Tuesday, April 29th
On Monday night, I slept like a rock and I'm pretty sure I was still in a deep sleep when my alarm went off on Tuesday, but I got up and got ready for school. At school, I had an English class, where they learned a few more toy vocabulary words, like bike and scooter, and then I had a Science class, but it wasn't my regular class. The class I normally have second period went on a field trip to Ratoncito Pérez's house (aka the Tooth Fairy...the Tooth Fairy here is a mouse). So, in Science, the students started learning about things that can be built in a factory and other jobs like a plumber, opthamalogist, traumatologist, etc. I wish I was kidding, but seriously they are learning those words. Ha, but they are closely translated words to Spanish, so maybe it is easier for them to remember them. After breakfast, I had another Science class and they are a little behind and still on the landscape unit, but we are just finishing that up and they will start on the Jobs and Tools unit soon, but they don't like science all that much so it is hard to get them to focus. Luckily, we will be doing a project in the next unit, so hopefully that motivates them a little more. In the afternoon, I had one kindergarten class and we played number BINGO and I was quite impressed with their knowledge of the numbers up to 30 in English! Yay! :D They clearly have improved from the beginning of the year. After that, I went home, took a nap, and relaxed. Then, in the evening, I went on a run with Karin, came home and ate dinner, and then dedicated my night to looking at return flights to the U.S. And by dedicated my night, I mean I stayed up until 2 a.m. looking at prices. I have kind of been obsessed for the past few months and I couldn't stop trying to figure things out last night. Anyway, once in bed, I couldn't even fall asleep, it was kind of annoying, but I got to bed and all was well.
I should also point out that I love that Real Madrid and Atleti de Madrid are both in the semifinals. I heard everyone in their apartments, in the bars, on the streets screaming about the Real Madrid vs. Munich game. Real Madrid won 4-0!
Wednesday, April 30th
Today was a pretty good day. I went to school and helped teach the students about jobs and about toys and that was about it. In the kindergarten class today, they worked on filling out a May calendar with the numbers and the special days and colored a flower for spring. I also started reading them a children's version of Don Quixote de la Mancha in English. Obviously, they don't understand anything I am saying, but it is good for them to hear me talk and I ask them about the pictures. Also, they just sat so well and listened. It was great. :) At lunch, Julia and I started working on translating a Powerpoint presentation for the school in English. It isn't really in our job description and it is kind of difficult, but we were asked to do it, so we are. Also, at lunch, I was once again obsessing over finding a flight home. The problem that I was having is that they are super expensive, like double what I paid to get here and the flight, plus my rent is one whole paycheck, which is just depressing. However, I found a flight that is just convenient. It leaves and lands at a good time, has a good layover, and is just overall appealing, so after school, I bought it. Part of me is still unsure if I should have waited longer or not, but at this point, I just don't care. I'm happy with the flight I got and I will not be looking at flights for a long time. Ha. Anyway, after school, I had my private lessons. The two older girls had to work on a project together, so tonight I gave their lesson together, so that means I got done with lessons an hour earlier. We just talked and practiced speaking and then with the younger girl, we continue to practice the months of the year and today we worked on some pronunciation of the b, v, ph, and f. I feel like I have no right to teach pronunciation, but it actually went really well. The b and v are pronounced the same so I was really proud of her for being able to watch my mouth movements and make the right sounds. :D Also, the mom gave me a little extra money today and I told her it was too much and then she did that grandma thing where she refused to take it back. She told me to buy something with it and I was really grateful. Also, I saw a sun dog on the way home, so that was pretty pleasant, too. Overall it was a good day and it's pretty late here already and I have to be up in four hours to leave for the airport. I am going to Munich for this long weekend (we have Thursday and Friday off). So, sorry still haven't written about Easter break and I will have to write about Munich when I get back. Hope you're still looking forward to that! I will talk to you all on Monday! :D Byeeee
Also, the Atleti game wasn't even in Madrid today and I could hear the screams. Atlético beat Chelsea 3-1. I really hope it gets down to Atlético vs. Real Madrid! Madrid will be a madhouse!
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Monday, April 28, 2014
Dos clases de español
Sunday, April 27th
On Sunday morning, Karin and I went to church and when we got there I was relieved to see that we were singing some of the songs that I missed so much last week during Easter, like "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" and "He Lives." Also, there were baptisms at church. Five people from four different places (Spain, Ireland, China, and Nigeria) got baptized yesterday. It was nice to see that and the message was about baptism, which I enjoyed. The pastor talked about how baptism is like a wedding ring. It is a public proclamation of your decision. If you take away a wedding ring, it doesn't take away the marriage and if you take away baptism, it doesn't mean that you are not a believer. He also pointed out that just because one has been baptized doesn't mean they are a follower. You have to believe first. Baptism is not magic. It was a good message and we sang a song that I had never heard, but really liked.
After church, Karin and I ate lunch at my house and then I got a few things done/did nothing too. I did some Spanish homework and still did not write a single blog from Easter break. Ha. Whoops, sorry. Someone might need to motivate me to do that. Anyway, at night, I went over to Karin's apartment with Stephanie and we (I didn't really do anything) made shepherd's pie. It was delicious and then we were going to watch The Gladiator because we saw where some of the movie was filmed in Morocco (you would know this if I wrote my blog already..ha), but I, personally, got pretty uninterested in it from the beginning, so we just skipped to the Morocco scenes and then we put on a much more lighthearted movie, Crazy, Stupid, Love. I love that movie so much and it makes me laugh. I'm really glad we watched it and I will never forget when I saw it in theaters in Peru. Anyway, that was how we ended our night and it was perfect.
Monday, April 28th
Today was a good day. I got up and the sun was shining. I ate breakfast and got the kitchen cleaned right off the bat. Then, I did some Spanish homework and wrote part of this blog. This evening, I had not one, but two Spanish classes. I have added a private lesson for me every other week because when I get back to the U.S. I have to take an exam for my Illinois teaching license, so I decided to add the extra class just to get more practice in and to prepare specifically for the test. Anyway, both classes were really good. In the main class, we went over and learned some gestures that are used in everyday Spanish because language is not just speaking with your mouths. It was cool to learn the body language and we definitely went over some that I have seen people do before, but didn't necessarily know what it meant. I was a little worried at one point in the class because my laptop got the blue screen of death, but once I got home it turned on just fine and I ran a scan and everything seems to check out, so let's hope it stays that way. :) Anyway, I am gonna go for now. I will talk to you all soon. :)
On Sunday morning, Karin and I went to church and when we got there I was relieved to see that we were singing some of the songs that I missed so much last week during Easter, like "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" and "He Lives." Also, there were baptisms at church. Five people from four different places (Spain, Ireland, China, and Nigeria) got baptized yesterday. It was nice to see that and the message was about baptism, which I enjoyed. The pastor talked about how baptism is like a wedding ring. It is a public proclamation of your decision. If you take away a wedding ring, it doesn't take away the marriage and if you take away baptism, it doesn't mean that you are not a believer. He also pointed out that just because one has been baptized doesn't mean they are a follower. You have to believe first. Baptism is not magic. It was a good message and we sang a song that I had never heard, but really liked.
