The Joys of International Traveling

             Oh the joys of international traveling! I guess it’s never an easy or certain thing and it certainly wasn’t this time around. Last week northern Europe got hit with some snow (what they claimed was horrible snow but was in reality 6 inches…), which caused major flight cancellations and delays. As the kind folk in London Heathrow put it, there was major ‘travel chaos’. I assumed that since I wasn’t leaving until Wednesday morning that they would have cleared everything up by then, but I was mistaken. I got to Madrid on Tuesday night and checked into my hotel after the longest 4-hour bus ride ever! I then proceeded to call my dad to see if he could check on my flights and lo and behold they were already cancelled! I then spent the next hour and a half on the phone with Orbitz, only to be disconnected halfway through, missing the callback because I was on the phone with another Orbitz guy. Luckily Eric at Orbitz was a smart man and called our home phone, which I had left as another contact number when making my reservation. He was able to book me on another flight via my parents so I will be making it home for Christmas! I am not flying through London though. I will be making my journey starting tonight from Madrid where I fly to none other than Casablanca! When the guy first told me that, I thought he was kidding, that Casablanca really isn’t a real city. So I head on over to Africa where I have an hour and a half layover and then from Casablanca I fly to Montreal! I have a 6-hour layover in Montreal and finally make it into O’Hare at 7 am on Christmas Eve morning!

            Even with this tiny snafu in my travel plans, things could have been a lot worse. Talking with the second Orbitz guy, he informed me that the earliest I would be able to get home would be the 26^th. Clearly I was not going to let that happen and miss Christmas Eve and Christmas! I am staying in a nice hotel with a very comfy bed in Madrid, which has been excellent since I also have tonsillitis! Thank god for health insurance and the absolute ease that going to the doctor in Spain entitles. I found a clinic yesterday that accepted my health insurance and it took me longer to actually get there than for me to get diagnosed and given some medicine, and all for the price of 11 Euros! Sadly I have not been able to see much of Madrid, but am going to try and walk around a bit today before I head to the airport (that is if it’s not raining). It has definitely been a whirlwind of an experience but something that I will look back on and laugh at! I mean honestly, who gets to have a layover in Casablanca and Montreal?? Let’s just hope that my year of French at Miami comes back to me tonight…

How Could I Not Love Them?!

My absolute favorite class: 1st graders!!

Making dough Christmas ornaments!

The little little kids excited about using glitter!

The first graders at my school in Cenicero decided they wanted to show me their Christmas song/dance!

The 'Typical' Barcelona Experience

            I have often heard that you do not fully experience Barcelona unless you get robbed or something is taken from you. My first two times in Barcelona proved this theory wrong, but I guess the third time really is a charm… err disaster. This weekend I was in Barcelona visiting my friend Jenny for the Puente and we wasted no time in having that “typical” experience. We went out on Saturday night for some tapas and drinks. We had a wonderful time and ended up staying out much later than we had initially expected. Around 6 am, we were heading back home when Jenny’s purse got ripped off her arm and the kid ran down the street. We were both so astonished as to what happened that our reaction time was greatly reduced and there was no way we would be able to catch the kid. Luckily we had met Carlos that night, a fun and extremely generous gay man that let us crash on his couch for the night as Jenny’s purse had her keys, camera, ID, 15 euro. We woke up on Sunday and attempted to call her landlord to let us back in but were unsuccessful. Since we couldn’t reach anyone to let us in, we had to call a locksmith. He was extremely friendly, which made the whole experience not as bad as it could have been. However our opinion may have slightly changed when he handed her the bill… 480 euro to get into her place and replace her lock! We were both astonished, but at that point just cared about getting back into her place. So really the only consolation is that karma really does work in situations like this, so kid watch out, karma will get you!

            Other than that minor blip, the whole trip was so much fun! We saw a movie (in English!), went on a day trip to Tarragona, did some shopping, walked around Barcelona, saw one of Gaudi’s houses, and had unbelievable weather. As this was my third time to Barcelona, it was nice to have someone who lived there to show me a different side of the city and one a little less touristy. I will definitely be heading back to Barcelona, and hopefully this time it won’t require a trip to the police station or 480 euro to the locksmith.

Becoming Wiser in Spain...

1.     As hard as you try, it is very difficult to ‘blend’ when you have blonde hair here.

2.     Spanish people struggle to walk like a normal person. Whether it’s the crawling pace or the stopping mid sidewalk, they can’t seem to grasp the concept like the rest of the world.

3.     Kids really do say the darnest things.

4.     All of the ridiculous and hysterical experiences you will have will be enough to fill a book. And maybe writing that book will make you millions!

5.     Elementary children can be adorable or hellish and your opinion of them will change on a daily basis.

6.     English teachers are some of the most interesting, amazing, and fun people you will ever meet!

7.     Traveling is one of the best ways to figure out who you really are and what you truly want in life.

8.     People will never cease to amaze you, both in good ways and in bad ways.

9.     Never take central heating or ovens for granted. You will greatly miss them when you don’t have either.

10. There are few things more amazing than sitting at an outdoor café in a plaza having a beer or coffee with friends, just talking and people watching.

