The secret of life? It's in the sauce!

I'm in the home stretch...only two weeks till lil' Rhody.

Not a whole lot has gone on in the last few weeks. I'm still working a ton and my kids are still crazy. At school some of the classes are preparing for the Christmas pageant and its a disaster. I spent all of last week teaching the 6 first grade classes how to make reindeer with their hands and feet. By the end of the week I was convinced there was no hope for the future of humanity. On a positive note I haven't seen anymore fallen teeth, although none of my students seem to have front teeth anymore. "All I want for Christmas are my two front teeth, my two front teeth..."

My friends from school and I have started playing poker recently, Texas Hold'em to be exact. On Friday I had everyone over my place to play and it was wicked fun. Nothing better than drinks and poker, and the fact that I was dominating didn't hurt.

On Sunday Steve and I went off in search of a Christmas gift for his wife. After four hours or so of walking through the crowded city we were not successful. However, we did have an interesting culinary day: For breakfast we enjoyed a Napolitana, which is basically heaven in your mouth...a flaky, buttery, chocolate crossaint, and for lunch we braved caracoles. Caracoles are snails. Not the French escargot that everyone always thinks of, these are snails in their shells soaking in a spicy oil sauce. While I probably wouldn't have them again because the sauce was too spicy for me, I did enjoy the atmosphere of the bar. It's a famous place at the top of the Rastro that is known for the snails. The old man behind the bar is that notorious old as dirt, never-going-to-retire, possible Francista, loving life gentlemen that rules the place. I would love to listen to him talk about life and the Franco era.

This whole weekend was supposed to be a puente. Today, Tuesday, is a holiday so I don't have to work in Rivas until Wednesday. However, I was supposed to work yesterday at Mosaic. Out of my 9 students on Mondays, not a single one called to tell me they weren't coming to class. Instead I waited from 630 (for my first class) until 830 (my second class starts at 8 but I have to wait a half hour to make sure no one comes) at the academy with not a single one walking through the door. This could have been a pefrect four day weekend to travel somewhere in Spain but instead I had to stay just in case one of my students showed up. Pretty much bullshit if you ask me.

Oh and as promised: A five-hundred euro bill...

Negative: 3,430 miles.

Positive: Lights are up in the city again!

Estoy en mi salsa

I thought that last year I had seen everything at my school, I didn't think there was anything left that could gross me out, shock me, or disturb me. I was completely wrong. This year I have had no less then 6 kids lose a tooth while under my supervision. How do I know they lost their tooth? It all starts the same way: I feel a slight tug on my clothing, followed by the ever irritating " MEL-a-KNEEEEEEEEEE", as I quickly turn to assist the young child I think is in tremendous distress with my ever calming "What?", my open palm is met with a saliva and blood mixture of freshly fallen tooth. I proceed accordingly (hiding my utter disgust) and suggest the kid run to the bathroom to clean up, while craftily constructing a tiny paper envelope with said tooth. We wouldn't want the Tooth Fairly (or in Spain: the little mouse Perez) So much excitement in the first month a half, roughly a tooth a week.

Right, as I said earlier I was saving my opinions about one of the new girls because it was too early to judge. Well, now its later and my original opinion stands firm: she sucks. I can't even express how much disdain I have for this Scottish girl. She is rude, obnoxious, and just plain terrible at life. After it was brought to my attention that my 'tone' when addressing her was a little harsh (it's like Keith and Monique came to Spain with me) I chilled out a bit. While I didn't go out of my way to talk to her, I was still more pleasant when in her company. Then she got worse; not talking to anyone else, putting her headphones on when we were all together, and of course, my favorite, doing absolutely nothing for the Halloween play except screw up the one task she was given. Yeah...I was done. What's worse is other teachers are saying things to me about her wondering what her story is. Everyone notices that she is making absolutely no effort to get to know anyone, and what's worse is that she doesn't make an effort in class. On Thursday we had a nice little altercation (clearly I was the victor) and I think she realizes where I stand. Of course I know this doesn't mean she's going to change (nor would I have expected it to) but I hope she realizes that I have four years of girl-fight bitchiness saved up from high school since I never used it back then! I kid...but seriously.

