Merry Christmas everyone!

For the Holidays: Europe by Train

Suzy:

An update on our actions. We'll be leaving tomorrow for Zaragoza to spend Christmas with Cayetana's family. After that, we'll be spending a few days in each of the following cities: San Sebastián (in the Basque country), Bilbao (North of Spain), Lille (North of France), Amsterdam (Netherlands), and Brussels (Belgium mmm beer). We'll finally fly back here on the 16th of January. We'll take lots of pictures as always.

I taught my kids to sing "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" but it was kind of like that scene in "A Christmas Story" when Ralphie and his family have to go eat at the Chinese restaurant and the Chinese people try to sing them "Deck the Halls." (Which, consequently, I made Greg download so I could watch it this year with our roommates. It's one Christmas tradition that I can still participate in.) I miss you all very much.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and we love you.

Why I like teaching in elementary school

Suzy:

Got a Christmas card from a 3rd grader.

Front: "Merry Christmas!"

Inside: "Hello Susan: I wish you happy Christmas and Santa Claus you bring a lot of things for you Been very loving and good. Besides I want to thank all those that we teach. Lucía xxx"

This one's political: be warned

Suzy:

I've been wrestling with an upper respiratory tract infection for about three weeks now. Bad thing is, there's no real treatment for it and you just have to get over it on your own. Means even more tea than normal and oranges and soup and lots of liquids. Meh. Now to the point.

Tomorrow on December 16th we celebrate the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. I believe this is another decisive time in American History; one that could determine whether we remain the world's superpower and whether we wield that power by example or by force.

Who's the best candidate out there right now from either side? Ron Paul (Republican, Tx). Please, don't take my word for it. Check out his website for yourself. Also consider checking out the other links that are provided on YouTube.

Homepage
Wikipedia Entry
Position Video: Where he Stands on the Issues

I like Dr. Paul as a candidate for this reason: he has always voted according to the Constitution.

He believes in cutting back the power of the federal government and getting back to a government that the founders intended. This isn't just political speech. He has introduced several bills to Congress that would limit the broad federal claims across all issues: from foreign policy and monetary policy (he supports bringing home the troops and saving the $3.5 TRILLION pricetag from growing even higher) to civil liberties (he voted against the Patriot Act and continues to fight government efforts to keep ever-growing files on its own citizens).

He believes that candidates who get elected for federal offices shouldn't owe favors to big companies for financing their campaigns. Dr. Paul has raised almost $15 million from individuals across the social, economic, and political spectrums. What does that mean? If he gets elected, he doesn't have to do favors for big business (read: oil companies, pharmaceutical companies, agricultural companies, etc.). And yes, I've personally donated. I think it's important.

This guy is too smart to fit into 30 second sound blurbs and video clips, which helps explain why you might not have heard of him on the news. He has a huge internet following who have started massive grassroots efforts of support--monetary and otherwise. People from around the world are making political videos and starting campaign drives and writing rants on blogs... they're crazy about him because he's the only candidate who is calling for limits on federal government at a time when our country is borrowing $300 billion EVERY DAY from foreign banks. I can't even imagine how much money that is. No wonder the value of the dollar is dropping like a rock! I mean, it's great for us while we're getting paid in euros, but is it starting to suck for you guys?

I think that the person leading our country shouldn't be a career politician. Dr. Paul retired into politics after a career delivering babies. I think that the person leading our country should write books and essays about what (s)he thinks is right for America. Dr. Paul has written 13 books and countless essays (which you can read on his website). I think that the person leading our country should hold nothing higher than our Constitution. I think that one's obvious.

If you like him, email a link to his homepage to your friends and families. Talk about him at work and at school. I think it's every American's duty (and all of you are smart enough besides) to be able to make informed decisions about his or her vote.

Do you know how your candidate votes?

Holy Sevilla Awesomeness, Batman!

We got back from Sevilla the other day.... Sunday night, in fact. But it was a late night; I'll tell you all about it.

Sevilla is beautiful (this is Greg.... Suzy is anti-blogging at the moment). We've got pics up at the site at the usual place. As always, they are a little out of order b/c photobucket uploads the newest first, even when you upload 20 at a time, and I tend to just scroll through the pics.

As for the trip, we took Caroline, Neil's car (b/c there is a child's tale about a turtle called Caroline and his car barely makes it up some hills... not even joking), to Sevilla but stopped at a small village called Osaka, or Osana, or something along those lines. This village has some 500+ year old architecture like a church that is still open to the public and a few other buildings.

After that, we made it to Seville and stayed in a fantastic hostel called Oasis that has sister hostels in various cities around Spain. We totally recommend it to anyone wanting to hit up the most fantastic city in Spain. It was the first hostel we stayed in where we didn't have a private room (it was set up like a dormitory; there where eight beds within two rooms that didn't close off from each other). But it worked out well, was really affordable, and nearly everyone actually spoke English.

Which brings me to my first tangent: I love the city but I suppose I'm glad that we didn't get placed in Seville b/c there was too much English. I feel that I really wouldn't have learned Spanish like I am had we been placed in our anticipated location.

In Seville, we roamed around, hit up Starbucks (I'd rather hit up a "privatier" coffee shop but there aren't any coffee shops around), went to a couple tapas bars, etc. We spent a lot of time in one of the parks. We rented a four person bike-car thing and rode that around the park and had paté and cheese sandwiches like real life Europeans... well, I actually felt really French (is that a French-type thing Caitlin, Kade, Rob or anyone else?). It was really just a huge break in a city that Suzy and I could totally retire in.

For those that don't know or don't remember, I'll mention this here. Seville is the sister-city to Kansas City. We have a copy of La Giralda tower (there are a couple of pics) above Cheesecake Factory (I think) in the Plaza, as well as the Plaza is modeled after Seville. Architecture, horse and buggies, the whole shebang. There is also a fountain in Sevilla that KC has a copy of in the Plaza. We pretty much tried to steal it all as Americans tend to do and then pawn it off as our own :P

We visited the Plaza de Espana (Star Wars Ep. II used this place as a palace for the emperor or something), other plazas, La Mezquita in Cordoba, flamenco joints, along with many other things I just can't really write about. However, we totally planned on letting you all experience it as well which is why we took a bunch of clips and are planning on getting a video out for you all shortly. Suzy will be directing this one so bug her about it this time ;)

Then we got back late and we wanted to sleep. There, I told you all about it.

Be patient with the pics as they will take some time to get them all up.

Update: the pics are all up

Puente: December Edition

This holla is brought to you by Greg and everything that is like Greg. Like Greg's pants.

We've previously mentioned that we get a vacation nearly every month. Our puente this month is this Thursday and Friday. It couldn't have come at a better time because Jesus is still in the hospital (apparently doing better each day) and Judith had her own classes to tend to at the Almeria University. That left the substitute we finally received last week and myself to teach these two classes. Technically, there is always supposed to be a full-time teacher with me as I am just the assistant but rules were made to be bent. And folded in thirds, cut lengthwise, beaten with a crowbar, and scattered over broken glass. With Tyra Banks watching.

Yes, I have taught nearly all my classes this week by my lonesome. If there's one thing that I've learned from this lesson it's that Suzy is out of her freakin mind. Don't get me wrong. Suzy is absolutely intelligent and skilled for this position but this is not a fun trade.

I suppose all I can do is troop along as best I can; each day is another day learned. I am still forever grateful for this opportunity but I came out of my third class this morning needing a good scotch... at 11:30.

Oh, kids will drive a man to his death.

But on this puente, we've made plans to go to Sevilla and Cordoba. Freaking Seville! How cool?! I know! From what we've heard, these are the only places where the Spanish gets worse than this area. Ohhh, another challenge. Plus, it's way colder around that area than it is here (we're probably averaging 55-ish during the day, 40-ish during the night). Thus, Suzy is out shopping right now for a wool coat to roast her during our stay. We'll let you all know how our next trip goes soon.

