8.17.2011
12.17.2010
Portugal, Part 1
I started this a long time ago... and just got around to finishing it.
This weekend I got stuck in what can only be classified as a Portuguese hurricane. The wind of the storms we were walking around in was so strong, it snapped three of our umbrellas in half, and ripped three of them to shreds. But I´m getting ahead of myself.
We left for Porto, a town in Northern Portugal, on Thursday evening. When we arrived, it was already raining (more of the rule than the exception on this trip). I´m fine with traveling in good weather; last summer we only had a few days of rain in Prague, Paris, and Ireland. When there are torrential downpours, however, it´s a different story.
Our hostel was amazing. Brand-new and decked out in IKEA furniture (the good kind), it beat any other hostel I´ve ever stayed in. The front desk staff recommended a local dish called a Francesinha, which is a sandwich of beef, sausage and ham, covered in melted cheese, then doused in a tomato and beer sauce, then served with fries. Heart attack on a plate. But it was amazing... I ended up having three of them before the weekend was over. Having worked all day, we went to sleep with the intention of sightseeing the next day.
Let me say one thing: sightseeing is great when you (1) know where you´re going and what you want to see and (2) there are things to DO, and not just to see. Porto doesn´t offer much in that particular category. What it offers: hills that punish your calves, and multiple churches. To break up the monotony of church-seeing, there´s always Porto´s chief export: port wine.
The port wineries of Porto are situated along the Douro River, and there are a lot of them... and they all offer free (or pretty cheap) tours and wine tastings. Done and done. We only went on one tour (of the Sandeman´s winery), but if I ever return, I´ll be going to many more. We saw the casks that they use to age the wine (that can hold some ridiculous amount like 500,000 liters at once), and tasted a white port wine and a red. Port wine is sweeter and stronger than regular wine; it can accompany dessert pretty well.
That evening, we indulged in another francesinha, at a restaurant that declared it the "best in Porto." It was awesome. It was spicier than the first one, and seemed a little more authentic. Later, we went on our hostel's pub crawl, which was basically a string of drinking competitions at different bars. It was COLD. I ended the night with... another francesinha.
Check out the pictures from Portugal, and I'll try to finish the entry eventually: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2969313&id=12424897&l=e5ad658be4
This weekend I got stuck in what can only be classified as a Portuguese hurricane. The wind of the storms we were walking around in was so strong, it snapped three of our umbrellas in half, and ripped three of them to shreds. But I´m getting ahead of myself.
We left for Porto, a town in Northern Portugal, on Thursday evening. When we arrived, it was already raining (more of the rule than the exception on this trip). I´m fine with traveling in good weather; last summer we only had a few days of rain in Prague, Paris, and Ireland. When there are torrential downpours, however, it´s a different story.
Our hostel was amazing. Brand-new and decked out in IKEA furniture (the good kind), it beat any other hostel I´ve ever stayed in. The front desk staff recommended a local dish called a Francesinha, which is a sandwich of beef, sausage and ham, covered in melted cheese, then doused in a tomato and beer sauce, then served with fries. Heart attack on a plate. But it was amazing... I ended up having three of them before the weekend was over. Having worked all day, we went to sleep with the intention of sightseeing the next day.
Let me say one thing: sightseeing is great when you (1) know where you´re going and what you want to see and (2) there are things to DO, and not just to see. Porto doesn´t offer much in that particular category. What it offers: hills that punish your calves, and multiple churches. To break up the monotony of church-seeing, there´s always Porto´s chief export: port wine.
The port wineries of Porto are situated along the Douro River, and there are a lot of them... and they all offer free (or pretty cheap) tours and wine tastings. Done and done. We only went on one tour (of the Sandeman´s winery), but if I ever return, I´ll be going to many more. We saw the casks that they use to age the wine (that can hold some ridiculous amount like 500,000 liters at once), and tasted a white port wine and a red. Port wine is sweeter and stronger than regular wine; it can accompany dessert pretty well.
That evening, we indulged in another francesinha, at a restaurant that declared it the "best in Porto." It was awesome. It was spicier than the first one, and seemed a little more authentic. Later, we went on our hostel's pub crawl, which was basically a string of drinking competitions at different bars. It was COLD. I ended the night with... another francesinha.
Check out the pictures from Portugal, and I'll try to finish the entry eventually: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2969313&id=12424897&l=e5ad658be4
10.25.2010
Wash Your Mouth, or Tricky English (Part I)
Actual conversation:
Me: "What do you eat for lunch?"
Student: "I usually eat soap."
