London and Thanksgiving

Hello!!!!!

So it has been a while....guilty. I'm sorry. But, I have lots of news to tell you!!!!! First and foremost, I have fallen in love with a Spaniard!!! There he is!! Isn't he handsome?! I teach English to his older sister. His name is Paco. He is two years old and walks around with a Spanish soccer magazine as his blankie. He loves ham and tomato sandwiches and I am currently working on a plan to steal him and bring him back to the states!

So, in other news! I got to go to London for some sightseeing! It was amazing. Freezing, but still amazing. We went on the London Eye and saw the houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. I also got to see my English friend Sarah. All in all it was a good trip! The highlight had to be finding Platform 9 3/4! It was a dream come true. We took the tube to Kings Cross Station and there it was, right between platforms 9 and 10. However, we were not able to make it though. Apparently it is only opened on the day everyone catches the train to Hogwarts.

The other Americans and I are also in charge of putting together the thanksgiving dinner for the school staff. All in all it was 70 Spaniards and 4 Americans. Our budget was 600 Euros!! I was in charge of Apple Pie and turkeys. I also made mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. Now, for those of you who know me, (which is everyone because who else would be reading this besides my friends and family?) you know I am not a chef. I have burnt everything from grilled cheese to hot chocolate. So I was wary when starting my Apple pie. However, everything turned out splendidly!! The Apple Pie was "the best I have ever had in my life" (or so says the Spaniards..but they love everything so they are not to be trusted) and the corn on the cob and potatoes were passable. The two turkeys were more of a fiasco!! I don't have a stove in my kitchen, so we paid off a bakery to cook them in their oven. The lady didn't baste them enough but they were ok. We had to drive them from the bakery to the venue. It all worked out well but I have never been more exhausted on Thanksgiving! I now appreciate all your cooking mommy lol

So Thanksgiving was a success and London was amazing! Next weekend I am going to Austria and Germany. I will write after that to let you know how I liked the homeland!! :) Miss you all and hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving! Love you!!

Tiff

Jen's Post on Spain!

Celebrity post: Jen!

Hola dedicated Holiday in Spain followers! I will be posting in place of the Shelhorse this week. Smores and I decided on a Wednesday we felt like going to Spain, so we booked a flight for Saturday that week. No big deal. We recommend it. We met up with the Rubia(Tiffany) in Almeria, the closest town with an airport to Huercal-Overa. It’s a nice coastal town, very similar to Alicante. I’m glad we went there because it gave Ashley a taste of our life in Spain back when we studied during junior year: lots of shopping, sitting, eating, drinking and dancing. We did an obligatory castle-hike, ate paella (still nothing to write home about) and enjoyed watching Spanish people do absolutely nothing all day. We stayed in a nice hostel right on the beach along with Tiffany’s friends fr

om Huercal-Overa.

After buying way too much from Stradivarious and Blanco (our favorite stores), we bused back to Huercal-Overa. The bus actually came on time—nicely done Spain! Once in town, we went out to eat at one of the popular restaurants (called Labios. That means lips. Yeah, weird) and had some tasty tinto de verano (a wine-cooler type drink). We ate with a few more of Tiff’s friends from town and had to speak lots of Spanish (Ashley is getting better!). We decided to go out after dinner, but only for one drink because we were pretty tired from our weekend in Almeria. However, in Spain, there is no such thing as “just one drink.” We went to a bar Tiff hadn’t explored yet where we played pinball and foosball (lots of serious foosball-playing guys in that bar). Somehow that turned into us getting behind the bar and making drinks for the bartenders and playing DJ (goodbye techno, hello Michael Jackson!). We were back at Tiff’s apartment around 4:30 a.m.; oh Spain. The bartender, Eduardo (of course that’s his name) and I are getting married. He doesn’t know this yet. I’m excited. (Eduardo is on the right, Jose in the Middle)

On our last day, we went to school with Tiff (teacher! teacher! As all her students call her) to help teach gym class. The gym teacher at Tiff’s school is very nice, and right after I introduced myself to her, she said I had control of the class that day….I don’t think they’d let me teach gym class in the United States. Anyways, we taught the kiddos how to play knockout and had them do some basketball dribbling relay races. They seemed to enjoy the games, despite the fact they know absolutely nothing about basketball.

After school, we went to FERIA! The whole town has been talking about Feria for weeks, and it just so happened that Ashley and I got the chance to visit during one of the biggest festivals of the year for Huercal-Overa. The town sets up lights and huge tents, making the area look somewhat like a fair in the United States (minus the carnies, plus Spanish people in really nice shoes even though the ground is gravel…I did not see a single sneaker) and people just dance, eat and drink all day and all night. And they continue into the weekend. We went with Tiffany’s teacher friends and had a blast! Everyone (really young children all the way up to senior citizens) danced and ate all day and all night. I don’t understand how these people have this kind of stamina! The music ranged from the Twist and Rock Around the Clock to Shakira and Enrique Iglesias to LOTS of Spanish music we didn’t know but danced to anyways. Everyone dresses up in the same costume or t-shirt as their friends or family at Feria—lots of kids and teenagers had on matching t-shirts with different phrases, and some older women wore the traditional Spanish dresses and lace headpieces. All of the teachers at Tiffany’s school had blue face paint on. We danced for 12 hours.....12 hours. I’ve never doubted the Spanish for their ability to party, and they’ve outdone themselves once again.

This is the church in the middle of town.

Settling In

I have now been in Huercal-Overa for two whole weeks. Sundays in Spain are terribly boring. Today I have cleaned the house and ran already and its only 2pm. I now plan on watching several episodes of I love Lucy on youtube.

