Friday, December 31, 2010

Haaaaaaaaaaaapy New Year!!!!!!!

I had to get really excited in the title. Because my actual new year's celebration is...basically nonexistent. It is 9pm and I might head to bed.......I'm going to go ahead and still blame that on the jet lag.

Aaaanyway, I have been doing some reflection over the last year. Since that's usually what you do on New Year's.

Some things that happened in 2010:
- I had moved to Portland at the end of 2009. But in 2010 I finally started feeling comfortable there and knowing my way around and meeting fun people and having a social life :) Bascially, I fell in love with Portland in 2010.
- well, I took a little trip. To Spain. I'm not sure if most of you were aware of that. It was pretty cool.
- my niece turned 1. She is amazing.
- my momma got diagnosed with breast cancer and went through 4 surgeries in 5 months. She is an amazing woman. One of the strongest women I have ever known and one of my greatest heros. She is doing fantastic now, by the way.
- my best friend got married. To a great guy and they are super cute together. Although I do miss getting to hang out with her whenever we want, we still get to hang out quite a lot. And they are a great couple and I'm so happy for them!
- I got a B in Spanish. Boo.
- I went to some really fun concerts (Jamie Cullum and Michael Buble. Don't laugh.) and saw Cirque du Soleil! So incredible!
- my uncle passed away after a long fight with cancer. He had a rough life but was a sweet, loving guy and he is missed.
- I learned a lot of Spanish. Thanks in part to the aforementioned trip to Spain. And even to the class in which I received a B.
-I met some fantastic people. In Portland, in Spain, at church, at work, in class, through other random ways and in other random places...they are all great and I'm glad to have met them all.
-I spent a lot of the money I had saved from working at the bank. On the semester in Spain. Worth it. I think...
- I cut my hair short. Short-ish. Nothing too exciting, nor important. But it happened. And I'm letting it grow out again.

Some things I started doing in 2010:
- working at the gym. Such a fun little job! Definitely kept me entertained and busy (and at times a little stressed), and I had some fun, met some awesome people and made some money.
- going to Solid Rock church and a house church that meets on Mondays. Here I met some more amazing people, learned some more about God, worshipped, grew and just had fun.
- volunteering with AKA Science, the after-school science program put on by the OHCC. So much fun and a great learning experience.
- working out. I learned that I can actually enjoy it! Thanks to the best personal trainer ever, Jeremy.

Some things I learned in 2010:
- a little bit of Spanish :)
- that I'm stronger than I previously realized. And I'm not just talking about my giant muscles. baaaahahahaha
- that you can make all the plans you want and have all the dreams you can dream, but God is ultimately in control. A lesson I for some reason have to keep on learning over and over again.
- that I am a lot braver than I realized. Mostly in relation to food. hahaha I ate a lot of weird stuff in Spain. And never even threw up! And actually liked it all! (minus blood sausage and pig foot...)
- that I can take on a lot of things at once. For instance: 16 credits, 2 volunteer positions, 20 hours of work per week AND a social life. Granted, the next term I cut back a little. But I didn't die. Not quite anyway.


All in all, 2010 was a fantastic year. There were some downs. Some really down-y downs. But there were also a million ups. I had so much fun. After working for four years at a job I really didn't like, that drained every ounce of being that was in me, this was a pleasant change. I'm not just talking about my trip to Spain either. I had so much fun just living in Portland that I was actually sad to leave. I was questioning my decision to study abroad. There were other reasons I was questioning this too, but I had decided that I had had so much fun this last year in Portland that I wouldn't have minded it if I didn't go to Spain. So glad I did though!

Besides my amazing time in Sevilla and the fun I had in Portland, I realized that what it's really all about are the people. Spain wouldn't have been nearly as much fun without the amazing people I met. Sevilla wasn't the greatest city I've been to. But it was so hard to leave because of the relationships I built there. And Portland is the same way. I had so much fun there because of the people I met that I did fun things with. Obviously I have amazing relationships in my hometown too. I wouldn't want to be without them. But that's exactly the point. As long as there are great people around you, it doesn't matter where you are or what you are doing. Because they will make it worth it. Not to say that you should stay somewhere you aren't happy just because of the people. I never would have left the bank if that was the case. But here's a thank you to all those fantastic people in my life. Those that have come and gone, those that are new, those that are old, those that I only see occasionally, those I see all the time. You are all amazing and I wouldn't want to be without any of you!

Now, here are some goals I have for 2011:
- keep practicing and improving my Spanish.
- get more involved in my church.
- read more. In Spanish.
- start working out again. Whoooops. Spain was terrible for that.
- cook more.
- meet more cool people. and hang out more with the cool people I already know.
- be better at keeping in touch with people, especially the people I met in Spain. And re-connect with people I haven't been so good at keeping in touch with.
- don't spend too much money on unnecessary things (ie, clothes...). Notice I said "too much money." Not "don't spend any money." I'm trying to be realistic here...
- watch less TV...fortunately my new apartment won't have TV. But I didn't have that last year either and still wound up watching way too much on hulu.com. Kind of silly.
- sew something. I haven't sewn anything in a long time. I should probably make something.
- frame the artwork I bought in Spain. And the thing I bought in Mexico last year....

Okay, that's enough. I probably won't even be able to do all those. But here's to a year full of change (good change), FUN, goal-making and goal-achieving, personal and spiritual growth, travel, people, good health for everyone, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, contentment and more FUN.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Barcelona. (Barthelona/Barca/Bartha/Barça)

The day after my last final, Sofie and I packed up and headed to Barcelona. We were going to meet Sarah and two of her friends there and spend a few days seeing the sights. Sofie and I said goodbye to our señoras (no tears!!!!), hopped in a taxi and headed to the airport. Where the tears started. But nevermind that.

Now, I was in Sevilla for a little over three months. And I bought a lot of things. I mean a LOT of things. So my two giant suitcases were filled to the brim. And very heavy. How heavy, I did not realize. Until I went to check my two bags on Vueling and the guy said, "uhh, the limit is 46 kilos. This will cost you 230 euros to check these bags." Uhhhh I'm sorry. 230 euros?!?!!? I was not sure what to do. So I just stared at him. And so he started speaking in English because he thought I didn't understand. But I still stared at him, bewildered. There was no way I was going to pay that much to check my bags. But there was also no way I was going to not see Barthelona. So I just kept saying, uhhhhhhh. Ehhhhh. Ummmmm. And he finally asked what Sofie was checking. She had a tiny little suitcase. She is amazing. I don't know how she left after 3 months with less than I started with. Anyway, because of her smart, thrifty, space conservation-ness, he said he'd call hers a carry-on and then my two could count as three bags between us. Yikes. Praise the Lord.

After that scare, we found our gate and sat until our plane boarded. For three hours. Noooo idea why we got there so early. Anyway, we finally made it to Barcelona at about 10pm, where we hopped on the train (baaarely making it in time), then found our way to the apartment/hotel. Dragging my billion pounds of luggage behind us (Sofie is my hero for helping me all week with my bags!). We made it to the apartment. And then stared up the four flights of stairs with tears in our eyes. Then drug (dragged?) my bags up the stairs. Then I ate my last bocadillo from my señora :( Then Sarah told us about how she had been attacked in the train station by some moron throwing makeup on her and pretending to help her while his friend distracted her by asking for directions and his other friend tried to steal her bags. Well, Sarah is much smarter than some dumb muggers, so they didn't get away with anything. Minus staining her clothes :( Anyway, we went to sleep and woke up the next morning to explore Barcelona!

I normally don't like big cities that much. I prefer the smaller, more traditional, historical towns. Not that Barcelona isn't historic. But I didn't really think I'd like it that much. I was wrong. It may be one of my favorite cities in Spain now. The Gaudí buildings are incredible. I had heard of Gaudí and heard of the Sagrada Familia, etc. But I did NOT expect it to be so amazing. Gaudí was a genius. His buildings are just insane. Like nothing you would imagine a building to be. The Sagrada Familia, Gaudí's cathedral in Barcelona, is breathtaking. I could have spent all day looking up at the building. All week probably. After gawking at the Gaudí creations; seeing the Picasso museum full of amazing art; visiting the food market with super cheap, fresh juices; eating PAELLA finally; drinking some cava (champagne); doing some cuddling and movie-watching with the girls; my final serving of churros; and hanging out with my lovely Sarah and Sofie, and Sarah's two fun friends who are studying in France, it was time to part ways :(

Barcelona was fantastic. It's a wonderful big city with so much to do and see, and with so much quirky-ness that the big-ness doesn't even matter. I love Gaudí and Picasso now more than ever thanks to this city. I also love paella. And fresh fruit juice. I DON'T love street performers, which Barcelona is full of. They are just weird and creepy. I also don't love makeup-spilling attention-diverting robbers. But still, Barcelona is great. After all the wonder of this city, it was time to head back to Madrid for a day before leaving for good. Which meant time to hop on an eight-hour bus ride. Fun.