Me: "Soap? You eat soap for lunch? Or do you eat soup for lunch?"
The half of the class that is paying attention erupts in laughter.
Student: "Oh no! No! Soup! I eat soup for lunch!"
This is a common mistake when going from Spanish to English, or vice-versa.
soup = sopa; soap = jabón
The problem when learning English arises in the food chapter, while the problem when learning Spanish arises in the "you should" lesson (accompanied by health/hygiene suggestions).
I remember this conversation from my Spanish class in high school:
Yo: "Se debe lavar tus manos con la sopa."
Profesora: "¿Sopa? ¿Lavas tus manos con la sopa? ¿O lavas tus manos con el jabón?"
Todo la clase rompe a risa.
Yo: "¡El jabón! ¡Se debe lavar tus manos con el jabón!"
Joder. False cognates are a bitch.
Me: "What do you eat for lunch?"
Student: "I usually eat soap."
Me: "Soap? You eat soap for lunch? Or do you eat soup for lunch?"
The half of the class that is paying attention erupts in laughter.
Student: "Oh no! No! Soup! I eat soup for lunch!"
This is a common mistake when going from Spanish to English, or vice-versa.
soup = sopa; soap = jabón
The problem when learning English arises in the food chapter, while the problem when learning Spanish arises in the "you should" lesson (accompanied by health/hygiene suggestions).
I remember this conversation from my Spanish class in high school:
Yo: "Se debe lavar tus manos con la sopa."
Profesora: "¿Sopa? ¿Lavas tus manos con la sopa? ¿O lavas tus manos con el jabón?"
Todo la clase rompe a risa.
Yo: "¡El jabón! ¡Se debe lavar tus manos con el jabón!"
Joder. False cognates are a bitch.
10.19.2010
To be honest...
To be honest, the excited under-their-breath "yessssssss"es when I walk into a room and the students realize that I'm helping out with their class are good enough for me.
Yeah, I like being the cool teacher.
Yeah, I like being the cool teacher.
10.15.2010
Island in the Sun/Shortest Work Week Ever
After the excitement of my first week of school, my roommates and I took a trip to Mallorca, an island in the Mediterranean, for the five-day(!) Dia de España weekend. Three of us left on a foggy, cold Friday morning, took the metro to the airport, and made it to our plane with about 5 minutes to spare. An hour later, we landed in the muggy, hot and humid city of Palma.
Palma is a mix of the old and the new, so on the bus ride to the city center, we would see things like malls right next to centuries-old fortresses. This trip wasn't too much about sight-seeing though--it was about getting out of our land-locked city and enjoying the beaches. We figured out the bus system (very unreliable, as the madrileños told us), but we got to our hotel without any major issues.
Prost!
In September, I had googled "Spain Oktoberfest," because I knew I wouldn't make it to Munich this year. This was the catalyst for this entire adventure. We had planned to get to the hotel, put on swimsuits, and head to the beach... but as it turned out, our hotel had a balcony overlooking the sea, and we had a bottle of wine. So... instead of heading to the beach, we sat out on the balcony and waited around for our Oktoberfest reservation.
A few hours later, we arrived at the Oktoberfest... and we were pretty much the only ones there, besides the waitresses in dirdls and few guys in leiderhosen. The festival tent was right up against the beach, so we took a beachside table and ordered three gigantic beers and currywurst mit pommes (curry-flavored sausage and fries). Our goal was to sample a lot of different German foods... and we succeeded, but only after we ordered the Bavarian Sampler Platter... a 25 Euro, 2-foot long wooden slab of every kind of meat imaginable. Our favorite was liberkäse, a loaf of ground pork with onions and garlic mixed in. It tasted like meaty bread. 3 L of beer (each) later, we stumbled back to the hotel and went to bed.
Exploring the Complete Unknown
For my Eurotrip last summer, Ashley and I planned out everything we wanted to do. How to get places on the metro, how to take buses places, how to walk from point A to point B. That didn't happen this time. With the first week of school bearing down on me, I did hardly any research on where we were going. With that said, we did a pretty good job of experiencing two cities (Palma and Alcudia). Because our hostel reservations were in Alcudia for the night, we met up with my other roommate, Will (who flew in on Saturday because he has only Mondays off), and navigated the bus system (again!) to the northern coast of the island. The bus ride only took an hour, and afforded great views of the island's mountain range.