Coconut Soup

Suzy (you should have guessed; it's a food post after all):

Greg and I bought a coconut from the store the other day but didn't have any idea what to do with it. I decided that it would be tasty in a soup. It turned out fantastic:



You would be surprised how difficult coconuts are to open. After dulling all of the knives in the kitchen (but to my credit I did manage to drain the stupid thing on the first try), Marijke suggested giving up centuries of tool development, wrapping it in a towel, and smashing it with something hard. Afraid of breaking tiles inside, I sent Greg outside to pound it to smitherines against the sharp edge of granite that ledges our balcony. And Emeril insisted that we toast it in the oven first. Bah! No oven needed!

After peeling the coconut you boil it for a long time in milk. The result (brace yourselves) is coconut milk (contrary to popular belief, the water that comes out of the coconut is quite clear and not sweet at all... what most think of as coconut milk is the result of cow milk and coconut) which happens to be an extremely tasty base for soups. Just add some black beans, a handful of rice, and some extra spicy chorizo slices and you've got it made.

I went with my students last week to some caves that are near Almería. You'll find pictures of the trip on our site. Click on the photos for descriptions of each one. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside of the caves themselves, but the memories of putting on mining helmets and lights and crawling around in the dirt and balancing on ledges will be good enough for me.

Thanksgiving stew

(Greg)

So, it's nearly a week after Thanksgiving but we finally used the turkey that's been sitting in our 'fridge for the last 5 days. We bought the turkey last Friday and ran it over to the local chicken roasterie like we had mentioned in a previous post. That didn't work out... obviously, but he told us we could bring it back last Tuesday morning (today for those that will read this shortly). So I waddled the turkey back to his shop only for him to tell me to bring it back on Thursday. So, I'm walking back to my apartment with the turkey still in my hand for the second time but now I'm cursing at the imaginative chicken roaster-guy in my best English and trying to find the equivalent Spanish translation. Unfortunately, my Spanish cursing is a little, err, sub-par so I wound up just repeating "pendejo, pendejo, pendejo" like some sort of crazy diabetic about 6 grams short of sugar.

Once I made it back to the apartment, I stuck the huge turkey in the freezer fearing that another 2 days in the 'fridge may unrest the bacteria that has been hibernating quietly in my meat. Time passes... (we had a freaking sweet turkey deli-meat and avocado sandwich for lunch)... more time passes... dinner time. We decided that it was dinner time like any fair, democratic society would: paper, rocks, scissors. Best 2 out of 3.

Because we've had such terrible luck with the roaster-guy and because I think I swore off going back to him between the two languages, Suzy went at that turkey herself. She ripped the skin and little bit of remaining feathers off like a serial killer perfecting her craft. Slowly and with a blunt knife.

Afterwards, we dumped the remains into a large pot with veggies and had our very first Thanksgiving stew. And it was as wonderful as it could be.

It was doubly good because Suzy's trying to get sick and then pass that wealth onto me. Mmm... stew...

Mountains

Suzy:

I climbed a mountain today. What did you do?

Thanksgiving didn't work out. They'll just have to come visit and celebrate in the 'states. But I sure miss me some sweet potato pie... and Sarah's sly fox pie... and my dad's pumpkin gingerbread mousse... and and and

love you all.


Edit: to add to the post
Greg:

So, I was just reading some friend's blogs online and realized that, even though we haven't really had a Thanksgiving here (at least not yet), Suzy and I are both really missing everybody back home.

You see, Thanksgiving is one of our favorite holidays, and not just for the awesome turkey smell that penetrates the house while Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade blares in the background. It's for the memories of my grandpa sitting in his La-Z-Boy while the parade is on one tv and the news is on the second (both in the same room; he had logic for this setup but I never understood it). It's for the turkey and ham, Jell-o with fruit, mashed potatoes, and the buffet of enough pies afterwards to make Sarah Lee embarrassed. It's for the 45 minute trip down to Harrisonville as we tried desperately to spend some cherished time with Chan and Linda, Erin, Christy, and Maddie. It's for the evening we would spend over at Justin's, because everyone was aching to get away from too much family but we ended up with a different kind, both our PCP and 'Ville friends. And it's for the last 24/23 years of Thanksgivings, each one seeming an exact replica of the previous year until I remember the emotions felt with each.

I've found myself thinking about my grandpa a lot again. If there is something after this life, I sure hope he's enjoying himself.

Suzy and I wish everyone the best (even though, Thanksgiving was technically the other day). We're very much enjoying ourselves here but we're thinking of you all even more during this holiday season.

Also, Neil says "hi."

Spanish Thanksgiving

Suzy:

So Thanksgiving turns out to be my favorite holiday. Unfortunately, of course, the Spanish don't celebrate it, so I had to work. :( But, it was worth it because today... Miguel Angel's mom made us paella!!!

Oh man, it was a feast. First, we had a table full of appetizers: jamón serrano de pata negra (Spanish cured ham--the expensive kind, fed on acorns and free range), ajo blanco (a garlic dip the consistency of hummus), tortilla española (potato omelet), ensalada (salad), fresh bread, queso manchego y nueces (manchego cheese and walnuts), pulpo frito (fried octopus), and a Spanish red wine that, from my understanding, is even better than the wine from the Rioja region-- "Ribera del Duero." Then we had the main dish: paella. It's a rice based dish typically made with seafood and lots of saffron. Ours had mussels, prawns (big shrimp), calamari rings, and fried octopus. It was friggin amazing. It rivals the paella that Cayetana's mom made us the last time we were in Spain. To drink, we then switched to a white wine to match the seafood. It was extremely nice; it was clean and crisp with just a touch of sweetness; think of a Vignoles but half as sweet. I've forgotten the name of it; I'll ask and post it later. Then, after all of that, we had dessert: homemade natillas (pudding). She served it with a cognac soaked cookie on top. To drink, spearmint tea from Morocco, and then as a digestive shot (a typical Spanish practice, actually does help digestion), fig liquor. What a feast! I am so full I'm practically rolling down the street. It's not turkey and pumpkin pie, but...

Greg and I are trying to host a typical Thanksgiving for some colleagues tomorrow. But it's kind of hard when you don't have an oven... a local chicken roaster had originally agreed to roast a turkey for us but it seems that plans have fallen through... apart from that, some ingredients are impossible to find here, like pumpkin, molasses, graham crackers, sour cream, etc... which not only makes desserts more difficult but nearly impossible coupled with the missing oven dilemma... We'll work on it and let you know how it pans out.

Hope everyone had a good one yesterday! You're all in our thoughts. Now, it's siesta time.

The weekend in full / Catastrophe in Arcos Iris

(Greg)

Well, remember that last post when I wrote about how Jesus couldn't make it to class? Remember when I mentioned that I successfully (however boringly) made it through two of his English classes? Oh, that was an enjoyable day. And by "enjoyable" I mean "not-exactly-what-I-am-cut-out-to-do-so-I-was-thoroughly-ecstatic-that-it-was-only-for-that-day." Oh school.

I had a really optimistic moment last week that I forgot to include in the last post: Spanish. Backstory: we are all renting our apartment from two teachers (one from Suzy's school, and one from mine). The woman that works at Suzy's school has a very thick Andalucian accent so she omits the 's's from most words. This coupled with the Spanish lisp can make it quite difficult to understand said person and, well, I had no idea that she was really speaking a language when I first met her (end backstory). Fast forward to the day before the last post and I walked up to Suzy's school to get an idea of groceries for the week. While I was talking with my wife, this woman came up. Now, I hadn't spoken with her since we moved here and we mentioned a few words to each other and I realized that it was a language she was speaking. She spoke it so well it seemed as if there were things like rules and grammar. The words seemed to change depending upon things like meaning and subject. I was dancing in a field where letters sprouted like dandelions and butterflies carried banners of words around to form proper sentences. It was a whimsical time and it was really encouraging to see that things are slowly moving forward. I suppose I can make pretty large goals for myself and I often try to rush things which leads to frustration.