Monday, April 28th
Today was a good day. I got up and the sun was shining. I ate breakfast and got the kitchen cleaned right off the bat. Then, I did some Spanish homework and wrote part of this blog. This evening, I had not one, but two Spanish classes. I have added a private lesson for me every other week because when I get back to the U.S. I have to take an exam for my Illinois teaching license, so I decided to add the extra class just to get more practice in and to prepare specifically for the test. Anyway, both classes were really good. In the main class, we went over and learned some gestures that are used in everyday Spanish because language is not just speaking with your mouths. It was cool to learn the body language and we definitely went over some that I have seen people do before, but didn't necessarily know what it meant. I was a little worried at one point in the class because my laptop got the blue screen of death, but once I got home it turned on just fine and I ran a scan and everything seems to check out, so let's hope it stays that way. :) Anyway, I am gonna go for now. I will talk to you all soon. :)
Saturday, April 26, 2014
No te pierdes
Tuesday, April 22nd
On Tuesday, it was back to school. I wasn't really looking forward to being back at school, but who ever is? I loved seeing the students and teachers, but I was just still so tired from break. I will say though that it was freezing in the school! I don't know why it was so cold, but everybody was feeling it. It was so cold and I was shivering all day. Anyway, in English, we reviewed what we did before break (toys and body parts) and in Science we reviewed as well (places in town and landscapes). Also, sad day (I could've predicted this), all of our plants died over break without being watered. I still think there is hope though, so we did water them. We will see where that gets us. After school I usually have the exchange with Esther, but I was still just so tired, so I cancelled on her. I had plans to get things done all evening, but I was just so tired when I got home and I really didn't feel too well so I just relaxed and was able to take a nap. Then, I got up and went for a 3ish mile run with Karin. It had warmed up outside so it was a good run. Once I got home, I got a few things done, but mostly just kept relaxing. I am excited to be home this weekend and not be traveling. Don't get me wrong though, I love traveling. Also, I should point out that Atlético de Madrid is in the semifinals of the Champions League, which is a European Union football competition. I also want to point out that Real Madrid is still in it and they have the most titles in the Champions League. The other two teams in it are Chelsea (from London) and the reigning champions Bayern Munich. I telling you this because on Tuesday night, I could hear the people at the stadium again. The final score was 0-0 Atlético vs. Chelsea.
Wednesday, April 23rd
On Wednesday, it was another typical day at school. In English, the students reviewed body parts and we also started teaching them about symmetry. They have already learned about it in math, but now they are just learning how to say if something is or isn't symmetrical in English. In Science, the students started learning about more professions: waiter, hairdresser, farmer, mechanic, etc. The book also takes this time to teach them random tools and equipment like fishing nets, fishing rod, spade, plow (spelled plough in British English), etc. On Wednesday in Spain, it was Día del Libro (Book Day). I looked it up to see if we celebrate it in the U.S. and it doesn't seem like we do, but it is apparently a pretty big deal here. They celebrate it in the majority of schools here and it is not out of the ordinary to receive a book and a rose as a gift on this day. Anyway, Día del Libro is on the 23rd because it was the death date of three pretty important authors in 1616: William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes (Spanish, wrote Don Quijote de la Mancha), and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (Peruvian, La Florida del Inca). Anyway, at lunch, we had a pot luck with all of the teachers and everyone brought in something from their village or hometown (yes, those can be two different things). I think I have talked about the concept of a village here before, but I'm sorry if I haven't. Anyway, long story short, there was a lot of food and I chose to bring something quick and easy and pretty U.S. American: Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Yum! I thought it was gonna turn out bad (I'm sure some of you readers think it always turns out bad, ha.) because of lack of measuring cups, using butter, and different milk, but it actually was pretty normal tasting. After lunch, we had afternoon classes that went pretty normal and then I had my private lessons. All my lessons went really well. We talked about our Easter breaks and about book day. In school, they did a secret Santa sort of thing, where they had to buy a book for a student in their class. After classes, I went home and once again, Madrid was going crazy for football, like I said Real Madrid is in the top four and they played on Wednesday and beat Munich 1-0.
Thursday, April 24th
Thursday at school was a normal day. We did the pretty much the same things in class that we did on Wednesday. Then, after school, I had all of my private lessons, which went really well. Even though they all take up a bunch of time, it is nice to just help students practice their English conversation skills, plus the extra money isn't so bad...especially with all of the traveling I have been doing. My day was pretty good, until I got home. Once home, I heard that a boy from my home church had passed away. He was 21 years old and it was a pretty big shock for me. So I spent the rest of my night talking to my mom on the phone, trying to relax, and just remembering what an amazing boy he was. Even as I write this, I am still at a loss for words and it really is hard to believe sometimes that everything happens for a reason. However, I am happy to know that he is in a WAY better place now. If you could please, I know his family and friends would appreciate your prayers.
Friday, April 25th
Although I find it hard to continue writing about my week after my day on Thursday, I know that Anton would want nothing more than me and everyone else in this world to stand by the "Don't Miss Out" philosophy. So on Friday, I kept going and didn't miss out on the day or the people that were around me. I went to the P.E. class and the students acted out what they did for Easter break and the other students had to guess. Then, I had an English class where the students worked on the pronunciation of the "d." It was actually pretty difficult because it is hard for them to hear the difference between the "d" and "t." For example, some might not hear the difference between "card" and "cart." Or they think "robot" is "robod" and "bird" is "birt." Anyway, after that class, I had a kindergarten class and made some impressive Play-doh flowers and helped build a lego castle. Then, to finish the day off, I had the teachers' English class. We continued with our last lesson, which was ages ago and I had the teachers make up a story to practice using connectors. After school, I went home and went on a run with Karin. Then, I came back home, made a late lunch, and showered, and then Esther came over. Esther is taking an exam in June to become an English teacher and she has to write pretty much a whole curriculum and defend it, so she came over so that I could help her prepare her speech. We were re-wording things and practicing pronunciation and such. We didn't get all the way done, but it was cool that I could help her and honestly I enjoyed reading some of the stuff because I did study education, you know. Also, it was super cool seeing how she spelled things phonetically. I would say a word and she would phonetically spell it in Spanish to remember the pronunciation. I remember writing about this when I was in Peru, too. One hundred in Spanish becomes uán jandred, but even that is a loose pronunciation of the word. Anyway, it was a good night is what I'm getting at. After Esther left, I ate dinner and then went to a quiz night at the English book store in town with Karin, Stephanie, and Stephanie's friend who is visiting (who is also from Carthage). The quiz night was super fun, but we lost. But we rocked the first category, thanks to Karin, which was song lyrics. I only knew one of those "Livin' on a Prayer." Even though we lost, I think we get brownie points for grading the paper that won. :) Ha. After the quiz night, I got an overpriced coke at a bar and then went home. And that's that.