When we arrived in Alcudia, the place seemed a little deserted... we didn't realize that it was the beginning of the low season. The low season, however, is accompanied by liquidation sales at all of the local shops (we were met with a giant LIQUOR LIQUIDATION SALE sign as we exited the bus). After picking up some weekend beach essentials, we made our way to the hostel. After checking in, we enjoyed yet ANOTHER balcony (albeit one with much less of a view), and then went in search of food. We ate at an Italian restaurant right on the water, and then returned to the hotel for some drinks to take to the beach. We then sat on the beach listening to music and hanging out all night, before retiring to the hostel.
The Morning After
The next morning, we woke up for the "free hostel breakfast" which is always the same three kinds of cereal, bread and fruit (if you're lucky). Unfortunately, it was cloudy and rainy that morning, so we went in search of more exciting breakfast options, which ended up being nachos and Guinness at a local Irish pub. The pub was having a pub quiz, so we vowed to go back that night. On our way to the pub, I heard "American," so I immediately blurted out, "WHERE ARE YOU FROM!?!" The students we met were 1. Staying at the same hostel as us 2. Living in Alcalá de Henares, a town a half-hour outside of Madrid and 3. Were really cool. We invited them to hang out with us later, once the sun decided to show. And how do you find Californians in a large hostel without knocking on every door? Sing the theme song to The O.C. as you're entering the hostel. They opened their door, and we invited them to party with us. It was getting sunny, the beach was becoming more inviting by the second, and we were ready to have a good time. The beach in Alcudia is lined with tiki-like umbrellas, really fine sand, and tons of German tourists. We had a great time laying out on the beach.
Questions and Answers
One of my favorite nights in Ecuador was the Pub Quiz at Finn McCool's, so when I found out that the Irish pub had a quiz, we had to do it. As it turns out, there was a Mexican restaurant next door... so we got some good food there as well... although most of us ended up getting burgers. The burgers were 8 Euro with a margarita included... awesome. The restaurant also offered to deliver the burgers to the pub when they were ready. The questions were mostly British-themed (British cities, etc.), but my team and I (the Slippery Hippos) still managed to answer 9 out of 12 correctly. We even won prizes for most creative team name---Guinness scarves that say "La pinta perfecta"--- The perfect pint. The rest of the night included shenanigans on the beach again.
Procrastinating at the Weirdest Restaurant Ever/Taking to the Sea
When we woke up on Monday morning, we definitely had a case of the Mondays. Again, it was raining, so all beach plans were put on the back burner. We had decided to go back to Palma, but the next bus wasn't leaving for an hour... so we went to a few places in search of breakfast items (we missed the hostel breakfast), and ended up at a restaurant called "Dakota Tex Mex." This restaurant was AMERICAN. Think Hard Rock Café, but instead of music, the theme is just AMERICA. They had a Michael Jordan statue, license plates everywhere, pictures of obscure movie stars... it was weird. But... they did have mozzarella sticks. Everything on the menu was named after a state or a city... the San Diego burger, or the Minnesota nachos. Most of the time, the state/city had nothing to do with the food being offered (New Hampshire guacamole?), but it was funny to see all of the places represented (Ohio Ribs, anyone?). During our brunch, the sun decided to show up again, which made us throw away all plans to go back to Palma and relax on the beach. After falling asleep in the sun for a while, Roommate Will woke us up and said that he found a place renting paddle boats for 15 E/hour. Sounds great! These weren't REGULAR paddleboats, though... they were giant boats with slides on them... powered by paddling. We hopped on board, and went out to sea. We were at sea for about an hour and a half before I noticed some rapidly approaching storm clouds... and then it started to rain. Hard. We paddled as fast as we could, and finally got back to shore. Enough was enough, we decided... we were going back to Palma for our last night and last hotel reservation.
The Palma Sampler Platter
When we got back to Palma, we decided to take a taxi to the last hotel. It was cold. It was rainy. We were tired... and we weren't waiting for another bus. We arrived at the hotel hungry and in need of showers. We took care of the shower part, and asked the concierge where the best seafood restaurant was. He told us it was 10 minutes "that way" (how Spanish people give directions), and we found it pretty easily... but the entrees were 45 Euro. No way, José (which might actually have been his name). We found a small restaurant with an offer for a tapas selection with a bottle of wine for 30 Euro. If I have learned anything from my travels (Barcelona, Mexico, Oktoberfest...), it's this: if a restaurant offers you a sampler platter, take it. They want to show off the selection, and you'll probably end up eating something you've never eaten before. The wine was delicious, and the tapas were even better. My favorite were the bacon-wrapped figs: who knew? We ended the night hanging out on the balcony wrapped in blankets and fighting sleep. After all, this was our last night of vacation.
