Semana de la Paz

January 28, 2014

Okay, so today was a pretty good day. I got some more things accomplished, but not before school. I went to school and the students are just about to finish up the unit on family and in science they are starting to learn how animals move: fly, slither, walk, or swim. In the afternoon, I had a kindergarten class and this Thursday, the 30th of January, is apparently Peace Day, so the students watched a short video about peace. It was cute. For some reason it won't let me post it, maybe it's not available for you to watch, but here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LIP1r_QfFM Once I got home, I indulged in some good old U.S. American television and finished my blogging from Christmas break! Yay! Now, I am relaxing and about to watch El Hormiguero and check out for the night.

So I didn't really check out. I have been beginning to rework my education portfolio and résumé because I need to start applying to jobs in the U.S. for next year and I have hated my educational philosophy for awhile now and now, I finally feel ready to scrap it completely and start writing a new one. So I started doing that and I'm already much more happy with it.


January 29, 2014

Today was a crazy day at school. Well, not completely crazy, the morning went really well. One of my classes was excellent while we explained an animal project that they will be starting next week. They behaved so well and I was so happy with them. Also, in the other class, one boy missed class all last week. So I sat with him and helped him catch up on some work and then I gave him a sticker for doing so well and he was so happy after that. Also, after breakfast, the kindergarten class went well and the teacher read them a story for Peace Day tomorrow and then they colored some peace doves. A funny thing that happened in that I taught them how to say "peace" in English and that's funny because it sounds exactly like "pis" in Spanish which means "pee" so all the 5 year olds giggled about that.

Then, in the afternoon, it was complete chaos! I think something was put into the students' lunches. Seriously, they were off the wall and it seemed like all of the teachers were pretty stressed, too. Come to find out, since tomorrow is Peace Day, the students aren't having real classes, so the teachers were trying to get everything finished today for the week, plus the students are probably aware of that, too, so it was just a bunch of emotions packed into one room.

After school, I had only a few of my private lessons, because three of the girls that I tutor are in the Pyrenees mountains this week skiing with their school. So I only had two hours worth of classes. I found out that one of the girls I tutor for collects stickers. She showed me her book of stickers and lucky for her, I brought a lot of stickers with me from the U.S. So I showed her my stickers and told her she could choose one. Ha, I know what a cruel thing to only give her one, but I told her that I would give her one every week. So that is something that she can look forward to.

Once I got home, I relaxed and worked on this blog and made dinner. Now it's time to go and relax/get some stuff done.


January 30, 2014

Today was Peace Day at school, so there were no actual classes, which is kind of boring for me once in awhile, but it turned out okay. I spent the first class listening to a story about a cloud that was blowing wind at a kite, but then the cloud started blowing too hard and didn't listen when the kite told the cloud to stop. So, the kite got hurt and then a butterfly came along and solved everything. The students talked about what peace was and what it looks like inside and outside of the school. Then, in my next class, we took the class to the computer room to show them the video that I posted above. Something really exciting (for me) happened while we were there, too. Since we were watching the video on the Promenthean Board, after the video was over, a student asked if they could play the game with categorizing oviparous and viviparous animals that we played with them last week. It was really exciting to see them want to play and do some academic learning today. :) Anyway, then it was breakfast time and I know that this doesn't seem like a big deal to you, but it was to me...they had strawberries at breakfast today! I have been thinking about buying strawberries for the last couple of weeks because they look so delicious in the store and today the school had them. They were yummy. After breakfast, we took another class to watch the Tulilem video and had another discussion about peace and then it was time for lunch.

After lunch, I had a kindergarten class where I helped some students build a tower, taught them some names of animals, taught them how to say "Peace" (got some giggles again), and played with Play-doh. Then, I went to the last class of the day and the students were instructed to draw a picture of anything they wanted to as long as it had to do with peace. So, of course, I decided to join them and draw/color a picture as well. This was my picture and the students were amazed!

I mean, I'm pretty proud of it myself, but I hate the monkey, haha. Also, the reason there are animals is because those are the names of all of the classes. Anyway, after school I had a private lesson and then headed home. I packed for Lisbon and now I'm just wanting for the time to leave. We are leaving tonight and have an overnight bus to Lisbon. We will be there for a few days and then have an overnight bus back. Wish us luck for sleeping on a bus. I miss the buses in Peru. They were so nice and the seats reclined and movies were played and they fed us on long bus rides. They were awesome. I miss that. I don't think this bus is going to be like that. It's going to be a normal tour bus and it might be miserable, but at least it's cheap and at least we won't be wasting daylight on traveling. :) I will let you know how the weekend goes on Sunday! :) Have a great weekend! Byeee!

Madrid con Tim

January 6, 2014

On our first full day back in Madrid, Tim and I slept in and then made some delicious eggs. And then, I took Tim to Madrid Río, which is the park that is close to my house and by the river. We walked around for a little bit and the weather was beautiful, which was great. Then, I took Tim to another park nearby, Parque de Enrique Tierno Galván. Karin and I found this park the very first week we were here when we were searching for apartments. The first second I saw the park, it reminded me of Tim, because the bridge has a lot of handholds for climbing and Tim loves climbing. So, I took him there and he attempted to climb a little. :) I would show you pictures, but they are on Tim's camera. So if you want to see them and you know him, then badger Tim for the pictures. ;)

After walking around, we went home and relaxed and made lunch together. We relaxed while eating lunch and watched the movie, Phonebooth. I'm not sure why we chose that movie, but it was good. Then, we just spent the night at Stephanie's apartment hanging out and talking. It was a pretty chill day, but I think it was a good first day for Tim in Madrid. I think? Ask him. :)


January 7, 2014

For the second day in Madrid, we did a lot of walking again. We walked all the way from my house to Plaza de España, which is probably about a 5k. While walking there, I took him through Lavapiés, Sol (Madrid's center), and Plaza Mayor. I also showed him the Royal Palace and Templo de Debod (the Egyptian temple here), and we sat for a really long time in the park and watched these green birds take a bath in a dirty puddle. I think you had to be there, but we laughed for a long time watching them because we were (mostly Tim was) commentating on the actions of the birds and dubbing their tweets with some funny things. Again, I'm sure you had to be there, but I loved it!