Saturday, April 26th
So it is 9 p.m. on Saturday as I write this and I have accomplished next to nothing today, which I feel kind of bad about especially because I haven't even begun to write my blogs from Easter break, but that's okay right? Everyone is entitled to a day like today, correct? I hope so. I know that I probably wasted the day, but because of traveling and because I will be traveling again next weekend. I think I just wanted to take a breath and literally do nothing. And don't worry I will get to blogging about my Easter break as soon as I can. :) I hope you all had "Don't Miss Out" weeks. :)
On Tuesday, it was back to school. I wasn't really looking forward to being back at school, but who ever is? I loved seeing the students and teachers, but I was just still so tired from break. I will say though that it was freezing in the school! I don't know why it was so cold, but everybody was feeling it. It was so cold and I was shivering all day. Anyway, in English, we reviewed what we did before break (toys and body parts) and in Science we reviewed as well (places in town and landscapes). Also, sad day (I could've predicted this), all of our plants died over break without being watered. I still think there is hope though, so we did water them. We will see where that gets us. After school I usually have the exchange with Esther, but I was still just so tired, so I cancelled on her. I had plans to get things done all evening, but I was just so tired when I got home and I really didn't feel too well so I just relaxed and was able to take a nap. Then, I got up and went for a 3ish mile run with Karin. It had warmed up outside so it was a good run. Once I got home, I got a few things done, but mostly just kept relaxing. I am excited to be home this weekend and not be traveling. Don't get me wrong though, I love traveling. Also, I should point out that Atlético de Madrid is in the semifinals of the Champions League, which is a European Union football competition. I also want to point out that Real Madrid is still in it and they have the most titles in the Champions League. The other two teams in it are Chelsea (from London) and the reigning champions Bayern Munich. I telling you this because on Tuesday night, I could hear the people at the stadium again. The final score was 0-0 Atlético vs. Chelsea.
Wednesday, April 23rd
On Wednesday, it was another typical day at school. In English, the students reviewed body parts and we also started teaching them about symmetry. They have already learned about it in math, but now they are just learning how to say if something is or isn't symmetrical in English. In Science, the students started learning about more professions: waiter, hairdresser, farmer, mechanic, etc. The book also takes this time to teach them random tools and equipment like fishing nets, fishing rod, spade, plow (spelled plough in British English), etc. On Wednesday in Spain, it was Día del Libro (Book Day). I looked it up to see if we celebrate it in the U.S. and it doesn't seem like we do, but it is apparently a pretty big deal here. They celebrate it in the majority of schools here and it is not out of the ordinary to receive a book and a rose as a gift on this day. Anyway, Día del Libro is on the 23rd because it was the death date of three pretty important authors in 1616: William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes (Spanish, wrote Don Quijote de la Mancha), and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (Peruvian, La Florida del Inca). Anyway, at lunch, we had a pot luck with all of the teachers and everyone brought in something from their village or hometown (yes, those can be two different things). I think I have talked about the concept of a village here before, but I'm sorry if I haven't. Anyway, long story short, there was a lot of food and I chose to bring something quick and easy and pretty U.S. American: Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Yum! I thought it was gonna turn out bad (I'm sure some of you readers think it always turns out bad, ha.) because of lack of measuring cups, using butter, and different milk, but it actually was pretty normal tasting. After lunch, we had afternoon classes that went pretty normal and then I had my private lessons. All my lessons went really well. We talked about our Easter breaks and about book day. In school, they did a secret Santa sort of thing, where they had to buy a book for a student in their class. After classes, I went home and once again, Madrid was going crazy for football, like I said Real Madrid is in the top four and they played on Wednesday and beat Munich 1-0.
Thursday, April 24th
Thursday at school was a normal day. We did the pretty much the same things in class that we did on Wednesday. Then, after school, I had all of my private lessons, which went really well. Even though they all take up a bunch of time, it is nice to just help students practice their English conversation skills, plus the extra money isn't so bad...especially with all of the traveling I have been doing. My day was pretty good, until I got home. Once home, I heard that a boy from my home church had passed away. He was 21 years old and it was a pretty big shock for me. So I spent the rest of my night talking to my mom on the phone, trying to relax, and just remembering what an amazing boy he was. Even as I write this, I am still at a loss for words and it really is hard to believe sometimes that everything happens for a reason. However, I am happy to know that he is in a WAY better place now. If you could please, I know his family and friends would appreciate your prayers.
Friday, April 25th
Although I find it hard to continue writing about my week after my day on Thursday, I know that Anton would want nothing more than me and everyone else in this world to stand by the "Don't Miss Out" philosophy. So on Friday, I kept going and didn't miss out on the day or the people that were around me. I went to the P.E. class and the students acted out what they did for Easter break and the other students had to guess. Then, I had an English class where the students worked on the pronunciation of the "d." It was actually pretty difficult because it is hard for them to hear the difference between the "d" and "t." For example, some might not hear the difference between "card" and "cart." Or they think "robot" is "robod" and "bird" is "birt." Anyway, after that class, I had a kindergarten class and made some impressive Play-doh flowers and helped build a lego castle. Then, to finish the day off, I had the teachers' English class. We continued with our last lesson, which was ages ago and I had the teachers make up a story to practice using connectors. After school, I went home and went on a run with Karin. Then, I came back home, made a late lunch, and showered, and then Esther came over. Esther is taking an exam in June to become an English teacher and she has to write pretty much a whole curriculum and defend it, so she came over so that I could help her prepare her speech. We were re-wording things and practicing pronunciation and such. We didn't get all the way done, but it was cool that I could help her and honestly I enjoyed reading some of the stuff because I did study education, you know. Also, it was super cool seeing how she spelled things phonetically. I would say a word and she would phonetically spell it in Spanish to remember the pronunciation. I remember writing about this when I was in Peru, too. One hundred in Spanish becomes uán jandred, but even that is a loose pronunciation of the word. Anyway, it was a good night is what I'm getting at. After Esther left, I ate dinner and then went to a quiz night at the English book store in town with Karin, Stephanie, and Stephanie's friend who is visiting (who is also from Carthage). The quiz night was super fun, but we lost. But we rocked the first category, thanks to Karin, which was song lyrics. I only knew one of those "Livin' on a Prayer." Even though we lost, I think we get brownie points for grading the paper that won. :) Ha. After the quiz night, I got an overpriced coke at a bar and then went home. And that's that.