Well, That Was a Bad Idea
Flights suck. Claustrophobia, kids crying, nowhere to sleep... yeah. All of the above. We shouldn't have stayed up so late before our flight, but we did. And now I'm stuck on a tiny airplane in a storm, thinking I'm going to die (not to mention I had drank a lot of tap water on the island, which messed up my digestive system). We made it back to Madrid (eventually), and high-tailed it to the apartment, where I slept ALL DAY. Keep in mind that we got back to Madrid at 10 AM, and I slept until about 6. The roommates and I decided to make macaroni and cheese, which I made WITHOUT A RECIPE. YES!
Going to "Work"
This week, I taught 4 classes and went to 2 meetings. That's it. At my job, I actually get paid to socialize with the teachers in English... it counts as about 1.5 hours of my 16 hour work week. Not bad. The kids are actually turning out to be really fun (although they definitely need some discipline), and I'm really connecting with the teachers. I'm really having a great time there. We'll see how I feel in a month.
And that's about it. I have to go to the bank now to open a Spanish bank account... so I can finally get paid! Adios!
Palma is a mix of the old and the new, so on the bus ride to the city center, we would see things like malls right next to centuries-old fortresses. This trip wasn't too much about sight-seeing though--it was about getting out of our land-locked city and enjoying the beaches. We figured out the bus system (very unreliable, as the madrileños told us), but we got to our hotel without any major issues.
Prost!
In September, I had googled "Spain Oktoberfest," because I knew I wouldn't make it to Munich this year. This was the catalyst for this entire adventure. We had planned to get to the hotel, put on swimsuits, and head to the beach... but as it turned out, our hotel had a balcony overlooking the sea, and we had a bottle of wine. So... instead of heading to the beach, we sat out on the balcony and waited around for our Oktoberfest reservation.
A few hours later, we arrived at the Oktoberfest... and we were pretty much the only ones there, besides the waitresses in dirdls and few guys in leiderhosen. The festival tent was right up against the beach, so we took a beachside table and ordered three gigantic beers and currywurst mit pommes (curry-flavored sausage and fries). Our goal was to sample a lot of different German foods... and we succeeded, but only after we ordered the Bavarian Sampler Platter... a 25 Euro, 2-foot long wooden slab of every kind of meat imaginable. Our favorite was liberkäse, a loaf of ground pork with onions and garlic mixed in. It tasted like meaty bread. 3 L of beer (each) later, we stumbled back to the hotel and went to bed.
Exploring the Complete Unknown
For my Eurotrip last summer, Ashley and I planned out everything we wanted to do. How to get places on the metro, how to take buses places, how to walk from point A to point B. That didn't happen this time. With the first week of school bearing down on me, I did hardly any research on where we were going. With that said, we did a pretty good job of experiencing two cities (Palma and Alcudia). Because our hostel reservations were in Alcudia for the night, we met up with my other roommate, Will (who flew in on Saturday because he has only Mondays off), and navigated the bus system (again!) to the northern coast of the island. The bus ride only took an hour, and afforded great views of the island's mountain range.
When we arrived in Alcudia, the place seemed a little deserted... we didn't realize that it was the beginning of the low season. The low season, however, is accompanied by liquidation sales at all of the local shops (we were met with a giant LIQUOR LIQUIDATION SALE sign as we exited the bus). After picking up some weekend beach essentials, we made our way to the hostel. After checking in, we enjoyed yet ANOTHER balcony (albeit one with much less of a view), and then went in search of food. We ate at an Italian restaurant right on the water, and then returned to the hotel for some drinks to take to the beach. We then sat on the beach listening to music and hanging out all night, before retiring to the hostel.
The Morning After
The next morning, we woke up for the "free hostel breakfast" which is always the same three kinds of cereal, bread and fruit (if you're lucky). Unfortunately, it was cloudy and rainy that morning, so we went in search of more exciting breakfast options, which ended up being nachos and Guinness at a local Irish pub. The pub was having a pub quiz, so we vowed to go back that night. On our way to the pub, I heard "American," so I immediately blurted out, "WHERE ARE YOU FROM!?!" The students we met were 1. Staying at the same hostel as us 2. Living in Alcalá de Henares, a town a half-hour outside of Madrid and 3. Were really cool. We invited them to hang out with us later, once the sun decided to show. And how do you find Californians in a large hostel without knocking on every door? Sing the theme song to The O.C. as you're entering the hostel. They opened their door, and we invited them to party with us. It was getting sunny, the beach was becoming more inviting by the second, and we were ready to have a good time. The beach in Alcudia is lined with tiki-like umbrellas, really fine sand, and tons of German tourists. We had a great time laying out on the beach.
