For the 1-4th graders, I had them make hand turkeys or turkeys out of toilet paper rolls and write on their feathers what they were thankful for this year. It was really adorable. The kids all were so excited to bring a toilet paper roll from home! :) My favorite teacher helped me explain the story of Thanksgiving to all the 6-9 year olds by having the kids pretend they were the Pilgrims in a big boat. :) It was overall a huge success! When I had them write what they were grateful for, a few of the little kids wrote, "I'm thankful for the Indians for giving us food." SO. ADORABLE!
Then the teachers asked me to teach the high schoolers about Thanksgiving, as well. I figured they already had to know some things about it, and it certainly wouldn't take me 20 minutes to explain the history of it in words they could understand all while repeating each section of the story in twenty different ways. But I obeyed and taught them about it - for all of five minutes.
"So basically we wake up. We watch the Macy's Day Parade. Then we cook. Then we eat lots of food - including turkey and mashed potatoes and stuff. Then, we go to sleep - because we ate a lot and drank a lot. Then we watch football and have dessert. Then we eat more a little later."
They all nodded their heads.
"The first Thanksgiving was in 1621. The year before, over 100 people from England came to America in a boat called the Mayflower. These people were called 'Pilgrims.' When they arrived in Massachusetts that November, they were hungry and did not know much about planting food in the New World. Half of them died the first winter. Eventually, Native American Indians came along and helped the Pilgrims, and within a year they had a large amount of food and had a three day feast to celebrate. In all honesty, the tradition of a harvest feast was nothing new, as it had been a pagan tradition that had dated back hundreds - if not thousands - of years. All did not end well, as the Indians did not survive much longer, themselves."
To be honest, I didn't really know any details about Thanksgiving until Monday morning, when I got on the computer and started researching it so I could tell my 1st graders all about it without giving them incorrect information. >_< I told my high schoolers this and they laughed. I did, too. It takes coming to a foreign country to start learning about my own! I feel like this is actually not that strange... when you're in your own language and culture, you don't think about these things.
After my five minute explanation was done, I switched to a topic I knew they'd find far more facinating: Black Friday.
As I guessed, they loved it.
I told them all about it, what it was like and told them about my most successful Black Friday experience with my grandma back in 2007 (omg that sounds soooo long ago, but it doesn't feel like it was very long ago AT ALL!). I pulled up a video of shoppers at Target on a Black Friday a few years ago as they ran into the store when it opened at 4 am, screaming and hollering. I also pulled up the Black Friday 2012 deals. They were speechless! They'd never heard of such a thing! At first I thought they were judging me and my culture. "Oh those Americans. How materialistic can you get!?" And so I asked them how they thought something like this would go over in Spain.
"Oh, it'd never work out."
I asked them why not, a little upset by their answer.
"Because we're not as nice here in Spain! Way more people would get injured. People would go crazy. They'd love it. They'd push people around and tons of people would have to go to the hospital. The stores here just aren't big enough for that sort of thing, and people aren't level-headed enough, nor do they have enough manners!"
Haha! They all then said they wondered if they'd have enough time if they caught a plane RIGHT after school to get to America for the sales! Ha! :) They couldn't believe how cheap iPads and iPhones were going to be - plus all the video games and other electronics. They were totally into it. :) WIN!
Along with it, I showed them some videos from the Macy's Day Parade and an eight minute clip from the best moments from "Friends" during their Thanksgiving Day episodes. :) 'Cause I'm awesome like that!
Sometimes, just sometimes, I feel like I'm a pretty cool teacher. Who else would have taken an hour to teach high school kids about Black Friday? Who else would have pulled up crazy Youtube videos and drawn out a sample Black Friday Strategy Map for them? Who else would have pulled up the latest ads and shopped through them with the students? Who else would have googled "Wal-mart shoppers" and shown them the type of people who sometimes frequent Wal-mart and why it has such a funny/awful reputation (kids here have never heard of Wal-mart - SO WEIRD!!).
I'm not sure how much ENGLISH I'm teaching these kids, per-say. We don't go over grammar, verb tenses. I don't generally correct them when they talk and I don't do workbook or textbook stuff with them. I don't make them talk if they don't want to and I never test their comprehension of what I'm telling them about. But I do introduce them to some pretty culturally relavent things - things nobody else has ever (or would ever!) tell them. I'm real with them and make each class in which I'm in charge of the lesson for the day fun and like an open conversation. I'm always bubbly and excited and I tell jokes and I do little dances. I try to show them the type of things I wish my Spanish teachers would have shown me when I was in Spanish classes. I try to be the kind of native language conversation teacher I'd have loved to have when I was 16.
I guess I'm going off my own, personal philosophy that if you can get students interested in the culture of the language they're learning... if you can get them giggling and singing... if you can shock them and tell them interesting and weird things that nobody else would tell them... if you can be passionate about your own culture and the oddities that make it so cool and unique... well then maybe you can add a little motivation towards the language that they otherwise never would have had. If you can relate things to their own life and age group... if you can show them things that make America look cool... if you can talk with them like they're on your level... maybe it will make the language seem less "foreign" and more fun.
Last summer, L would tell me about her English teachers when she was younger in Romania. How they were so nice and so fun and make her really enjoy learning English. When she told me about them, I knew I wanted to be one of those teachers. One of those teachers who you look back on and say, "Wow! They really taught me some culturally relevant stuff that none of my textbooks or teachers even knew about. Knowing how to form the subjunctive versus knowing what Wal-mart is, what stereotypical Wal-mart shoppers are like and where to get the best deals on Black Friday in America? Knowing the top internet memes, the viral Youtube videos from the past few years, the newest music, the funniest TV shows, etc.? The subjunctive will not win you any friends. The other stuff? You walk up to any cool American with your cute little Spanish accent and start carry on a conversation about any of those things and you will have instantly just won yourself some friends."