An Expat Thanksgiving

I have officially become a part of the expat community over here in Spain as I had not only one, but two Thanksgivings last week. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday by far and also my favorite day of the year so I was bummed that I wasn’t going to be able to spend it at home with my family. Luckily I was able to share it with some friends here and had a fantastic time! Thursday I had to teach, which consisted of me throwing on some video clips and having the kids color, as I was not in the working mood. Then Thursday night we all went over to one of my friend’s house for a nice potluck thanksgiving meal! We had two turkeys (which were expensive, 50 Euros, but well worth it!), stuffing, green beans, rolls, macaroni and cheese, deviled eggs, lots of wine, and even homemade pumpkin pie! It was delicious and wonderful to be able to spend the night with friends! Then Friday morning I headed down to Segovia for the weekend where Friday night we proceeded to have yet another thanksgiving meal! This one had all the fixings as well, so by the end of the weekend my body was stuffed to its limit! As much as I missed being home for Thanksgiving this year, I had such a wonderful time celebrating it twice in Spain!

They Ran Out of Mushrooms?!

            Food is the way of life in Spain. Almost every gathering or social event involves food here. It also seems like my day-to-day life is all about food at some point or another haha. I have always been a food lover, but it seems to have just increased while being here in Logrono (although I’m not complaining!) Most regions in Spain are famous for one type of food. In Valencia it was paella, in Sevilla it was tapas and sangria. Here in Logrono and La Rioja it is wine and pinchos. Pinchos are the northern part of Spain’s version of tapas. They are the same thing, with different varieties and specialties, but just called a different name. Yet again another way the north of Spain is different from the south of Spain. And since La Rioja is so close to the Basque country, we have some tremendous pinchos here since the best of the best come from San Sebastian!

            In Logrono, there is a street that is filled with nothing but pinchos places. On the weekends this street, Calle Laurel, is filled with people of all ages out enjoying some of the edible treats for dinner. It is amazing to see how many people actually do live in Logrono when you walk down Calle Laurel on a Saturday night. There are people who are in their 80s walking with their canes, as well as little kids as young as 3 years old with their parents. It is definitely the place to be on a Friday or Saturday night in Logrono. On Calle Laurel there are many delectable treats to be found such as Spain’s version of the hot dog (pork with the most amazing pepper sauce ever!), bread with goat cheese, ham, and strawberry jam, patatas bravas, perfectly salted steak with peppers, and the most amazing mushrooms piled high on bread and doused in garlic butter! Just talking about this food is making me hungry! Not to mention the fact that you can have about 3 pinchos and a glass of wine or small beer with each pincho for about 10 euro for the whole night. It’s a fantastic way to start off a night in Logrono!

The Joys of Piso Living

Oh the wonders of living in a piso. How do you begin to describe them? Our piso is a bit on the older side and that is something that I definitely love about it. But it is also something I hate about it. The building itself is beautiful and definitely feels old, but sometimes it feels a bit too old. I love the layout of our place with our big living room, but I don’t like that we don’t have central heating and must rely on radiators to heat the place, especially when these radiators are weaker than the space heater that I use in my room (because my room is too tiny to fit a radiator). I love our quirky bathroom with the chain hanging from the ceiling to flush the toilet (yes confusing at first let me tell you), but I don’t like how the pipes don’t work and have caused the wall in my room to become wet and grow with mold. And I of course love my roommates!

            Now our neighbors are a different story entirely. I sometimes think that there should be a reality show in our apartment building with all of the random and hysterical and sometimes annoying people we have living with us. First let’s start with our neighbors across the hall from us. I just happen to be the lucky one with the room that is next to the courtyard, meaning that my room is the closest to their apartment. They keep the windows to every room wide open no matter what the weather is like, which means that any time I open my window I can see directly into their piso! Not to mention the woman is crazy! She is constantly yelling and screaming at her husband and kids, although we’re not entirely sure if they do have kids since we’ve never seen them (only once creeping in the window haha). She has an extremely harsh voice, which just adds to the fact that she is always mad at the world and swearing. Then we have our new neighbors above us who just moved in last week.  I swear that they are rollerblading around up there because it sounds like someone or something is skating around. And their excellent taste in music! Now I don’t have a great taste in music but enough to know that being woken up on a Sunday morning to heavy metal is not my cup of tea! And last but not least we have our neighbor who lives several floors up. We have never seen this neighbor but hear him every day! He has a bird that he likes to imitate. The bird will start squawking and then the man will make the same noise as the bird. This goes on for hours at a time, and always at that exact moment when you are trying to take a siesta or trying to plan a lesson. Needless to say if that bird ever gets loose into the courtyard and happens to fly by our piso, he will never return!

            I am seriously considering using my free time (which at 12 hours a week of working I have ample free time) to start shooting a documentary on the ridiculousness that is piso living in Logrono. Perhaps I can call it True Life: I live with crazies in Logrono!