Intercambioooo

On Friday, I walked around my neighborhood, Nervión, for several hours. First, I went to a foto store to try to get my camera fixed, but they just told me about another place I would have to go for repairs. Instead of doing that, I opted to go shopping and put up flyers for private English classes. I spent quite a while exploring the big department store, El Corte Inglés. It has an amazing grocery store so I walked around there for a while. Then I headed home and stopped in Lefties, a cheap clothing store Julie had told me about. I ended up trying on many pairs of shoes, and buying a pair of fake leather brown boots and flats. I was very excited to finally find boots that looked good!

Later that night, I met up with Julie, Julia, and Cait to go to a discoteca near me that was supposedly serving a free Asian dinner to girls. We felt totally out of place there, as nearly everyone else was Spanish and dressed to the nines. We accepted some free champagne but could not find the food. Eventually, men dressed in suits started bringing trays of it to the girls sitting at the tables. We attempted to flag one of them down and get some comida, but they kept ignoring us and we never got the potstickers that we were craving. Although the place was playing exactly the kind of music that I like to dance to, the party wasn't going to pick up for a few hours, so we headed downstairs for tapas and drinks. It was really nice chatting with the girls and not feeling out of place like in the discoteca. After that, we just called it a night and headed home.

On Saturday, Rebecca came over and we made a not very impressive meal and watched some of our guilty pleasure, Cruel Intentions. I convinced her to go with me to a group intercambio (language exchange) in Plaza de Armas. We had absolutely no idea what to expect from this, but it turned out to be amazing. When we first arrived, we found a group of Spaniards and stood awkwardly with them while waiting for the organizer to arrive. Then we walked to an Irish pub nearby and sat for hours. I spoke a ton of Spanish with the people there. I mostly talked with a very nice couple who did not speak very good English, but I got a ton of practice and taught them some new phrases. There were six Spanish-speakers and 3 English-speakers so we were a hot commodity. We were like specimen that they were trying very hard to understand. The way we conducted the intercambio was mainly that I would speak to them in Spanish and they would speak in English, but I snuck in a bit of Spanish-Spanish conversation. Everyone there was very friendly, but it took us about an hour to figure out our schedules and a good time to meet. I think we settled on Saturdays and Mondays, but I cannot be sure. After three and a half hours, we said our double-kissed goodbyes and Rebecca and I headed off in search of food. We ate way too much gelato and I had a savory crepe at a place we had been eyeing since our time in the hostel. It was terrible weather last night and I was exhausted from speaking so much Spanish, so we headed home instead of having a big night out. When I listened to the crazy wind and rain later, I was very glad I was in my casa.

Today is Halloween! I have no idea what we will do tonight (we have a few options) but I will try to put together a disfraz (costume) without spending any money. Let's see what I can pull off...

Field Trip: Parque de las Ciencias

On Wednesday, I went on my first field trip in several years. I went with the youngest kids at my school (about 12-years-old) to the Parque de las Ciencias in Granada. The kids were incredibly loud on the bus ride there, so Julie and I had trouble taking a nap on the 2.5 hour trip. We stopped at a rest stop for some desayuno and ate with the three other teachers. It was great having our meals paid for by the school. When we finally got to the park, the kids were all very excited and yelling about the cool things we saw. I thought the museum was comparable to the Museum of Science in Boston as far as what it offered. But it did have a cooler outdoor part with activities, a fountain, and more cool sciencey things. After we saw a few sections of the museum and had a presentation on the solar system by a mildly cute Spanish guy, we ate lunch. The kids were free to roam around and eat the seemingly endless sandwiches, candy, and salty snacks that they had in their backpacks. Julie and I enjoyed an enormous meal in the cafeteria that was not incredibly delicious but that we were glad to have.

On the way to who knows where in the park, we spotted a giant chess board and one teacher challenged me to a game. I had no intention of playing an entire match at that time, but things got competitive. I took his queen early in the match so I was at an advantage most of the time. Students gathered on the board to help both of us, and, in the end, after chasing his king around for a while, I came out victorious! I was very excited to win, since I cannot even remember the last time I played a game of chess. Unfortunately, while I was excitedly looking at the pictures after the game, I dropped my camera. It seemed fine at the time except for a little scratch, but that would prove to be a lie later. Because we had dilly-dallied at the chess board for so long, we could not find the other group of teachers and students. So a few of us decided to go up to a watch tower to look for them and see the surrounding area. I saw the Alhambra, a very famous site in Granada, from up there and could see tons of tiny people on top of it. And there were incredible views of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. It is too bad that while I was taking a picture of the Alhambra and having trouble focusing, I realized that my camera lens would not retract. Now my camera won't work at all because the lens will not go back into the camera. What a shame to have happen while I'm abroad!