So, while we're on the subject of Spanish. The King of Spain totally told Hugo Chavez to shut up a week ago during a Spanish-speaking countries hearing of some sort. Chavez was interrupting Spain's President and talking badly about the previous President so the King literally interrupted Chavez with "Why don't you shut up?!" Not very Kingly but I have to hand it to the man for backing up the President. And he totally deserved it.

So, back to Jesus. He's in the hospital. I was notified this morning that he fell down some stairs and I believe that he actually bruised his brain and is in the ICU (or if you are Spanish or an English dyslexic the UCI). I say "I believe" because my understanding of Spanish medical terminology just is ::cue Rob's scrunched not-up-to-par face:: not exactly up to par. So, not good. He was supposed to go on an excursion this week somewhere, too. Hope he gets better.

To round out the weekend and satisfy the title of this entry: drank tea with other Auxiliares from surrounding towns and bought some wicked cool European clothes.

All done in under 483 words.

Teaching... finally.

This be Greg. Holla.

I was browsing digg.com and I came across a satellite "World Sunlight Map". I thought it was kinda cool and appropriate since, you know, Suzy and I (and Kade and Caitlin for those that know them) are halfway around the world. By the way, good morning.

I taught a class today... well, actually two. And, like, full on. Jesus had something else today so couldn't make it to class and I taught it by myself. Solo. Like, wow, I'm a teacher. It was somewhat successful; boring, but successful. Jesus had a rough outline covering a new theme in their books but I was able to cover my uber original "other responses to 'How are you?'" lesson that went flawless as expected. I don't remember if we covered it before or not, but when you ask the students "How are you?," in unison and with a British accent, they all respond "I'm fine, thank you, and you?". The best part is the end of the phrase. When they get to the "and you?" portion, they all raise their voices to a higher pitch. It's hilarious.

Muchos kudos to the Kadelin crew with their having a class to themselves. What generally happens during my classes is that I might have a couple of things to read that the "main" teacher just gave to me and then I will just walk around and correct both the students and the teachers on any grammatical mistakes, etc. It's cake, really, but not entirely stimulating. But that was what was different today; I got to run the joint. Like all things I find and nearly complete (ie, computer science, business, etc.) I'm not sure that a school teacher is a path I want to continue down in the States but this year will be educational, at least.

So, I'm officially a teacher. Woohoo.

The day in Laujar

Earlier today, Judith and Jesus (and their spouses) took us out to Laujar. *note: Jesus and Judith are the two English teachers at my (Greg's) school that I work with* In the picture, Jesus is the man on the far left while Judith is the woman in the middle, back row. I'm sure you are all aware of who Marieke is but, for clarification, she is the woman on the left, front row.

Anyways, Laujar is one of many tiny, tiny pueblos here in the mountains, roughly 45 minutes from Aguadulce. They had told us about a very tasty restaurant and offered to take us there. Once we arrived, the entire place reminded us of Oregon or the Ozarks with pine trees and "normal" trees (ie, not evergreens) and cliffs and a river and it was beautiful... and cold. We had forgotten (not to be rubbing anything in anyone's faces) that it is actually November!



After we walked around, we had migas at the restaurant. Migas are apparently a dish that is *usually* made when it rains. It's supposed to be really time-consuming to make but is just oil and flour mixed together and tastes similar to non-spiced stuffing.

We uploaded a bunch of new photos at the photobucket site. I also posted a couple of pics from our evening at the tapas bar Casa Puga two nights ago. We don't have any further pics, but after we visited Casa Puga, we found an Arabic teteria, or a tea shop (in the sense of it was like a coffee shop in the States but only had tea). This place was amazing and had live music... not great live music, but live music none-the-less. And after the live music, people just got up and played the instruments like a jam session. Neil went up there and played a bit, as well as a Spanish woman who did some flamenco-esque songs. They both did fantastic and we caught some video of them both. I'll get those vids up in a while... and after I practice a bit more, you might find one of me trying out the live music scene. :D

Come to Spain!

Suzy:

Obviously if you can't afford it, don't come. We don't want to guilt anyone into visiting and spending more money than they have. For those of you who do have some extra cash on hand, I was searching for cheap flights and here's what I found from cheaptickets.com

These are ticket prices to fly from Chicago to Madrid, which is typically the cheapest round trip. If you need an inexpensive way to get to Chicago, I suggest using Megabus.com because you can go from KC or STL by bus to Chicago for about eight dollars if you book in advance online. Greg and I took them; the buses are clean and comfy. They even play a few movies for you.

Anyhoo, I just wanted to let people know that the price is right to visit Spain if you're interested. Normally round trip tickets to Europe in the past have been around $1500 per person. As you can see from the links, it's down to about $500 per person if you buy in advance. Of course you want to bring money for travel within Spain (we don't have a car) and souveniers, but the ticket price is the biggest purchase by far you have to make.

Our Town Video

Finally, after many trials and tribulations, the Greg / Suzy team brings you this introduction to our city. I hope you all know how much we like you. Cuz, seriously. Work.

Thesis is completed

Suzy:

Yes, that's right, after much procrastination, my thesis has finally completed writing itself. I say that because I hate to put my name on such a horrible piece of work. I say horrible not because I want your sympathy, but because it really is the worst thing I've ever written. It was like pulling teeth. (Or, as they say in Spanish, plucking hairs from a bald man.) The good news is it's completed, and I'm pretty sure I'll get my MAE in December. Finally. Ugh.

Well, I had more to say, but instead I was delightfully interrupted by Rob and Ashlee on IM and just spent about two hours talking to them instead of writing this. Which I much preferred.

Love you all. Take care.

November swim

(Greg... again) So we totally wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather we are having here and decided that nothing would be cooler than swimming (yes, again, but this time...) in November. So I made the proposition when we started cooking our lunch and as it was getting to the peak of the day's high temp, right? But we can't swim right after eating... you have to wait 30 minutes. So we sat down and hit up some Super Mario Bros 3 on the wii. A half hour passes and we finally got to the part I was stuck at on single player (Suzy and I were playing coop) but we had to continue because it was a boss level and, well, I'm stubborn. So, we totally destroyed the boss after something like 45 more minutes.

By this time it was near 3 or 3:30 and with the Daylight Savings time change, we had better hop on that ball and get to the beach. After much conniving and convincing (mainly of me being lazy), we started to get ready... "Get the towel, check." "Wearing swimming trunks." "Grab the keys." Alright, we were ready to go. It was closer to 4 now (yeah, I kinda took that long to get ready) but we still had an hour of the warmer part of daylight left and I'm going to enjoy every moment I can on that beach!

We walk down the street, and it was still relatively beautiful, I mean, considering the Novembers we're used to (by the way, I do not envy you guys at all), and pick a sunny spot to lay the towel. Suzy sat down but I had it in my mind that I was jumping into that water. I cautiously step in. "Hrm.. not cold at all, really." I step in further. I'm waist deep and wading in the blue-green sea.

HOLY CRAP! THAT'S A FREAKING JELLYFISH! literally two feet from me. Apparently, I interrupted some hot jellyfish action as I can only guess that it's now mating season due to the numerous 3-6 inch jelly candy-looking things staring into my eyes. I can only imagine the things that they wanted to do to me with those jelly tentacles of theirs. Like sting me.

