"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

Lo Ultimo

2009-08-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

This is a couple of months overdue, but it’s something I think is important in order to complete this blog. I wanted to write down my final thoughts about my experience in Madrid and now that I’ve had some time to reflect I am ready to do that.

I think anyone who has kept in touch with me while I was away knows that it wasn’t an easy year for me. It was much more challenging than I expected and as a result, really taught me a lot about myself. My first month was a big adjustment and in addition to simply learning to live in another country I was studying for the LSAT. At first, everything was hard. Grocery shopping was hard, using the metro was hard, Spanish was hard. I had lived on my own before, but not like that. Right after the LSAT I got pneumonia, although it took several doctor’s visits and tests and nearly two months to figure that out. I’d say that’s the sickest I’ve ever been so to deal with it on my own and over there was pretty tough. After those first couple months I think I was somewhat disillusioned. I had imagined my Spanish life would be something pulled from a romance novel or an adventure movie, and it hadn’t really shaped up that way.

Things took a big turn for the better after Thanksgiving. My biggest challenge after that point stemmed from a bad relationship with the administration at my school. I have never really had a job where the employer didn’t love me and appreciate how hard I worked. That wasn’t the case at our school. Pretty much all the English Language Assistants had problems with the administration. But they all agreed that I was mistreated the most. I left on a really bad note with the administration which is unfortunate. I think the positive aspect is that I learned a valuable lesson. I didn’t present problems early on as they occurred and so by the time issues were addressed they were much more complex. Additionally, I’m going into the legal profession so I guess I should get used to working with jerks, right?

Towards the end of the year, as I mentioned, one of our fifth graders, Diego, died in a tragic accident. Telling his classmates what happened and seeing them grieve at such a young age was one of the more painful things I've experienced.

So there were struggles. But there were joys as well!

It’s hard to even summarize all the wonderful things and places I experienced.

First, I never thought I would enjoy teaching elementary school as much as I did. I talked about them a lot in the blog, but the kids were truly a joy and really cheered me up when things were bad. I could see myself teaching again in the future.

I was able to travel during my year and see a lot of beautiful places. I think favorites include Granada, San Sebastian, Munich, Dublin, and Paris. I look back on the trips I took and think of how unbelievably lucky I have been. A year and a half ago I had never been outside the US and now I have gotten to see so many beautiful cities and cultures.

Most importantly, I made some invaluable friends in Madrid and I really couldn’t have survived without them. They know who they are. We have been keeping in touch since we all left and I know at some point we’ll all see each other again. Right now I miss them more than I miss Spain!

Living in Spain taught me things and changed me in ways I didn’t foresee. I appreciate my family more than ever. I couldn’t call home whenever I wanted. I faced problems my family couldn’t help me with or talk me through. I missed them more than I ever have and was so happy to see them again at home!

I learned to appreciate being born an English speaker. English is a very highly valued language around the globe and so often foreigners told me, “you are so lucky English is your first language.” Having taught it myself, I know that it is a difficult language that often doesn’t make sense and is hard to pronounce and write. Did you know we have like 25 vowel sounds?! We do! Spaniards have five that never change. So be grateful you speak English.

I also have a new appreciation for my country. I think a lot of people who go abroad experience two things: They learn areas where America has room to improve and they learn that America is an enviable place to be. I absolutely experienced this. I saw that America has work to do. Our public transit, public education, and especially our public healthcare (or lack there of currently) are somewhat of a laughing stock around the globe. Spaniards would ask me about these things and were often shocked at the way things are over here. On the other hand, I learned America is an incredibly special place and I feel SO blessed and privileged to be born an American. I appreciate my freedom, my vote, the warmth of Americans, American efficiency, the American work ethic, the American dream! These truly are things that are uniquely American. I feel so inspired to work to improve my nation I’m so proud of.

Mostly, I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunities I’ve had. Not everyone gets the experience I did and with all of its ups and downs I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

I’d like to thank everyone who read this blog throughout the year. It was a really fun and rewarding experience. I’m so glad I will have a permanent record and reminder of the amazing year I have had. Without everyone’s encouragement I might not have continued so I thank you for that.

I’m starting an entirely new chapter of my life which is sure to be every bit as thrilling and challenging as the last. I’ve just had my first class at Berkeley Law. I’m nervous but also excited for what lies ahead. I think I have the opportunity to make some positive change in America. While I would love to continue writing, I think it’s somewhat unrealistic to think I will have time to keep a blog in my first year of law school. Second or third, maybe. But the first year is pretty rough. I really do love writing creatively so I would like to pick it up again in the future.

Thank you again for reading and for your continued encouragement and support!

Hasta pronto, un beso!

Alicante: Playa, Pool, Repeat!

2009-06-20T02:06:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Last weekend I went on a really fun beach vacation with 7 girlfriends! It was just what I needed. We arrived Thursday very early in the morning and we left late Sunday afternoon, giving us four full days to enjoy the beautiful beach. We rented an apartment for the weekend which was perfect for resting between pool visits and cooking dinners together. Thursday we arrived, settled in and headed for the pool in the apartment complex. We noticed right away the sun is much stronger in Alicante. Actually, the sun is much stronger in Spain in general. I tried to be vigilent with the sunscreen and spend a good amount of time in the shade, but I still got a little sunburnt after the first day. That night we went to a little bar across the street for some fruity cocktails, sparklers included.

Friday was spent at the beach. The beach in Alicante (actually, Santa Pola, a town just outside) was really beautiful. The Mediterranean is in a league of its own. The water was crystal clear and refreshingly cool but not cold. I forgot how much I love swimming in the ocean! I spent a lot of time at the beach for vacations as a kid and I felt like it was just as much fun jumping waves this time.

The beach in Spain has a really different ambience than in the States, and I really liked it! Of course, there is the nudity thing. There were lots of people not only laying around topless but walking up and down the beach sin camisa also. I hardly noticed. But what I really liked was that it was a much more relaxed environment in general. Something that I don't like about California beaches is that there's a lot of pressure to be perfect and put on a big show of how fabulous you are with your fantastic ocean front property and your killer body and your dark tan. There's none of that at the beach in Spain. People aren't there to lay out and look beautiful. They're there to enjoy the beach, the sun, their friends and family. There are people of all shapes and sizes and all ages. It made for a very casual and fun scene.

Saturday and Sunday saw more beach, more pool, and more home-cooked meals enjoyed on our terrace. One fun highlight was on Saturday night when we headed over to Bailey's Bar for karaoke. We were definitely the best singers that night. (We beat out the bartender and Penny, a nice Irish lady). I sang Nsync's "Bye, Bye, Bye" with Kristen and Toby Keith's "I Should've Been a Cowboy" with Blair. Other winning performances included Journey's "Don't Stop Believin" and Will Smith's "Miami". Who knew that Blair was an undercover gangster rapper? We do now.

Sunday night we flew back to Madrid and now here I am, in my last weekend in Spain! It's incredible. My friends and I are doing some fun things this weekend to really celebrate our last few days. Thursday we went to the opening night of the "hipodromo" which literally means race track. In the summer there is a horse track which becomes an outdoor bar/club at night. So we got dressed up and checked it out. It was a really cool environment and a nice Spanish crowd. Hip, but not snoody. We had a lot of fun! Last night we went salsa dancing in Sol which was a blast! Of course, we had no idea what we were doing. But we made it up and even had a few people give us mini lessons. I even loved just sitting and watching the really good couples dance! They are amazing! I don't understand how they know what step to take next and which way to spin, but I love to watch it! Tonight we are having one last party to celebrate our going away. Should be fun!

I fly home Wednesday and could not be more excited!

I plan to write one final blog entry in the next few days summing up the big things I've learned here.

Disfrutad el fin de semana! (Enjoy the weekend!)

Travels and Descansas

2009-06-07T13:30:00.001-07:00

So as I mentioned before, I was able to go on two really fun trips in May. First, my roommate Liz and my friend Eimear and I took a bus to San Sebastián, a beautiful town in the northern region of Spain, País Vasco.

País Vasco has a very interesting story, and while I’m not able to tell it all, I’ll tell you what’s important. The Basque region is really, really old. I mean really old. There’s a saying we read in our guide book that is popular in the region: “Before God was God and rocks were rocks, the Basque were Basque.” The language spoken in the region (besides Spanish) is Euskara, and it’s so old that it has no ties to Greek or Latin. It’s like nothing you’ve heard before.

As you can imagine, with such a history the Basque are a proud people and work hard to keep their culture intact. Every sign is written in both Euskara and Spanish. Basque people often have names that are distinctive from normal Spanish ones like Aitor, Iker, Eneko, Aitana (all names of students I teach!). And everyone we met was very proud of their city and region and happy to tell you all about it.

But unlike Cataluña where virtually everyone speaks Catalan and in fact prefers Catalan to Spanish, I didn’t really hear that much Euskara while I was there. That’s probably because not everyone speaks it. The language was strictly oral until a few decades ago when it was finally written out and given grammatical rules. Furthermore Euskara faced a big set back under Franco, who outlawed all languages other than Spanish. Most people estimate between a quarter and a third of people in País Vasco speak Euskara, though a friend of mine from the region says it’s really a higher number.

Another interesting thing many people might know about the Basque region is their problems with ETA, a terrorist organization that fights for Basque independence but does so using violence. While I was in San Sebastián, I saw one graffitied wall with a man hoisting a Basque flag that said “Independencia ahora”. But what I saw far more of were signs that said down with ETA and posters with pictures of those killed by ETA and just general anti-ETA sentiment. The vast majority of Basque Spaniards consider themselves just that – Spaniards, and they want know part of the radical independence crowd.

More than this, San Sebastián is known for its beautiful beaches, friendly people, and delicious pintxos. Pintxos are sort of like tapas, but they are made continually and put on display on top of the bar, so you can browse and pick up whatever looks good. We really liked this system and took full advantage. The nice thing about it was that we didn’t have to deal with a menu and could just grab whatever seemed yummy looking (and had ingredients we recognized). Then when you are finished, you tell the bartender/server how many pintxos and drinks you had and he rings you up. It’s an honor system and one that everyone seems to follow.

Speaking of food, we also had some simply delicious seafood paella one day for lunch. The thing about paella is, if it’s really good, they make it when you order it and it takes a long time. So we sat and munched on bread for at least half an hour before our paella was served, but when it was… it was worth the wait!

We didn’t see a lot of “sights” in San Sebastián but spent a lot of time just walking around the city. The beaches are truly beautiful, with teal blue water and cliffs on either side. The streets are small and cobblestoned and cute. The whole town isn’t very big and we easily did everything on foot. I don’t know if this is a coincidence, but I found the people in San Sebastián to be much nicer than Madrileños! The lady at the post office smiled and helped me warmly. The man at the pintxo bar cracked jokes. The salesperson at the store asked where we were from and chatted us up. All things I rarely experience in Madrid!

All in all it was a fantastic weekend in San Sebastián. I would love to go back and I highly recommend it to anyone who spends time in Spain!

The very next weekend I was off to Munich with my friends Eimear, Blair, and Anna. I really didn’t know much about the city and to be honest I didn’t have that much desire to go, but two of my friends had been before and insisted I would love it. We arrived on a Thursday night and got to bed early so we could take a bike tour the next morning. The bike tour was so much fun and the perfect way to get a feel for the city! We rode beach cruisers all over town for about four hours, stopping here and there for bits of information, as well as stopping at a beer garden for a German sausage lunch!

I was immediately impressed by how beautiful the city was, but in a really different way from other Western European cities. It was very green and wide, with fewer high buildings and more sky to be seen! Everything was impeccably clean. Way, way, way cleaner than Madrid (which really isn’t a dirty city minus all the dog crap). I was also pleasantly surprised to see so many tall men and women! I felt right at home other than not being blonde.

Highlights of Munich include the Marienplatz, Residenz, and English Garden. Marienplatz is a big square that contains the old and new town hall. Residenz is a beautiful museum/government building with lovely courts we were able to ride our bikes through. English Garden is a simply beautiful, very large park. It’s bigger than Central Park in Manhattan and I loved it because it was much more natural than a lot of parks in big cities. It was much like a forest with paths throughout. We spent a lot of time at the park since we were lucky enough to have wonderful sunny weather all weekend. There was also a really cool part of the river that runs through the park where they somehow created an artificial wave and people go surfing! Who knew!

We also went to the Hofbrauhaus which is a big beer hall that's pretty famous. It's just like you would imagine, with long wooden tables and benches and women in tight frilly dresses who serve you big jugs of beer. A fun experience.

I really enjoyed Munich and can see why my friends wanted to go back! It was also nice to have two weekends filled with nature!

The following weekend I spent in Madrid and had some fun meals and nights out with my friends. We realized it was one of the last weekends we would all be together in the city.

