La purpurina

Okay, so today was a long, but great day. At school the students are starting to learn about the rooms and furniture in a house as well as the names of family members (mother, sister, grandfather, etc.), but that's not the most exciting thing that happened at school today. Nope, nope, nope. The most exciting thing was that Christmas is coming! Yay! The students are starting to get ready for Christmas, which means they are decorating! Which means..lots and lots of glitter EVERYWHERE! So much glitter on the floor, on the tables, on the students' hands, on our faces, in my hair, everywhere! As long as it stays out of my eyes, I'm okay with it! I do wonder though who in the world came up with glitter, and I'm not talking about the awfully wonderful 2001 musical drama hit starring Mariah Carey, which is now playing on my computer (You can watch it, too!). I'm talking about the tiny pieces of sparkling joy that can turn any craft into a masterpiece. Anyway, the students had these workshops in the afternoon to start decorating the school and they have them tomorrow also, so yay! more glitter..two days in a row!

Students painting some sky

Cutting out trees

Students coloring mountains

Anyway, after school, I had some of my private lessons and I have decided that even though it makes for a long day, I absolutely love having them. I am really getting to know my students and I love them all so much! They are so bright, smart, and special! I'm not really trying to think about this quite yet, but I know it will be difficult to say goodbye to them in the Spring.

On another note, on the ride home, I am pretty sure a lady that was on the train was in labor. I mean, if contractions are anything like they are in the movies with the screaming and such, then she was definitely not in labor. However, if some contractions are somewhat settle to begin with and involve a lot of visible discomfort and breathing, then she was definitely in labor. Plus she got off at the hospital stop, which just was a bigger clue that she might have been. I realize that public transport is probably the quickest way to get anywhere in a city, but that still would not be my choice of transport in the midst of labor. Crazy. All that was going through my head was what the heck would I do if a woman went into labor on the train. I decided that the first thing that I would do would probably be to throw Spanish out the window, which I realize would be a horrible thing, but I don't know if I could form a coherent sentence in an emergency. But, maybe I would surprise myself.

After arriving home, I made dinner and chatted with Karin about this weekend. Now I am writing this blog, but I have to go now so that I can pack. Karin and I are leaving tomorrow night as soon as I get home from my private lessons, so you probably won't hear from me until Sunday, but I look forward to telling you about my weekend! I hope you all have great weekends! Until then, goodbye.

Recibí un paquete

Today was a great day. I got up, ate my piece of chocolate shaped like a snowman, went to school, helped review vocabulary with the students, and helped them learn about the food pyramid and which foods come from plants and animals. I really can't think of anything exciting that happened at school today. I spent a lot of my lunchtime planning Karin and I's trip to Bilbao this coming weekend. Not really planning, but rather looking things up to do in Bilbao. There is a Guggenheim museum there, so it wouldn't surprise me if that's the number one thing we do. Also, once in Bilbao, we are looking into taking a day trip to San Sebastián. We figured we are already up that way that we might as well hit another pretty popular city, too. But, we will see.

After school on Tuesdays, I usually have the intercambio (language exchange) with the teacher at my school, but tonight there was a meeting about the new education law that has passed or will pass in Spain. I did not stay for the meeting so I do not know many details about it yet, but I will let you know as soon as I do. I will say though that I believe this is the same law that the teachers and students were striking for not to long ago. I will ask my teachers tomorrow how the meeting was and what they said. Since I didn't have the intercambio, I came home after school and relaxed quite a bit. I figured out more about this weekend and did a lot of Spanish activities online to practice. Then, a ring of the doorbell came and it was the mailman. He came bearing gifts! I received my first package from the U.S. I was actually surprised to get one and lucky to be home. I have heard "horror" stories about packages never making it to their destination or about packages being a big hassle to pick up, if you're not at home when they are delivered, but neither of these unfortunate things happened! I was lucky to be home and SO excited to get a package! It ended up being a Christmas/birthday present from my college roommate, Taylor! She packed it with all sorts of goodies and I was pumped to find thing after thing in the box! The package was complete with: a stocking, a Santa pez dispenser, Christmas socks, Christmas ornament making kits!, a headband, classroom supplies, birthday balloons, Smarties, and PlayDoh! It was so great to receive the package and I can't wait to utilize everything! I have already utilized a few things.. *cough* the Smarties.

I can't say thank you enough, Taylor!