XOXO
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Day 79: Tango
I skipped last week's lesson, which made me question my desire to continue with tango lessons. Beginner level is too easy for me -- the reason I love partner dancing so much is the challenge of it all. I want to always be on my toes (literally and figuratively!). It's completely mentally stimulating and makes my brain and my body work as a closely-knit team, all while testing my ability to surrender control completely. Ah - it's brilliant fun!
(Can you tell I've been teaching from a British text book? These damn phrases are starting to rub off on me...)
Thankfully, tonight's class was awesome. :) I got to dance with the student helper from the advanced classes a ton, and also with Julio, who's my favorite person to dance with in the class, because he is the only one with a solid, great connection and lead. I usually don't like dancing with the student helper because his lead is so vague, but tonight he started playing around with the steps on me and I couldn't get enough. The most amazing part of partner dance is when the lead starts to clearly test you. They'll throw step after step at you, seeing if you can decipher it, seeing if you can keep up, seeing how much you're truly following them versus trying to guess what's about to happen.
For the most part, I did wonderfully, and he noticed. This guy is probably younger than me, completely silent and stoic, and I can't quite figure out why he's a dancer. But then, lots of good dancers I've known are the quiet, awkward type... so... Anyway, at one point he actually nodded and smiled when I followed him correctly on a step I'd never been taught. Hell. Yes. We continued dancing and inevitably I did a step wrong. I looked up to giggle at him and shrug, but he immediately said, "Oh - my bad! That was an advanced step. Sorry." I politely informed him that I wouldn't mind at all if he'd like to continue doing advanced steps and throwing me off a bit, because these six steps that we've been taught are beginning to bore me. He giggled nervously and went back to the basic. ARG. >_<
Anyway, I left tango class feeling invigorated as usual. :) No way I'm quitting my Tuesday ritual. Partner dancing is one of those things I just adore and stimulates and challenges and awes me. Maybe in January I'll start taking two lessons a week so that I can start taking intermediate classes with Julio. I rather dance classes be ridiculously too hard for me than ridiculously too easy... ;)
XOXO
(Can you tell I've been teaching from a British text book? These damn phrases are starting to rub off on me...)
Thankfully, tonight's class was awesome. :) I got to dance with the student helper from the advanced classes a ton, and also with Julio, who's my favorite person to dance with in the class, because he is the only one with a solid, great connection and lead. I usually don't like dancing with the student helper because his lead is so vague, but tonight he started playing around with the steps on me and I couldn't get enough. The most amazing part of partner dance is when the lead starts to clearly test you. They'll throw step after step at you, seeing if you can decipher it, seeing if you can keep up, seeing how much you're truly following them versus trying to guess what's about to happen.
For the most part, I did wonderfully, and he noticed. This guy is probably younger than me, completely silent and stoic, and I can't quite figure out why he's a dancer. But then, lots of good dancers I've known are the quiet, awkward type... so... Anyway, at one point he actually nodded and smiled when I followed him correctly on a step I'd never been taught. Hell. Yes. We continued dancing and inevitably I did a step wrong. I looked up to giggle at him and shrug, but he immediately said, "Oh - my bad! That was an advanced step. Sorry." I politely informed him that I wouldn't mind at all if he'd like to continue doing advanced steps and throwing me off a bit, because these six steps that we've been taught are beginning to bore me. He giggled nervously and went back to the basic. ARG. >_<
Anyway, I left tango class feeling invigorated as usual. :) No way I'm quitting my Tuesday ritual. Partner dancing is one of those things I just adore and stimulates and challenges and awes me. Maybe in January I'll start taking two lessons a week so that I can start taking intermediate classes with Julio. I rather dance classes be ridiculously too hard for me than ridiculously too easy... ;)
XOXO
Day 78: Frenchies!
As soon as I walked through the door, I was greeted by a mini birthday celebration! It was Olivia's birthday - one of my French roommates. :) Gaelle, the other French roomie, made leek quiche for all of us for dinner to celebrate. She also made us an apple tartlette with caramel swirl ice cream and whipped cream for the birthday cake. :) Yummmy!! French food was super yucky when I was actually in France, but these girls made me start to change my opinion on it all. ;) Of course, at this point I would probably embrace any type of cuisine that actually has flavor to it. Freak'n Spanish food...
XOXO
XOXO
Monday, November 19, 2012
Days 76/77: Crayon Blisters
I worked so hard in my 11 hour class on Saturday that I got a big blister on my thumb...
... from coloring with crayons so intensely.
That's right - I colored a few panda bears, I colored door name tags for my roomies, I colored in some doodles, I colored a few giraffes and I even did that thing where you color every color on a sheet of paper and then color over it with a black crayon and then carve a pattern into it!!! It actually turned out amazing, by the way. ;)
Yeah. That was my Saturday. Crayons.
How is this teacher so awful? It's like bordering on impressive she's so bad. Like maybe she's a decoy and they're using her to demonstrate to us how to NEVER be as a teacher?! Brother. >_<
After class Abby and I went on an Oreo mission and watched TV and did an "Oreo Power Hour" with a nice glass of milk. :oD
Sunday was spent doing what we do best - cleaning our room (with a whole other packet of Oreos and a glass of milk!!) and then becoming vegetables in front of our computer screens. Ooooh yeah!! :) We did wake up at 10:30 today (wtf?) and I did make us puffed pancakes and bought us a Rubik's cube to start practicing our cubing skills with... and Abby did do a deep clean of our desk and floor and went on a run... but still... we were pretty GLORIOUSLY lazy. ^_^ I love spending my lazy Sundays with this girl! :)
In good news, I wrote my big Friday blog and wrote a 17 page rough draft of my thesis. Woohoo. ;)
XOXO
... from coloring with crayons so intensely.
