Today was a crazy day, and kind of sad. Inés got a new job in Orcera and is no longer working at the school. I found out on the day of the field trip to Jaén that she had received the new job and that she would be replaced sometime in January. No one knew though exactly when she would be replaced. They were just waiting for her Ministry of Education assigned replacement to show up on our school doorsteps. Inés was at school on Monday, I was at the infantil on Tuesday and today when I went to school she wasn’t there. I’m assuming she probably said her goodbyes at the staff meeting last night. I’m not required to go to the staff meetings so I got the not-so-fun surprise this morning. I was thinking that at least her replacement would probably be someone else that speaks English, since Inés is responsible for some of the English classes, but that’s not the case. Since the new teacher, Antonio (yes, we now have 2 teachers named Antonio at the school) doesn’t speak English there was a bit of shuffling with the schedule today. When I showed up in the English classroom with Sebas he told me that I needed to go to Antonio (not the new teacher)’s classroom and that he was going to be teaching the 3rd grade English class from now on. Huuuuuuh? They are reassigning Sebas to something different for that hour (but they don’t know what yet) which really baffles me. Inés leaving doesn’t impact this class at all and Sebas is still at the school and available to teach the class, so I don’t know why they switched. Anyways, after the 3rd grade class with Antonio I had class with the 6th graders with Sebas. After that it was time for recess. During recess I finished preparing a game of Memory using the new science vocabulary words for the 4th graders. They are starting a new chapter about the muscular, skeletal and excretory systems. Antonio and I talked and thought we would try restructuring that class so the kids could have more time practicing with me in a smaller group. Instead of doing the class all together we split the class in two 30 minute chunks. Antonio taught the new material in one classroom with 10 students and I played the Memory game to practice vocabulary and pronunciation in another room with the other 10 kids. I really thought it would be fun…and to a certain extent it was but the kids are so disobedient. It really took the fun out of it. They would not participate in saying the words with me, they would secretly move the cards to new places or turn over multiple cards, or sneak peeks and cheat…I was fed up by the time both groups had come through. Theeeeeeeen I had to go to the 2nd grade classroom. Inés was the 2nd grade teacher so I was with Antonio (again, not the new teacher). Antonio is responsible for teaching the 2nd graders English now. However, because Inés was replaced so quickly Antonio had to immediately step into this role without knowing where in the book the kids were, where the materials in the class are, what Inés usually does with the kids or how to incorporate me. It was chaos and after such a long day Antonio and I were wiped. I’m sure in a week or so we’ll get it all figured out, but I was seriously so tired by the end of the school day.
I went home and sat in bed for awhile, but a little after 4pm I had to head back to the school for the adult class. This was my first time going to the adult class in weeks and the first time going since Fernando left. Sad day. Seems like all the teachers I connect with the best end up leaving! The first hour (with the first group of adults) went pretty well. We talked about our Christmas vacations and then did a grammar exercise. The second group was more challenging. They can’t speak English as well so their descriptions of their vacations were very short and didn’t take up all the class time. We had to improvise from there. It was slow going for awhile, but eventually we clicked and got conversation rolling a little. Fernando’s replacement is from Granada. She invited me to go on walks with her and some other people on Mondays.
After class I was planning on going directly to the gym but decided to go to the grocery store first. I went to Día, then to my apartment to drop off the food. I changed my clothes and headed off for another workout.
I ran into Diego on my way to the gym. Diego is another new teacher that started just before Christmas break. He was actually in Siles at the beginning of the school year (and living in my apartment!) but got a leave of absence until now. I stopped and chatted with him for a bit. We were both frustrated with how hard it is to get to kids to behave and how hard it is to plan lessons that they can learn from and also think are fun.
Anyways, off to the gym I continued. I have two preset workouts that the trainer made for me that I alternate through. It’s interesting because some days it seems so hard and other days it seems so easy, even though the weight, repetitions and exercises are the same. I stayed a little extra time on the elliptical after finishing my lifting exercises because I knew there were Oreos waiting for me at home. :)
I hope I sleep better tonight. The last couple nights have been awful. I’ve had this stupid cough for several weeks now, but starting last Friday it got significantly worse and has been keeping me awake (or waking me up). The last two nights I’ve actually ended up throwing up because the cough is so strong and persistent. Lame. I went to the doctors yesterday to get it checked out. I really like the socialized medical system, but at the same time I left the doctor’s office a little wary and unsatisfied. Both times I’ve gone in the doctor asks me what’s going on and will maybe ask a couple questions from the information I give him and then he writes me a prescription. No, that doesn’t sound so bad, but especially this time my main concern was my lungs. I feel like I’ve just had fluid sitting in the very bottom pit of my lungs for weeks and he didn’t even listen to my chest or breathing. No examination whatsoever. He told me it’s the season for being sick, take the medicine he prescribed and I should feel better, but if not I could take the medicine from the second prescription he was giving me ‘just in case.’ He didn’t even know what “Hand Foot Mouth” disease was went in with it last month. He just prescribed me a medicine for a skin infection that wasn’t going to do anything. At least medicine is super cheap! I got both of my prescriptions for 3 euro and some change, with no co-pay and a free doctor’s visit. That part is pretty sweet. I feel like the medicine is helping, but not in a way that is giving me immediate relief. The medicine is just supposed to help me expel the mucous in my lungs. Yes, ultimately that is what I need, however, it doesn’t stop my cough, it encourages it. At least my coughs do seem more effective. C’mon cough, just take a little break so I can get some decent sleep and have the energy to deal with all those kids!