More to come!

No pictures because my computer is dead. And I left my cord in Barcelona. So until Sofie gets back from Spain/Serbia with it, I am computer-less. So you can go to my facebook to see a few photos!

Friday, December 24, 2010

shopping, studying, tears and goodbyes

Where to start...?! Well, first of all, I'm HOME! After 21 hours, three flights, one taxi ride, leaving my iPod on the plane and lost luggage...I made it back to Portland at 12.30am this morning. I can't believe that yesterday (the day before?) I was in Madrid. Craziness.

Back to Sevilla-the last week or so there. I don't remember what I posted about last, and I'm too lazy to look it up. The last week in Sevilla went by really fast. I had finals to study for, sights to see, goodbyes to say, tears to shed....

I had four finals to take the last week. I also had to turn in a final paper about the book/movie Los Santos Inocentes, a portfolio about my teaching practicum and a video for my psychology class. The tests were pretty hard and required quite a bit of studying. And the video required hours of editing, all done in Douchka, my favorite tea shop. We literally spent four hours there one night working on the video. I'm sure the owner just loved us...

Between studying and taking exams, I did lots of last-minute sight-seeing and shopping. I had lots of souvenirs to buy still and places that I wanted to check out or see again. There are still a lot of places I didn't get around to seeing after almost four months. Kind of pathetic, really. But I still saw a lot of amazing things and got in a few last-minute sights.

Our little TDP group had been planning a goodbye party or two. The original plan was to meet up with Ale and Gerardo and some other friends on Wednesday night for some drinks. Then the 5 of us would go out to dinner on Thursday night as our last dinner together. But because of the studying required for our finals on Thursday, we decided to do everything on Thursday night. And then CIEE notified us they were also throwing us a goodbye party that night. So we planned to go to the party, then head to dinner with our little TDP group, then meet up with other friends for a couple drinks.

When Thursday came around, we finished our finals and I did a little packing, then Sofie, Charlotte and I met up for a little pre-party wine-drinking. We sat out at the table in our little patio area and drank a bottle of wine between the three of us. So by the time we headed to the CIEE party, we were a bit tipsy. Which meant I was already a bit emotional. Then when we got there, our TDP teacher, Jorge, was just leaving. We had to say goodbye to him before we even walked into the party. So by the time I walked in, I was already crying. We didn't have much time at the party as we had dinner reservations, but we said goodbye to some friends, to our coordinator Caro and I said goodbye to my professor Angel. Then we ran out to the restaurant. Ale planned to meet us there since we weren't sure what time we'd be done with dinner. And Gerardo was going to meet us after we were done.

A little pre-party wine-drinking.

My lovely TDP family, with our profe Jorge (in the middle).

Saying goodbye to the ever-stylish Ángel.

We headed to the restaurant, which was one we walked by all the time and had tea at a few times. The menu looked great and it always smelled amazing inside. But we had never eaten there. We walked in for dinner, and the waiter who we always saw there said, "you're coming here to EAT today?!" hahah whoops, guess our only-tea-drinking was annoying. Whatever, we ordered rice with duck and some wine and enjoyed our Last Supper together. We had fun chatting and reminiscing and laughing. And trying not to cry...After dinner we ordered some dessert. Then I called up Gerardo to meet up with us. But he couldn't make it as he had to work early the next morning. And nobody else wanted to go out since they also had to get up early. Soooo that was the end of things. I was so glad Ale came to dinner with us so we could hang out one last time. We all headed outside, I said tearful goodbyes to everyone, and we headed home. Where I went to bed and cried myself to sleep. Not really. But mostly.

The TDP group and Ale. Love them all.

Me and Ale. Tears!

The next morning, I woke up, had my last breakfast at Angeles's house, headed to do some final shopping with Sofie and then headed back home for my last lunch with the Spanish family. Which consisted of tomato soup with bread and a fried egg in it, and some boquerones. And of course an orange. I then packed everything up (it barely fit...and made for some very heavy suitcases), sat in my room with no internet and nothing to do, trying not to cry, and then said goodbye to the host family. I took my bags downstairs and Sofie and I headed to the airport to go to Barcelona. I didn't even cry when I said goodbye to Angeles and her family. But then I got in the taxi and saw Sevilla flying past and couldn't hold it in anymore. I'm sure the taxi driver thought I was crazy, and so did Sofie, but I just couldn't help it.

I am not someone who is afraid of change. I kind of thrive on it, actually. If I am in the same place doing the same thing for too long, I can't stand it. I have realized that I end up changing something every year or so-jobs, living arrangement, entire life-plan, etc. I just keep moving around and trying new things, hoping I will eventually find what and where and who I want to be for good. Whenever I leave "home" to go somewhere new, I'm a little sad but mostly excited. I always know that I'll be back in Oregon, close to my family and friends at some point. But when I have to leave the "new" place, its always sad because I know that its for good. Not to say that I will never talk to or see the people or places again. But it just will never be the same. So for this reason, there were plenty of tears when I left Sevilla.

Now I'm ready for what's to come. I'm excited to move in with my new roommates, start new classes, figure out what I'm going to do for work, meet new people, etc. I still would have loved to have been able to stay in Sevilla for another semester. Just to practice my Spanish more and hang out with my Spanish and American friends (and get Joaquín to fall in love with me...). But that's not the plan God had for me. I know I will have an amazing year here in Portland with my family and friends. I love Portland. I still think it may be the greatest place to live on earth. But I'm sure a year from now I'll be ready for something new again...we'll see what is in store for me next! Here's to a great new year!

Soon to come: Barcelona adventures. Don't worry, the Spain blogging isn't done yet :)

Also, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

thief...

I keep stealing pictures from people on facebook. Is this creepy? Wrong? Weird? Whatever, please to enjoy.

This is Ángel, my novel/cinema professor. With Andrew (left) and
Elena (far right) and...I don't remember.

This is Jorge, before our carmel shots...he's the one in the blue t-shirt.

Sofie, Sarah and I hanging out at a fountain in Barrio Santa Cruz...

21!!!!!

My two favorite Spanish guys in the whole world. Maybe my favorite guys
in general. Gerardo (left) and Ale, (with Charlotte in the middle), celebrating
my and Charlotte's birthdays.

video para psicología

Here's the video we made for class. It's all in Spanish, so I realized no one will understand it. Ohhhh well!



El aprendizaje de Español en Sevilla from Sofie SherBurt on Vimeo.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Triana, tea and...something else that starts with "t"...

I'm pretty sure Spain wants me to leave. Or I'm allergic to my bedroom. Either than or my sinus infection is back with a vengeance. Either way, I'm sick. Again. For the fourth time in 3 months. Anyway, because my head is so stuffy that I can't study, besides the fact that I'm tired of studying, here's another post for you lovely people.

Last week of classes! So. Crazy. Today was a good day, minus having to take a Spanish exit exam. Although I know without a doubt that I did way better than I did on the entrance exam. I got to hang out in class with some of my favorite professors and with my TDP buddies. Then I came home and had a yummy lunch. Will go to my favorite tea place later to do a little late-night studying. And then tomorrow we start all over again.

This last weekend we went to Triana. This is the part of Sevilla on the other side of the river. Sevilla is split up into different areas-we live in Puerta Osario, near the Macarena and also near the Centro. There's Nervion, Los Remedios....and Triana. Now, Triana has quite a history. The Triana-ites? are very proud people. When you go there, you find T-shirts saying things to the effect of "the republic of Triana." They think they are the greatest. For some reason I had not been to Triana yet in my three months here. Mentira, I had been to calle Betis once. This is the "party" street lined with bars and discotecas immediately across the river. I'm not sure that it actually counts as real Triana. Anyway, Sarah, Charlotte and I explored that part of town a little on Saturday.

