El burrito de Belén

Okay, so I had a pretty good day today! I started my day of course with some good old Miley Cyrus, but also because the students are still learning their Spanish villancico (carol) they got to practice that. So I finally got to hear what they are singing in Spanish. It's a song called Dinguidón, which is the sound a bell makes, like Ding Dong. :)

After that class, I went to the next class where we got to review some Christmas vocabulary, like Father Christmas. :) That is what they call Santa Claus in the U.K., then they were reviewing Christmas tree, presents, reindeer, etc. They did some book work to practice using these words, then it was off to breakfast, where I found out some upsetting news. Well, it really wasn't that upsetting, just ironic and kind of comical. Remember that exciting trip we went on to the mail box yesterday to send Christmas letters to the students' parents? Yea, well apparently the letters were too heavy for the postage that was on them so the majority of the letters came back to the school today..que triste! How unfortunate is that! Ah. I don't know what the school is going to do, but hopefully they can get them out again so they get to the parents by Christmas. Speaking of, Christmas is a week away..CRAZY!

Anyway, after the break, I got to hear the kindergartners practice their two songs, which are adorable. One is sung to the tune of Deck the Halls, but the lyrics are different because the words boughs, don, apparel, troll, yuletide, ye lads and lasses are just a bunch of mumbo jumbo. Ha. Their second song is called El burrito de Belén (The donkey from Bethlehem). Have I mentioned yet that the majority of the Spanish Christmas carols are religious and about the birth of Jesus. Anyway, below is that wonderful song and whoever made the video has the English translation just for you!

After lunch, I got to spend most of the afternoon watching and helping the 1st graders prepare for their concert for their parents on Friday. We went to the gym and lined the students up and they sang both their English and Spanish songs a few times through. Then, we went back to the classroom and did some Christmas book work. When tomorrow comes, I was told that the majority of the day will be devoted to preparing for the Christmas party on Friday so that should be fun. I'm looking forward to that! Love Christmas!

After school, I only had one of my private lessons, so I went to that which went really well. The mom is so nice because it was raining when I went to leave and she insisted that I take an umbrella. So I did and I stayed dry the whole way home. Once I got home, I got a few things done that I wanted to before leaving this Saturday. I still have a few more things on my list to do, but at least I am crossing things off my list little by little. Now, I have been watching the finale for La Voz for quite awhile, but I plan to go to bed soon. I hope you all have good nights. Hasta mañana.

Fuimos de excursíon

This is probably going to be a short blog because I am tired and not much happened today. But anyway, today was filled with more Miley Cyrus, but also I got to listen to a few other songs, like Jingle Bells, so that was a nice change of pace. Also, the students are learning some Christmas vocabulary for fun so that is always fun to teach them. I think my favorite is that they mistake reindeer for Rudolph and I have to say, "No, Rudolph is a reindeer, but a reindeer is the animal." Whereas they think that Rudolph is the name of the type of animal. So cute. Also, I got to be in one class while they planned their Christmas party for this Friday and that was cool to see them get all excited about choosing food, music, games, and decorations for the party. At the end of the day, I went with three first grade classes to the mailbox. Yep, that's right. We took a field trip to the mailbox. :) This trip was so that they could put their Christmas letters to their parents in the mailbox. It was pretty exciting for them so I was excited, too. Plus, I got a whole Spanish lesson on the walk there and back. Some students kept saying "What's that?" and pointing at random things: tree, bench, rock, leaves, birds, train, etc. Then, I would answer them and then they would make me learn the word in Spanish. I hope that they at least retained one word of what I said in English. I think out of all of the words, they will remember train, because the word in Spanish is practically the same: tren.

Anyway, after school, I met with Esther to have our language exchange. I started to learn some Spanish idioms, but boy are some of them difficult and I will have to study them to really understand, remember, and know how to use them. The lessons went well and then Esther took me by the Plaza Mayor that is in Leganés, so we saw the pretty lights and there was a small ice rink there, also, which was cool. Then, I took the train home. Once home, I had an unexpected package waiting for me and it was a package from my boyfriend for my birthday. Here is what he got me...

MINION GLOVES!

Such a great present. Anyway, then I got started making dinner and then my night planned with things to do went down the...