On a positive note my Spanish is getting better at a steady rate. I've always had troubling learning a language. I'm not sure if it was because, believe it or not, I was always too shy in class to talk or if because my mind just doesn't grasp languages, or something else entirely, but I just could never seem to learn Spanish. When I first arrived in Madrid last year I was beyond nervous, I was always afraid to speak because I thought I'd be wrong. Even at school with the teachers I had a difficult time speaking Spanish and feeling comfortable. As the year progressed I started to recognize the things I was learning, I started noticing that I was understanding people better and taking directions well. When friends and family came to visit the role of translator obviously fell to me and it felt good. I know I didn't get everything correct, but I was understood and able to get everything we needed. Big confidence boost. I was nervous about going home for a month and not using my Spanish this summer, but something great happened. I realized that I was still thinking in Spanish and practicing how I would report back to my Spanish friends the things that had happened to me. For most of the summer when I returned to Madrid I was on my own. All that time forced me to be self sufficient and proactive with the upcoming year. Now, for the first time in my life, I feel confident in my Spanish speaking ability. While I would never say that I'm even close to fluent, I can easily say that I can take care of myself. Things are starting to fall into place and I'm able to grasp concepts that have alluded me for some time now. I'm excited to learn new words and phrases and, to the dismay of my friends, I practice using them...a lot. One more year here and I'll be set!

My classes outside of school have been pretty great. As I mentioned before I have a private class twice a week with 7 and 10 year old brothers. They are so funny and fun to work with. I spend a half an hour with each but it always flies by. They have a 3 year old brother who is also learning English at his school and loves to come in and show me what he's learned. As of now he's learned "no", "green", and "blue", but I'm sure he'll surprise me with something new this week. At the academy my adult classes are also going well. My private classes with Nayda are a breeze because we just talk about life, since I've been having classes with her since last Fall. The lower level of my group classes is decent, not has funny as the other but they try hard. Recently I taught them "hickey" because one of them came in with a giant one on their neck, he wasn't phased at all. The other group classes always has me laughing. There are five of them and we all get along so well. There's a perfect dynamic in the room and activities go over well. Three of the girls are still in highschool so we always have a good laugh over how ridiculous their days are with exams and highschool drama. This is by far my favorite class of adults I've ever had. I hope the class stays the same into next year.

On Sunday I went to the annual Botillo lunch/dinner with friends from work. Last year it was held at Juanma's house but this year there were too many people so we had it at Gabriel's parents' house. Gorgeous house with a terrace and patio to congregate on, and believe it or not in the middle of November we were able to have dinner outside and stay out until 6pm. This year four more teachers from school came as well as some friends of Gabriel's wife. In total we were fifteen and it couldn't have been more perfect. Once again I did not eat the food because it was meat and because it looks like one of the most revolting things ever...but I heard it was good. The company was good, the conversations were lively, and the wine flowed. Perfect end to the weekend. (ps I know my bangs are messed up in the picture and a ton of people are missing.)

Negative: Not being able to stay overnight at the farm with the teachers.

Positive: Seeing Conchi and Esteban after such a long time.

The rain in Spain falls mainly in Vigo!

In Spain they have things called 'Puentes' which literally translates to 'bridges'...but in the sense I'm referring to they're also long weekends. Usually they take this name because if a holiday is on a Thursday then you get the Friday off as well and it 'bridges' the gap to the weekend. Last week the city of Madrid had Monday off; now I usually have Mondays off in Rivas but not in Madrid. This long weekend allowed me to have Monday off completely so I decided to take a nice little getaway. I know Spain pretty well but have mostly done the south, this year I am determined to do the north. Many people say this is easily the best and most breathtaking part of Spain so I figured its a must do. Thus, I bought a bus ticket to Vigo.

Vigo is on the coast and very close to Portugal, and at this time of year it rains, a lot. The secretary at Mosaic is from there and she was also heading home for the weekend so we caught the night bus together. We left at midnight on Friday and arrived early morning Saturday. I had decided to stay in the city center in a hotel for the first night because I wanted alone time and I didn't want Ana to have to take time away from her family. It worked out perfectly though because the hotel let me check in when I arrived at 8am and I was able to take a much needed nap. While the night bus is a good idea because you don't lose a day of travel sitting in a bus...you also don't sleep very comfortably. I awoke from my nap around noon and took off in the rain in search of everything the center of Vigo had to offer. Well, since there were no cruise ships in harbor that left very little!

My hotel was wicked close to the water so I started there just walking along the pier. I took some great pictures as the weather was in and out of sun, clouds, and fog. From there I found my way to 'La Piedra' which is the old quarter as well as the rustic shopping district. Because of the weather everything looked closed but it was nice to window shop. I wandered my way through the narrow streets and found the main street running through the new shopping district. I sat for awhile people watching as well as listening because in this area of Spain some people still speak Gallego. Vigo is part of Galicia and the language is a cross between Spanish and Portuguese. It was absolutely fascinating because its a combination of the two languages I have studied and practiced.
After walking around and admiring the architecture I made my way back to the port for lunch. When I mentioned at school on Friday that I was going to Vigo everyone warned me about the weather and how I wouldn't get to see as much. My response? I was only there to eat the 'pulpo'! I don't think I've ever been so excited for lunch in my life (well...maybe for pea soup). I found a quiet little restaurant and got out of the cold. I think I impressed the waitresses with my ordering skills because I wanted the traditional things that Vigo had to offer. I had a bowl caldo gallego (other regions have caldo but they're all made differently...essentially the difference between New England Clam chowder, Rhode Island, and Manhattan), then the main dish was the pulpo (octopus), and of course a bottle of white wine from the area. It couldn't have been more perfect, definitely one of the best meals I've ever had.