Triana is known for, besides its local pride, ceramics. There are a ton of shops with handmade ceramic creations. They are beautiful. I wanted to buy literally everything I saw. And I pretty much did....After wandering around for a while in the ceramics shops and stopping at the most amazing pastry shop, we headed back home. That night we met up at Douchka for some tea and video-making. We have to make this video for our psychology class about our process of learning Spanish in Spain. So we've got all kinds of video clips that we've taken that we had to put together. It's gonna be pretty amazing, I'll show you all when its done.


Triana food market. Jamón, anyone??

Or, if you're not into pork...maybe some pheasant or a rabbit?!

I ate these once. The sea-snail-like things.

Crossing the bridge to Triana.

AMAZING pastries, with Sarah.

Christmas decorations, sunshine and orange trees.
What could be more Christmas-y?!

Yesterday (Sunday), Charlotte and I went to the art market outside of the art museum here in town. Its one of my favorite places in Sevilla for some reason. I love seeing local artists and their crafts. Maybe its because I have no artistic talents whatsoever that I really appreciate the talents of others! We wandered around a bit, ran into a friend from school, bought a few (more...) things, and made plans to meet up with our friend at Douchka later. After getting home and eating some of the food my señora left me (she was going to be gone all day so left me a LOT of food for lunch and dinner.), we headed to Douchka. For the second day in a row. And after a pot of tea, some dessert, and 4 hours....we left. Almost done with the video. We just are going to go back again tonight to finish it up. Three days in a row, they should give us some free tea or something...


This is lunch and dinner. Not at all an unusual amount of food.
I ate it all.

Anyway, a great start to my last week here! The rest of this week should be pretty great too!


Here are some photos I stole from Charlotte (as are the ones of the Triana food market). She is way better about taking pictures than I am.

Las Irlandesas-the school where we taught.

In the teacher's lounge with Sarah and Tim.

The street we live on-calle Alcántara.

The plaza right outside our building.

The street we walk down, and graffiti we walk past, literally every day.

"No me ha dejado."

Another sight we walk by every single day.

Friday, December 10, 2010

T minus 13 days.

First of all: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!!! :)


One more week in Sevilla. I leave next Friday at 8pm to fly to Barcelona, spend three days in Barcelona, then hop on a (8-hour...) bus to Madrid for 2 days and then head back to Oregon. 13 days total left. That's not nearly enough time.

Don't get me wrong. I am excited to see everyone. To see my momma's brand-new look, get a real-live smooch from my niece, get big hugs from my daddio and brother and sister and grandma, go to sushi and froyo with Annie (and eat like 10 plates of sushi), get a pedicure with Helen (this is GOING to happen, sistah!), see my BFF Kayla and catch up, move in and hang out with my new roommates, and see everyone else that I've missed while I've been here. And share my stories and goodies with everyone.

But...I'm not gonna lie, I wish I could come back for another semester. I have made some really great friends here that I'm going to miss. I have found the places I like going to and feel comfortable in. I'm learning so much Spanish. I'm traveling. I'm falling in love. Wait, not literally. But falling in love with 4-year-old students and cities and countries and professors ;) and friends and my Spanish family.

And now I have to leave. When coming here, people told me that 4 months wasn't enough time. I kind of laughed at them. I was in Italy for 2 months and was kind of ready to come home after that long. I figured 4 months would be the perfect amount of time. I was wrong. So wrong. 3 months is just about the time where you start to feel comfortable with things and love where you are. I mean, I loved it from the start. But the things I've done and the people I've met and the memories I've made since my first days here have just built up and stacked on top of each other like the bricks of a house. I finally feel like I'm at home here because of all those things.

Again, don't get me wrong. I don't think Spain could ever actually be my home. I don't imagine I could ever be this far away from my family for an indefinite period of time. But I want to keep speaking Spanish. And hanging out with my Spanish friends. And TRAVELING. And learning. About language and culture and teaching and myself. If I could just go home for a couple weeks for Christmas, then come back here for another semester, I'd be happy. I could see the places I didn't get to in my time here, and hopefully be closer to the level of Spanish fluency that I would like to be at (let's not talk about the amount of time I've spent speaking English here. We won't go there.). Then I'd come home in the summer (before the 120 degree Sevillan summer) and be back for good, ready to roll.

I did this same thing before I left to come here. I was talking about the things in the US I'd miss. And I really haven't missed most of them, besides the people. So I know I'll be fine when I get back and get over my jetlag. But the time leading up to that will not be easy, although I'm going to make the most of it! Seeing the sights I haven't yet seen and re-visiting my favorites. Hanging out with the amazing people I've met here. (Oh yeah and studying...stupid finals really put a damper on things. And packing, and seeing how much I have to get rid of because I can't fit everything in my bags...yet I can't seem to stop shopping.)

So, don't worry about me. I'll be back before any of us know it. And I will definitely be glad to be back home with my loved ones. So here's to making the most of what's to come and enjoying my last (SUNNY) days in Sevilla, while looking forward to what God has in store for me when I get back to the states. See you all in a fortnight! Minus a day...



but (shhh, don't tell my mom) I may have though about/looked into ways I could stay here. Including nanny jobs and directly enrolling in the university without paying for a program like CIEE....which I think would be super-cheap...

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Danke/Gracias/Thank you, Suiza.

Switzerland. The land of: hot wine, Christmas, $15 drinks, snow, COLD, $30 cab rides, tall people, cheese, amazing bread, beautiful landscapes, cute Christmas markets, government-sponsored heroin, good music, adorable buildings (hello, Swiss chalet!), sweet people, blond hair, Santa Claus, plum pie, delicious food, drunk Swiss men at clubs...well, that pretty much sums up my trip!!

My lovely friend Isabelle was gracious enough to host me this weekend and be my tour guide. When I got there, she had the whole weekend planned out and everything sounded fantastic! I arrived in the afternoon and she picked me up from the airport. After finding each other (apparently I went out the wrong door as we were separated by a glass wall...), we went to her cute apartment and settled in a bit. Then we went out to the "farm" where her horse, Sasha, is kept. Sasha is a beautiful big horse and he is about 20 years old. It was cooooolllld and snowy when we got there, so we took a quick walk with Sasha and went back when our feet were frozen. It was a beautiful introduction to Switzerland, a beautiful snowy countryside with adorable Swiss kids sledding, an amazing view of the city below all lit up...quite amazing!

After a nice walk with Sasha, we headed back to Isa's apartment where we had dinner. She made chicken and veggies, which was quite delicious. Then we got ready and headed out for a night on the town. We met a couple of her girlfriends at a club that has a 25+ party the first Friday of every month. You have to have ID showing you are 25 or over. Pretty funny, and lots of fun! We waited in line for a while to get a stamp to get in. It was cold. Like bitterly cold. And snowing. And we were waiting outside. But we were bundled up pretty well and they brought out a cup of hot wine for everyone, which was very nice! I had had "vino caliente" here in Sevilla a week or two before and loved it, so was excited that this is a common Swiss drink :) After getting our stamp, we headed to a different bar to get a drink or two before returning to the club. This is where the $15 drinks came in. Needless to say I only had one. Granted, it was an amazingly delicious Caiprinha (Brazilian? drink. so good.), but an expensive one. After a couple drinks (or one in my case), we headed back to the club. We checked our coats, got a shot of...something fruity...and headed to the dance floor. There were a lot of people. Drunk people. But mostly just really fun and friendly and TALL people. I loved it. The girls were telling me about some of the regulars at this 25+ party (which they are also regulars at). Including the twins guys who are probably about 6'7" and stay together the whole time. Of course there were some short and regular-height people too. But so many tall people, I was in heaven. After a couple of fights, a couple drunk Swiss guys and a few hours, I told Isa I was too tired to stay any longer. At this point I had been awake for 24 hours. I was dead on my tired, cold feet. So we headed back home (stopping first for veggie burgers!) and I passed out pretty much immediately.

The next day, after getting up nice and late, we got ready and headed to Lucern. Isa has a friend in Lucern who owns a couple hotels and manages a restaurant. So we had a pretty great weekend. Lucern is just beautiful. When you picture Switzerland in your mind, Lucern is what you see, minus the green rolling hills and meadows you can frolic through. Or maybe that's only what I see in my mind...

Anyway, Lucern is fantastic. You can see the Swiss Alps on a clear day, as well as Lake Lucern. Even seeing both at the same time often. Its quite picturesque. We found a parking spot and did a little shopping in the Christmas-y streets of the cute town. Now, I should mention that it gets dark very early there. Like at 5. And stores close at about 4pm. Quite a different lifestyle from Spain. Anyway, we did a little shopping, picking up all kinds of cute things, until the stores closed, then went for some coffee (or tea in my case) and cake. We found a cute little cafe and I got some plum cake and tea. Delicious. I didn't eat a single thing in Switzerland that I didn't absolutely love. After the goodies, we headed to the hotel where we got settled in and watched a German music television show. I had no idea what they were saying or singing about, but the music was all good! After a little rest, we went to dinner.

