Culture culture culture

I love the fact that there are pastelerías everywhere here in Spain. So many goodies to try! Yet I have the worst luck picking good ones. Like these, for example. Looks like an unsuspecting cupcake, no? WRONG! It's a weird meringue type thing that is all cream and after two bites will set your heart to the pace of a marathon runner. Who wants a massive amount of cream to eat? Yikes!

Two months here already and sometimes I still feel like I've barely touched the iceberg in regards to Spanish culture. Not to mention all the various South American cultures I am adjusting to as well! And trying to keep all the dialects straight makes my head dizzy at times! When can I say "computadora" without people chuckling? When should I try adding the "th" in words like "gracias"? Do you mind if I say "de la mañana" instead of "por la mañana"? Just how many contexts can I use the word "coger" in (I hear it so much I don't know the exact meaning)? Gah!

I dearly wish I had practiced more before leaving! I have a group of 12 year olds that I tutor who constantly giggle at my pathetic attempts. Several weeks ago we read a murder mystery that was difficult for them to understand. We had to talk about a gun (pistola) and as I was translating for them instead of "pistola" I said "pilota" (which means pilot). Oh how they laughed! Even now that it is several weeks later they still ask me about the "pilota" story to tease me! I also have to watch my pronunciation. With my class with some middle-aged women we were talking about drawers (cajon) and I was lazy with the pronunciation of the "a" and said "cojon" without realizing it. After the laughter subsided they kindly told me that "cojon" is not a drawer but a part of the male anatomy. OOPS! We then got to discuss how to say "blush" in English.

Not to mention not making faux pas just walking down the street. If you want to stand still on the escalator make sure you stand on the right side or people just may get a bit tetchy with you! People may also give you funny looks if you wear sunglasses on your head (not many people wear them in winter and I have not noticed a single Spaniard with them on their head). And please try to remember your students' names when you run into them on the street!

On a more serious note, I am finding more and more just how safe Spain is when compared to the United States (touristy areas are the exception here, though! ¡Cuídate!) One night as I was walking home from tutoring along a semi-deserted street near the railway a van pulled up to me and a man started shouting something at me. It was dark, no one else was around, and every fiber in my body was screaming to ignore him and keep walking quickly to the nearest block of houses. He finally drove off around the corner. Minutes later when I turned the man was out of his van and was angry with me, saying he was trying to ask me a question because he was lost. Oops! Also, one day I decided to read for awhile in a gorgeous park in downtown Madrid. Now Madrid is a place to watch yourself carefully for pickpockets. I found a nice, quiet, unoccupied bench and began reading a new book. A half hour later an older man came and sat down next to me, even though there were several unoccupied benches surrounding that little area. My purse was between him and me and I slowly (and as surreptituosly as possibe) began to sneak my fingers around the handle of my purse. I sat in this tense state for about a haf hour before he very kindly asked me the time and walked off, telling me to have a lovely day.

I always wonder, how much should I trust? I know I need to be careful, but then again, I live in a country where it is perfectly safe to walk home unaccompanied at 2 in the morning. People generally know that the "pueblos" (smaller towns) are safer than the city. It is not uncommon to start random conversations in the street (so many older ladies will just come up and start speaking to me! Some will even continue when they realize that I am not Spanish!) I don't want to insult anyone or let my distrust of others cause me to lose an opportunity to share with others.

On a lighter note, Thanksgiving was wonderful, as I got to have a traditional American feast after a non-traditional day of work. :) I am truly thankful and blessed by the Munroes and all they have done for me since my arrival here. I am also thankful that my kitchen is finally done! Look how pretty it is! Here comes Christmas season! Woot!

¡Comida comida!

¡Ay! It has been awhile. My poor old Lappy suffered a heart attack and I am now getting to know my LappyII (that's Lappy el Segundo or 2°) I love being able to type that!

This section is dedicated to the lovely food of Spain. Honestly, it was one of the things I was looking forward to the most. I am in love with the food here.