This weekend is a funny story. I had tickets to go to Mallorca, a very beautiful island in the Mediterranean and home to one of my favorite athletes, Rafa Nadal. But on Thursday, I was so tired and the thought of another trip was so draining that I decided I wouldn’t go. I realize I might never have another chance to see Mallorca, and I’m sure I would have had a nice time. But traveling, even when for a “relaxing” beach weekend, is tiring. And I needed a weekend to relax and do very little. And that’s just what I got!

On Thursday I went to sleep instead of heading to the airport. Friday morning I went for a run in the park, and then realized I had a whole weekend ahead of me with no lessons, no plans, and no commitments. How fabulous! Most of my friends were out of town except my roommates and Blair, so on Friday we did a little shopping and grabbed a tapa or two in La Latina, one of my favorite neighborhoods in Madrid. On Friday night I came home with grand plans of watching a movie and writing this blog. As soon as I got to work, the power shut off! It was very dark at this point, especially because our apartment gets little natural light anyway. So we scrambled for some candles and matches. We called our landlord but got no answer. There was really little that could be done at that point, so I just took it as a sign that I should go to sleep early! And that I did.

Saturday the friend of our landlord came over to take a look at the problem. We had already found the breaker and tried several times to switch it with no luck. When the gentleman friend arrived, he looked at the breaker, flipped the same switch we had flipped a hundred times, and voila! LIGHTS! He looked at us and said, “Ya esta.” (That’s it.) Of course.

My roommate Melanie had already purchased several candles since we thought we would be without power all weekend. So we decided to have a candlelight dinner anyway! Blair came over and the four of us had pasta and salad and wine and it was very fun.
This morning we had a big American style brunch with two friends, Meagan and Theresa. We ate our weight in pancakes. We came home to find the power was back off and flipping the switch worked for about five minute increments. So I spent the day cleaning, reading and taking a walk in Retiro. I love parks!

I’m writing this blog in a café near my house and some sort of soccer game is on, making for a fun environment. With no electricity I’m going to take refuge at Blair’s house so I can take a shower!

One thing my roommates and I were laughing about is that if this had happened to us in October, we would have been flipping out. We would have been angry and frantic and upset. Now our reaction is, well they’ll send an electrician sometime this week. Maybe. And in the meantime we have books and candles and non-perishables. See, Spain may have just changed me for the better!

Next weekend I am going to Alicante, a beach town, with 7 girlfriends. This is a trip I won’t miss!

One last thing. In my last blog I said I had finally decided on a law school and I was going to NYU. Surprise! I had a change of heart. There are too many reasons to mention, but I’m happy to say I’ll be attending Berkeley Law in the fall. I’m so happy and excited and I know I did the right thing. Only good things ahead!

You can call me Hannah

2009-05-21T06:03:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I’m sorry it’s been so long since my last update. I’ve been very busy fully enjoying my last bit of time in Madrid!

The fickle weather has finally decided to permanently welcome spring, although the Spaniards are still having a hard time letting go of their coats, scarves, and boots. I am not sure what kind of delusional world they live in, but personally when it’s in the 80s (Fahrenheit) you aren’t gong to catch me wearing sweaters, pants and wool scarves. I’ve been coming to school in shorts for the past couple of weeks or so (not very short shorts of course) and at first, when it was still in the 70s, I always got the same reaction from the older teachers: “Ay chica no haces fríoooo??? Que fríoooo!!!” Rough translation: “Holy crap aren’t you cold??? It’s so cold!!!” At first I just chuckled and ignored it. Now my reaction is this, “NO I’m NOT cold because it’s 80 degrees outside!!!” How am I the crazy one in this situation?!

Thanks to the sunshine, a couple of friends and I were able to enjoy a really fun weekend in País Vasco (in the north of Spain) in the coastal town of San Sebastián. It is a new favourite town of mine that I highly recommend anyone see if they are in Spain. But since I don’t have pictures uploaded from that trip just yet, I will talk about it in another post.

Lately I’ve been splitting my focus on school and soaking up Madrid. In the school department, everyone has been very busy gearing up for the big Trinity exam which is happening today. I have been training my second graders (who I’m with the most) for this stupid test for what feels like ages and I am SOOO ready for it to be over.

The test is given by the Trinity College of London and it’s more or less a way to assess the English level of ESL students. I don’t like the exam at all. I understand it’s important to get an idea of where the kids are at. But I can tell you that just based on class time. The test consists of a British examiner coming to school and having a four minute “conversation” with each student. The problem is that it isn’t so much a conversation as it is a series of questions which the children have been asked ten thousand times (by me) and have memorized simple answers to. For a couple of months now, each class I have been taking the children in a small room in groups of three to practice all the questions. For example:

Me: Isabel, have you got any brothers or sisters?
Isabel: Yes, I have one sister.
Me: What’s her name?
Isabel: Her name is Lidia.
Me: How old is she?
Isabel: She has four years old.
Me: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This has to be the most common mistake of little Spanish kids learning English. In Spanish you use the verb “to have” (tener) to say how old you are. So I would say, “Tengo 21 años.” (I have 21 years). Obviously that’s not how we do things in English. But something that fundamental is hard to change in the mind of a seven year old who has said their age in Spanish 500 times in their life. Sigh.

I can sense the nervousness among the kids and their awareness that this thing is a pretty big deal. I try to keep it light and make sure they know it’s just like any other conversation. The other day I was talking to a couple of them about what the day would be like and one of the girls in the class raised her hand and interrupted, ¨”Profe, estamos perdiendo el tiempo!” (Teacher, we’re wasting time!). Yeah, they’re affected.

You can imagine how bored I am of this constant line of questioning. But the one question I NEVER tire of asking is this one: Who’s your best friend?

The boys give it to me straight up. They don’t care who else is in the room or what they have to say about it. And their answer never changes. I can ask Jose Luis 100 times who his best friend is, and EVERY time the answer will be Rubén. Víctor will always pick Juan. Adrián will always pick Alejandro.

The girls are another story. First after asking who their best friend is, they look at the one or two other girls who are sitting with them anxiously, take a deep breathe, and respond, “My best friend is.... Salma, Laura, Adriana, Beatriz Diez, Beatriz Fiestas, and Isabel.” Wow. Way to cover all your bases there. But then I inform them that for the purpose of the question, they have to pick one. OH NO. What’s a seven year old girl to do? Well, if there is one other girl in the room with them, they will without a doubt say their best friend is that girl. And then the other girl will grin and whisper a little thank you. If there are two girls, things get tough. It’s decision time, baby. And someone ends up a little peeved. But of course, when you’re seven you let things go pretty quickly.

Then they have to describe their best friend, which is actually a bit of a challenge since pretty much everyone has the same features (brown eyes and brown hair). “Rubén has brown eyes, brown hair, and......” then I usually instruct them to say something different like “he’s funny” or “he likes basketball” or “he’s smart”. I think three adjectives is plenty for second grade.

I love my students. When everything else is weird or not going how I want, little kids help make the world make sense. They are so sweet, so fun, so honest, and have such big personalities. They never fail to say something everyday that makes me happier.

The other day in Trinity questioning, Celia interrupted me mid question to say (in Spanish), “Audrey! I saw the Hannah Montana movie this weekend!” I said, “Wow, Celia, that’s super cool. Did you like it?” “Oh yes it was phenomenal. And profe, you look just like Hannah Montana!!!”

Hahahaha WHAT?! Do I really? Now I could be put off by the fact that Hannah Montana is a 16 year old pop star who I happen to think looks nothing at all like me, but I’m going to take this for what it is: the BIGGEST compliment you could ever receive from a second grade girl. I would argue that Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus is bigger here than she is in the US. Miley backpacks, pencil cases, stickers, DVDs, hair bows, lunchboxes, I swear I’ve seen it all. So you know what? Thanks Celia. I’ll take it. Then Celia followed up, “Yeah and she’s from England like you! But she lives in New York City.” Oh no. I’ve tried to explain this concept a lot. “No Celia, Hannah Montana is from the United States like me.” “Oh but she speaks English.” “Yes we speak English in the US also.” “Hmmmm....” One day they will understand. When I got back from the States even my fifth graders asked me how England was. Yikes.

Speaking of Hannah Montana, I had a fun private lesson with two sisters I teach yesterday. The younger girl just got the Hannah Montana movie soundtrack so right when I got to her house Tuesday she said, “Audrey, que significa ‘hoedown’?” Excuse me? Turns out there were quite a lot of lyrics the girls wanted to understand, so we spent the class translating Miley Cyrus lyrics. She’s not so bad.

Equally as hard to master as the idea that America and England are separate countries, is that tricky concept of time. I don’t remember learning how to tell time, but I’m going to guess it was rough. Of course, we teach the British way. Meaning, it’s half past nine, it’s quarter to one, it’s twenty five past eleven. That’s pretty wordy. Especially when all those words are in your second language. It seems I can go over time on my fun clock a thousand times and there is still confusion. Beyond reading a watch, a lot of them just don’t get the big picture. For example:

Me: Laura, what time do you go to sleep?
Laura: Nine o’ clock.
Me: Great. What time do you have dinner?
Laura: mmmm half past ten.
Me: Oh dear.

But for all their struggles, these kids are really smart. I feel pretty confident that all or nearly all of them will pass the test.

First graders don’t have to take the Trinity. So they get to do fun stuff. Yesterday we were talking about things they can and can’t do. I can ride a bike. I can’t fly. Etc. Visi asked one boy named Mateo if he can sweep the floor. He said, “No, I can’t.” Fair enough. Then I heard another boy, Iker, say to him in Spanish, “Yeah because that’s for women!” Oooooh boy you should have heard the Spanish tongue lashing I gave him. Keep in mind, he’s six. Where do you think he acquired that concept? Parents!

I’m sure you can tell that I love the kids I teach. I only wish I also loved my school. Throughout the year I’ve had a lot of conflict with one of the teachers I work with as well as with the principle and vice principle. I won’t go into detail but I disagree with a lot of things that take place here and I’ve had a pretty difficult work experience. Really it’s my own fault for waiting so far into the year to voice my grievances. But I’m happy to say that I did, and better late than never. I think I’ve learned a lot about how to work with people you don’t like, or in less than ideal circumstances. And after all, I am going to be an attorney right?

I’ve recommended this program to some USF students who have asked me about it but with a lot of caution and honest criticism attached. The program is terribly organized, somewhat dishonest about the requirements, and a huge part of your experience is based on which school you’re assigned to: dumb luck. I know plenty of people who work far less hours than I do, have less responsibility, more benefits, friendlier co-workers, and generally love their school. I know I also could have done worse. I know one girl in the program who works at a school where the kids are frequently physically violent with each other and with her. I’m grateful for the great kids I have and the experience I’m taking away.

Beyond school I’ve been spending a lot of time enjoying Madrid with the great group of friends I’ve established here. We’re trying to squeeze in visits to restaurants and bars we’ve been meaning to try all year, and we all enjoy quality time soaking up the sun in Retiro. With just over a month left, I’m having a lot of fun, travelling, and more and more feeling like I’ve really gotten to know Madrid (and Spain) well. I’m also very excited to go home!!!

For anyone who I haven’t told, I ended up choosing NYU for law school. It was a very hard decision but I’m looking forward to the next adventure before I (hopefully) permanently set up camp on the West Coast.

I’m leaving for Munich, Germany tomorrow with my friends Eimear and Anna and it’s sure to be loads of fun! My next post will be about my weekend travels and I swear it won’t be so long!

P.S. pictures are random ones of my lovely friends and me having a good time in Madrid!

Besos

Madrid, NYC, Ann Arbor, LA, SF, SLC, Idaho, phew I'm tired!

2009-04-25T15:16:00.000-07:00

Hellooooo

What a long time it’s been. When I last wrote I was heading off for my long awaited return to the USA. It was quite an adventure! Coast to coast, 5 states, 3 weeks, and lots of friends and family to be seen. Oh yeah, and tons of good food to be eaten!

I left Madrid on March 26th and was headed first for New York City. The flight west really isn’t too bad (6-7 hours) but especially when you are very lucky like I am and get to sit in business class thanks to wonderful family friends who work for Delta. The first signal that I was once again surrounded by Americans was this: The flight attendants served dinner and I dug in. About three minutes in, the flight attendant comes back to say, “Are you finished?” I looked at my plate (which was 75% full) then looked back at her with a face that hopefully read, “Does it look like I’m finished?” I said no and she left me alone. About two minutes later she was back with the same question. Once again I said no. At that point I looked around and realized most of the other passengers were on the next course. So unless there’s some new prize on airplanes for who can eat the fastest, I’m going to guess Spain has changed my eating habits.

When I landed in JFK and picked up my bags I immediately got a taxi and headed for NYU law campus. As we merged on to the highway I noticed one thing, “Man these cars are HUGE!” I’m not just talking about the big SUVs. I mean, clearly those are enormous. But even our “compact” cars seemed big to me. Example: early in my time here I met a Spanish guy who was quite proud of his “big American car”. He was bragging about how he has the biggest car of all his friends but also lamenting that it was nearly impossible to park. The car? An old Ford Taurus. WOW… HUGE!