After sitting at the park, we went to get sushi for lunch at this place that was so good! Then, we went home and, of course, relaxed. And then, we took on the huge task of making tortilla española. I guess I should really say that Tim took on the task of making the tortilla. I did all of the easy steps, Tim flipped the tortilla, which is the hardest part. Want to see pictures? Too bad, talk to Tim. Stephanie and Karin came over for dinner, too. We had a really fun night and just relaxed because it was back to the classroom the next day.


January 8, 2014

The 8th was the day. First day back to school! School went okay, but we really didn't jump back into things. It was an extremely relaxed day at school. We spent the morning classes talking to the students about their vacations and about what the Three Wise Men brought them. And Tim and I told them what Santa Claus brought us. Also, all of the classes got presents from the Wise Men, so they opened those in the morning. Those presents were new classroom games, so can you guess what we did in the afternoon...played games. :) After school, Tim and I hung out at home and then walked to my Spanish class. Yep, that's right. Tim attended Spanish class with me. It was so cute and I can't thank him enough for allowing me to drag him there. Although, I think he did kind of enjoy it. :P He was trying at least. :) Then, after class, we got a drink with the other students and my Spanish teacher. We didn't feel like walking back, so we took the bus, then made dinner and relaxed. Overall, it was a good day, but I couldn't wait to have Tim see what a real day at school was like.


January 9, 2014

This day was more normal at school than usual, but it was a lot of review. We reviewed vocabulary and grammar that we had learned before break just to refresh everything for the students and they actually did quite well! And I'm glad Tim got to see what I do on a day-to-day basis. I think Tim's favorite class was playing with the kindergartners though. He helped them build things, organize there animals, he wore a pirate hat, etc. It was fun.

After school, Tim and I met with four of the girls that I tutor for a "class." It was really a class, we got milkshakes and just talked for about an hour, which is a lot of what I do in class, but I didn't get paid this time. It was just a free "Merry Christmas" class to all of them and so that they could meet my boyfriend. :) After the class, we went home and went to Karin's apartment to hang out. We watched the movie The Kings of Summer, which was kind of strange, but funny in parts. I fell asleep during a little bit of the middle though, but that's alright. And that was that day. Unfortunately, the days that Tim would be there were dwindling.


January 10, 2014

On Friday, I go in late, so we slept in a little, then went to school. We had one class and I started not feeling well at all. I felt semi-nauseous and I had a pain in my side that would not go away. I contemplated for all of breakfast whether I should leave or not, because I didn't want my coordinator thinking I was bailing since Tim was there, but I really did not think that I could make it through one more hour of class. So we left and went straight to the pharmacy to get some meds and then we boarded the train home. In hindsight, I'm really glad that I decided to go home because a little bit after I got home, I felt even worse. I still don't know what was wrong with me, but I am glad Tim was there. He made lunch while I laid on the couch and tried to nap. We ate lunch and watched friends all afternoon and by the early evening I started to feel a little better.

I am so glad that I felt better because I got to take Tim to a Peruvian restaurant down the street and it was excellent. We got all the things that I love about Peruvian food: papa a la huancaína, pollo a la brasa, lomo saltado, chicha morada, cancha, and ají. It was SO good! And there was soo much food! We had leftovers!

Tim even had his Peruvian hat with him

We also had quite the entertainment watching this guy literally fall asleep into his food. After dinner, we went to Karin's and then left to go relax on an outside patio of a bar. Then, we went back to my apartment and hung out. We played cards and taught Spoons to my roommates and it was really fun! That is how we ended the night and it was a good day, despite the morning.

January 11, 2014

Tim's second to last day here was even more chill than the rest. We literally hung out at my apartment all day long. We watched The Hunger Games and relaxed. Tim packed a little bit and I cleaned my room and we relaxed some more. We finally left my place to walk around a little bit at night and then we got sushi again. Then, we relaxed again. We did practically nothing, but it was a wonderful last full day in Madrid with Tim.

January 12, 2014

Dun dun dun...the day had come. Tim left on the 12th, but not until 8ish, so we still had a wonderful day planned. We ate breakfast and then I took Tim to experience the Rastro. He loved it! I think. He seemed to be interested, especially in the stands with all the knives. Ha. And I successfully stopped him from buying a gas mask. ;P Then, we went to a market and walked around for a little bit and I took Tim to a place that sells a variety of microbrews. And then, the best part, we went to ice cream! Yum! Then, we went home and Tim packed up more of his stuff (and mine). Thanks for letting me send stuff home with you, Tim! :) Then, the sadness started to hit, but it's okay, we knew that would happen. Karin and Stephanie came over for a little bit to say goodbye to Tim and then we left for the airport. We hung out at the airport for awhile until it was time for Tim to go through security. Saying goodbye really sucked and I still don't think I have fully acclimated back into the Madrid life since Christmas vacation, but I'm trucking through. Once back at home, I just hung out and watched the movie Gravity and started on my Christmas blogs that are now concluding with this one.

And that's that. All of these current blogs have been my Christmas break "in a nutshell." The days were awesome, the days with Tim here were even awesome-er, and I cannot wait to take advantage of these next five months, and then come home. :)

Guinness Storehouse

January 5, 2014

On our last day in Ireland and on a Sunday morning, Tim and I went to the Guinness Storehouse. I know it's not a typical Sunday morning, but it was still great! We checked out of the hotel and ate breakfast, which was delicious, then we walked to the Guinness Storehouse and it was really fun! The tour is self-guided, but they have a lot of cool things in there, like the original 9000 year lease that the founder, Arthur Guinness, signed to have the Guinness factory at the St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin. WOW, a 9000 year lease, crazy! All of the, I guess I'll call them, exhibits were really cool. The first floor talked about the four ingredients of Guinness: water, barley, hops and yeast. Guinness is the only (or one of the only) companies that roasts its barley, which is what gives Guinness it's "dark ruby color." (That's right, it's red, not black) Also, Guinness has their own special strain of yeast. They even have a sample locked up in case something happens to their main supply. Crazy!