Saturday, April 26th
So it is 9 p.m. on Saturday as I write this and I have accomplished next to nothing today, which I feel kind of bad about especially because I haven't even begun to write my blogs from Easter break, but that's okay right? Everyone is entitled to a day like today, correct? I hope so. I know that I probably wasted the day, but because of traveling and because I will be traveling again next weekend. I think I just wanted to take a breath and literally do nothing. And don't worry I will get to blogging about my Easter break as soon as I can. :) I hope you all had "Don't Miss Out" weeks. :)
Monday, April 21, 2014
Happy Easter
Sunday, April 20th
On Sunday morning, at around 7 a.m., Karin and I arrived back to Madrid from all of our Easter break traveling. Once I got home, I went straight to bed. I slept for a few hours and then got up again to get ready and go to church with Karin and Stephanie. We went early because in between the two services they were having brunch...and I'm so glad we went! It was delicious and since it is an international church, there were international dishes and it was so good. :) After brunch, we had the service. It had it's ups and downs for me. Towards the beginning of worship, I started getting pretty upset about not being home. Although I normally love the music at IBC, since it was Easter Sunday, I was getting upset that none of the songs in the bulletin were hymns that my church usually sang. I just wanted something familiar and it wasn't there. I was trying to hold it together, but it wasn't really working, but right when I needed it, they did something really cool at the service. It was called the "Roll Call of the Nations." And what it was was that the church had people from different countries stand up and say their name, country, and say "The Lord is risen" in their language. It was so cool and we heard it in around 20 languages from across the world including Chinese, Hungarian, Romania, Spanish, English, Korean, some dialects from the Phillipines and Africa, etc. And each time, we responded with "He is risen indeed." And right then, I was reminded that it wasn't about where I was or who I was with. It was about the celebrating of Christ's resurrection and, to be honest, that is all I needed to calm down. That and the fact that the choir sang a beautiful "Hallelujah Chorus" complete with the band. It was just awesome. So, overall church was great and here is a picture of the girls and I dressed in our Sunday best.
P.S. Also, my college wrote a story about me that you can read here.
P.S.S. Remember that dance class that I took awhile ago. Here is a YouTube video from the class. You can see me a few times in it. I am in a maroon shirt and you can see me for the first time at :40 on the left side back.
On Sunday morning, at around 7 a.m., Karin and I arrived back to Madrid from all of our Easter break traveling. Once I got home, I went straight to bed. I slept for a few hours and then got up again to get ready and go to church with Karin and Stephanie. We went early because in between the two services they were having brunch...and I'm so glad we went! It was delicious and since it is an international church, there were international dishes and it was so good. :) After brunch, we had the service. It had it's ups and downs for me. Towards the beginning of worship, I started getting pretty upset about not being home. Although I normally love the music at IBC, since it was Easter Sunday, I was getting upset that none of the songs in the bulletin were hymns that my church usually sang. I just wanted something familiar and it wasn't there. I was trying to hold it together, but it wasn't really working, but right when I needed it, they did something really cool at the service. It was called the "Roll Call of the Nations." And what it was was that the church had people from different countries stand up and say their name, country, and say "The Lord is risen" in their language. It was so cool and we heard it in around 20 languages from across the world including Chinese, Hungarian, Romania, Spanish, English, Korean, some dialects from the Phillipines and Africa, etc. And each time, we responded with "He is risen indeed." And right then, I was reminded that it wasn't about where I was or who I was with. It was about the celebrating of Christ's resurrection and, to be honest, that is all I needed to calm down. That and the fact that the choir sang a beautiful "Hallelujah Chorus" complete with the band. It was just awesome. So, overall church was great and here is a picture of the girls and I dressed in our Sunday best.
After church, I went home and just relaxed some more. I needed it. I mean, I got things done though, too. I unpacked, did my laundry, edited some pictures, and didn't blog at all (Sorry). Last night, I was also able to Skype my family and my boyfriend. It turned out to be a fantastic day. And actually, Karin and I weren't even supposed to be in Madrid. You will read this once I get to my Spring break travel blogs, but Karin and I were supposed to get home Sunday late at night, but we changed our plans. And I am so glad we did. :) I hope all of you had fantastic days celebrating with your family. Happy Easter! Feliz Pascua!
Monday, April 21st
Today, I slept in and slept in some more and I want to do it again tomorrow, but it's back to school for me. Today, I spent most of the day avoiding going grocery shopping, then actually going grocery shopping, eating, editing pictures, cleaning, and again not blogging. I went to my Spanish class tonight, where we had a test from the last set of classes we had and then came home and relaxed more. I have no idea when I will get to all of my blogs from Easter break, but I have a feeling I will need a couple of weeks. So, just check back every once in awhile to see if I have posted anything new. And if you never got to catch up on my other blogs, you can take this time to do that. :) I'll keep you posted and I hope you're excited to hear about my trips to Morocco, Granada, and Málaga.
P.S. Also, my college wrote a story about me that you can read here.