Questions and Answers
One of my favorite nights in Ecuador was the Pub Quiz at Finn McCool's, so when I found out that the Irish pub had a quiz, we had to do it. As it turns out, there was a Mexican restaurant next door... so we got some good food there as well... although most of us ended up getting burgers. The burgers were 8 Euro with a margarita included... awesome. The restaurant also offered to deliver the burgers to the pub when they were ready. The questions were mostly British-themed (British cities, etc.), but my team and I (the Slippery Hippos) still managed to answer 9 out of 12 correctly. We even won prizes for most creative team name---Guinness scarves that say "La pinta perfecta"--- The perfect pint. The rest of the night included shenanigans on the beach again.
Procrastinating at the Weirdest Restaurant Ever/Taking to the Sea
When we woke up on Monday morning, we definitely had a case of the Mondays. Again, it was raining, so all beach plans were put on the back burner. We had decided to go back to Palma, but the next bus wasn't leaving for an hour... so we went to a few places in search of breakfast items (we missed the hostel breakfast), and ended up at a restaurant called "Dakota Tex Mex." This restaurant was AMERICAN. Think Hard Rock Café, but instead of music, the theme is just AMERICA. They had a Michael Jordan statue, license plates everywhere, pictures of obscure movie stars... it was weird. But... they did have mozzarella sticks. Everything on the menu was named after a state or a city... the San Diego burger, or the Minnesota nachos. Most of the time, the state/city had nothing to do with the food being offered (New Hampshire guacamole?), but it was funny to see all of the places represented (Ohio Ribs, anyone?). During our brunch, the sun decided to show up again, which made us throw away all plans to go back to Palma and relax on the beach. After falling asleep in the sun for a while, Roommate Will woke us up and said that he found a place renting paddle boats for 15 E/hour. Sounds great! These weren't REGULAR paddleboats, though... they were giant boats with slides on them... powered by paddling. We hopped on board, and went out to sea. We were at sea for about an hour and a half before I noticed some rapidly approaching storm clouds... and then it started to rain. Hard. We paddled as fast as we could, and finally got back to shore. Enough was enough, we decided... we were going back to Palma for our last night and last hotel reservation.
The Palma Sampler Platter
When we got back to Palma, we decided to take a taxi to the last hotel. It was cold. It was rainy. We were tired... and we weren't waiting for another bus. We arrived at the hotel hungry and in need of showers. We took care of the shower part, and asked the concierge where the best seafood restaurant was. He told us it was 10 minutes "that way" (how Spanish people give directions), and we found it pretty easily... but the entrees were 45 Euro. No way, José (which might actually have been his name). We found a small restaurant with an offer for a tapas selection with a bottle of wine for 30 Euro. If I have learned anything from my travels (Barcelona, Mexico, Oktoberfest...), it's this: if a restaurant offers you a sampler platter, take it. They want to show off the selection, and you'll probably end up eating something you've never eaten before. The wine was delicious, and the tapas were even better. My favorite were the bacon-wrapped figs: who knew? We ended the night hanging out on the balcony wrapped in blankets and fighting sleep. After all, this was our last night of vacation.
Well, That Was a Bad Idea
Flights suck. Claustrophobia, kids crying, nowhere to sleep... yeah. All of the above. We shouldn't have stayed up so late before our flight, but we did. And now I'm stuck on a tiny airplane in a storm, thinking I'm going to die (not to mention I had drank a lot of tap water on the island, which messed up my digestive system). We made it back to Madrid (eventually), and high-tailed it to the apartment, where I slept ALL DAY. Keep in mind that we got back to Madrid at 10 AM, and I slept until about 6. The roommates and I decided to make macaroni and cheese, which I made WITHOUT A RECIPE. YES!
Going to "Work"
This week, I taught 4 classes and went to 2 meetings. That's it. At my job, I actually get paid to socialize with the teachers in English... it counts as about 1.5 hours of my 16 hour work week. Not bad. The kids are actually turning out to be really fun (although they definitely need some discipline), and I'm really connecting with the teachers. I'm really having a great time there. We'll see how I feel in a month.
And that's about it. I have to go to the bank now to open a Spanish bank account... so I can finally get paid! Adios!
10.05.2010
Getting Schooled
Alright, so I've started teaching at my school, Juana de Castilla. After some confusion as to what I am supposed to be doing, we've settled on an amazing schedule (it's 3 PM and I'm home already... unheard of in Spanish culture) and I will be teaching art, technology, English, science, and helping out with social science (probably by making worksheets). My co-workers are all really nice... they are very welcoming, and have invited me out to coffee during the break both days!