The next floor dealt with the fifth and probably most important "ingredient," Arthur Guinness. To be honest though, the most interesting part of this section was learning about Olivia Whitmore, Arthur Guinness' wife. She had 21 children with Arthur! That's a lot of children, but unfortunately only six sons and four daughters survived. Anyway, on a lighter note, then Tim and I moved onto learning about the cooperage and transportation of Guinness. We stood there for five minutes or more, watching a video of a cooper making a barrel for Guinness. Also, did you know that a barrel is actually a size of cask. A cask is what we know as a barrel, but a cask comes in different sizes, like a kilderkin (16 gal.), barrel (32 gal.), and a butt (104 gal.). Anyway, cooperage was a pretty big art form back in the day and an apprenticeship to become a cooper lasted between five and seven years. Also, the art of coopering (?) stayed in the family and was passed on through the generations. Below is the video we watched at the Storehouse. It is of Master Cooper Dick Flanagan making a cask.

Also, if you watched the video, the cooper only uses a tool to measure once at 7:23, everything else is eyeballed. That is skill! Guinness had around 300 coopers employed back in the day, but by 1961, there were only 70. And in 1963, the last wooden cask was filled with Guinness because they had officially switched to the stainless steel keg.

After being extremely interested in cooperage, we moved onto the Taste Experience. The Taste Experience is where they have us smell all of the aromas that go into Guinness and then they teach us how to drink Guinness to get the intended effect. Want to know how to properly drink Guinness? You smell it, take a big drink, swish, inhale, swallow, exhale, repeat. And that's that.

Tim smelling some aromas of Guinness

Next in the Storehouse was looking at the Guinness advertisements through the years and we even got to be in our own advertisement. 

Tim in an advertisement

Me in an advertisement

Watching television ads through the decades

Our last stop on the tour was learning to pour our own pint of Guinness. We got a lesson on pouring it and we got a certificate for completing it successfully. :)

After pouring our glass of Guinness, we headed up to the top floor of the Guinness Storehouse and saw the amazing view of Dublin. And to top it off, there was a rainbow! It was perfect!

After our tour of the Guinness Storehouse, we went back to the hotel, picked up our bags, went to Subway, bought a few souvenirs, and then got on a bus to the airport. Tim and I's flights to Madrid were unfortunately different, so Tim left three hours before me, which was kind of sad, but at least we got to see each other in Madrid again. Once in Madrid, we went back to my apartment, where I met my new roommate, Rocío, and we ate, and then it was off to bed. We had an amazing trip in Dublin and I was excited to show him what I had been up to in Madrid. Stayed tuned to hear about the days that Tim spent here in Madrid. :)

Media naranja

January 26, 2014

Yesterday, was a pretty good Sunday. I went on a mission to the Rastro with Karin. She found what she was looking for, but I actually didn't find what I wanted, which was slightly frustrating because I had seen it there two weeks before. Also, the crowd seemed bigger than usual or it was just getting to me more than usually, but I was glad that we just did a there and back trip. After the Rastro, Karin and I went on a 4-mile run and then just hung out for awhile talking and such. I finally went home around 5 p.m. and that's when I ate lunch. That's right, clearly I am extremely adjusted to the Spanish meal times. I am eating lunch at 5 p.m. now. Anyway, I spent the evening writing a Dublin blog and hanging out. I watched some How I Met Your Mother because that's what I play in the background on my computer instead of music. Then, I played a game called Jungle Speed with my roommates and Lucia's friend, Isa. The game was really difficult and kind of hurt the brain, but it was really fun, too. We played a few rounds and then I made dinner and just continued to hang out. Then, I hit the sack and the day was over.

January 27, 2014

Today, I have accomplished nothing, but also some things. I woke up and did a short at-home workout, then got ready and wrote another Dublin blog. (Check them out!) I did some laundry and then went to a bookstore to pick up a present for Lucia (her birthday is on Wednesday..shh, don't tell her that I got her a present yet). Anyway, then I came home, made some pretty delicious fried rice, and did my weekly chores. I even skyped my boyfriend for a little bit and did my Spanish homework for class. Then, I went to my Spanish class and we talked about dubbing in movies, then we had to dub our own movie scene, which was pretty fun. Also, I learned some pretty cool phrases and words in class. Like "media naranja," which literally translates as "half an orange," but in Spanish that is what you can use as "soulmates." If you have ever seen Friends, being someone's "half an orange" is like being their "lobster." Well, once I got home, I made dinner and bought a flight for the first part of Spring break in April. Where am I going? Morocco. :) Anyway, I didn't get as much done as I wanted to (I never do), but I'm still happy with what I accomplished and I hope you all had accomplishments this Monday as well. :)

Cliffs of Moher

January 4, 2014

After I killed Tim the night before, of course I made him get up at around 6 a.m. the next day for another tour. Ha. I really was trying to kill him. We boarded a bus at 6:50 a.m. to take a day tour to the Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs of Moher are cliffs that are right on the Atlantic Ocean and are 390 feet (120 meters) above sea level or higher at some points. The Cliffs are one of the main attractions in Ireland, so that's why we decided to take a day trip there. Tim and I slept for the beginning part of the trip, then the bus stopped somewhere in the region of Tipperary so we could eat breakfast at a convenient store/café. We were on our way again and then stopped in Limerick to see King John's Castle, which is a castle that was built in the 13th century and sits on the River Shannon. The west coast of Ireland was having some flooding going on while we were visiting so you will see in my picture that the river is really high. Also at that spot, we saw the Treaty Stone, which is a stone where the treaty to end the Williamite war in Ireland was signed. The Williamite war was "between Jacobites (supporters of Catholic King James II) and Williamites (supporters of Protestant Prince William of Orange)" (Wikipedia). The treaty was signed in 1691 on that stone and now it is on a pedestal in Limerick.

The Treaty Stone

King John's Castle and the River Shannon

Tim and I

Once leaving Limerick we made our way to the coast to visit the Cliffs of Moher, on our way you could see more flooding and you could see where the water had reached, but then had receded. Our tour guide even seemed very surprised at where the water levels were at/had been. He said that he had very seen it like that before, there was seaweed and such all over the ground from the flood waters.