Side note…my goal of going out everyday to work in my Spanish workbooks and sit in Mezquita…not going to happen. Not a chance! My life went from being super relaxing, with too much free time, to absolutely jam-packed overnight. I’ve added a bunch of new private lesson students, the intercambios with Paco and books I’ve received from him to read, the trips to the gym and classes are back in session which means lesson planning. At least I can’t say I’m bored anymore!
Also, a group of 4th grade girls asked for my autograph today. Haha. They were actually asking for all the teachers’ autographs, but I still thought it was pretty funny. Ohhh kids.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Doctors, kids and clowns
Today’s highlight: all of the 5 year old students in one class spontaneously decided to run up and give Sebas a big hug, resulting in a big group class hug and moment of cuteness. I wanted my camera SO bad.
I missed my first two classes today. I had a doctor’s appointment to get my cough checked out. I was a couple minutes late to my appointment and was still filling out paperwork when I heard my name called in the other room. I wasn’t too worried though. I knew they would still see me. What I *didn’t* know was that those couple minutes were going to end up costing me 30-45 minutes. I finished up my paperwork, then went to the waiting room. The doctor finished up with the patient he had seen instead of me, then did a consultation for a patient with another doctor. When he came back out of his office he was dressed in his street clothes and had his bag. He saw me, said “You can wait, right? I’m going to go have a coffee.” Hmmmm…well…yes…I can wait…I don’t really have a choice. But really??? The doctor’s office opens at 8am I think and closes at 2pm. My appointment was at 10am. 6 hours…that’s not even a full workday! And you need a coffee break in the middle? That’s why so many Americans have their giganto cups of coffee with them at their desks! So we don’t have to leave in the middle of the work day to get a coffee in a restaurant. He eventually came back, saw me first, got me a prescription and sent me on my way.
From there I headed to the post office and the pharmacy. I realized that you never want to try to go to either of these places around 11am. Apparently that’s peak time for running errands. Both places were packed (ok…well… “packed” in a Siles, small-town way). I decided to deal with the post office first. I tried to get the lady there to clarify some of the charges, or see if she could call the main Correos or the customs people to talk down the charges a bit. She thought the charges were absolutely ridiculous but could do nothing about it. She gave me their phone number and recommended I call them to try and explain person to person the situation and see if they would waive the importation fees. Grrrr. The pharmacy was a little more uplifting. I was worried a little bit when I realized that I only had 20 euro with me. I wasn’t sure how much these two prescriptions were going to cost and no one in this town takes debit or credit cards. Cash only! Silly me…both prescriptions together, TOTAL, cost a little over 3 euros. I thought I had misunderstood the cashier. Sweet deal! It makes it seem even better because the 1 euro is a coin, not a bill, so I paid for my entire prescription in coins. Seems like nothing!
After this I headed up to the infantil. On my way I saw Luis’ dad who was pacing outside a café with his umbrella and cigarette. The new smoking laws in action! Luis’ mom was inside with Carlos (Luis’ nephew who is back in town visiting). He invited me in to have coffee with them but I had to get up to the school. I made two more quick stops to pick up a napolitana and something to drink. When I got to the school it was recess time. I could have had that coffee after all. I sat and chatted with the teachers, then it was time to work.
I was working with Sebas. I had seen him at the gym for the first time yesterday and today we chatted a bit about the gym and how sore and tired he was. Theeeeen we got to sing and dance with the little kids. I went over the days of the week and weather with them like normal. We taught them a song from their book about winter and invented some last minute dance moves to go with it. I don’t mind singing and dancing with the little kids when other teachers are dancing with me. It’s just when I’m planning and executing a lesson alone that I avoid it (even though I know it’s a good way for the little kids to learn). After that we did an activity in their book to try and teach them the number seven in English. The kids can count from one to at least ten without any difficulty. However, today we tried to get them to count backwards and they couldn’t do it at all. I thought it was very interesting. We tried to write the numbers on the board and even point to them in the correct order but they would always count up. 7…8…no, no we need six next…6….7….no, no, you have to go to five after that….5….6…ohhh geez. When the first class of 5 year olds was done Sebas and I took a quick breath in the hallway then headed in for round two (there are two classes of 5 year olds). We did the exact same lesson. The only difference was the random group hugs that happened 3 times
(twice to Sebas, once to me). Ahhh, yes kids, we love you too.