That's right - I colored a few panda bears, I colored door name tags for my roomies, I colored in some doodles, I colored a few giraffes and I even did that thing where you color every color on a sheet of paper and then color over it with a black crayon and then carve a pattern into it!!! It actually turned out amazing, by the way. ;)
Yeah. That was my Saturday. Crayons.
How is this teacher so awful? It's like bordering on impressive she's so bad. Like maybe she's a decoy and they're using her to demonstrate to us how to NEVER be as a teacher?! Brother. >_<
After class Abby and I went on an Oreo mission and watched TV and did an "Oreo Power Hour" with a nice glass of milk. :oD
Sunday was spent doing what we do best - cleaning our room (with a whole other packet of Oreos and a glass of milk!!) and then becoming vegetables in front of our computer screens. Ooooh yeah!! :) We did wake up at 10:30 today (wtf?) and I did make us puffed pancakes and bought us a Rubik's cube to start practicing our cubing skills with... and Abby did do a deep clean of our desk and floor and went on a run... but still... we were pretty GLORIOUSLY lazy. ^_^ I love spending my lazy Sundays with this girl! :)
In good news, I wrote my big Friday blog and wrote a 17 page rough draft of my thesis. Woohoo. ;)
XOXO
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Day 75: Spanish Mom's Birthday Dinner!
Two Hours of Teaching!
In which the second graders had an English test and the last activity was a listening exercise in which students had to listen to a boy talk about where he lived, what he liked to do and who is favorite soccer team was. The two choices on the test? Manchester United and Chelsea!! All of the kids circled "Chelsea" as the correct answer before the teacher even played the recording.
"No, guys. You have to listen to the BOY on the recording and circle which team HE likes. Not which team YOU like," the teacher told them.
"But everybody likes Chelsea!" half the class hollered.
I was beaming and made a "Hell Yes!" gesture at them out of complete solidarity with their logic.
The teacher played the recording. We all held our breath. As soon as the boy said, "Chelsea is my favorite football team!" the whole class began to cheer!!!!
It was SO adorable!!!
^_^
I walked around the room. Not one kid got the answer to that test question wrong. ;) BA.
My only other class of the day was with the 10th graders, where the idea of a Culture Book was presented to them. Basically, they have to make a book all about Spanish culture and send it to a class in the US, who will make a book about US culture and send it back to them, so that the two classes can compare. Cute idea, but I'm in charge of finding what school we'll send it to in the US and so far I have no idea!! >_<Haha.
Anyway, we were discussing the topics they should cover in pairs and they kept vetoing all of the ideas. "Clothing is totally the same in the US. We don't need to write about that!" the all said. I stared at them.
"ExCUSE me?" I said, incrediously. "We dress like crap in the US, and we're proud of it. The worse you look, the hotter you are. This is like the rule of thumb for teenagers / early 20-somethings - at least from where I come from. You have a baggy hoodie, baggy sweatpants and Ugg boots or flip flops? You're golden. Automatically adorable and trendy. No problem."
They stared at me, confused.
"Oh no, I'm serious. While you guys are in your preppy little uniforms here, people at my high school in your grade are wearing PJ pants and cozy hoodies and slipper-boots. Their hair is up in a greasy bun and they feel attractive and awesome."
They all started to giggle.
"I live with three other American girls here in Spain. Two of them always are European chic, while the other two of us have no problem running to the corner store to pick up milk or cookies in our sweat pants and flip flops and hoodie/PJ shirt with our messy bun or braid. 'Why not!?' we say. 'Who's going to see us? And more importantly, who gives a crap!?' Our other two roommates look on in horror as we walk out the door looking American as heck."
Now they were full-out laughing.
"Here? You guys always look so freak'n adorable. You have your classy leather boots and you're little ballerina flats that never have a scuff on them. You have your perfect little skinny jeans and your cute little leather jackets. You're always wearing a chic scarf and your hair always looks good and tights with dresses or shorts or legwarmers are totally a thing here. It would be flat out annoying if it weren't so endearing."
They started asking if we really didn't dress like that in the US!?
"Well no - not really. Boots are Uggs. Ballerina flats are tennis shoes. Leather jackets make you look like you're from 'Happy Days' and scarfts are big, bulky things you wear in winter. Tights are for ballerinas. But don't get me wrong. We Americans LOVE your European style. We read blogs about it. We study up on it. We want to look EXACTLY LIKE YOU GUYS DO!!!"
Their minds were blown.
Without a doubt.
The next topic was food. They didn't believe it could be that different, but come on, guys. First off - American food is diverse and has FLAVOR... unlike food here!!! Tapas don't exist outside of Spain and a group of boys actually were totally taken aback by this fact *facepalm*. And tortilla? That's a Mexican flour thing used for burritos and fajitas - it's not bits of potato and pepper chopped up and doused in oil and then made into a circle with the help of lots of scrambly eggs mixed in. And how about the infamous "jamon serano," or, Serano Ham. This is a giant, raw (albeit cured) pig leg that lives in your house on a special wooden plank and you slice off a bit at a time each day and eat it. It is a bit like raw, salty, chewy bacon, if you can imagine that...? Haha.
These types of conversations ensued for the remainder of class. The most epic moment in these converstations was, without a bout, the moment a girl asked me if younger people in the US had swag.
O_o
What?!
I asked her if she could repeat the question. This is a girl in class who a) has never spoken and b) looks a ton like Woody's wife Jessi did in 10th grade, so she always makes me giggle. She repeated it and wrote it down. When I saw that I had heard her right I just started laughing and said, "Ohmygod. You are SO awesome!!"She smiled at me like I was nuts. I probably would have, too. Haha!! :oD
The class was actually pretty fun and I was surprised at how much I've grown accustom to Spanish culture in the past 75 days. I actually took some thinking to tell them about American culture and I was surprised myself about how many things were different here than they are where I'm from and lived for 22 years of my life! I've really began to completely adapt to life here and hardly anything seems out of the ordinary any more. o_O
I can see why the reentry was so awful last year. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like for me to go back home now, and last summer I was even more blissfully content than I am now. Suddenly I can see why I was so upset, so bitter, so out of place. It makes perfect sense and I don't fault myself for it anymore like I did. Nobody who's never lived abroad can understand what reentry is like. It's awful. It's beyond awful. Culture shock is expected, but when you go home, suddenly everything you've ever held as The Way Things Are seems all wrong and even the people closest to you can't see it. It feels so lonely and scary and devastating.