One of my co-workers, Lurdes, lives a few blocks away from me, so we are going to meet up and speak English and Spanish together. Good stuff. Before every class (it's a different batch of students every time), Lurdes warns me: "This group is a little naughty." And they are. They all are.
The kids in the classes don't want to learn (but not like American students don't want to learn). They actively try to not pay attention. It's different with every teacher, but it took me some persistence to get them to pay attention to what I was saying.
Yesterday (the first day), was extremely difficult. Because of scheduling and talking to other teachers, I ended up walking into every one of my classes late, which made each entrance very pronounced (and embarrassing). It will take a long time for the students to respect me as a teacher, but I'm already feeling like I can get some things done in the classroom.
Lurdes was writing on the board while I was doing an activity, and I made sure that every student was speaking at least once a class in English. A student that she probably didn't expect to read or do anything answered a question, and she turned around and looked shocked. Maybe I can connect with these kids better than the actual teachers can. We'll see.
In the same class, I told the students a little bit about Ohio (what is there to tell, really?), and taught them O-H! I-O!. Hopefully I'll start hearing that in the halls. I plan to bring Buckeyes to school for the kids to try (they really don't have peanut butter here, so that will be an experiment).
Yesterday, I felt like a weirdo at the school, as well as a little frustrated (which resulted in me describing my day to the roommates with some language that can only be described as colorful), but today, students started to come up to me and say, "Hello!" (then run away), or ask me questions ("Do you have the pena de muerte (death penalty) in the States?"). It won't be long until I become a fixture there.
Overall, I'm feeling good about this decision, and I just need to embrace the uncomfortable moments.
One of my co-workers, Lurdes, lives a few blocks away from me, so we are going to meet up and speak English and Spanish together. Good stuff. Before every class (it's a different batch of students every time), Lurdes warns me: "This group is a little naughty." And they are. They all are.
The kids in the classes don't want to learn (but not like American students don't want to learn). They actively try to not pay attention. It's different with every teacher, but it took me some persistence to get them to pay attention to what I was saying.
Yesterday (the first day), was extremely difficult. Because of scheduling and talking to other teachers, I ended up walking into every one of my classes late, which made each entrance very pronounced (and embarrassing). It will take a long time for the students to respect me as a teacher, but I'm already feeling like I can get some things done in the classroom.
Lurdes was writing on the board while I was doing an activity, and I made sure that every student was speaking at least once a class in English. A student that she probably didn't expect to read or do anything answered a question, and she turned around and looked shocked. Maybe I can connect with these kids better than the actual teachers can. We'll see.
In the same class, I told the students a little bit about Ohio (what is there to tell, really?), and taught them O-H! I-O!. Hopefully I'll start hearing that in the halls. I plan to bring Buckeyes to school for the kids to try (they really don't have peanut butter here, so that will be an experiment).
Yesterday, I felt like a weirdo at the school, as well as a little frustrated (which resulted in me describing my day to the roommates with some language that can only be described as colorful), but today, students started to come up to me and say, "Hello!" (then run away), or ask me questions ("Do you have the pena de muerte (death penalty) in the States?"). It won't be long until I become a fixture there.
Overall, I'm feeling good about this decision, and I just need to embrace the uncomfortable moments.
9.29.2010
La vida diaria/La huelga general
Alright, so I warned everyone that my posts would become less frequent as I got into the day-to-day (la vida diaria) here in Madrid. I still haven't started with work yet (my first day is on Monday), but I did go and visit the school. The program is in its beginning stages, and so we aren't quite sure what we'll be doing yet, but it should be a fun year nonetheless. Remember when I thought I'd be teaching high schoolers English? Well, that plan has changed. I will be teaching high schoolers, but in Spain, "high school" starts at the sixth grade level... so I'll be teaching 11 and 12 year-olds. A little different than expected. In addition to English, I'll also be teaching art, technology and natural science. It's good to know what I'll be doing (finally!).
Things at the apartment are becoming a little less "getting to know you" and more just "hanging out." We've become accustomed to watching American TV on sidereel.com (thanks Cat!) and trying to decipher the Spanish translations of American shows on Spanish TV. A favorite of mine is La Ruleta de la Fortuna (Wheel of Fortune), where I actually am a little better than the people on TV at figuring out the Spanish puzzles. We cook dinner every night, and have had homemade mashed potatoes, salsa, tacos, campfire stew, pizza, and all sorts of other culinary creations (which are always accompanied by a giant jug of wine). We have our doubts about this "family dinner" tradition continuing once we start work, but since the Spanish don't eat dinner until 9 or 10 PM, I feel like we can make it work.
