A perfect day to watch futbol

Today was wonderful. I even had to get up at 7am on a weekend and it still was wonderful. Number one reason why: Sun and heat. Luis works as a soccer referee for the kids’ soccer games on the weekend. We thought he was working in La Puerta today, so the idea was that I would get up early, catch the bus with him and the kids, watch the soccer games, Ben and Eve could also come and watch some of them games when they woke up and then we could all have lunch together. I got up, got ready and we rushed down to Rincon de Maxi to have a coffee before we had to leave. It was there that Luis’ boss showed up and reminded him that we were actually going to Beas de Segura today, not La Puerta. Awwwww. We were trying to think of a way we could still stop in La Puerta and have lunch after the games but decided it just wasn’t going to happen today (buses are even more sporadic on Sundays). Even though I didn’t get to see Ben and Eve I was still so glad I went. I left the house wearing a tank top, turtleneck, sweater, polar fleece jacket, my Northface jacket and a scarf. I even thought to myself “I don’t think I brought enough” as I started walking towards Rincon de Maxi. It’s been super cold here all week. Well, I was wrong. The sun came out and it was gorgeous. Really, seriously, amazing. The longer I sat on the bleachers the more layers I shed. I finally made it down to the turtleneck and sweater and was still too hot but couldn’t shed anymore layers without a little indecent exposure. Every now and then Luis’ boss would come over to check on me, joke about the fact that I could sit there and tan and then he would head back to work. There were about 20 teams at the field. There were two games going on simultaneously from 9:30-2. The 10-12 year old team from Siles played first and won their game. The 8-10 year old team played last and it was an absolute massacre. The kids seemed excited and surprised that I got on the bus with them this morning and throughout the day a few of them came over to give me updates about how well they played, or just come chat a little. The kids also tease Luis mercilessly about being bald, and he’s a good sport about it. Luis’ nickname in the town is Luigi so usually jokes about “Where’s Mario?” come into play at some point. This is an interesting fact that I don’t think I’ve shared yet. Apparently most everyone here has a nickname. My guess is that so many people have the same or similar names that they create nicknames for each other to more easily distinguish people. I’ve asked but it seems I don’t have a nickname (or at least one people are willing to admit to me). I’ll let you know if I eventually get an apodo (nickname).

A little peace and quiet

Today was a peaceful day. I slept until 1 or 2 and then Luis came over to make lunch. We watched a couple movies (Signs, Miss Congeniality and part of Tormenta Magnetica-Magnetic Storm?), all of which were in Castellano (Spanish). Later on that evening Luis went to go watch the Madrid football game in Nicols (his weekly tradition) and I stayed home to try and find the Seahawks playoff game online. I didn’t have any luck, although I saw via msn.com and everyone’s Facebook statuses that it didn’t go well. I guess I’m not too upset that I couldn’t watch it then. I also got a chance to video chat with my parents but that was about it…a very relaxing day…probably a good thing after my little visit to La Puerta and the fact that I have classes tomorrow!

"We goin' til they kick us out"

Yesterday (Saturday) I didn’t really do anything until the evening. It was going to be my second time at the discoteca so I got all dolled up. I wanted to actually fit in at the discoteca (no jeans and shirt for me this time!)

At 10pm I went to Nicols to meet Luis and watch the football game. They weren’t showing the Real Madrid game at Nicols so we headed over to Mezquita. Maria del Mar (the third grade teacher) and her boyfriend were there, so we hung out with them, drank wine and chatted for several hours. Madrid beat Valencia.

Our little group decided to go on an excursion this week to see the castle in Segura de la Sierra (a town close to here). I believe both Maria del Mar and her boyfriend have cars, which gives me the opportunity to get out of town and see something cool that’s close by. I’m not sure yet which day we’re going to go, but I’m looking forward to it. Whichever day we don’t go to Segura de la Sierra I will go to Ubeda.

The original plan was to meet Fernando after going to Mezquita since it’s his last night here in Siles. He is a substitute teacher and the normal teacher is coming back. Fernando ended up sending me a text saying he couldn't go out. Dang it! He did say we could get a cup of coffee the next day before he heads out though.

Instead Luis and I went to 1900 and played darts with Mari B and Carlos. As we were talking with Mari B I found out that she is the older cousin of one of the guys who has been hassling me and that he actually lived with her for awhile when his mom passed away. She was irritated to hear that he was acting that way and was going to talk to him and tell him to lay off.