On Sunday morning I checked out of the hotel and made my way back down to the water. I sat for an hour or so just absorbing the fresh air and watching the Sunday activity. Then more rain so I found myself a bar and did Sudoku while drinking coffee. I met up with Ana at 1pm and she gave me a tour of the town as we headed back to the outskirts where she lived. We met her parents at a place for lunch and they were great. They complimented my Spanish so obviously I loved them immediately. Her mother is the typical Spanish woman; upon meeting her I had completely lost all personal space and I had to see everything the building had to offer. Her father is the typical Spanish man; He compared everything to the US and was constantly trying to see if I liked the food here or from home better. I just don't know how to tactfully tell Spaniards that they only offer the same 6 dishes here in Spain. I guess its just something I'll have to learn keep my mouth shut on and only nod. Speaking of tact I've explained many times that it is lacking in this country. Whatever comes into their heads leaves their mouths. While we were waiting for the food Ana's mother was scolding her and telling her that she needs to eat more because she is too skinny. Then she looks at me and says "See, obviously Melanie eats"...haha. I just laughed and the conversation continued to another topic because to them comments like this are normal. I handled it fine. Granted, she wasn't telling me anything I didn't already know, but I've also just learned to accept the way people here talk. I don't think anything could surprise me anymore.After lunch Ana and I went to her sister's house to pick up her niece and nephew and head to the mountains. Her brother-in-law came with us and was a great tour guide. We drove to the top of the mountain and had an amazing view of the entire city. We hung out on the mountain for awhile and then finally made our way back to their house. After, we went back out to see the beaches at night, absolutely breathtaking. We saw three beaches and then called it a night because the kids were getting tired. We came back for dinner and then made our way to her parents' house because they were bringing us to the airport. The entire family was so welcoming and made sure I had a great time. The trip was perfect because I had a break from Madrid and I got to see an insiders tour of Vigo.

The bus ride home was awful, but I made it home in time on Monday to rub it in Steve's face that he had to go to work and I could sleep all day. I'm such an amazing roommate! I spent the rest of the day catching up on sleeping and going through my photos. Perfect puente.

Negative: Rest stop bathrooms.

Positive: My new rain resistent boots.

Hacchppy Hacchlloween!

I'd first like to start with a warning. This blog post is in no way funny or clever and I apologize for that.

School has been pretty normal. I'm definitely liking my new schedule of having Mondays off. Mondays are the worst days for both the kids and the teachers and now I get to avoid it. Secondly, we always go out for lunch on Friday and its fun! I met up with Raul one day since I hadn't seen him since June. I can't even explain how exciting it was. We went out for lunch and it brought back a lot of memories. I of course filled him in on how different everything in the English room was this year and begged him to come back and save me. He's still waiting to be placed in a school so there is still hope.

At Halloween time the school asks the assistants to perform a scary play, last year we did ¨Hansel and Gretel go Trick or Treating¨, this year we decided to put a Halloween spin on Rapunzel. Basically, for the last two weeks we haven´t had classes because we´ve been preparing for the show. We made a tower, a cardboard horse for the prince, pumpkins for the background, and various little odds and ends that involved a lot of painting.
On the next free day we did the script and costumes, and rehearsed a million times. Steve played the ever so charming prince, Fiona played Rapunzel, Sarah the witch, and I played the narrator...you´d be surprised how much I hate standing in front of people and talking. We performed six shows on Thursday and six on Friday and they all went rather smoothly. The biggest problem was when certain actors ad lib-ed and I lost my concentration, most of the play was to our benefit. The children only understood about 15% of what we said so we added popular lines from famous movies to make it better for us, and some of the teachers. At the end the children had to hold out their hands and say ¨Trick or Treat¨and we gave them candies. Here children, have some more sugar because you´re not hyper enough!

As far as having the "crazy life of a twenty something" I've been taking it easy. I've met up with some of the teachers on Thursday night for drinks a few times. It always ends up with us out till the early morning and we all come into work with sunglasses and a look of agony on Friday. Serves us right, I know. I have managed to meet some new and interesting people who will hopefully be a new source of entertainment for me.

Today I started my personal weekend. In the morning I got up, went to the gym, and then took a nice long walk in Retiro Park. As everyone knows I love the Fall so I finally got to see all the leaves changing color and take some pictures. I sat for awhile reading the new Dan Brown book, which I find extremely interesting because it takes place in D.C., and then returned home for lunch. I needed this weekend to detox and mellow out from the stressful couple of days I´ve been having. As is tradition I watched ¨Hocus Pocus¨ and continued the relaxation. I should definitely take weekends like this more often!