Anyway, I got to NYU and headed in for day 1 of an admitted students weekend. All in all the school was great. I met lots of awesome students, was wowed by the faculty and the programs, got to see the tiny, exorbitantly expensive student apartments, and was really impressed by the whole thing. I was definitely excited about it. I was lucky enough to have a friend, Ryan, from USF who lives in Brooklyn who let me stay with him. It was great to get to see the Brooklyn side of NYC also. I had all day Saturday just to explore the city so Ryan played guide and took me on a walking tour. We walked over the Brooklyn Bridge through China Town and Little Italy. We took the subway up to Times Square, got a cupcake (or two) at famous Magnolia Bakery, and then explored Central Park. We also had a slice of pizza (or four) from a place that got voted “Best Pizza in NYC” by Food Network (though best pizza in New York is a huge debate I don’t want any part of). It was great! I had a really amazing time in New York and while it’s not somewhere I would want to live forever, it’s a pretty awesome experience.

After a fun weekend in NY, it was time for the next stop on the tour. I jumped a plain to Detroit, Michigan, where our old family friend, Steve was nice enough to pick me up. I got to hang out for a bit with his ridiculously cute children who were so sweet. I used to babysit them but they were really little so I figured they wouldn’t remember me. But when I got there Hailey (age 7) ran and gave me a big hug and said, “I really missed you.” I love kids.

That day we drove through Ann Arbor (the town I came to see) and I spent the night catching up on some sleep. The next day I walked to the University of Michigan campus where I had a little day of activities planned. I met with an admissions director to get some of my questions answered. I wandered around the cute college town and got a great deli sandwich for lunch. I sat in on a transnational law class that was pretty interesting. And finally I took a private tour of the law campus with a second year law student. The Michigan law campus is unbelievably beautiful. The law quad is part of the main campus but its four walls keep it quiet. All the wonderful things I heard about the school were true.

From there I got on yet another plane, this time going to LA. My good friend from high school, Ryan (another one!) was my gracious host. My first day in LA I had a day planned to visit UCLA law. My situation was interesting in that I was staying near the USC campus but had to get to the UCLA campus. I decided to save myself a lot of money on a cab ride and take the bus. I’m a pro with public transportation at this point, right? Well, let’s just say it was an epic journey. According to Wikipedia the campuses are 10 miles apart and the bus ride took a little over TWO HOURS! What fun! It was also a nice opportunity to get the scenic tour of some of LA’s less picturesque neighborhoods. But once I hit Sunset it was a pretty nice drive. We went through Beverly Hills and finally landed at UCLA.

At UCLA I met with the Dean of Admissions, sat in on a class, had lunch with a student, and took a tour of campus. It was a warm, sunny day and it was amazing to see students studying outside! The campus is beautiful and just what you would imagine of a campus in southern California.
The next day I was free to do fun things in LA. Ryan and I had lunch at In N Out (my request), walked down Santa Monica Pier and a cute shopping area, and later went to a concert in Hollywood. We also went to one of the coolest bars I’ve ever been to, The Standard. It sits on top of a hotel, is surrounded by skyscrapers and has incredible views. So fun!

After a great few days in LA it was time to go back to the city where I left my heart almost one year ago, San Francisco! It was a great weekend :) I stayed in my old apartment with my old roommates which was such a blast! I was lucky enough to get to meet up with soooo many wonderful friends on this trip that I won’t mention them all. But it was really great to reconnect with everyone I love in the Bay.

But I didn’t just go for fun! I went to visit Berkeley law. This was another admitted students weekend planned by the school. It was a pretty packed day which involved a mock class, student panel, tour, lunch, student organization fair, and reception.

Unfortunately there is a pretty major construction project going on that won’t be finished until my third year of law school. But the inside of the law school is state of the art. I met some cool people and enjoyed the sunny, relaxed atmosphere.

After some days of just having fun in SF, it was finally time to go to the most important leg of the trip, HOME! I ended up staying a little longer than I planned and enjoyed every minute of it. The older I get, the more I love home. It was so fun to hang out with my family. If you haven’t spent time with my little brother lately, you should because he is hilarious! I loved having family dinners and just relaxing at home.

I also got to see my closest friends from Utah. My best friend, Stephanie, even flew in from Spokane just for the weekend! She, Megan and I took a spontaneous road trip to Idaho to take a dip in the hot springs. (They were really hot).

Hanging out in Utah was the perfect ending to the trip.

Finally it was back to Madrid! After some set backs due to tornadoes in Atlanta, I made it back safely to Spain. I'm usually pretty good with jetlag but I made the fatal error of sleeping for seven hours my first day back. Therefore I was nocturnal for about a week.

It was so wonderful to be back in the States. I have learned so much during my time here in Spain and one of the greatest things I think I’m taking away is a new appreciation for America and my home. There is definitely something special about the US and I know it now, more than ever. I’m already looking forward to coming back in July!

But that’s not to say I wasn’t happy to be back in Madrid. I definitely felt like my time wasn’t finished here, and I had more things to see and do. The weekend I got back all my closest girlfriends met for a reunion dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Chueca! It was really fun to hear about all the exciting things people did during the Easter break. And the nachos weren’t bad either!

Now I’m back in the swing of things at school and with my private lessons. The highlights of the teaching week included trying to help a student understand Beyonce lyrics (“Boo stop trippin” is when… “Shawty got swag” has to do with…) and making Mother’s Day presents in first grade (a popsicle stick recipe holder of sorts).

Tomorrow two of my friends here, Blair and Kristen, are running the Madrid Marathon! A bunch of us are going to go support them at various points of the course. Oh yeah, and out of 11,000 runners there are only 500 women!!! WOW!

I have some exciting trips planned for May and June! More details to come…

I wanted to say thank you to all the friends and family I was able to see on this trip! Thank you for everything from rides to lodging to meals to just your company! I feel so blessed to have loved ones on every corner of the earth.

One last thing! If you’re wondering where I decided to go to law school… well, it’s a tricky thing. I’ve narrowed it down to NYU or Berkeley but it’s a pretty agonizing decision. I thought I settled on NYU, then had a mild panic attack and reversed my choice, then thought some more… so I’ll let you know for sure in a week or two. Either way, I feel extremely lucky to be stuck in a win-win situation.

Besos!

picnics, polpo and the huelgas

2009-03-25T18:12:00.000-07:00

Where to begin!

In my last post I promised myself (and anyone reading) that I would do a better job of taking advantage of my remaining time here. Based on the fact that I had to organize an outline of all the fun things I did in the last two weeks, I'd say I'm doing pretty well!
A couple of weekends ago I decided to organize a little outing in the city inspired by a cool article a friend sent me (thanks Jenna!). The article suggested some really awesome things to see in the city which remained undiscovered by tourists (for now). The best of the bunch was Plaza de la Paja.
The Plaza is a few blocks from Opera but tucked up in a neighborhood. It sits on a big hill and at the bottom there is a very small gated garden. The garden remains from the Spanish court. All around the Plaza sat cool restaurants, bars, and cafes. The most popular cafe, Delic, was too crowded to get a seat. We got a coffee at an equally cool spot and then browsed. Another find was a cute little shop that was like a mini Whole Foods, but Spanish and reasonably priced.

The next day Blair, Eimear and I decided to enjoy the warm sunshine and have a picnic in Retiro. We each brought some grub and I brought a giant blanket and really that's all you need! I am so thankful it's sunny and nice out finally. I think we earned an early spring after the winter we endured.

Mid-week we decided to try a new Galician restaurant our friend Cristina has raved about. Galicia is a region in northwest Spain and it's famous for its killer seafood among other things. There were six of us at dinner which allowed us to get a whole bunch of things and try them all. We got the usual croquetas, some really yummy steak, salty green peppers, calamaris, and... pulpo!! I have been wanting to try pulpo for a while since so many Spaniards have told me I must. Any guesses? Octopus! I have to say that while it's not my favorite seafood dish, I did really enjoy it! Tentacles and all :)

Last Saturday was my last volleyball game with the Spanish team I've been playing with. As for the game, we got absolutely destroyed. It was ugly stuff. But I think that's because we were all distracted and looking forward to the team dinner afterword. To celebrate the season we went to a local Italian restaurant. It was fun to hang out with my teammates outside of the gym. I also sampled THE best sangria I've had in Spain. And let's just say I've had a few glasses of sangria in my time here. The secret ingredient was a hint of cinnamon. Yum!

Last weekend we had another puente. Spanish quiz! Do you remember puente? If you said bridge or four day weekend, you are correct. I stayed in Madrid for the puente for a number of reasons. But on Thursday I was able to take a day trip to Segovia. After a short bus ride we landed in this very cute town. It's most famous for it's aquaduct which was built in 50 b.c.! We walked around a bit and I even got to see the home of my favorite Spanish author and the namesake of the school where I work, Antonio Machado. I also splurged and got cochinillo for lunch, which is suckling pig and something Segovia is famous for. I may have ragged on pig products in the past, but let me tell you, this was some good pork.
The next day my friend and teammate from USF, Linzy, came to visit from Paris where she currently lives. We had a really fun weekend together. We went out Friday and Saturday night and had dinner at a cute place in La Latina on Saturday. It's famous for fries and eggs. I didn't really get it. I asked the waiter, so what is it? He looked at me like I was stupid and replied, "it's fries...with eggs on top." Ok then. We decided to see what all the fuss was about. Gotta say this one wasn't my favorite. Kind of a weird "I really need to go grocery shopping what can I possibly throw together" sort of a dish. But I'm glad we tried it nonetheless.

On Sunday we went to the Rastro, somewhere I've been meaning to check out. The Rastro is a giant street fair of sorts that extends many blocks in the La Latina neighborhood. Vendors sell everything from jewelry to tapestries to my personal favorite, rubber by the kilo. It was really fun and I even picked up an item or two.

Finally, I'd like to tell you about some exciting happenings here in Madrid. On Monday we read in the paper as well as heard announced on the metro that there was going to be a "huelga" of metro workers on the 24th and 26th. A huelga is a strike, btw. The huelga would make all metro trains run at 50%. This annoyed me for two reasons. One is I already have a pretty dreadful commute at 100%. Second, the 26th I was to go to the United States and getting to the airport via metro seemed impossible. So the 24th I got up early, walked to a farther metro to avoid a transfer, and got there early preparing myself for the worst. And then, I walk up to my platform and what's this? There are less commuters than usual, the train pulls up immediately, and I get a seat which never happens. Could this be? The strike scared off a lot of passengers and in the end the metro union decided to postpone it for the 30th. Nice! So no need to worry about that any more.There was also a huelga of all public teachers today. It was a big one. We had a lot of teachers from school stay home and go to the protest. I, however, don't qualify to participate in the huelga since I'm not technically a teacher but an auxiliar.

Ok, well I'm off to bed because in the morning I am heading to the good old USA! I am so excited. It will be an adventure to be sure.

Besos!

Aprovechar!

2009-03-05T14:14:00.000-08:00

Hello! Hope everyone’s having a nice week. Just to taunt me it's been really sunny and beautiful and the next day rainy and freezing cold. Spring's coming! No wait... Spring's coming! Nooo..... Everyone keeps telling me it’s been an unusually horrible winter this year. Just for me! The last couple of weeks were both very nice and very eye opening.

Aprovechar is one of my favourite Spanish verbs (and one that is often used here). It means “to take advantage”. It is also used to mean bon appetite. It’s custom here that when anyone enters the dining room they say “que aproveche” (take advantage, used more or less to mean "enjoy your meal") to EVERYONE. And you respond, “gracias”. When you all start eating at different times this can get kind of tiring. It’s like a constant call and answer song during your lunch.

But beyond meal time, aprovechar makes its way into my life in many other ways. When I’ve talked to Spaniards about the places I’ve been and the many more I’d like to go they always respond, “Well yes of course. You have to aprovechar your time here in Europe.” When I tell them how I’d like to improve my Spanish more they respond in the same way. “Aprovecha!!!”

Last weekend it was sunny and dare I say it, borderline warm. My roommate, Liz, and I decided it was a must to aprovechar the good weather so we went for a walk and a Diet Coke in Retiro. I loooove Retiro. When I was really sick in November and didn’t leave my apartment for a week, I started to go a little crazy, and on the last day I said, I don’t care how sick I am. I’m going for a walk in Retiro. It was better than medicine. Anyhow, it was an absolutely beautiful day. There were lots of families having picnics in the grass, and students doing homework and couples having coffee dates. It made me pretty excited for Spring and Summer.

I recently passed the half way point in my time here in

Spain

. It was really shocking. The first few months went by soooo slowly. They were rough. But since Thanksgiving, I've enjoyed Madrid more and more and time has flown by. I have exactly four months left now. It’s weird to think about that.