I also had my first intercambio with Pacolmo the clown today. It wasn’t what I thought it would be but it was still good. I met Paco at the ayuntamiento (city hall building) at 6:30 and was greeted by his big, friendly dog whose entire demeanor says “I’m happy and I want to be friends with you!” Several people had told me that Paco is “buena gente” (a good person) so I wasn’t *too* nervous as we walked down the long winding road to his house in the dark. He lives in the town, but on the outskirts. He showed me his stable, and the garden, and then his rehearsal room (which was of course filled with hats to juggle, unicycles and clown costumes). We went throughout the room and made little flashcards for him to put up so he could remember all the important vocabulary related to his job. We stayed there for quite awhile and then eventually headed into the house. Paco and his wife built the house a couple years ago using a lot of recycled things. For example their marble countertop was taken from a fabric shop that was doing some renovating. He has a room with a fireplace that is done in a Moroccan theme. It has a giant L-shaped sofa with tons of pillows and Moroccan hand sewn fabrics. Paco has done a lot of traveling so he has cultural decorations from all over the world inside his house. I got to meet his 10 year old son, and 14 year old daughter, but his wife wasn’t home. He let me look at his book collection and handed me two books he thought I should read. (I wanted to do some reading while here to improve my language abilities…looks like Paco is giving me the shove I need to actually get it done). I thought I was going to be there for about an hour, like my normal private lessons, but I was there for over two hours (maybe I should have rethought doing these intercambios twice a week). I really wanted to go to the gym so I brought my workout clothes with me to Paco’s house. I was planning on going straight to the gym from his house but when I finally headed out I realized I forgot my tennis shoes. It was going to take too much time to go home, get my shoes, change and still have time to walk to the gym before they closed. Oh well…I’ll have to make up for it tomorrow.
I missed my first two classes today. I had a doctor’s appointment to get my cough checked out. I was a couple minutes late to my appointment and was still filling out paperwork when I heard my name called in the other room. I wasn’t too worried though. I knew they would still see me. What I *didn’t* know was that those couple minutes were going to end up costing me 30-45 minutes. I finished up my paperwork, then went to the waiting room. The doctor finished up with the patient he had seen instead of me, then did a consultation for a patient with another doctor. When he came back out of his office he was dressed in his street clothes and had his bag. He saw me, said “You can wait, right? I’m going to go have a coffee.” Hmmmm…well…yes…I can wait…I don’t really have a choice. But really??? The doctor’s office opens at 8am I think and closes at 2pm. My appointment was at 10am. 6 hours…that’s not even a full workday! And you need a coffee break in the middle? That’s why so many Americans have their giganto cups of coffee with them at their desks! So we don’t have to leave in the middle of the work day to get a coffee in a restaurant. He eventually came back, saw me first, got me a prescription and sent me on my way.
From there I headed to the post office and the pharmacy. I realized that you never want to try to go to either of these places around 11am. Apparently that’s peak time for running errands. Both places were packed (ok…well… “packed” in a Siles, small-town way). I decided to deal with the post office first. I tried to get the lady there to clarify some of the charges, or see if she could call the main Correos or the customs people to talk down the charges a bit. She thought the charges were absolutely ridiculous but could do nothing about it. She gave me their phone number and recommended I call them to try and explain person to person the situation and see if they would waive the importation fees. Grrrr. The pharmacy was a little more uplifting. I was worried a little bit when I realized that I only had 20 euro with me. I wasn’t sure how much these two prescriptions were going to cost and no one in this town takes debit or credit cards. Cash only! Silly me…both prescriptions together, TOTAL, cost a little over 3 euros. I thought I had misunderstood the cashier. Sweet deal! It makes it seem even better because the 1 euro is a coin, not a bill, so I paid for my entire prescription in coins. Seems like nothing!
After this I headed up to the infantil. On my way I saw Luis’ dad who was pacing outside a café with his umbrella and cigarette. The new smoking laws in action! Luis’ mom was inside with Carlos (Luis’ nephew who is back in town visiting). He invited me in to have coffee with them but I had to get up to the school. I made two more quick stops to pick up a napolitana and something to drink. When I got to the school it was recess time. I could have had that coffee after all. I sat and chatted with the teachers, then it was time to work.
I was working with Sebas. I had seen him at the gym for the first time yesterday and today we chatted a bit about the gym and how sore and tired he was. Theeeeen we got to sing and dance with the little kids. I went over the days of the week and weather with them like normal. We taught them a song from their book about winter and invented some last minute dance moves to go with it. I don’t mind singing and dancing with the little kids when other teachers are dancing with me. It’s just when I’m planning and executing a lesson alone that I avoid it (even though I know it’s a good way for the little kids to learn). After that we did an activity in their book to try and teach them the number seven in English. The kids can count from one to at least ten without any difficulty. However, today we tried to get them to count backwards and they couldn’t do it at all. I thought it was very interesting. We tried to write the numbers on the board and even point to them in the correct order but they would always count up. 7…8…no, no we need six next…6….7….no, no, you have to go to five after that….5….6…ohhh geez. When the first class of 5 year olds was done Sebas and I took a quick breath in the hallway then headed in for round two (there are two classes of 5 year olds). We did the exact same lesson. The only difference was the random group hugs that happened 3 times
(twice to Sebas, once to me). Ahhh, yes kids, we love you too.