First, a woman came to look at the apartment and stayed for over 45 minutes, which is great because she got to know us and I think she was really interested in the place, but normally it takes like 10 minutes to show our place and like I said, I had stuff to do. Plus, my dinner was done cooking right as she arrived, so it sat on the counter top cooling down while we got to know her. Haha. Hopefully, she comes to stay with us though. We will see. Anyway, after she left, I had to finally eat and then I got to talking to Lucia about Sevilla next week, which obviously got us talking about a lot of other things, so next thing I know, it's 11 p.m. and I have yet to get anything done, which isn't a huge deal. I think I will still have time for things later this week, but also I am tired so I need to go to bed asap. Anyway, that's that. I have to go. I hope you all had wonderful Mondays. Be jealous of my new handcrafted minion gloves! :P Goodnight!

Elf y TIE

Okay, so I'm going to put yesterday and today into one blog post because it's easier this way and not much happened during both days combined.

Yesterday, Sunday, I got up and wrote a blog and a half and I organized some of my pictures on my computer, which I know doesn't seem like a big deal, but it was for me. And it was on my long list of things to do before Friday, gah! After getting ready, I met Karin and Stephanie in Principe Pio, which is a metro stop/movie theater/mall and we went shopping. I bought some travel size toiletries for Christmas vacation and I bought a Christmas present for Lucia. Then we headed home on the bus and I relaxed at home for quite awhile. I wrote another blog and checked a few more things off my list, but I also wasted my time on Imgur. If you don't know what that is it is just a collection of (mostly funny) pictures online. I probably spent too much time on it and not enough time getting things done, but that's okay.

After a little while, Karin and Stephanie came over and we, along with Lucia, watched Elf and ate popcorn. We also colored, which was really fun! :) After the girls left, I skyped my parents, which was SO great! :D I definitely miss them and I know that they miss me, so it was good to talk to them for a little while. :) Anyway, that was the end of my day. After I hung up with my parents it was off to bed.

The picture that I colored :)

Today, Monday (my day off), I started my morning a little later than I wanted to, but it all turned out okay. First things first was to go and pick up my TIE (Tarjeta de Identificación Extranjera) with Stephanie, we waited about an hour in line to pick it up, which wasn't ideal, but at least we got our cards. Yay, that saves me a lot of trouble with traveling for Christmas, because now I can just flash that at the airport to get back into the country. :D After finally getting our cards, we went to the library to return some books, then I parted ways with Stephanie because I had a few more errands to run. I went to the bank so that they could get a copy of my pretty new card and then I went to a tobacco shop to get some tabacco stamps. Then, it was to the grocery store so that I have food to get me through the week and then I made my way home. My errands out and about took longer than I wanted to, but at least I got them done. This afternoon, I spent my time catching up on blogging and then I did my weekly chores, but I did more than that because my room was a pigsty and I started to clean out my closet with things that I want my boyfriend to take back to the U.S. when he comes to visit in 17 days, 10 hours, and 37 minutes. :) <-there's a countdown on my phone. :P Anyway, I cleaned and tidied up and then I went to Spanish class.

I learned something new tonight in class, like the fact that I am a cinéfila, which means movie buff. Haha. I think my dad (and mom) are probably in shock right now reading that "I learned something today." They used to always ask, "What did you learn in school today?" and my sister and I would always answer "Nothing." Then, we would get this big long lecture about how we were wasting their money by not learning. Okay, it wasn't really a lecture, but they would tell us that we were wasting their money. Well, I am here to say that I'm sorry for wasting your money in the past, but you should know that I did learn one thing while growing up. What's that, you may ask? Well, it was to not waste my own money! Ha. So sorry for wasting yours, but thanks for teaching me not to waste mine...hence the learning that happened in class tonight. :P

Anyway, after class I went to the Christmas market briefly with Stephanie. It was mostly all closed up by the time we went, but that was okay because there really was nothing that interested me. I would have liked to buy an ornament or something, but most of the ornaments were just balls and a lot of the stuff just looked cheap and was just standard Christmas stuff, not Spanish souvenir Christmas stuff. I should have known. Anyway, once home, I watched El Hormiguero; Ben Stiller was on for his new movie. I ate dinner and I have just been relaxing since then. I will be going to bed soon and I will be up and ready to sing Miley Cyrus all day tomorrow..yayyy....

Goodnight all!

Museo Guggenheim Bilbao

Okay, last, but not least, Karin and I's last day in Bilbao!

