Año Two

 

For those of you who don’t know I am back in Sevilla for round two. The lovely government of Spain decided they didn’t want me in Seville anymore and sent me to a public school in Cordoba (no not in the beautiful little city you’ve all visited or read about in books, but rather a small town in the middle of nowhere Cordoba). I kindly rejected the position and went on to look for my own job. Since I didn’t want the position offered to me, I wasn’t sure this summer if I was going to be able to return to Spain, or if I would have to start real life in New York. Luckily my friend Samantha knew of an academy looking for new teachers(she also happens to work there which is nice) and she got me the gig! Phew, one more year until the real world.

 

However, this year is going to be a different in a number of ways. To start, instead of working 12 hours a week as an assistant, I will be working 20+ hours a week (practically full time in Spain) in my own classroom. Yes, that means for 5 hours each day (cant work on Fridays when living in Europe), I will be in charge of my own group of students, 4 groups per day. Apparently, being a native English speaker makes me qualified for this job, we’ll see how accurate that turns out to be.

My first day of work was this past Monday so it hasn’t been all that much time yet. But so far, it’s been a bit of a challenge. I’m sure I will get used to it, and once I learn to discipline in Spanish all will be well. My schedule consists of two groups of first graders, two groups of sixth graders, one third grade class and one group of five year olds. At first I was assigned the three year olds, but I couldn’t handle it: crying and throwing chairs at each other, and cutting apart their class books and who knows what else. Just not my scene. There is a nice teacher who agreed to switch with me so from now on I will have her five-year-old class, but I haven’t started with them yet. The adult classes begin on October 1^st, so starting then I will also have two adult groups in my schedule.

After spending the entire summer doing essentially nothing, yet somehow keeping super busy, it feels like a lot to work 5 hours straight in one day. But im not complaining, a five hour work day in reality is nothing. Except that it goes straight through dinner time, the day ends at around 9:30pm, and at the end of the day I am dying of hunger.

Good news is I can go straight home after work. Bad news is there is about a 50-minute commute between work and Seville. The academy is in Utrera, a big town/small city outside of Seville. The train ride is only 25 minutes but depending on where I am living, I have to add time to the commute for getting to/from the train.

Now you may be thinking, depending on where she is living? That’s a strange thing to say. And yes it has been a strange 12 ((?)I’ve lost track) days since I arrived. I have lived essentially in three different places, with different friends, because I am still looking for that perfect piso (apartment).

My friend Pilar has taken me in for a while until I find a place to live. She is Spanish, hence the name Pilar, and lives with her parents. So it’s sort of like doing an immersion program for a couple of weeks. I am able to practice Spanish (I have no choice if I want to communicate), and live the way Spaniards do (aka eat dinner at 11pm because its still too hot to eat earlier, or something like that?) That also includes sitting around at lunch gossiping about family members I don’t know (still very interesting to listen to). And a daily siesta of course!

I think I will be here for about another week, as I have found a place to live (I think/hope!) but the room isn't available until the 29th or 30th. It is with three Italians, one girl and two guys, who from what I can tell are very nice. In fact, tonight they invited me over for a beer so we can get to know each other, even though I won't move in for another week! Good sign I think!

Well, here's to the beginning of a new year of blogging and a new year of adventures in Spain, or wherever else the wind takes me!

Triana to Tribeca

TRIANA BRIDGE



Well my avid blog readers, this is probably the last one of the series. I might start up again sometime when my life provides something interesting to write about.

The Triangle Below Canal (clever NYC) 

After almost a full day of travel, from the land of toros and tapas, to the city of bagels and big buildings, here I am, back in New York after nine amazing months in Spain. There were ups and down, of course. There were times when all I wanted to do was go home and eat a bagel or go to the grocery store on a Sunday. There were times when I thought, why isn’t the waitress bringing me a complimentary glass of water, and refilling it every 3 minutes? There were times when I missed my family and friends more than anything in the world. But there were also times when I actively realized that I was having the time of my life. I was fully immersed in a Spanish life, not only speaking the Spanish language everyday, but also living the way Spaniards do, siesta and all.

Now, after a week back home, I already feel myself starting to long for the things I never thought I would miss. The air conditioning in my house is making my throat hurt; maybe those crazy Spaniards have a point about turning the AC off at night, even if it makes you sweat a little. When my friends ask me at 12:30 what I want to eat for lunch, I’m thinking are you crazy? Lunch isn’t for another 2 hours!

And then there are those things I knew I would miss. The crazy football fans, the one euro beers, general happiness and no pasa nada way of life, and of course my Spanish friends!