Once at the Cliffs, we had an hour and a half to walk around and explore, which to be honest, wasn't enough time to see everything, but it was still a sufficient amount of time. It just went fast. It would be cool to go back and walk the trail and goes all the way along the coast. And maybe walk it at a time that is less cold and windy; however, I think it is windy the majority of the time. Also, the Cliffs are kind of dangerous. There have been several people that have died there from either jumping or ignoring the signs and falling. There is now somewhat of a barrier in some spots to hopefully keep people from falling, but they definitely are kind of frightening, but also gorgeous.

Cliffs of Moher

Tim and I at the Cliffs

Cliffs and O'Brien's Tower

After the Cliffs of Moher, we went to the nearby town of Doolin to once again have an amazing Irish meal. Yum, that's my kind of meal.

After lunch, we had a little time left before we had to be back on the bus so Tim and I walked around Doolin for a little bit and made a friend.

Then, we boarded the bus again to head to some smaller little cliffs and we walked around on those for a little bit. You could definitely fall off the edge of those, too. I stayed a good distance away...Tim, being adventurous, went exploring.

Tim taking risks

Our next sop was at Corcomroe Abbey, a 13th century abbey, and again we got to walk around for a little bit. It was a pretty stop, but I liked our next bathroom stop as well in a little town (no idea what the town was), but the sun was setting and the water was pretty.

Corcomroe Abbey

Dusk in a little Irish town

And then, we headed back to Dublin, but not before making a few more stops for the bathroom. Clearly the tour group hasn't traveled with my family. We took a lot of bathroom breaks, which is understandable for the average person, I guess, but I am not average. I grew up in a family where you go before you leave, ha. Apart from all the stopping, the tour was amazing and I would suggest it to anyone. If you're reading this blog and traveling to Ireland soon, click here for the tour link.

We made it back to Dublin around 7 p.m. and just relaxed for a little bit, then we ventured back out and stopped at a Thai Wok place for dinner and shared a vanilla malt afterwards. As we were walking back to the hotel, we passed a bar that was playing American football, so we went in and Tim enjoyed a beer and watched football. I watched too, I guess. :P Then, we went back to the hotel and unintentionally took a very long nap. I think I had killed myself that day, also. I woke up at around 1:30 or 2 in the morning and still had my contacts in. Whoops. Needless to say it was a fun, but exhausting day! :)

Maté a Tim en Dublin

January 3, 2014

The 3rd was the day I had been waiting for for awhile and I was so anxious. I got up early, got ready, ate breakfast, and left for the airport. I got there pretty early and I had to sit there and watch all of these families and friends welcome people coming out from behind the sliding doors. I definitely got tears in my eyes a few times before seeing my boyfriend, Tim. Once I knew that his plane had landed, my anxiety just got worse. However, my anxiety was relieved briefly when I saw a little boy walking through the door with (I'm assuming) his mom pushing his Spiderman wheelchair. The little boy had a huge group of people waiting for him with signs and Spiderman balloons (clearly he liked Spiderman) and it appeared that he was coming back from therapy or surgery or something, but that was a really cool moment to witness. Then, finally it was my turn. Tim came out from behind the doors and I swear he was the last person off of his plane. I couldn't wait to give him a hug and I was so happy to have him there. We said our hellos and then boarded a bus back to the city center. We stopped by at my hostel to pick up my luggage and then checked into the hotel. Then, we ate lunch at a small café and met for a free walking tour at 1 p.m. Thank you, Sandemans for providing awesome free walking tours across Europe (and in New York and Israel? ha).

We had an awesome tour guide named Chris and he took us to the first stop which was the castle (which isn't really a castle). It was however the seat for British rule for many many years and it is now an Irish government building as well as the place where special guests stay when they are in Dublin. For example, Obama and Queen Elizabeth both visited Dublin in May 2011 and apparently had a big impact on Ireland. One, because they got a lot of publicity. And two, Queen Elizabeth was the first person from the Royal family to visit Ireland in 100 years and since it had separated from Great Britain. By the way, I really didn't realize how bad the relation was in between Britain and Ireland, but boy was it bad. I guess I should've known since they had rule over Ireland for many years. Anyway, her visit was very memorable and symbolic for the present day relations between Ireland and Britain. She apparently gave a speech about their relations and she started her speech speaking in Irish, which was amazing to those from Ireland. Also, she visited memorial sites for those who fought and died fighting for their freedom against the British. So, long story short. They were important visits for Ireland. Also, ever since Kennedy, apparently the Irish find U.S. presidents pretty cool and I'm sure they think that even more after Obama's visit because he supposedly got drunk there. I even saw a billboard of him with a Guinness in his hand. Ha. Anyway, he also mentioned the amount of people that claim they are Irish in the U.S. There are more Irish people in New York City than there is in Dublin.

Dublin Castle

Our next stop was a garden that was right behind the castle. Dublin was founded by the Vikings and the name comes from the Irish word Dubhlinn meaning "black pool." Why this castle garden is important to that story is because the garden sits on top of what used to be the Black Pool, which the River Poddle flowed into, which also filled the castle moat and supplied fresh drinking water. Vikings used the pool to harbor their ships and that's how Dublin got it's name. Also, it's an interesting story because the wall that is in the background was built because slums used to lie behind it, so the government built the wall to hide the slums from the guests that stayed at the castle. Then, Chris said how governments, in general, are always trying to hide things. He was a law student, by the way.

Dublin Castle Garden

We then moved onto our next little spot where Chris waved his hand in a general direction to show where Jonathan Swift, an Irish satirical writer, lived for part of his life. One of Swift's works that Chris talked about was A Modest Proposal, or the full name A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People From Being a Burthen to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick. This essay was a satire that dealt with the issue of attitudes toward the poor in Ireland. His solution to the problem was that poor people should sell their children as food to the rich. Apparently he even included some recipes in the essay...yum... :/ After that fun little discussion, we went on over to one of the two cathedrals in Dublin, Christ Church Cathedral. Before I get into the background of the actual church, I am going to tell you that the majority (73%) of Irish people claim to be Catholic. Why is this interesting? Because Dublin does not have a Roman Catholic cathedral. The two cathedrals that are there belong to the Church of Ireland, which is Protestant. Hmm, interesting. While we are talking about religion, the word Catholic and Protestant don't really always refer to religion in Ireland. There is an Irish joke that I am going to share here:

A journalist, researching for an article on the complex political situation in Northern Ireland, was in a pub in a war-torn area of Belfast. One of his potential informants leaned over his pint of Guinness and suspiciously cross-examined the journalist: "Are you a Catholic or a Protestant?" the Irishman asked.