Every day that I'm here I miss J and I think about a different memory from living in Portland. Every single day. But then I stopped and thought about it tonight and I thought, "If you had the chance to go back at 88 days, just like you did last summer, would you?"
My answer was an unequivocal, "No." It both surprised me and it didn't.
I was talking to Abby on Saturday night while we were having a few pre-gaming drinks about how now that I thought about it, Portland was really actually awesome, but while I was there, I just was so depressed all the time. I've been thinking about that all week and realized I do that often. I am unsatisfied with where I am, who I'm with, who I am, etc. and then as soon as it's gone, I suddenly see all the good in it. The only time I don't do this is when I'm abroad and on my own. Then I suddenly have a much clearer perspective. I've resolved to go back to my ideology of "One day you'll be nostalgic for now" and live by it. I need to do that. I will always miss something and feel like there is a big hole inside of me - if I didn't, it would only mean that I hadn't lived life to the fullest right before. But that's no reason to taint the present. I missed J when I got to Spain. I missed Spain when I got to J. I miss J now that I'm back in Spain. >_<
And so this week I've tried something different. I've tried to take each memory and moment that pops into my head and would normally make me feel a little sad and nostalgic and I've turned those into little bubbles of happiness that put a smile on my face. Instead of thinking, "What if I never feel that way again? What if I never have that again? What if I never see her again?" I start thinking, "What an amazing life I've had so far! How lucky and blessed I am! Things can only get better - imagine what will happen from here! Who do I want to be and what do I want to have experienced by the next time I see her?!" Now, I look forward to each memory and moment and thought that pops into my head. They all make me smile. They all make me feel loved. They all make me feel lucky.
It's like that Winnie the Pooh quote, "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard!" ^_^ <3
Anyway, after teaching it was time for the second weekend marathon of university classes. Five hours of class later with the Impressively Awful Teacher and I'd (unsurprisingly) learned nothing. I vowed to bring crayons to class the next day so I'd have something to do. Sheesh.
The really exciting part of my Friday though, really got underway after 9 pm. :)
Earlier in the week my Spanish mom had txted me to invite me to her birthday dinner at home. I was so excited to go and to see everyone that I could hardly contain myself! I got on Pinterest and found the perfect project and worked on it instead of eating lunch. Even though I got out of class later than I'd expected, I still made it to the bus stop on time and was at their front door right around 9:30 (I'm never on time and they plan for that, I think, by now)!! I did a little squeal when I rang the doorbell, feeling like I was home (adorable). <3 I hadn't seen everyone since the weekend of their anniversary party in Segovia and I hadn't been home in over a month!
I walked in the door and was bombarded with kisses and hugs! <3 Yay!! Everyone was dressed up all cute and the table was set in a festive way. As it turned out, we were having fondue for dinner!!! The kind where you put raw meet in the fondue pot and it cooks and you dip it in a bunch of yummy sauces. :) Jen and I felt like we were at the Melting Pot - which is where I went for MY birthday! :) We had a yummy dinner and two different cakes, all the while having really funny conversations!! The best conversation topic was definitely when somebody brought up cocaine tea from Peru! My madre started talking about how she'd tried it and it really wasn't that big of a deal and I could not stop laughing!!! ^_^ Jesus made some comment under his breath and I started giggling at him. He looked up and asked, "You understood that!?" I said, "Yeah... weird, right? I don't know what's happening with my Spanish. It's like I can suddenly understand things for no reason!" Seriously!
After dinner my Spanish mom asked what I was up to for Christmas break. She told me all the kids would be gone so if I wanted "come home for the holidays" they'd love to have me there!! <3 How completely and utterly adorable!!! ^_^ I told her about my plans for my European adventure. I told her how my friend had promised she'd come but how that hadn't worked out and she would be going somewhere with her new boyfriend instead. Cruz stopped me. "Wait, you mean Julia?" I nodded. "But I thought she was gay?" I laughed and said, "Right!?" My madre gave me one of those infamous, exasperated, wtf roll of her eyes and said, "Well then by all means, GO on that trip. Have so much fun you can't stand it. Take as many pictures as you can!" And then, all of a sudden, she did the "FUCK HER!" Spanish arm gesture!!!!!!
I practically peed my pants I was laughing so hard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Being at home with my Spanish family, giggling, eating, drinking and conversing all in Spanish was the best. I love how they make me feel like I really am their daughter. Knowing that I always have somewhere to go here with people who adore me and support me, makes me feel so happy. <3
XOXO
Four Hours of Family Time!
In which
In which the second graders had an English test and the last activity was a listening exercise in which students had to listen to a boy talk about where he lived, what he liked to do and who is favorite soccer team was. The two choices on the test? Manchester United and Chelsea!! All of the kids circled "Chelsea" as the correct answer before the teacher even played the recording.
"No, guys. You have to listen to the BOY on the recording and circle which team HE likes. Not which team YOU like," the teacher told them.
"But everybody likes Chelsea!" half the class hollered.
I was beaming and made a "Hell Yes!" gesture at them out of complete solidarity with their logic.
The teacher played the recording. We all held our breath. As soon as the boy said, "Chelsea is my favorite football team!" the whole class began to cheer!!!!
It was SO adorable!!!
^_^
I walked around the room. Not one kid got the answer to that test question wrong. ;) BA.