After I kicked it in its teeth, Suzy and I walked along the surf looking for the ferocious animals. It was pretty sweet because they were all over the sea but no more than 10 or 15 feet from the sand. All just floating along the waves. Plus you could kinda see through them. Then, just before we left, Suzy found one of them lying on the beach and we played "poke the dead thing with a stick."

My (Mis)adventures at the German bar

So I have fantastic news: we have finally found a German bar that offers good German beer near our apartment that we were able to enjoy tonight. I've (Greg) been looking for a good German bar quite often because, for those that know me, I drink beer to enjoy the taste. It is for this reason that I have become transfixed on German and Belgium brews. However, the bad news is that the owner of this beautiful German restaurant just sold it to a non-German individual and will no longer own it after Sunday. :( ::tear::

By the way, Chan, the best beer we tasted tonight (believe me, I'll be there every night until Sunday) was Erdinger Dunkel. Absolutely fantastic.

Happy Halloween! (Updated)

...and to all a good night? If you can't tell from context (read over-used parenthesis and lame jokes), this is Greg.

Okay, okay. So, I realize that it's been a full-fledged week that we haven't posted anything. Word on the streets is that... well, there is no word. Word does not exist. Actually, Suzy was waiting on me to post something but I didn't have anything worth mentioning so we'll just recap the week.

We have a puente / day off on Thursday and Friday because Spanish tradition is that everyone goes to the gravesites of their dead relatives the day after Halloween to pay their respects, which is tomorrow. Then they are just taking Friday off b/c most people travel to other cities, so we have a four day weekend! Sweet! However, we were hoping to go to Seville and Cordoba during this time off but all the hostals are booked. Then we looked into visiting a bunch of the close villages here (Seville and Cordoba is a good 4 hours' drive) but the hostals in those villages are booked too. Balls. I'm not entirely sure where we are going to now. There was talk about visiting a different little village but I leave the planning up to Marijke and Suzy. All I want to make sure we visit is England, France, northern Spain and the Sierra Nevada mountains near Granada, Germany, and Italy, if possible. "Holy crap, Greg!" you say? "Why don't you just travel all over Europe?" you ask? That sounds like a fantastic idea.

School is good. During our lunch break, both the teachers and the students eat outside together. I suppose it's a way to keep the teachers working and looking after the kids while conniving them into working unpaid for a half hour and the students to burn some energy (which doesn't have any tiring effect anyways). All the little ones swarm around me and last Monday, we played Cops and Londoners (funny how they use Londoners instead of Robbers ::smirk::).

So, you know how in the States we smash jack-o-lanterns and tp people's houses just for mischief and devilry? They don't have pumpkins here so no one can smash them, and the whole tp concept eludes them. What the kids apparently do here on all hallow's eve is egg people's houses, people's cars, ...people. Just like in the States, the kids go out trick-or-treating earlier due to the dark nature of night and return around 9:30, 10-ish. But those that are still out, either still trick-or-treating or bar hopping on the port or what not are not guaranteed a safe passage without yolk on the face. Hrm.. it will make for an interesting night tonight.

Finally, a couple of observations I've noticed is:
-First, 2nd languages can be stressful and it really takes the edge off when the person learning has got (I threw this British terminology in just for Rob :D) a drink in his or her hand.
-Second, cous-cous sounds strange in any language.
-Third, Spaniards have an uncanny ability to attract flies. This doesn't mean they smell bad, because they don't, but the flies come anyways. Which brings us to...
-Fourth, Spaniards also have an uncanny tolerance towards flies (which is possibly why the flies bug them...). In the States, most people will swat at a fly if it is flying anywhere within the vortex of personal space... usually within 3 or 4 feet. Here, I have seen a fly crawl on an individual's face for 3, 4, 5 seconds before leaving on it's own command. I have seen a fly crawl almost into someone's nose before being shooed away. Now, again, I will repeat that this does not mean that Spaniards smell or are disgusting but it's an interesting difference between the two cultures.

We heard that the Halloween parties were over the last weekend. From what we heard, they sounded like they were another fantastic success. Hope everyone has a fantastic Halloween and, when the clock strikes 3 there in Missouri, I hope you all think of Suzy and I and whisper a few Hail Mary's to deter the evil spirits of chicken eggs.

Bullfighting

Suzy:

I came across this post from the last time we were in Spain and I thought that it should belong on this site instead. Just for the record, I haven't been back to a bullfight. So here you go:

Monday, June 21, 2004

Submitted by Suzy

So, the bullfight. Let´s talk about that. For being a person with certain convictions about animals (who doesn´t eat red meat for example), I can honestly say that the bullfight two weekends ago was... amazing. I won´t say that I´m a fan, nor that I´m against it, simply that it...affected me. Deeply. Especially the last fight. There were six bulls in all that day, with three Toreros (Matadors), each Torero killing two bulls: one two three and one two three (in order). I think that it affected quite a few of us, but my experience especially was one of deep respect, admiration, and appreciation of the rhythms and profound culture of the event. During the whole time, I was a bit squeemish and unsure whether to walk out or stay seated. They killed all five, first driving barbs into the extremely tough flesh at the back of the neck to soften the meat, then toro-ing the bull until it was exhausted. Finally after about fifteen minutes of this dance, the Torero brought out his long sword and drove it in the heart through the shoulderblades. However, with the first five (I guess this is common), the bull was not finished off by this ´´final blow,´´ and was stabbed with a palm-length dagger quicky at the base of the skull, behind the horns, after the bull was so tired it fell to the ground. The blood quite literally bubbled out of the flesh, glinting almost metallic red on the black skin of the creature. However, during the last fight, the whole rhythm changed. The Torero fell and was trampled, which is extremely dangerous. He got up, toroed, posing dramatically with the bull pawing and snorting, later to fall again, this time on the bull. The dance between the two was intoxicating. In the middle of so much violence and what has been called barbary, there was so much honor and beauty, like you could feel centuries of history thickening the air. The whole stadium waved white handkerchiefs in respect for the bull, and the Torero drew the final blow. The bull took a few steps back, side to side, and fell, the only one that died from the final blow, a great honor to both parties. Even in memory the event brings a sort of ache as I am writing. It was so filled with every kind of emotion, of ancient and new, and blood and violence and history and perfume, of rhythm and art and dance, of symbolism and metaphor. It´s one of those things that really strikes a person, and I wouldn´t give up the experience for anything.

A Song I've Fallen In Love With

Suzy:
(Thanks for the video, Neil)

Laura Lopez Castro

Añadir a mi perfil | Más Videos

Here are the lyrics so you can understand:

coro: /chorus:
No es por ser ni por estar /It’s not for existing nor being here
es por dejarme /it's for leaving me
es por quererme /it's for loving me
por aguantar /for bearing
por resistir /for resisting
y también por /and also for
calmar mi hambre /calming the hunger
que tengo por vivir. /that I have for life.

Por eso voy dejando atrás /That's why I'm leaving behind
tiempos pasados /past times
sin olvidarme /without forgetting
de quién es soy, /who I am,
y por la vida /and for my life
siempre contigo a mi lado /with you always by my side
porque tú eres mi calmamar. /because you are my "sea calmer."

Con pasos pequeños /With small steps
pero con el camino marcado /but with a marked path
por caminando hacia mi destino. /for walking toward my destiny.

coro /chorus

trumpet interlude /trumpet interlude

Con pasos pequeños /With small steps
pero con el camino marcado /but with a marked path
por caminando hacia mi destino. /for walking toward my destiny.
(repite 2 veces) /(repeat 2 times)

coro /chorus

Por todo lo que ahora soy /For all that I am now
yo te agradezco /I thank you
un casería /for my own invention
que ahora soy. /that I now am.
Me diste paz /You gave me peace
y también me diste la vida. /and you also gave me life.
Gracias por ser mi calmamar. /Thank you for being my "sea calmer."