I’ve decided that I really must make more effort to fully aprovechar my time here. I speak way too much English and I’m starting to get angry with myself. I live with two Americans so I speak English at home. My two closest friends here, Blair and Eimear, are American so I speak English with them. I teach English from morning to night. So to say the least it’s a little frustrating. It’s not like I never speak Spanish. I do a lot and I have definitely improved a huge amount. But I see lots of opportunities for me to aprovechar further. I’m reading the paper on the metro to work. I’m making an effort to speak Spanish at school with the teachers who don’t speak English. I’m speaking lots of Spanish with my volleyball team. I’m going to try to spend more time with the few Spanish friends I have here. And I’m going to get back in the habit of doing intercambios (that’s where you meet with a Spaniard for an hour or two and spend half the time speaking in Spanish and half the time in English). I improved so much in the first five months, so I can get even better in the last four!

Last Thursday we got terrible news that a fifth grader in our school died. It was a very tragic accident in which the cover of a soccer bench (like a dugout but above ground) collapsed on him. He was 9 years old. I teach fifth grade but not his class. Anyway, we got the news and then I immediately had class with my fifth graders. It was one of the more horrible hours of my life. There are 50 fifth graders in total and they’ve gone to school together since the age of 3. So needless to say they were all very close. By ten years old you understand these things, so to see them so upset obviously made me very upset.
In talking with other teachers about it, the universal response (other than being incredibly sad) was that life is short and we have to aprovechar. And I do agree.

The incident definitely made me re-evaluate my priorities, how I behave, how I treat myself and others. I realize how lucky I am to have this life of mine, so I don’t want to waste it. I’m trying to improve in a lot of areas.

Anyway, on Sunday, Atletico Madrid beat Barcelona in a shocking upset. Atletico was the club that our fifth grader played for (but in a younger age group obviously). So they had a minute of silence at the beginning of the game which was really nice. I read in the paper on Friday a quote from the captain of the team saying they were going to try to win for Diego (the boy). But from everything I had read and heard on TV, there was no chance Atleti would win. But they did :) The paper said it was a “milagro” (miracle).

After the game I went to church. It’s cuaresma (lent) which fits right in with the new self-improvement kick. I’ve gone to church pretty often here and let me tell you, there aren’t too many of us attendees.

Spain

is more or less a universally Catholic, and universally non-practicing country. An interesting combo. But this Sunday there was a much larger turnout. I’m guessing it’s a lent thing. The differences between Mass here and in the States are pretty striking. Obviously the language is different. But for one thing, mass here generally runs 30 minutes, maybe 40. They start right on time (the only thing to start on time here) and there’s no big entrance precession. The priest just walks up to the podium from the side of the church and gets the party started. Although mass starts on time, that doesn’t mean anyone gets there on time. A lot of people roll in around 15 minutes late. Mind you, that’s about half way through. They don’t quietly slip in the back though. They march all the way up to the front, high heels clicking and all. There are no songs, no music, no announcements. But what they lack in ceremony, they make up for in sermon. I don’t know how it’s possible in such a short service, but the homily is much longer here. It’s good listening practice anyway. When it comes time for communion, there’s no pew by pew line business. Lines aren’t really popular here. It’s just a free for all. If you’re in the last pew but you hustle to the front, good for you. Anyway, it’s efficient. And I can truly say mass is the ONLY place I’ve seen in

Spain

where efficiency exists.

Well that’s all for now. My volleyball team beat the undefeated first place team in our league last Saturday. It was really fun! We have two more matches and then I’m free. I’ve really liked it, but it will be nice to have a little more time to do other things.

Also, completely unrelated. Have you seen Slumdog Millionaire?! I saw it last night and it is incredible. I laughed, I cried, I got my 8 euros worth. I highly recommend it. The soundtrack is great, too.

If you're wondering what the deal is with the cow pictures, there is an art exhibit of sorts going on with hundred of these cow statues placed all over the city! They are all painted or decorated in different ways by Spanish artists. It's pretty fun to see a new one everyday!

I may be making a trip to the good old

USA

soon to visit law schools. Pretty exciting!

Today I'm going to do some city exploring, so I’m off to aprovechar!

sometimes God tells you to shut up...

2009-02-08T06:46:00.000-08:00

It seems like everyone I know has recently been pick-pocketed, robbed, or nearly pick-pocketed or robbed. Eimear and Blair have both already been pick-pocketed. My roommate's mother was nearly pick-pocketed but Melanie caught the gypsy in the act. Another friend, Amanda, recently had her bag stolen. A coworker did also.

Lucky for me, I have had no such problems (knock on wood). I attribute this to a few things. For one, I am MUCH larger than virtually every person in Spain. Seriously. I think it's just not possible for most little Spaniards to reach up into my purse. And maybe the gypsies/gitanas/criminals are just the slightest bit afraid that if I caught them in the act I would beat the crap out of them. Works for me. The other reason I think I've been lucky is that I'm hyper aware of how often this happens. I keep my bag tight and high under my arm or in front of me. I never let anyone stand too close to me and I pretty much treat everyone on the metro like a criminal. Even children. And old people.

On Saturday, I was coming home on the metro and in a hurry. There was a group of four American girls who were clearly college students studying abroad. It's hard to explain why, but in general I really, really don't care for Americans studying abroad here. And most of my friends here feel the same way. They're quite often loud, obnoxious, make no effort to learn Spanish, expect things to be easy for them, and think they're pretty hot stuff. These girls were no exception. It was a crowded metro and they were shouting to each other across the car in English. Cringe. As we approached my metro stop, one of the girls screams, "That woman took my wallet!" Her friend was confused and she continued, "Yeah! That sketchy woman took my wallet. I felt her brush up on me and I knew she was creepy and she took my wallet!" They frantically searched her purse and shopping bags with no luck. Her purse was probably the worst possible thing you could carry. It was a messenger bag that hung really low (below her hip) and had no zipper or button. The girl was crying and frantic and I leaned over and said, "Get off at the next stop and find a security officer and tell them what happened and they'll give you a form to fill out to report it." And then I left.

As I was walking home I thought, I should have helped that girl. She obviously didn't speak Spanish. She won't be able to talk to the security guard. But I was in a big hurry. And then I thought, really, she was asking for it. Drawing attention to herself shouting loudly in English. Carrying an open bag. What a tourist... scoff.

So I ran a few errands and began to get ready for Eimear's birthday party. When I was just about ready to go I went to transfer all my stuff from my purse to my evening clutch. Camera, lipgloss, phone, wallet.... wallet?! My wallet was no where to be found. I began to panic. I tore apart my room. No wallet. My first thought, I got robbed right along with the stupid American girl! I'm a stupid American girl, too! But then I remembered that after the metro I had gone to the grocery store to pick up a few things. I had paid for them, so obviously I had my wallet at that point. And then it hit me, I left my wallet at the grocery store at the register.

Quick side note. If you ever want to raise your blood pressure a few points, try checking out at a Spanish supermarket. It's one of the more intense situations you'll experience here. There is a checker, but no baggers. So you get up to the counter and put your stuff up there and the checker immediately starts scanning it. Then you frantically start bagging but before you can really get a handle on the bagging she tells you the total and you have to pay. Then after you pay you go back to bagging but at that point the next person is already at the counter and the checker is already scanning their items. So while you're desperately trying to bag up the rest of your stuff, someone else's stuff is flying across the counter into your stuff and you have to make sure not to take any of their items. It's tiring.

So like an idiot, I had set my wallet on the counter while I was bagging and apparently left it there. I called the grocery store, about in tears, and asked if a wallet had been found. She said yes, I sprinted back to the store, and reclaimed my billetera. Phew.

I think I needed this little humbling. Everyone does stupid things, myself included. Obviously. So I think the next time I'm rolling my eyes at students or tourists, I'll think twice. And maybe offer them some friendly advice or help instead. Thank you God. I'll take one slice of humble pie with whip cream on top!

Por Fin!!!

2009-01-31T17:19:00.000-08:00

Hey hey!!

So it’s been a looooong time since I’ve updated this bad boy. That’s because so much has happened lately that the thought of putting it down in words kind of overwhelmed me!

Ok. So I went to Paris to spend Christmas with my friend Linzy. We played volleyball together at USF and now she is playing professionally in a cute little town just outside Paris. Linzy’s mom, Leslie, also flew in from the States to visit. We spent four wonderful days in Paris before hitting the road. Paris is such an incredibly beautiful city, especially at Christmas time with all the lights! I think if I spoke French I could see myself living there for a little while.

A few days later we hopped in Linzy’s car and headed south for five or six days. First stop was Toulouse. Toulouse is a really darling town on the southern border, close to Spain. I would describe it as what you probably imagine when you think of a small French town. There was an open air market, cheese shops, wine shops, boulangeries, cafes, and wonderfully dressed families. That night we had dinner at a cute little restaurant called Entricot. As we were seated I looked at all the delicious food and noticed that one dish seemed to be really popular. When our waitress came over she asked if we were ready to order, but we were confused because we were never given a menu. She explained that there was just one thing on the menu: steak and fries. Well then, I guess we’ll have that! But this wasn’t just any steak and fries. It was reaaaally reaaally good steak and fries!

Next we made our way east to Aix en Provence, just outside Marseilles. This was even smaller than Toulouse. On Christmas Eve, we went out in search of a restaurant to have a semi-traditional meal. The problem was that most places were doing a Christmas Eve special menu that cost around 75 euros. Just as we were starting to lose hope we stumbled upon a small, quiet little restaurant that luckily served the normal menu. It turned out to be absolutely perfect! We had some really delicious food and loved being surrounded by families. After dinner we asked our waitress for the best church to catch Christmas mass. She gave us directions to a very sweet little Catholic church. The mass was really beautiful, although entirely in French! But a nice thing about Catholicism is that it’s the same all over the world, so I could pretty much follow.

The next day we drove into Marseilles to check it out. Marseilles was interesting because it had so much potential to be a really beautiful city. It’s a port city so the town is centered around the water. There was a nice area with a castle up on a hill that overlooked the water, but outside of that, Marseilles was extremely dirty and not well kept. It really shows you what a difference local government can make. So we decided not to waste too much time there and left after about an hour.

Next we headed to Nice, one of my favorite cities in the world! I had been here before, so it was kind of fun to remember things that I liked and be a bit of a tour guide. We didn’t have hotel reservations in Nice and decided to just drive into town and hope something was available. We stopped at the first place we saw, which was right on the ocean. I figured it would be too expensive, but upon asking it was ridiculously cheap. Linzy kept asking her to repeat the number because she thought she had misunderstood! We had a nice little room with a view of the Mediterranean. We spent three days in Nice, wandering around town, eating great food and drinking good wine and just generally enjoying ourselves. Linzy even convinced me to buy a beret! I highly recommend a visit to Nice if you ever get the chance. I especially love the old part of town where the streets are narrow and there’s lots of colorful laundry out on the line!

We made a day trip to Eze and Monaco, where I had also been previously. Eze is a little village up high on a mountain that requires quite the hike. But the difficult location keeps it relatively “un-touristy” and preserved. There are great views of the ocean and lots of little shops. Next we hit Monaco, which isn’t really one of my favorite places, but nice enough none the less. We wandered around the ritzy town and even popped in the Monte Carlo casino! We didn’t actually gamble because from what I hear they don’t have quarter slots…

Finally we headed back to Paris for one more night before it was time to go back to Madrid. Overall it was a great trip. I had so many fantastic meals and it was a very relaxing couple of weeks. Being with friends really helped me to not be too homesick, and I also tried to keep in mind that this will likely be my one and only Christmas away from home in my life.

Linzy came with me back to Madrid to spend New Years here! Madrid has a reputation around the world for being the best place to be for New Years Eve. Two of my former roommates from college, Tressa and Kendra, also stayed with me for the big day! They were on a little European adventure and luckily Madrid was the first stop. I had so much fun hanging out with my college friends! It was also great to show them around Madrid and see how blown away they were. It helped to remind me of how lucky I am and what a cool city I live in.

For the big night, we got dressed up (Kendra and Linzy even bought wigs!) and headed downtown to Sol. Sol is the most important plaza in Madrid and it is the place to be on NYE. Here’s how it works: Tons of people fill Sol and wait for 12:00. At the stroke of midnight, a giant clock tower rings out twelve chimes. With each chime, you have to eat a grape for good luck. So you eat twelve grapes and then share hugs with everyone! It’s a cute tradition I think. My only issue was that seedless grapes don’t exist here. I’m not really picky but something about crunching on a giant seed just doesn’t sit well with me. So we bought special seedless grapes made just for New Years (uvas de suerte). They came in a can. This struck me as pretty odd but I went with it. They definitely weren’t the best grapes I’ve ever had, but they were lucky so I toughed it out.