P.S.S. Remember that dance class that I took awhile ago. Here is a YouTube video from the class. You can see me a few times in it. I am in a maroon shirt and you can see me for the first time at :40 on the left side back.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Ya llegaron las vacaciones
Monday, April 7th
Sooo, next Monday I will be in both Morocco and Granada, Spain. So there's that.. Crazy. I can't believe Easter break is already almost here and by the time this blog is posted, I will be on my way to Morocco. That is unheard of. Ha. Anyway, on Monday I relaxed a lot, but also got a lot done. I wrote a blog, watched a lot of old Glee episodes, cleaned my room, started packing for break, did my Spanish homework, edited and posted some pictures, skyped my boyfriend, called my mom, bought and ate some delicious strawberries, hmmm what else? I think that's about it. Then, when the early evening rolled around, I went to Spanish class with Karin and stupid me forgot my transport pass so I had to pay for the trip there and back, but that's okay. Class was good. We planned how we would break into a museum. Ha, no really, we did. We were given a floor plan of a museum and where the cameras were and we had to tell how we would break in and steal the diamond. It was an exercise to practice storytelling and Karin and I's plan was pretty epic. It involved bats and the playing of Mission Impossible and We are the Champions. Let's just say our plan was not discreet at all. We were entering and exiting the museum in a pretty loud way. Ha. It was fun though. After class, we went on a shopping spree (not really), but we did go into a bunch of stores looking for lightweight pants to bring and wear in Morocco. It is not really custom or comfortable (for women) to wear shorts even in the hot weather of Morocco, so we were looking for pants, but didn't find any. We did see some at the Rastro on Sunday, but we didn't buy them. When I go to the Rastro again, I will have already been to Morocco, but I still might buy the pants because they are cute. :) And that was my Monday. It was a successful and yet unsuccessful when it comes to pants. :P
Tuesday, April 8th
Tuesday was a good day, too. At school, the students are now learning toys, kind of. There vocabulary list consists of doll, kite, ball, plane, dinosaur, but also computer and piano, which I wouldn't really consider toys, but whatever. They reviewed the vocabulary and watched the videos that come with their books. This units video is about a magician who pulls toys out of a hat for kids. And all of the names rhyme with the object. Jane wants a plane, Paul wants a ball, and since they couldn't think of a name that rhymed with dinosaur (or because it makes for a better story and more vocabulary), Lou wants glue to fix his broken dinosaur. Tehe. :) Then, in Science class, we did a matching activity with the words and pictures of the places in town and then they reviewed the different landscapes: mountainous landscape, coastal landscape, countryside, etc. During lunch, Esther and I had an abridged version of our language exchange because I cancelled on her so I could come home and get stuff done. Then, in the last class of the day (kindergarten), I played and practiced colors and numbers with the students. After school, I came home and got right to work for the things I wanted to do. I have a lot of silly things on my list that have to get down before I leave, like finishing these blogs, posting pictures and saving them to my hard drive so my SD card is empty, sewing a button on my coat, cleaning the kitchen, putting away laundry and packing, etc. A lot of small things that have to get done. I got some of them done, but not all of them. But I am still happy with my decision to come home early because I think I would have been super stressed without it, especially since my Wednesdays are so long. Well, I hope your Tuesday was as great or better than mine. :)
Wednesday, April 9th
Wednesday was a good, but stressful day. At school, the students are wound up for break, which is understandable. I'm feeling it too! For sure. The day started okay. When I went to bed on Tuesday, the hot water wasn't working, so I was already expecting it when I woke up and just decided not to shower..I know, gross. Oh well. Except I did get annoyed halfway through the day when my contact decided it did NOT want to be in my eye. So, I resorted to taking it out and throwing it in my water bottle. Ha. I was half blind for the rest of the day, which led to a slight headache, but I'd like to thank one of the moms at my lessons that gave me an ibuprofen and cut the lesson a half hour short so that I could get home earlier. The lessons all went well and once home, I made dinner and relaxed for a little bit because I needed it. We still didn't have hot water and I had a lot of stuff on my list to do, including packing for Morocco and figuring out all of the ridiculous details of the trip.
Thursday, April 10th
Woke up this morning again with no hot water..ugh. I wouldn't really call what I took today a shower. I'm pretty sure there is still conditioner in my hair. The water is freezing! I know that that's the least of my worries though and I know there are plenty of people in this world that take freezing cold showers every day, so I'm done complaining. And really, who cares if I smell at the start of my trip. I'm going to smell anyway because I am going to Morocco where the temperature is going to be in the 90s, maybe even in the 100s. But yea, I got up this morning, kind of showered, finished packing, and headed off to school. The classes were actually okay today despite it being the last day before break. I had three English classes in the morning and they were all working on the same thing (reviewing the body parts) so they did a coloring page and had to label some body parts. In the afternoon, we had the last day of workshops and those also went well, but I am glad they are over. :) Now, I am at home, we have hot water so I am feeling great and refreshed and I am about a half hour away from leaving for the airport to start my Spring break trip to Morocco, Granada, and Málaga! The weather is beautiful and you are too! :D Have a great week and I will talk to you soon!
Sooo, next Monday I will be in both Morocco and Granada, Spain. So there's that.. Crazy. I can't believe Easter break is already almost here and by the time this blog is posted, I will be on my way to Morocco. That is unheard of. Ha. Anyway, on Monday I relaxed a lot, but also got a lot done. I wrote a blog, watched a lot of old Glee episodes, cleaned my room, started packing for break, did my Spanish homework, edited and posted some pictures, skyped my boyfriend, called my mom, bought and ate some delicious strawberries, hmmm what else? I think that's about it. Then, when the early evening rolled around, I went to Spanish class with Karin and stupid me forgot my transport pass so I had to pay for the trip there and back, but that's okay. Class was good. We planned how we would break into a museum. Ha, no really, we did. We were given a floor plan of a museum and where the cameras were and we had to tell how we would break in and steal the diamond. It was an exercise to practice storytelling and Karin and I's plan was pretty epic. It involved bats and the playing of Mission Impossible and We are the Champions. Let's just say our plan was not discreet at all. We were entering and exiting the museum in a pretty loud way. Ha. It was fun though. After class, we went on a shopping spree (not really), but we did go into a bunch of stores looking for lightweight pants to bring and wear in Morocco. It is not really custom or comfortable (for women) to wear shorts even in the hot weather of Morocco, so we were looking for pants, but didn't find any. We did see some at the Rastro on Sunday, but we didn't buy them. When I go to the Rastro again, I will have already been to Morocco, but I still might buy the pants because they are cute. :) And that was my Monday. It was a successful and yet unsuccessful when it comes to pants. :P
Tuesday, April 8th
Tuesday was a good day, too. At school, the students are now learning toys, kind of. There vocabulary list consists of doll, kite, ball, plane, dinosaur, but also computer and piano, which I wouldn't really consider toys, but whatever. They reviewed the vocabulary and watched the videos that come with their books. This units video is about a magician who pulls toys out of a hat for kids. And all of the names rhyme with the object. Jane wants a plane, Paul wants a ball, and since they couldn't think of a name that rhymed with dinosaur (or because it makes for a better story and more vocabulary), Lou wants glue to fix his broken dinosaur. Tehe. :) Then, in Science class, we did a matching activity with the words and pictures of the places in town and then they reviewed the different landscapes: mountainous landscape, coastal landscape, countryside, etc. During lunch, Esther and I had an abridged version of our language exchange because I cancelled on her so I could come home and get stuff done. Then, in the last class of the day (kindergarten), I played and practiced colors and numbers with the students. After school, I came home and got right to work for the things I wanted to do. I have a lot of silly things on my list that have to get down before I leave, like finishing these blogs, posting pictures and saving them to my hard drive so my SD card is empty, sewing a button on my coat, cleaning the kitchen, putting away laundry and packing, etc. A lot of small things that have to get done. I got some of them done, but not all of them. But I am still happy with my decision to come home early because I think I would have been super stressed without it, especially since my Wednesdays are so long. Well, I hope your Tuesday was as great or better than mine. :)
Wednesday, April 9th
Wednesday was a good, but stressful day. At school, the students are wound up for break, which is understandable. I'm feeling it too! For sure. The day started okay. When I went to bed on Tuesday, the hot water wasn't working, so I was already expecting it when I woke up and just decided not to shower..I know, gross. Oh well. Except I did get annoyed halfway through the day when my contact decided it did NOT want to be in my eye. So, I resorted to taking it out and throwing it in my water bottle. Ha. I was half blind for the rest of the day, which led to a slight headache, but I'd like to thank one of the moms at my lessons that gave me an ibuprofen and cut the lesson a half hour short so that I could get home earlier. The lessons all went well and once home, I made dinner and relaxed for a little bit because I needed it. We still didn't have hot water and I had a lot of stuff on my list to do, including packing for Morocco and figuring out all of the ridiculous details of the trip.
