Two funny stories

#1

Last weekend my sweet Dutch friend Mirjam and I got together at this trendy little bar in a section of town called La Latina. The name of the bar is "Delic." I was introduced to Delic by my buen amiga Hanah, who just left Madrid to return to her homeland, Korea.

The two times I'd been to Delic before the place was almost as crowded as a street in Valencia for La Tomatina: I think, the world's largest mosh-pit. So, when you go to Delic, you're supposed to order the carrot cake. A slice of it probably weighs two pounds. It has the lightest, sweetest cream cheese icing ever, and then it's drizzled with chocolate that's hardened and decorated with real rose petals.

Mirjam and I ordered one slice and two hot teas. We were at the front of the bar but we wanted to find a place to sit in the back, but I knew we'd have to take two trips with all the stuff we had to carry back there. So I pioneered through the crowd of people to the back of the bar, smiling to people who asked me if I was drinking tea (which I had to carry above my head because it's so crowded) and trying my best not to spill my little pot of it on them. I found the perfect table for us and told the waiter I was claiming it for two (it almost got snatched on my second time coming to the back). Then I had to, embarrassedly, squeeze myself back through the crowd of the same boisterous people again, smiling at comments about tea, to fetch Mirjam.

On my way back the second time, she was carrying her hot tea and I was carrying the beautiful carrot cake. Again, we had to carry it high above people's heads. One of the guys who'd commented about the tea earlier noticed the cake and said, "Feilz Cumpleanos!" Then he led THE WHOLE BAR in singing Feliz Cumpleanos to Mirjam and me, as we wrestled our way to our quiet(er) little table in the back of the bar.

#2

Today my second-graders were doing a project about clothing. Their task was to color and cut out an outfit for their own paper doll. Later they'd have to describe what their paper doll was wearing. We don't have too many resources at my school, so my friend Megan drew the paper dolls herself, and all the kids see it and laugh--it's pretty ugly. :) Well, it's also bald. They get to cut out hair for it. So, I was just trying to make conversation with the non-native English teacher in the classroom (her name's Susannah; she's from Madrid) and I pointed at one of the kid's dolls and said, "They're so ugly, aren't they? It doesn't matter how cute the outfits are, the doll is still ugly," laughing as I said it. Then she laughed with me and said, "Yes, he is very ugly, but, well, he is a very good student." I explained that I was talking about the doll and I would never say that about a student and we both died laughing. Oh, the joys of living in a foreign land. :)