Quick Update

Seth and I had a lovely week touring Madrid and Toledo, teaching my classes, getting confectioneries from a convent where we couldn't see the nuns (just as exciting as I'd thought it would be!), meeting my friends, taking videos (yay!), having good conversations, saving turtles, noticing details, etc. We're heading off to Casablanca tomorrow to visit one of Jennie's friends Rebecca! We'll also be spending time in Marrakech, which is supposed to be touristy, but offers more of an "authentic" Moroccan experience. We will post pictures soon!

Hiking

Today's a holiday in Spain so my friend Ginny and I got up bright and early (8:45! :) ) to go hiking again in Cercedilla (an hour and a half train-ride above Madrid). We felt so liberated from the confines of concrete as we ate our fresh bocadillos (sandwiches) on the trail. The weather couldn't have been better. Ah! I need to get out of Madrid more often than I'm doing right now! Anyway, it was a lovely day, with lovely conversation.

On Monday I start my new job with a bilingual charter school called Artica. There are so, so many benefits to working at this school: the teachers own and run it, and care for it like it's their own baby, I'll be in ONE place for four to five hours straight instead of an hour at a time, I'll have insurance (whew), and I'll be learning a lot of Spanish, hopefully! Wednesday Seth comes!!! I'm pretty excited about being his tour-guide, and just seeing him, of course! We bought our tickets to Morocco for the second weekend he's here and we're planning a trip to Granada before he leaves (using CouchSurfing.com--this site could revolutionize my world). Goodness, I can't wait.

More soon!

Sweater Weather

Taking photos while waiting in line 2.5 hours at La Noche en Blanco. We were about 10 minutes from getting a theater tour when they closed the line down!

Chris and Melissa at La Noche en Blanco

a corner near a convent where they sell cheap confectionaries. You aren't allowed to see the sisters, so you have to give your money / receive your treats via a Lazy Susan! Seth and I are going here.

on my walking tour of Madrid

a cathedral

Today is the epitome of a "sweater weather" day. Well, it's cold and it's rainy outside. A real "sweater weather" day shouldn't have rain, I guess. But, it's not too bad inside my apartment. I have a couple candles burning and I'm listening to Sufjan Stevens' "Songs for Christmas"--which always make me feel warm and fuzzy inside :). I'm missing home a little. By the way, I think it takes living abroad the second time to really appreciate home and the US. Maybe it was the perpetual beautiful weather, but I wasn't that homesick in South Africa. I've been homesick here even when the sky is crystal-clear.

Do you want to hear about the mail I've been receiving lately? I just got a care package with JEANS, CANDY, napkins :), birthday balloons, a Clemson cup, a shirt, an address book, etc. from my family! It is great to travel. And it's great to have a month-and-a-half extended birthday! I've also received the sweetest letters from Seth--always arriving on just the right days. Seth will be here 2 weeks from today!! I'm so, so excited about seeing the world with him: Morocco, Paris (maybe), Granada, and Madrid, of course :). The other day I went on a walking tour of Madrid with my Rick Steves' guide in hand. Basically, Seth's visit is going to be sweet if we do half of what Rick says to do. I'll update in a few weeks. Oh, also, the Wikes sent me a paper cutout of a boy named "Flat Stanley" to travel with me for the week and share adventures with me (it was for a project Miles was doing for school). So I've intentionally had some extra-cool adventures this week: like visiting the Prado Museum (HUGE) and the Reina Sofia Museum (most famous for Picasso's "Guerrnica"). The art museums here are free every week! So, I definitely need to take advantage of living in a big city and going to them. Y'know?

Classes are going pretty well. Tomorrow I'm going in for an interview with a company that a few of my friends are working with. I'd be working with a day school, working from 9-2 instead of working at night like I am now. But I would have to accept a contract to work till the end of June if I worked at this school--which I wasn't necessarily planning on (I'd planned on staying only till maybe the beginning or end of May--1-2 more months?). There are a lot of benefits of working with the school, though--so, pray for me as I make this pretty big decision in the next few days.

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. :(

Exciting news

I'm such a nerd--I get so excited about things like this. But you would, too! I decided to go on a quest for free internet in my apartment complex, and at the moment am on the fourth floor using someone else's wi-fi. That's how desperate I was. Biz's roommates are coming back home this weekend, so I won't be able to depend on her apartment for much longer! Of course, I'll still visit Biz all the time, I'm pretty sure. Well, this will work until I figure out something else--like, going in with neighbors and using their internet? Or finding the owners of one wireless network my apartment gets everywhere and paying them to use their internet. We'll see.

Biz and I had our first day of TEFL class today--it flew by a lot more quickly than we were expecting. But it was from 9:30-3, and our Spanish class was from 3:30-8 (only for one week). Yuck. We (Ben, Biz and I) were all so exhausted afterwards. We looked like zombies walking down the street. I was craving thai chicken and rice with peanut sauce, which I think means I needed protein, or something. How weird. I made rice and mixed in some salsa, garlic, and fresh lime juice, with pinto beans and grilled green peppers on top. I embellished on a recipe I found online, and it was delish! I'm excited about cooking!

Wednesday all classes have been cancelled for "La Tomatina"--a city-wide (plus half a million tourists) tomato fight in Valencia. After we've become drenched in tomato pulp, we'll all jump into the ocean and wash off. I'll update soon :) with pictures, hopefully!