I was basically stressed about the camera for the rest of the trip (and you don't get to see the pictures yet because they won't upload to my computer). We saw a bird show with some amazing birds, but I could not understand most of the presentation. Then we headed home for another noisy bus trip (these kids do not tire out). One of the teachers gave us a ride back to the edge of Sevilla, and it took me another hour and a half to get home from there. It was an insanely long day, but it is always fun to go see new places and I got to talk to a lot of the kids one on one. At school today, they were all excited to see me. I think I will relax tonight, as I am very tired from this busy week, but I cannot wait for another fun weekend. And it's Halloween! I still don't have a costume...not sure if I ever will. Nothing can really top the Bop It! costume I made last year. Spain is not quite the same as American colleges when it comes to this holiday.

Teacher Party

Yery and Nite Salsa Dancing

On Sunday night, I went over to Nite's apartment for a lovely (Spanish-speaking) dinner with her roommate and friends. Her Italian roommate cooked us pasta carbonara...que rica! To my joyous surprise, the gay guy that I had met a few weeks ago was there too. I was so excited to see him again, as Rebecca and I feared that we had lost his company. He told me that he tried Nutella with peanut butter, per my suggestion, and thought it was the most amazing thing. He said he didn't put bananas in the sandwich, though, because it would have been too much. That is where he is wrong.

On Monday, I went grocery shopping at Mercadona (always a good time) and went to pick up a book from Julie at her apartment. So now I am reading Into the Wild. I caught up with Julie and Julia about our weekends and walked all the way back from their place. There is a new super cheap clothing store near my apartment that opened yesterday and it was bustling. I went in to check it out quickly and most of it seemed like junk, but they have potentially decent shoes. After watching countless episodes of "Breaking Bad," my new TV show addiction, I went to bed early in an attempt to rest up for school today. Of course, when I know I have to wake up early, I have a terrible night's sleep, but such is life.

This morning, I went to school and had a good day there. Some of my classes were very entertaining, as the students can be quite funny. I have one class where they "really like my accent." Since most of the English teachers learned British English, my accent is quite unique and can also be difficult to understand. The day was long, but I ended with the most advanced class where we talked about sports. Everyone loves fútbol and Rafa Nadal...surprise, surprise.

Yum Yum Yum

After school, we had a giant comida, basically a teacher party, with a ton of food. There was an enormous spread of jamón, salmorejo, pan, tomate, huevos llenos, aceitunas, frutos secos, lomo, etc. We all stuffed ourselves, even the skinniest of the teachers, and chatted. I spoke a lot of Spanish there, which was exciting. I was also introduced to a teacher who is having her daughter contact me about private lessons, which I desperately need to set up. After some delicious postres, this very nice teacher gave me a ride home and we spoke Spanish during the entire ride. And she told me I was good at speaking! I got home late in the afternoon, very tired, but may go over to Rebecca's soon for some dinner. But I must get more sleep tonight because I have a super long day in Granada tomorrow on a field trip. I am so excited to go there, even if we are only going to the science park.

Feria de Jamón

On Friday afternoon, I met up with Kayla and Chelsea in Real Alcázar, a giant castle-like building next to the Cathedral with extensive gardens. I wandered around for a while before they arrived and could not believe I hadn't explored this treasure place yet. But I forgot my camera! It is free to enter with a student ID, so I can go there whenever and just walk around and relax. We brought some sandwiches and sat and talked for hours on a bench with a scenic view. It was great catching up with them and enjoying some brie and chorizo.

So Much Meat

When the gardens closed, we headed to a cafe near Plaza Nueva that Chelsea used to frequent. We shared two delicious desserts and chatted some more before Rebecca joined us. We ate what I think was crema catalana and this cool whippy/marshmallowy substance between pastries. Mmm mmm mmm. Then we met up with more chicas at Plaza de Armas to buy our tickets to Aracena the next day. I also acquired the bus schedules to several cities that I want to visit. Now I just have to go there. After a lot of walking and searching for a tapas restaurant, we settled on one and enjoyed a small meal. I shared this amazing dish of risotto with squid and their ink with ali-oli. The place was an over-priced tourist trap, but my dish was unbelievably good and very interesting. Eventually, I headed home to try to get a little sleep before the early morning bus to Ham Fest.