About the title: Say it out loud like you have gross stuff in your throat and that is how everyone Spanish person pronounces 'Happy Halloween!"

Negative: I never see my Portero.

Positive: I GOT PAID FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOUR MONTHS!!

Bunny returns to HCA

Well its that time of year again...school has finally begun for me. The first week is over and done and I had to take the first weekend to rest. After vegging out the entire summer my body and mind were not prepared to jump back into the 14 hour work days.

I started school on the 1st which was a Thursday. I woke up at 5 in the morning to a charming recording my neighbor has telling me that there is no electricity to keep her food cold in the fridge. I then proceed to look at my computer and discover that my apartment is also without electricity. What a fantastic way to start the first day of school! The commute was the same, everything seemed routine as if I hadn't just taken three months off. Same bus driver, same crazy commuters, and same feeling as I entered Rivas. Upon entering the school Steve and I were greeted by the principal who was just so ecstatic that we were back. Basically all the greetings were the same, "how was you summer, family, country?", and were we excited to be back. The school has changed a bit as far as classroom placement because there are more 1st grade classes. It took a little bit to adjust to where all my classes are but after one week I'm proud to say that my schedule is almost memorized.

This year I only have 1st and 2nd grade, and I only teach English. It was quite a shock seeing my schedule because I had such a mix of classes last year. This year its all English all the time, no Science and no gym classes. I know I'm going to miss the gym classes the most because of the teachers and because of the pure chaos. The other interesting thing about my schedule this year is that I have Mondays off instead of Fridays. Either way I get a three day weekend but all my friends at different schools have Friday off so partying is difficult. The great thing is that on Fridays all the teachers plan fun activities because the childrens' attention span is shot. This Friday coming up I will be making clown puppets.

There are a ton of new teachers and most of them are young and wicked nice. The lunch room dynamic is still the same, we're all loud and you can never get a word in edgewise. The food is exactly the same; a huge spread at recreo and three plates at lunch.

My students haven't changed one bit. I still get the same questions, they're just a year older. However, I do have one 2nd grade class believing that Cristiano Ronaldo is my boyfriend. Not too shabby.
I have 6 first grade classes and since I was only with them for a half hour a week for a few weeks last year I need to learn over 150 names. Oh joy! Right now our school has come down with flu (only three of them are Swine flu cases) and many kids are missing from class. All classes now have antibacterial gel and boxes of tissues on all the desks. The kids were finally taught to cough into their elbows so there have definitely been improvements. I am currently taking bets as to how long until I come down with the flu...my estimation: the 1st week of November.

The most significant difference at school is the English room. Lisa, Raul and Juanma are not there and quite frankly is sucks. The room is way too quiet and I'm bored. We have two new auxiliars, one is from Wisconsin and the other is from Scotland. I've been told its too early to judge them but let it be known I'm giving it another week and then I'm dishing!

My private classes also began this week and it is hectic. I have a private class Monday and Wednesday from 6:30-8 with Nayda. She was in my classes last year and she's fantastic. She was supposed to get married this summer but its been rescheduled to January for technical reasons. From 8-9:30 I have a pre-intermediate level class of seven. They're all still very shy but I warned them that I'm quite good at getting people to talk about crazy things in their lives. Their ages range from 19 to 45, and one of the students was from that awful class from last Fall. He actually requested me so we'll see how that works out. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I give a private lesson to a family two stops away from the academy. A half hour with a seven year old boy and then a half hour with his ten year old brother. The family is great and the kids are wicked smart. When I leave them I have to run to the academy to make my 8-9:30 intermediate level class. There are seven in this class as well and they're mostly normal. Most of them are students now and have a decent level. Overall, I'm working 17 hours at HCA, 9 hours at the academy, and 2 hours with private classes per week. Can you say "Hello Egypt" come Spring break!

Up at 7, out the door at 7:45, at school by 9, leave at 4:30, work till 9:30, home at 10...what a life. This year is definitely all about the money. Every trip, every weekend, and every Sushi dinner is going to be so worth it!

About the title: One of the five year olds that I had in Infantil last year saw me in the hall and told me (translated) "What's your name again? I remembering it being something similar to Bunny." Precious little pains!

Negative: New dress code at the academy says no sneakers.

Positive: Running into my futbol coach student, Carlos...swoon.