On a random note, Lucia mentioned that her Saint's Day (Santa Lucia) is on the 13th of December and she wants to go ice skating, which would be awesome! But this prompted me to look up when my Saint's Day is and guess what? It was on the 30th of November! I unknowingly just celebrated it with a Thanksgiving dinner, how cool is that? If you're curious to know when your Saint's Day is, click here and search by name. Anyway, after hanging out for a little bit longer, I talked myself into going to the intercam1bio at the bar that I have skipped the last two weeks. I had no excuse that I was tired or didn't want to leave the house again because I didn't meet with my teacher, so I went. And once again, it was good. There are quite a few things that I don't want to do sometimes, but then once I do them, I think "Oh, that wasn't so bad." Why is that? Anyway, needless to say, I had good conversation and got to practice my Spanish. Once home, I ate dinner and wrote this blog. Now, it is time for bed. Hasta mañana. Happy 3rd!

Calendario de Adviento

Today was the second of December and I forgot to mention yesterday that Lucia was nice enough to buy me an advent calendar. I have never had one before, not that I can remember anyway, but it's cool to have. I like getting a little piece of molded chocolate everyday. Yesterday, I got a candle, today's piece had a plane on it. :) So that was my morning, I woke up after a good night's rest and ate a piece of chocolate that had a plane on it. :) Then, I got ready and went to the bank to pay our internet bill. As I was on my way to the bank, I got stopped by two theology students and they talked to me for about ten minutes about "Dios Madre" or the "Heavenly Mother." They showed me about five or so verses in their bible where the word "we" is used or where the wife of God is mentioned. It was quite interesting to hear their take on it, but also, I might add that although I am a Christian, I am not well versed in the Bible and I told them that I wanted to go home and see the wording in a different bible. I did look up some of the verses and I did find the use of "us," which does pose the question "To whom is God referring?" So, maybe there is a heavenly mother, but, in my opinion, I would not see her as an equal to God. Anyway, I am not trying to turn this post into a religious debate or anything, but I thought I would share because I found it interesting and because I was very proud to not only be talking about God with strangers, but to be doing it and comprehending it in another language. :) I learned that Cordero de Dios means Lamb of God.

Anyway, after my semi-quick bank run, I went home and did a blog or two and did my homework for my Spanish class that I have on Monday nights. I ate lunch and relaxed for a little bit, then I did my Monday cleaning. The floors were slightly gross from all the Thanksgiving crumbs that ended up on the ground, but now the place looks great. :) I hung out for a little longer, but then left for Spanish class. Tonight, we spent the majority of the time talking about our first jobs. Man, I felt good about discussing God in another language, but try explaining the art of detasseling in a different language and that gets tough. Also, people look at you funny when you teach them that there is male and female corn. It was quite interesting, but I'm glad I could share some good old country culture with the world. :)

After class, I came home, made dinner, watched some Hormiguero, and wrote this blog. Now, I am about to go to bed. I hope all of you had fantastic December 2nds. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. :)

El primer de diciembre

Yesterday, as I'm sure you all know was December 1st. I think that is crazy! It's already December, it's Christmastime, the time where I begin to get sad that I am not with family, but also I can't help but be happy because this time of the year is awesome and joyful!

Yesterday, I invited Claire and her friends over again so they didn't have to sit at the airport all day or walk around with their bags. They came over dropped their bags off at my place and then Karin, Stephanie, and I took them to the Rastro. I think they liked it, but there is no way of knowing. I know that they didn't realize how big it was, which is true. Stephanie, Karin, and I still find new little nooks and crannies that have more people selling more things. It always amazes me how packed the Rastro gets, too. It's incredible. I didn't buy anything this week, but there are still things that I see that I want to buy eventually. After the Rastro, we all took a nice stroll in Madrid Río. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day to take a stroll through the park on the way back to my place.

Once home, we semi-warmed up the leftovers and all gorged for a second time on Thanksgiving food. :) I'm glad we could share another meal with friends! After eating and hanging out for a little bit, Claire and her friends left for the airport so that they could make their trip back to Scotland. Karin, Stephanie, and I hung out for a little bit long. We watched The Year Without a Santa Claus and then they headed home, too. For the rest of the evening, I blogged a little bit and watched a Christmas movie that was on T.V. called Christmas Mail. It was a cutesy movie, but I can't wait to watch the classics. I hope that I am able to. Lucia said that there are usually a lot of Christmas movies on T.V. as it gets closer to Christmas. We will see. :) After Christmas Mail, I watched another less-Christmasy movie, The Taking of Pelham 123, because that's just what was on T.V. next. And then, I called it a night. I had a great first day of December and it still shocks me that it is the most wonderful time of the year.