Since I don’t really have a game plan for the future, I’ve had a lot of time to reflect, and watch Spanish soccer! It sure is great to be home, to experience once again my American way of life but at the same time there is something very strange about it. I feel like nothing should be different than when I left in September, but of course life has gone on. My family and friends in New York have not been on hold. And I suppose I have not either. But it is hard to come to terms with the fact that my friends no longer live down the block from me, that I cant hang out with them whenever I want because they now have jobs that require working late during the week. I suppose this is normal, and with time will change.

The time has come where I actually have to figure out what my next move will be. Will I stay in NY and join the daily 9-5 grind? Will I return to Spain for another yearlong adventure, teaching, living and learning? Or will I go in a completely different direction? Only time will tell, so stay tuned!

For now, I want to leave you with a little blurb I found on the internet. Written by a fellow American living abroad in Europe, it explains exactly what I feel right now.

Couldn’t have said it better myself (that’s why I didn’t!):

So you look at your life, and the two countries that hold it, and realize that you are now two distinct people. As much as your countries represent and fulfill different parts of you and what you enjoy about life, as much as you have formed unbreakable bonds with people you love in both places, as much as you feel truly at home in either one, so you are divided in two. For the rest of your life, or at least it feels this way, you will spend your time in one naggingly longing for the other, and waiting until you can get back for at least a few weeks and dive back into the person you were back there. It takes so much to carve out a new life for yourself somewhere new, and it can’t die simply because you’ve moved over a few time zones. The people that took you into their country and became your new family, they aren’t going to mean any less to you when you’re far away.

When you live abroad, you realize that, no matter where you are, you will always be an ex-pat. There will always be a part of you that is far away from its home and is lying dormant until it can breathe and live in full color back in the country where it belongs. To live in a new place is a beautiful, thrilling thing, and it can show you that you can be whoever you want — on your own terms. It can give you the gift of freedom, of new beginnings, of curiosity and excitement. But to start over, to get on that plane, doesn’t come without a price. You cannot be in two places at once, and from now on, you will always lay awake on certain nights and think of all the things you’re missing out on back home.

Stuck in Santiponce

Me and Chelsea at Italica

For those of you who consistently read my blog, the story I am about to tell might sound vaguely familiar (see crises in camas post). Way in the beginning of my time in Seville, I went to a town right outside, Camas, with my roommate Chelsea. We were new in town and didn’t realize that EVERYTHING here closes on Sundays. Ill start with that…

Since this is my last week in Spain (super sad face), I am trying to get everything done that I didn’t get around to in the last 8 months, oops. Today, a Thursday, but a holiday in Seville, Chelsea and I decided to take a trip to Santiponce to see some ancient ruins they have there called Italica. It is actually really cool, I felt like I was transported to a completely different place and time, although the heat was the same! I wouldn’t say the ruins are as impressive as the ones you see in Rome, but still a worthwhile trip.

just chillen with some ruins

Well, anyway, given the holiday in Seville, and lack of reliability of Spaniards in general (sorry Spain but its kinda true-called the bombona man to come before 10am today and at 4:20 he still hasn’t showed) we didn’t really know when the bus was coming. If the bus was following the holiday schedule, it should have come at 10:30, if it was following a normal day schedule it would have come at 11. Well, it came at 10:50, go figure. Good thing we were running late anyway and got there right at 10:30, so we didn’t have to wait too long.

Upon arriving in Italica, my small bladdered and amazing chef roommate reallllllllllllllly (like always) needed a bathroom. So we found her one in the ONLY bar that was open in town. Since we didn’t want to just go in to pee, we sat down and had a coffee and a media tostada doused in olive oil, yummmmm…Gotta live like the Spaniards do for my last week here! I have no pictures since I forgot my camera, but I did take this one picture of my sugar packet. I’m not exactly sure what it means but I think it’s fitting that it has to do with being asleep:

After fueling up on a wonderful breakfast, although an iced coffee would have been nice given the 90 F/32 C degrees, we went to explore the ancient city of Italica. (For free I might add because we were considered European residents by the ticket taker, despite our awesomely American accents)

The signs that explained what everything was were in Spanish, and included a ton of Spanish words I didn’t really understand. So, we didn’t exactly know what we were looking at, but nevertheless, it was cool.

Well, on the way home, it was still a holiday (surprise, surprise, it was only 2 hours later). So we didn’t know exactly when the bus would be coming. We figured the best way not to miss the bus would be to wait at the bus stop, even though it was like sitting in a frying pan. As soon as 15 minutes had passed, Chelsea decided to put her music on and dance around, despite the unbearable heat. I couldn’t help but compare it to our trip to Camas in the beginning of year. Except that time was even worse because we didn’t even get to do what we went to Camas for. For the first 10 minutes I really enjoyed the dancing, it was very entertaining. And I liked it all the way until the bus came, but waiting for something you don’t know when/if will ever come is slightly miserable. I did find it amusing that all the other 3 people waiting for the bus didn’t want to wait with us at the bus stop, even though there was a free show going on.