Con pasos pequeños /With small steps
pero con el camino marcado /but with a marked path
por caminando hacia mi destino. /for walking toward my destiny.
(repite 2 veces) /(repeat 2 times)

No es por ser /It's not for existing
ni por estar. (2 veces) /nor for being. (twice)

Today's Spanish Lesson

Suzy:
estar como sopa = "to be like soup" = to look like a drowned rat. Especially useful for describing how one looks after walking around looking for a flamenco show in the rain for about 30 minutes, even with an umbrella. The funniest part isn't the expression; it's that Spaniards in Andalucía are so unaccustomed to the rain (evidently it never rains here) that life suddenly stops when it happens. Read: no flamenco show. Balls! Now we are like soup. Oh well... at least we had some good wine and tapas at the "Museum of Oils" before going home.

tapa = "tapa" = tapa. Sorry; some things just don't translate. Here in Andalucía, it is typical to order a beer or wine and they bring you a tapa to the table for free (in northern Spain the tapas are charged separately). Tapas are like a variety of appetizers that can be all kinds of things, and vary from bar to bar. Last night the roomies and Greg and I all went with one of my colleagues, Miguel Ángel (yes, like Michelangelo but all Spanish-y). He is from Almería, so he showed us around a few bars. One of them was like a specialty tapas bar and had all kinds of neat-sounding ones (look at the wall for the menu in the picture). I tried the "croquetas" (Greg is holding one in the pic) which are fried balls of flour with serrano ham bits mixed inside (think the consistency of mashed potatoes flavored with bacon pieces and then fried so the outside is crunchy but the inside is fluffy). I've had "croquetas" a few places and they are probably my faves, but at this place they were served with a pear aioli. D-lish!

se me fue el santo al cielo = "the saint went to heaven on me" = I lost my train of thought. Especially useful after the third or fourth (okay, fifth or sixth ;) )tapas bar.

tío / tía = "uncle / aunt" = buddy, pal, guy, man, woman, etc. When we first came it was hard to figure out who was related to who here because they were all calling each other uncle and aunt. Turns out, it's slang (in Spain) for any of the various terms that we use in English to address our friends. Hence, "Hey, what's up, girl?" would be, "Oye, ¿qué pasa, tía?"

That's all for now, kids.

{As a side note, if any of you have Halloween pics that you could send me via email, my students at school would love to see them. It's hard to explain the tradition without pictures. Especially you, parents, who have embarrassing photos of Greg and me as little ones in costume. Let's see 'em!}

Workin' on the mix tape

<Greg>

I just got back from exploring more of the city. Suzy had left with Marijke to a small town about 15 minutes west of here called El Ejido to see if they have any Arabic classes open so I took the time to seek adventure. After we had slain some thieving pirates and bundled their booty, I found that this little city seems to be much bigger than I had originally thought.

Anyways, the reason I went on my expedition was because I had checked out Kade and Caitlin's blog (Adam and Eve from that one Halloween for those that need the help) and they had a pretty sweet vid they posted showing off their town. Well, I thought to myself "Hrmm. That's a pretty sweet vid." Then I thought to myself "Kade is trying to call me out with all these pretty sweet vids he's creating." So... I went around and started Phase I of Pretty Sweet Vid: Aguadulce Version. So, Kade, hats off to your production skills but feel the heat because it's on!

Rob seemed to like the idea of me sending him our google maps area so I figured I'd post our general area here too.

</Greg>

Observations

(Rob requested that we clarify who is speaking. I insisted that he should be able to tell by context because he knows us so well. But he said, 'please,'... so....)

Suzy:

• Even if you're not in a particularly smiley mood, when you walk in the sea and get splashed by a bellybutton-high wave that you didn't see coming, the only thing for you to do is laugh really loud and open your eyes and mouth really big. And it feels like you're six again.
  
• You know all the songs they sang in the '60s about seeing animals and shapes leaping in the surf / sea foam and you thought it was just an acid trip? Nope, it's all true.
  
• The sea is way more interesting than most people you'll ever meet. Especially girls. Think about it.
• "Undertow" may be a cool name for a Tool album, but that's nuthin'. Just wait until the sea is angry enough to push you on your face while trying to steal your toes at the same time.
  
• You can't call yourself a real stone-skipper until you've launched one (in a single bounce!) over a 4 1/2 ft. wave.
  
• If you draw a spiral in the sand and the sea comes and washes away half of it, you're left with perfect concentric circles, but you can only see half of them. Which is a better metaphor for what you were thinking about anyway.

A Good Argument

So today in bilingual art class we began doing a project themed around Halloween. I was giving instructions in English for the kids (3rd grade) to color different parts of the jack-o-lantern in different colors. Generally I consider myself to be (1) patient and (2) good at giving directions, especially since I am familiar with the techniques to teaching a foreign language. So, I go through the whole spiel with elaborate gestures and have the students hold up the colored pencils that I say to check that they understand. I tell them that the face (pointing first to my face and then to the pumpkin's face on the worksheet) should be orange (can you hold up the orange pencil, please?), the eyes (again, first pointing at my eyes and then at the pumpkin's eyes) and the mouth (pointing, pointing) should be yellow, and the stem (here I point to the paper and draw the a picture of a 'stem' on the board) should be green. I then wrote out on the board each word in English along with the color it should be: pumpkin-orange, eyes & mouth- yellow, stem-green. Then after everyone is nodding and sharpening their pencils I say, "Okay, let's start." The students are off and coloring and everything seems to be going well.

Suddenly I see a handful students doing things like coloring the face purple stripes or coloring the forehead of the pumpkin yellow or coloring the mouth green. This, of course, prompted me to talk to the young girl who was coloring the mouth green. Being a bilingual class, I tried to explain holding up her pencils and speaking in English what she was to do. She said, "Oh, okay," nodded her head, and began coloring the rest of the pumpkin orange. I walked around and helped the other students who were having problems and cleared up issues with vocabulary and comprehension. I then came back to her. She had since picked up her green pencil and was coloring the mouth green again. Then I resorted to speaking to her in Spanish, because we were losing class time and it was clear that the English with gestures thing wasn't working for her today (I had tried already twice with her). So, I explained in Spanish that the point of the exercise was to practice the colors vocabulary that we were reviewing, and that the mouth should be colored yellow, not green. She said, "Yeah, I know." So I asked her, "Then if you understood the difference between yellow and green, why did you color the mouth green?" and she said, "Well, he looks better with a green mouth, doesn't he?"

I wasn't sure how to respond. We decided to move on to cutting and pasting.

By the way, Greg posted new pictures of our latest trip to Granada. Be sure to look at them full-sized because you can see a lot more detail than the little thumbnails that they give you on the album page. We went to the Alhambra, a collection of palaces and old military buildings up on the hill. Many of these buildings were built and used by the moors when they ruled Spain, and when the Catholic Monarchs Fernando and Isabella "reconquered" Spain from the moors, they made the same site important for them too, so there is a lot of architecture that is juxtaposed either next to each other or on top of each other. It's a recurring theme all over Spain and especially visible in Granada. There are also a handful of pictures of the types of food we have been eating, including the RAF tomatoes. Which, I found out, stands for Resistente (resistant) A (to) Fusarium (plague). Mmmm, delicious and plague resistant; who knew?! I think the other food pics are churros (think a cross between funnel cake and donuts) that are eaten with hot chocolate (think chocolate sauce almost as thick as pudding, served warm to dip your churros in), and potatoes with pimentón dulce (like paprika but with even more flavor). Ehm.. I think I'ma go eat some lunch. :)

A River Runs Through It

We have the internet! We commandeered our connection and successfully flanked the opposing forces that were hindering our connectivity. We have prevailed.