My only other class of the day was with the 10th graders, where the idea of a Culture Book was presented to them. Basically, they have to make a book all about Spanish culture and send it to a class in the US, who will make a book about US culture and send it back to them, so that the two classes can compare. Cute idea, but I'm in charge of finding what school we'll send it to in the US and so far I have no idea!! >_<Haha.
Anyway, we were discussing the topics they should cover in pairs and they kept vetoing all of the ideas. "Clothing is totally the same in the US. We don't need to write about that!" the all said. I stared at them.
"ExCUSE me?" I said, incrediously. "We dress like crap in the US, and we're proud of it. The worse you look, the hotter you are. This is like the rule of thumb for teenagers / early 20-somethings - at least from where I come from. You have a baggy hoodie, baggy sweatpants and Ugg boots or flip flops? You're golden. Automatically adorable and trendy. No problem."
They stared at me, confused.
"Oh no, I'm serious. While you guys are in your preppy little uniforms here, people at my high school in your grade are wearing PJ pants and cozy hoodies and slipper-boots. Their hair is up in a greasy bun and they feel attractive and awesome."
They all started to giggle.
"I live with three other American girls here in Spain. Two of them always are European chic, while the other two of us have no problem running to the corner store to pick up milk or cookies in our sweat pants and flip flops and hoodie/PJ shirt with our messy bun or braid. 'Why not!?' we say. 'Who's going to see us? And more importantly, who gives a crap!?' Our other two roommates look on in horror as we walk out the door looking American as heck."
Now they were full-out laughing.
"Here? You guys always look so freak'n adorable. You have your classy leather boots and you're little ballerina flats that never have a scuff on them. You have your perfect little skinny jeans and your cute little leather jackets. You're always wearing a chic scarf and your hair always looks good and tights with dresses or shorts or legwarmers are totally a thing here. It would be flat out annoying if it weren't so endearing."
They started asking if we really didn't dress like that in the US!?
"Well no - not really. Boots are Uggs. Ballerina flats are tennis shoes. Leather jackets make you look like you're from 'Happy Days' and scarfts are big, bulky things you wear in winter. Tights are for ballerinas. But don't get me wrong. We Americans LOVE your European style. We read blogs about it. We study up on it. We want to look EXACTLY LIKE YOU GUYS DO!!!"
Their minds were blown.
Without a doubt.
The next topic was food. They didn't believe it could be that different, but come on, guys. First off - American food is diverse and has FLAVOR... unlike food here!!! Tapas don't exist outside of Spain and a group of boys actually were totally taken aback by this fact *facepalm*. And tortilla? That's a Mexican flour thing used for burritos and fajitas - it's not bits of potato and pepper chopped up and doused in oil and then made into a circle with the help of lots of scrambly eggs mixed in. And how about the infamous "jamon serano," or, Serano Ham. This is a giant, raw (albeit cured) pig leg that lives in your house on a special wooden plank and you slice off a bit at a time each day and eat it. It is a bit like raw, salty, chewy bacon, if you can imagine that...? Haha.
These types of conversations ensued for the remainder of class. The most epic moment in these converstations was, without a bout, the moment a girl asked me if younger people in the US had swag.
O_o
What?!
I asked her if she could repeat the question. This is a girl in class who a) has never spoken and b) looks a ton like Woody's wife Jessi did in 10th grade, so she always makes me giggle. She repeated it and wrote it down. When I saw that I had heard her right I just started laughing and said, "Ohmygod. You are SO awesome!!"She smiled at me like I was nuts. I probably would have, too. Haha!! :oD
The class was actually pretty fun and I was surprised at how much I've grown accustom to Spanish culture in the past 75 days. I actually took some thinking to tell them about American culture and I was surprised myself about how many things were different here than they are where I'm from and lived for 22 years of my life! I've really began to completely adapt to life here and hardly anything seems out of the ordinary any more. o_O
I can see why the reentry was so awful last year. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like for me to go back home now, and last summer I was even more blissfully content than I am now. Suddenly I can see why I was so upset, so bitter, so out of place. It makes perfect sense and I don't fault myself for it anymore like I did. Nobody who's never lived abroad can understand what reentry is like. It's awful. It's beyond awful. Culture shock is expected, but when you go home, suddenly everything you've ever held as The Way Things Are seems all wrong and even the people closest to you can't see it. It feels so lonely and scary and devastating.
Every day that I'm here I miss J and I think about a different memory from living in Portland. Every single day. But then I stopped and thought about it tonight and I thought, "If you had the chance to go back at 88 days, just like you did last summer, would you?"
My answer was an unequivocal, "No." It both surprised me and it didn't.
I was talking to Abby on Saturday night while we were having a few pre-gaming drinks about how now that I thought about it, Portland was really actually awesome, but while I was there, I just was so depressed all the time. I've been thinking about that all week and realized I do that often. I am unsatisfied with where I am, who I'm with, who I am, etc. and then as soon as it's gone, I suddenly see all the good in it. The only time I don't do this is when I'm abroad and on my own. Then I suddenly have a much clearer perspective. I've resolved to go back to my ideology of "One day you'll be nostalgic for now" and live by it. I need to do that. I will always miss something and feel like there is a big hole inside of me - if I didn't, it would only mean that I hadn't lived life to the fullest right before. But that's no reason to taint the present. I missed J when I got to Spain. I missed Spain when I got to J. I miss J now that I'm back in Spain. >_<
And so this week I've tried something different. I've tried to take each memory and moment that pops into my head and would normally make me feel a little sad and nostalgic and I've turned those into little bubbles of happiness that put a smile on my face. Instead of thinking, "What if I never feel that way again? What if I never have that again? What if I never see her again?" I start thinking, "What an amazing life I've had so far! How lucky and blessed I am! Things can only get better - imagine what will happen from here! Who do I want to be and what do I want to have experienced by the next time I see her?!" Now, I look forward to each memory and moment and thought that pops into my head. They all make me smile. They all make me feel loved. They all make me feel lucky.
