feeling thankful

This week in school I taught my kids about thanksgiving – or as much as I could. As I handed out coloring pages of Native Americans and Pilgrims the kids asked, “Who are these people?” Or they would constantly call their turkey a ^Some kids from the 3rd grade making their cards for their families.
chicken or dove; they don’t know what a turkey is. So, who knows how much they got out of my lesson about thanksgiving but that’s okay, I tried! And plus hopefully their moms, dads, or grandparents enjoyed the cards that they made despite whether they can understand them; “I am thankful for my family… “ etc.
So for our Thanksgiving we decided to each make a dish (4 of us Americans) and have a feast. We invited Bernardo (our friend from Motril), and Laura’s roommates from Austria and Russia. It was cool to share our traditions with them for the first time. We had scalloped potatoes (made by me), yams, green beans, stuffing, and a typical Spanish dish and Russian dish. ^ Laura, Bernardo, Me, Andrew and Natasha (from Russia). Oh, and unfortunately we didn’t have a turkey but we had a delicious roasted chicken! It was a great success! I really missed the east coast family since that is who I have spent thanksgiving with the past 4 years and of course I missed ALL of my wonderful family and friends on this day! But all of us at our dinner felt very thankful to have each other, this opportunity to teach & live in
Spain, and all of the new experiences we have to look forward to.

adventures in gibraltar

Imagine being in Spain for two months, constantly being surrounded by the Spanish language and culture and then walking 5ft across a border and all of a sudden you are in a mini-United Kingdom-esque place. This is the story of Gibraltar. We took a four-hour bus ride across the coast of Spain to get to this bizarre place that is a British territory with a population of 30,000. It is essentially a huge rock full of monkeys that the British brought there many years ago. There is a large port and beautiful views from the top of the rock. You can even see Africa from Gibraltar from the right spot. We had the day to explore this strange place so we went up to the top of “the” rock in a tram and explored the foggy place and played with the monkeys. The monkeys were much more interesting than I was expecting. It was incredible to see what they are like from so close. The babies were my favorite -- the way they interacted with their mothers and fellow monkeys. I thought a lot about my “Morality and Culture” seminar that I took this spring in which we learned a lot about chimpanzees and how they interact, etc. The monkeys were so accustomed to people it was scary. However, if you feed them you get fined a huge amount. Anyway we spent a few hours on the rock and then made our way down (after taking many, many pictures, almost getting attacked by a mean monkey, enjoying the views…) to the main town. We ate lunch in a park and then went to “punta de europa” where you can see Africa from a lighthouse. It was really beautiful. It was a very weird but great day in Great Britain. I mean, Gibraltar.

new beginnings.

It's been a while! I guess that just means ive been having fun, right? Well, the week after Barcelona went pretty slow because it took a while for me to feel healthy again. However it was also the start (well, the start for me) of some new wonderful friendships. My roommate Andrew started hanging out with a new group of guys via someone from his school and they are all pretty great. In particular there is Bernardo who you could say has “taken us under his wing.” At this point I feel like he is the best thing that has happened to us because he has really introduced us to Motril and made us feel welcome among people our age. He invites us everywhere, to meet his friends, to speak Spanish with him, etc. It has been really great getting to know him and his friends. He also speaks INCREDIBLE English so I suppose it is exciting for him to practice with us as well! But I just love him and what he has done for us.



That week we also had dinner over at Teresa’s – who is a student of Andrew’s – and who we have hung out with a couple times. She lives in a beautiful apartment in an amazing spot along the beach. She made us a very typical Spanish dinner and we chatted about life. It was fun and a good experience. We felt really welcomed. It truly is amazing how nice we have found “los Motrilenos” (people of Motril).

Last week Meg and I joined a women’s gym…it has been really great and also really entertaining. I feel really good about joining although it is another expense. I feel so much better since I have joined and it also gives me something to do with my afternoons. It has been hilarious to do step and aerobic classes in Spanish and see what kind of women are apart of a Spanish women’s gym (I’m guessing stay at home moms who love to gossip?). It is too funny.