Phillip's restaurant is amazing. It's so cozy inside, with wood-paneled walls and long buffet-style tables. Dim lighting and a big fireplace. Just beautiful. Then you eat the food. I never wanted to leave. This restaurant is a fixed-menu, four-course dinner style restaurant. On the menu for this night was: first, a delicious green salad with yummy veggies and a vinaigrette dressing. Next up was some risotto with shrimp. Big, delicious shrimp and creamy delicious risotto. So. good. We took a break at this point and drank some wine. Some delicious Italian wine. (After finishing our glass of champagne earlier). While we were resting our stomachs for the next course, we were being entertained watching the Lucern soccer team down below. We were seated in the balcony area, overlooking the kitchen and other main dining area of the restaurant. The soccer team was taking up three or four giant tables and laughing and singing and having a grand ole time. Again, no idea what they were saying, but I could tell they were having fun. While chatting with Phillip, we found out that the team was going to be getting a visit from Santa Claus later on. December 6th is Santa Claus Day in Switzerland. So the country was gearing up for that day. We saw all kinds of Santa Clauses on the streets. But then one walked into the restaurant. He was not alone.

I'm sure you're imaging he came in with some elves. Or perhaps Rudolph. Maybe even Mrs. Claus or Frosty the Snowman? No...I'll let David Sedaris explain. You see, Santa Claus came with what Mr. Sedaris refers to as "6 to 8 black men." Now, his story is set in the Holland. But I imagine its pretty much the same in Switzerland. In America, if a child is naughty and not nice, Santa gives him a lump of coal instead of toys. In Holland and apparently Switzerland, Santa's "helpers" beat the children with "switches." Imagine a broom made out of hay or something. Sounds terrifying. Apparently it is, as Isabelle confirmed that she was scared as a child by this story. In and of itself, this is a pretty funny thing to watch. Imagine Santa giving joke gifts to members of the soccer team while making fun of them in German, while at the same time a slide show of embarrassing photos is being shown on the wall. The "helpers" are standing behind Santa, and when the other members of the soccer team get too rowdy, then walk over and smack them with the switch, or beat on the table, knocking over glasses. Add to this a glass of champagne and a half of a bottle of wine and you've got yourself a pretty entertaining night. But add to that the David Sedaris story that you've read a million times....and I could not stop laughing. It was soooo funny! Every once in a while Santa or one of the soccer players would look up and ask us girls a question (we were pretty much the only other people left in the restaurant at this point). I had no idea what they were saying, but Isa always responded for us. After the third course of chicken with yummy veggies, and dessert of apple tart-pie-pastry-thing, it was time to go.

Time to go get another drink. The plan was to go get a couple more drinks, maybe go do some more dancing. But after going to the first place and getting a drink, we were both already exhausted. So we headed back to the hotel to sleep. Such a fun night! On Sunday morning, we woke up late again, Phillip brought breakfast to the room for us, we got ready and headed back to Basel (its about an hour away). When we got back, the weather was pretty bad. Lots of rain and cold. Mostly rain. So we didn't really do much on Sunday. We both had some homework to work on, so we did that for a bit, had some pasta for dinner, watched Mama Mia, drank some tea from Isa's new teapot that she got in Lucern, and headed to bed.

Monday, Isa had to work in the morning. But I did not, so I slept in again. I got up late and tried (unsuccessfully) to figure out how to call the airline to tell them that I had bought way too much stuff and needed to check a bag on my way back. When that didn't work, I did a little more school reading and then Isa came home. We then headed to see the horse again, so cute :) But because it was rainy, she just gave him a good brushing and then we went back home. And next up was the Christmas market!

I have complained plenty already about how Sevilla just doesn't really seem very Christmas-y. Well, I got my fill of Christmas Spirit in Switzerland. Actually, I don't think that's possible, but I got a lot of Christmas Spirit anyway. Besides every street being decked in beautiful Christmas lights, Santa Clauses walking all over handing out mandarins or just looking cute, snow everywhere (not that this was done specifically for Christmas...or was it???), Christmas goodies in the cafes, etc-but then there's the Christmas Markets on top of that. These markets are just lovely. Stall after stall all decked out in Christmas lights and ornaments, selling Swiss Christmas goodies (which Isabelle convinced almost every shop-keeper to let me have a taste of), cute handmade ornaments or toys, beautiful scarves and knitted things, random creative works...hot wine...so much fun. We started out by having a hot wine and then wandered through the stalls. After a while, and after buying almost everything I saw or tried, we were ready for dinner. Time for some super traditional Swiss food: raclette. Cheesy goodness. This is a dish of a few boiled potatoes served over an entire plate of raclette cheese, with a pickle and a few pearl onions thrown in. It is amazing. Sooo cheesy. And delicious. And filling. We walked away with very full stomachs, on to another part of the Christmas market.

At this point, we ran into a stall selling some nice scarves. The couple selling the scarves and hand-knitted purses, kids sweaters, etc., definitely did not look Swiss. Or German. Or French. Isabelle started talking to them in Swiss-German, but they weren't quite understanding. She asked if English was better. No. They said Spanish. Well, fancy that! It was nice to be able to translate for Isabelle for a change :) We told them we'd be back later to get the scarf, then headed to the other stalls. So much cute, Christmas-y stuff. But it was cold and rainy and I had already spent waaaay too much money. So we headed back for the scarf from the cute Venezuelan couple. I sneakily took a video of our conversation, as I have to make a video for my psychology class, about my learning of Spanish on this study-abroad trip. Anyway, after a mix of Spanish, German and English, we got the scarf that Isa wanted and headed back home. We watched another movie (Men Who Stare at Goats-pretty great!), and headed to bed. Then I had to leave the next morning :(

So here I am, back in Sevilla again. After the most turbulent plane ride I've ever been on. If I hadn't had my seat belt on, I literally would have been thrown out of my seat by the turbulence (maybe thrown is an exaggeration-lifted a few inches in the air?). Not fun. Then we landed, I hopped on a bus, got off, and couldn't figure out where to go. So I took a taxi home. But all that aside, I made it back safely. 4 days was definitely not enough in Switzerland. I will have to go back someday :) And 4 months is definitely not enough in Spain. I only have 2 weeks left in Sevilla, 3 weeks total left in Spain. I love my family and friends and am so excited to get back and see everyone. But I'm not going to lie, if I could afford it, I'd come back for another semester after going home for Christmas. But if I've learned anything in my 26 years, its that God has waaaay different plans for my life than the plans I make for myself. So I look forward to what He has in store for me when I return, even though I am getting a bit sad about leaving!



I promise I will add photos later. For now, you'll have to look at them here.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

GRANDISIMA

I have grown very accustomed to hearing comments about my height. I don't know if I've ever gone a whole day in my life without hearing some sort of reference to it. Well, maybe before I had my growth spurt. Anyway, that being said, I expected no less here in Spain. And I was not incorrect in my assumptions.

Now, in the states, people usually come up to me and say, "How tall are you?" or some direct question about my height. Or they will whisper, "she's so tall!" to their friends. Sometimes causing their friends to turn around and stare also while they are walking by. Whatever. I'm used to it. Mostly its just amusing. Those of you who don't normally walk around with me in public may think I'm exaggerating. Those who have been to a mall, etc., with me know that this is the honest truth.

Again, this just doesn't really bother me. I'm used to it. Plus, honestly, when I see someone tall, I am kind of fascinated too. The word "tall" has no bad stigmas attached to it. Well none that I'm aware of or bothered by anyway. But things are a little different here in Spain.

In Spain, I still get plenty of comments regarding my height. But they just don't have quite the same innocent sentiment that they do in English. First of all there's the difference in language and terminology, second there's the difference in where the comments are coming from.

In English, I'll hear someone quietly say, "oh gee, she's awfully tall..." In Spanish, what I usually hear is "¡¡¡GRANDE!!!" or some variation of that. Literally, "BIG!" Now, I've never had any insecurities or problems with my weight. Someone could tell me to my face that they thought I was fat and I'd laugh at them and not think about it again. But I don't like being referred to as "big." This has a very different connotation from either "tall" or "fat." "Big" makes me feel like a man. Or an ogre. Or some horrible monster. hahahah That may be an exaggeration. A little one.