"Neither," replied the journalist; "I'm an atheist."The Irishman, not content with this answer, put a further question: "Ah, but are you a Catholic atheist or a Protestant atheist?"

This is because Catholic refers to Irish people and Protestant refers to the English. So apparently it is possible to be both a Catholic and an atheist. Anyway, onto the actual church (this is coming from our tour guide), the church was in extreme poverty at some point (I don't remember the year) a man proposed to the pastor or owner of the church that he allow him to run a business in the church for some money. Obviously the man in charge had a probably with this, but he had no other choice because he had to save the church. Well, apparently the guy with the business proposal was John Jameson, the founder of Jameson Whiskey Distillery, and he was making whiskey in the basement of the church. The Jameson Distillery also paid for complete restoration of the church in the 1870s probably as a thank you.

*Sidenote: I looked up this information and Wikipedia has a different story than what the guide told us. Wikipedia says that it was Henry Roe, another distiller that paid for the restoration. His company later merged with Jameson, but supposedly it was him. Who knows...

Anyway, onto another fun fact. The Guinness family, specifically Benjamin Guinness helped pay for the total restoration of St. Patrick's Cathedral in the 1860s. So both cathedrals in Dublin were in extreme disrepair and both were helped by the alcohol industry and supposedly the continued maintenance of the churches are in both Jameson's and Guinness' wills. Not a surprising story to hear coming from Ireland, eh?

Christ Church Cathedral

After that, we went and looked at some bricks on the ground that were laid out like the floor plan of an old Viking home. The had uncovered some artifacts and structures of the Vikings and then knocked them down or built on top of them, so now they have a nice little layout on the ground instead of the original structure. I feel like that happens a lot, people just ignoring "ancient" architecture and stuff and building over it/knocking it down. Anyway, we also walked on the oldest street in Ireland and took a short tea break. We also talked about the things that have changed in Ireland over the years. For example, leprechauns were originally brown, not green. And the national color of Ireland in blue, not green. And how it used to be illegal to drink on St. Patrick's Day because it was a religious holiday to celebrate the patron saint of Ireland and the arrival of Christianity into Ireland. And a lot of that has changed now...good job, U.S.

Anyway, after our break, we took a quick stop at a wall that showed the Irish Music Hall of Fame. The only people I knew on it were Van Morrison, U2, and The Cranberries, but the others were Sinéad O'Connor, Thin Lizzy, Rory Gallagher, The Undertones and Boyzone, for those of you who might know them.

Then, we strolled on over to Trinity College, Ireland's oldest university founded in 1592. I don't know a ton about the academics there, except that it is a prestigious college, like Oxford and Cambridge, but I do know some fun facts. For example, it has a miraculous room called the Long Room, which has books floor to ceiling and part of the Jedi Temple in Star Wars Episode II was apparently based off of the Long Room. Also, it looks like it's straight out of Harry Potter, from what I've heard, but the one out of Harry Potter was apparently inspired by somewhere at Cambridge. Also, apparently the one in Indiana Jones movie too, so you get the point. Anyway, there is a very famous book there called The Book of Kells, which is "an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created by Celtic monks circa 800 or slightly earlier" (Wikipedia). The illustrations are supposedly incredible and a lot of people pay the 9 euros ($12.31) to see it, but also it's apparently hit or miss, because the staff turns a page everyday to preserve the binding and to display the whole book, so it's possible to go on a day when the page is boring. Like I said though, I heard the Long Room is pretty impressive.

Trinity College

After Trinity College, we went to a little square that had the National Library of Ireland, Irish parliament, and the National Museum of Ireland. We learned about what was inside both of the museums and we learned about how the White House was [loosely] inspired by the Irish parliament building. I threw in the word loosely because there are quite a few differences. One last thing about the building...notice how the windows are smaller at the top? It's because glass used to be (maybe still is, I don't know) really expensive, but people wanted to have big windows because it made them seem rich and made the building look taller so they put big windows on bottom, but then put tiny ones up top to save money.

Irish parliament

Our next and final stop was St. Stephen's Green, which is a public park. We really only went to the entrance of the park and saw two statues. One of Wolfe Tone, who was an Irish revolutionary figure, and the other to represent the potato famine and this is where (I think) it gets ugly with the British. So we know that around 1 million people died and 1 million people emigrated, causing a 20-25% decrease in population, but did you know that the country was producing enough food to feed everyone? It's just that all of the food was being exported by the British landowners. Long story short, the Irish were forced onto plots of land that really had soil good enough to grow potatoes, so they became completely dependent on potatoes. Then, when the disease hit the potatoes, the Irish lost everything and couldn't survive. Then, over the next several years, a bunch of politics happened and a revolution and Ireland gained independence in 1916. And that's that. That was our tour.

Potato famine sculpture

After the tour, we went back to the National Library because we heard they had a cool genealogy department and Tim and I both tried looking up things, but neither of us knew enough information. Heck, I don't even know if I have any Irish in me. Ha. Then, we took a quick stroll to the National Museum only to see the "Bog bodies" that our tour guide mentioned and they were pretty cool. They are human bodies that have been naturally mummified in a bog. Most of them had stories that they were murdered and thrown into the bog. It would suck to be one of those guys, but they were pretty interesting to see.

One of the Bog bodies

After that, Tim and I ate dinner at a bar. Have I mentioned that I love Irish food! It's so good and they give you so much! You just go up to this buffet type area and point at what you want and they just pile it on your plate. It's amazing! Also, they still love their potatoes! Notice the three different kinds of potatoes on our plates! Yum! My mouth is watering just thinking about it. 