After a couple more days in Madrid, it was time for Linzy to go home and for me to head to Dublin! I was so excited to add a new country to my list! The trip didn’t start out great, seeing as my flight was delayed about two hours. This did, on the bright side, leave me a lot of time to people watch in the airport. I noticed there were a lot of families where one parent was Irish and one parent was Spanish. It was so interesting to me to watch the dynamic in terms of languages. The common system seemed to be that the Irish parent would speak only English to the kids and the Spanish parent would speak only Spanish to them. What was more interesting to me was that a lot of the kids would talk to both parents in just Spanish or just English. But the parent would continue to speak in their native language. I think it’s so amazing how little kids can pick up two languages so young. I wish I were so lucky!

Lucky for me, my friend here in Madrid, Eimear, is a dual American-Irish citizen and has lots of family in Dublin. So I got to stay with her at her aunt and uncle’s house! Upon arrival, I was greeted by Eimear, her aunt, uncle, another aunt, a brother in law, and tons of cousins! They were all so happy to meet me and so sweet and very concerned that I might need some tea. Dublin was really great, but I think the best part of the trip was staying with their family. They were all so nice and generous and hospitable. It was great to be with a family kind of like my own: two story house in the suburbs, roast beef and mashed potatoes for dinner, etc.

Dublin was a really charming city. I like towns where there aren’t a lot of landmarks you feel obligated to see, but you can just stroll and take in the scene. Of course there were a million pubs. I also went to Grafton Street and saw an area where some scenes were shot from one of my favorite movies, Once. Maybe the highlight of the trip (other than having a pint of cider in a pub) was going to the Kilmanem Jail. It’s an old prison where some of the most important figures from Irish history, like leaders who fought for Irish independence, were jailed or executed. The tour was very informative and a little creepy. A good mix!

After five days in Dublin, it was time to head back to Madrid and get back to real life! I think Christmas break was just what I needed. I feel my spirits are really lifted and I’m enjoying my time a lot more here now. I can’t believe it’s already February and I have been here for over four months! Things at school are great. I’ve also been playing volleyball a lot lately which is fun.

Funny kid quote of the week:

I teach infantil once a week although I wish I taught it everyday! The kids are four so it’s pretty limited what we can do. Class is pretty much going over what day it is, some vocabulary, and then they do a coloring worksheet involving English colors. So for the coloring portion I always pick a table to sit with and color. On Thursday I’m coloring with some kids (they’re four years old by the way) and one boy says to me, “Teacher you’re so tall! How’d you get so tall?” and I responded with something about drinking a lot of milk or whatever. Then one little boy says, “Profe, pareces como un elefante!!” (Teacher, you look like an elephant!!). I started laughing and said, “Oh really?” and he responded, “Well, you don’t have a trunk but otherwise….” Hahahaha I about died. Then a little girl said, “No no no Alvaro, elephants are fat! She’s not fat.” And I said, THANK YOU Maria! Maria is getting an A in English in case you were wondering. As for Alvaro…

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well! Now that I’m back in the swing of things I hope to post more regularly.

Besitos

Puente = Bridge = Long Weekend

2008-12-14T05:53:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone. I've got the Christmas tunes playing and I hope you do, too!

Last weekend we had a "puente" which literally means a bridge, but in this case it means a long weekend. Monday was a national holiday because it was the Immaculate Conception. Oh Spain, are you secular? Are you Catholic? Well it's all very confusing. For example, the school I teach at is public. But you might not know it since the children attend Catholic religion class and there is currently a giant nativity scene set up in the hall and pictures of the Holy Family all over the school. I asked one of the teachers about this curiosity and she explained that religion is "optional" but no one opts out. As for the "belén", which is like a nativity scene but instead shows the whole town of Bethlehem, the teacher explained that this isn't just a Catholic thing, it's part of Spanish tradition. Hmmm..... whatever you say. I mean, I'm Catholic so what's it to me? But I happen to think separation of church and state is a pretty awesome thing. And while it doesn't function perfectly in the US (ahem, Utah?) I think we benefit from it in many ways. But Spain has a totally different history and culture and I don't know that it would ever be possible here.

Anyway, for the puente my friends and I decided to head south to see the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the city of Granada in the region of Andalucía. Our Spanish friend, Angel, went with us and since he has a car it was a nice chance to see some Spanish scenery along the way. Driving south you have to get through the region of Castilla la Mancha. The best comparison I can offer is the really ugly part of Nevada between Reno and Salt Lake. You know when you look left and right and there's nothing for miles except flat land and death? Well that's sort of Castilla la Mancha. But once you get into Andalucía it's very different. Literally all you can see for miles are rows and rows of olive trees. All the houses in the towns along the way have white roofs, which makes for a pretty sight.

We finally got to the little town we were staying at in the mountains outside of Monachil. It's actually a stretch to call it a town. It was really a pueblito, a village of sorts, and it appeared to be deserted. But we found our hotel and a nice woman greeted us. It's funny because I can actually differentiate accents around Spain now. Andalucíans often don't pronounce the last letters of words. So instead of "Buenas noches, tenéis una reservación?” it sounds more like, "Buena noche, tenei una reservacio?" or something like that. It wasn't too hard to understand. But it was really interesting to talk about it with Angel, because he was explaining that most people from other parts of Spain look at the southern accent as a sign of lack of education, stupidity, ignorance, etc. and that many Andalucíans try not to adopt a very strong accent in order to avoid that connotation. I told Angel that the southern accent had a similar rep in the US and he thought that was pretty funny.

Our first night there we wandered over to a little cafe we had passed on the way in. We went in and were excited to find it was a cave building: all the rooms were natural caves. We went in one where a young guy was playing the guitar. We had some tea and enjoyed the music that was played just for us. We talked to the young man and it turned out he was from Argentina. Actually we knew this about one minute in because Argentineans pronounce their "y" sounds like "j" sounds. It's very beautiful Spanish. It was a really cool way to start the trip.

That night we went into Granada to get something to eat. Something that is unique to Andalucía is this great thing they do with tapas. If you go to a bar and you buy a glass of wine or a beer or something, you are served tapas for free. And not like a dainty dish of olives or something. But real food. So we went to a little place and spent

6 Euros for three drinks and three plates of food. Pretty sweet deal. We're not used to such hospitality in the big swanky city. I also got to meet up with a friend of mine from USF named Peter. He lived on my floor in the dorms Sophomore year and now he's studying abroad in Granada. It's such a weird/cool feeling to be able to meet up with someone in another country!

The next day we headed up the mountain to the ski resort. My friends wanted to ski but I passed. While I love skiing, I don't have any of the equipment or clothing with me so I thought it was more money and hassle than it was worth. Plus, can Spanish snow or mountains compare with Utah? Claro que no. I instead spent the day in a cafe reading a book and sipping something warm. I was just as happy. That's another nice thing about Spanish restaurant rules. You purchase something and you are in no way pressured to leave your table at any time. I bought a coffee and sat at my little table for like four hours. No pasa nada. We came back from the snow adventure and were totally pooped.

On Saturday we moved camp to a hostel in Granada. It was very small and cute with a terrace on the roof and great views of the city. We had a coffee and pastry and then walked all over the city. Granada is such an amazing city and I highly recommend a visit there. It was inhabited and ruled by Arabs for over 1000 years, so the Arab influence on architecture, food and culture is strong. We walked through the Cathedral square, the street vendors, and all over Albayzin, which is the Arab area of the city. We had some great Pakistani tea at one of the many famous titerias (tea houses) in Granada. Finally we met up with Peter and another friend of mine from home, Sarah, and had tapas.

The next morning I woke up before sunrise to go to the Alhambra. I had heard so many amazing things about it that I decided it was a must. In order to get tickets you either have to reserve them something like three months in advance or you have to get in the ticket line at the crack of dawn. Unfortunately we were left with the second option. Luckily someone at our hostel had told me that there is a secret ticket machine that only takes credit cards that no one seems to know about. This tidbit of info turned out to be true and we skipped the lines and were the first people let in. I felt like one of those kids who gets to skip all the lines at Disneyland because they won a contest.

The Alhambra is a palace, fortress and garden built by Moorish emperors in the 13th and 14th centuries, and later used by Charles V in the 16th century. It is simply incredible. The palace has endless amounts of rooms with different patterned ceilings and the most intricate etchings done in marble walls. There are lots of fountains and arches and incredible views of Granada since the palace sits high in the hills. The gardens go on for miles and have lots of fruit trees and flowers I'd never seen. This isn't really a "words can describe" sort of thing so check out the pics.

We drove back to Madrid that day and I can really say it was an incredible weekend. I'm so glad I got to see Granada and definitely wouldn't mind going back.

This week was a really short one thanks to the puente. Nothing too eventful except that last night Real Madrid lost to Barcelona in futbol which is a sore subject around these parts. The rivalry between Madrid and Cataluña is a big one, and it has a lot more to do with it than soccer. As a Spanish girl said yesterday, "Cataluña... it's not Spain." It's pretty true. When I was in Barcelona I was really offended that people in stores and restaurants wouldn't speak Spanish with me. They would speak Catalan or even English, but not Spanish. Catalan is the regional language and it's sort of like a mixture of French and Spanish. Linguistic issues have become a hot debate in Cataluña as well as País Vasco and Galicia which also have languages outside of Spanish. For more info check out this really great article in the Economist:
http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12501023

Anyway, I probably won't be posting again till 2009! I leave on Thursday for Paris and I will be there till the 29th. I'm spending New Years Eve here in Madrid and two of my roommates from San Francisco will be here. Then I'm heading to Dublin on Jan. 2-7 to visit my friend Eimear and her family. It should be a really fun vacation!

I will really miss Christmas at home this year. But I know I can spend every Christmas for the rest of my life with my family. So I'm keeping my spirits up!

I don't know that I will be able to send Christmas cards to all my family and friends... so let this serve as a big Merry Christmas to everyone I love!

Felices Fiestas,

Audrey

Illness, thankfulness, field trips.

2008-11-30T14:51:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! First let me start by wishing you a belated Happy Thanksgiving. I am currently listening to Christmas music which makes me incredibly happy :)

Obviously I have slacked off with updating my blog, but my justification is a good one. Unfortunately I have been pretty sick recently. I’ve had some form of a cold on and off for a month and half (the majority of the time I’ve been here) but it escalated into something worse. Finally, I had a complete breakdown one recent Monday at school which resulted in me crying like a little child in the principles office, explaining how I was tired of being sick and wanted my mom, and the principle taking my temperature. “OOOh 38 centígrados…”, she said. This resulted in more tears and me replying in Spanish, “I don’t even know what that means!” Well, it meant I had a fever. The result was a week off of work resting, several 30 second visits with my worthless Spanish doctor, and un montón (a whole bunch) of tests for my lungs. I haven’t gotten the final test results, but I have an American friend here who already finished med school and is taking a year sabbatical before doing residency. I told him everything that had happened and he thinks I had pneumonia. I agree. Luckily thanks to a week of doing nothing and some antibiotics I am feeling much better.

Harder than being sick was being sick in a foreign country. I found the medical system supremely frustrating. The doctor quite literally gives you ten seconds to explain what’s wrong with you before cutting you off and making a decision as to your fate. And from talking to other Spaniards, this is not exclusive to my crappy doctor; it’s just the way things are here. I also had several interactions with the “clinica” which is basically the hospital where you have x-rays, blood tests, and MRIs (all of which I had). In order to get the procedure, you have to bring a slip from your doctor requesting it. On one occasion I brought the slip for the MRI rather than the slip for the blood test which I needed in order to get the MRI. So back home I went. At least all of it was free.

All I wanted was to be in my own bed, with chicken noodle soup and saltines (neither of which exist here). It was hard to do all that medical business completely on my own. But in the end I feel better and pretty proud I was able to get through it all, and in Spanish!! Feeling better physically has also helped me feel better mentally. My first two months here have been less than a fairy tale and I would be lying if I said there weren’t times I wanted to pack my bags and head for the airport. But I sort of feel like I’m past my low point, and now that I’m better I can really start enjoying my time here.

My new found health and positive attitude left me very excited for Thanksgiving (Día de accion de gracias), even though I was spending it away from home. My friends Blair and Eimear decided to host Thanksgiving since they have the biggest apartment. The guests included: Blair, Eimear, Me, my two roommates Liz and Melanie, two English girls, one Scottish girl, and five Spanish girls who are our friends. So it was the first Thanksgiving ever for 8 of the 13 attendees! I don’t have a lot of experience in the kitchen but I made a spinach-artichoke dip and a sweet potato casserole and I was pleasantly surprised that everyone loved them! Our table was a big mix of Spanish, English, laughter, and ooohs and aaaws over every tasty dish. I explained the tradition where you go around the table and everyone says something they’re thankful for. But with our mixed guest list, we decided everyone had to do this in both Spanish and English. This was definitely a struggle for some, but everyone managed and we all applauded each other. It was really touching because the Spanish and British girls were so thankful to be invited since they understood what a special day it was for us. I think we (the Americans) were all really thankful to be in such warm company on a day that could have otherwise been a sad one. I did not expect this, but it was an unforgettable experience and one of my most memorable Thanksgivings to date.