However, as many of you know, I am a picky eater. If you truly know who I am, you will NEVER offer me a PB&J. I hate cooked fruit! No fruit pies, no jelly, no jam, nothing like that. I also detest beans and olives and many cooked vegetables (although I am coming to terms with them). However I don't want to be rude so I pick things out with great ease and say nothing. however, last week I was at a friends house picking out kidney beans. I realized the kidney bean pile was half of the food on my plate and started panicking, because it was so noticeable! So I asked for more salad and started surreptitiously covering their weird texture with fresh lettuce. It helped.

Since then I have eaten many things I would NEVER eat in the states! The list goes as follows:

Beer: not too bad. it's cheap and you get free tapas. Add some Fanta limón (to make a drink called clara) and I can manage jsut fine.
Olives: heck no...so gross
Jelly: yes, I ate jelly! it was nasty as ever
Tomatoes: coupled with Zuchinni, not so bad

Also, I attended a women's retreat last weekend and got a good dose of Spanish food. Traditional meals go as follows:
You sit at a table with a basket of fresh bread in the middle (oh...the amazing bread here) as well as a couple of appetizers (tapas). You much on the bread and tapas, and then you're salad is brought out. This could be lettuce or cooked veggies. Then soup comes. My first meal I thought "Hmmm...I may be a little hungry later, but this is a nice lunch). Oh but wait. Next comes another dish, more veggies or perhaps a full plate of pasta. Ah! Now I can be full! By the end of this dish I usually regret eating all of my lovely bread. I sit back, relax, thinking of what the postre (dessert) will be. Instead, they bring out the meat! ANOTHER PLATE? Which of course is delicious and you want to eat, but by the end when the dessert arrives you are nearly panting from exhaustion. Thankfully desserts here are light (often consists of only fruit or perhaps yogurt...only one day did I get helado...or ice cream). I quickly learned to moderate.

Here is a picture of the famous Spanish dish...paella. I have never seen one so big...it was more than enough to feed 50 hungry women! Yummy rice mixed with veggies and meat (usually shell fish but in this case chicken).



I am also starting to learn to cook Spanish dishes (maybe even some French ones) from my land lady. Today we discovered we both like to cook and I have already helped her with three dishes! I cannot wait to share them with you. :) I'm going to start my own little "cook book" to take home.

I miss some of the food back home, but I figure I will enjoy what I have while I have it. I know I will miss this food when I get home. So easy come easy go.

La Guernica and other odds and ends

Yes! I have finally seen it up close...Guernica. Last time I was in Spain I went to the Prado (art museum) and unfortunately arrived just as the special exhibit was closing, which happened to be showing Picasso. Now seeing the famous Velazquez painting was of course cool, but seeing a Picasso has been a goal of mine. My roomate and I honestly stood before this massive mural for about 10 minutes. I could barely speak from the awe of it all. The grotesque distortion of figures, the symbolism, the pain that you could almost tangibly feel emanating from this piece of work. It's still more than I can describe.

This week has been an eventful one! I now have 5 tutoring jobs to keep me busy during the week. Most of them are having conversations with Spaniards, in groups of about two or three. I'm even going to meet with one of the teachers from my school! I am very excited about this, although not being the most talkative person in the world, I have no idea what to talk about! I also have started attending an "intercambio" that takes place here in Alcala. An intercambio is where you speak part of the time in one language (spanish) the rest in another (this case English). I met many interesting people. One guy was from France, and we did fine in the Spanish hour, but when we got to the English hour he really struggled and we actually had to clarify with each other in Spanish, since it was our only common language! That was quite the experience. I even met a man here who apparently is obsessed with the NBA and NFL. When I told him I was from Sacramento, he said, "Oh! Sacramento Kings!" That was quite exciting. I mean, they aren't doing so well and all, so that someone from Spain actually knows them is amazing to me! We shook hands and declared each other friends. :)