I also had my first intercambio with Pacolmo the clown today. It wasn’t what I thought it would be but it was still good. I met Paco at the ayuntamiento (city hall building) at 6:30 and was greeted by his big, friendly dog whose entire demeanor says “I’m happy and I want to be friends with you!” Several people had told me that Paco is “buena gente” (a good person) so I wasn’t *too* nervous as we walked down the long winding road to his house in the dark. He lives in the town, but on the outskirts. He showed me his stable, and the garden, and then his rehearsal room (which was of course filled with hats to juggle, unicycles and clown costumes). We went throughout the room and made little flashcards for him to put up so he could remember all the important vocabulary related to his job. We stayed there for quite awhile and then eventually headed into the house. Paco and his wife built the house a couple years ago using a lot of recycled things. For example their marble countertop was taken from a fabric shop that was doing some renovating. He has a room with a fireplace that is done in a Moroccan theme. It has a giant L-shaped sofa with tons of pillows and Moroccan hand sewn fabrics. Paco has done a lot of traveling so he has cultural decorations from all over the world inside his house. I got to meet his 10 year old son, and 14 year old daughter, but his wife wasn’t home. He let me look at his book collection and handed me two books he thought I should read. (I wanted to do some reading while here to improve my language abilities…looks like Paco is giving me the shove I need to actually get it done). I thought I was going to be there for about an hour, like my normal private lessons, but I was there for over two hours (maybe I should have rethought doing these intercambios twice a week). I really wanted to go to the gym so I brought my workout clothes with me to Paco’s house. I was planning on going straight to the gym from his house but when I finally headed out I realized I forgot my tennis shoes. It was going to take too much time to go home, get my shoes, change and still have time to walk to the gym before they closed. Oh well…I’ll have to make up for it tomorrow.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
My Poor Lungs
Ok, I really thought that this never-ending cough would finally go away when the new smoking laws kicked in, but apparently that isn’t the case. For awhile I really felt like my cough was getting better but the last 24-48 hours I’ve spent nearly hacking up both of my lungs. That means another trip to the doctor for me tomorrow. I’m not really sure how I’m going to schedule that. I may have to miss one of my classes. I’m going to call and try to get an appointment but if I can’t I’m going to have to show up tomorrow after my classes and hope that they’ll see me anyways. Grrrr. Luis said I need to lay off the cigarettes. Ha…Ha…Ha. Lots of good it’s doing me to be one of the 4 people in this town that don’t smoke.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Party Hard, Sleep Hard
Today was fairly relaxing. I went about my usual, uneventful day. I went to the gym, relaxed…really nothing exciting. The one thing I had planned was that I was possibly going to get together with Gloria at night.
Today was one of those days that unexpected, epic nights out occur. I started off at Menphys. Almudena, Maria, and a bunch of the other girls I had met on previous weekends out where there. They seemed surprised to see me. I was a little annoyed to see them…not because I didn’t want to hang out with them, but because I haven’t figured out why they don’t invite me to hang out with them. They always welcome me in if I happen to show up at a place where they are at, but they never call/text/tell me when they are going to do something. I’m not really sure what I have to do to change that. Anyways, I hung out with them for a little bit because Gloria wasn’t quite there yet.
It was my first night out with the new smoking laws. I’m glad the new smoking laws are in effect, but it doesn’t solve all the problems. The main problem I have is that I’m one of maybe half a dozen people in this town that don’t smoke. All the smokers seem to save up then all go outside at the same time to smoke together. This leaves me with two choices…stay inside by myself, or go outside with all the smoke. So much for getting away from the smoke!
I hung out with Gloria and her friend Elizabeth for the rest of the night. I also chatted with several other people they introduced me to, all of which are only here for the week. I seem to be really good at making friends with people that aren’t actually living in Siles right now. I really enjoyed hanging out with Gloria and Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Gloria are both learning English so we switched back and forth from Spanish to English.
I didn’t realize the discoteca was going to be open…it was a Wednesday after all. All of a sudden Gloria and Elizabeth grabbed their coats and said they were going to the discoteca. I was surprised. Apparently because the following day was a holiday (3 Kings Day) the discoteca was open. We danced the night away and around 5:30 or 6 I got home. I crashed IMMEDIATELY. I was SO tired, but it was nice to have a good night out and not be home.
The next day I didn’t do anything. I slept literally all day (and no, I didn’t have the hangover of the century. I was just totally wiped. I think it’s because I was getting sick). I had been told that Three Kings Day was mostly for the kids, and that the only thing they do is play with their toys in the streets and at the park with the other kids, so I didn’t feel too bad about not getting out of the house (although in hindsight I know I probably should have at least taken a stroll to see if anything was going on). I had been planning on grabbing a coffee with Gloria before she went back to Granada but that didn’t happen. I didn’t hear from her and I was pretty content sleeping the day away.
I slept for almost 30 hours straight, with short breaks to go to the bathroom and get something to drink. I woke up at 2:30am. I didn’t think I was going to be unable to get back to sleep and that I had totally screwed up my internal clock. Luckily for me I watched on episode of Glee and fell right back asleep. I didn’t wake up again until 12:30. CRAZY! I was planning on going to the gym but was feeling a bit weak after being in bed so long. Luis sent me a text asking if I wanted him to come over and have dinner. We ended up going to Mezquita instead to eat calamares and gambas (shrimp). After that we grabbed a drink at Nicols and called it a night.
Today was one of those days that unexpected, epic nights out occur. I started off at Menphys. Almudena, Maria, and a bunch of the other girls I had met on previous weekends out where there. They seemed surprised to see me. I was a little annoyed to see them…not because I didn’t want to hang out with them, but because I haven’t figured out why they don’t invite me to hang out with them. They always welcome me in if I happen to show up at a place where they are at, but they never call/text/tell me when they are going to do something. I’m not really sure what I have to do to change that. Anyways, I hung out with them for a little bit because Gloria wasn’t quite there yet.