Anyway, enough about the food, after dinner, we went back to the hotel and Tim passed out! I literally killed him! I think he had been up for over 35 hours or something like that. Ha. Poor guy had an 8 hour flight and a time change and I made him walk around all day on a tour. Ha, he was a good sport about it and I know he enjoyed himself, but really, I killed him. Whoops. Oh well. It was a fantastic day and at the end of it, I was happy to have him there, dead or not. :P

Siete millas

January 25, 2014

Today was a beautiful day outside, as was yesterday by the way. I got up early and made a wonderful omelette, then did some Spanish studying and finished my blogs from the week. Last night, Stephanie and Karin decided to run seven miles so I figured "What the heck, I might as well join them." So, that's what I did. I ran seven miles this morning! I have never ran that much in my life! The most I've ran at once is a little over four miles, so my goal was to just run the whole thing. I was able to keep up with Karin and Stephanie for a little less than halfway of the run, but then they just took off (well, actually, I think I just slowed WAY down), but that's okay. I still ran the whole thing and I am pretty proud of that. I really don't know what possessed me to join them though. I really don't enjoy running, but like I said, I feel great and I actually wish that I had more time to do it during the week.

After the run, we did a short ab workout then went our separate ways. I ate a huge salad for lunch and it was incredible. Then, I watched some T.V. and got cleaned up. Then, I met up with the girls again at the park and we planned to read in the park, but we ended up doing more people watching then reading. Now we're just hanging out at Stephanie's place for the evening and we have nothing too exciting planned. I hope you all had great Saturdays and I will talk to you again soon. :)

Poco pasó

January 21, 2014

Today was another pretty boring, but relaxed day. I don't have much to report about school besides the fact that my students are learning the difference between an herbivore, an omnivore, and a carnivore, which is pretty cool. I also had a few more students wiggle their teeth in my face, which I just cannot get used to! After school, I came home and relaxed for a little bit. After, Karin came over and we did an at home workout together. Then, we purchased some tickets to Lisbon, Portugal. :) So, that's going to be awesome! I got a few other things checked off my list, but I am always adding new things to my list as well. Anyway, that was my Tuesday. It was pretty basic. Also, Karin hung out with me for a little bit at night and I sucked her into watching The Bachelor with me. :) And that was that.


January 22, 2014

Today was another "same old, same old" day. I had school and the students are still practicing the members of the family and the animals. However, for the animals, they are starting to get into viviparous and oviparous classifications of animals. I had to review what those even meant. I had no clue. For those of you who don't remember learning those term either, viviparous animals are those that develop inside their mothers. Oviparous animals are those that come from/lay eggs. Couldn't tell you the last time or the first time that I heard those terms. Anyway, most of my students are rocking this English thing. At the end of the day, I had some third graders interview me for their class newspaper. It was really cute because since they don't know I speak Spanish, my coordinator had to interpret for it, even though I knew everything they were saying. They asked questions like if I have pets, if I like the school, if I have siblings, etc. After school, I went to my private lessons. They went well as always and it always surprises me how much vocab and grammar we can cover in just an hour of conversation! On another note, I purchased a ticket to Cádiz, Spain today for February, so that's one more place that I will be going. Fun, fun! I hope you all had a great hump day! Talk to you later


January 23, 2014

Today again was an average day. I had school and the students are still practicing the same things. My favorite part about today though was that I got to use the Promethean Board in the computer room! Since the students are learning about viviparous and oviparous animals. I found a flipchart (it's like a Powerpoint, for those of you not familiar with Promethean) that had a cool activity for categorizing oviparous and viviparous animals. I got to take one of my classes to do the activity and I think they had a lot of fun. Since they don't work with technology a lot, they got slightly excited about it and got a little rowdy, but their kids, you can't help that and they definitely were still learning! :) After school, I had my private lessons, then went home and relaxed for the night, more or less. I spent the evening looking for activities and lessons to do with the teachers' class.

January 24, 2014

Woo! Friday! Today is the day that I go in late and come home early so it went really well. The two classes I had with students went alright, but I really liked the teachers' class. I am always nervous going in, but it always ends up going well usually. I think I am mostly excited to just be teaching my own lessons. Also, I took them to the computer room so that I could use the Promethean Board again. I taught them some common verbs used in English and the structure of present simple and then we played a Connect 4 game with using verbs in sentences. They seemed to get pretty competitive about it and it was cool to see that. Anyway, after I got home from school, I relaxed, skyped my boyfriend, worked on a few things, and then went for a run with Karin. We probably ran a little over two miles, which I thought was good since I haven't ran in several months. After the run, we stopped in a gym just to look at membership prices. It actually is a good and well-priced gym and I would really consider going, if I had the time, but I am already pretty busy so I think I am just going to keep my schedule how it is. After all of that Karin and Stephanie came over to my house and we spent the night chatting and hashing out everything for the trips we are planning. We actually didn't get anything accomplished in terms of booking flights, tours, or hostels, but we looked at prices and figured out when and where we will be going and that was something that really needed to be done, so I'm glad we got that over with.


Anyway, that was my week in a nutshell. Sorry, if I have been boring you and sorry you had no consistent blogs to read this week. I will be getting up the last of Christmas break sometime soon and I will continue to blog about my daily life here in Spain. Hope you all are fantastic! Have a great weekend!

El día de blogs

January 20, 2014

Yay, I finished a few blogs today and I feel pretty accomplished! You should go and read them all now. They are pretty exciting. :) Anyway, that was my big accomplishment for the day, but I also did my weekly chores and I worked on my resume because I will need to be applying for jobs in the U.S. soon. I also had my Spanish class tonight which went great and I really have nothing else to say. I had a pretty good day and I am ready to really get this semester rolling. I hope all you had wonderful Mondays, even though that may seem like an oxymoron. :P Talk to you tomorrow! BYEEE!

