Una huelga en España

The past two weeks have flown by and Christmas is just around the corner.  What happened to 2010 and the last 3 months in Spain?!  When I look back, it was only 7 months ago that I graduated from Illinois Wesleyan with my future not known.  Now I am TEACHING in another COUNTRY and I took this adventure on ALONE.  Who would have thought?  Not me.

Moving along … My boyfriend, Chris came to Spain to visit me for the past two weeks.  He arrived on a Tuesday.  I arrived at the Almería airport to find out it was an extremely small airport in which I did not have to arrive an hour ahead of time to pick him up.  There are windows in the luggage pick up area looking onto the waiting area.  I was surprising him at the airport, as I normally work on Tuesdays and said I couldn’t get off.  I saw him walk by the windows and quickly duck behind people as not to be seen.  He finally arrived and I was the only one standing there waiting (directly in front of him) and he was oblivious to me standing there.  He was so nervous about figuring his way to my town on his own with taxis, buses and all in a language forgotten years ago.  I had to call his name twice before he realized.  I think the surprise worked.  He was very thankful to have guidance back to my pueblo.  

We arrived at my piso (apartment), he freshened up a bit and then we proceeded to make lunch, his first experience of Spain and being outside the country.  We made croquetas de pollo and other items but he fell in love immediately.  These little sticks of flower, water and meat (or so I believe) with breading on the outside placed in hot olive oil.  Needless to say we proceeded to eat these the entire two weeks as he couldn’t get enough.  

The next few days I showed him around my pueblo (which took all of 30 minutes) and we climbed to the Jesus Statue that overlooks everything.  He quickly learned that the kids play in the trash yards and the dump.  Sad but true.  We went for coffee and later got his first round of tapas.  Not too bad.  Of course I had to work during the week too so I put Chris to work with scissors and a glue stick.  I think it brought him back to elementary school.  

On Thursday we headed to the normal outing for “San Teacher” to a tapas bar.  This is where they have great tapas.  I soon introduced him to my favorites:  huevos (bread, tomato and quail eggs), emperador (tuna), almejas (clams), pinchas (chicken skewer), lomo (pork), salchichas (sausage), and chorizo (a pepperoni type sausage).   He did not like the huevos or almejas, and I was extremely disappointed as these are my favorite.  We then proceeded to another bar to play darts and pool.  Since we had to travel the next day we headed home rather early.  

Friday … day 1 of traveling.  We headed to Almería for a night so that we could catch an early train to Madrid and our flight to Milan, Italy.  In Almería we walked around a lot and found lots of shopping areas but could not find food to save our lives and thus I indulged in my first American cuisine, McDonalds.  Classy, I know.  

Saturday morning we got up at 5:30 and headed to the train station for breakfast and the train.  The train was actually a very smooth ride although I slept the whole time.  We arrived in Madrid and had received a text on Chris’ phone from the airline stating that we needed to double check our flight because there was a possibility of it being canceled.  Hence, we decided to go directly to the airport in Madrid to figure out our flight and then we would wander around the city with the remaining lay over time.  We then received a text stating our flight was canceled.  When we arrived at the airport, we checked the board and it was still on time and did not say canceled, hence we proceeded to the counter.  When we arrived closer we saw a mass of people and multiple TV crews and I thought … this is not good.  However these people were in line for another airline and our airline booth had no line.  Good sign, right?  We went to the counter and asked if our flight was still on … All flights into and out of SPAIN had been canceled due to an air traffic control strike all around the country.  Flights would not be able to fly until the following day.    

“Has this ever happened to you” “No, I have no idea what to do”

We asked when the next flight to Italy would be and it was no until Monday and we had tickets to come back early Tuesday morning.  We decided to try and refund our tickets and figure out our plan of action.  We sat in the airport for an hour canceling our flight, hotel and thinking about what to do next.  We decided to stay in Madrid that night as it was already late afternoon and then we would find internet and continue on our way tomorrow to another destination.   At the hotel we met another guy who had been there since Wednesday because first the weather was bad in England so he could not fly home, and then the strike.   That evening we decided to go out for Italian food seeing as we were supposed to go to Italy and eat the wonderful pasta.  It did not even compare to what could have been possible without the strike!  Grrrr… On Sunday we could not figure out where to go and thus ended up staying in Madrid until Tuesday.  

