Party + bangs = a very good evening

The view from my apartment--sweet

Me and my new bangs--and my room

Last night I had a little "going away party" for everyone to say "adios" to our TEFL course (which I'm so happy is finished! I'll have so much free time now!). I was pleasantly surprised that most of the class decided to come :). I've been cleaning up from it all day, actually--a true sign of a successful party (just kidding).

Well, I'd been thinking, for a while now, about getting bangs: about how much cooler I would become if I had them. I'll never be as cool as Ellen K., but maybe if I get bangs like hers, I thought, I could come close. So last night I decided to ask my dear friend Melissa if she would cut them for me (she herself has marvelous bangs). And she did: there in the bathroom at the height of the party. It was a great night. Now I've accomplished step 2 in becoming a hip, happenin' European woman: getting bangs. Step 1 was getting pointy shoes. I think step 3 is getting a mullet, so I don't think I'll ever really reach Western Europe's standards of enlightenment.

Too bad.

Tonight I, and the whole city of Madrid, are celebrating a fiesta called La Noche en Blanco--basically the one night a year during which museums and shops are open all night. So, I'll be visiting the Prado at about 2 in the morning. Isn't that exciting? I hope that churros restaurant is open... Maybe a kebab wouldn't be so bad, either.

I'm a godmother!

Two of my dearest friends, John and Rebekah, just had their first baby in Prague (congratulations)! And I asked Rebekah before the baby was born if I could be the fairy godmother--so now that little Jonas is born, it's official: I'm a fairy godmother. :) Isn't that exciting?

The goings-on in Madrid: I've been here for almost two months, will be finished with my TEFL course tomorrow, have been teaching 2 sets of siblings for two weeks now, and am poor :(. No, I'm surviving. But--one thing that was kind of misleading of Canterbury: we (the students) were all under the impression that our 400 euro reimbursement for our TEFL course would be given to us upon completion of the course (or, at the beginning of the course) (PS--TEFL=Teaching English as a Foreign Language). Actually, we won't be reimbursed until our 40-hour teaching "internship" is completed, which could take up to twelve weeks after the start of the TEFL course. Hmm... a little shady. Since Canterbury also pays pretty poorly, compared to other schools, a lot of us teachers are looking into working for other companies in addition to working for Canterbury. It is nice to be able to use Canterbury's resources: printer, computers, a library full of teaching materials, etc. Plus, they host really fun events every month for teachers to meet each other, which sets it apart from other schools.

Anyway, I'm glad Biz and I decided to take the TEFL class this month instead of in August. We've met some great people: Melissa, Sarah, Sara, Robin, etc.

Muchos Besos para todo!

La Tomatina/Flamenco

Last week was exhausting--I'm so glad it's over, honestly! Biz and I had TEFL class from 9:30-3:00 every day, and afterwards had to go to Spanish class from 3:30-8:00. Except for Wednesday--about 25 of us teachers went to a huge (1 million people) festival called "La Tomatina"--the biggest tomato fight in the world. It's hosted in a small coastal town called Valencia. The group split up and my friend Elise and I tried to stay together amidst the crowd of sweaty people packed in the streets like sardines. Really--you could almost have lifted your feet off the ground and still have been standing. Tomato trucks would slowly cruise through the crowds of people and locals in the trucks would chuck tomatoes at eager tourists. Some of my friends ended up in tomatoes up to their shins, but I guess I was in a low-level tomato area (which is now a little disappointing). Anyway, after tomatoes, we all went to swim in the Mediterranean, which was lovely, though it smelled strongly of fish. It was such a hot day, though, and the water was cool and refreshing.

Yesterday Biz's friend Maria came in from the Netherlands, so we all went out to see a Flamenco show (along with one other girl, Ginny). It was really beautiful. The hand motions reminded me a little of hula dancing--very graceful and story-like. And the music definitely has an Arabic influence--the vocals are all over the place--kind of chant-like. So beautiful. At the end some of the guitarists/vocalists got up to dance, too--I love multi-talented artists!

Tonight we showed Maria what tapas (little plates of food that come with your drinks) and churros (fried doughnuts dipped in melted chocolate) are. Now she's an official Spain lover, like the rest of us. :)

I visited an Anglican church this morning. I liked it--it reminded me of one I visited in South Africa. But, I met a girl there who's been here a year and still hasn't learned Spanish! That SCARES me! I wouldn't consider that a complete waste of a year, but... why only hang out with English-speakers when you travel? That makes me want to go back to my friendly Spanish church. We'll see.

The next three weeks we have TEFL class from 9:30-3:00 four days a week. That's exciting! I can get some sleep! Tomorrow I have to give a practice lesson (20 minutes long) which will be video taped and critiqued. How nerve-wracking. :(