Hurray for weekends

Despite my increasingly long workdays, I still can't believe I get to live a real life in Spain. This program is pretty amazing. I get to go to a brand new primary school and basically conversate in English with little kids. The salaried teachers take care of everything else. I got my first paycheck yesterday.

Bryn and I went to Toledo last weekend, and like she had promised, it was completely different than Ciudad Real. It was built on a mountain, like many Spanish cities, was extremely hilly, and the tiny roads created a maze for us. It's on the list of World Heritage Sites, the entire city that is. So of course we saw the grandiose cathedral, customary of all Spanish cities, and the mosques and natural wonders.

I have come to terms with the fact that for every 2 things I can't get done, I get 1 thing done. Slowly, but surely. I finally have an internet pincho so let's skype it up.

Halloween is tomorrow. I have face paint, a skeleton costume & a place to go. I will forever love theme parties and dressing up. Dancing will always be the best way to release endorphins, get to know people, show off my style & to get excited about life.

My motivation for learning Spanish: All of the cute boys at the gym!!!

kisses

It´s getting chilly

Last night the piso´s lights went out, and my roommate and I tried to figure it out. I was trying to understand the situation with her, but she speaks absolutely no English. The neighbors ended up helping. I made jokes in English, slowly, but to no avail, and I just went to bed.

I sorted out my work schedule with Manoli. Things are never completely clear for me. I am teaching mostly English in the music and P.E classes which is interesting because I spend most of my day just watching, singing songs with Marta (music teacher), and I guess will now play games and sports most of the time. Not too bad. This afternoon I had my first clase particulares with Tomas, the principal, and his kids. His family was very welcoming. We spoke only English, had lots of laughs, and I enjoyed his little dog (can´t remember the name). Names are very hard to pronounce and remember. I am very happy about the extra money I will get from these lessons and also getting to know Spanish lifestyle firsthand.

I get to sleep a little tomorrow. I don´t have to wake before sunrise to catch a bus. Hopefully this weekend I will go to Toledo with Bryn. I can´t wait to start traveling! I´m trying to budget but enjoy myself. I forgot to say, I didn´t sign a contract to live in my piso. I just paid. Things here are so relaxed and easy at times, and at other times, you are walking in circles. I think I´ll have the ¨to do list¨complete by the end of this month. There is really no way not to enjoy myself here though.

In the morning it´s as cold as it gets in Panama City. That is scary! So, lots of scarves, sweaters, jackets, boots from here on out.

I enjoy my lists. They make me feel productive, but I´m trying to just be open to what is happening around me. Another auxiliar said she wants to grow up to be an old Spanish man sitting on the benches of the city chillaxing and chatting it up with other old dudes, and this is true. It´s nice.

Adios for now.

pues........

Hola! So it's the end of basically my 2nd week in Spain. I only had to work on Thursday this week because of the puenta on Tuesday which is a Spanish holiday. There are supposedly lots and lots of these! The weather has been strange. This past weekend it was rainy and cold. I imagine that contributed to me getting sick on Monday with a cold. I spent most of the week resting and trying to get the right medications from the pharmacy. I missed school though, and I really enjoy working with the children.

(Moral de Calatrava at dawn)

Yesterday I went to my first free Spanish class. Ben, Paige's boyfriend, came as well. We were the only Americans and probably only 2 of maybe 5 who spoke English at all. It was introduction day so of course I was first to go in front of the class with another student and ask her all the questions I could think of in Spanish. Lots of laughs, lots of fun. I spent the rest of the day with Paige and Ben. We went to 6 Caja Castilla La Manchas (banks) until we finally found the one that can give us the Carnet Joven (youth card for discounts), but of course it was 2:15pm by then. Very odd hours for business here. Siesta is real!!!! We had burgers in an American restaurant, ha. They made sure to tell us we got free refills. Afterwards, Paige and I spent a hilarious afternoon searching for gyms and getting lost around town. She has a very magnetic personality. She's candid and extroverted, not afraid to ask for help with as much Spanish as possible.

(Paige & me in my piso. mucho mucho verde!!!)

Today I went to Almagro to see Manoli and meet her husband Checho and baby. Her home is stark white with the typical persianas window blinds which shuts out any light. These blinds are on all the windows in Spain. Good for sleeping not for waking. We went to a local restaurant and tried about 6 typical dishes of the area. Everything was fabulous especially the gacha and desserts. Checho tried to tell me a story about lemmings, the animals, which I mistook for lemons, the fruit. I was imagining suicide lemons and just said "si" "si" as I often do without understanding. When we figured it out there was unrelenting laughter. Lost in translation. Perdido en traduccion. Afterwards, they took me on a walk around the city. I saw the Plaza Mayor (every city has one) and Corral de Comedias, a famous theater. We finished the afternoon with cafe con leche and then headed back to Ciudad Real because the baby had made lots of caca in his diaper!