I am writing you all today in the hopes that you will know, not who I am nor what I have become, but in the idea that there exists an ability. I believe that there is the ability that you, the reader, will tell the world of our exploits. I believe that there is the ability that you, the reader, will celebrate what I celebrate and will begin to look for me or my wife on AIM, on Skype, on Jabber. We will be waiting for you.

In other news, it rained today. Why is this dramatic news worthy of the third paragraph in a lame blog that I barely check, you ask? All of our maps of Aguadulce show two rivers that flow from the mountains down to the sea; one of which exists nearly feet from our apartment. We were sitting on our balcony and watched as a trickle of water dribbled down this very dry riverbed. We watched the trickle gather in force until even our oxen would have perished trying to ford it.

I begin teaching the English teachers on Tuesday. They speak a little of English, but they don't really have the resources to continue it. I think we worked out a deal so they'll teach me Spanish before, after, during, or long after our English class. I'm not too sure because they mentioned this to me in Spanish.

I'll also start teaching two children of one of the other teachers the same day... All the children speak in little British English. "Teacher, can I go to the toilet?" and "Have you got a pencil?" The first day, I was to correct "Have you got..." exercises and I stumbled through them all. Oh proper English is so incorrect.

Until we meet again, be happy and protect those oxen.

Internet fiasco

Not a fiasco, really, just that everything in Spain takes longer to get. They delivered our wifi router a few days ago, which got my hopes up for having internet in the house, but evidently the delivery people aren't the same as the technicians who will actually set up the internet. Meh. So, I keep promising everyone that we will be on Skype soon, but who knows how long it will actually take.

I've also figgered out that Spaniards don't like to do business over the phone or the internet and that you basically have to go everywhere in person. Which is actually what I prefer, but it makes people with little patience (like Greg) very frustrated. The pace of life is just a lot slower here, and you actually have time to do the things that you always have in the back of your head that you want to do but are always interrupted by doing something else.

And I really like buying fresh bread every day.

I talked to Caitlin for a while on the phone last night (she and her husband are doing the same program but in France) and she says it's been rainy there every day and that all the French people run around with their baguettes under their coats and it's really cute. It was good to hear from her. Evidently the French are even worse than the Spaniards about paperwork. For example, we went to rent a movie the other day and they wanted a copy of our NIE (foreigner ID number) and a piece of mail that had our name and address on it. Like we were going to run off to Morrocco with their movies. But in France to get paid, Kade and Caitlin had to have every document officially translated into French (which runs like 39 euros per page). Stuff like their marriage license, birth certificates, etc. But the strange thing is that even though they're really anal about handing in all the appropriate forms, they don't care if you leave most of the spaces blank. Meh, Europeans.

We went down the street the other night to hang out at a local bar and we ended up (unintentionally) at the only English bar in Aguadulce. We started talking to the British guy that ran the place and it was really weird because he is racist against all the "foreigners" that are "robbing and drug dealing and ruining England." I was like, dude, you're a foreigner. It seems like no matter what culture a person comes from it's always the same excuses and irrational fears about what's different.

Love you all.

This is the way everyone should live...

So we worked for two days (Wed. and Thurs.) and now we have a four day weekend because Friday is an Almerían holiday and Monday is a Aguadulce holiday, lol. Man, it's rough here.

The internet guys are coming Monday to install stuff so I'm hopeful to be linked at home to Skype with all you Americans.

My students are really cute. I have 3rd to 6th graders. When I introduce myself all in English some of them are really lost, and then they hear a phrase they know and perk up. For example, I ask, "How are you?" and all of them in unison respond with little British accents, "Fine, thanks, and you?" They all are very excited to speak with me and ask me questions but they have just finished units on different things and end up using odd vocabulary, like, "Do you like tomatoes?" and I can't help but giggle.

Speaking of tomatoes, you all (should) know that I don't like to eat the raw ones. But yesterday the teachers from my school and from Greg's school took us out to eat some tapas and drink some beers after school and I tried these tomatoes called "tomates raf" which are only grown here in Almería and are freaking delicious. They are served sliced in quarters and drizzled with olive oil, garlic, and sea salt. I'm drooling thinking about them. I'm unsure what makes them so special; maybe they are grown in a vat of liquid addictive delicious. Today I immediately bought a kilo and will eat some right now.

There's more pictures online and a video of Granada (La Alhambra). Go see.

Meet Marijke

So Marijke finally got her visa and found us at the hotel in Granada. We've been hanging out ever since (obviously, since we are living together) and just getting a feel for each other. We arrived back home to Aguadulce today and showed her some pretty places in the city and she invited us all out for tapas. In Spain when someone says "Te invito" it means that (s)he is going to pay for everything.

BTW, to end the grand debate, her name is pronounced ma-reek. And, her laugh and mannerisms totally remind me of (and she even sort of looks like) my mom's good friend Diana. It's incredible.

Earlier today was the orientation stuff that was all like how to open your bank accounts and how to get your NIE (foreigner identification number) so that you can be all legal and stuff. One thing that was interesting to learn was that the banks here in Spain give most of the money they make back to the community in form of sponsoring art and cultural events. So, for example, in Zaragoza where Cayetana lives (her dad works for a bank there) the bank sponsors a few historic patios and several painting and sculptural exhibitions. They also bring in theatre events and other stuff too. I think that's an awesome way to do things. Unfortunately we haven't had much luck in finding cultural events here in Aguadulce.

We also learned that this program has grown like a crapton in the past few years. In Andalucía alone 2 years ago there were about 60 people at the orientation course from the US and the UK; today there were almost 600 people from France, Australia, UK, Belgium, Germany, China, New Zealand, Canada and the US that are going to assist in bilingual centers in not only English but also in German and French. All in all the program has 1900 foreigners all through Spain. Nice, right?

Granada was as pretty as ever. In most parts of Andalucía there is a strong moorish influence from when Spain was ruled by the moors, but especially in the cities like Seville, Toledo, and Granada. In Granada there is a group of palaces (and misc. important old buildings) in a complex called La Alhambra. Last time we came I bought that hand necklace that I always wear (that happens to be a Jewish good luck symbol...). Anyway, we didn't go there but we did go to this sort of parallel hill called "El Mirador de La Alhambra" (the place to see La Alhambra) and the sunset over the hills and valleys was stunning. Even the walk up the hill was amazing, with all these back alleys and beautiful hidden cafes and intricate woodwork on the doors... I took a video and will post it this week.

Well, I got the short straw and have the earliest start in the morning. I have to report to my school at 9 and work out my schedule. Neil and Marijke, at the same school, report at 10, and Greg-o doesn't report until 12. I can't wait to meet all the 3rd to 6th graders!

Wish us luck on our first day! G'nite.

Off to Granada

(Greg)
We are off to Granada within the hour for our orientation / dinner tonight and tomorrow. Our check-in is at 3 and the trip should last no more than 2 hours max. ...It´s finally about to start and I think everyone is getting excited about it. While we are enjoying everything we´ve been able to do, there´s only so much walking around and exploring that one can take.

The following link is for some pictures on Flickr from María (the girl in the picture I posted earlier) while we were in Madrid. They just cover miscellaneous things: food, us, Neil, her, Noche en Blanco, etc. She posts a blog about things to do in Madrid so some of the stuff is kind of random but there´s a bunch of pics for those that keep requesting :) We´ll get some pics of Granada and such, too.

Oh yeah! Only an hour ago, we got a landline so people, if they want to pay for it and don´t have a computer to set up Skype for free, may email us for that... I don´t really want to put our new number out for the public to see but I´ll give everyone the first half of it: 950 5x xx xx. If you have enough dedication to sort through the 100,000 possibilities, if my brief math is correct, then you shouldn´t have to bother with emailing. However, what this does mean is that we should have the internet set up by Wednesday if we are lucky.