Teaching has also been proving interesting. The children are still very talkative, but I am quickly learning their names and they are starting to respond to me very positively. Also, in two classes I take out small groups, which is more fun because I can get to know them better. I can't wait until I can start playing games and reading to them. My favorite! I am also loving my science classes. One teacher is very outgoing and you never know what she's going to do next. She wears super trendy crazy colored clothes and rides to school in a bright red Vespa. She pretends to pick her nose and wipe it on kids. She can definitely hold their attention, something that is desperately needed here. One day we were talking about smells that were bad, and students needed help knowing how to say things in English. One kid metioned a word that I didn't know, and the teacher turned to me and asked "How do you say to pass the gas by.." and made a motion towards her rear. I tried very hard not to laugh and said, "Fart." The children were held in rapt attention. In the states they would have been rolling on the floor! Then of course we move on to burp (with demonstrations, of course), pee, and poop. Now this teacher has visited the U.S. and when we got to "poop" she turned to me and said, "S***, right?" AUGH! I politely but firmly said No, that was not a word to use and told her it was Poop. Oh man, what an interesting day!

I have also decided that I do not want to eat hamburgers here anymore. At the intercambio I decided to have a hamburger, since I didn't know many of the other things on the menu. The next morning I woke up feeling horribly sick and barely left my bed the entire day. You can use your imagination for what happened in between. But I think I am safe in saying that I will not eat another until I am safe in an In-N-Out, unless it is offered to me and I can't politely refuse. *shivers* I miss American burgers.

The highlight of my week was meeting at a book study group that some women my age at my church started. There were just three of us this week and we will start a new book on Prayer next week. But it was something I sorely needed. I have missed small group very much (Remant I miss you!) as well as my accoountability group back home. And I didn't realize how much I have missed fellowship until the end when they asked for prayer requests. It took me a minute to think of something. I can't explain why, but sending requests to friends back home is easy, but here it took me by surprise. And while we were praying I just started crying. I truly am becoming part of what is going on here. Participating in corporate prayer is so important, how could I have forgotten I need it while I'm here?

Since then I have been feeling more and more like Alcala is my home. I found out I can put up pictures on my wall, something that has always been important to me. Also, when I come home by train and begin to see the familiar hills that overlook Alcala I feel welcomed. God has told me that He is using this time so that I can come to know Him more and more, and that later in life I will look back on this experience as a special time I had just with Him. He has removed me from everyone I love and all that is familiar to me so that I can rely more and more on Him. And He reveals Himself to me daily. It is amazing to me how while I initally came here thinking that my goal was to show Jesus to people here by the way I live my life, I am instead finding out more of who He is. I am growing to love Spain more and more and am learning to see these people through His eyes as a result of learning more about Him. He will use me as He chooses and it will always be to His glory, but first and foremost my eyes are set on Him.

I love you all very much and miss you, but I would not trade this experience for the world.

Me in Madrid in front of Hotel Mediodia. Riveting, I know.

Spainiards think highly of there metro syestem (which is quite good). This ad cracks me up! There's others that depcit other countries wanting one, too, but the look on Lady Liberty's face...priceless!

Feel the power of the phantom mullet...

Plaza de Cervantes decked out for the festival!

I just wanted to start off by saying that there is a very important point I neglected to add to my list of things I was not expecting: mullets! Now, I have heard that they are less and less common here than in years past, but I still see people of various ages and genders wandering around with mullets. And with clothing styles these days beginning to relive the glory of the 80's, sometimes I wonder if my airplane was in reality a time machine.

But in all seriousness I am finally starting to feel like I am truly settling into life here in Spain. I began teaching this week and my goodness is it an adjustment! Now, in the states I have gotten decently good at managing a class. I do not feel the need to worry about students talking too much and when I talk to them they will listen to me. But here the discipline style is different than in the states. My little "teacher tricks" to help get kids' attention don't work here because they don't know them. And then when I speak in English (it is absolutely forbidden I speak in Spanish to the students) many times they have no idea what I'm saying. At all.