It was my first night out with the new smoking laws. I’m glad the new smoking laws are in effect, but it doesn’t solve all the problems. The main problem I have is that I’m one of maybe half a dozen people in this town that don’t smoke. All the smokers seem to save up then all go outside at the same time to smoke together. This leaves me with two choices…stay inside by myself, or go outside with all the smoke. So much for getting away from the smoke!
I hung out with Gloria and her friend Elizabeth for the rest of the night. I also chatted with several other people they introduced me to, all of which are only here for the week. I seem to be really good at making friends with people that aren’t actually living in Siles right now. I really enjoyed hanging out with Gloria and Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Gloria are both learning English so we switched back and forth from Spanish to English.
I didn’t realize the discoteca was going to be open…it was a Wednesday after all. All of a sudden Gloria and Elizabeth grabbed their coats and said they were going to the discoteca. I was surprised. Apparently because the following day was a holiday (3 Kings Day) the discoteca was open. We danced the night away and around 5:30 or 6 I got home. I crashed IMMEDIATELY. I was SO tired, but it was nice to have a good night out and not be home.
The next day I didn’t do anything. I slept literally all day (and no, I didn’t have the hangover of the century. I was just totally wiped. I think it’s because I was getting sick). I had been told that Three Kings Day was mostly for the kids, and that the only thing they do is play with their toys in the streets and at the park with the other kids, so I didn’t feel too bad about not getting out of the house (although in hindsight I know I probably should have at least taken a stroll to see if anything was going on). I had been planning on grabbing a coffee with Gloria before she went back to Granada but that didn’t happen. I didn’t hear from her and I was pretty content sleeping the day away.
I slept for almost 30 hours straight, with short breaks to go to the bathroom and get something to drink. I woke up at 2:30am. I didn’t think I was going to be unable to get back to sleep and that I had totally screwed up my internal clock. Luckily for me I watched on episode of Glee and fell right back asleep. I didn’t wake up again until 12:30. CRAZY! I was planning on going to the gym but was feeling a bit weak after being in bed so long. Luis sent me a text asking if I wanted him to come over and have dinner. We ended up going to Mezquita instead to eat calamares and gambas (shrimp). After that we grabbed a drink at Nicols and called it a night.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Pushing Past the Plateau
OK, I have to be honest. The last week and a half or two weeks has been pretty hard. I feel really distanced from everyone. There has even been stiff, awkwardness in between Maria and Almudena and me. I don’t know if it’s because I was sick a week, and then out of town so we couldn’t hang out for awhile or what.
I also think another factor is that I’ve gotten complacent. I found a few people initially to get together with and then I stopped going to the bars and restaurants by myself to meet people. The weather started sucking and I didn’t go on as many walks. Now I just feel like I don’t know how to meet more people.
It’s depressing.
However, I believe everyone living abroad hits the same breaking point. Like the saying goes, that which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Early this afternoon I went to the post office and the bank. When I run these little errands I always hope I’ll run into someone I know, and that we can grab a coffee or something, but lately that hasn’t been happening. Almost all of the teachers are out of town for Christmas break, so that the number of people I know and can possibly run into is significantly lower than normal.
So, today, after my errands I took a short walk down El Paseo then headed solemnly back to my quiet apartment. I knew I was approaching my breaking point. If I don’t do something about this soon, I’ll be unhappy and alone for the next few months and I know I’m not ok with that. So my mind started turning…how could I possibly meet more friends?
My first plan of attack is to take at least one walk everyday, unless it’s raining.
Part two is actual duel-purpose. I plan on heading to Mezquita or another bar/restaurant every day to have a coffee and do finish some pages in my Spanish workbooks. Most of the time when I’m in my apartment I have things to do, and I get some of them done, but I’m easily distracted. I have several goals for my stay here, and several books I want to get through. Therefore, I’m leaving my apartment at least once a day to sit in another public location, with the possibility of running into people I know and still making progress on my other goals. I know that my acquaintances here frequently go to Mezquita during the day to have a coffee or other drink. What I don’t know is when. If I happen to be there when they are they always invite me to join them, I just never get a call or text to invite me to these gatherings ahead of time. I’m hoping that by camping out at Mezquita I’ll increase the number of times I run into them.
So that’s my plan for now. I generally think it will get better after Monday anyways, just because the teachers will be back in town, classes will be in session again, I’ll have to spend time lesson planning and my private lessons will start again. All of these increase my human contact time so I think I’ll be happier. I love vacation time, and the ability to just spend time relaxing, but 2 empty weeks here in Siles gives me way too much time alone.
I also think another factor is that I’ve gotten complacent. I found a few people initially to get together with and then I stopped going to the bars and restaurants by myself to meet people. The weather started sucking and I didn’t go on as many walks. Now I just feel like I don’t know how to meet more people.
It’s depressing.
However, I believe everyone living abroad hits the same breaking point. Like the saying goes, that which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Early this afternoon I went to the post office and the bank. When I run these little errands I always hope I’ll run into someone I know, and that we can grab a coffee or something, but lately that hasn’t been happening. Almost all of the teachers are out of town for Christmas break, so that the number of people I know and can possibly run into is significantly lower than normal.