It's like that Winnie the Pooh quote, "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard!" ^_^ <3
Anyway, after teaching it was time for the second weekend marathon of university classes. Five hours of class later with the Impressively Awful Teacher and I'd (unsurprisingly) learned nothing. I vowed to bring crayons to class the next day so I'd have something to do. Sheesh.
The really exciting part of my Friday though, really got underway after 9 pm. :)
Earlier in the week my Spanish mom had txted me to invite me to her birthday dinner at home. I was so excited to go and to see everyone that I could hardly contain myself! I got on Pinterest and found the perfect project and worked on it instead of eating lunch. Even though I got out of class later than I'd expected, I still made it to the bus stop on time and was at their front door right around 9:30 (I'm never on time and they plan for that, I think, by now)!! I did a little squeal when I rang the doorbell, feeling like I was home (adorable). <3 I hadn't seen everyone since the weekend of their anniversary party in Segovia and I hadn't been home in over a month!
I walked in the door and was bombarded with kisses and hugs! <3 Yay!! Everyone was dressed up all cute and the table was set in a festive way. As it turned out, we were having fondue for dinner!!! The kind where you put raw meet in the fondue pot and it cooks and you dip it in a bunch of yummy sauces. :) Jen and I felt like we were at the Melting Pot - which is where I went for MY birthday! :) We had a yummy dinner and two different cakes, all the while having really funny conversations!! The best conversation topic was definitely when somebody brought up cocaine tea from Peru! My madre started talking about how she'd tried it and it really wasn't that big of a deal and I could not stop laughing!!! ^_^ Jesus made some comment under his breath and I started giggling at him. He looked up and asked, "You understood that!?" I said, "Yeah... weird, right? I don't know what's happening with my Spanish. It's like I can suddenly understand things for no reason!" Seriously!
After dinner my Spanish mom asked what I was up to for Christmas break. She told me all the kids would be gone so if I wanted "come home for the holidays" they'd love to have me there!! <3 How completely and utterly adorable!!! ^_^ I told her about my plans for my European adventure. I told her how my friend had promised she'd come but how that hadn't worked out and she would be going somewhere with her new boyfriend instead. Cruz stopped me. "Wait, you mean Julia?" I nodded. "But I thought she was gay?" I laughed and said, "Right!?" My madre gave me one of those infamous, exasperated, wtf roll of her eyes and said, "Well then by all means, GO on that trip. Have so much fun you can't stand it. Take as many pictures as you can!" And then, all of a sudden, she did the "FUCK HER!" Spanish arm gesture!!!!!!
I practically peed my pants I was laughing so hard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Being at home with my Spanish family, giggling, eating, drinking and conversing all in Spanish was the best. I love how they make me feel like I really am their daughter. Knowing that I always have somewhere to go here with people who adore me and support me, makes me feel so happy. <3
XOXO
Four Hours of Family Time!
In which
Friday, November 16, 2012
Day 73/74: Huelga, etc.
Let's be real, after such an amazing day on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday really had no shot!
On Wednesday it was school as usual, followed by tutoring classes as usual, followed by me realizing the huelga meant to bus ride home, followed by a leisurely night stroll in the moonlight home (sometimes I take a moment to acknowledge how awesome I am - like when I figured out that instead of a bus ride home I'd be walking for an hour, I didn't get upset at all - I merely felt grateful I had tried the walk home a few weeks earlier before daylight savings time kicked in so I knew where to go - hahaha!), followed by a trip to the grocery store for all that pasta that I will be eating for the next week (lol), followed by a quiet night at home with my roomies bffs. :)
Thursday was much the same (only I did have a train to take me home - thank goodness!).
Nothing too exciting, but a nice, calm day after so much adventure!
XOXO
On Wednesday it was school as usual, followed by tutoring classes as usual, followed by me realizing the huelga meant to bus ride home, followed by a leisurely night stroll in the moonlight home (sometimes I take a moment to acknowledge how awesome I am - like when I figured out that instead of a bus ride home I'd be walking for an hour, I didn't get upset at all - I merely felt grateful I had tried the walk home a few weeks earlier before daylight savings time kicked in so I knew where to go - hahaha!), followed by a trip to the grocery store for all that pasta that I will be eating for the next week (lol), followed by a quiet night at home with my roomies bffs. :)
Thursday was much the same (only I did have a train to take me home - thank goodness!).
Nothing too exciting, but a nice, calm day after so much adventure!
XOXO
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Day 72: Dream Day ^_^
Today was amazing.
This is the first blog post I've had this trip that I'm afraid to write, because I'm scared I won't do the day justice. I remember having that feeling a lot last summer while I was here and it frustrated me and made me so happy at the same time. :)
So here goes...
I woke up with enough time to put makeup on and put a little thought into my outfit. :) It was our day off of school to go into Madrid to do our finger prints for our Spanish ID card. Katie and I left around 9:15 and despite some serious freaking out about time, we made it to our appointment 15 minutes early. When we got there, we were greeting by a bit of a bureaucratic shit show. Apparently the others hadn't expected this like I had, because lots of people in our group were pretty complainy about it all. See, our director had really messed up (as usual) and informed us at the last minute a bunch of us needed new photos for our ID picture. While everyone else was pretty butt-hurt about this, I was delighted, as I didn't want my ridiculous looking blonde photograph to be my picture on my official Spanish ID card!!
After we got our photos retaken, our fingerprints done and our paperwork in order, it was time to start our leisurely adventure! After all, we had the day off, the weather was gorgeous and we could do whatever we wanted! And so as our first stop of the day, we decided to have lunch at an American 50's diner, called Peggy Sue's! We had to wait for a bit for it to open up, but once it did, we ran right in. We all ordered cookies 'n cream milkshakes and some yummy American food.