But I'm not terribly worried about it. I was able to teach one of my classes a trick that I learned from one of my Cooperating Teachers. The regular teacher had not arrived yet Wednesday morning and I had a substitute with me who had no idea how to speak English nor what we should do for the day. It was only my second time in their class and I had no idea what to do. I had one worksheet to do with them about body parts. Let me tell you, I was nearly at my wits' end by the end of the lesson. These are very sweet kids, just used to getting up out of their seats constantly and were always always talking. So in the last 10 minutes of our time I told them I wanted to teach them a game. They could earn points, and I could earn points. Whenever they were talking and I put my hand up and silently counted down with my fingers 5, 4. 3, 2, 1, 0 they needed to be quiet. If by the time I got to 0 they were completely quiet, they earned a point. If not everyone was quiet, I earned a point. We practiced it and they caught on quickly. So now when I see the teacher again I'm going to ask if I can continue this with them. Hopefully I can end up doing this in all my classes.

Meanwhile, I have continued exploring some of what Alcala de Henares has to offer. I am starting to feel more at ease with finding my way around town (armed with my map of the town, of couse). I have found the nearest "target" type store, the post office (to mail my ballot!) and I have even started tutoring a 15 year old girl in English. She is quite advanced so I have to study before helping her! Also, tow girls at my church approached me and asked me if I liked basketball. I was thinking they meant watching beasketball, which of course I love (c'mon Kings...pull it together!) and after I said yes they were excited because they meet to play every Friday. GULP! But then they have a women's book group that meets afterwards every week! And it's not too terribly far from here! I have bene praying for more opportunities to meet Spaniards here and create friendships. This will totally work! Also, Kathie invited me to lunch with another girl from our church who is my age and we talked about getting together to see a movie (in English) in Madrid. So while things are slow now I am hoping that they will pick up soon.

Now for my amusing tale of the week. So, this morning I was doing my laundry. As you know, my dryer is not the best. It's pretty bad, actually. So I took some of my thicker clothes outside to hang on the line in the back. When I finished I turned around I made a horrible discovery: I had shut the sliding glass door and it only opens from the inside! Crap! I tried knocking on the door but the construction workers were on break and Kris was in her room upstairs with the door closed.
Now, there is a small enclave behind our house that all the houses on our block share. I knew that there were little gates leading into this enclave from the outside. I thought if I hopped the fence into this enclave I could go to a gate and then go in through the front door.
So I threw my slippers over the chain-link fence and found a pot to stand on so I could hop it (it is a very rusty and wobbly gate). I then walked to the nearest gate to find that it was locked. Inside and out. So I walked to another to find that that one was locked. I considered hopping the fence over to Gordon and Kathie's, but I really dont like hopping fences and I was afraid it would freak them out. So I stand there wondering what the crud I'm going to do, half hoping someone will see me in my plight. I'm in my freaking slippers, for Pete's sake!
So I do spot another gate and decide to try it. I can see the highschoolers walking home and hope maybe one will come in. Unlikely but I'm desperate. When I arrive there I notice there is a low wall next to it that could be easily hopped over into the street. However, that wouldbe embarrassing becasue the street is rather busy. Ido ask a man walking by if he has a key, but no luck.
SO end of story I hope over the wall, hoping no one thinks I'm finishing a break in job in my fuzzy slippers and walk around the block back home, trying desperately not to laugh out loud the whole time. Ahhh....
This is the scene of the crime! Pot and all!

Also, as some of you know, our house is currently under construction because we are getting a new kitchen! And man is it a mess! Our makeshift kitchen is in the basement and we have all the amenties except for a working sink. We wash dishes outside using the hose and a bin. I keep telling myself it's like camping. Also, we have no hot water. Praise God for Kathie! We can take showers there (whew!) However, the noise is crazy (esp when they were knocking down a wall) and the past couple days I have had off for a festival but have not been able to sleep in or rest very much. Ah well. The kitchen will be awesome.