Our Leg of Jamón Serrano

I woke up around 7:00 on Saturday, scrambled to get into my best Ham Fest attire (I wanted to wear a recycled "Swine Flu" Halloween costume but didn't have one handy), and took the buses to the bus station (sort of ironic). A large group (probably about 15 people) of us Americans met in the line and pumped each other up for the big day. We had a scenic one-hour bus ride to the town of Aracena and enjoyed some breakfast in the station there. I tried these supposedly delicious churros y chocolate again (this time with sufficient hydration), but I am still not a fan. We hung out in a plaza for a bit while some girls bought boots and then trekked to the famous Feria de Jamón. So. Much. Ham. I have never seen so many legs of ham and hanging sausages in my life. I pictured it being more outdoors, but all the food vendors were in a building and there were a lot of tables under a tent. We found a few tables together and set up camp for the day. Ivan and David collected our money and went to make some purchases. They returned with one entire leg of ham, two blocks of cheeses, three different sausages, and loaves of bread and endless bottles of wine. You also have to buy a carving stand and knives to cut the ham. Ivan started carving away, but a group of Spaniards came to help us out. It did not look easy, so I tried it out later in the day and had success cutting some yummy slices. Because it took so long to cut the ham, demand outweighed supply throughout most of the day so you had to grab the ham when it was available. All of the food was truly delicious and we were all stuffed by the end of our time there. It was quite an experience, and our huge group of Americans (more joined us there) was quite a presence at the festival. During the carving contest, the announcer asked us where we were from.

We left the festival around 3:30 and went to climb up to a giant church on a hill. Rebecca got this ridiculous burst of energy and bravery and decided to run up a completely unpaved part of the hill. I told her I would meet her at the top and went in search of a path. I found what I thought might be a path and began my hike. Big mistake. It was not a path. I climbed up some broken steps and kept going up small hills and through trees, hoping I would run into a path eventually. I am not a big hiker, and I learned that I should never do it alone. There were bees all around and a creepy rattlesnake-like sound. I found what looked like a man-made stone wall and figured there must be stairs on the other side, but when I arrived, there was absolutely nothing but dangerous rocks. So I took some beautiful pictures from about half-way up the hill and headed back down as quickly as possible. It was fairly traumatic because there was absolutely no one around. But I made it back down and felt very relieved. Later, of course, I learned that there was a road up to the top somewhere else around the hill. Dang it. So I wandered around the town, sat in the plaza for a while, and randomly ran into Rebecca somewhere on our search for the bus station. She had successfully climbed to the top. I was quite impressed. We found the bus station and had a nice ride home with some new friends that we had met that day. We decided to go home to take a nap and then reconvene later in the night to go out dancing.

The Hill and Church on Top

I tried to nap but could only lay in bed and debate whether or not to go out. I decided that I would and met up with Rebecca to go to our friends' apartment in Triana. We eventually found their place and hung out there for a while before going out. Then we walked to Calle Betis, a street with endless bars and clubs. Not wanting to pay a cover charge at a club there, we walked a while more to Buddha, a club in Plaza de Armas with three floors of dancing. It was the best club I have been to in Sevilla so far, but I have not been to many so that isn't saying too much. They played some music that I know so I had a great time dancing with my friends. Some had ditched us for KFC at that point, so it was a smaller group. We stayed there until 4:30 am, and I took an expensive cab home. I don't know how I had any energy at that point, but I skyped with Brenna and Rosa for about an hour until after 6 am. Eventually, I fell asleep 24 hours after I had woken up. I still feel tired today, but it was an amazing day in Spain so it was well worth it. I think I've had enough dancing and ham to last me a while!

The Facebook Movie

The past few days have mainly consisted of school and relaxing/siesta-ing. On Thursday afternoon, Julie and I gave an english class to a group of teachers from nearby schools. I didn't realize why I was enjoying it so much until Julie pointed out that we didn't have to discipline them at all. It was so refreshing to teach people who actually listened to you and wanted to learn. While the teachers did not have the cuteness factor of the kids, I liked that the classroom was much calmer. But one thing I thought was adorable was when one very friendly boy told me about an MTV premiere in Madrid with a lot of famous artists. When he said Katy Perry would be there, he rolled his R's. It was precious.