I still just laugh when someone says that, but it's just not quite as entertaining or amusing here. I was talking to one of my professors about this the other day. He said, "yeah, but you're not grande." Exactly, so why do they say that. Anyway, besides this difference, there is the difference in the source of the comments. Sometimes I will hear something from a woman, if I am talking to her. Like in my class at the elementary school, there was a substitute yesterday. And she said, "how grande you are!" That's fine, I just smiled and we went on our merry way. But other than that, I have never heard comments from random strange women on the street.

Now men....that's another story entirely. Spanish men are not known for their subtlety or consideration. I should take that back, there are a lot of considerate Spanish men I'm certain. But for the most part, they are very assertive and confident and to-the-point. One of the warnings CIEE gave us before we came was to not be surprised by comments from random men on the street. They just like to cat-call, "piropos" in Spanish. Very common. Most girls get comments about their blonde hair, or their nice butt, or the fact that they are a foreigner, a "guiri." I don't actually get that many comments. In fact, there's this group of guys that stand on the corner of one of the streets we walk by every Tuesday and Thursday on our way to teach our English classes (I think they're selling lottery tickets? They love their lottery here.) The girls said that when they walk to school with me this group of guys usually leaves them alone. But when the girls go alone they get more comments (apparently they really do thing I'm a grande monster and they're scared to say anything most of the time). Pretty hilarious. Anyway, when I do get comments, its about my height. No surprise. "¡Qué grande!" or "¡Qué grande mujer!" I just chuckle to myself and keep going.

But then today happened. I was walking to Plaza Nueva to meet Ale for a coffee. The road I take has some construction on it and the sidewalks are closed off. So you have to actually walk in the street to get by. Now, you're not supposed to do this. But no one walks all the way around the construction. So I was following this guy on the road when a big white utility van came from the opposite direction. I hear "¡¡¡¡¡QUÉ GRANDE!!!!!!" as it goes past. And the guy in front of me looks back to figure out what the comment was all about. Because it obviously wasn't about him, he was rather short. He started chuckling when he saw me and looked at me sort of apologetically like, "eh, what are you gonna do?!" I was laughing too. And continued laughing for a while. This story just doesn't sound as funny in writing, but it was pretty hilarious to me.

Anyway, that's the story of my grande-ness. To give you an idea of the piropos from Spanish men, here's a video. Gerardo either helped make this video or at least knows the director. He is going to be working with him on his next short. Anyway, its hilarious. It's all in Spanish, so most of you won't understand it (I don't understand it all either-these are not words nor phrases that you learn in class...or that you ever want to hear spoken to you). But all you need to know is that the guy is yelling really crude things to a girl walking by. Just watch it til the end....that's the important part. I'm sure you can figure out what's going on without understanding the language. And understand that this is an exaggeration of the Spanish men. But not much of a stretch...

Saturday, November 27, 2010

crank it up!!!

Seriously. Turn your speakers up. All the way up.


So beautiful. My favorite Christmas song and one of my favorite voices. I might listen to this on repeat until New Year's.






Also, I stumbled upon this while searching for the Josh Groban video. It's almost as good.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Thankful

It was really weird being here on Thanksgiving. Mostly because it wasn't actually as weird as I feel like it should have been. As I've mentioned before, I feel like I'm in a time warp or something. It just doesn't seem like the holiday season since I'm away from everything I'm used to. There are Christmas lights up on the streets (although I have yet to see them actually lit up) and some decorations in stores. The weather is colder. I've listened to some Christmas music on my iPod (I love you, Josh Groban.). But I just can't get that holiday feeling.

So I knew it was Thanksgiving, but I didn't feel like it was Thanksgiving. Although turkey and stuffing and pumpkin pie did sound delicious, it wasn't like I was absolutely needing it. Since they don't celebrate the holiday here, we of course had school and teaching and every thing else, so they day was just like any other normal day.

After getting home from my last class, I got to skype with the whole family. Mom, dad, brother, sister, brother-in-law and sister-in-law, niece, grandma, John. Lovely! Got to catch up with the fam, see Sierra sing her ABC's, get lots of love from everyone. Again, if I had felt more Thanksgiving-y that probably would have made me more emotional. But it was just nice to talk to everyone all at the same time!

CIEE had organized a big Thanksgiving dinner for us at a big hotel in town. (p.s. just this very second a Christmas song came on my iPod. Again, I love you, Josh Groban.). The event was "invitation only" and you had to have your invitation to get in. Of course everyone from CIEE was invited. But it was a big deal. One day last week our director, Caro, asked me if I was going to wear a dress to the dinner. I thought that was an odd thing and said, uhhh I don't know! She acted all surprised and said, well isn't it an important holiday? I guess....I've never dressed up for Thanksgiving before, but anyone that knows me well knows that I will take any opportunity to dress up. So I told the girls that apparently we were supposed to dress up for this thing! I had bought a little black dress in Lisbon that I hadn't yet had an opportunity to wear, so I decided this would be the perfect time. I worried that maybe that dress was too fancy, but after hearing other CIEE'ers and staff talk about it, I figured it would be just perfect.

Good thing Caro had said something, because it was quite fancy. Suits and ties and pretty dresses. And the random pair of jeans worn by those who hadn't been told that this was a formal thing. Anyway, we all got dressed up (Sarah, Sofie and I) and headed to the hotel. When we got there, there were a LOT of people. Our professors (minus Joaquin :( apparently the University professors weren't invited!) and even the teachers from our school where the 6 of us teach classes were there. All dressed up in their Sunday best! After saying hi to our teachers, we wandered in and took off our coats. Then we found the beer....and the hors d’oeuvres. They weren't really that great, but they were fancy. So we enjoyed it. Then all of a sudden the mob of people started flooding out of the mingle-room. Time for dinner apparently. So we found seats (by our friend Pari, an 18-year-old Canadian gap-year student who we met in Granada) and waited for the deliciousness.

fancy hors d'ouevres





On our way to find a table, we ran into our psychology professor, Frank. I will have to make a post later on all my professors. I love them all. Anyway, Frank is great. He is so funny and fun and smart. I think he'd had a couple of drinks already....he was so excited to see us and kept saying "GUAPAS!!!!!" after giving us besitos (since that may not make any sense, I'll translate. He kept calling us "beautiful" after the traditional cheek-kiss greeting.). After that, we found our table and sat down. Things started off really well. They came by and poured us a glass of wine. And our little waiter guy was adorable and smiley. Then it was time to go get food. Or so we assumed after seeing people flooding out of our area again (how did they know?!?!?!). We went to a buffet line for salad. I'm serious. An entire buffet line of salad. Green salad with garbanzo beans, pickled beets, carrots, corn, other random toppings. And some pasta salad. I got a little pasta salad but not much else. I wanted to save room for the good stuff.


lovely centerpieces.

pasta salad. and a raisin.


I should have got some salad...After eating our salad, and finishing off our glass of wine, we sat around chatting. And waiting for more wine. Which never came. One glass, people?! I needed more than that to get through the rest of the meal. (I may look like an alcoholic...I swear I'm not. Although I have drank more alcohol here in 3 months than I have I think in my entire life). We ate our bread, talked with Pari's 18-year-old guy friends in her gap year program. ("I never would have guessed you were 26! You don't look it!!!" Uhhhhh thanks? Is 26 really supposed to look that old?!?!!?!) Then came the real food. It look okay enough. A giant turkey leg, some mashed potatoes and some veggies (carrots, peas and cauliflower). So there was no stuffing or gravy. That's okay, turkey and mashed potatoes are a good start!

No more wine?! :(

But then I took a bite. Now, it wasn't terrible. I mean, I ate almost all of it. :D But it just wasn't quite right. The turkey was super dry. I'm positive that the mashed potatoes were instant ones. The veggies were like frozen veggies soaked in garlic. But I wanted some turkey and mashed potatoes, gosh darnit, so I ate them. I thought maybe they'd come around with some real Thanksgiving food and be like, "jajajaja (that's how they laugh in Spanish) juuuuuust kidding! Here's the real stuff!" Instead, they brought dessert. And no more wine.

yum...?


Sofie's not too excited about this food...

The one good part of the meal: bread. Note the thumb's up!