Friday was the first day of school for me! I started at 9am so I got there at 8:30. I was in the teachers lounge and everyone was asking me why I was there so early for work. The teachers here

show up 2 minutes before class and leave the school 5 minutes after. I guess kids don't go in for help after class! So I get there for my introduction day and the teacher says, "Ok. Go for it." (in spanish) I was like......"ok?" So I spoke about myself and all my family and friends and what it is like to live near Washington DC. The first question I was asked was whether or not I knew Barack Obama. I said no and they were all so disappointed, so I told him I had seen him land in his helicopter. They thought that was the

coolest thing ever. Then one of the girls asked if I knew Robert Pattinson. I told her that, sadly, I did not but I would keep and eye out for him. (I'm not sure he frequents DC as he is actually Englsih but oh well!)

Being at the school was the first time I felt that my Spanish was better than someones English. A lot of the people with whom we hang out are pretty good at English but the students were very rusty. I had to speak with a second long break in between my words for them to understand. I also had to write out a lot of words and names. My job is more to speak so that the kids can hear a native speakers accent as well as to teach them American culture. If you guys could put some ideas for activities down in the comments that would be great. Next week I am going to bring in pictures of me an

d the family doing typically american stuff. The kids will have to describe what is going on and describe the traits of the people in the pictures. "He is playing baseball." "He is tall with dark brown hair." Stuff like that.

I am now also fully settled into my apartment. It has an extra bedroom for people to come visit!!! The rent is 400 Euros a month, split between the two of us. The kitchen is really big but it does not have a stove? This is apparently normal, and as Jen and I almost killed ourselves multiple times trying to light our gas stove in Alicante maybe it is fortunate. If anyone has seen elf, you now know how I feel when I shower. My showerhead is about 6 inches below my head, so I lean over while I shower but I don't care cause I HAVE HOT WATER. This may seem strange for me to be so excited but we didn't have hot water in Alicante. I still find a hot shower to be one of the most enjoyable experiences ever after suffering through ice showers for 4 months.

I have been e-mailing back and forth with a lady named Laura about watching her two daughters. It would cut my weekends down to three days instead of 4 but it would give me some extra income. I wouldn't start until November 1st so Ill keep everyone updated.

BEST DAY EVER

Today we went to the beach at a town called Garrucha. It was the best. day. ever.

We woke up to catch the bus in town at 7:00. I am pretty sure we were the only people awake at that time except for the drunks we passed in the street. Workday here does not start til about 10. We had a ticket to Vera, a small town that ended up being about 5 miles from the beach. Since I am not a big fan of hitchhiking we bought another ticket to Garrucha. The trip all together en

ded up being about 3 euros each way, but I am willing to make that sacrifce for a good tan (or burn) ;) We got to the beach at about 7:30 and had time to watch part of the sunrise. While we were sitting on the wall watching, this car of Spanish men came up and started asking us to go to the club with them. (There are clubs that are open from 7-10am) We politely declined and after about 15 minutes, the men drove off singing Soccer chants. If the people here worked half as hard at their jobs as they do trying to pick up girls, Spain could probably be the most successful country in the world. Next, we went to a cafe and got Coffee and Media Tostada con Tomate. Media tostada is a half of one side of a baguette...if that makes sense. They take crushed tomatoes and spread it on top with salt and olive oil. I have eaten more tomatoes here than I have ever eaten in my life. They are the best tomatoes in the world (except for the ones from our garden :-P ) However, I am starving. I need McDonalds, badly. I asked if they had one in this town and after giving me a dirty look the waitress said no. :( I guess my diet will live another day. After a lengthy breakfast we go out to the beach. The temp is about 85 degrees and the water is crystal clear. We stayed there til about 2 and then we went up for lunch and I got patatas bravas. They are french fries with some sort of red sauce and garlic mayo. They are AMAZING. Then we went back to the beach til about 7pm. Our bus didn't leave til 9 so we went back to the cafe for drinks. The mean, skinny waitress was gone and was replaced by a robust 40 year old Spanish man. We all ordered tinto de verano...its a summer red wine I guess. I think it is sangria with carbonation. Since we were the only ones in there we got free drinks and had mixed nuts for dinner.

We got back to our house and then got ready to go out. There was a party in one of the neighborhoods of the city so we decided to go. The picture is of me making mojitos at one of the bodegas. We worked (and played) til about 1am and then came home to go to sleep after our big day! Overall it is the best day I have had here in Spain so far. It sucks living so far from the beach :) hehehe but I guess I will have to deal with it.

Now ask me questions or tell me what you want to hear about for the next blog. I will try to make them more frequent now that I am settled. I love you guys and miss everyone!!!

Tiffy

Mission: Find Internet

So I have made it to Huercal-Overa. It's a lot bigger than I thought. It is about a 30 minute walk from one side to the other. We arrived by bus and got a taxi to our hotel that CIEE (our program) had set up for us. The hotel was 15 miles outside of the city!!!! Riding in our seperate taxi's (our luggage was too big for anything less), we all thought the drivers were going to murder us. I was like "ummm where is the hotel? And he was like, oh its really far!! Why are you staying out here?" So we got to the hotel and its the kind where the doors open right to the outside. You know, the type of hotels people are ALWAYS murdered at in movies? Yeah. So we stayed there that night and promptly switched to a hostel in the middle of the city. Its suuuuper nice. So that all worked out. Aside from that, the rest of the trip was fine. The 13 hour bus trip was not as terrible as it sounds and crossing the Sierra Nevadas was a real treat.

Spanish lesson:

nada: nothing or not

mucho: much

que pasa?: whats up

nada mucho: he swims a lot.

So when someone asks you whats up and you try to say not much....you end up saying he swims a lot.

"What's up?"

"He swims a lot."

.....

Ill write more when I am less lazy.

Love you guys!!!