Next, it was off to Retiro Park!! I can't believe I've been here for practically two months and hadn't gone to Retiro before today. I absolutely adore that park - it's so calming and beautiful. Last summer, the long walks, getting lost, having picnics, people watching, exploring, zoning out to my iPod... it was the perfect, blissful place to spend an afternoon or night. <3
The park was no less breathtaking this afternoon. For the first time in weeks, the sun was out and the skies were completely blue. We laid down on the steps overlooking the little pond with the boats and soaked up the warmth while the enchanting sound of a saxophone danced on the water and filled the air. <3 Bliss.
It was honestly one of my infamous moments of, "Oh. My. God. I am in the middle of Madrid, Spain right now with a group of close friends sunbathing on the steps of Retiro Park, being serendaded by an anonymous saxophone. I must be in a movie. This is too amazing."
<3
After a bit the others decided they wanted a more comfy spot to sunbathe and wandered over to a grassy patch. Katie and I, though, wanted to do a little exploring, so we broke off from the others to take a stroll around the park. First, we saw two kitties posing adorably on a big statue. We quickly realized the were the first of many kitties to be spotted in the park (we saw at least 15!!).
First, we walked around the lake and took a few pictures. :)
While Katie stopped to fill her water bottle, I came across the man who had been playing the saxophone so magestically and gave him all the change I had. He was extremely grateful and stopped his song just to thank me. I smiled and thanked him for his music. <3
The saxophone was Conor's instrument. Just say'n.
We continued around the lake and an older gentleman asked if we would take a picture of him in front of the pond. We did and asked for one in return! :)
The park was absolutely gorgeous with the fall foliage and the bright sun shining through the trees and onto the paths made everything feel very surreal and whimsical.
As we were taking a stroll around the park, a man suddenly approached us, asking if we spoke English. We warily responded that we did, and quickly realized that he was a native speaker himself. He asked us if we had time to help him out with a research study he was doing for his graduate degree at Manchester University in England. We glanced at each other and then shook our heads yes. What did we have to lose!? Haha.
The "research" turned out to be seriously strange and oh-so-epic. He told us it was a study about lying and what the face does when it's lying versus telling the truth. What we had to do was this: record each other answering a list of questions about the man who had approached us and about a man who we'd been given a photograph of. The questions were extremely strange and started off innocent enough and then got odder as we kept recording.
First, we had to give our honest opinion of them physically, the answer if we would ever date them, then if we would ever introduce them to our friends and finally if we would ever have "relations" with them. The whole time the man was standing across the way out of hearing range. Katie and I couldn't stop giggling, wondering if this was indeed real research or if we were on some strange version of Candid Camera and what the prank was!?
Just as we thought we were done, he recorded us answering questions about each other:
Man: "What is Chelsea's favorite color?"
Katie: "Um... ALL of them."
Me: *laughing hysterically*
Man: "Uh, no... you have to pick just one."
Katie: "No, you don't understand. You haven't seen her jacket."
Me: *almost peeing my pants laughing*
The questions were all good and fine until he asked us to guess each others' underwear color!?! Without thinking about it, we did (and, may I say, we both got the answer correct). He said there was a study done that suggested questions like that one could really illustrate how close two people were, but I've definitely looked it up since then and am pretty darned sure he made that up.
When we finally were finished with his experiment, we briskly walked away, laughing and asking each other, "Wtf was that all about!?" Hahaha. Katie was a little embarrassed/ashamed. I was just totally amused and felt like I was in some strange, European Twilight Zone. o_O The man seemed so professional and serious that it is almost unfathomable to think that this was some sort of strange prank or something else, but the questions were just so odd that we cannot possibly figure out what kind of graduate research he would honestly be conducting for such a relatively reputable university!? Mystery. Haha.
By the time we finally got back to our friends, they were a bit impatient with us and were happy to finally be able to leave. We explored the park a bit together and came across the Crystal Palace (which was what Katie and I had actually set out to find, but had been so sidetracked by the strange video study thing that we never had a change to find it and go there). The Crystal Palace is just so beautiful - especially with the late afternoon sun shining through all of that glass!!
We continued our walk and came upon a crazy squirrel with some pretty intensely awesome, fuzzy ears! I whipped out my camera and took a bunch of photos of him, as he was just so unique - and brave! The others walked up to him to scare him away, but he just continued eating his bountiful merienda. :) I named him Kramer Squirrel - he just radiated that Seinfeld character's personality SO WELL - and had a nice chat with him before continuing onward. ;)
By this time it was just about 5:30 and everybody was ready to head home - except for me, of course! As I walked them to the train station, Ali called to see if my plan was still on for the night and if she had time
to come into Madrid to join in on the fun. "Duh!" ^_^
While
I waited for her, I decided to journey around the Letters' District -
in the DAYLIGHT for a change! Admittedly, I actually got more lost in
the sunshine than I do when the moon is the only celestial being
lighting my way. I guess I've just been getting much more used to
exploring Madrid at night than in the day time, and everything really
looks a lot different.
The first thing the light showed me that the dark had previous hidden was an adorable little note taped to a pipe on the side of a building. It was written as a sort of "Lost Connections" type letter... I think... if my Spanish serves me right (which, who knows, maybe it's actually a letter about how stupid fold-up bikes are - at least, that's what I thought it was about the first time I read it!?).
After reading the cute note a few times, I set forth to find that cookie shop. I went in a few circles, not remembering where it was and finding the daylight making things oddly more difficult, but at long last I found it and bought ten delicious, mini, homemade cookies! Yummmy!!! ^_^
I continued forth past Sol and up to Callao, towards our meeting spot. On the way I passed my favorite lingerie store - the one with that amazing bra I've practically been having dreams about (Victoria Secret Withdrawals are a real thing for super girly American girls... having one tiny store in a whole country that can serve to quell my cravings if even just for a moment is indispensable to a girl abroad!!). I wandered into the store and the lady asked if I needed any help. I pointed to the dream bra and she smiled and said, "Oh, yes! This is the only one we have left!"