So, today, after my errands I took a short walk down El Paseo then headed solemnly back to my quiet apartment. I knew I was approaching my breaking point. If I don’t do something about this soon, I’ll be unhappy and alone for the next few months and I know I’m not ok with that. So my mind started turning…how could I possibly meet more friends?
My first plan of attack is to take at least one walk everyday, unless it’s raining.
Part two is actual duel-purpose. I plan on heading to Mezquita or another bar/restaurant every day to have a coffee and do finish some pages in my Spanish workbooks. Most of the time when I’m in my apartment I have things to do, and I get some of them done, but I’m easily distracted. I have several goals for my stay here, and several books I want to get through. Therefore, I’m leaving my apartment at least once a day to sit in another public location, with the possibility of running into people I know and still making progress on my other goals. I know that my acquaintances here frequently go to Mezquita during the day to have a coffee or other drink. What I don’t know is when. If I happen to be there when they are they always invite me to join them, I just never get a call or text to invite me to these gatherings ahead of time. I’m hoping that by camping out at Mezquita I’ll increase the number of times I run into them.
So that’s my plan for now. I generally think it will get better after Monday anyways, just because the teachers will be back in town, classes will be in session again, I’ll have to spend time lesson planning and my private lessons will start again. All of these increase my human contact time so I think I’ll be happier. I love vacation time, and the ability to just spend time relaxing, but 2 empty weeks here in Siles gives me way too much time alone.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Holidays in Spain
Happy 2011!
Here’s a bit of a summary of how I spent my holidays…
Christmas Eve I was at home most of the day. Originally I was suppose to be with Almudena and her family that day, but they decided to spend Christmas Eve with her boyfriend’s family and it wasn’t really her place to invite me to that. So then I talked to Stefi and Edu about maybe spending Christmas Eve with them. They said that if Edu’s mom ending up coming over to their house for Christmas Eve that I could join them, but if she refused and they had to go to her house that I wouldn’t be able to come. It ended up that I wasn’t going to be able to go with them. Luckily for me Luis’ family doesn’t do anything for Christmas Eve, so he came and spent the day with me at my apartment. He made ham and mushroom risotto for lunch and brought a bottle of cava. Cava is like champagne, except since it’s from Catalonia it has a different name. We hung out most of the day and for dinner he cooked two other kinds of risotto…salmon risotto, and a chicken and cheese risotto. All of it was fantastic. After dinner I got dolled up in the dress I bought in Ubeda and a pair of heels (my first time attempting to wear heels for a night out in Siles). We met Luis’ brother at Pub JJ for a drink because Nicols wasn’t open yet (not open yet…at midnight!). After Pub JJ we went to Nicols and hung out for awhile. We had a drink, chatted and were given souvenir Nicols’ Santa hats. We left Nicols around 1:30 and walked to Luis’ house to get the car. (I can’t remember why we needed it). However, someone had parked behind the car and we couldn’t get it out so Luis’ brother and I walked up to my apartment while Luis got some things out of the house. At 2am I got to web chat with my family, and about 30 extended family members who were at my cousin’s house having Christmas Eve dinner. They took turns passing the computer around and then they put the computer at the end of the table so I could be apart of the dinner table prayer. Everyone started singing and I could tell Luis and Javi were amused and wondering what was going on. I ended the chat and then headed back out. We went to 1900 for awhile but it was really frustrating. The music was turned up RELALY loud making conversation virtually impossible for me. Plus, I got introduced to a guy whose accent I couldn’t understand very well, and who kept talking about things he didn’t really like about the US. I kept looking for a way out of the conversation, but it took awhile. Luis, Javi and I didn’t stay for too much longer. Javi went home and Luis and I went to the discoteca. Luis introduced me to a bunch of people at the discoteca, including a guy named Tom who is auditioning for a TV host role in Madrid. We drank and danced the night away, and I finally went to bed about 8am.
I like the fact that Spaniards have big crazy nights out for Christmas Eve, but I think there is one flaw in the tradition. Usually people here have a nice dinner for Christmas Eve, and a nice lunch for Christmas day. It was the first time in my life I’ve set an alarm for noon knowing I would only be getting four hours of sleep. It’s too bad people don’t have a nice dinner for Christmas instead of lunch so we have more time to recuperate after the previous night’s celebrations.
Christmas day starting off a little frantic and frustrating. I didn’t wake up right when I should have and so I rushed to get ready (I had been led to believe that people dressed up for Christmas). A couple weeks ago Almudena had told me that the lunch would be at her parents’ house. Last night when I saw her at the discoteca I confirmed with her and she said, no, the lunch was going to be at her house. This led to a whole slew of confusion on Christmas day, and me eventually showing up late to her parents where everyone was there waiting for me so they could eat. After eating our meat and seafood lunch (that’s the typical Christmas meal here) Almudena wanted me to take some pictures of the kids so we had a mini photo shoot with everyone that was there. Overall I was only at Almudena’s parents’ house about 2-3 hours, which is comparison to some lunches I’ve gone to is pretty short. I went home, relaxed and slept the rest of the day. A lot of people decided not to go out Christmas night because Christmas Eve had been so crazy.