Across the pond

July in the home country, how fantastic!
I left Madrid in the early morning of June 30th, flew into Paris, and headed home to New England. Now I'd love to say that everything went off smoothly, but like always my connection in Paris was awful. The airport was under construction and the signage wasn't so great. But on to more pleasant things: A can of Mountain Dew was waiting for me at the airport!!!...oh and my parents. Haha! I have to be honest, going through security and customs at Logan was horrible, uhh hello? I'm an American citizen! Don't make this difficult for me!
Being home was definitely surreal, not having been in an English speaking country for over nine months was quite the challenge. The first thing I did walking into my big, old, blue house was to make sure my parents didn't change anything, they have a nasty habit of doing that. Everything was the same, with the exception of a few storage boxes that made their way into my room. Even better was the three shopping bags of CVS supplies awaiting me on my bed. Yay for American beauty products! Now, the three most important things that I needed to get done were all schedule for the next morning after my arrival. I'm happy to report that my license has been renewed, I now have an international driver's license, and I took off in my little blue car as soon as we left the parking lot. The next appointment was with my doctor. Unfortunately it was unavoidable, but Dr. Carol made a joke this time! What is the world coming to? And finally but definitely as important as the first two...I got a haircut and color!!! No more split ends and NO MORE GRAY!! Life is good. Oh, and my favorite hairdresser filled me in on all the gossip, she's wonderful. With all that accomplished I was finally ready for my month in the USA.
First weekend home was the Fourth of July. As expected I woke up very early in the morning and headed down to the Arnold Mills Road Race. Let's be honest, Mr. Kenwood never even doubted that I'd come home just for that race. Everything was the same; same confusion at the sign-up desk, same lack of change, same questions answered, same old mistakes made (I'm not naming names), and same old aggression felt towards the late arrivals. No puke in the chute this year so really I have no complaints. Afterward the pool party and food were delicious as always, and seeing the family was fantastic. Headed over to the second family (the D'Ambras) for Amanda's graduation party. Caused some trouble over there, nothing new.
Second weekend home was Lindsay's wedding. Britney came home for it so we had lots of catch-up time...NOT. (this comes into play later) The morning of the wedding my mom and I went for manicures and pedicures, me for the wedding and her for fun. Well I think its pretty lucky on my dad's part that we've never done this before because we milked it. Drinks we served to us, dvds were turned on, and blankets put over our feet all for the sake of keeping our nails perfect. The wedding ceremony was at St. John's so I got to talk with Father Ray again, nice to catch up. The ceremony was beautiful with the groom crying throughout the entire thing. With some time in between the church and the reception Nick and I headed to the bar for some pregaming. We were completely overdressed, but the attention got us free beers so I'm not complaining. Being the last to arrive wasn't a problem because we were at table #2, which was right on the dance floor, with the bride's family. Johnson & Wales made the food so it was absolutely amazing and the bottles of wine on the table were great. The Djs were good, with the exception of their ban on 'line dances', they kept the crowd moving and the songs were great. What a great weekend!
Third weekend home wasn't really at home, I flew to DC to see the college kids. I still have a few friends living down there so I stayed with them. We did the usual, gossip, drink, and play around the city. It was nice and chill, and I had a great time seeing everyone again. Now, as I said before Britney and I had no time to catch up on life so I booked an impromptu ticket out to Los Angeles. I flew from Baltimore to Nashville (wow, a whole new world down there) to LAX...wooo my first time in California. Britney was an excellent tour guide. On the first night we did Santa Monica Blvd. and the pier. It was great just comparing the beaches to ours, so much bigger. At night I met some of her friends at her dinner party. We attempted to teach them High Low, but really only one caught on.
On the first full day we did Hollywood Blvd., the Chinese Theater, Venice Beach, and sunbathed at Hermosa beach. I did develop a horrific burn but such is life. We even got to watch the Red Sox game at one of the local Boston sports bars on the beach.
The next day Steve met me in LA before his class and took me to some of his favorite places. I even met his sister and got to experience his favorite Mexican restaurant. At night Britney took me to the La Brea Tar pits, the USC Coliseum (former Olympic site), and to a great wine bar with her friends. The night was great and the trip was FANTASTIC! The trip home was a little chaotic after a delayed flight but I made the connection, had a good seat companion, and was too tired to care about anything else.
The fourth weekend was my grandmother's birthday party. Tons of family, tons of food, and tons of fun. (You'll notice I don't write too much about family events, really its because the majority of you reading this blog were there!)

Overall, my trip home was great. It was nice to see friends and family after such a long time. Being able to sleep in a big bed, not worry about buying groceries, and have my car to take me everywhere were somethings I didn't realize I would miss so much. Oh, well those and my parents' cooking...incredible.

Negative: Raining almost the entire time I was home.

Positive: Trivia guy remembering me on my first night back and asking how Spain was treating me.