O_O
WHAT?
My budget had given me two weeks to dream about the bra before I could financially afford to consider purchasing it if I was really responsible in all my other matters. But this changed everything. This was no longer children's games.
The lady asked me my size. I said I didn't know. At VS, this would be a signal for them to whip out their tape measure and start groping your upper body, but here in Classy Europe, this is a signal for the lady to stare at you incredulously and wonder how you call yourself a woman. >_< Fail.
"Well, this is an 85, so I think it'll fit you perfectly."
Bahahaha. An 85!? What the heck kind of bra size is that? Where's the letter? Why is the number so large? Huh? It's a great thing I didn't go with telling her what I'd thought my bra size to be. The strange glance she would have given me would have been way longer.
Needless to say, the bra was just as amazing as it had been in my dreams and I am eating nothing but pasta for the next week and a half.
Well worth it. ;)
By this time Ali was in Madrid, so I walked up Gran Via to meet her at the metro stop. Little did I know that the arrival of Ali meant that as wonderful and strange as my day had been up until this point, things were about to get a million times more amazing and weird!!!
The first thing we did was go to my appointment. The appointment I had been looking forward to for forever. The appointment I had made on a whim. The appointment I'd gone to Madrid last Thursday after it was dark at the last minute to set up. The appointment Ali ventured all the way into Madrid at night for. It was totally nerve-racking, and at one point I may or may not have begun to faint, but thanks to Ali's water bottle, pack of cookies and cheerful you-can-do-it attitude, I pulled through! And besides choosing to live in this amazing apartment with these amazing girls, it's the best decision I've made since I got here! ^_^ *in love and awestruck*
After my thirty minutes of rebellion and awesomeness, Ali decided it was her turn. :) We walked up Fuencarral (I LOVE that street!!! ^_^) and found her a piercing shop. Ironically, the same piercing shop in which I purchased my rather *epic* black bird belly button ring last summer that L gave me so much shit for. ;) Ali burst through the doors and asked how much a piercing would be. Twelve euros was definitely cheap enough to persuade her to go for it. I cheered her on as she paid they guy and went back with her. Unlike any piercing I've ever gotten, the guy just let us talk and then, without any warning, just did it. Oww!! >_< Ali squealed and giggled at the same time and I couldn't help but laugh myself. :) Haha! Poor Ali.
Completely hyped up on adrenaline and awesomeness, we went down the main "Hooker Avenue" of Madrid with the destination of PaPizza. :) Ali looked around at all the girls in their tall boots and tiny dresses, mesmerized. She'd never seen anything like it!
As we approached Sol, we were became engulfed in a sea of red flags and banners and quickly realized that we had just found ourselves in the jumping off point for the big "huelga" or, in English, "strike. N14 was the name of the strike and was poised to hit over 20 countries in the EU. People were everywhere, holding up their flags and listening to a speaker on the other side of the plaza. It felt like one of those history-in-the-making moments!
We took a few pictures and took in the scene and then headed for some much needed food.
Over pizza we continued to talk about the girls we had seen on that street moments earlier and we came up with a list of questions: Where do they go? How long do they go for? Do they work for one guy? How do they always look so presentable? Etc.
After dinner, Ali said she wanted to walk back up the street to see it all again. This turned into three strolls up and down the street, taking it all in. Just as we were about to finally leave, we saw a girl getting propositioned. Suddenly, she pulled out her cell phone, made a quick call, lit up a cigarette, and started walking so fast she was practically jogging. The guy followed a few meters behind her.
I looked at Ali. She looked at me. "How badly do you want to follow them right now?" I asked her. "Let's go!" squealed Ali. And we were off.
We walk/jogged on the other side of the street from them, trailing them just a bit. We only had to follow them for thirty seconds because the girl walked up the street, turned the corner and then entered a door marked "4," right next to an Asian buffet and the guy followed!!
Ali and I turned to each other, our jaws dropped. We felt like secret spies. We felt like we had just solved the hugest mystery Madrid had to offer. We felt like BAMFS. And so we did the natural thing, we stood behind a tree and waited for the pair to exit.
Four pairs went into that same door by the time the original ones exited - which was 20 minutes practically to the second they had entered. Ali and I couldn't believe what we were watching. It was sad, exhilarating, strange, depressing, intriguing and weird all at the same time. We stood there for over 45 minutes, just observing and talking about it all. We felt like we'd just entered an alternate reality and we couldn't pull ourselves out of it!
So someone finally came along that managed to do so for us.
Yeah, we had been standing by that tree on "Hooker Ave." for almost an hour. Yeah, there were a group of three girls standing feet away from us, clearing there working and clearly around our same age. But no, we did not have high boots nor short dresses. Hell, I had my crazy CUSTO jacket on! But we should have expected it.
An older, drunken man approached us. My instinct was to run. Ali's instinct (being the sweet girl she is) was to think the poor guy simply needed directions. He started saying something. Ali said she didn't understand. I quickly hid behind Ali, and grabbed on to our purses, ready to bolt. What ensued was a very odd discourse between those two - the man making fun of the way Ali said "forty" and Ali having no idea what was going on. I finally looked away, out of awkwardness and laughter and wtf-ness, but Ali said that as soon as the man began to gesture something was when she finally grabbed me and made a break for it.
Hahahahaha.
It took us the whole thirty minute walk back to the Atocha train station to process all that had just happened. While stopping to take pictures of the gorgeous lit up buildings and fountains, we giggled and squealed all the way home.
Being surrounded by friends all day long, having the day off of work, being in the city and in different parts of it, relaxing in the park, finding myself in super strange situations, yummy food, taking pictures... just, everything! Epic. Awesome. Amazing. Definitely one of those "European Adventure Dream Come True" days! ;)
Best. Day. Since. Arriving. By. Far. ^_^
XOXO
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