functioned so I could have taken a mini video. Since school was almost over a lot of parents were waiting around outside and got to watch the assembly as well. In total, the International Day of Peace was a success. The only fault I can think of was Christen’s attitude the whole day. She was in a bad mood because she was freezing from having to put up the posters in the hallway for a few hours, she was upset that the school neglected to mention Martin Luther King Jr once throughout preparation for this day or during this day, and lastly she was irritated from hearing the same two songs a million times in one day. She was just being a sourpuss and almost ruined Peace Day for me.

On Saturday I woke up early and walked to Christen’s house. We tried to purchase our train tickets to Cadiz online but the website required this MasterCard Verification thing that was impossible. Neither Christen nor I could figure out how to surpass it so we gave up. Christen is going to try and ask the people at Santander how to register but I have a feeling it’s not going to work. After that we walked a good 3 minutes down the street to the costume shop to look for materials for our Carnival costume. Carnival is kind of like Halloween in the sense that every dresses up, has parties all day and night and drinks a lot, but is different in the mood of the celebrations. Carnival is suppose to be this happy-go-lucky, relaxed, and feel good time. You’re not supposed to dress up sexy or slutty but goofy and silly. Also it is more acceptable to dress up in a group than as an individual, hence the 3 Musketeers idea. We found a woman version of a Musketeer outfit but the entire costume was 49 Euros, each, so we were like, “no thank you.” Instead, we opted to purchase felt, glitter, and plastic hats with feathers to make our own costume. I now know what my mother must have felt like when she made my Halloween costumes when I was little. Making my own costume is a lot cheaper than buying one and let’s face it, I have more fun this way.

After costume shopping we headed back to her place for lunch. We attempted to watch some TV, but TV got horrible reception. After a while we ran some errands and finished up at the Mercadona for some much needed food. I then decided to head back home and get some other things done. It wasn’t until Monday that I found out I missed the festival for Haiti on Saturday. Apparently from 2pm to 9pm there was a festival of free food, music, and drawing (for the kids) in honor of Haiti. There were 6 different musical groups, all local from Valverde and lots of cold or hot food to buy for only 1 Euro. All of the proceeds went to Haiti. How did I miss this you ask? I asked myself the same question. The truth is the festival only got the go ahead the day before and there wasn’t any kind of publicity about the festival. The only way people knew about it was through word of mouth. There weren’t any posters, flyers, or people coming to stores advertising it. It was one of those events that you either knew someone who was a part of it and that’s why you came to it or you passed it on the way home and decided to stop and check it out. I found out about it on Monday because Margarita and Ana’s other sister was a member of the organization that sponsored the event and she told them. Yeah that sounds about right. Typical Spain for you.

In other random news, I saw a hang glider yesterday afternoon. He was just chilling in the sky, floating above our town. I don’t know where he came from or where he landed but it isn’t every day you see a hang glider when you’re not on vacation. Also I officially purchased my plane tickets for the week of Semana Santa and I’m headed to Valencia for a few days to hopefully see my friend from home who just moved out to Spain to play professional football. I didn’t spell it wrong, he’s actually playing AMERICAN FOOTBALL in Spain. Weird, I know. After that I head to ROME (!!!!!!!) for a few days where Christen and Kate will join me. It should be really cool being in Rome for Ash Wednesday. Christen thinks that the Pope might hold this special mass. Even though it’s not my religion I think it would be really cool to be apart of it and try to catch it on video if possible. It’s not everyday you get to hear Latin. So now I have plans for Semana Santa and another awesome trip to look forward to. Now the only thing I have to finish planning for is Morocco in May and Turkey and Greece in June.

So it appears that this will be my second week in row of living alone. Without any explanation Elisa hasn’t shone up. I’m beginning to wonder if I will ever see her again and also whether or not I should rent out her room during the weekends. Another wonderfully exasperating thing I learned about Spain is that after you (as a teacher) have presented in front of this panel of people and passed their evaluation and an examination with a really good score you can’t be fired from your teaching job. Therefore when you feel like taking, oh I don’t know two weeks off from work, you still get paid. Also the Junta has to pay for a substitute teacher to replace you but you don’t have to worry because you will have your job when or if you decide to return. What a sweet deal right? Well the other side of that is the teachers who haven’t presented in front of the panel yet OR who haven’t passed the evaluation or the examination. For these teachers life sucks. They spend all of their free time studying for the exam and take the risk of being placed anywhere in Spain where a teacher is needed and multiple times a year.

Christen’s roommate Lola is in the process of presenting for the panel within the next month so now is crunch time for her. Every weekend she travels to her hometown of Murcia (the farthest South East you can go in Andalucía and the complete opposite of Valverde) to prepare for the evaluation and then present for the panel in Murcia. Corrie and Kate’s roommate, Miguel, has presented but didn’t get a high enough score so he’s moved around 4 times this school year alone and is still studying to get a better score on his exam. It is crazy hard to be a teacher here. I guess its worth it once you get certified or whatever it is they get for passing, but in the meantime it blows. I can think of four teachers I know that go home to various cities in Spain every weekend just to see their SPOUSES. Yeah, they are married but live separately because normally it’s the man that has a good, stable job in the hometown and it’s the woman that has to travel around Spain taking teaching positions. It is horrible. Can you imagine living apart from your spouse during your first year of marriage? Well if Lola doesn’t pass the evaluation that will be her situation because she also preparing for her wedding this summer. I just feel so bad for people like Lola and Miguel and resent Elisa for taking full advantage of her “tenure” as a teacher. It is in no right fair. Well I have a water bill to pay and rent due today so if she doesn’t return soon I might not have a place to stay myself because I don’t know how to pay the bills or whom I give my rent money too. I normally leave the money I owe on the kitchen table and magically it disappears.

Good news, it’s supposed to rain every day I’m in London. Oh and its in the low 30s. Let the fun begin. Cheers!