Finally the bus came (after approximately a 50 minute wait), and we drove right through CAMAS on the way to seville!! It’s strange how things work out. I feel like I’ve come full circle now that I’ve had the same experience twice, but 8 months apart. It is nice to look back and think how much I have changed in these past months. But I’ll save the sentimental blog for later.

Now I’ve got to get started on the packing (another super sad face). It’s not real until the packing begins, so my denial officially ends now. But Chelsea has kindly just brought me a mimosa to make the packing a little more fun (after waking me up with coffee and cooking me lunch). How I am going to miss her!

can't believe i ever wore this stuff!

Don’t get me wrong America + American friends, I am super stoked to see you!

Can’t believe there’s only three more days!

Weekend in BCN

This weekend I went back to my old Spanish stomping grounds, Barcelona. Chelsea and I decided to take advantage of the puente (long weekend) we had for Rocio, a religious pilgrimage in the south of spain. From what I understand, it is similar to the Camino de Santiago except everyone does it at the same time of year. I’m pretty sure once they get there its just a big party (what else is new Spain) for five days, with a little bit of praying involved. For some reason I still can’t figure out, this virgin is more important than all the others and deserves her own pilgrimage. Before I left on Friday I saw the beginning of the journey to rocio. They are all different depending on the hermandad (brotherhood). Some walk, some drive, some go on horseback. And they dress in the typical southern spain (feria) garb, flamenco dresses and trajes de corto. But, as I’ve been told, the dresses are a little different in that they are more comfortable (finally someone realized its nice to be able to breath in a dress).

Anyway, after deciding not to take part in this religious pilgrimage, I went up north to Barcelona. I had my first couch surfing experience. I have been hearing only good things about couch surfing since I first heard about it freshman year. For those who don’t know, it’s basically a project for young travelers who want to save money. In exchange for offering up a couch or your company in your home town, you are given a variety of couches to choose from in your destination. Now all you skeptics may be doubtful of such a thing, but there are ways to verify that people are not creepers. But yes, it does involve a certain level of trust and maybe stupidity.

Well, I’m alive and well to tell the tale. And all is well that ends well, right? Our host was a student at the university in Barcelona, but he is from Paraguay. He was very friendly and willing to help us figure out what we wanted to do and how to get around town (although I did remember quite a bit from living there in 2007). He also took us out with him on Saturday night, and I really enjoyed meeting new people. 

We spent a lot of our time walking around town because the weather while we were there was absolutely perfect, 75 and sunny every day. We visited the beach, the rambla, Sagrada Familia, the Barcelona Cathedral, Parc Guell, the boqueria, plaza espanya and watched the magic fountain show. We probably did more but that’s what comes to mind right now. Unfortunately I did not get to eat at my favorite restaurant, Cal Pep, because when we went to eat there at 3:30pm they told us they were closed, despite all the customers eating at the bar. I was thoroughly disappointed but I can’t say I was let down by the food I did eat in Barcelona. I mostly ate at places I’d never been before and everything was amazing.

It was great to be in the city during the king’s cup final. Everyone was really happy they won, and I’m pretty sure there was a big celebration on Sunday because almost everyone was wearing a jersey that day.

It was really nice to visit Barcelona again. I think it has to be one of my favorite cities I’ve been to. Although now I am a little more broke, I’d say the trip was definitely worth it!

Now, for my final two weeks in Seville…

Week in Review

(may 10-today)

Despite the unnaturally high temperatures this week (I’m talking 100-105 averages) I had a lot of fun. First of all, in gym class at school we started the unit on lacrosse (a sport that most students have never played or even heard of here in Spain). So I had to start from the basics. Now my Spanish has definitely improved since I’ve been here, but giving a class in Spanish to a bunch of kids that are anxious to run around and throw things is an entirely new task for me. In terms of vocabulary I was okay (I had reviewed the words with a Spanish lacrosse friend who also speaks English) but I still found explaining the basics of catching and throwing quite difficult. Also, due to the lack of knowledge about lacrosse in Spain, it is not easy to buy equipment, in fact it is impossible, it must be bought over the internet. So instead of spending time and money waiting for a shipment of equipment, we made our own sticks out of water bottles and broom sticks (I think). And by we I mean Ismael (gym teacher) and the doorman/caretaker. Although I would have been glad to help make the sticks if I had been asked.