Dublin solo

January 2, 2014

In the morning, I showered, packed up my bags, ate one last breakfast with my hosts (we had fresh apple juice again, yum!), and chatted for a little bit before Zoltan took me to the airport. We probably chatted for a little bit too long, but my host assured me that I would be okay on time. I'm not gonna lie though, I was worried about it there for a little bit. There was a long line at check-in, however I met two really nice people that are in the U.S. Air Force who have been stationed in Cádiz, Spain for quite awhile. So we chatted for a long time while we waited. Then, I had to wait in a long line at security and finally when I got to my gate, they hadn't even started boarding yet. The only downfall of getting there later was that I was in a bad position for the first come, first serve seating and I had to check my bag because they only allow the first 90 bags on the plane, but it wasn't too big of a deal. We took off 40 minutes late again, but it's okay because we still kind of made it on time and I was in no rush at all. Both me and my suitcase made it to Dublin and once in Dublin, I took the city bus to the center and found my hostel for the night. After getting settled in at the hostel, I ventured out for a little bit. I went to the store to pick up an electrical converter and then I ate dinner alone at a bar. It wasn't so bad though, because I sat at the window and people watched and I had my phone. So eating by yourself isn't always so bad. Plus the food was delicious and it came with a Guinness (I don't even like beer). I probably committed some sort of Irish sin by turning down the pint and asking only for a glass and the bartender said she would put some sort of mixer in it to cool down the flavor. I forget what she put in it though and to be honest, I had a hard time understanding the accent. Ha.

Beef stew, Guinness, bread and butter
Best part = Butter with the bread (they don't do that in Spain)

On that note, did you know that Ireland has its own language! I felt REALLY stupid for not knowing that. I mean I knew that Gaelic and Celtic were languages, but I had no clue that they were even really still spoken. I was under the impression that they were like Old English. I had no clue that when I got off the plane in the airport everything would be in both Gaelic and English. I was floored. Well, maybe not really floored, I was kind of upset in a weird way. I think I was excited to be in a place that spoke English (especially after understanding nothing in Hungary), only to find out that I was again in a very foreign country where I couldn't read signs or understand accents. Also, it just kind of made me feel uneducated, whoops. I guess I shouldn't assume things. Anyway, I got over it, especially when Tim got there because he interpreted for me. :) Also, I would like to thank the genius who decided to write "Look Right" and "Look Left" at all of the crosswalks because it's all backwards for me and it definitely saved my life, because I am assuming without them, I would have for sure been hit by a car. Thank you, signs.

Anyway, after dinner, I walked around in some souvenir shops that looked like the color green had thrown up in them and then I walked to St. Patrick's Cathedral just for the fun of it, plus it's the largest church in Ireland, so I wanted to check it out.

St. Patrick's Cathedral

After the brief walk there, I walked back to the hostel and did some weekend planning. Tim would be arriving the next day, so I figured out our plans for the weekend so that everything ran smoothly, even though I know Tim wouldn't have cared either way. After planning, I went to bed extremely anxious for the next day to begin.

Széchenyi baths

January 1, 2014

On the first day of the new year, Aliyya and I relaxed and it was amazing. We went to the Széchenyi thermal bath, which is the largest medicinal bath in Europe and it was great. I think the way you're supposed to do it is switch between going into hot water baths and then cold water baths, which we kind of did, but we still stayed on the warm side of things. We weren't about to go into the really cold water. Also, when we were outside getting out into the frigid January air was shock enough to the system. We also debated getting a massage for a long time, but finally decided against it because there was a long wait for them because the baths are virtually the only things opened on New Year's Day, so everyone and their dogs were there. I'm kind of glad that there was a wait for the massages, because it would have been money gone, however I also think it would have been worth it. Ha. I should have tried getting a doctor's note before going there, everything is cheaper if your doctor prescribes you to go to the baths and get a massage.

Anyway, we hung out there for quite some time and then headed home in the early evening after eating lángos, which is fried dough (kind of like funnel cake) with different toppings. I had one with ham and cheese and it was okay. From what I've heard it makes for good "drunk food."

Also, we took a visit to Heroes' Square before the baths, which I forgot to mention. Heroes' Square is a well-known square in City Park at the end of Andrássy Avenue and in the middle is the Millennium Memorial that has the seven leaders of the tribes that founded Hungary in 896. Then, on the left and right sides there are statues of other important figures in the history of Hungary. Also, there are a few museums that surround the square that are pretty popular, however, Aliyya and I didn't visit them, plus they were closed for the holiday.

At Heroes' Square

After the day of relaxation, we went back to our hosts' house and relaxed the rest of the evening. We talked for quite awhile about politics, history, language, education, etc. again, which was really interesting. Which reminds me, I forgot to tell you about Translyvania in my last blog. Okay, so Translyvania used to be a part of Hungary, but now it is a part of Romania. And our host, Zoltan, is from Translyvania, but he says he is Hungarian, so I asked him how this was, because I honestly just did not get it. I hope I didn't offend him, but I was seriously just trying to wrap my head around how we was born in Translyvania, Romania, but he is Hungarian. Well, in the end, I don't think I offended him, because when we got down to the bottom of it, I was talking about citizenship and he was talking about blood. So, he is, in fact a citizen of Romania and Hungary, but he considers himself Hungarian because his bloodline and ancestry comes from Hungarian. I just thought our points of view were very interesting, because although my ancestors come from Germany and Sweden and many other places, I would never consider myself German or Swedish. I would consider myself a U.S. American because that is where I hold citizenship. I just thought that that was probably the most interesting conversation we had because it took at least five minutes or more of talking about it for us both to realize that we were on different pages.

Anyway, after talking and such, Aliyya and I napped for quite awhile and just hung out and then it was just time for bed, so we went to bed. It was a good first day of the New Year and a good last day in Budapest. :)

Boldog új évet

December 31, 2013

New Year's Eve! Aliyya and I got up early and had a Spanish breakfast that our hosts prepared for us, then we were off on our own to buy tickets to get into the city. We just showed the lady our tickets from the day before so she knew what we wanted, then we said thank you because that's all we knew in Hungarian. Ha. Not knowing the language is really difficult and I kind of felt stupid and sorry for not knowing it, but we got by. Anyway, we went on the tour that we had planned to go on the day before and it was great.