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| Tulips in Léganes..I love them! |
Thursday, April 10th
Woke up this morning again with no hot water..ugh. I wouldn't really call what I took today a shower. I'm pretty sure there is still conditioner in my hair. The water is freezing! I know that that's the least of my worries though and I know there are plenty of people in this world that take freezing cold showers every day, so I'm done complaining. And really, who cares if I smell at the start of my trip. I'm going to smell anyway because I am going to Morocco where the temperature is going to be in the 90s, maybe even in the 100s. But yea, I got up this morning, kind of showered, finished packing, and headed off to school. The classes were actually okay today despite it being the last day before break. I had three English classes in the morning and they were all working on the same thing (reviewing the body parts) so they did a coloring page and had to label some body parts. In the afternoon, we had the last day of workshops and those also went well, but I am glad they are over. :) Now, I am at home, we have hot water so I am feeling great and refreshed and I am about a half hour away from leaving for the airport to start my Spring break trip to Morocco, Granada, and Málaga! The weather is beautiful and you are too! :D Have a great week and I will talk to you soon!
1-0, 75%, 25%, 40.50€, 3:1
What in the heck do all those numbers mean in the title? Well, don't worry, I will get to them as I tell you about my weekend this past week. Starting with Saturday.
Saturday, April 5th
I honestly don't remember what I did in the morning. I know I relaxed. I may have blogged some. I think I just enjoyed sleeping in and being home for a weekend, since it has been awhile. I also talked to my sister on the phone and then got ready to go meet Karin and her friend, Drew, so that we could go to a football match aka a soccer game. We went and saw Atlético Madrid play against Villarreal. Villarreal is a town that is a little north of Valencia on the eastern coast. Obviously, we rooted for "Atleti" because they are the Madrid team and because we live close to the stadium (not that that really is anything special). But really, we were rooting for the better team because as of right now, Atleti is first in the league (La Liga BBVA), even above Spain's more popular teams, Barcelona and Real Madrid. Speaking of..tonight I could hear the roars of the crowds and people in their apartments yelling at the T.V. because Atleti played Barcelona tonight. They won 1-0, just like they did against Villarreal (the game I went to). Anyway, here are some pictures from the game on Saturday. :) There is also a video where you can here the fans yelling "Atleti, Atleti, Atleti!" and you can hear them singing the Atleti song.
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| Getting ready for the game in the streets |
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| Julia, Dani de la Cámara, and I |
Sunday, April 6th
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| Street art that we saw when walking to the Rastro |
After the Rastro, I went home for a little bit and tried getting a few things done and then in the late afternoon I met back up with the gang and we went to La CaixaForum. La CaixaForum is not only a cool building (complete with old and new architecture and a wall garden), but it is a hall where they have different exhibitions. The exhibit that we were interested in seeing was one about PIXAR. It was celebrating 25 years of animation.
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| La CaixaForum building |
The exhibit started with, of course, the lamp and the ball and with a quote from John Lasseter, the Chief Creative Officer of PIXAR. I don't have a picture of the quote and I can't find it online, but it had to do with the fact that three things are important for every PIXAR movie (or any movie for that matter): the characters, the world, and the story. So the whole exhibit was broken down by these three categories in each movie and it went in chronological order starting with Toy Story. It was so cool to see original sketches of the characters, world, and original footage of storyboarding, etc. For example, one of the models of an earlier version of Buzz Lightyear was kind of wimpy looking. He did not look like the cool new toy that Andy fell in love with in the movie. Also, there was this cool spinning thing (I forget the name of it) but it had characters all around it and when it spun really fast with a strobe light on it, the characters were in motion. Also, they had these sweet digital paintings and I really wanted one! They had posters like them in the gift shop, but only of the incredibles. If they had one of all of the PIXAR movies, I so would have gotten it. It was so cool to see how my childhood movies were created right before my eyes. Also, it reminded me of the time I went to DisneyQuest in Chicago with my family, which is a good memory. I loved drawing movie characters and when we were at DisneyQuest, I think I remember drawing some on a cool interactive computer they had. But yea, it reminded me that I used to want to work with movies. When I think about it, I still know I would like that. I love movies, they create such magic, and just seeing the process of movie making at the PIXAR exhibit reminded me of that. It was a good feeling. Too bad it's too late to become an animator. :) At the end of the exhibit they also had a section on the PIXAR short films, which are just brillant and we got to watch four of them. So, I have decided to put one here. :) See below. |
| So much happiness and sadness in this picture |
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| Original sketches of Sulley and Boo from Monsters, Inc. |
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Córdoba
Friday, March 28th
On Friday afternoon, I took a 5-hour bus ride to Córdoba. Córdoba is in the south of Spain and was the capital of the Muslim Spain (al-Andalus) between 711 and 1492, when the Moors ruled the majority of the Iberian Peninsula. The historic center of Córdoba is also an UNESCO World Heritage Site. When I got into Córdoba, Karin and her friend, Drew, who was visiting from the U.S. picked me up at the bus station and we walked to the hostel. Then, we went out for kebabs and a drink and headed to bed. It was a pretty uneventful night.
Saturday, March 29th
Our first stop on Saturday after breakfast was the mosque. The Mezquita de Córdoba was the only thing that I knew about Córdoba and it was the only must-see thing on my list. So, that is where we went. :) The mosque is actually a cathedral now. Here's a short history lesson. The moors ruled Spain from 711 to 1492. In 1469, Isabel and Ferdinand got married and united Spain and became known as Los Reyes Católicos (The Catholic Kings). In 1492, they ordered the expulsion of all non-Catholics (Muslims and Jews), so the non-Catholics had to leave or hide or convert or go to jail or be killed, you choose. But, actually the mosque was converted into a Catholic church in 1236, when a different Ferdinand (Ferdinand III of Castile) conquered it during the Reconquista (reconquest--a 781 year period of Christian conquest on the Iberian Peninsula). Anyway, long story short. A lot of people think that it was pretty mean (to put it lightly) of the Christians to take over the mosque, but actually before it was a mosque, in the 6th century it was the Visigothic Church of San Vicente. So other people say that the Christians were simply taking back what was rightfully theirs, rather than those that say the Christians violated the mosque by changing it into a Catholic church. All I have to say about it is, that if you walk into it, it is ALL mosque. Well obviously not ALL, if you look at the pictures below, but it might as well be. The whole thing is 600 feet by 400 feet, that's about 5.5 acres, if you're a farmer. It is HUGE. There are more than 800 columns and when it was a mosque, approximately 20,000 people could and would pray in there at one time.