This used to be our kitchen wall.


This is our kitchen as of last night.
Anyway, enjoy the pics! Thank you to those who have been e-mailing me and commenting on facebook! I love hearing form you all! Hasta luego!


At the Festival de Cervantes all the booth workers were dressed traditionally. And the food was soooo yummy!

My street!


Well, I have been here officially one week (well, at 11PM or 23.00 tonight!) It has been a very eventful week and I am finally slowing down from all the adventures!

My roomates are very nice. I rarely get to see my Spanish roomate, Ana, because of her tennis pratice, although when we have hung out she seems very sweet and nice. I really like having Kristen around. She is a fellow Office fan (although it is difficult to find websites that will stream it outside of the US....stupid hulu and NBC.com!) but we are making the best of it. So no one tell me what happens, because I will watch them but a bit delayed!

I found out that Alcalá de Henares is quite historical. It is the birth place of Miguel Cervantes and there are many beautiful buildings here. I hav enjoyed just wandering around downtown and seeing the sites. I eventually had to stop taking so many pictures because they all are really beautiful!

I did get to explore Madrid a little with one of my co-workers (she's from England and it was fun talking about the differences betwene our countries). We found an English used bookstore that apparently is very popular with the English community. It is small but quite a comfort. They even sometimes sell Reese's PB cups! Now I just need to find a used music store with English music and then I'm set!

Here is a list of things that I didn't expect to have to get used to:

• flushing the toilet by pulling up on a knob on top of the tank
• the shower head being in the middle of the main wall (what the crud is that all about?)
• military time
• spotty internet
• saying "zumo" for juice instead of "jugo"
• hanging up my clothes inside of the dryer (see pic...this took about 5 hours to dry and they were still damp)
• Chinese stores (I've been assured this is not racist, they are stores that consist of items made in China and are similar to American Dollar Stores...very handy)
• Having a maid (Maria Angeles is very nice!)
• church being a 2 hour train ride away
• leaving my window open and not worrying about bugs (not many mosquitoes here, although a cranefly did visit me one night)
• different light switches (like one giant square)
• street signs being on the buildings...so hard to spot!
• 

I'll probably think of more later, but those to me are the most prevalent. Our house if very nice (Geoff, we have a Nintendo64 and I'm keeping up on my MarioKart skills! Ha!) We are under construciton right now (renovating the downstairs and the kitchen)so sleeping in is impossible, even on Saturdays. But it is peaceful and I love that the Munroes are 3 doors away. I had told Kathie about my love for cookies and she surprised me one night with a homemade batch! I felt so loved I could cry!

Ok, so funny "crud, I don't know much Spanish" story. I desperately needed to wash some clothes so I went to a couple of different stores to see what kind of detergent I could get cheap. I saw some in bottles and it was after school and I didn't want to lug a large box home. I double checked it to make sure it wasn't like dishsoap or something. I knew that the one I bought was for clothes. Well, I got home and realized the liquid was blue and that I had only bought fabric softener. I guess detergent doesn't come in liquid! Oy!

People have been very patient with me (like when getting a phone and asking about Internet options) even when I tell them I don't know very much. I can't wait until I know more and can start to really converse with people!

Well, that's all for now (this is rather long). Enjoy the pics (more on facebook for you members!) Love you lots!

Along this street there are cloistered nuns who sell really yummy sugared almonds!


There are many little stores down the street that specialize in something I need. This fruteria smells so good when you walk past it!


This is one of the many pictures I took in Madrid. This park was so beautiful! It even has little forests in them!

POR la manana, no DE la manana

Well, my friends, I am safely here in Madrid. It has been quite an experience getting here. Since I am a chronological thinker, I will start at the beginning!

