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...