Now, I've developed quite a sweet tooth here. So I was excited for dessert. And it was an apple tart-type thing. Which made me even more excited since I love fruity desserts. It was a lovely apply tart on some sort of bright green sauce. Interesting. I took a timid bite. It tasted like what I could only describe as sawdust. There were in fact some shavings of some sort on it that closely resembled sawdust. One of the guys at our table later mentioned that he thought it tasted like pencil shavings, which is definitely more correct. Buuut I still ate it. (What is wrong with me?!?!). Our lovely Frank came over to our table after dessert and asked us how things were. We just said there wasn't enough wine. Apparently that's because all the professors got it. He said, "I got two bottles!!!!! I mean, our table did..." haaaahhahahah suuuure Frank. He told us to come over to his table if we wanted more. But we mostly were ready to leave. So we said goodbye to everyone and headed home.


Apple tart with a side of pencil shavings.


I am very grateful for CIEE putting this together for us. It was a wonderful thought and I'm sure took a lot of work to put together. And it really was fun. We got to mingle and talk and see everyone all dressed fancy. And I have so many other things to be Thankful for that I couldn't really complain. Here are some of those things: my amazing family, my health, the health of my loved ones (especially grateful for how well momma is doing!), my wonderful friends at home and here in Spain, the opportunities God has given me, including being here in Spain; the random scholarship that showed up in my PSU account; my living situation when I get back; the experiences God has blessed me with, both here and at home; the resources I have been given to be able to do things like study abroad; the love, peace, hope and joy that I have in Christ...so many more. But those are on the top of the list. The list that continues to grow day by day and year by year. Of course not everything is perfect, just like not all meals are perfect. But there's always the churros con chocolate to look forward to in the future :) Thank you Jesus for all you have blessed me with! I am beyond grateful!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

food, part 2

So I've eaten some really good food here. The soup/stew/whatever that my señora makes regularly is amazing. Its always some combination of beans (usually garbanzo), mushy veggies and meat-based broth. Its like heaven-mush. She also makes some amazing chicken. I've had some good tapas when we eat out, including patatas bravas (potatoes with some sort of sauce on them), gazpacho, etc.

I've also eaten some weird food here. Mostly the seafood that my señora makes from time to time. Sometimes I have no idea what it is but I eat it anyway. Like the sea-snail things. And the squid eggs that we ate with Gerardo. I've also eaten plenty of mystery meat. Its all amazing, but I have no idea what kind of meat it is or where on the animal it came from.

Then there's the bad stuff. For the first time I said no to trying something at home the other day. It was oysters. Giant ones. I couldn't make myself do it. She also likes to put onions on my salads which I could definitely do without. She also puts pickled beets on my salads. Which is fine, I can eat them when they are sliced so tiny and mixed with other stuff. But the other day she just gave me a plate of giant sliced pickled beets with onions. I couldn't eat it. They taste like dirt.

But all of this is nothing when compared to the soup I was given a week or so ago. I sat down for dinner like usual. And there was a bowl of soup, like usual. With some veggies and bread and yogurt on the side. Again, like usual. Now, normally the soup I get is like some sort of veggie puree. I don't usually know exactly what it is but it is some vegetable-y goodness. This time though, something was off. The soup was a creamy white color with blobs of something tannish. There have been a couple of times where she plops a piece of bread in the soup. I don't know why, but apparently she decides it just needs something else. So whatever, the tan blobs i figured out. I took a timid bite of the white mushy-ness and it wasn't horrible. But it wasn't really that good either. The texture was kind of weird, the flavor was odd, there was soggy bread in it...After another tiny bite or two, she said, "Do you like the soup?" I was like, "uhh, yeah." She said, "Es sopa de mayonaisa..." I think you can figure out what that translates to. Mayonnaise soup. SERIOUSLY?!?!! If you can imagine combining mayonnaise (which is made with oil, if you didn't know) and like milk or cream or something (which doesn't mix very well with oil), you can imagine the consistency of this soup. Bleh gives me the goosebumps just imagining it. I couldn't eat any more. I ate all the potatoes and green beans. And the whole thing of bread. And the yogurt. And then said, "umm, I wasn't very hungry tonight." So she flushed the mayonnaise soup down the toilet and that was that.

And this is why you shouldn't try to figure out what you're eating.

But then there are times when it turns out just fine. I don't eat out very often here. I love Angeles's cooking and love not having to pay for food. Well, I paid thousands of dollars for this food actually. So I'm taking full advantage of it. But sometimes I want to go eat out and see what the food is like here, besides the food Angeles makes. Well, last Friday we had an opportunity to do just that. We went on a "field trip" with our Teaching Development group. The five us us (minus Charlotte, since she was in Rome. Poor thing.) went to Huelva (about 45 minutes from here) with our professor Jorge and a "teach in Spain" girl, Natalia. Natalia works at this school in Huelva 12 hours a week helping teach English in a variety of classes. We visited the school, observed a class, hung out with some teachers. Then we went to lunch. On CIEE's dime. Natalia had got some recommendations from some of the teachers at the school, so we went to a pretty nice restaurant in Huelva. It was pretty expensive, but hey, we weren't paying....We got some appetizers, the waiter's recommendations. Which consisted of some artichokey-hammy thing. And some sea bass. If you've never had sea bass before, go try it. Immediately. It doesn't even taste like fish. Oh. so. good. Then we all ordered our meals. I ordered some sort of meat. Some things we see commonly on the menu are "solomillo," "lomo," "pluma," and other things I don't remember. I don't know what any of those things are. I think I ordered solomillo if I remember correctly. I didn't really know what it was but I think its sirloin or something. If that exists in pork meat. Whatever, it was amazing. Huelva is known for its seafood, but I didn't feel like getting any fish. So I stuck with the red meat. They brought it out and had me slice into it and tell them if it was done enough. Which it wasn't. I'm pretty sure pork isn't supposed to be pink...or maybe it was beef. I don't know. So anyway, they cooked it some more and brought it back. So worth the wait. It was tender and seasoned perfectly and kind of crispy on the outside. And came with potatoes and peppers. You'd think that was enough. A couple beers, some delicious appetizers, amazing meal. But then there was dessert. They brought us a plate of 4 different kinds of chocolatey desserts. Each one of them was better than the last. Oh but that wasn't it. Next was a shot of basically pure caramel. Our waiter brought us a round of "chupitos"(shots) of some sort of caramelly alcohol. Not exactly sure what it was, but it was so sweet and syrupy and alcoholy....After 2 beers and a shot, I was feeling pretty good. At 3pm. But then our professor decided another shot was in order. Sooooo he ordered another round. Love Spain. So then we all stumbled back to the bus and came back to Sevilla. One of the best meals I've had in Spain!

So, you've seen some of the good, the bad and the ugly that I've had here. I'm sure this won't be my last post about food. I do wish I had some photos to add to this. But usually I'm so excited to eat that I can't wait and take photos first before I dig in. Sooo you'll just have to imagine it :)

There are still some things I want to try while I'm here. Including bull tail, everyone says its delicious. And some real paella. Some more jamón ibérico. More tapas. More helado. More tea. Oh tea. I'm in love with it. I will definitely be addicted when I get back and the first thing I want to do is scope out a tea shop to hang out in in Portland. After getting some sushi...

food...

Most of you know that I love food. I've never been a picky eater, which has definitely been a blessing since I've been here. I've tried food I never would have at home. Food I didn't even recognize. But usually I just eat it and don't ask questions. It's better that way. Trust me. Because when you do ask questions..........

Just don't. I'll explain shortly.

First of all, let me tell you about my eating schedule. Every morning when I get up, Angeles hears me rustling around and gets up to make me coffee and toast. She sets the table the night before, setting out dishes and utensils and cereal and fruit. And milk. Yes, you heard correctly. She sets the milk out the night before. Took me a while to get used to. Apparently they don't like cold milk here. So she microwaves my coffee and toasts my toast, sets out the spread for me and then she goes back to bed. I've never been a big breakfast-eater. So cereal, fruit, two pieces of toast and coffee is quite a lot for me. Sometimes I eat it all...sometimes I don't. For some reason, I find it impossible to tell her when I don't like or don't want something. So sometimes I dump the coffee down the sink if I don't want to drink it. Or I take the toast with me and throw it away later if I can't eat it all. Or if the toast is moldy like it has been the last couple of days....