El fin de curso

Well, let's be honest, this post is very long overdue. I would like to state some wicked important excuse as the reason but in reality: I got busy. Now, I'm going to attempt to finish up the school year giving you just as much gory detail that you have come to expect and love.
As the school year winds down everyone starts running around like chicken with their heads cut off. The 2nd grade teachers are all too consumed by the Trinity exam, Infantil teachers are putting together graduation events for the 5 year olds, and everyone else seems to be months behind on regular coursework. While I am deeply concerned for their well-being, none of this really plays into my schedule and I continue to read the paper every morning and finish my Sudoku all before lunch.
The Trinity exam took place over two days and was awful. The children have to sit in a room with a creepy British man and speak in English about anything we covered in the course of the year. Obviously I'm biased, but the man was terrible and I'm proud of the kids for their effort.In mid-May there is the festival of San Isidro...the Patron Saint of Madrid. For this event the kids (and teachers) dress in traditional Madrileno attire. They open the blacktop to music, food, and games; Everyone celebrates, dances around, and has a good time.
Ridiculousness:
At lunch one day while all kids were on the patio and the teachers were eating the loudspeaker came on playing the Barcelona Futbol Club's chant/song. It was after a pretty important game, one in which had very few Barcelona supporters and more Madrid supporters at my school, and the school went nuts. The kids started banging on the windows and the teachers stood up in outcry. Only in Spain.
Swine flu has hit Spain like a ton of bricks. Its all over the newspapers and there are signs up everywhere teaching people how to be germaphobic. However, since the Spanish eat a lot of pig products, and by that I mean ham, the official name has been changed from "Gripe Porcina" (Swine flu) to "Gripe A". I'm pretty sure they did this so people wouldn't get scared.
A certain teacher that I work with (unless I can avoid it) managed to substitue my everyday class with me. After hearing specific instructions to let me run class seeing as it is my class, we were learning about the environment, and I FREAKING SPEAK ENGLISH!!, this teacher took it upon herself to disrupt my class. She got it to the point that not only were the students not listening to her, but they weren't listening to me either. I walked out. (ok, that sounds more hardcore then it was...really I just waited till it was time to go to recess and I split. But the intent was there!)
I, Melanie D. Lawton, taught Math class, and I rocked it! (Granted it was a second grade level, but still...) One of the substitutes didn't show and I was free so they asked me to just sit in while the class did homework. One kid started crying because he didn't get it and I went over to help. After that all the kids wanted my help so I just stood in the front of the class speaking Spanish about Math problems.
Finally, the heat. Enough said.

School's End:
As for the official end of school it was pretty anti-climactic. Worked on a mural for the sixth graders' play, went to a few parties in classrooms, and played basketball on the blacktop with the students. The kids were so dramatic as if they were never going to see each other again. Uhhhh...you live in Rivas, what else are you going to do?
Saying bye to the teachers for the summer was an event. It was Lisa's last year at the school and she was an emotional wreck (and I'm being nice). All the teachers looked at me and said this is how I'll be next year...clearly they haven't figured me out yet.

But for now I say goodbye to the desert that is Rivas and to the craziness that is Hans Christian Andersen. See ya in October!

Negative: Neighbors who have alarm clocks that don't shut off for hours.

Positive: Mystery Theatre at lunch break.

Yuste...Y usted?

What is the normal amount of cheese one can consume in a day? On the first of the month that is what I set out to discover with some friends. We had heard about this Feria Nacional del Queso (Cheese Festival) in Extramadura and it peaked some interest. I must first state that I like cheese, but can think of other things I'd rather eat all day, like ice cream and pea soup but not together. After mentioning to one of my adult students, who is from that area, that I had some interest, she proceeded to spend 15 minutes convincing me that my life wasn't complete without going, sold!

So on May 1st, which happened to also be the start of a puente weekend, a group of us took off on this adventure. Steve, Lisa, her sister Renee, and I crammed into Juanma's car, Mary went with Raul and his girlfriend, and Ainhoa and Arancha brought the churros. We met up in a small pueblo called Oropesa to get coffee and look at the castle. [Side note: Seriously, how cool is it that I can just stop in to see a castle???] We took some pictures and we on our way probaly 2 hours behind schedule.

We arrived in Trujillo after twelve and joined the hundreds of people already in line to get tickets. We pooled money and got 24 cheese and 12 drink tickets. The trick is to not eat the bread, if you eat the bread you fill up and have no room for the cheese. I tried all types of cheese from mostly Spain and Portugal. Some were great, others horrific. There were ones that were so hard in texture while one in particular that was almost like whipped cream. My favorite wasn't the best tasting one, but the one with the strangest side affects. One piece of cheese when initially eaten tasted like a blue cheese spread, however that was only the first minute. Like clockwork, when an exact minute was up my cheeks caved in and I lost all saliva in my mouth, gross I know but accurate. The cheese literally took over your mouth. Steve, Juanma and I spent the next 10 minutes of our lives making weird faces and trying to get rehydrated...ridiculous.