So now, picture me, an American standing in front of a group of young Spanish students (ages 9-11) each of them holding a different colored broom stick with half a water bottle attached to the top, trying to teach the basics of lacrosse. Yes, it is a sport I love and have played for almost ten years, but the skills needed to throw a real lacrosse ball from a real lacrosse stick are very different than what the students needed to successfully throw and catch. As with almost anything, the first class was kind of a test run. I think the kids had fun throwing the ball around, but the class could have gone more smoothly. Also keep in mind that I am not a trained gym teacher.

Anyway, after three introductory lacrosse classes last week I think we’ve finally figured out how to make the most of it. Needless to say, I am enjoying it a lot because I get to go to school and play lacrosse for 2 hours a day. My only complaint is that in each class I have to play goalie when it comes time to practice shooting. Since I am the only one with a real stick, and with experience I was nominated. And even though the kids have never played lacrosse before, some are really strong and have a good throw. So it’s really scary to be in the goal! But at the same time really fun.

After a fun week of lacrosse at school, I went to my first ever Spanish concert. It was a singer named Pablo Alborán who sings kinda slow, romantic music but has a beautiful voice and plays both the guitar and piano. I went with my friend Sam who is obsessed with his music. I didn’t know it too well but it was still a fun time.

The next day I went to the beach! I thought it was my first beach experience in Spain so I was excited, but as I write this I am realizing that during my three months in Barcelona I spent a fair amount of time at the beach there. So correction, my first trip to a beach in southern Spain! Still exciting. Since I don’t have a car, nor do I want to rent a manual car, we went on the bus. The only problem with the bus is that you have to go when the bus wants to leave or else you are stranded at the beach. And unfortunately, the last bus left at 6pm, at which time there was still prime beach weather. Although I wish we could have stayed longer, I enjoyed the time we spent there. We met up with my friend Isabel, who was there with her boyfriend and some children (not quite sure whose they were, nieces maybe). So I got to practice Spanish, and be 10 years old again playing in the waves on a boogy board. Good times all around.

We got back to Seville just in time to watch the Betis-Barcelona match. I have to say, even though it was a tie, it was a good game. I wish Barcelona hadn’t scored that goal in the last 15 seconds of the game, and Betis would have won, but a tie against one of the best teams in La Liga ain’t bad.

This morning (now two days ago), I went kayaking with the Ismael and kids and neighbor and kids. I have now done this about three or four times and I really love it. It’s so nice to be on the river in the middle of Seville, especially on a hot day like today. There was lots of splashing of the disgusting river water, but it was quite refreshing. We went on an adventure of sorts, under pedestrian bridges (probably shouldn’t be doing that with my height) and navigating through sticks and leaves in the water (the part of the river I’m pretty sure you aren’t supposed to kayak on but whatever I was just following my orders). Things did get a little crazy at times with kids spinning in circles in their kayak, and 4 year olds accidentally getting pushed into the middle of the river without a paddle. But we all survived and had a wonderful Sunday morning. 

Feria de Sevilla

April 24-29

I have been so delayed with my posts lately, and I'm sorry. I have been very busy travelling and having fun. I have just finished writing a few different posts that I will upload throughout the week. Unfortunately, they will not be in chronological order so I've decided to put the dates of each event at the top of the post. Happy reading!

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the portada (entry way)

Every spring in Sevilla, there is a giant fair known as Feria (Spanish for fair). It takes place approximately two weeks after Easter, and it is basically a week long celebration of spring and happiness in general. It involves women (and little girls) dressing up in beautifully colored flamenco dresses, and men in suits from a 1950s horseback riding film (at least in my mind). Of course, you can dress however you like, but this is the typical wear. There are hundred of tents called “casetas”, and these tents are essentially people’s homes for the week of feria. There is food and dancing and drinking of course. The typical drink of feria is called rebujito, and it consists of manzanilla (a variety of sherry wine) and sprite. It is certainly not my drink of choice but to get into the spirit of feria, I definitely drank a fair amount of rebujitos. They also set up an amusement park of sorts I suppose to keep the children entertained. But let me tell you, it kept adult children entertained too. If the rides didn’t cost money, I would have spent much more time at the attractions than I did.