Having studied in Madrid, I tried to remember as much I could but was unsuccessful.  I tried to take him the Palacio Real but it ended up being closed.  For some reason there were a million people in Madrid all over the streets.  They were packed, the lottery lines were crazy long and there were vendors out.  We then went to Plaza Mayor and saw a lot of Christmas markets set up.  We also walked around Parque de Retiro and Sol.  It rained the entire time we were in Madrid but it was fun none-the-less.  We went to Corte Ingles a lot and got souvenirs and Christmas gifts.  

Tuesday we returned to Vera and not only was it sunny but it was also 77 degrees!!!!  We soaked up the sun while walking around town.  The next week we proceeded to go to Mojacar and the Mediterranean Sea.  We enjoyed walking on the beach in T-Shirts and stepping into the Sea in December!  

Sadly two weeks came to an end and we headed back to Almería for the millionth time and I watched him go through security and head back to the United States.  Que triste!  

That day I did officially get my residency card and am not officially a residence of Spain!!!

My mother and sister arrive in one week and I am soooo excited!  We are going to spend Christmas here in my pueblo, then head to Barcelona and Lisbon.  After the new year, they head back to the States and I will continue on to Munich, Interlaken (Switzerland), and Amsterdam.  I will update about all my adventures upon my return!  Stay warm in the States and travel safely for the holidays!  I hope everyone has a great holiday and a happy new year!  

Besos,

Julie

Here are some photo websites from the past:  

Fair

http://picasaweb.google.com/107793401353066409976/20101120?authkey=Gv1sRgCPjK0N-D4N2vWQ#

Thanksgiving 2010

http://picasaweb.google.com/107793401353066409976/Thanksgiving2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCOy9p6qN34_h-QE#

Learning to Grow

It’s times like these when things get rough and you learn to look deep inside yourself and realize you’re finally growing up.  It is my first holiday and Thanksgiving away from my family and the United States.  You would think it’s not that big of a deal but here I am buying fresh vegetables at the market to make mashed potatoes for 15+ people, root vegetables, apples for apple pie, a pumpkin to make pumpkin pie from scratch and ordering a 22 lb turkey all in Spanish.  Definitely not how I thought my first Thanksgiving away from home would start out.  Let’s hope what starts well, ends well.  (I think I got that saying wrong).   I am definitely looking forward to cooking on my own for this feast, trying to impress our Spanish friends (whom are coming to the feat on Thursday, November 25^th) about the American tradition and culture on this wonderful holiday.  Yes, we have invited our Spanish friends and even some teachers.  Yikes!  Definitely makes me homesick but I have a visitor coming in a week and then for Christmas I get to be blessed with the presence of my mother and sister.

 After a long day at the market, here are Martha and Emily with only

 some of our supplies for Thanksgiving.  

Aside from the holiday spirit of Thanksgiving, I have completely been hit by the Spanish education system.  I gave my first test ... I handed the test out and the first thing the teacher does it tell a student he can color the pictures.  I asked why he got to color the pictures and not do the test.  “Oh, because he doesn’t know how to write … in Spanish or in English” … Let me remind you that this is my FOURTH GRADE CLASS.  How do you get all the way to grade FOUR, let alone one, two or three without knowing how to WRITE?!?!?!  That would never pass in the United States.  I was appalled!   Then the students started asking questions about certain words (that were the answers) and the teacher was giving them!  I eventually stepped in a told her not to answer their questions and to let me handle it.  If they had questions about what something meant I would help them (like my Spanish teachers did for me) but I refused to give them the answers!  