Last week and this week went really well at school. After I was gone for a week from being sick, all of the kids asked where I had been and were concerned which made me feel good that they noticed I wasn’t there. I was happy to be back and (for the most part) I feel better with every class every week. In the preschool classes they had a “Fiesta de Castanas” – Chestnut party. It is really common here to roast chestnuts from November – January. It was really fun – a bunch of the mothers came and roasted chestnuts for the kids and we ate and ate! But I also have discovered how gross elementary schools can be. I have never washed my hands so much in my life! (And of course the kids LOVE to hold my hands and hug me…which is cute and flattering but also unsanitary). After being so miserably sick I want to avoid getting sick again but it just seems difficult with so many sick kids running around and teachers out with swine flu. Oh well, supposedly my immune system will get stronger.

I am still struggling with the 3 year olds – I had another rough day with them when the teacher decided to leave me alone without saying where she was going – or that she left at all and while I was singing along apparently some kids snuck out of the class. When the teacher returned and counted heads and realized some kids were missing, she yelled at me. I understand why she was upset but a) the number one rule of me being a “language and culture assistant” is that I am not supposed to be left alone in the classroom. b) she did not tell me where she was going or that she was leaving at all. c) it is hard enough entertaining three year olds but entertaining AND watching 25 three year olds at the same time is incredibly difficult. I was really upset. It was not okay for the teacher to leave me alone without saying anything to me first but of course I didn’t say that to her which I should have. Anyway, this past week was okay with the 3 year olds…I am trying to just laugh and accept the fact that i will never feel really great about what I am doing with them because when I sing to them I think they would rather have me read a story, and when I read a story, they would rather sing. Or 99% of the time they would rather be with their mommys. I am figuring out what to do with the 3 year olds tomorrow and with everyone next week for Thanksgiving… any thoughts?

Also -- quickly (this is getting long...) we were invited to a bbq at a friend of Bernardo's out at his family's "cottage." It was in an UNREAL location above Salobrena with an amazing view. It was such a wonderful few hours enjoying the view, weather, food and great, great people. That night Kime and Zack came back for round 2! it was so great to have them here again.

view from bbq!

This Friday a group of us Americans are going to Gibraltar for the day. One of the teachers at Andrew’s school was trying to organize a trip but needed more participants so he made it happen. I am really excited – I have heard it is a interesting/strange/cool place so it should be a good experience. Plus I think it will at least be cool to see Africa and some monkeys!


us americans (including kime & zach) and bernardo, alberto, irene, maria.

I’m off to attempt making oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for Bernardo and the gang tonight! (trying to find brown sugar and vanilla was really hard by the way…)

i hope all is well with everyone. Lots of love from Spain.

i love BARCELONA.