On Sunday, we started our morning off pretty slow, but that's okay because we were in no hurry. The plan was to just walk around. I forgot to mention that the weather on Saturday was not so good. It was cold, rainy, and no one was out on the streets because of it. It was a pretty dreary town to be honest, but luckily we got to see the flip side of things on Sunday. It was what the day implies sunny and a lot more people were out and about. It made me feel better about the city as a whole. Anyway, we started our morning off by walking across the Roman bridge to the Calahorra Tower, which was a fortified gate back in the day, but now serves as the Museo Vivo de al-Andalus, a museum that talks about al-Andalus. Also, fun fact, it sits on the Guadalquivir River, which is another main river in Spain and the river was called Wad al-kabir during Islamic rule. Anyway, the museum was pretty cool, but there were some pretty dry sections, also.
I included the above picture because if you look straight back you can see the mihrab. What is a mihrab, you ask? Well, it is "a semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the direction of Mecca aka the direction that Muslims should face when praying. I have two interesting things to say about this. One Mecca is east-southeast of the mosque in Córdoba, but the mihrab in the mosque faces directly south. There is a theory that it is like this because "from there you have to go south (via Gibraltar) to get to Mecca. Or maybe it's because this mosque was designed by the Umayyad branch of Islam, whose ancestral home was Damascus-- from where Mecca lies to the south." (Rick Steves) Anyway, the second reason that I am including this picture is because I completely missed the real thing inside of the mosque the day before..I know, I suck. The thing is there was a wall of beautiful calligraphy work and everything and I just completely missed that part of it had a hole in it. I mean I realized that there were a lot of people standing around the area, but it just didn't register. Looking back through my pictures, I only have a partial picture of the mihrab. See below.
After the museum, we walked around for a little bit longer, we saw the outside of the Alcázar, saw the only remaining synagogue in Andalucia (and it's only one of three left in all of Spain) and saw some beautiful patios of Córdoba. Córdoba is pretty proud of its patios aka courtyards. They even have a competition in Córdoba during the first week of May, where judges go around and look at all the courtyards and the winner gets some sort of award for having the best courtyard. Anyway, the particular courtyard that is pictured below was in the Jewish district and it had awesome shops around it. One was a shop with beautiful handmade things that I would have loved to buy, but they were pretty expensive for me, plus I don't really have a house to put the things in yet.
After walking around in the sun, we walked back to the hostel, ate lunch, and headed to the bus station. The bus ride back went well and it was off to bed when I got back to Madrid. The weekend was great and I really was happy with the second day weather that made up for the first day. Also, the mosque-cathedral is gorgeous, so seriously go if you are ever in Córdoba. Hope you enjoyed the blog and pictures. Again, sorry they are so long! One more weekend blog to catch up on. Stay tuned, it's a good one. :)
On Friday afternoon, I took a 5-hour bus ride to Córdoba. Córdoba is in the south of Spain and was the capital of the Muslim Spain (al-Andalus) between 711 and 1492, when the Moors ruled the majority of the Iberian Peninsula. The historic center of Córdoba is also an UNESCO World Heritage Site. When I got into Córdoba, Karin and her friend, Drew, who was visiting from the U.S. picked me up at the bus station and we walked to the hostel. Then, we went out for kebabs and a drink and headed to bed. It was a pretty uneventful night.
Saturday, March 29th
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| Patio of the mosque |
Our first stop on Saturday after breakfast was the mosque. The Mezquita de Córdoba was the only thing that I knew about Córdoba and it was the only must-see thing on my list. So, that is where we went. :) The mosque is actually a cathedral now. Here's a short history lesson. The moors ruled Spain from 711 to 1492. In 1469, Isabel and Ferdinand got married and united Spain and became known as Los Reyes Católicos (The Catholic Kings). In 1492, they ordered the expulsion of all non-Catholics (Muslims and Jews), so the non-Catholics had to leave or hide or convert or go to jail or be killed, you choose. But, actually the mosque was converted into a Catholic church in 1236, when a different Ferdinand (Ferdinand III of Castile) conquered it during the Reconquista (reconquest--a 781 year period of Christian conquest on the Iberian Peninsula). Anyway, long story short. A lot of people think that it was pretty mean (to put it lightly) of the Christians to take over the mosque, but actually before it was a mosque, in the 6th century it was the Visigothic Church of San Vicente. So other people say that the Christians were simply taking back what was rightfully theirs, rather than those that say the Christians violated the mosque by changing it into a Catholic church. All I have to say about it is, that if you walk into it, it is ALL mosque. Well obviously not ALL, if you look at the pictures below, but it might as well be. The whole thing is 600 feet by 400 feet, that's about 5.5 acres, if you're a farmer. It is HUGE. There are more than 800 columns and when it was a mosque, approximately 20,000 people could and would pray in there at one time.
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| Mixture of the mosque and Catholic church |
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| The evolution of the Mosque-Cathedral |
Anyway, the mixture of the Mosque and Cathedral is pretty cool, but it is kind of unfortunate for both parties involved. Wikipedia tells me that Spanish Muslims have campaigned a lot with the Catholic church and the Vatican to allow them to pray there; however, they have yet to succeed. There was an "incident" in 2010, where two Muslim men began to pray in, what I guess I will call, the cathedral and two security guards asked them to stop. When the men refused there was a "scuffle," and the two security guards were seriously injured and the men were arrested. Again, long story short, it is an awesome building and I would highly suggest going to see it if you are in the area.
After visiting the Mosque-Cathedral, we walked around for a little bit, just looking at other buildings and monuments in Córdoba. There's an old Roman temple that sits next to the modern-looking city hall. We stopped by Plaza del Potro, which is apparently referenced in Don Quixote, which I have never read. Then, we did some souvenir shopping where Karin talked me into buying a flamenco skirt. :) She didn't really have to talk me into it that much. I have been wanting a flamenco dress, but I knew I wouldn't buy one because they aren't very practical and they are expensive. I'm not saying that a skirt is anymore practical, but I can see myself wearing it on the first day of school for the next 60 years. ;)
Anyway, after all that, we went back to the hostel for a little bit and just relaxed. Then, we left again to walk around and have a delicious dinner at a place called Pizzaiolo. As the name indicates, it was an Italian restaurant and it holds the Guinness Record for having the longest menu in the world, even though I would argue that good old Marina Garden in Kenosha, WI has the longest menu. :P Anyway, the food was delicious and I saved some leftovers to eat them the next day for lunch. :) After dinner, we went back to the hostel and hit the sack.