La cena de gracias

On Saturday morning, I went on a mission with Lucia. We started our mission looking for a microwave, because we knew it would be helpful for our Thanksgiving dinner. Also, our landlord is paying for it, so we figure why not? However, the one secondhand place that we knew about didn't have a microwave. The funny thing is, Karin said she saw two girls carrying a microwave down the street at the exact time that we were starting our journey, so clearly those girls stole the microwave right out from under us! Needless to say, we didn't find a microwave yet, but it wasn't too big of an issue for Thanksgiving dinner. Stephanie, Karin, Lucia, and I all went grocery shopping for some of the things we still needed, like the turkey, veggies, potatoes, etc. I would have sworn that everyone else was last minute shopping for Thanksgiving dinner, too. The store was unbelievably packed and it definitely made it feel like we were in a U.S. grocery store a few hours before Thanksgiving dinner.

Once Lucia and I got home, we cranked the Christmas music and started making lunch and deviled eggs. By golly, are hard boiled eggs hard to shell. Come to find out, there is a little trick to make it easier to shell. It is like put salt or baking soda or baking powder in the boiling water. It would have been nice to know that, even though I don't know which one it is that you're supposed to put in. Ha. Also, we really don't have much of a measuring cup or spoon, so I was making measurements up when it came to mixing the yolk, mustard, mayo, and vinegar. They definitely weren't made correctly and they were definitely hideous, but they tasted okay. I mean, they didn't taste correct, but they were still good. Anyway, we also cleaned and Lucia put on some of her music that she has recorded and it was awesome! Lucia also made cookies shaped like duckies. Ducks are close enough to turkeys, right? Haha.

Stephanie and Karin came over later bearing gifts. They had potatoes, stuffing, and the pumpkin pies! The important things. We soon started cooking the turkey, and exactly what I was afraid of happened..the turkey turned out dry..boo! That's okay though. Although the turkey is supposed to be the life of the party, it was already a let down that we decided to get turkey filets and not a whole turkey, so I figure it's not that big of a deal that it was dry. That's especially because the other food was phenomenal! Although, I will say that the food was a little cold, too. But we did what we could with a stove top and oven. Also, I might add that we told people to be there at 7:30 p.m. and the first guests didn't show up until 8 p.m. and we didn't eat until close to 8:45 p.m. It's next to impossible to keep food warm for that long. :P Anyway, I know it seems like I am complaining, it's probably because I hosted and I am just hypercritical of the parts that I could try and control, like the turkey being dry or the food being warm, but in all reality, I thought everything turned our excellent, so I hope that everyone else enjoyed it, too!

We started the dinner by briefly explaining the background of Thanksgiving, then we had everyone go around and say what they were thankful for, Karin gave the blessing, and then we gorged. It was so good! After dinner, we enjoyed some pumpkin pie and good conversation. We made good, harmless fun of British English and the Spaniards bashed our food in the U.S. and some claimed  "Monsanto is evil." I know we discussed other things, but those are the topics that stand out to me right now as I write this. Like I said, I am pretty sure the dinner was a success and I'm glad that we could share Thanksgiving with some other people! By the way, we had a total of eleven people here. I think that's a pretty good number, especially because only four of us were U.S. Americans!

Using a card from my grandparents as decoration. :)

Snacks

Our spread of food. :)

The group of us minus two.
My roommate has a better picture of the whole group.
I'll update this picture when I have the other one.

La azotea

On Friday, I went to school and had two simple classes with the young students and then I had the teacher's class. I took the opportunity to teach the two teachers that were in class about Thanksgiving. :) I shared a little video with them about the first Thanksgiving, then we talked about the family tradition that Thanksgiving has, along with the food we eat, the football games, the Macy's day parade, and Black Friday. I think they enjoyed learning about it and they got to practice their comprehension and they had to tell me what they were thankful for. :)

After school, I went to the grocery store to pick up things to make deviled eggs. I have never made them before, but I figured I would give it a shot for Thanksgiving. I hard boiled the eggs, which I have also never done. I was slightly worried about if they would be under or overcooked, bur really there is no way to tell until you break into one. And I had watched a YouTube video on it, so I felt pretty good about it.

After that, I went with Karin to meet a friend from the U.S. at Sol. Her name is Claire and she has been studying in Scotland for the past few months. Her and her three friends, who have also been studying in Scotland, decided to travel to Madrid for a few days. So, Karin and I met them in Sol and walked around with them for a little bit. We showed them the Christmas markets, Plaza Mayor, the oldest restaurant in the world, Gran Vía, and then we took them to the rooftop terrace that Karin, Stephanie, and I tried to go to last month. I think they had fun, but I'm pretty sure they were cold. It was pretty chilly on that rooftop. We all bought hot chocolate though and that was yummy! Also, the view from the rooftop was pretty cool!