To do in Barcelona:
1. see all of Gaudi’s amazingness: check √
2. wander through the beautiful streets and neighborhoods: check √
3. prove to a pick-pocket’er that no one can get in my slash proof bag: check √
4. enjoy some quality time with my fellow Clarkies: check √check √and check √
(photos from BARCA: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2049604&id=21502223&l=2b03afc72b )
Well, I had an amazing weekend in Barcelona. Despite the miserable, (and I am not exaggerating) miserable 12-hour train ride, the weekend went as great as it possibly good have. I arrived in Barcelona on Thursday morning and I had the day to spend alone (and unfortunately with my backpack) because Cassie was working that day. I got a map from the tourism office and was on my way to Park Güell – which I decided to go to first so that I could relax in the park and also because people talk non-stop about how great it is. I must mention that on the way to the park I was almost pick pocketed on my 1st metro ride in Barca (a sketchy looking man moved out of a seat to stand next to me while I noticed a nice older looking man trying to get my attention and pointing at my bag, and then the man. I was scared and then laughed because, well, I had my “slash proof bag” that is impossible to get inside – right Aunt Marcia? So no luck for the pick-pocketer.) I also enjoyed the best “café con leche” that I have had in Spain along the way. Park Güell is in fact very beautiful and special but the amount of tourists was a bit overwhelming. I spent quite some time there admiring Gaudi’s structures, tiles, ceilings – everything – while I also did a lot of people watching and relaxing in the park on a beautiful day. From there I went to “Mirador del Palau Nacional” in Mont Juic. This is where the Museum of National Art of Catalunya is and not only is the building beautiful but the view of Barcelona was incredible. The museum was great (I saw some very cool Roman art, Gaudi, Picasso, Mir) but honestly at this point the best part was being able to check my backpack and walk freely for a few hours. After enjoying the museum, the view, and the park I had heard from Cassie and met her close to here in Plaza Espanya. It was so great to see Cassie – if you haven’t figured out by now; she is a good friend from Clark that is teaching English outside of Barcelona. We walked back to her very-cute-modern apartment and from there we got Mexican (haha) food and walked through Barri Gotic (Gothic Quarter/neighborhood) which was very cool.

Highlights from
DAY 2: (I could go on and on about each day…)
Sleeping well in Cassie’s roommate’s bed. Walking around “Las Ramblas” – the main street full of street performers and cool art. “El Mercat” the huge market full of delicious fruit, seafood, meat, and of course mushrooms. BAGELS: you cannot find bagels often in Spain so this was a treat. Visiting the beach and enjoying the Mediterranean. Walking up Paseig de Gracia – the street with two Gaudi sites: Casa Botllo and La Perdera. Casa Botllo is by far my favorite and was just beautiful – we wanted to go in but it cost 16 €! We cooked up some stir-fry and went out to a fun bar where you sit with other people so we made friends with Chileans, Germans, and other Spaniards! It was a very good day and night.

DAY 3: happy Halloween!
We started the day off in this cute Café Jardin (Garden Café) which was on a terrace full of plants – very cool. We went back to Park Güell because we wanted to go into Casa/Museu Gaudi and it was good we went back because we entered the park a different way and I saw a lot more that I hadn’t seen last time. It is really big. We went into Casa/Museu Gaudi and it was very cool to see where he lived and spent a lot of time designing everything. I would LOVE to have the furniture that he designed. From there we went to the famous La Sagrada Familia. Of course it was cool to see but I was more impressed with Casa Botllo, or even his furniture. That night we got pizzas (how American! But they were delicious) and another Clarkie, Maaian, who is from Barcelona came over with some of her friends. We got dressed up and went out for Halloween. We went to a very cool club that was decorated for Halloween and we had a really, really fun time (we stayed out until 7…).

DAY 4: last day.
The last day we spent some time in Plaza Real and then met with Maaian for coffee and walked through a very cool area (El Borne?) with neat stores and restaurants. We went into a beautiful church and also visited Palau de la Musica, which was beautiful, but unfortunately we couldn’t go inside because I had to catch my train – next time! I went back to Cassie’s apartment and made my way to the train station for the dreadful train ride back. I was sad to say bye to Cassie (and Maaian, too) who was such a good host to me – it was so cool to see her life in Barcelona and to catch up with her on everything post-Clark.

The whole trip was just wonderful. I felt so lucky to be there and I’m so happy that I finally made it! The city has so many great things to offer whether it is just wandering around the streets, Gaudi, the museums, the diversity of culture, and of course the night life. I loved it and I hope you all can make it there one day, too! Here I am back in Motril sick as un perro (a dog!). I have bronchitis and had a fever of 101, which was not fun, but I am getting better and got my 1st visit to a Spanish doctor over with (it went great, by the way).

I wont bore you anymore…this is getting long. So much love from Spain and I miss all of you every day. Here is the link to my Barcelona Facebook photo album – it is easier to post a link that upload photos on here -- PLEASE check them out!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2049604&id=21502223&l=2b03afc72b