So far, we´ve been having difficulties in finding a close language academy for me to take some Spanish courses but that has left me a lot of time to catch up on some guitar and the Odyssey (which is fantastic, btw). I´ve finally started learning how to read the music and not just tablature; something I have been wanting to do since I picked up the guitar.

To save you all from random rambling, I shall need to end it here. Before I go, however, Suzy was wanting me to mention that we really like the energy efficiency here. The hallway lights (between apartments) turn off after 5 minutes or so, as well as nearly all Spaniards don´t own a dryer for clothes. They just hang it all up and it saves the clothes from shrinking as well as kind of starches them to an extent (a fact I actually like). However, most of this efficiency is due to necessity. They are running terribly short on water (there are supposed to be two small rivers in this city that flow to the sea from the mountainous areas but are both dried up) and request that everyone take quick showers and conserve as much water as possible. There are always good and bad to every place you go to... but we really are enjoying our stay here. I finally have the time to focus on all of these things that I´ve been wanting to continue on. I think my next hobby I will start, after I learn Spanish to my contentment, might be some sort of martial arts or something.... But I am always piling more and more things that I´d like to accomplish so I´ll have to clear my list of many first.

Well, we leave for Granada in 20 minutes so I must head back. Adíos desde Aguadulce!

(/Greg) --if any of you code junkies could remind me how to make html code read as text (so it the browser doesn´t read it), let me know.....

Mar

Mar I

No one gets it right

so I won’t diminish you

by applying forced adjectives.

The opposite is also useless;

defining what you’re not

is harder than defining what you are.

I will only say that

drinking your salty soul

fills me up

and leaves me so thirsty.

Mar II

I can’t stop staring

at all the stones

you’ve rounded and

lined yourself with

like a million wet buttons

that fasten you to the sand.

Mar III

It’s hard to imagine

that what they say is true

about you taking men’s lives

in fury and foam.

The hard part is not about

the taking of lives

but that anyone would

resist.

video of the sea

For the Foodies

So yesterday for lunch we had some white wine from La Rioja with a bit of Spanish ham, manchego cheese, and a fresh crusty loaf of bread.

Today I made tortilla española and salad with fresh tomatoes, lettuce, white asparagus, tuna, and dressing with olive oil and sherry vinegar. For dinner we had a fresh salmon steak (that cost about two euros!!) with rice and leftover tortilla española. Man, life here is hard! ;)

Oh, and breakfast! It's typical to eat a few muffins with jam or nutella and a cup of coffee with milk or hot chocolate. I normally sit outside on the balcony in the mornings, especially when it's breezy.

So, this is what we've been eating. Hopefully I'll enroll in a culinary course soon and learn how to cook all the seafood that I see in the stores. I'll have to have a big paella party when we come back and have everyone try it. It's sooo good.

Typically spaniards eat breakfast when they wake up, around 8 or so, and then have lunch at about 2 or 3 and take a siesta (nap). All the stores are closed during the siesta and everyone goes home from school or work, from about 2 o'clock to until about 5 when things open again. Then typically they go for walks and visit each other on the streets (or on the beach) or go shopping, eat dinner around 10, and then go to bed around midnight or so.

The schedule has been awesome for me because it follows when I'm naturally hungry and sleepy anyway. It's been harder for Greg to adjust though, and sometimes we break down and have an early dinner or lunch. Oh well.

Also, a lot of the stores are separated. That is, instead of going to a giant supermarket (which they do have but aren't as common especially in smaller towns), you go to a fish store and a fruit store and a meat store and a bakery and an ice cream store etc... evidently the pescaderías (fish stores) are only open in the mornings. So, if you want to eat fish that night, you have to buy it before 2. Meh.

Evidently there are some hiking trails that we have neglected. As soon as Greg gets over his cold I'ma drag him up to the top of them mountains for a picnic. I'll take some pictures. Proly some time next week after we start school and everything.

Poems shortly, I promise. I keep forgetting to carry them with me.

Love you all.

Buenas Noches para todo!

This be Greg... again.

We´re hanging out at an internet café while all of you still have an hour and a half of work! I remember that stuff... you know, doing things for pay and the like.

We got an email from our last roommate, Marijke, from Canada. She´s been having trouble getting her visa because it got lost or something. Anyways, she wound up getting both the embassy and the Ambassador(!) involved and just got her visa yesterday. So, while it was up in the air for quite some time when she would be able to make it here, it looks as if she will be in Granada for our orientation just in time.

We visited Almería both yesterday and today; the bus there is only 90 cents to go one way. We shopped around for tshirts and miscellaneous other things (I got some sweet European leather shoes... stuff you´d probably never expect me to wear). Then we went to the Museo de Arte de Almería which was actually pretty disappointing because it was featuring a bunch of military art and uniforms.

As far as language academies, we've been pretty disapointed there too. The one I found on the internet in Aguadulce is nearly 30 minutes walking distance in a remote area of town. We actually never found it because the street number was too high for the street we found of the same name and there didn't seem to be a continuing street anywhere. Our last hope for this is in Almería at the university so we'll check that out sometime later.

In response to some questions we´ve received: Linda, Suzy and I are both at different schools than everyone else but Marijke and Neil are stationed at the same school (three total schools). Suzy and I are both assisting (not actually teaching but just talking to the students in English and helping the teachers) younger kids around 3rd grade to 6th grade-ish. We start that up on the 3rd of October which should be next Wednesday. We´ll all be working just four days a week for three hours a day probably (haven´t set anything definite up yet but that's what they did last year). We'll post pics and such when we get the chance. Ashlee, we will get our internet set up within 2 weeks so we'll be on Skype, iChat, google talk, AIM, etc. pretty much a lot then. Anyone that would like our address, send us an email and we'll forward that onto you.

Hope all takes care!

¡Buenas noches!

New Pics

I added some more pictures. I think if I do a few every day then I won't get so bored by waiting for it to load all the time.

For those of you who didn't know, you can link directly to our photos from this site. On the left you will see a link that says ''View complete profile.'' Click there. On the left again there will be a link under Contact information that says ''My Webpage'' or something like that. Click there and it will take you directly to our photos and videos.

Last night after I posted here I went back home and wrote for a while. I guess I had a lot built up because I wrote five poems in a row. I don't think I've ever done that before. I will post a pair of them in a bit (I forgot to bring them to the internet café).

Take care, everyone.

New video of our apartment

http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa88/n3ruda/?action=view&current=OurApartmentcopy.flv

Click there for a link to the video of our apartment. I had to compress it so that it would load relatively quickly, and still it took longer than my patience allows. There is one new picture up too. Just go to photobucket.com and search for me (n3ruda) to view all the stuff I have up there. I was going to load some more pictures tonight, but I just can't wait any more.

Greg's come down with a bit of a cold, so my excuse for the night is to go take care of him. I know, strange, right? As soon as we come to a city with a perfect climate he goes and gets a cold...

Greg and I went exploring in Almería today, by the way. We live in sort of a section of the city that's called Aguadulce (think like Raytown vs. Kansas City). Anyhoo, we took a bus to Almería and looked around for a bit. There are a bunch of museums and an old mosque and an old palace and lots of shops... but Aguadulce is way prettier. It's the first day I haven't been to the sea and I sort of missed it. Monday and Tuesday we'll be in Granada for orientation and we start working on the third.

I think I hear my husband calling... Un beso a todos.

Alive and well from Sweetwater (Aguadulce)!

Just for the record... this be Greg.

To your immediate right should be a picture of Neil, our roommate from Belgium / France / Morocco (I think) / half of Europe. Next to him is María, Neil´s friend from Madrid that showed us around for the 4 days we were there.