A very important part of feria is the special type of music and dance, called sevillanas (very original name). All year various people have told me that if I want to enjoy the feria, I have to learn sevillanas. I did not learn the dance before feria, but I did pick it up a little during the fair. Every time I met up with a Spanish person they asked if I had learned yet, and when they found out I hadn’t, they took me straight to the dance floor. The music that accompanies the dance is really nice. The songs usually have a guitar and they follow a certain beat that you can clap to if you are danceologically challenged like me. Also, these songs are generally expressions of someone’s pride to be from Seville or Andalucía in general. They talk about how great it is to be from the south and how Seville is the best city there is. It’s nice to hear how proud they are, but it’s clear that these singers have never been to New York!

Now the problem with feria is that it is not officially a holiday in Seville, although many people don’t work/go to school that week. However Pilas, my pueblo, did not have vacation for feria because there aren’t too many Pileños that go to the feria. But you’re only an American living in Seville during feria once. So I had to go every day (didn’t have to of course but really wanted to because its lots of fun). There was a bit of struggling at school that week, with only 4-5 hours of sleep each night but I survived. Also that week Katie was visiting from Switzerland so we were busy sightseeing and walking around during the time we weren’t at feria. Very busy week but I’m really glad I got to experience the feria of Seville. Hope I can be back here for next year’s!

the scene

me and katie before feria one day

very belated semana santa post

Today (it was today when I typed this out originally) was the first day back to school after a week off for easter. I wouldn’t exactly say it was a much needed break but I definitely enjoyed it. I took advantage of the time off to travel to places that aren’t worth going to for only a weekend. Starting Friday before palm Sunday, I left with my travel buddy Carolyn.

Our first stop was Bologna. We chose to go there because it was the cheapest way to get to out ultimate destination, Krakow, Poland. And we also wanted to eat some good Italian food. Mission Accomplished. Bologna is a fairly small city so we were able to see a lot of the sites in the one day we were there, while leaving time for one, or maybe two gelato breaks.

Early the next morning we were on our way from warm and sunny Italy to cold and snowy Poland. When we arrived it was only rain, but that soon froze. Although we had been awake for 5 hours when we landed in Krakow, it was still quite early in the morning, only 9:30 AM. We were tired, but excited to see the city so we went out after dropping off our bags at the hostel. Also, the fact that our room wasn’t ready yet kinda pushed us out the door.

We walked directly to the main square because that’s usually a good place to start in an unfamiliar city. Right in the center of the square was a place called Coffee Heaven, AKA my heaven. I was so excited to be in a place where there were choices other than black coffee, or coffee with milk (although I do love my café con leche). I was actually quite overwhelmed with all the choices (surprise, surprise) and I hadn’t brushed up on my Polish beforehand, so the all in polish menu was a little difficult for me to understand. I ended up ordering a cappuchino, which is essentially a café con leche. The only difference was the size, it was an American size coffee! Maybe even bigger, and cheap too.

After my trip to coffee heaven, we walked around to find the Wawel Castle (pronounce Vavel), but when we got there it was already closed for the day. So, we decided to look for the Jewish Quarter to see some synagogues. Those too, by the time we found them (polish maps are hard to read), were closed. Next on our to do list was Schindler’s Factory which was a recommended site for tourists but I’m not entirely sure of its significance. Well guess what? NO, it wasn’t closed, well maybe it was. I wouldn’t know because we never found it! And by that time it was unbearably cold, so we went inside for a warm drink. We ended the day with an awesome Thai massage (Thai women stepping all over us) and used the rest of the evening to plan out next few days in Krakow. The two main sites we wanted to visit were both outside the city, so we decided to go on an organized tour that would include transportation. Given our track record, we didn’t want to risk finding these places on our own.

Our first visit was to the Wieliczka Salt Mine. I’d never been in a mine before and it was one of the coolest things I ever saw. The mine no longer functions and has been made into a museum with statues and even a cathedral made entirely of salt. It was hard to believe that what I was looking at was all salt. So cool!

statue made of salt

By the time the tour was over we went straight to lunch because it was already 3PM and we were starving.  The day before we had gotten out kielbasa fix so we were on the lookout for pierogis. We found a Michelin restaurant that wasn’t too expensive (nothing really is there) and decided to go there because we wanted GOOD pierogis. The menu had so many different options so we decided to share a variety platter which the menu said was good for two people, Turns out it was good for about 6 people, and even though we were quite hungry, we could not finish the plate. But we took them to go so they would not go to waste. That night, we hung out with some hostel friends that were from different places all over the world.

The next day we went to Auschwitz, a depressing but also very interesting experience.

We spent the rest of the break in Malaga and Granada, two other cities in Andalucia. Since Carolyn studied abroad in Granada, I had my very own tour guide. We stayed at two very interesting hostels; both in terms of people and appearance. All in all, I had a really great break, and if my april hadn’t been so busy I would have shared this blog earlier.

Much much much more to come!