Later on, I get back home for lunch. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I have a class that gets over at 3pm. Tuesdays and Thursdays I get back home a little after 2pm. Angeles and her family eat lunch at about 3 every day. So some days I get there just as they are finishing and she hops up to get me a bowl of delicious soup or a plate of fish or whatever is on the menu for the day. Other days, I get there a little before everyone else and she dishes me up immediately. Its always a little awkward when I'm getting done eating just as everyone else gets there. But she thinks that because I have to eat breakfast so early, I must be starving when I get home and incapable of waiting for everyone else to get there for lunch.

After lunch, I usually head in my room for a siesta. Whether this means an actual nap or chatting with family or doing homework, depends on the day. Then its either off to class again or I'm done for the day. Next comes dinner. I'm usually in my room when I hear her rustling about in the kitchen. After a while I hear "Emy, si quieres! La cena!" So I head out to the living room to eat. For dinner, she sets my food out in the living room not the dining room. So we sit there watching telenovelas together while I eat. Then, either when I'm done eating or when the show is over, I head back to my room to work on more homework.

In Spain, they have one of the greatest inventions ever. It is called a "mesa-camilla" or something of the sort. Literally it means "table-bed." This fantastic invention is a basic table, that is covered with thick, long table cloths that fall to the ground. Underneath, you find a heater. That's right, a heater. So you sit at the table, put the tablecloths over your legs, and get nice and toasty warm. Then you eat and you are so happy and full and warm that you fall asleep on the table. Or something like that. Anyway, its a fantastic idea. Everyone should have one.

Well....since this post is already long enough, and there is so much more food-related information to share, I'm going to call it good for now. Look for a "food, part 2" post. Complete with why you shouldn't ask what you're eating.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

XWAKÍN

Due to a request from grandma, here's an update on my teaching experience thus far! :)

So I've had two weeks of actual "teaching" so far, two times in each of my two classes. The teachers that I work with are so sweet and encouraging and they are fantastic teachers. And of course I love all of my students. There are the trouble makers, the cryers, the quiet ones, the loud ones...and I love them all equally!

Teaching any class for the first time, or any class at all, is difficult. But when you are teaching in a language that the students don't speak or understand, its nearly impossible. I am trying to come up with fun and creative things for the kids to do. But if it requires any verbal explanation of any sort, it won't work because they just don't get it.

Besides the fact that these kids are four years old and have endless energy, and that they don't want to quit talking long enough to listen, I'm just not that great at "classroom management." I'm not very loud and just always have a hard time getting a class to quiet down and pay attention to me. But I'm not worried, I'll learn my tricks and get it figured out :)

But until that happens....things can be a bit chaotic. Things have gone pretty well overall, although it gets a bit noisy at times. But we mostly just have fun and learn about bees and frogs and flowers.

The first day of teaching, I did an activity where the kids had to put stickers on a flower picture. Well, I probably should have given some more direction with this. After the finished putting the stickers on the paper, they decided they wanted some stickers on their shirts. Then on their faces. Then on the tables and floor and wall...I felt pretty bad when we were all done, both for the parents and for the janitors. There was kind of a mess for both parties to clean up. The next class, I told them the stickers were ONLY for the paper, so things went much smoother. I didn't actually think they would obey but they did really well. Except for the student who hid their extra stickers in their backpack to take home. The teacher called me over laughing while they were playing and showed me the stickers in the student's bag that she had discovered while putting a letter to the parents in it. At least they liked it...?

This past week was a different lesson. I don't have as much freedom in my lesson plans as I had thought I would, as they pretty much want me to stick with the plans in the activity book they use. But I have managed to take the plans and change them a little to make them more fun or easier to follow. On Thursday my professor came and observed my class and gave me some tips to make things even better for the upcoming week. This professor is amazing and is so good with kids and lesson plans. Definitely an amazing resource to have!

The kids seem to be having fun, even if they aren't paying attention to everything! They still get so excited when I get there and it just makes my heart melt! When I get there at their playtime, they are in the play yard with the younger kids (3-year-olds). There are a couple of the 3-year-olds who just run up to me and grab my hand and want besitos (kisses) and just hang around by me. There is one boy who always asks what class I'm going to that day. When I say the teacher's name he always says "nooo!" and tells me to come to his class. So. precious.

My last week of teaching (a short two weeks from now!), one of my classes will be taped. I'm pretty excited. Not because I want to see myself teaching. Or hear myself singing, as I have to do every class (I can't make myself sing very loud. I don't care that they are 4 years old. I don't want to torture them with my voice). But because I want to have a video of these adorable kids so I can remember them all and the fun I had!

My adorable Pablo still just steals my heart. Although the more time I spend in his class, the more I realize what a little trouble-maker he is. I can't blame him as I can't imagine having to sit through class all day every day when you can't hear or understand anything that is happening. Also, I think he's getting mad at me for not paying as much attention to him since I have to teach the class and not just hang out with him. He still loves to sit on my lap and talk to me, but he has started acting out a little more I think to get more attention. There's also still Sandra who tries to climb up my leg when I tell her I'm not going to pick her up right then. And there's Sergio Bautista and Sergio Cuevas, the little trouble-makers in my Thursday class who just want to talk and get extra smiley faces on their workbook pages. There is Nacho who just wants to be rowdy and fight and doesn't listen when he is reprimanded. Claudia who is beautiful and a know-it-all with a major attitude. Complete with head-shaking and everything. Irene who won't talk to the teachers or me and who cries and cries when her name tag has torn a little bit. Jose Joaqín who is such a beautiful little boy and who is sooooooo preppy I can't even believe it. And all the kids who I don't always remember the names of who just want to come sit by me or hold my hand or give me a shy smile. I adore them all.




Oh yeah, regarding the title. I have a class at the university that I absolutely love. It is Spanish Phonetics and Phonology. It sounds boring. And it could be horribly, dreadfully boring. But my professor is amazing and Sofie and I have a major crush on him. In this class we are learning how to transcribe things phonetically. Basically we are learning another language. For example, our professor's name, Joaquín, spelled phonetically, is [||xwakín||]. We decided we are going to embroider something for him with his named spelled phonetically and give it to him before we leave. Not really, but it would be amazing. Anyway, we go around now practicing pronouncing things and spelling things phonetically. The other day while walking to the colegio where we both teach our English classes, we were pronouncing random words out loud to practice. Reading signs, car makes, etc. And the guy walking in front of us looked back to see what the heck we were doing. I told him we were practicing....then we quickly walked away. Awkward!!!!!! Practice makes perfect, right?!?!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Salam Wa Alaikum

Our trip to Morocco started out just like any other. Except for the fact that we had gone out the night before to celebrate my and Charlotte's birthday and that we had to meet at 7.30am. Beside that, we met at the usual meeting spot, hopped on a bus, headed to Algeciras, caught a ferry, arrived in Ceuta, hopped on another bus, went through customs at the border, drove through Ceuta and finally wound up in Tetuan.

We had a busy three days ahead of us based on the schedule they had handed out. I didn't really know what to expect, but was for some reason imagining that Morocco would be somewhat like Egypt. Desert-y, lots of people, hot, camels...I planned to enjoy all the sights and buy lots of cool Moroccan-y stuff.

When we got to Tetuan (where we would be staying each night), we met our guide for the next two days. He got on the bus and our "guide" that had taken us up to this point said, "We have a problem. Our guide Abdul only speaks Arabic and Swahili." He started going off in both languages and nobody had any idea what he was saying. Obviously this was a joke and he also spoke both English and Spanish, which he used interchangeably during our two days with him, often starting a sentence in one language and finishing in another. We loved Abdul, or Michael Douglas, as he said we could call him due to the "strong" resemblance. We also loved his three wives. Although some of us realized he was joking about that much sooner than others.

Our first stop in Tetuan was a school for training locals in the ways of Muslim art. This art is incredible and intricate and beautiful. It can be seen in the mosques all over Morocco, Egypt, etc. Also in many places in Spain, especially the Alhambra in Granada and the Alcázar here in Sevilla. The tiny patterns and shapes that they carve into woodwork, the amazing things they make out of ceramic, the amazing painting they do....it is all just incredible!

Ceramic artwork. I don't even know how they do it!

After a quick look around at all the amazing student's work, we headed for a little walking tour of Tetuan. We walked through some "medinas" or market/neighborhood areas. After seeing stall after stall of all sorts of Moroccan goodness, we headed to a restaurant for lunch. I'm not gonna lie, I considered the fact that Abdul was taking us into a dark side street to murder us. We were winding through narrower and more vacant streets at each turn. But eventually we made it. We had to stop and wait for the locals to finish their prayers before we could walk by the mosque to our destination. All of a sudden a giant crowd of barefooted men rushed past us, stopping every once in a while to put back on their shoes. After the crowd had dispersed, we went into the restaurant.