In other news, Marta, who I teach with, was sick two days last week which left me teaching by myself. I was nervous but it went really well. Of course with the second graders I spent the first five minutes of class answering, “Where’s Marta?? What happened to Marta???” But once we got that matter settled everything was fine. I did notice, however, that I am starting to be a little more lax with my use of Spanish. We were explicitly forbidden to use a single word of Spanish when we started the job. I understand the reasoning, and I have really made every effort. But when it is time to discipline a second grader who really doesn’t understand, “Stop hitting Pablo with your pencil or I swear I will take you to the principles office!” then I will resort to Spanish. There are other instances where I’ve found it necessary. For example, when a fifth grader didn’t understand the word “against”. How do you explain the word against without just giving the direct translation (contra)? “Well, against is when… like when two teams play each other… or when…. you don’t agree with someone….” Enemies? No. Opposite? No. Different? CONTRA!!! Ok I give up, it’s contra!!!! And just like that you clear up all the confusion.

The other highlight of the school week happened when I got to take my first and second grade classes on a field trip Thursday. Each of the American teaching assistants gets to go on one field trip. I missed the last one to Escorial (which is a Spanish palace of sorts) and I was pretty jealous of the girl who got to go. The vice principal told us on Wednesday that one of us needed to go on the field trip the next day to la granja (the farm). This didn’t really appeal to me right away. But one of the other teachers, Visi, told me in confidence that it is by far the best excursión and that I should try to go. Based on this advice, I said I’d take it. So we all got to school early Thursday to get the kids ready. In the hall, Salma (the future supermodel second grader) ran up to me and exploding with excitement told me, “Audrey, vamos en una excursion hoy!!” (We’re going on a field trip today!) I told her that I was going, too which made her give me a big hug. How exciting. We packed up the buses as the over protective Spanish mothers lined the sidewalk to give a final wave (don’t they have jobs?!?!) and hit the road. I thought it was great to see that Spanish kids are just like American kids when riding the bus: songs are a must. The best song went like this, “Rosa robó pan en la casa de San Juan.” (Rosa stole bread from Saint Juan’s house.) Then Rosa responds, “Quién yo?” (Who me?) And everyone yells, “Sí tú!” and Rosa responds, “Yo no fui” (It wasn’t me.) and everyone yells, “Entonces quién?” (Then who?) Then Rosa yells out the name of another student, “Jose!” and the song repeats using Jose. The funniest part about this game was that the kids thought it was hilarious to pick me just about every other time. So it went like this, “Audrey robó pan en la casa de San Juan.” But I had to reply in English, “Who me?”, “Sí tú!” “It wasn’t me.” “Entonces quién?” and then I’d pick Paula. Of course at the end of her song Paula would pick me again. This continued the entire bus ride. But I didn’t mind.

When we got to la granja the farm group leaders pretty much took the kids off our hands and did all the work the rest of the day. The teachers then went and had a really nice breakfast and coffee. Nooooow I see why this was the best field trip ;) After that we went around the farm and took pictures of the kids doing the various activities. They rode a horse and made apple marmalade and got to pet lots of different animals. But the best activity, I thought, was when they got to watch how a slaughtered pig was hung out to dry and then separated in to all the different types of ham. These kids are between 5 and 7 mind you. They thought it was great. I thought it was hysterical. The group leaders pointed to the giant dead pig and explained, “This part of the pig is where we get jamón Serrano..” and the kids all went, “mmmmm jamón Serrano!!!” They weren’t really fazed by the giant carcass which I thought was kind of cool. Says a lot about the Spanish.

The teachers were also treated to a big lunch which I’d say is the best meal I’ve had here. That’s because all the food came straight from the farm. It was all delicious.

I’ve started going to church again with Eimear who is also Catholic. There is a beautiful Cathedral right by my house and since I live in kind of a swanky neighborhood it’s fun to see all the ladies go in their giant fur coats. There’s something comforting about mass here being pretty much the same as it is at home, minus the English. Well, there are some differences. There’s no music. No big entrance or exit. It’s pretty much a condensed, straight-to-the-point version of mass, except the priest’s sermon is much longer. But I look at it as good language practice. Today he talked about Saint Joseph and the Holy Family. The funny part is that I didn’t pick up that he was talking about Joseph til about a minute in. He kept saying, “Jose” and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out who Saint Jose was. But then he said, “Jose, Maria’s husband and Jesus’ father.” And then came my light bulb moment when I realized I was an idiot and obviously Jose was Joseph. There’s always more to learn!

Sorry for the excessive length of this post. Now that I’m feeling better I will do this more often and with fewer words! I hope everyone is getting in the Christmas spirit!

Besos,

Audrey

In my Halloween goodie bag: a new president and penicillin!!!

2008-11-08T15:34:00.000-08:00

Hellooooo. Oh gosh, so much has happened in the last week or two....

First off, I hope everyone had a very Happy Halloween! The holiday was a bit depressing here because, well, it's not really a holiday at all. People know what Halloween is but that's about as far as it goes. Visi, one of the teachers at my school explained that it's difficult for a lot of Spaniards to be cheery and celebrate because Saints Day is November 1 and it is a very somber and serious occasion. Regardless, it's becoming a little more popular each year. Five years ago, no one knew what it was. Now there are a few decorations up here and there. But no one trick or treats or carves pumpkins and I only saw a handful of people wearing costumes.

The costume issue is a funny one. The three other auxiliares and I decided to attempt to wear costumes to school on Halloween to celebrate. So I was a pirate, Kristen was a basketball player, Kellie was a baby, and John was an old lady or something. The assistant principle saw our costumes and was very confused and said, "but those things aren't scary....?". I explained that in the US most people don't wear scary costumes. They try to be funny or creative or pretty. Clearly this message hasn't crossed the pond yet because the few people I saw going out to celebrate on the metro in costumes were generally COVERED in blood, had a fake knife going through their head, and wore fangs.

In the spirit of spreading my American culture to the little ones, I organized the Halloween lesson for Primeros and Segundos. We had them all make masks of either ghosts, vampires, or witches and they also made a "basket" out of paper pumpkins and some crafty gluing. I brought a bag of candy (which was very hard to find in any grocery store) and made a "door" out of poster board. I explained that in America little kids get dressed up and go knock on doors and get candy in their baskets. So they had to come to my "house", knock on my "door" and say "trick or treat" and I would give them a piece of candy. This was about the most mind-blowingly exciting thing they had ever heard. The room was in chaos. Visi was screaming, "But only quiet children will play Halloween!!!" So they all came through with their homemade masks and knocked on my poster board door and mumbled something similar to trick or treat and I put a sucker in their paper pumpkin basket. It wasn't perfect, but it worked and they really seemed to love it.

Shortly after Halloween came the BIIIIIG day - Election Day! I had mailed my ballot long ago, but I was so excited to see the results! My American friends and I decided to go to a results watching party in Bellas Artes hosted by Democrats Abroad. When we got there, we were shocked to see a line that wrapped up Alcala for probably half a mile and camera crews interviewing Americans. We waited in line for an hour and a half before finally getting inside. It was a little difficult with the time change, because we didn't really get any meaningful east coast results until around 1am. And since we had work the next day we couldn't hold out much longer than that. I stayed long enough to see that Obama won Ohio and I felt confident I could sleep soundly. It was really incredible to see how many Americans were living in Madrid, either studying or working. It was also pretty cool to see how many Spaniards were there to cheer and celebrate, also. The next morning I woke up to fantastic news and I am unbelievably happy for our nation and the world. And now I can come back to the US after all! :)

While I was a little jealous that I wasn't in the states to celebrate, I realize it's actually a really great experience to be here right now and to see how the world is reacting. The newspapers were all Obama covers of course, but it was funny to read the articles. There was no mention of disappointed McCain supporters or concerns about the new president elect. All the news coverage here has just been one big, teary, joyous Obamafest. There are high hopes over here for the new president and the new nation. I have sensed (and American friends here agree) that the election results changed global opinion of the US and its residents overnight. It seems like a bit of an exaggeration, but I don't think it is. Teachers at school came up to me grinning and said, "Estás contenta?!?!" (Are you happy?) and I told them that, yes, I was very very happy.

I would say that the vast majority of people here are ecstatic about Obama. Countless people have expressed to me how happy they are for us. But I have had a few experiences that I think are pretty telling of Spanish culture (or at least a minority of Spanish culture). The first was the day before the election. I give private lessons to the daughter of another teacher at my school. On this day the girl's father drove me home. I mentioned that the election was tomorrow and he asked me if I was for Obama and I said yes. And he said in Spanish, "Well you'll have to change the name of the White House to the Black House." I kind of laughed it off but I didn't think he was kidding.

The worst incident happened just last night. Blair and I went to dinner at a very small Spanish place by my house. There was on older man who was obviously busy working the bar, the kitchen, and waiting tables. We sat down and he took our order, came back with our food, and asked where we were from. We told him we were from the US. He said (in Spanish), "So, did you vote for Obama?" and I said, "Yes, we did. We're very happy." He responded, "Well I'm not happy at all. He's black." We were both a little shocked and I said, "Well he's extremely intelligent. He went to Harvard Law School." The man replied, "I don't care where he went to school. There's no such thing as an intelligent black person." We were both kind of floored, not to mention annoyed. I told him I completely disagreed and Blair said, "Things are different in the US and you'll see that you're wrong." He laughed and said, "This would never happen here in Spain. We know better. Blacks are all terrorists and murders, and nothing else." And then we asked for the check!

I wouldn't want to give the impression that all, or even most Spaniards think this way. Like I said, the HUGE majority of people here are thrilled with Obama. But it would also be dishonest not to share that I have noticed much more racism here than in the states. There are really awful posters all over my neighborhood for Frente Nacional, which is a political organization working to keep Spaniards "first" and to fight immigration. (Hey, I’m an immigrant, too!) There are also government billboards and posters showing a black person and a white person shaking hands with a message that says, "Con la integración de los inmigrantes todos ganamos"... (with the integration of immigrants we all win!). Am I in the 1970s?! Something else that really bothers me is that Spaniards refer to ALL Asians as "chinos". Chinese? Chino. Vietnamese? Chino. Korean? Chino. Thai? Chino. What?!?! These are not even remotely similar cultures!!! All of this only serves to make me appreciate how far our nation has come in the last few decades. We're not perfect, but I think there is something truly special and welcoming about America.

Lastly, I have been pretty sick lately, which is just not like me. I chalk it up to being surrounded by children all day and using the metro constantly. That and the fact that fruits, vegetables, and vitamins practically don't exist here. I had finally had enough so I went to the doctor on Thursday. Everyone in Spain can go to the doctor for free. But there is also "private" health insurance which basically helps you get an appointment faster. You see the same doctors and get the same medicine, you just wait a little less. The program I'm in provides us with private insurance, so I looked up my closest doctor and it turns out he works on my street about two doors down. I called to make an appointment only to find out that you don't make appointments. You just show up. And what hours is the good doc in? Oh, between 4pm and 6pm of course. Rough life.

I made my way over to the doctor with a laundry list of symptoms I had made sure I knew how to say in Spanish. Congested chest, achy joints, hot and cold spells, runny nose, all that good stuff. When the doctor saw me after a short wait, I sat down in a chair in his office (as in an office with a desk and books, no examining table or medical supplies) and he said "Dime" which is like, "tell me." With that lovely introduction I began to tell him, "Well, I'm very congested in my chest...." and before I can get out another word he's already got the stethoscope on me and telling me to breathe. Then he sits back down and asks what else. I explain, "Well my joints ache and I get really hot and really cold and...." and then I notice he's scribbling on a pad.... is he writing me a prescription???..... but I..... At this point the doctor stands up and says, "Ok. You take this one morning and night, and you take this one morning, night and afternoon. Got it?" Ummmm, ok. I guess. I'm thinking, but you didn't listen to the fifteen other symptoms I was ready to describe to you!!

I'd say the "visit" clocked in at under 60 seconds. He didn't tell me what he thought was wrong with me, nor what it was he prescribed to me. I found out later it was a fever reducer and antibiotics akin to amoxicillin. Care to ask if I'm allergic to penicillin??? Apparently not.

On the plus side, the visit was free, and the two prescriptions combined ran me about $5 (and that's for everyone. Pharmacies don't care about insurance). Whereas in the US you might wait out a bug because you don't want to deal with a $20 co-pay or an expensive prescription (or even worse, if you don't have insurance at all) here I wouldn't think twice about getting something checked out. On the down side, I wouldn't exactly say quality medicine is being practiced. What if I had had something much more serious but he didn't recognize it because he listened to me for five seconds? What if I had been allergic to penicillin, taken his prescription, and died. So let's hope Obama's universal healthcare plan offers better quality medicine than Spain.