 When I got the tests back to grade … needless to say my jaw dropped about a foot.  Within 15 minute of briefly looking through the tests I marched right back to the teacher and asked her how I was supposed to grade this … She simply said, “They are FATAL” (HORRIBLE).  There were tests that had nothing written, ones that had the question copied for the answer, ones that were in Spanish, and ones that just colored the pictures.   She then said that there were students that simply didn’t care and some parents didn’t encourage education.   I asked her how to grade it and she said however I want.  I thus decided that as a class the students were going to grade their own tests as to help them learn and realize that studying is necessary.  We corrected them in class and of course the students knew all the answers!  I did not understand then why they did so poorly but I told them I hoped that next test would be better.  I was amazed how much they don’t care or try for their education.   It’s also sad to realize how much some of the teachers here do not care.  They simply tell you not to bother with students that are slower at learning cause they won’t catch on.  I try to take time to help these students rather than let them drift further and further behind.  I think it is important for everyone to be given a chance.  

Moving away from education, this weekend there is a Medieval Festival in my town and part of it is actually right outside my bedroom window.  There are many vendors with all types of goods such as swords, jewelry, paintings, different types of herbs and teas, birds of pray, food stands with different things and a old school carousel.  I walked around it a lot today and yesterday.  Last night I actually ate a pita with falafel and it was delicious.  There are also people playing music, donkey rides (I feel bad), and everyone is dressed up in costumes (the vendors that is).  Pretty neat for a small town!  

 Setting up their tents and all the flags

 Carousel

 Swords

 

Burros

Well … That’s it for now but I will update soon after my first Thanksgiving feast!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Besos,

Julie

The wonders of the big city and the little pueblo towns!

¡BOO! … I never realized how much fun teaching the students about Halloween could be!  The week before Halloween all the teachers got in to the Halloween spirit and that’s all the kids learned about (more or less) for that week!  I had originally thought that Spain didn’t celebrate Halloween but apparently they do; although it is quite different.  I printed a text about Halloween for the students and made a poster.  Later in the week we played Halloween Bingo.  Before they all got treats they had to say “trick or treat” and then I explained why they had to do this, because that’s what we say in the States when we go door to door.  They also had their own form of Halloween.  The 6^th and 3^rd grade classes went outside and made a “potion” and had a feast.  Basically they added sugar, apples, oranges, and coffee (don’t ask) to pineapple juice and while they did this one of the teachers was reading a story.  It was fun!  We were outside for this and I saw all the 3-5 year olds dressed up in costumes running around the “patio”.  It was so cute!  Here in Spain people do not dress up like we do, they only dress up in scary costumes like witches, vampires, ghosts etc … No princesses, ballerinas, cowboys or things like that.  It was definitely a fun week! 

That weekend I returned to my first Spanish hometown, Madrid.  Though I did not do any sightseeing or tourist activities, I had fun none-the-less.  I ventured to Madrid on an 8 hour bus ride that left Vera at 7 am.  We traveled throughout Spain going from Vera to Murcia to Alicante and finally settling in Madrid.  Some of the bus stops along the way seemed a tad bit “shady” but I managed to survive. 

Once I arrived in Madrid, I felt at home as I headed to my hostel on the Metro; which I now tend to love due to the lack of a [big] Metro in Sevilla and other cities that I have visited.  I never realized how handy it was until I returned to Spain for the second time.  This time I have been on my own without the planned coach buses shuttling us from place to place as I had while studying abroad.   Moving on from my tangent … I arrived at our hostel (Way Hostel) and it was very nice compared to some that I have stayed in.  I was in a Mixed Dorm with 8 beds.  Sadly I was not placed in the same room as my friend, but it worked out anyways as I made friends with people in my room and everyone was very friendly.

It was raining when I arrived and thus we decided to head to Gran Vía to do some shopping and make a pit stop on the way at our favorite restaurant [Cien Montaditos], for a mid day snack; which was of course delicious!  After that we ventured onto the enormous street of Gran Vía on a mission for some warmer cloths.  Warmer cloths you might say?!  True, I have experienced a fall day here in Spain, gloomy and windy but I still happen to be wearing a t-shirt or a light sweater, definitely not the same as in the States.  However, the nights here tend to get VERY chilly!  I often find myself wearing sweats, socks, sweatshirts and my hood to bed even with a quilt and blanket.  Granted we do not have any type of heating.  But when I do head to school at 9am I could use a sweater a bit heavier or when I venture out onto the buses at 7 am.  I will also be traveling to Italy and Portugal over winter vacation and the weather could be a bit chilly. 