So, I had this slight problem with my baggage, in that one bag weighed 70 pounds and the wieght limit is 50 lbs per bag and you get 2 bags. My smaller one was about 30, so I surreptitiously put my small bag on the scale frist and then threw on my big one...I think I made it without a charge becasue they said nothing, except the guy loading it commented how heavy it was and it got a special sticker (darn books will get you every time). then as I went through security they immediately pulled me over to the side away from the line. This freaked me out at first but the lady kept calling me "dear" and "sweetie" so I figured they didn't think I was a terrorist. But they did blow test me for explosives and open all my bags in front of me.

Sitting there I was trying to stay real calm...I mean, I had just said goodbye to my family and I was saying good-bye to my home country, and for some reason I was calmed by seeign my flute come out of my bag. I always find comfort in small familiar things while travelling, and seeing my flute and knowing it was with me gave me some comfort. Weird, I know.

The flight from SFO to London was good. I sat next to a french couple that was very nice. Prinfe Caspian was showing on the plane, and for those of you who know me well you know I was VERY happy with that. I didn't sleep much though, and was starting to feel it when we arrived in London. (BTW, I was on the side of the plane where I got to see Buckingham Palace, London Bridge, and the Thames River. SO COOL!)

So, I have never flown alone before, much less internationally. And the place to beign navigating on your own is NOT London Heath Row (LHR). It was like an endless maze to "connecting flights." Around a circle of stairs, a subway type vehicle to a building, then more stairs, then a bus to another terminal, more stairs, security (again?) where I lost my hair cutting scissors (totally forgot I had them in my bag) then an endless maze to find my non-existent gate.

Because my flight was cancelled.

Crud. So I talk to the nearest information person and she stared at me like I had four noses. I had to explain that I dont fly much and I don't know what to do. So I had to go back to the Iberia desk and request a new flight. Which also meant that I had to find a way to get a hold of Kathie to let her know I'd be an hour late. There was WIFI but it cost to buy and my dear laptop only has a battery life of 9 minutes. So a very sweet lady helped me dial internationally.

I was frazzled by this point. It was about 6 in the morning CA time and I had slept about 20 minutes. So I decided to calm down and pull out my Bible and pray for awhile. I have been reading Acts and it's been a huge comfort to me to read all that Paul went through (I have it infinitely easier!)

Then God revealed something to me. I was sitting there with my two big bags of stuff, expecting to find comfort that at least some of my things were with me, even though I had no clue if my baggage would make it to my new flight (I switched airlines). But suddenly I had no desire for them to find comfort. I am not here in Spain to find comfort in things. I am here for the people. It was like God completely removed my dependence for things familiar, and I was completely ok with it.

Then this morning I went to the Munroes church. Everyone was very welcoming (one woman was already asking if I could teach her English). I came to Spain fully ready and expecting that everything will be different. The language, the way we greet each other (30+ new people and only one handshake!), the songs, everything. So when worship started I was even expecting my interaction with God to be different. But He was the one thing that was the same. I know we say that God doesn't change and is alwas the same, but for me to know that He is the same here as in California really made a huge impact on me. And it wasn't like the way that my books I brought are the same. It was like He was saying "I've been here all along. Welcome." And He truly is the same here as everywhere else. The one thing that's the same. SO althouh He removewd my necesity for things familiar, He remained incredibly the same.

I will write more about my house and roomates later. I did meet my land lady last night and got several Spanish lessons :) I am posting a picture of the view from my room. This si basically what my house looks like. I have a brand new bed, desk, and drawers in my room. I am very blessed and am starting to feel right at home!

I wonder if the parking is always like that.

Welcome!

Bienvenidos a mi...¿blogo? Things like that will soon end, as I will know how to say blog in Spanish. My dear friends and family, I am not quite gone yet, but you have indeed found my blog for my trip to Spain. Stay tuned for more interesting updates and pictures. Comments are welcome (even for you smart alecks).

¡Hasta luego!