Today, Spain is observing a huelga general... or a general strike. Around midnight last night, our game of Would You Rather? was interrupted by commotion in the street. We ran around to the different windows in the apartment trying to see what was happening, and then decided to go down to the street level to find out. We expected to see a giant organized march or protest, but instead, it was just a handful of drunk Spaniards banging on pots and pans and yelling into megaphones. There are posters and ads everywhere about the huelga, but according to Spanish news reports, the Metro system is only operating at about 75% of its regular capacity. We'll see if this strike has as much of an impact as predicted.
My days have been consumed by trying to get my life together here. My Metro pass, my NIE card (basically, a legal alien card), and other adventures have taken up a lot of my time. I've also visited the botanical gardens, the park, and explored around the center of Madrid. I'm enjoying it for now, but we'll see what happens once I start work. Orientation is tomorrow, which I've heard is really just 10 hours of banging your head against the wall, but we'll see (I hear we get food!).
This is probably the earliest I've been up since I've arrived in Spain, and I'm feeling my first siesta of the day coming on (we estimate that the Spaniards nap 2-3 times a day). I need to start work so I'm not so lazy!
Things at the apartment are becoming a little less "getting to know you" and more just "hanging out." We've become accustomed to watching American TV on sidereel.com (thanks Cat!) and trying to decipher the Spanish translations of American shows on Spanish TV. A favorite of mine is La Ruleta de la Fortuna (Wheel of Fortune), where I actually am a little better than the people on TV at figuring out the Spanish puzzles. We cook dinner every night, and have had homemade mashed potatoes, salsa, tacos, campfire stew, pizza, and all sorts of other culinary creations (which are always accompanied by a giant jug of wine). We have our doubts about this "family dinner" tradition continuing once we start work, but since the Spanish don't eat dinner until 9 or 10 PM, I feel like we can make it work.
Today, Spain is observing a huelga general... or a general strike. Around midnight last night, our game of Would You Rather? was interrupted by commotion in the street. We ran around to the different windows in the apartment trying to see what was happening, and then decided to go down to the street level to find out. We expected to see a giant organized march or protest, but instead, it was just a handful of drunk Spaniards banging on pots and pans and yelling into megaphones. There are posters and ads everywhere about the huelga, but according to Spanish news reports, the Metro system is only operating at about 75% of its regular capacity. We'll see if this strike has as much of an impact as predicted.
My days have been consumed by trying to get my life together here. My Metro pass, my NIE card (basically, a legal alien card), and other adventures have taken up a lot of my time. I've also visited the botanical gardens, the park, and explored around the center of Madrid. I'm enjoying it for now, but we'll see what happens once I start work. Orientation is tomorrow, which I've heard is really just 10 hours of banging your head against the wall, but we'll see (I hear we get food!).
This is probably the earliest I've been up since I've arrived in Spain, and I'm feeling my first siesta of the day coming on (we estimate that the Spaniards nap 2-3 times a day). I need to start work so I'm not so lazy!
9.21.2010
Piso Success
Tengo mucha suerte. While some language assistants have looked at over 15 pisos, I decided to move into the very first one that I found! It costs 430 Euro a month, but all utilities are included (wifi, cable, electricity, gas, water...). Pretty nice! My room is large, although my bed is small... I'm making it work. I have a desk, an easy chair, and 2 wardrobes as well.
My roommates, Tina and Will (I know, I know) are great, and we've already had family trips to the grocery store, Spanish IKEA (not much different than any American IKEA), and last night, we cooked a huge dinner with parmesan tortellini, tomato sauce with jamón (ham) and carrots, bread, salad, and wine. And it all cost less than 10 Euro for the three of us! We even had leftovers.
Today, I plan to go to El Corte Inglés to buy a fan, an alarm clock, and some groceries that we forgot to buy yesterday. Tomorrow, I have a meeting around noon at my school with all of the teachers in the bilingual program! I'm excited to get a schedule and be able to see if I can get some private English classes going. The going rate around here is about 25 Euro/hour, so that's not too shabby! That will give me some extra money to travel.
I'd better get going. I need to stop getting my day started during the siesta (which I have yet to observe). I also have a lot of American TV to catch up on... after all, this is season premiere week (that should be a national holiday)!