After stopping in at a few stores and purchasing some new cloths, we found some outrageous hats that would add to our lack of a Halloween costume. 

We both had been caught up in teaching Halloween at our schools that we forgot Halloween costumes for ourselves.  Some Americans we are for not representing the holiday wildly celebrated in the US.  We went out to dinner that night on a small side street for pizza.  It was delicious and we also had patatas bravas (fried potatoes with brava sauce).  After that we headed to an Irish Pub, O’Connell’s, one of the two I normally hung out at while I was in Madrid.  The bar was all decorated with spider webs, pumpkins and other festive decorations.  This was Saturday night (the night of Day Light Savings in Spain).  We hung out for a bit and mingled with a group of Spaniards who had 8 people in the same costume.  I’m not sure if it’s someone from Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer.  They were in black and had that weird scary mask on.  It was pretty funny.  We also ran into someone being Beetlejuice, although he didn’t know the name of his character. 

The next day it was still raining.  We managed to walk around Sol, stop in at Cien Montaditos for lunch and venture to a few shoes stores.  Nothing too out of the ordinary.  Came back after lunch and shoe shopping for a shower and to relax.  After that we decided to have a relaxing night by making pasta at the hostel over a bottle of wine, even though it was officially Halloween.  We did end up walking around Sol and looking at all the people dressed up in costumes and taking pictures.  It was fun!  After that I decided I wanted to get to bed for we had to be up early to catch the bus.  I then met some Brazilians in my room who were studying in London.  They were getting ready to go out for the night and had never celebrated Halloween before.  They were really funny and kept asking me if their face painting was scary enough.  It was fun.  The next morning I departed for Vera on another 8 hour bus ride.  Good trip over all!

The next week flew by as usual and I honestly can say I love my job!  The kids try to lock me in the classroom and put up a ninja front because they don’t want me to leave!  I forgot how much I adore kids!  The teachers are also so nice we I went out with them again on a Thursday night for tapas and beers!  I was brave a ate pigs ear that one of my teachers had ordered as a tapa.  I definitely could feel the cartilage but it didn’t taste bad otherwise (not that I would ever order that on my own).  

Saturday morning as I might have mentioned before, Vera has a very large street market.  This time I decided to buy more veggies.  I first bought yellow peppers, potatoes and zucchini and it was so cheap!  I was so shocked that I had a field day and bought more such as ½ kilo of green beans, green onions, parsley and one or two other vegetables and this all cost me under 5€!  It was simply amazing!  I am from now on getting my fruit and vegetables from the market as they are fresh and cheap!  Saturday night me and another girl at my school went out with the teachers again to Garrucha and Mojácar.  We stopped in Garrucha for tapas and beers.  We then proceeded to another bar where they have free salsa classes on Thursday nights.  After this around 2:30 am we FINALLY headed to Mojácar to the dance club Mandala.  It’s crazy how late they stay out!  One of the teachers said that if we had gone earlier there would have been no one there.  Around 5 am after dancing and warding off some Spanish men who my teacher said are “octopus’s” she noticed us getting tired and took us home.  Although she said that her and her husband normally stay out until 8 am!  I was EXHAUSTED by 5am!  That will only happen once in a great while! 

Since then I have caught up on some school projects, cleaned the house and now updated my blog.  My roommate and I have also had a few dinners over at our house.  We have made some delicious dishes and love any company that would like to visit :) 

 Meluza with onions, garlic, steamed spinach and peas -- before baking in the oven

Patatas Pobres -- Potatoes, Onions, Peppers all fried up in olive oil

I have some visitors coming in the next month, along with celebrating Thanksgiving in Spain.  I will definitely be back to update!  I hear it’s been slightly warmer in the States!

Un besito,

Julie