Julie called me this morning because apparently a group of students is going to a science museum in Granada next Wednesday, and we get to go with them! I'm so excited to see Granada...for free. Of course I will have to go again for longer, but this is a nice perk of working in a school. I haven't been on a field trip in ages!

Last night, I went to see The Social Network with Rebecca. It was really good...and intense. It made me miss Boston to see it on the screen and college in general, although I had a slightly different experience than the kids in that movie. Justin Timberlake never approached me at Tufts...what a shame! But it was nice to see a movie in English (with Spanish subtítulos, of course)...I forgot I was in Spain for a while there.

Today, I woke up with a head cold. My immune system is probably not strong enough for a high school at the moment. Hopefully this won't last too long, but it sucks not feeling in top shape here for the weekend. Tomorrow, we are going to a Ham Festival in a town about an hour away. We have all built this up to be an exciting event, so I hope it lives up to our ridiculously high expectations. Until then, I have plans for a picnic in the gardens of the Alcazar today! I am very excited to finally do something touristy in Sevilla.

F%$# = Hacer Amor

Monday was not very exciting compared to the weekend but I accomplished (and did not accomplish) a few tasks. In the morning, I went to Orange, a mobile phone company, to see if I could get a contract with them without having to pay a cancellation fee since I already have a phone. One lady was nice to me, but she sent another person to help me who totally intimidated me. She stood above me and just said, "Cuéntame (Tell me)," very sternly. Then she stood inches from my face while I tried to spit my question out in Spanish. She asked if I was a foreigner, which just baffles me because it is so blatantly obvious that I am. I'm not sure why people ask me that. But, in the end, she basically shot me down and told me not to get a contract. That was pretty disheartening but at least now I know. I will still try to change my Vodafone plan because they said I could do something better after I get my residency card. 

I did a big grocery shopping in the afternoon and attempted (and I think succeeded) buying healthier options. I am started a growing list of things I am no longer allowed to purchase (Nutella, cookies...). In the evening, I went for a walk to find this giant grocery store called Mercadona that I was upset was not right near me. But the walk was not terrible if I don't buy too much, and I had a field day walking around it. I really like grocery stores here because everything is at least slightly different. I'm happy to know it's there, especially for cosmetic things that my grocery store totally lacks.

I spent a lot of the day looking at flights for my December adventure with Brenna and Rosa. I found some good ones to great places, so I am excited to discuss the possibilities with them and book our trip soon. Once I get to a bigger city than Sevilla, there are cheap flights to so many more places, so it was hard for me to control the urge to go everywhere. Luckily, I have the girls to keep me grounded.

Today, I went to school for my first full Tuesday. It was very jolting to wake up at 6:30 in the morning. I'm not sure I'll ever be okay with that. But I rode in the carpool, and, at the beginning, I tried speaking and understanding the Spanish, but then I gave up and tried to sleep. I could not keep my eyes open...and the sun does not rise until we get to school. I had a few very good classes today that I led on my own with smaller groups. In general, they were better behaved today, and I worked with the most advanced group at the end of the day. Some of them spoke english very well, and there was one girl who had an American accent. I did not even realize it until the end of her speaking activity, but then I was confused and said, "Wait, where are you from?" It turns out that she is from New Jersey and is doing her junior year in high school abroad there. I really want to talk to her more about her experience. I feel bad that she has to sit through english lessons though, because they are obviously a piece of cake to her. In another class, some of the girls were picking on my laugh (you know, when I inhale sharply and may or may not sound like a donkey). Well, they picked up on that and found it pretty funny. In another class, there was an article called "Faking It" about a British TV show, but the kids thought it said another F-word. So the teacher explained to them the difference and said that the bad word meant "hacer amor." I was laughing awkwardly because I have never heard a teacher say the F-word that many times in one minute,  if ever. It is these funny things that help me get through the long, tiring day. And during breaks I got to read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which is so amazing. I am almost finished with it but I don't want it to be over. I am nervous about the shortage of free English books over here.

When I got home, I fought the urge to sleep...but lost. I took a short siesta, and hopefully will fall asleep in a few hours so I am not as tired tomorrow. Teaching requires so much energy and Spain seems to suck it all out of me.