Sunday, March 30th
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| Me with the Roman Bridge and Mosque-Cathedral |
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| A 1:40 scale model of the mosque in the museum |
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| In the bottom center is the mihrab..whoops |
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| Roman Bridge, the Mosque, and the white walls of Córdoba |
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| Roman Bridge and Torre Calahorra |
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| Inside the tiny one-room synagogue |
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| A Cordoban courtyard |
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| ..complete with musician |
Monday, April 7, 2014
Aranda de Duero
Okay, so two weekends ago, I went to Aranda de Duero with a few teachers from my school. Here is my blog on that. :) Enjoy
Friday, March 21st
After school on the 21st, Esther, Javi (teachers from my school), and I left for Aranda. We took a detour to Javi's dad's house because his dad and his dad's girlfriend drove us to Aranda de Duero. Duero is one of the main rivers in Spain and Aranda lies on it, hence the name. The trip took about two hours and once we got there we pretty much dropped off our stuff at Esther's house and went out to eat tapas. We kind of went on the perfect weekend because they were having a tapas tour so a lot of the restaurants and bars in town had a deal on tapas and a drink. We went to four different places on Friday night and tried four different tapas. I have included pictures and what they are.
After the tapas tour, we went back to Esther's house and went to sleep. We did take pictures of the whole gang, but none of those pictures are on my camera so I will get them up as soon as I have them. :)
After hanging out in Peñaranda for a little bit, we drove back to Aranda de Duero and went on a tour to some bodegas (wine cellars). There is a system of wine cellars underneath the town that were built in between the 12th and 17th century, so we went into a few of them and it was cool to see. I think it's awesome that there is like a labyrinth under the town.
After lunch, we went back to Peñaranda to check out the palace that was there (we couldn't go in the morning because it was closed). The Palacio de los Condes de Miranda is a renaissance palace from the 16th century and it was built for a count. The coolest part of the palace was the ceilings. They were all wooden and some of them had no nails or anything used. Don't ask me how they did that..it had to do with the wood expanding, but they were so awesome. Unfortunately, I couldn't take pictures of the really cool ones, but it's all good. It was still cool to see them.
After visiting the palace, we made our way back to Aranda to go to a balonmano game (handball). Handball is pretty popular in the area and Aranda's team is supposedly pretty good. I've never seen a handball game and really didn't even know how it was played, but it was awesome! It's like a cross between water polo, basketball, and soccer. It's so intense. Also, it was so great just being in that atmosphere. Fans screaming and chanting and yelling at the refs. I spent so much time in the gym growing up so it was so great to be there again. Aranda's team is in the yellow and orange. It was a good game, but unfortunately they lost 27-28. :(
Once we got home, it was pretty late, but I left time to skype my boyfriend and his family because they were all together celebrating birthdays, so it was nice to see them and after I got done skyping them, I headed to bed. And that was the end of day two in Aranda.
Friday, March 21st
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| This was like Cod mashed potatoes, tomato, and an olive. It was okay, but not my favorite. |
After school on the 21st, Esther, Javi (teachers from my school), and I left for Aranda. We took a detour to Javi's dad's house because his dad and his dad's girlfriend drove us to Aranda de Duero. Duero is one of the main rivers in Spain and Aranda lies on it, hence the name. The trip took about two hours and once we got there we pretty much dropped off our stuff at Esther's house and went out to eat tapas. We kind of went on the perfect weekend because they were having a tapas tour so a lot of the restaurants and bars in town had a deal on tapas and a drink. We went to four different places on Friday night and tried four different tapas. I have included pictures and what they are.
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| Lechazo (lamb) burrito. So good! I don't think I've ever had lamb, but I decided I liked it. I ate it a lot in this weekend. It is very typical in this area of Spain. |
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| Lechazo stuffed eggplant. Yum. Probably my favorite of the weekend. |
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| Don't really remember. It was a fusion of some sort. There was ramen in the bowl and couscous in the burrito thing. And I don't like seafood (see the octopus thing..bleh). It was okay despite the octopus thing though. |
Saturday, March 22nd
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| The main square of Peñaranda |
On Saturday, Esther and I got up and met Javi and his parents for breakfast. Esther's mom works in a bakery, so we of course had to go there for breakfast and it was delicious. I had freshly squeezed orange juice (haven't had that since Peru..yum) and a pastry that is common in Aranda called, Pastel Aranda (literally Aranda pastry.ha). It was so good and if you ever find yourself in Aranda de Duero, you can go and enjoy a pastry at Gregorio Tudanca, too. After breakfast, Esther, Javi, and I went to a nearby town called Peñaranda de Duero. There is apparently an old-fashioned operating pharmacy there, but unfortunately it is closed on Saturdays so we couldn't go to it. However, we did walk around the little town and we went to a castle that was on the hill looking over the town.
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| On top of the hill, Peñaranda below |
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| Castle of Peñaranda--a gothic style castle that dates back to the 10th century |
After seeing the wine cellars, we went to Esther's house for a delicious lunch that her parents prepared. We had lechazo, morcilla (blood sausage), chorizo, delicious bread, mushrooms, and more Aranda pastries. It was SO good!
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| Morcilla |
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| Lamb and pastry :) |
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| Wooden ceilings |
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| Patio of the palace |
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| Palace, main square, and castle on the hill |
After the game what better to do than to get more tapas. Ha. So, we went out and I tried four more tapas. :)
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| More lamb..yum. |
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| Red tuna, delicious. This was probably my second favorite tapa. |
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| What I would call mushroom soup (I accidentally forgot to take a picture before eating) |
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| Seafood sandwiches and some kind of stuff that also tasted like mushroom soup |
Sunday, March 23rd
On our last day in Aranda, we actually drove to the province of Soria (a province right next to the province of Burgos, where Aranda is located). We drove there to go hiking at Parque Natural de la Laguna Negra y los Circos Glaciares de Urbión and guess what?! It was snowing! A lot! There was so much snow! It was awesome to be somewhere with real snow, but I'm not gonna lie, I was also happy to get back down the mountain and be somewhere with no snow. Ha. I got the best of both worlds.
After hiking, we drove back down the mountain to a non-snowy, sunny little town. We walked around and ate lunch. Then, we climbed back in the car and stopped two more places on our way back to Aranda de Duero. We stopped at El Parque Nacional del Cañón del Rio Lobo and another town called Burgo de Osma.
And that is the end of my weekend. It was awesome and I loved every second of it. The food was delicious and the company was awesome. It was nice meeting Esther's family, boyfriend, and friends and I am so grateful for everything they did for me and gave me while I was visiting! Also, shout out to Javi's parents for driving us there and back! :) Once I was back in Madrid, I pretty much crashed and I was thankful to still have one day to relax. :) I felt guilty that Javi and Esther had to work the next day..whoops. Oh well, I hope you enjoyed this post and sorry for all the pictures. Ha. Keep checking back as I have two more weekends to catch up on. :)
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| La Laguna Negra |
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| La Laguna Negra..we could have hiked to the top, but.... |
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| ...this happened. This was where our hike ended. |
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| We have better group pictures, but they aren't on my camera. But here is the group with our lunch (tortilla de patata) |
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| Cañón del Río Lobo |
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| The wall and cathedral of Burgo de Osma |
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| The perfect example of how towns used old city walls to build other buildings |
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