Well then. This has gone on for quite a while! Home Alone II is on in Spanish and making me very excited for Christmas! I will be spending Christmas with my friend Linzy who is living in Paris. There are tons of Christmas lights all over Madrid that they are going to switch on any day now. Without Thanksgiving to break things up, Spaniards are prematurely pumped for Christmas way before Americans are! Hope everyone is well! Big hug from Spain.

P.S. special thanks to Leane who sent me an awesome care package!!! You rock!!

tapas and spandex

2008-10-27T00:05:00.001-07:00

We had a time change here in Madrid and since I forgot to change my clock, I was so lucky as to wake up one hour too early this morning. So I figure it's a good chance to update my blog.

First, a special shout-out to my family who recently sent me a care package. There were a few important things that I forgot (like my camera cord) and a few things I just missed (like gum). But the highlight of the little box was definitely peanut butter. The Spanish can have their paella, I'll keep my PB&J, thank you very much. I told my roommates I was going to attempt to ration the peanut butter.... it's not going so well. They actually do sell it here at one store, but it's around 5 euros a jar ($7). So I don't think PB&J will be a habit of mine for very long.

Life here is getting better and better. The first couple of weeks were a bit of an adjustment. Plus I was studying for the LSAT so I didn't get to do a whole lot outside of my apartment. But now I'm taking advantage of my weekends and free time and doing some fun things.

I have a friend from home who is studying in Granada and she came up to Madrid for the weekend. It was a good chance to walk around with her and explore the city. We took a nice walk from Alonso Martinez to Colon, down to Banco de Espana and the Prado. At night I took them to Retiro Park to check out the lake.

I have a few close friends here now which also makes life more fun. Blair took the LSAT with me and she's a very nice girl and her roommate, Eimear, is great as well. My Spanish friend, Jesus, has been nice enough to show us some of his favorite places in Madrid. One place I love that I went to with both my friend from home and Blair and Eimear is called El Tigre. It's in Chueca which is sort of like the Castro (in San Francisco) of Madrid. It's a super popular tapas place. If you eat in the front you have to stand with your little plates of tapas. But if you push to the back and wait there are tables and they serve raciones which are bigger portions of the same tapas. We got croquetas cebolas (like battered, fried balls of mashed potatoes and cheese), patatas bravas (fried chunks of potatoes in a spicy sauce), and chorizo. Delicious, delicious, delicious.

Another favorite place of mine is a bar of sorts that Blair and Eimear's Spanish roommate introduced us to called Samosa. It's an underground cave-like place that only sells one thing - jars of sangria. We had to wait in line for a good twenty five minutes to get seated but it was well worth the wait. All over the walls there were quotes from famous writers. Ana (the roommate) explained that Samosa was a favorite hangout of major Spanish artists and writers like Goya and Machado. Cool!

My other taste of Spanish culture has come from playing volleyball here. I started practicing as soon as the LSATs were over and it has been really fun. It's serious enough that it's competitive and everyone comes to practice and so forth. But it's relaxed enough that we don't run or lift weights or any of that. Practice is pretty much just the fun parts of volleyball: pepper, hitting lines, games. The girls are all very nice and only speak to me in Spanish which is great. It is still tricky trying to learn all the volleyball terminology in Spanish. I can't help but yell things in English still - it's instinct.

We had our first game on Saturday. In typical Spanish fashion I was the first one to arrive (just over an hour before the game was to start). The other girls slowly trickled in and the coach was the last to show. There had been some major problems with the uniform company. Some jerseys were missing, some were the wrong size, all I knew was there was a lot of rapid yelling and cursing (which always sounds so much scarier in Spanish!). On Saturday when I got there, the oldest girl and the captain said to me, I don't know what we're going to do. There's no jersey for you..... madre mia! When the coach showed up they immediately began a back and forth spanish rant which I had a hard time following. I guess he got a jersey for me but it was the wrong number so they would have to pay a fine. I go to put on my jersey and much to my delight it is made of SPANDEX. As in, the same material as the shorts. You could see what I ate for lunch. If I get a chance, I'll have one of my roommates take a picture of me in it because it is truly hysterical. I guess I will be laying off the Tigre croquetas and sangria. Anyhow, we played pretty well and won the match in three straight sets. It was fun! We have another match on Tuesday.

Well this one is short and sweet, and as I think of more things to share I will try to update more frequently to keep from posting ten page novels. I'm also adding some pictures!

Things I miss from the States:
Target
Payless Shoes
peanut butter
cooking spray
a bath tub
hot water lasting longer than 2 minutes
pizza (and not the thin italian kind, the American kind)
English books
To-go coffee

Things I don't miss:
ignorant people
obesity
television
everyone driving cars
soda
fast food places everywhere
gyms

Profe! Dani se tira un pedo!!!!

2008-10-15T15:58:00.000-07:00

I got a little behind with this and now I feel somewhat overwhelmed. A lot happens in ten days. I have lots to say about the great places I’ve been here and people I’ve met, but in this post let me tell you about the kids I teach (easily the best part of working here).

I teach Infantil (4 years old) just one class per week, but oh my goodness is it fun. I work with Josefina who is tough as a whip and also the Vice Principal of the school. I LOVE all the routines they do in the morning. Of course there is the standard, “What day is today?” “What’s the weather like today?” But there are also some fantastic songs which the kids sing like rock stars. “Good morning, good morning, good morning, how are YOU (and they point)? I’m fiiiine. I’m fiiiine. I’m fine. Thank. You. (and a thumbs up). What in life could possibly be better?

I teach Primeros (5 or 6 years old) about four times a week - two classes for Primero A and two for Primero B. Naturally I love them because they're so small and adorable. But I also find that they leave me completely exhausted. I sort of like the fact that they can’t speak much English because they speak to me almost completely in Spanish which is nice listening practice. It’s also amazing to me that the Primero A class can be so well-behaved while the Primero B’s appear to be on a sugar high 24/7. Visi is the head teacher of Primeros and she is very different from Marta (just wait, I’ll tell you about her). Visi’s sweeter, kinder, more like how you probably remember your kindergarten teacher. But she also doesn’t have quite the same control that Marta has.

Last week in Primero B the kids worked on a project taking drawings of various school supplies and making a mosaic of sorts using paper, scissors to make the paper into small scraps, and glue. And we’re not talking about the super-frustrating, worthless, plastic scissors we give our overly-protected children in the US. These are some serious blades, which naturally makes me a worried wreck. Then throw in gluesticks and millions of tiny scraps of colored paper and you’ve got yourself one crazy mess. In addition to this already stressful situation, add the fact that the kids are split into groups of five and told to “share” two scissors and two gluesticks. Share? Give me a break. Share=Warfare. I pretty much spent the hour walking from group to group and acting as mediator, negotiating peace treaties in the Scissors Battle of 2008. Of course, all of this tearful complaining to me, “profe”, is happening in Spanish. And all of my calm explanations that indeed, you will get the scissors after Sylvia but for now why don’t you glue, are happening in English. At times like these it is hard for me not to laugh at the sheer craziness of it all.

I teach Segundos (so about 7 years old) about 8 times each week. Marta is the head teacher who I help in Segundos and Quintos. At first, I was a little shocked by how tough Marta is with them. The kids have all kinds of pencil bags (estuches) and pencils (lápices) and sharpeners (sacapuntas) and empty yogurt cups to catch the shavings of their pencils and various other crap scattered across their desks. These things really serve no purpose except to give the kids something to mess with all day instead of pay attention, and to simultaneously drive Marta insane. I think my first day Marta turned to me and said quietly, "I'm sorry, but I have to tell them this in Spanish. It's important and I need them to understand." She then began to RANT in Spanish about how she wants ONE pencil bag on the desk and NO markers and a pencil sharpener that CATCHES the shavings. Pencil bags are for holding your pencils and NOT for hitting the person next to you on the head. And NO more yogurt cups. She then took one of the little empty yogurt cups off one of the desks and threw it on the ground and stepped on it. WOW, I thought. So this is why Spanish people grow up to be cold, hard, all business, no nonsense, scary people. No wonder the Spanish woman at the consulate made me cry. She obviously went to public schools in Madrid. But the more time I spend with the children the more I see that Marta's toughness might be necessary.... and working. By the time these kids are Quintos (10 years old) they are some extremely well-behaved and intelligent students. In fact, I've even started to notice my normally softy self being a disciplinarian. I'm not shy about snatching objects off desks or catching a kid in the act of goofing off and yelling, "Alejandro!!!" Maybe it's good I'm toughening up before I become an attorney!

The Segundos, while having the occasional behavioral problems (they are 7 for crying out loud) are by in large very sweet kids. They are still at that age where they're excited to learn new things and they like to sing songs and play games. Today we played Simon Says which was a riot. Of course I was Simon. They're learning parts of the body so it was perfect. "Simon says touch your elbow." Half of them touched their shoulders. "Simon says touch your ankles." Half of them touched their knees. Then Marta whispered, "Tell them to touch their tibias." And I whispered back, "I don't know where that is!" Haha so I guess it was a good learning experience for me, too.

I teach the Quintos (10 or 11 years old) about five times a week. I really like this class because they are the product and the reward of all the suffering with Infantil, Primero, and Segundo (not to mention Tercero and Cuarto which I don’t teach). They are, for the most part, very well behaved and their English is pretty strong. They speak enough that almost the whole class is in English. Their writing isn’t great, but most 10 year olds aren’t great writers in any language. It’s also interesting to see them becoming “pre-teens” and how different they are from the younger kids. One day we were talking about friends and what it meant to be a good friend. Marta said that part of being a good friend was keeping secrets. She then asked the class, “Is Pablo a good friend? Does he keep secrets?” Everyone nodded their heads. “What about Adriana? Is she a good friend?” Again, agreement. “And Guillermo? What about him?” A couple of hands shot up. “Well, Guillermo told me on the playground what Sergio said about Daniel liking Rosa so I don’t think that’s a good friend.” I thought this whole thing was a little weird and uncomfortable (although hilarious), but leave it to Spanish people to have a straight-to-the-point conversation full of finger pointing and leave with no hard feelings.

I would be lying if I said I didn’t have favorites. I TOTALLY have favorites. But I’m pretty good at keeping it under wraps. Or at least I think I am.

In Infantil it’s hard to pick a favorite because I see them so infrequently.

In Primeros, hands down Andreis is my favorite. Andreis appeared in my last blog entry here. He is the “Háblame en español!” boy. It’s funny that he’s my favorite, because Visi can’t stand him. Admittedly, he’s not very well behaved. And he speaks zero English and has zero desire to learn any. But I love him because he picks up on things the other kids don’t. Plus he’s a smart-alec while still being sweet. For example, during the scissor fiasco he called me over, took my hand, and said sadly in very quick Spanish, “No one will let me use the scissors and I haven’t gotten to cut and I really want to.” So I said to him in English, “Ok, well you’ll get the scissors next but look at all these scraps. Why don’t you glue them?” He grinned and said in Spanish, “You understand Spanish, so speak in Spanish.” I smiled and said, “No.” He responded, “See, you just did!” Hahaha. Wow, tricky.

In Segundos, I’m going to have to say I have two favorites. The first is Selma. She is light-skinned black, blondish curly hair, HUGE brown eyes and very long eyelashes. She’s Moroccan, so in addition to speaking perfect Spanish and pretty good English, they speak Arabic at home. Lucky! Now, I don’t just like Selma because she’s a future super model. I really like her because she is painfully shy but secretly she is very, very smart. The room has to be silent to hear her whispered answers, but she always gets them right. I try to encourage her to talk, because I think she has good things to say.

My second favorite in Segundos is Ruben. Ruben is sort of like Andreis in that he is very sweet, always grinning, but a trouble maker and for that reason Marta doesn’t really like him. But I happen to know why he’s a trouble maker. He’s too smart. Marta will give them activities to do in their workbooks and I’ll walk around and check out the progress and Ruben is finished within ten seconds flat. That leaves him with five minutes with nothing to do except poke the kid in front of him or talk to someone across the aisle. He understands almost everything in English so I guess he doesn’t feel the need to pay attention. I’m not really sure how to solve this problem, but I’m working on it.

The jury’s still out for a favorite from Quintos. I’ll let you know.

I promise, my next post will not involve glue, tears, or children and will instead be about the fabulous culture, people, and places I’ve seen here. Also, I’m playing volleyball and doing an intercambio which are both fun. But seriously, these kids are sort of a highlight of life here.

Last thing: I learned how to say “to fart” in Spanish. Essential for being in an elementary school. In case you were wondering, it’s “tirarse un pedo”. Don’t get that confused with “estar pedo” or “agarrar pedo” which according to my volleyball coach, mean to be drunk and to get drunk.

Un besito!

2008-10-05T10:36:00.000-07:00

Today officially concludes the longest week of my 21 years living. But that doesn't mean it wasn't long in a good way.