In the morning, we got up bright and early, we stopped at a bakery next door to get a croissant for breakfast and then we headed off to the Guggenheim Museum. I really don't have a lot to say about it, besides it was really cool! With our tickets, we were forced to get the audio guides for a little extra money, but I am SO thankful that we did! You could honestly go through the museum in an hour if you just briefly looked at the art, because the museum really isn't that big. However, because we got the audio guides, we spent several hours in the museum. It was great because we learned more about the works too! For example, one artist took famous works of art and eliminated all of the people, so it was just the landscape or the room. I never would have noticed that without the audio guide. Another artist, Erlea Maneros Zabala, who was both Karin and I's favorite, worked a lot with photography and news articles. The majority of her works were centered around mass media and how photos from the news are used to make something seem more beautiful or acceptable. For example, an explosion is a deadly and scary thing, however in a photo it can be seen as something beautiful. It was an interesting exhibit and probably one of my favorites out of the whole museum.

A man looking at the work of Erlea Maneros Zabala
This particular series was a series of photographs taken
of Zabala's computer screen of different museums
around the world. It was pretty cool.

My other favorite exhibit was one that is permanent called The Matter of Time designed by Richard Serra. It is a series of eight huge steel sculptures that are free standing. You can walk through them all. They consist of spirals, ellipses, curvy lines, etc. It was pretty cool and we spent a lot of time walking through them all. I think a cool thing about it (that I learned from the audio guide) is that Richard Serra just designs them, but they are obviously huge sculptures so a steel contractor has to build them.

 

One last thing that I like about the museum is that the rooms were huge! High ceilings, very big, and barely filled. It seemed like so much more art could go into the rooms, but I kind of liked that they were slightly bare. Plus it would take a full day to go through with the audio guide if there were more works of art.

Inside the Guggenheim

After the museum, Karin and I stopped at two places to get pintxos, which are pretty much tapas on bread. Before we went to Bilbao, everyone kept saying, "Try the pintxos." To be honest, I don't really know what was so special about them. It wouldn't be something important that I tell someone to do if they were going to go to Bilbao, but they were still good. After a little while of sitting at Lenny's apartment, we left Bilbao and our weekend was over. We made it back to Madrid a little after 10 p.m. and I just relaxed for the rest of the night. There you have it, three days in the north of Spain. It was fun, I would suggest it. Especially the Guggenheim and San Sebastián. Hasta luego.

San Sebastián

Okay, so the following is a blog post about day two in Bilbao, but really we weren't in Bilbao. Karin and I took a day trip to San Sebastián, which is supposedly more touristy than Bilbao and I can see why...the beach. San Sebastián is right on a bay and it is really pretty so I can understand why it is more touristy. Especially when it's summer and beach weather! Anyway, we started off our morning pretty slow. We taxied to the bus station and slept literally the entire way since we were out late the night before. When we arrived, we walked around, ate lunch at McDonald's (unfortunately, ha), and then we started our ascent up this hill that had some buildings and stuff at the top. I'm still really not sure what the place was, some sort of a castle or fort? Just looked it up, it's called Castle of the Holy Cross and it is indeed a fortress that has played major roles in defending the city. And, to prove that it has been a successful fortress, there is also an English cemetery on the mount for some English soldiers that were killed there during a battle in 1813.

Karin and I on Mount Urgull

Bay of La Concha

Basque Country flag waving on Mount Urgull

After we took several pictures, we started to go down the hill only to realize that the way we went down was blocked off, so we had to go back around the mount, which wasn't ideal, but it was too much of a detour. We were just anxious to see the beach. Well, I just gave it away. The beach was next. We walked on it briefly got some pictures and admired the view. We (well at least I was) were wishing that we (I) could be laying on the beach in the summer weather. It really was a beautiful day that day, just not beach weather, ya know?

City Hall in San Sebastián

Bay of La Concha

After the beach, we walked around for a little longer to the plaza and in some souvenir shops, then our last stop, before the bus stop, was the cathedral: Catedral del Buen Pastor de San Sebastián. We didn't go in because it was closed, but the outside is beautiful! It was really tall too, so it was hard to get a picture of the whole thing, but oh well.

After the church, we walked to the bus station and waited for the bus. We got there super early, but it was okay, because we just sat and chatted and laughed and had ourselves a grand old time. Once back in Bilbao, we took the street car home and then ate dinner. We took a short trip out because we were craving chocolate, then once back at home we watched Christmas Vacation, which was SO great because it was the first real Christmas movie that I watched of the season! Such a great movie and a great way to end my day! Day two in the north of Spain..check. Again, keep your eye open for our last day in Bilbao! Hasta luego!