Cádiz...spontaneously

Cádiz

Like most days and nights in Sevilla, this weekend was full of surprises. On Friday afternoon and evening, a group of us planned an impromptu trip to Cádiz! One of my friends was going there to see an MTV concert, and we decided to tag along and go explore a new city. One of my friends offered to drive us, which was great, and we headed off on Sunday morning with no real plans and no place to stay the night. This was a challenge for me because I am not incredibly spontaneous, but I figured I would find somewhere to crash (and, of course, I'd written a list of hostels in the city). We had a fun time in the car and it was an easy 1.5 hour drive. When we got there, we squeezed Arely into the car and headed to the beach. But when I saw the enormous cathedral and plaza, I decided that I did not need another day at the beach and would rather explore the city. In a split-second decision, Rebecca and I got out of the car, left our overnight stuff in the trunk, and wandered off while everyone else drove to the beach. In hindsight, this was just like a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book because, had we stayed in the car, our night would have been completely different. Our friends went off to the concert in a nearby town soon after we parted ways, but Rebecca and I had a lovely time in the city center of Cadiz.

Central Market

We wandered around for a while, going into all the appealing stores (but I only bought one cute scarf that makes me feel more Spanish), and then decided to have some lunch. Most places we tried were closed for siesta, but we found a tapas bar by the cathedral where I got scrambled eggs with chorizo and we shared some sardine-drenched bruschetta. After making the decision to stay the night here, we went in search of a hostel. Rebecca had a strange but correct premonition that there was wifi in one certain spot of the plaza by a pizza sign, so we looked up the address of a well-reviewed hostel. We found it without much trouble and booked a night there for 17 euros. Then we went to meet Chelsea and Toby to get our stuff from their car and bid them adieu on their trip home. After a photo shoot and dropping our stuff off at the hostel, we went in search of a beach. We found one called La Caleta that was pretty small and quaint, but it is apparently the main beach. I expected a bit more out of Cadiz's beaches, but there was no denying that it was pretty. We chilled for a while on a ledge and watched the sun go down. Pretty much everything Rebecca and I do seems incredibly romantic, so we need to find some hombres to share these places with too. Then we found a huge and interesting tree, so we did another photo shoot and headed to the hostel for a brief nap. My social nature kicked in and we climbed the endless stairs to the terrace to make some friends. I said, "Hello," to a group of three guys, and they said, "Hola," back so I started speaking to them in Spanish. Eventually they said, "Hablas inglés?" I said,  "Obviously!" and it turned out they were all from America and doing the same program as me in Jerez. Whoops. So Rebecca and I hung out with them for a few hours on the terrace and met their other friends who had gone to the MTV concert. When the terrace closed, we headed out in search of a bar or discoteca, but it was futile with a large group of people and we ended up on a giant freezing rooftop with a bunch of judgmental Spaniards. It was fun meeting these new people, but it eventually got too cold and we checked out the discotecas downstairs on our own. We walked into one place that was completely empty...apparently 1:30 is too early for anyone to be in a club in Spain. But we were very tired, so we got some delicious empanadas and cookies at a corner store and headed back for a decent night's sleep. 

In the morning, we had breakfast (actually, white bread with jelly) provided by the hostel and caught up with our new friends on their night. After checking out, I went on a walking tour with the hostel and Rebecca headed off to see some sights and a museum. The walking tour was alright and had some interesting stories about the city. It is sad but I feel like I can get around Cadiz better than Sevilla at this point because the city is so small. It makes me appreciate being a city large enough that I still have a ton to explore after being here for a month (I know...it's been a month!!). Rebecca and I met back up and headed to the "beach," which apparently means we were going to eat. On the way there, Rebecca showed me a street filled with Rodin sculptures, including The Thinker. That was pretty darn sweet! We got the menú deal and enjoyed amazing paella and too oily tuna. But I am glad I had seafood in Cadiz because that is part of its claim to fame. It turned into a very long meal, and we missed our chance to go to the beach and still catch the 5:00 bus home, so we collected our backpacks and went to the bus station. We found Arely and Reegis on the bus and heard about their adventures at the concert and beach today. It was great seeing our friends again...it was too bad we did completely opposite things while in Cadiz, but both groups of people had a great time, so it is all good. It is good to be back in Sevilla. I am looking forward to a lot of sleep tonight and running a lot of errands tomorrow. Now I am excited to plan more trips and keep up this whole traveling around Spain and Europe thing!

"The Thinker"