Monday and Tuesday were reserved for orientation for all the newbies in the teaching program. To be honest, the program it self hadn't been too impressive up to this point: Jumping through a lot of meaningless hoops, unnecessary paperwork, little to no information, things not happening when they were supposed to. All in all, very Spanish. So I was pleasantly surprised when I showed up to orientation and things looked semi-organized. Check in booths? A schedule of the days events? Those events actually taking place according to said schedule??? Very un-Spanish of them.

Orientation gave me a lot of good ideas about things I want to do with the students and it made me really excited to get started teaching. The free lunch didn't hurt either.

So Wednesday was the first day of school! The night before I had the usual butterflies. I made the hour and fifteen minute trek in a crowded metro and then a short walk took me to my school. The school is called Antonio Machado, who happens to be one of my favorite Spanish authors. Good start. It's located in a suburb north of the city called San Sebastián de los Reyes. It´s a pretty cute place with lots of trees and lots of mothers walking their kids to school.

I guess I should explain a little bit what it is that I´m actually doing. I´m not a true ¨teacher¨ in the sense that I´m not leading the class on my own. It´s a bilingual school in which the kids attend english, science, and art taught in English and all their other courses taught in Spanish. (This is a public school, by the way. Get with it crappy American education system.) So I am assigned to some of the courses taught in English for each of the grades. While there is another "teacher" there, I will lead English activities and pretty much impart as much of my English gift as possible. They call us "auxiliares".

My schedule kind of blows, big time. But there's really nothing that can be done about it so I'm trying to just get over it. Everyone who works at Antonio Machado is very nice. The teachers are mostly older and there are three other auxiliares who are all great. I teach four different grades: Primaria (3 and 4 years old), Primero (5 and 6), Segundo (6 and 7), and Quinto (10 or so). Let me just say how quickly I have fallen in love with these kids. And they clearly think I'm the coolest thing since sliced bread. Except, as my friend Sean pointed out, they don't eat sliced bread here. So it would be more accurate to say they think I'm the coolest thing since sliced ham. And THAT'S pretty dang cool around here. Of course their first reaction when I walked in was, "que alta!!!!" (so tall!).

One thing that is kind of a challenge is that I'm not allowed to speak Spanish to them, at all. In fact the program directors told us to lie and say we don't know how. The problem with that is that I clearly understand them. The youngest ones, primaria y primero, have class mostly in Spanish and they are just being introduced to English vocabulary and phrases. So they ask questions and things in Spanish, and I respond in English. It makes for a pretty fun conversation. The older ones, segundos but more so quintos, speak enough that class is held pretty much exclusively in English. Going into this I thought I would like the younger ones more just because I've worked with that age and they're adorable. But I'm actually finding that I like teaching the quintos. They speak enough English that they understand jokes or can make one themselves. They're also better behaved.

A couple highlights from the first days: In primeros and segundos they start everyday with a routine. The teacher asks, what day is today? Immediately like twenty hands shoot in the air and they're desperate to answer the question. Half the time, you call on one of them who looks like he will simply die if he doesn't get to answer it and he'll say, "mmmm.... I forget." I think that's hilarious. So anyway, Visi (one of the teachers I work with) asks what day it is (it was Thursday) and she calls on a student. He says, "Today is.... Tuesday." Noooo today's not Tuesday but that was a good sentence Daniel. Who knows? What day is today? Next kid tries, "Yesterday was Friday." I'm trying so hard not to laugh. Wrong on both counts. One more kid gives it a shot, "Tomorrow is Wednesday." Hahaha I've got some work to do.

The other highlight was in primeros where they are allowed to speak to me in Spanish. They were coloring their names onto a notecard and one of the students who's kind of a class clown called me over. (Side note: NO ONE can say my name here. It's impossible for them.) He asked me in Spanish if I was going to make a card with my name, too. I responded in English, "Yes, I am going to color one, also." He gets right up in my face (as much as a 6 year old can) and with a big grin he says, "Háblame en español!" I laughed and told him I couldn't speak Spanish and he smiled slyly and said it again, "Háblame en español!" Haha I gotta watch out for that one.

When school was over on Thursday I left for the metro and saw another teacher (younger than most) walking in at the same time. She said hello and sat with me on the metro. She teaches children at the school with speach impedements or learning disabilities. We ended up talking the whole way and I realized it was some killer Spanish practice that I need to have more often. So I'm going to try to get her to ride home with me everyday!

But the fun didn't stop Thursday! Friday was my day off so I paid my rent (ouch) and did some grocery shopping (double ouch). I also met my new friend Blair and her roommate Eimeir in Retiro park for a coffee. Blair and I met because we were both taking the LSAT here on Saturday. We met up a week ago to check out the test site ahead of time and listen to each other complain endlessly about how horrible the LSAT is. Retiro is one of my favorite places in the world. It reminds me of Golden Gate Park in SF but with less trash and fewer homeless people living there. So we enjoyed our cafe and tried not to think about what was to come tomorrow.

But it did come! The long awaited, dreaded LSAT. I wasn't too nervous going into it, but the first section was logic games which is my hardest portion of the test. It kind of shook me up a bit but I recovered nicely once I got to the reading section. All in all, it wasn't my best but it wasn't my worst. But really you don't know til you get your score.

Blair and I decided we needed a drink immediately after finishing the test, so we went down some small street and found a little bar. We walked in and were immediately swarmed (literally) by a bunch of yelling, drunk, college-aged boys. They bombarded us with questions (they could tell before we opened our mouths that we were Americans). Turns out they were participating in some sort of hazing or initiation or something for a Spanish fraternity of sorts. Blair is from Texas and I told them I was from California just because that's easiest. They were thrilled. What if I had said I was from North Dakota? "Caleeefornyaaaaa!!!" One guy asked me if I had seen the OC (bad TV show about Orange County) and if that was what it was really like. They were all very surprised to hear I don't surf. Another guy asked Blair if her dad was a cowboy.

Well that concludes my exceptionally long week/post. Next week I start practicing with a Spanish volleyball team here which should be fun. I hope everyone is well!

Besos

A few observations about the Spanish...

2008-09-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

So far everything has been going great! With work not starting til Monday, I've had some time to run errands, wander, and do fun things. I've only been here a week, but already I've made some observations about the amazing Spanish people.

The Spanish smoke. And I mean ALL the Spanish smoke. Everywhere. All the time. I thought there were a lot of smokers in San Francisco, but oh man was I wrong. I think if I had to make an honest guess of how many adults here smoke (not to mention it seems to be popular with teens, too) I would say 80%. Seriously. If we go out to get dinner, a drink, whatever, I come home and every article of clothing, every inch of my body, and especially my hair, reek of smoke. They smoke inside restaurants and drop their butts on the floor. They smoke while they're walking down the street. The bartender smokes as she's making your drink. As my Spanish friend Jesus warned me as he was having a cigarette, "Don't smoke. It is very bad."

The Spanish keep odd hours. Should you find yourself out and about at 8am or so, you might think you were in a ghost town despite the fact that 3 million people live in Madrid. I noticed this on my first trip here and now I realize why that is. When you eat dinner at ten and rarely go to bed earlier than 3am, you need to sleep in. And take a siesta. Siesta. This is so funny to me. I really can't understand how businesses here make any money! They open at ten, close by two, reopen at five, then close at 8. And they're all closed Sunday. I think the timing has been the hardest part of adjusting for me. I like to eat breakfast at 8am, lunch between noon and 1pm, and dinner at 5pm. I like to wake up somewhat early and go to sleep somewhat early also. That just isn't working here. So we'll see how much my habits change.

The Spanish don't believe in personal space. Introductions and goodbyes are your first warning. The double kiss! I love it. It's much more warm than a handshake. But walking the streets is another story. People make no effort whatsoever to share the sidewalk with you, and they have no problem bumping. They will stand so close to you that you think they might be trying to pickpocket you, even when they're not. When I first came to Spain, I was worried about the proper way to say excuse me, because there are several ways to do it. I asked this question on a Spanish-English translation online forum and a Spaniard wrote back, "I wouldn't worry too much about saying excuse me, because the Spanish don't."

The Spanish have some interesting style. It seems to me to be a world of opposites. My apartment is in the shopping district of Madrid, and I see lots of beautiful women walking down the street with amazing style, in amazing clothes. But I see an equal amount of people rocking raggedy clothes and mullets. Yes, mullets! And even dread lock mullets. And women in MC Hammer pants. I'm not sure where I fit into this mix, but I hope I lean to the former.

The Spanish love dogs. And anyone who knows me, knows that I don't. I have NO idea how they can have dogs if their pisos are anywhere close to the size of mine, but more power to them. I have to say though, that at least the Spanish only take their dogs to the park and the sidewalk, whereas Californians feel they have the right to bring them to restaurants and grocery stores. Yuck.

None of this is to say that I don't like the Spanish, or that their differences are flaws. I just think it's amazing to see how different our cultures are. And I'm curious to see how much I will change as a result, and how much I will resist. Me, eat dinner at ten? I don't think so!

One word makes all the difference

2008-09-21T07:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was determined to eat a meal other than Special K. My roommates and I headed out to run errands and find a market. First we went to Vodafone to get SIM cards. I should say that my Spanish is pretty good, but my vocabulary is very small and I don't have the best memory. So I have been getting around well enough. So in Vodafone I explained that we wanted SIM cards and the woman showed us a couple different options and we chose one. When she was ringing us up she said in Spanish, "You can choose a different plan so that you can call people more "barato". I think I looked at her with a blank stare because she grabbed another sales girl to tell me in English. "You can choose a different plan so that you can call people more cheaply." OOOOooooh. Cheap. That's probably a good word to know.

My next task was to find a coin purse. I had way too many euros jangling around in my purse. At this point I would like to thank all my Spanish professors over the years who forced us to describe the word we wanted to use when we didn't know the actual word. It's awkward but it gets the job done. Obviously I didn't know the word for coin purse so at the little trinket shop we went in I asked for a bag that holds coins. She said, "Claro, un monedero." I made the poor sales girl repeat the word about four times so I could say it and remember it. Not really sure if I'll ever need that word again but you never know.

Next we found a market to fill our painfully bare fridge. Grocery shopping here was a really funny experience. The most noticable difference is that apparently the only thing Spaniards really like is red wine and ham. I'm ok with the wine part, but the ham is another story. Chopped ham, sliced ham, roast ham, leg of ham, you can even buy the whole pig. Even when I made it over to frozen vegetables it was peas (with ham), spinach (with ham), mixed veggies (with ham). Not exactly my favorite of the meat family. Luckily I found a package of sliced turkey (the one and only package in the store) and a bag of peas sin jamón. The market also offered just about anything you can imagine in canned form but very little in the way of fruits and veggies. So this could take a little getting used to. When I finally made it to the checkout line there were two older women in front of me with a whole lot of stuff. The checker scanned a huge box of what else, Special K, and it rang up as 3.90. The Spanish women immediately began ranting in Spanish about how the Special K was 3 euros and not 3.90. The checker had to leave the stand and go look for the price only to come back and assure them it was 3.90. They protested further so the checker had to go find her manager in the store (I guess they don't have PA systems here) and finally returned with the guy who was able to convince the señoras that the cereal was indeed 3.90. With that the women shrugged and said, ok, we'll still take it.

After we got home I realized that we didn't have a corkscrew and I figured over the course of 9 months or so we would definitely need one. So I went out on my own to Corte Ingles, which is sort of like Target except 6 floors and way more expensive. I did my homework ahead of time and knew that the word was "sacacorchos". A nice sales lady brought me over to the sacacorchos department and went above and beyond by showing me all the different types of sacacorchos and taking them out of their box and demonstrating how they work and why this one was far better than this other one. As she's showing me them I sneak a peak at the price tags and wonder if these sacacorchos are made of gold. She is explaining how simply fabulous one particular sacacorchos is when I ask, "Yes. But do you have one more barato?"

Bienvenido a Madrid

2008-09-19T11:24:00.000-07:00

After about 24 hours of traveling I made it to Madrid. I was able to find my roommates at the airport despite the fact we had never met before and none of us had phones. We jammed all of our bags into a taxi and headed for our new apartment and new life.

We live in the Salamanca barrio, which it seems is a pretty nice place. There are lots of cute boutiques and tapas bars and restaurants. We also live just a few blocks from Retiro Park and I brought my running shoes so maybe I'll put them to use. The "piso" or apartment is darling. VERY small but equally as charming. Everything is already furnished which takes out a lot of the work for us. As much as I hate unpacking, I'm excited to get settled.

I'm a little ashamed to say my first meal in Spain was Special K. We haven't pinned down a market in our area yet so I settled for what the corner store had to offer.

I don't really have plans for the next week (other than studying for the dreaded LSAT which I will be taking here in Madrid on October 4th) so I'm hoping to do a lot of exploring on foot. I miss you all! Pictures to come!