New Years Eve I went to Hostal Cruz (a restaurant) with Luis and his parents. We had a big expensive meal (which Luis’ parents were generous enough to treat me to) and chatted with the people all around us. It felt like a big family gathering the way it was set up, except it was just a bunch of random people from the town all together. I met a lot of people, most of whom initially used Luis as my interpreter because they didn’t think I spoke Spanish. One of the older gentlemen there said that I could be Miss America or Miss North America. Haha. I got seated next to a girl from Germany (who is dating a guy living in Barcelona, originally from Siles). More than one person commented on the fact that they put the two guiris (foreigners) together. We had lots of tapas, wine, beer, our main courses, dessert and polvorones (cookies, chocolates, sweets). I had fish for my main course and Luis ordered the meat so we could try both. I really liked the meat dish and wish I had ordered it! We watched the countdown on TV and I was excited to eat my 12 grapes. Spaniards eat 12 grapes at midnight (one with each strike of the clock) and it’s supposed to bring you good luck in the coming year. The only thing that made this a little challenging was that the seeds aren’t pitted so you have to stuff a bunch of grapes in your mouth, eat around the seeds and then pick the seeds out after the clock has struck 12 times. Supposedly in some cities they were selling pitted grapes for New Years but sadly, Siles was not one of these towns. I guess that just makes my experience all the more authentic. The restaurant owner also gave everyone a bag of goodies (party hats, noisemakers, etc) to don while ringing in the New Year. After eating the grapes everyone went around the room wishing everyone a Happy New Year (¡Feliz año!) with the normal cheek kisses. Shortly after, the younger generations headed off to the bars. Luis and I headed off to Nicols. Luis’ parents stayed at Hostel Cruz but not for very long. We had a few drinks, chatted it up with people, hung out with the German girl and her Spanish boyfriend and eventually decided to go back to Hostal Cruz so I could see the older generation living it up. Haha. They were listening to music and dancing, and Ana, Luis “second mother” (who is super tiny) tried teaching me to dance. We stayed there for a little while, then headed off to Menphys. We ran into Maria and Almudena on the way. They were heading over to the discoteca so we decided to go straight there instead. Luis called up a friend in Barcelona to say ‘happy new year’ and then we went inside. It actually wasn’t too crowded when we showed up (around 3am). It didn’t take too long though before the place was PACKED. You really couldn’t dance. You just had to move around in the same place. I like going out in Spain but nights like this still stress me out. Maybe it’s because I treasure my American concept of personal space. Even if there is space it seems like people will just run into you without making much of an effort to go around. We stayed there for awhile, had a few drinks (I eventually changed out of my high heels and into the flats I stowed away in my purse) and later on we headed back to Nicols. It was a little less stressful there. I’m glad we went to the discoteca but *uffff* SO many people. I preferred Christmas Eve in the discoteca when there were still a lot of people, but not as many. I believe I finally went to bed around 7-8am.
And thaaaaaaaat was my holiday season in a nutshell. A *small* change from the typical low-key family gatherings I usually go to! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!
¡Feliz navidad! ¡Feliz año Nuevo!
Here’s a bit of a summary of how I spent my holidays…
Christmas Eve I was at home most of the day. Originally I was suppose to be with Almudena and her family that day, but they decided to spend Christmas Eve with her boyfriend’s family and it wasn’t really her place to invite me to that. So then I talked to Stefi and Edu about maybe spending Christmas Eve with them. They said that if Edu’s mom ending up coming over to their house for Christmas Eve that I could join them, but if she refused and they had to go to her house that I wouldn’t be able to come. It ended up that I wasn’t going to be able to go with them. Luckily for me Luis’ family doesn’t do anything for Christmas Eve, so he came and spent the day with me at my apartment. He made ham and mushroom risotto for lunch and brought a bottle of cava. Cava is like champagne, except since it’s from Catalonia it has a different name. We hung out most of the day and for dinner he cooked two other kinds of risotto…salmon risotto, and a chicken and cheese risotto. All of it was fantastic. After dinner I got dolled up in the dress I bought in Ubeda and a pair of heels (my first time attempting to wear heels for a night out in Siles). We met Luis’ brother at Pub JJ for a drink because Nicols wasn’t open yet (not open yet…at midnight!). After Pub JJ we went to Nicols and hung out for awhile. We had a drink, chatted and were given souvenir Nicols’ Santa hats. We left Nicols around 1:30 and walked to Luis’ house to get the car. (I can’t remember why we needed it). However, someone had parked behind the car and we couldn’t get it out so Luis’ brother and I walked up to my apartment while Luis got some things out of the house. At 2am I got to web chat with my family, and about 30 extended family members who were at my cousin’s house having Christmas Eve dinner. They took turns passing the computer around and then they put the computer at the end of the table so I could be apart of the dinner table prayer. Everyone started singing and I could tell Luis and Javi were amused and wondering what was going on. I ended the chat and then headed back out. We went to 1900 for awhile but it was really frustrating. The music was turned up RELALY loud making conversation virtually impossible for me. Plus, I got introduced to a guy whose accent I couldn’t understand very well, and who kept talking about things he didn’t really like about the US. I kept looking for a way out of the conversation, but it took awhile. Luis, Javi and I didn’t stay for too much longer. Javi went home and Luis and I went to the discoteca. Luis introduced me to a bunch of people at the discoteca, including a guy named Tom who is auditioning for a TV host role in Madrid. We drank and danced the night away, and I finally went to bed about 8am.