Claire and I on the azotea

Christmas tree at Sol

After we froze our little tushies off, we parted ways and Karin and I went back to her place for dinner. We ate dinner and then watched a movie called Lords of Dogtown. I didn't really like it. It was about the surf and skateboarding trends that started in the 70s in California. It just was a little dry. The plot wasn't too exciting. I wish they would have Hollywood-ized it a little more, like throw a little more fake stories into it. Like maybe add some Jack and Rose, heart of the ocean stuff into it. That definitely would have spiced up the story line. Anyway, after the movie, I went home and then crashed. I had to be ready for the day to come (our Thanksgiving feast!).

La nieve

Okay, so I have a lot of blogs to catch up on, which means you have a lot of blogs to read. I can't even imagine what it will be like after Christmas vacation when I have two and a half weeks to blog about with pictures!

Anyway, starting with last Thursday (Thanksgiving), I had a pretty bad start to the morning. I woke up two minutes before I should have been leaving--that's nothing new, so I know how to handle it. I changed real quick, brushed my teeth, threw my hair up, didn't even put in my contacts, made lunch, and was out the door. As I was on the train, I looked up and had this reaction...

You know why I had this reaction? Because there was snow on the ground! I know that doesn't seem like a big deal, but it was! I have heard several times that it rarely, if ever, snows in Madrid. And I get that it still might not seem like a big deal, but since I had a rough morning and since it was Thanksgiving, it felt extra special! I was so thankful for the snow. I feel like it was a good reminder to slow down and enjoy the what's around me. Also, it helped remind me of home and helped to remind me of everything that I am thankful for, including my God, family, boyfriend, friends, the opportunity to be here, my job, the teachers at my school, and my students. I loved the reminder and I really did have a huge reaction in seeing the snow. You would've have thought that I was a Spaniard seeing snow for the first time. I was taking pictures and everything, but I didn't get a good one, so I stole a friend's picture. As you can see there isn't a lot of it and it melted quickly, but it was still incredible to see.

Also, when I got to school, oh boy, did I cause a ruckus with my appearance. "Why are you wearing glasses!" "You made a bun!" "Can you not see?!" "You have glasses!" Every single student who saw me freaked out about my glasses and my hair being up, because that was the first day for both of those things. Even a few of the teachers said they didn't recognize me. I imagine that they took a double take towards, like I did with the snow. It was a pretty big deal, haha. And all because I woke up late.

On another note, the most interesting cultural difference of the day was having a student color on the wall. Again, since I am not the classroom teacher, I cannot be for sure if the student's parents were told about it or even if she had a talk with anyone, but I know for a fact that she didn't even lose her recess. After my suggestion, she was told to erase it, but erasing colored pencil off the wall was not working, so as far as I know, it is still on the wall. Oh boy, my parents (and teachers, too) would have been really harsh with punishment on that one. My dad probably would have had me wash all of the walls, if I knowingly colored on the walls at home. And I am pretty sure I remembered one of my classmates drawing on the desks once and they had to stay in at recess and clean all of the desks. I don't know if it is a cultural difference or if schools have just changed in general all over the globe, but I just couldn't believe it. I wanted to sit the girl down and ask her why she did it, what would have happened if she did that at home, and what she was going to do to fix it. Maybe that is harsh and maybe that makes me a bad teacher, but I think letting her more or less get away with it is a little counterproductive as a teacher, too. But like I said, I can't know for sure what happened and I definitely don't want to judge or offend anyone by our differences in culture and teaching methodologies.

Anyway, on a lighter note, I attempted to teach a couple of my classes about Thanksgiving. That was interesting... I drew lots of pictures and it pretty much was only teaching them that we eat turkey, potatoes, and pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, but at least I could share a little something with the students.

After school, I had one of my lessons cancelled and I tried to contact my second one to get it moved to earlier, but they never answered. So, I decided it was worth a shot to go to the house to see if they were home. The mom, whom I hadn't met before, was home, but she had to go pick up her daughter (my student) from school still. While the mom left to go pick up her daughter at school, she let me stay at their home alone, all by myself. I thought that was very trusting and wonderful of her. I didn't have to stand out in the snow or anything. I just chilled on the couch and waited for her daughter to arrive home, then I had my lesson and I arrived home slightly early that night. Once home, I hung out for a little bit and then joined Stephanie and her friend for a free Thanksgiving dinner at a bar. It was pretty good for being free. It was complete with turkey, mashed and roasted potatoes, gravy, green beans, corn, and cheesy cauliflower. YUM. I didn't hang out for long, because I wanted to get home in order to Skype my family and my boyfriend's family. I ended up at Karin's house and I skyped the majority of my family and my boyfriend's family. It was awesome and I loved seeing everyone. I missed being home, but I am so thankful to have the technology of Skype so that I can still contact family and friends for free! :)

So, that was my Thanksgiving. It was a pretty standard day, especially since they don't celebrate it here, but it was still a great day full of thanks! :)