Now, I wasn't sure what to expect from Moroccan food. But Abdul had told us we would have couscous and soup for lunch. Two of my favorite things. So I was pretty excited. But if I had known the deliciousness that was to come, I would have probably passed out from excitement. First up was soup. I have eaten a lot of really good soup here in Spain, but this soup may have beat them all. It was a simple noodle-y, broth-y, tiny bit spicy soup. So good. Then came some sort of meat on a skewer. Not sure what kind it was, but it was very well-cooked and had all kinds of spices on it that made it deeelicious. Then it was time for the couscous. I've never seen so much couscous before. It was a GIANT platter piled sky-high with couscous, carrots, zucchini, garbanzo beans, cabbage, and I swear a whole chicken buried in there. I could have literally eaten the entire platter. But I held back because next was some fresh delicious mandarin oranges, suuuuuuper sweet mint tea, and an assortment of delicious cookies. I was in food heaven. After watching a belly-dancer and a man who flung fire around, we headed out to explore more of Tetuan.

COUSCOUS.

Tetuan is a big city, full of people. The markets areas that we went to are not visited by many other tourists. They are full of people selling things they have made or are in the process of making (people weaving and sewing right in their little storefront). There are people there buying whatever they need for the day or the week. There are people selling things on the street illegally, without a permit. Then there are cops who come and bust them and start chasing the sellers through the crowd while they are dragging their goods behind them on a tarp. It's really all just quite beautiful, in a very non-traditional sort of way.

Every once in a while while wandering around, Abdul would stop at a buddy's stall and show us some of his goods, explaining what this spice was good for, or what that dye was used for, or who used those garments. And every once in a while, he would be stopped by buddies calling him Michael Douglas and chatting for a bit after the traditional Moroccan handshake-a normal handshake but then they put their right hand over their heart as if to say that the person is in their heart. Love it. After seeing what must have been hundreds of stalls and walking down probably hundreds of little streets, we went to a tannery to see where they tan and process the leather. I was imagining a big factory, but it was basically just some holes in the ground filled with different chemicals. And animal hides hanging all over. From there, we went to a store where they sold all kinds of leather goods as well as many other souvenirs. We spent some time bartering for things (I bought a purse...which I haven't used yet because it smells like a dead animal. Which makes sense as that is what it is made out of...) and then headed for the hotel.

Adbul claims that there are something like 1800 streets in this part of the city. Which would make it incredibly easy to get lost. To never be found again, since there is no way one could communicate in Arabic without having studied the language. (Although fortunately seemingly everyone in Morocco speaks Spanish. It was pretty refreshing to have people resort to Spanish to communicate with us rather than English!). Because of the distinct and horrifying possibility of getting so hopelessly lost, we had what seemed like a hundred "helper-guides." Or security guards. Whatever you want to call them. There were actually only 2 or 3 of them. But they were EVERYWHERE. They were incredible. I kept getting a little bit behind most of the group as there were so many people and I was too polite to push through them or to stop them from getting in front of me. But the second I'd think I was lost (or even if I could see the group right ahead of me), one of the guides (usually Aziz) would be inexplicably right by my side telling me where to go. Or pushing people out of my way. Whatever it took. I eventually pretty much quit worrying about sticking right behind the group because I knew they would be right there to direct me or to beat off anyone who tried to touch/steal from me. (I'm not actually certain they would have done that, but feel like they basically would have done anything to keep us safe and happy).

The streets of Tetuan.

The tannery. And Michael Douglas.

After saying goodbye to our lovely body guards, we headed to the hotel for dinner. Which was kind of gross and consisted of cold fish and cold pasta and cold veggies. But whatever, lunch more than made up for it. After a good night's sleep, we got up early again the next day and headed to Asilah. Asilah is a much smaller town on the coast and is quite beautiful. The buildings are all white and blue, there is a beautiful view of the sea, and it is very peaceful. Except for the rude British tour guide who told us to "let my people go first" (which led to a shopkeeper singing "Let my people go" very dramatically!), and the man with the poor monkey on a chain, the city was absolutely lovely. The shops were all adorable and I got some really cool stuff for suuuper cheap.

Pretty Asilah

Next up was lunch (another DELICIOUS meal) and the Hercules Cave. This is a cave on the sea which is quite pretty but nothing too exciting. But then, it was time for camels. Everyone had been so excited the whole time about maybe getting to ride camels-asking if we could stop every time camels were spotted, talking about how that's all they cared about doing...I thought it might be a fun thing to do but wasn't really going to be that disappointed if it didn't happen. But it did happen! There were four camels to ride (and one baby camel), so we all took turns. The highway was on one side of us, which kind of ruined the ambiance, but on the other side was a cliff leading to the sea. So that kind of made up for it. I was in the last group to go, so after watching everyone gallump around on the camels, I hopped on one. My good friend Ali Baba carried me around in a circle while I was giggling and posing for pictures. It was quite windy on top of my friend the camel, but it was a beautiful view (if I looked to the right, anyway) and a fun little ride. Ali Baba then dumped me off (not literally. but almost.) and we hopped back on the bus, which then took us to Tanger.

La Cueva de Hercules.

:)

In my point of view, Tanger was a waste of time. We didn't actually spend much time there anyway, but there really wasn't anything to see. It was basically a tourist trap full of shops with way over-priced stuff that they wouldn't budge on the prices on. So we walked around, had fun joking with the shopkeepers and calling them out on their high prices, but then it was time to go. Back to the hotel it was for dinner (better this time) and bed.

In the morning, we packed our stuff up and headed to Chefchaouen. We were all pretty tired and I was just expecting another city like those we had already seen. But this was the best of both worlds-the small streets and shops like in Tetuan plus the beauty of Asilah. Plus an amazing countryside surrounding the entire city. We had a little historical tour but then it was time to explore on our own. We wandered around through the little side streets searching for treasures to bring back home. A man came up to me and said he'd take me to his shop to show me some pretty rugs and blankets. So me and a couple other girls followed him. But the farther he took us away from where we had been, the more I questioned my wisdom and decision-making skills. I though again that he was perhaps going to lead us to a quite place to murder us. But eventually we made it to his shop. Where he did have some nice blankets and rugs but nothing I really wanted and nothing that I was willing to pay as much as he wanted for. So we left there and kept wandering around. I found a beautiful blanket in a tiny little shop that was blaring pop music. Sofie and I found some cool bags in giant shop that was never-ending. The owner's son kept following us around turning on lights and showing us where the stairs were as we wound our way through all four or five floors of the shop. We found some amazing spices, some tea, some dried fruit, some cookies...whatever you would want, you could find it in this city. After our free time was up, we headed to lunch (yet another scrumptious meal full of mystery meat and tea!) and then it was sadly time to leave. I could have spent three more days in that city finding all kids of fun things. But we had to make it back to Ceuta in time to catch our ferry. And since the highway on the way was lined with people buying and selling sheep for the festival of Eid (each family sacrifices a sheep to honor Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son), they knew the traffic would be slow. After a little snoozing on the bus, some sheep-selling sights, and going through the border again, we made it to the ferry. Then it was heading for home! We made it back at about 11pm, exhausted and smelling like Morocco.

So beautiful.

Village laundromat

Need a sheep?


My favorite thing about traveling is experiencing other cultures and seeing how other people in other lands live. For this reason, I love traveling to places that are drastically different from the culture I am accustomed to. Morocco certainly fit the bill. I loved the overly crowded streets, the call to prayer that is sounded 5 times daily in accordance with Muslim tradition, the smell of spices and animals and people, the super-sweet tea, the language of which I have not even an inkling of understanding, the white-white buildings with blue-blue walls, the dress of the locals, the beautiful handshake, the camels, the small but observable customs and traditions, the warmth of the people, the traditional greeting Salam Wa Alaikum (peace be upon you)...

There are some things about Morocco that I will probably forget after a while. Like the hours spent in a bus that constantly made me carsick, the annoyance at the tourist-ness of Tanger...But then there are the things that I think and hope that I will always remember. The smell (which will probably never come out of some of the things I wore and bought there), the feeling of being so different but so much the same, the incredible food, the conversations with shopkeepers while bartering for their goods...all things that make the difference between a vacation and a cultural experience. There is no point in traveling if all you're looking for is something just like home.

(photos)