I like the fact that Spaniards have big crazy nights out for Christmas Eve, but I think there is one flaw in the tradition. Usually people here have a nice dinner for Christmas Eve, and a nice lunch for Christmas day. It was the first time in my life I’ve set an alarm for noon knowing I would only be getting four hours of sleep. It’s too bad people don’t have a nice dinner for Christmas instead of lunch so we have more time to recuperate after the previous night’s celebrations.
Christmas day starting off a little frantic and frustrating. I didn’t wake up right when I should have and so I rushed to get ready (I had been led to believe that people dressed up for Christmas). A couple weeks ago Almudena had told me that the lunch would be at her parents’ house. Last night when I saw her at the discoteca I confirmed with her and she said, no, the lunch was going to be at her house. This led to a whole slew of confusion on Christmas day, and me eventually showing up late to her parents where everyone was there waiting for me so they could eat. After eating our meat and seafood lunch (that’s the typical Christmas meal here) Almudena wanted me to take some pictures of the kids so we had a mini photo shoot with everyone that was there. Overall I was only at Almudena’s parents’ house about 2-3 hours, which is comparison to some lunches I’ve gone to is pretty short. I went home, relaxed and slept the rest of the day. A lot of people decided not to go out Christmas night because Christmas Eve had been so crazy.
New Years Eve I went to Hostal Cruz (a restaurant) with Luis and his parents. We had a big expensive meal (which Luis’ parents were generous enough to treat me to) and chatted with the people all around us. It felt like a big family gathering the way it was set up, except it was just a bunch of random people from the town all together. I met a lot of people, most of whom initially used Luis as my interpreter because they didn’t think I spoke Spanish. One of the older gentlemen there said that I could be Miss America or Miss North America. Haha. I got seated next to a girl from Germany (who is dating a guy living in Barcelona, originally from Siles). More than one person commented on the fact that they put the two guiris (foreigners) together. We had lots of tapas, wine, beer, our main courses, dessert and polvorones (cookies, chocolates, sweets). I had fish for my main course and Luis ordered the meat so we could try both. I really liked the meat dish and wish I had ordered it! We watched the countdown on TV and I was excited to eat my 12 grapes. Spaniards eat 12 grapes at midnight (one with each strike of the clock) and it’s supposed to bring you good luck in the coming year. The only thing that made this a little challenging was that the seeds aren’t pitted so you have to stuff a bunch of grapes in your mouth, eat around the seeds and then pick the seeds out after the clock has struck 12 times. Supposedly in some cities they were selling pitted grapes for New Years but sadly, Siles was not one of these towns. I guess that just makes my experience all the more authentic. The restaurant owner also gave everyone a bag of goodies (party hats, noisemakers, etc) to don while ringing in the New Year. After eating the grapes everyone went around the room wishing everyone a Happy New Year (¡Feliz año!) with the normal cheek kisses. Shortly after, the younger generations headed off to the bars. Luis and I headed off to Nicols. Luis’ parents stayed at Hostel Cruz but not for very long. We had a few drinks, chatted it up with people, hung out with the German girl and her Spanish boyfriend and eventually decided to go back to Hostal Cruz so I could see the older generation living it up. Haha. They were listening to music and dancing, and Ana, Luis “second mother” (who is super tiny) tried teaching me to dance. We stayed there for a little while, then headed off to Menphys. We ran into Maria and Almudena on the way. They were heading over to the discoteca so we decided to go straight there instead. Luis called up a friend in Barcelona to say ‘happy new year’ and then we went inside. It actually wasn’t too crowded when we showed up (around 3am). It didn’t take too long though before the place was PACKED. You really couldn’t dance. You just had to move around in the same place. I like going out in Spain but nights like this still stress me out. Maybe it’s because I treasure my American concept of personal space. Even if there is space it seems like people will just run into you without making much of an effort to go around. We stayed there for awhile, had a few drinks (I eventually changed out of my high heels and into the flats I stowed away in my purse) and later on we headed back to Nicols. It was a little less stressful there. I’m glad we went to the discoteca but *uffff* SO many people. I preferred Christmas Eve in the discoteca when there were still a lot of people, but not as many. I believe I finally went to bed around 7-8am.
And thaaaaaaaat was my holiday season in a nutshell. A *small* change from the typical low-key family gatherings I usually go to! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!
¡Feliz navidad! ¡Feliz año Nuevo!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Happy New Smoking Law Day!
As of January 2, 2011 smoking is no longer allowed inside bars and restaurants here in Spain. Oh happy day!
I also read an article that said smokers will also be prohibited on television broadcasts, near hospitals or in school playgrounds.
It was really interesting to see the bars and restaurants today with people huddled up on the sidewalk.
I only hope that these new smoking laws don’t leave me hanging out solo in the bars and restaurants…well…me and the 3 or 4 other people I’ve found in this town that don’t smoke.
Make I’ll finally kick this cough!
I also read an article that said smokers will also be prohibited on television broadcasts, near hospitals or in school playgrounds.
It was really interesting to see the bars and restaurants today with people huddled up on the sidewalk.
I only hope that these new smoking laws don’t leave me hanging out solo in the bars and restaurants…well…me and the 3 or 4 other people I’ve found in this town that don’t smoke.
Make I’ll finally kick this cough!
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