 

Bilbao

Maman by Louise Bourgeois
There are seven permanent Mamans in the world.
This one in Bilbao being one of them.

As you know, I went to Bilbao last weekend with Karin so I am going to blog about our first day in Bilbao right now. We arrived in Bilbao late on Thursday night, so we got all of Friday to explore the city of Bilbao. We were fortunate enough to stay with Karin's friend, Lenny, who is from Germany and he was studying abroad in Bilbao, so he showed us around most of the morning and afternoon. We tried going to the market first, but it was closed, probably with it being Constitution Day and all. But we laughed because we said maybe they (Basque country) shouldn't recognize it since some of the Basques what to separate from Spain. Ha. Anyway, we just walked along the river and got quite a few pictures. They had a Christmas tree up near the city hall, which was great to see. The "most famous" bridge there (I don't really know if it's that famous, I'm just assuming) is Zubizuri (which means White Bridge...boring..). It was designed by Santiago Calatrava, the architect who designed the Milwaukee Art Museum and the City of the Sciences and Arts in Valencia. Karin and I are becoming pros at recognizing certain architects work. :) For example, a Guggenheim museum is in Bilbao and we said "Hey, it looks like that amphitheater in Millenium Park in Chicago," and sure enough we looked it up later and we were correct--same architect.

Zubizuri

The bridge looks cooler when you're on it

Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao

The following link is a video clip from The Simpsons making fun of Frank O. Gehry, the designer of the Guggenheim and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion: Frank Gehry as featured in The Simpsons

Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago

Sculpture that resembles The Bean in Chicago.
Just looked it up..same artist, Anish Kapoor!
Man, Karin and I are getting good with this art stuff. :)

We walked around for a little bit longer. We saw the soccer stadium, which seemed to be under some major construction on one half and we went through a brief art exhibit on feminism, because it was free. Ha.

Soccer stadium in Bilbao where Athletic Bilbao plays

Karin looking at art

We were tired of walking around so we got some pizza and went back to Lenny's apartment for a little bit, then we left again to go catch a ride on the funicular to get a view of the city. We had perfect timing, because we got to see the sun setting behind the mountains. :)

Bilbao :)

Guggenheim Museum

Once we got back down from the top of the hill, we went back to Lenny's place and ate dinner and that night we went out to some bars. That's not really my scene usually, but it was actually really fun because the place we spent the majority of our time at was more of a restaurant, so we could sit at a table and play games and enjoy each others company. Whereas some places are dark, have too loud of music, no tables, and it's just annoying. So, overall we had a great night and that was the end of day one in Bilbao. :) Keep your eyes open for my blog on San Sebastian and day two in Bilbao. :)

Patinar sobre hielo

Today, Lucia, Karin, and I went to a place called Palacio de Hielo (Ice Palace) to go ice skating! It's actually not just an ice rink, but it's a mall, a movie theatre, and a bowling alley. Ice skating was awesome and none of us fell, which was even awesome-er! It took me a lap or two to get used to skating again, because I haven't done it in quite some time, but I was good afterwards. We skated for a little over an hour and I think we ended at the perfect time because my feet were starting to kill me!

Happy and ice skating :)

After ice skating, we went to a restaurant in the mall called VIPS, which is pretty popular throughout Madrid and Spain. I downed a bacon cheeseburger and we got some chocolate covered pancakes for free, so those were delicious. However, my stomach kind of hated me afterwards. We walked around the mall for a little bit and then headed home. Oh, I also should point out that we saw Santa Claus! :D He is making his way around the world asking what good boys and good girls want for Christmas. He didn't ask us...hmm..that's odd. Anyway, I kind of napped on the metro ride home and once home, I really wanted to nap, but I'm not a big napper, so I uploaded some photos instead. Then, I just hung out until Karin came over to my house. Once she was over here, the party really started! We made a very simple dinner and then watched the 2000 version of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! It was relaxing and great and festive and Christmas-y! Also, Lucia had never seen it before so it was nice to be able to share that Christmas classic with her. And I use the word classic loosely because ALL Christmas movies are classics. :P Okay, maybe not all, but they should be.

Anyway, now I am just hanging out with Karin and that's all I got going on for the rest of the night. Have a good night. I will talk to you tomorrow. :)