Me and Carlos were on a team and Mari B and Luis were on a team (while we were playing darts). We each won one round. I ALMOST pulled ahead to beat them in the second round, but baaaaaaarely missed the mark. We hung out there for a bit but the other part of the original plan was to meet Almudena, Maria and Maribel so at 2:30 we headed towards Menphys. They were just leaving Menphys to go to the discoteca when we arrived so we headed straight there. We got free shirts and danced until 5:30am in the morning and then I headed home. It was so much better this time. I felt like I belonged. I wasn't searching for friends. There were people there with me...friends...people that greeted me when I showed up. I was there and didn't feel uncomfortable or overwhelmed. Heck yes.







Sunday (today) was another low key day. I got coffee with Fernando and his girlfriend Esperanza at 12:45. Esperanza is also a teacher but she teaches music. They invited me to visit them in Huelva whenever I need a break from Siles or want to visit the beach. I spent most of the day on the computer, catching up on the blog, uploading photos and wasting time. Eventually I showered and got ready so I could go to Mezquita and meet up with Maria del Mar and her boyfriend. Our excursion is going to be either Tuesday or Wednesday. I would have preferred to go tomorrow (Monday) but oh well. They were thinking we could go Tuesday. The only problem with that is that Monday and Wednesday are holidays are shops are going to be closed…if I’m going to Ubeda to do some shopping Tuesday is the only day I have. However, Monday Maria del Mar has to study and Wednesday her boyfriend has a six hour car ride back to their city (just outside of Cadiz). We are going to get together again tomorrow at Mezquita to firm up our plans.

We spent a lot of time chatting about food. With each round of beer/wine that we ordered we got a new tapa. They told me all the ways to tell if ham is good, where I should buy my food instead of at Dia (Dia, the main grocery store is the only chain grocery store in town…it is also the most expensive, even though it is the most convenient) and how to cook stuff. Maria is going to teach me how to cook some things (like Spanish tortilla) and let me eat at her house.

Fact of the day: Serrano hams (pigs) have white nails. Iberico hams (pigs) have black nails.

One of our tapas was gambas (shrimp). Mmmm. Gambas are typical for Christmas dinner. When trying to de-shell (de-skin? Peel? I told you I'm not going to be able to speak English by the time June comes!) my gamba it’s juice squirted all over me. We all had a good laugh about it.



Supposedly the gym is going to open this week. I hope that’s true. I haven’t been taking as many walks as when I first got her and I feel like I need some exercise…especially because every day I feel like I have a worse case of smoker’s lungs. The weekends are rough on my lungs being in the bars for so many hours. My cough started up again today and I always end up coughing crap up after I spend so much time in the smoke. I’m really curious to see how the next smoking laws (starting next month!) are going to change things around here, and if they will actually be enforcing the no-smoking-inside policies. Seriously, I think I’ve only met about 3 other people here that don’t smoke, so I’m sure everyone will be up in arms about it. Well, that or it will just be me and those three other people at the restaurants while everyone else is in the streets.

Déjame en paz!

Well last night I didn’t end up going to bed right away. I stayed up late trying to prepare for my lessons and in the morning I woke up late. I was supposed to have a lesson with Isabel before school but I called and asked to reschedule. It was just going to make my morning so stressful. I headed to the ATM, the panadería (oh you tempting chocolate Napolitanas) and then to school. I sat in the teacher’s lounge and tried to update my agenda and relax a few minutes before class. There is snow at the altitudes just above us. Snow is coming!