(Manoli & me in Almagro)

Tomorrow a group of us will travel to Madrid for the Rastro, a market with lots of great things to buy!

Oh yeah, we did the Tapa hop last weekend here, but I only made it to 7 bars. There were 32 in total.

(Tapa hop)

(Outskirts of Ciudad Real. There are trails for running.)

There are so many babies in Ciudad Real!

Learning the music.

This is a remix version of "We No Speak Amerikana," but it plays at every disco in Ciudad Real. It's a pretty fun song for groovin'.

Hola

Hola cyber world! I haven't blogged since the days of Xanga, and I'm nervous and shy as I type. I started my journey in Spain 6 days ago. The travel was less stressful than I imagined. I slept 1 hour instead of 0 hours, and sat next to a Chinese man from Buenos Aires who gave me his business card. He is the president of some sort of fishing company. This was my very first (of which I expect many) situation in which he could not speak English and I could not speak very much Spanish, and we still got along during the journey over the Atlantic. I was tickled by the Arab man to my left who couldn't stop laughing during the corny movie,Grown Ups. I was filled with excitement and hope in those moments, surrounded by the eclectic

voices of the passengers. Spain came quickly.

I've been so lucky since arriving because Kylah's roommates (Bryn, Madeline & Neomi) are all auxiliares and fluent in spanish. Bryn, from St. Louis, Missouri basically found my piso for me by translating to the landlords. Thank God. She has spoken spanish for 10 years (impressive) but is an all-American girl, and I expect that we will be great friends. Yesterday, she showed us a 4-5 minute video describing her life and city to show to the students this first week of school. What a great idea. Neomi is from Vermont and she became friends with Kylah quickly last year through this program. Madeline, from France, was Kylah's first encounter in Spain. Neither spoke very much spanish, but have overcome the barrier and are super tight now. This.gives.me.hope.

I am so eager to put together spanish sentences instead of speaking in spanglish. I knew it was coming; to be so interested in every new person I meet and having to sit quietly behind, hoping to learn a new word or too. This is so hard for me, Questions,but I imagine months down the road I will be able to say, "Ah, finally, Manoli, I get to ask you every detail I've been holding inside for all these months!"

And Manoli. She is my little guardian angel. I met her in the Plaza Mayor just hours after I arrived, and she came prancing towards me with a smile from ear to ear. We chatted slowly in English, both of us timid but curious, and by the end of our cafe con leches I felt welcomed and confident. Monday, at the orientation I sit still, understanding little of what is going on. She says "Me Maten!" (kill me!) after Juan Ignacio goes on and on about whatever important thing it is that I'm missing. I can't wait to have many laughs with this incredible Spanish woman. She is the English director at my school, Agustin Sanz, in Moral de Calatrava. My first day was today. Manoli gave me the tour of the pueblo, in 5 minutes. It looked more like a movie set against a backdrop of hills and windmills than a city. We visited the one and only bar in the town, the bar in which I will spend an hour in the morning having a cafe due to the early bus schedule. It's important to be flexible in Spain! I think I spent most of the day learning the Shakira song, Waka Waka, while dancing alongside spanish boys and girls. After school, another English teacher says, "Yes, we all go home at two. More play and less work." And that's why I'm here.

Kylah & Neomi helping haul my broken luggage across calle Toledo.

5 pisos, I got it to 1, without meeting the roommates. Buttttt, last night we came face to face, and it took 2 hours to get out about 20 main facts about each other. Ah, well, aprendo pronto! They are 2 spanish students who chain smoke in the piso but are making every effort to be friends with me. You must be adaptable in Spain!

I have spent almost every one of the 8640 minutes of time I've had here learning, being surprised, being stumped, feeling alone, feeling surrounded, having information overloads and most importantly, being inspired by this place I now ca

ll home. I have been to a weekly event called the botellon, similar to a university tailgate at night. I got a taste of spanish dance on my birthday. I hope to learn flamenco! Two nights ago I went with Madeline to a kabob restaurant with 9 others. At the table there were 2 people from Spain, 2 Colombians, 1 Italian, 1 German, Madeline the french girl, a Lithuanian girl, and me, the americana. It was exhilarating sitting amongst these special people trying my very best to get some sort of information across. When it happened, wow, that was magic. I just kept saying to Madeline, "I love this." Besides this, I have shared spanish and non-spanish

meals in Kylah's pisos with new and old friends, and laughed hysterically at Sandra's french accent interpretation of dirty American phrases. Laughter has been a prominent theme so far.

Tomorrow is my first bus trip to Moral de Calatrava. Day 2 with the kidos!

So much to learn.

A very simple piso.

Kylah, Philip, Ben, Paige, Flo y Bryn