Suzy and I have countlessly toured our new town for the year and aside from the 10 minute walk to the Mediterranean beach, beautiful Miami-esque palm trees lining nearly every major street, gorgeous red, white, and purple flowered trees along the smaller streets, and having already found a piso for us all to call home for a bit, I think we might be able to make the best of this year. It will be tough and all, but we´ll bear through it all (btw, we´ll get pictures and hopefully a short video up for you all if it is possible shortly).

Actually, the first night we were here, I walked along the Mediterranean surf. The next morning, I got up and ran along the beach (btw, that crap is tough!) for a kilometer. Now I could lie and tell you that 1 kilometer is about 16 miles... which it totally is ::wink, wink:: Unfortunately for me, it was roughly a half mile but that is a lengthy half mile... up hill both ways... in the snow.. er, sand. And then I maintained my dignity (read manhood) by stealing the next car I found and driving it 500 kilometers an hour down the wrong way of a one way street blindfolded.

Yes, we found an apartment. It´s pretty sweet; it´s the one we found through Suzy (the landlord is a teacher at the same school Suzy is at) that´s über cheap. We are still working on these posts via internet cafés and the such but we contacted Telefónica (the AT&T of Spain) today and should have a land line (which we will post for those with long distance access) and internet ``within 15 to 20 days.´´

The days and nights have generally consisted of Suzy, Neil, and I wandering around the city to find the niché shops, our schools, etc. All of our schools are pretty close together and it sounds like they are fine with us tutoring students for a little extra scrilla. Muy bueno. Plus, Neil and I will take some sort of classes (mine being Spanish) so that will also be pretty sweet.

Any who, it´s always good to hear from everyone!

Noche en Blanco, Madrid

Tonight we are going to the ''Noche en Blanco'' in Madrid which is like an entire night of free cultural events in every part of the city. I was going to try and post a link for everyone to read about it, but they are all in Spanish. Sorry! I have gathered that it's the second annual one, and it was so popular last year that they like doubled or tripled the number and frecuency of events. There's a ton of visual art and all kinds of bands, from locals to people they brought in. There's also some exhibits designed for reflection and contemplation, and all the museums are free (we went to the Museo Reina Sofía and the Museo del Prado earlier today). Just walking around we passed like fifteen or twenty events close to our hostel, many of which don't even start until like 4 or 5 am. I'll take some videos for you all so you can see how the Madrid night life is. To tell the truth, we've been out every night until around two, and when we go to bed there are still soooo many people on the streets and at the cafés; it's definitely a contrast to the night life in KC.

Pics and videos to follow, I promise. As soon as we get internet set up in Almería.

In Spain and Sleepy

It´s hard to find a place to check emails etc so don´t be offended for nonresponse. We arrived safely in Madrid yesterday after spending six hours in Munich. We didn´t do anything too fun while we were there cuz it was five in the morning. Greg went outside and took a picture of himself on Munich soil just to say he was there. I´ll post it when we find a wifi so I can get it to the computer.

Once in Madrid Neil picked us up from the airport and made sure we got to our hostel safely. Neil is a Belgium guy that we´re living with in Almería, along with a girl from Canada who is having a difficult time getting her visa to come here. We went to take a nap and then met up with Neil and his friend María for dinner and a funk concert which was pretty great.

The plan is to stay here until Sunday when Neil will drive us all to Almería at which point we will see and choose an apartment. We´ll send pics when we choose one! Kisses!

Travel advice:
TAKE LUFTHANSA! It was the nicest frigging airplane ride I´ve ever had, no joke. See Greg´s comment for futher explaination.

HOSTELS: We are staying at the Hostel Nuria which is small and old but clean. It´s like 20e per bed per night which is way cheaper than any hotel we could find. But, you have to be under 25 to stay at one. Plus, it´s like four blocks from the main cultural and shopping streets. It´s sweet.

Our Program

In case any of you are interested in doing something like this yourself, you should check with the consulate of the country in which you desire to teach. Here is the link to the Spain program, which was actually pretty hard to find:
http://www.mec.es/sgci/usa/en/programs/us_assistants/default.shtml#guide

In Chicago: Step One Completed

Just in case any of you were worried, we made it here just fine. Matt and his roomie are treating Greg and me to sushi tonight, then tomorrow we get our visas and passports from the Spanish Consulate.

For all you kids who like to travel and haven't heard, you should check out megabus.com for super cheap bus tickets. Greg and I traveled to Chicago for $8 each. From KC it only goes to St. Louis and Chicago, but Chicago is a hub (or so I hear) and you can go pretty much wherever from here. The bus was pretty nice, especially for the ticket price. It's a charter bus, and the seats recline, there's a bathroom on the back, and there were two movies played during our trip. You should consider it.

Also, if you are looking for cheap airfare to Europe, check out the German airline lufthansa (lufthansa.com). Especially sign up for them to send you cheap deal student specials (they never say you actually have to show them your student ID), cuz Greg and I are flying out for around $400 per person. A few weeks ago you could fly from Chicago to Florence for around $360 round trip, and once you get over to Europe they tell me it's pretty easy to get around. On public transit, you dirty minds you!

No more Oktoberfest

So I thought it would be way easy once we were in Europe to travel around for really cheap. Turns out I'm right, except when it comes to traveling through Munich (Germany) in the middle of Oktoberfest. Our flight next Tuesday lands in Munich for a 6-hour layover before going to Madrid. So Greg and I were like, "Hey, man... Why not 'miss' our connecting flight and stay in Munich for a few days to kick off our year properly: with a few German beers?" but then the universe was like, "Um, nope. I'll give you 6 hours to go have a few German beers, but if you don't catch your connecting flight I'ma charge you like a billion dollars." So, yeah. Hopefully the beer tents aren't too far away from the airports. :)

Welcome!

For all you crazy cats to whom I just sent an email, welcome to the test pilot of my blogging career. If you get bored out of your mind reading my ramblings about living abroad, well, what are you still doing reading? Go for a walk or something! Don't be lame!

But seriously, thanks for being interested in my life with my husband. We have about two weeks left in the country, so the race to Spain has begun. I promise there will be more interesting posts then.

For now, keep putting those bells on, kids. Pretty soon you'll be reading about how the Mediterranean feels to my feet...

For Pictures

From now on, I will use Photobucket for most of the pictures and videos that I plan to share while I'm abroad. Go to www.photobucket.com and search for me (n3ruda) to view my album. I'll try to label the pictures and keep things organized for you. There are a few test photos and a test video up currently. Of course I'll let you know when I post some new ones.

Kisses.

some pictures

These are test pictures, really, to see how easy it is to post pics on this site. I may rely on another site in the future. I'll keep you all posted.

They're from our honeymoon two years ago in Mexico (yes, the country).

Intro to my situation

I just graduated from Truman State University with my BA in Spanish and my MA in Education. Can you tell what I want to be when I grow up? My husband Greg talked me into moving to Spain for a year beginning September 18th; not having kids yet makes it easier. We are going to teach English in Almería, which is a little town situated beween a mountain range and the Mediterranean Sea. A lot of Europeans spend their vacations there because of the beautiful beaches, and it doesn't get cold all year round. There is a National Park, a handful of caves, and even a ferry from our town that goes to Melilla (in Morocco), Africa!

We will teach for 12 hours per week and just travel around Europe the rest of the time. Two good friends from college are doing the same program in France next year, so we will have some people to visit and see the wonders of the continent with. My brother is in China, so perhaps we'll go visit him as well.

Check back whenever to see what we're up to! I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures. Additionally, I am not good at keeping up with doing things in a consistent way, especially in a technological medium, so if you ever want to chat just leave me a message or send me an email. But I'ma try to get on every once in a while. Kisses to everyone.