Too Much "Teacher Voice"?!

            Perhaps that is what has caused me to lose my voice again.  It always amazes me that no matter how many precautions I take, I still lose my voice and will most likely lose my voice for some period of time for the rest of my life. This is something that I am not thrilled about especially since I enjoy talking so much! But maybe that is why I love talking so much, because I know that at any moment I could lose my voice and not be able to communicate. Before I had my vocal cord dysfunction I took for granted the ability to communicate with your own voice. I now know just how important that is. It is quite humorous, in a sense, because a couple of weeks ago I was listening to a TAL episode about communication and the importance of it and it really seemed to hit home with me. So as I sit here in my room, downing copious amounts of water and tea with honey and doing my vocal exercises, I once again am reminded of how important it really is to communicate with others. 

A Warm Welcome 'Home'...

            After a mere 26 hours of traveling from Chicago, I finally made it back to Logrono last week. And as wonderful as it was to be home and see family and friends, it was really nice to come back ‘home’ to Logrono. As much grief as I have given this place since I have been here, I really am starting to consider it home and truly love it here! It has been nice being back and seeing everyone here, being able to go out for pinchos, get amazing wine at cheap prices, and to practice my Spanish again. And nothing quite makes you feel so loved as a room full of screaming and excited 1^st graders running up to you and giving you a hug when you walk back into the classroom after break. Ah yes it’s good to be back!

Oh Ira, You Cut to the Core of Me...

   I have never been a fan of listening to radio shows, morning talk shows, sporting events, just all sorts of radio shows. However that has all changed thanks to one man, Ira Glass, and his amazing show, This American Life! I had heard about the show, but since I wasn't a fan of radio didn't think I would be interested in listening, however the more I heard about it the more intrigued I became. Cait was the one who finally got me hooked on it by "sharing part of her soul" as she so aptly put it. I am now obsessed and can't imagine missing a week of it. Every week they pick a topic and have different stories on said topic. The topics include everything, from Christmas stories to stories about money and everyday things about American life. Even only listening to it for the past month I have bawled my eyes out in the same episode as laughing so hard my stomach hurts. It really is something that everyone can enjoy. And Ira Glass the host is simply amazing. He gets to you in a way that you didn't think possible, so much so that I feel obligated to donate to help keep the show running after only listening to it for a short period of time. I suggest you all listen at least once to see what it's about, and let's be honest once you listen to one show you will be hooked for life! You can either download the free podcasts to Itunes weekly or listen online to the streaming episodes. They also have a TV show, which I can imagine would be just as good. So for those of you who have never listened to it, give it a shot! And for those of you who have already listened, you know exactly how I feel!




To help you get started:  This American Life

In Case You Need a Laugh

In case you're looking for a little something to make you laugh and cheer you up, here it is! I stumbled upon this gem while I was home watching No Reservations and clearly could not stop laughing. One could say I'm a little obsessed and some people (cough, Dan, cough) probably think I'm a little too obsessed haha. But enjoy, and if you can't watch this without laughing then I don't know what will make you laugh!

I Can't Sleep...

              Time zones are dumb! Why do we even have them? Well I mean I know why we have them for practical reasons, but really why do we have them? All they do is mess with people’s bodies when they travel and make them appear to be zombies during the day and insomniacs at night. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not a huge fan of waking up at 4 am…

Lesson Learned

Warning: Do not continue reading if you in any way, shape, or form like Orbitz or work for them. You may not be thrilled at the rant that follows…

            Ahhhh Orbitz!! Let’s just say they are not on my good list right now (and certainly shouldn’t be on Santa’s good list either, can anyone say naughty list??). I made it to the airport this afternoon and was quite excited about my little stops in Casablanca and Montreal because it meant I would be home for Christmas. But yet again, I was in for a surprise! Orbitz had never really changed over my ticket, so I wasn’t going anywhere! After standing in multiple lines, spending way too long on the phone and getting charged God knows what (do they have frequent caller ‘miles’ for international phone calls??), I was finally booked on yet another flight through British Airways. Thing is I now don’t leave until Christmas morning and still have to fly through Heathrow (fingers crossed they have figured out their ‘travel chaos’ situation), but will land in Chicago at 2 pm on Christmas Day! So good news is that I will (hopefully) make it home for Christmas, bad news is that Orbitz is horrible and wouldn’t pay for a hotel for the next two nights (but yet they don’t know the phone call that is coming when I come home demanding reimbursement haha) and I can’t imagine how many other people’s flights they managed to screw up.  I definitely learned my lesson on this one. I will never, ever use a third party site, especially Orbitz, again when booking a flight and I suggest everyone else does the same. As a friend told me, “Don’t let other people make your plans for you”. Sage advice for both travel arrangements and life in general!

            And since I’m not a bitter or angry person, Merry Christmas everyone (and that includes you too Orbitz)!!

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…