We started the tour with talking about a brief history of Hungary. Hungary was established in 896 when seven Mongol tribes migrated to the land. Then, in 997, St. Stephen became the first prince and later the first king of the Hungary. With some obvious history missing in this story-telling, hundreds of years later (1526), the Ottoman Empire took over Hungary because it declined after King Matthias left no successors to the throne after his death. The Ottoman Empire ruled for a very long time, until 1718 (which is why there are a lot of Turkish baths--you'll hear about those in the next post). Anyway, the way the tour guide told it to us was that Austria came over to help the Hungarians defeat the Turks and then the Austrians "forgot" to leave. So you can see where this is heading... Hungary became the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1867–1918. Still a chunk of history missing, but our tour guide can't tell us every single thing or the tour would have taken days. Anyway, Hungary finally gained it's independence in 1918. Then, after World War I, Hungary lost a bunch of land to Romania and other countries (remind me to talk about Translyvania later). Then, in 1919, the Communists took over in Hungary, then during World War II, Hungary joined Nazi Germany to fight against the Soviet Union, then the Soviet Union occupied the country. Finally in 1989, Hungarian became a Republic again, so it is very much a new country in those terms.

After this little history of Hungary, we moved on to a park to briefly talk about Andrássy út (Andrássy Avenue), a main street in Budapest that has many shopping places, House of Terror, the Opera House, and Heroes' Square. Also, in the park, there was a tree with a bunch of locks on it. You know the story of the love locks? If you don't, it's when a couple (usually) writes there initials on a lock then put the lock on a bridge and throw the key into the river. Well, our tour guide made a joke about the fact that Hungarians don't believe in true love because the locks are on this tree in a park so that the couple has some time to think about their decisions as they walk to the river to throw the key in. I thought it was a pretty funny joke. Anyway, our next stop was St. Stephen's Basilica. I really don't remember much that was said about the basilica, except for that the dome collapsed during construction, which kind of stinks. Also, I remember another thing, too, but you'll have to read on to find out what that is.

After the church, we stopped briefly at the Four Seasons Hotel, at the end of the Chain Bridge, because the architecture of the hotel is apparently what would be considered Hungarian and also the hotel is very proud of their building so they let people come in just to look at it. We then took a little time to talk about the fun stuff of Hungary, like inventions. For example, did you know the Rubik's cube was a Hungarian invention. And so is the ballpoint pen. Those are the two big things. Also, in the spirit of New Year's Eve, our guide told us how to order two beers, two wines, and say cheers. Két sört, két bor, and Egészségére (pronunciation of cheers is unknown.ha)! Then, we crossed the Chain Bridge and made our way up Castle Hill again. We saw all of the things that we had seen the night before minus the President's office building. The office building was kind of funny to see because of the guards. Our tour guide said that the guards are a fairly recent add-in to the building mostly because they are a tourist attraction. Ha. But the funny thing about them is that they weren't really well trained at all. You know you have those guards in London that supposedly don't move an inch and don't crack a smile, but these guards were definitely smiling for pictures. Ha. Anyway, we saw the outside of Buda Castle again, the Matthias Church, and the Parliament building from across the river. I am really glad that Aliyya and I went to Castle Hill the night before and got good pictures because it was rather foggy on our tour day so it didn't make for the best photos. Anyway, the only thing that I really have to add from the tour is about the Parliament building. Not sure if I remember this right, but it used to be the largest Parliament building in the world because they built it one meter wider than the British Parliament. Then, the Parliament in Romania decided to build their building one meter more than Hungary's, so it's no longer the largest. That's too bad for them, but apparently we got really lucky because they just finished a reconstruction on the building like a week or two before we arrived, so we got a good view of it instead of it having a bunch of construction crap around it.

Matthias Church with Hungarian flag

Office of the President

Chain Bridge and St. Stephen's Basilica

After the tour, we went to the markets and bought a few souvenirs. Apparently a popular souvenir from Hungary is paprika because it is widely used in Hungarian cuisine. I didn't get any though. I would have no idea what to do with it except for putting it on deviled eggs. Ha. Anyway, after the markets, we decided to go into St. Stephen's Basilica. It was nice, but dark and I didn't get any good pictures so the ones below are from Google. Also, the other interesting fact about the church is that St. Stephen's right fist is placed inside the church. And that's no joke, the mummified right hand of St. Stephen sits in the church. It is hard to see because it is in this ornate box thing, but don't worry, I've included another picture below for that too.

Inside of St. Stephen's Basilica

The Holy Right

After all that jazz, we ate lunch (Hungarian beef--it was delicious) and went home for awhile.

We stayed at the house for several hours and didn't head back into town until around 10:30 p.m. Also, the most exciting thing about heading into town is that we had to buy the train tickets on a machine that had no English option and we accomplished it! It was awesome! We were very proud of ourselves and thankful for flashing buttons. Ha. Once in downtown, we were told that there were three street parties going on, but we saw none out of the two we looked at. Come to find out the real party was at the third place that we didn't investigate, but that's okay because we got into a ruin bar and order our pálinka shots just in time for midnight and I'm not kidding. Aliyya got handed her shot and we took them right away. Pálinka is a traditional fruit brandy from Hungary, that's why we chose that, but it was so gross. Also, I'll tell you what a ruin bar is because they are pretty popular in Budapest. It the beginning of the 2000s, there were several buildings in shambles, so people bought those buildings and turned them into bars. So imagine an apartment building turned bar/club. The one we went to was pretty cool. It had a lot of little tucked away rooms, but also a main dance floor, but Aliyya and I decided to go to one of the tucked away little rooms because we had three hours to wait for the train home. We chatted for a long time and then we joined another group of Americans who were from California. They were two adults traveling with their daughter who was maybe my age or older and they were really interesting to talk to. They have literally traveled everywhere and it was so cool to hear about their experiences. Anyway, we parted ways and caught the train back to our hosts' house, but not before we sat on the train for awhile waiting for it to leave. Then, a train worker came into the car and said something (in Hungarian) and everyone in our car started standing up and walking towards the front of the train. Aliyya and I had no idea (and still have no idea) what he said or what happened, but we did the best thing possible--we followed the crowd and we got home safely and crashed. It was a good day and night and I'm glad I got to spend it in Budapest. Also, at midnight, the people sing the Hungarian National Anthem. I don't have a recording of this, but here is their national anthem. Of course, this recording is a lot different then hearing a bunch of people in a bar singing it, but yea, here it is.

Bolgot új évet!

Happy New Year!