After that I headed up to the English room and talked to Sebas about mixing up our routine. Usually he gives me 4-6 kids and we read something from their book, and then do some exercises in their accompanying activity book. I proposed that with the eldest kids we make Christmas cards and send them to Steph’s students (My friend Steph works in a Spanish immersion school in Vancouver). That way they could interact with students from the US and use their English in a fun way. It would also give me us a chance to teach them some Christmas vocabulary. He loved the idea. After that I had class with the 5th graders and then had a break to work on stuff for my private lessons, as well as get things prepared for Thursdays Christmas card making/lesson extravaganza. I printed out a bunch of Christmas drawing pages I had found so the kids could color them, cut them out and include them on their Christmas cards. I also helped Antonio and Silvia put up the backdrop for our “Charity Christmas Tree.” The kids are painting egg cartons green and we are putting them up in the form of a Christmas tree. I’ll try to put up a picture later when it’s done. We are putting boxes under our “Christmas tree” and collecting donations for people that don’t have enough for the holidays. After that I was supposed to work with the 1st graders. Inés is usually with me during this time, and we had planned on having the 1st graders make the typical Thanksgiving hand-turkeys so we could put it on our mural. I think I forgot to mention this mural before. Hehe. This is another thing I will need to get a picture of. I drew a basic, cartoon-ish turkey that says “I am thankful for…” The kids traced their hands and made turkeys out of them, then we cut the hands out and pasted them onto the mural as the feathers of the turkey on my poster. With just the second graders we didn’t have enough hands/turkeys so we were going to do the exercise with the first graders too. Well, Inés wasn’t at school on Monday and the normal 1st grade teacher was frazzled because the kids were being crazy. She asked if I could wait until 1pm to try and do the lesson…that’s only 45 minutes later so I said sure. I hung out until 1 but then the teacher asked if we could just do it the next week. I felt bad for her. She seemed exhausted and overwhelmed. Sure…one less lesson I have to plan I guess! I went to the small market/grocery store next to my house (Juani’s) and picked up some cream cheese, lasagna and chocolate. Quite the shopping trip, right? Haha. After that I went home, did laundry, had lunch, consolidated by clothes on the ‘tendedero’ (my new clothes rack) so they didn’t take over the entire apartment, chatted with Maria and then took a short nap.

I woke up and received a text message that I should come to her apartment right away so we can meet and go somewhere to watch the futbol (soccer) game. Barcelona and Madrid were playing so it was a big game. I met Almudena at her apartment and she was juggling dinner and laundry and cleaning the apartment. We headed off to Mezquita, had a mosto and watched the beginning of the game but there weren’t any seats. We got their too late. Almudena is a Barcelona fan but Rulo and Maria and a bunch of others are Madrid fans. I lean towards Madrid although I haven’t fully formed an alliance yet. Most of the people in Mezquita were Madrid fans. Shortly after we headed over to Nicols. Nicols was filled with all the Barcelona fans. Almudena’s parents were there as well as a couple other friends of hers. There were still no seats but the environment in Nicols was better…mostly because it was filled with Barcelona fans and Madrid was getting their butt kicked. The final score was 5-0. Yikes. It was really funny to see Almudena’s dad. He comes off as being SO serious all the time, but every time Barcelona scored he was up dancing and cheering. Luis showed up sometime in the second half and hung out with us. Also the group of teachers I’ve been going out were there too. When the game ended Almudena headed home but I stuck around with Luis and the other teachers. I had planned on going right home after the game…it was a Monday after all and I needed to teach in the morning. Haaaaaaaha. Foolish me. Going home after a big game, even if it is a Monday? Noooooo. Not until 2:30am.

A guy Luis knew (as well as a bunch of others throughout the night) came over and was trying to convince me to root for Barcelona. I mentioned that my dad had a Barcelona jersey and he got really happy and Luis buried his face in his hands. Haha. I told them I would watch the rematch in May and then decide who “my” team would be.

We were at Nicols for quite awhile. Initially I had fun there but there was a group of guys there that I’ve had a hard time with since the beginning of my stay here. I don’t understand them and I know they are saying suggestive things. I always get really uncomfortable and although I know good things to say/do in English, Spanish leaves me at a loss. It’s more upsetting and frustrating that my Spanish isn’t good enough to defend myself than the actual things they are saying. They say “Oh, I’m just joking” but then they continue. They’ll say something, and even though I don’t understand the words, the fact that the other guys around him start cracking up put up a large red flag. Luis was close by and keeping an eye on the situation, but also told me that he wanted me to learn how to defend myself. When I shoved a guys arm off from around my shoulders Luis stepped in. I’m sure I was visibly frazzled and Luis talked to them. We stayed for a little while longer but not long. We headed over to Pub JJ. Luis could tell I was upset, and he thought I was mad at him for not knocking their lights out. No…starting or dealing with a bar brawl really wouldn’t have made me feel any better. I explained my language frustrations and he started trying to teach me phrases for situations like that. At Pub JJ we ran into another guy we knew, and another guy that had studied English awhile back. The guy we knew started teaching me Spanish tongue twisters. I didn’t stay too long. I had a Coke, chatted it up with our little group long enough to relax and feel better, then headed home. 2:30am. Goodness. On a Monday!