My roommates, Tina and Will (I know, I know) are great, and we've already had family trips to the grocery store, Spanish IKEA (not much different than any American IKEA), and last night, we cooked a huge dinner with parmesan tortellini, tomato sauce with jamón (ham) and carrots, bread, salad, and wine. And it all cost less than 10 Euro for the three of us! We even had leftovers.
I'd better get going. I need to stop getting my day started during the siesta (which I have yet to observe). I also have a lot of American TV to catch up on... after all, this is season premiere week (that should be a national holiday)!
9.17.2010
The One With the Spanish Keyboard
Oh, Spanish language keyboards. How I haven´t missed you. The awkward apostrophes, the "Alt Gr" button to get @ and #...ugh.
My hostel has an internet connection that is similar to the dial-up that I had in 1996, so I found an internet café to try to check my email.
Madrid is just how I remember it. I´m actually shocked that I can recall a lot of the geography of the city, and I´m becoming very familiar with my neighborhood. All of this should change tomorrow, because I am taking a look at the piso (apartment/flat) that I really want then... then I´ll have a new neighborhood to become familiar with.
Living in a foreign city is already different than visiting a foreign city. There´s not much pressure to do so much... and this is making feel weird sitting in my hostel. I feel like my sloth is met with stares of "why is that guy still in bed?"... but that´s okay. I´m not a tourist, I´m a madrileño.
Although I´m not a tourist, I´ve done my fair share of touristy things. I went to Toledo, checked out some stuff there, and realized that I hate the calles that go up at a 45 degree angle. I went two days ago, and my calves are still screaming.
I also went to the Museo del Prado today... and it´s still as boring as it was last summer. Luckily, I was with some teaching assistants (including my co-worker, McKinzie) who were just as bored with it as I was.
My internet café time is almost up, so I´m going to run. Hasta luego!
My hostel has an internet connection that is similar to the dial-up that I had in 1996, so I found an internet café to try to check my email.
Madrid is just how I remember it. I´m actually shocked that I can recall a lot of the geography of the city, and I´m becoming very familiar with my neighborhood. All of this should change tomorrow, because I am taking a look at the piso (apartment/flat) that I really want then... then I´ll have a new neighborhood to become familiar with.
Living in a foreign city is already different than visiting a foreign city. There´s not much pressure to do so much... and this is making feel weird sitting in my hostel. I feel like my sloth is met with stares of "why is that guy still in bed?"... but that´s okay. I´m not a tourist, I´m a madrileño.
Although I´m not a tourist, I´ve done my fair share of touristy things. I went to Toledo, checked out some stuff there, and realized that I hate the calles that go up at a 45 degree angle. I went two days ago, and my calves are still screaming.
I also went to the Museo del Prado today... and it´s still as boring as it was last summer. Luckily, I was with some teaching assistants (including my co-worker, McKinzie) who were just as bored with it as I was.
My internet café time is almost up, so I´m going to run. Hasta luego!
9.14.2010
Racing against the death of my computer battery
Okay, so I'm here in Madrid. I'm also on my bunk bed, awkwardly leaning on one arm and typing because there's nowhere else to write a blog. My computer is dying, and plugging it in with all of the converters will take too much effort.
Here's what happened today:
1. Flight was okay, got very little sleep, watched a lot of movies and stared into space a lot.
2. Met up with Laura (another language assistant) at MAD and shared a taxi into town. The driver was really nice---until he tried to charge us 117 Euro for the ride. We refused, and talked him down to 50, but it was still too much. I was too tired to deal with people trying to rip me off.
3. Checked into the hostels, and then went in search of cell phones. We found them (pretty cheap)... and mine's a touch screen. I'm satisfied.
4. Ate at a restaurant with bocadillos (little sandwiches) for a Euro each. Nice.
5. Awkwardly typing this blog entry as hostel folks come in and out. A shower was AMAZING... I kind of want to take another one. It's so hot here!
Posting this before it's too late...
Here's what happened today:
1. Flight was okay, got very little sleep, watched a lot of movies and stared into space a lot.
2. Met up with Laura (another language assistant) at MAD and shared a taxi into town. The driver was really nice---until he tried to charge us 117 Euro for the ride. We refused, and talked him down to 50, but it was still too much. I was too tired to deal with people trying to rip me off.
3. Checked into the hostels, and then went in search of cell phones. We found them (pretty cheap)... and mine's a touch screen. I'm satisfied.
4. Ate at a restaurant with bocadillos (little sandwiches) for a Euro each. Nice.
5. Awkwardly typing this blog entry as hostel folks come in and out. A shower was AMAZING... I kind of want to take another one. It's so hot here!
Posting this before it's too late...
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