The festival itself was a great sight, there were so many different types of people. It was a great sunny day and the environment was peaceful. They had a section roped off that included what must have been over 400 types of cheeses. There was a fountain in the middle that was a great place to rest and people watch. A region nearby was known for its beer because it was made by monks, or some jazz like that. It's called Yuste and f course it was the most expensive but totally worth it. Three of those apiece and the group of us got real funny.

After a few hours in the center we decided to head off in search of some coffee. Unsuccessful at the that, but successful in exploring the town itself and finding the CASTLE! We walked the long, winding, narrow streets to the top and then climbed the castle. The view from the top was breathtaking. In some of the pictures you would never even know that we were in the 21st century. We spent another hour or so wandering, before returning to the festival so the boys could buy cheese. That turned out to be the worst thing that could have ever happened to us since the cheese they bought smelled like death. I know I can exaggerate but the smell that this one cheese in particular gave off was enough to make you sick. And what is worse is that later on the way home, after much convincing to put it in the trunk, the cheese rolled around during ever turn and wafted back into the front. Horrible.

Finally, we found this roof top terrace in the sunshine to rest before the drive home. The perfect end to a great day. They had a dj, a dance floor, and wicker chairs on the grass...what more could you need?I love my life!

Negative: No more Newcastle at Bo'finns!

Positive: Sushi dates.

Call on meee, Call on meeeeeeeee

What did I do today? I sat inside a blowup globe and learned about the water cycle in Spanish. My school has started this movement towards educating the kids on water and for the six year olds this was their experience. I crawled into this globe with 25 six year olds and watched as a little drop of water named Ana told us about her life. Good to know that my Spanish is at least at a 1st grade comprehension level.

School has been pretty normal for the third trimester. I'm sure if we had rafters at school the kids would be hanging from them. I did have a little issue with one of my favorites in the third grade writing a pretty graphic note for his age. I promise you I did not know the words nor expressions that he used when I was eight. Kids these days...

Steve brought his wife Susannah to school on Wednesday to everyone's delight. She had been asking to see the school before she left for the States so this was the perfect opportunity, and we hoped it would squash the Melanie and Steve rumors from the kids. The little girl who has been on our case from the beginning apparently just put her head down in defeat when she met Susannah, something I eagerly would have paid money to see. I thought this would be the end of it but as always I was mistaken. I passed these kids in the hall and heard ¨Has visto Susannaaaaaaahhh?!?¨ (Have you seen Susannah?!?). These kids were trying to taunt me as if I didn't already know he was married. I would tell them to get lives but they are only six and that would be mean.

One of our teachers has been sick for over a week now and her students haven´t had English in that amount of time so I needed to cover the 6th grade. We only have two classes of 6th but since they didn't start in the bilingual program I don´t have any interaction with them. When I walked in they were a little nervous because they had only seen me pass in the hall. I'm not sure why they were nervous because when they all stood up they towered over me. (Great feat its not but impressive nonetheless). We did some work from their books and played a few games to get them comfortable. At the end they interviewed me and it was hysterical. My favorite was telling them I didn't eat meat because as I've said before its not a concept they grasp. By the end of class they were feeling more sure of themselves, I was definitely impressed by their persistence.
As for the weekend there was a going away/birthday party for Susannah. Eclectic group of people that got together for some drinks and tapas. I finally got to see Steve´s place and the area that he raves about so much. To be honest the first thing I said when walking into the flat was, "So you guys live in Central Falls?" which of course was met with blanks stares. Too bad. At night the area is filled with activity so we hit up a few bars as well. By 3am it winded down to just Lisa and her amazing sister Renee, Juanma, Isabel (Steve´s old roommate), and Steve and Susannah. Great night.









Negative: yeaahhhh... so lice season has begun.

Positive: "Call on me" replacing "Lady in Red"

The hardest challenge

After a little over a week off it is back to work with the wonderful kiddos (as I've now been addressing them) of HCA. As to be expected the children wanted to tell me everything they could about their vacations. Most of them went to their pueblos to visit grandparents and a significant amount of lucky ones hit the beaches. For my six year olds they had to draw something great that happened over break. Most drew their families eating, others drew the beach, and two special little ones drew themselves going to McDonalds. I tell you, kids these days...

I do have to point out that I learned something extremely important this week: I have actually found the most difficult thing that has been asked of me to do. At first I thought it was going to be the language barrier but I´ve overcome that and actually learned a great deal from the kids. Then I thought it was controlling the chaos in the classrooms but I've come to terms with that and developed my own techniques. Most recently I thought it was going to be teaching the 5 year olds but I´m now a celebrity and they applaud my arrival. I can officially say that the MOST difficult thing that has been asked of me is teaching Baseball to Spanish children. On Wednesday during class with the third graders Elena asked me if I wanted to teach them a new game. Since they had already been asking me for a new game I agreed wholeheartedly without checking the game first. I should have learned my lesson the first time when she pulled this on me to teach Dodgeball! Now if some of you might know I played softball from when I was nine until fourteen, coached a little girls' team for six years, and have been known to catch a Red Sox game or two...all making me what Elena would call "una profesional". NONE of this makes me capable of teaching eight year old Spanish children! None. The one factor that many people might forget is that Baseball doesn't exist here. The only contact children have with this sport is if a score is reported for the playoffs in the states. For the most part, children in the US have at least walked by a television while a game was on and saw the general set up. Kids here do not have that advantage. It is the equivalent of trying to teach American children cricket...in a foreign language. With all this said I still set out on the task to inform their little minds. After many "Melanie, I no understand" on their part and a lot of acting out plays on my part, we began. Order of problems that needed correcting:

1. To not stand on home plate facing the pitcher.
2. To not carry the bat to first when you hit the ball.
3. To not have the runner on first go get the batter and bring her to first with him.
4. To not throw the ball back to only the pitcher and expect an out.
5. To not touch the base with the ball.

My parting words to this class? Go home and research the game in Spanish! Come Thursday Elena thought it would be hysterical to explain to everyone at lunch my performance the day before. Basically she made me look like a crazy person running around the gym screaming at children. Awesome. I did teach another third grade class the game that afternoon and it went much better. More understanding all around and the game went faster. I could, however, have done without their brawling at the end...I guess Baseball will always be Baseball no matter where I am!

Negative: [hint] I never get any mail...

Positive: I have new piercing!! (which my children adore, I am so popular!)

I win: Bratislava...Toma!

On the Thursday of my trip to Hungary I decided to do something a little sneaky, I took the two and a half hour train ride to Bratislava. Those of you not familiar with this city it is the capital of Slovakia, formally of Czechoslovakia, and the focal point of the horror movie "Hostel". For those of you not familiar with why I consider going there to be 'sneaky', my parents and I have a competition to see who can go to the most countries. After an unfortunate choice on their part to secretly visit Amsterdam before visiting me in Madrid a few months ago, they started a war. And if any of this surprises you about myself or my parents then you don't know me and shouldn't be reading my blog.

The train ride went by rather quickly and gave me the opportunity to see the countryside. I must say, especially on the ride back, the scenery was stunning. The houses were built up into the hills around the train stations and the fields and lakes were breathtaking. I've seen a lot of the Spanish countryside and the two do not compare. In Spain's defense, the area I have seen is from the south and is more dry and barren. The countryside of Hungary and Slovakia is green and lush.
From the train station I took a short tram ride to the river and from there started exploring. Bratislava is a tiny city and all its important buildings are located next to each other. I made the 15 minute trek up the hill to see the castle only to find out it was completely under renovation, but the view of the entire city was worth it. Like most cities, there is a church as the focal point, but I'm completely 'church-ed' out after my first few visits to Europe so I observe from the outside. There were a few markets going on so I saw a lot of the local culture preparing for Easter and it was great. I grabbed lunch at an outdoor cafe on the main street and people watched for an hour or so.

In my opinion there isn't much to do in Bratislava but its worth the visit. I couldn't imagine keeping myself busy for another day without the help of a local, but the city is precious. There is an air about it that is so friendly and so relaxing, it was hard not to enjoy the sunshine and sights.

Negative: Looking like a fool asking to exchange Euros for the currency of Slovakia.

Positive: Seeing a full rainbow for the first time in years.

Buda y Pest

It's nice to leave college and still get the perks of a Spring Break. Here in Spain they like to celebrate every holiday to the maximum potential, which means I had eleven days off for Semana Santa, or Holy Week. After much debate I finally chose Hungary as my destination. At school I was met with many confused looks and questions: Why Hungary? Well, quite frankly, Why not? My only stint in Eastern Europe has been to Tallinn, Estonia and I loved it. Besides, Budapest was the cheapest flight I could find. I booked my flight and hostel about a week before leaving and that was that.

My flight landed in Budapest a little after midnight on the Monday. After reading lots of material stating that taxis were not safe and were a rip off, I chose to do the smart thing and get a ticket on the airport shuttle. As promised the shuttle took me from the airport to the address of my hostel, which turned out to be a construction site. The driver told me, through hand signals, which way to walk in the deserted area. After some help from the Kebab shop owner I made my way to the address. Pressed the buzzer for the only hostel listed, even though it was a different name, and stared at the scary door. The answer I got on the other end was less than pleasant while informing that he was closed and that it wasn't the right hostel and he couldn't help me because I had woken him up. Right. I asked the casino owner next door if he knew the hostel and he did not. So I wandered the deserted streets of Budapest after 1 am without a clue. I tried to call my friends with internet for help in getting more information, but was unsuccessful. After awhile I found a Best Western and asked for a room there. Holding back both the impulse to cry and punch the concierge in the face when he told me "You might want to find someplace, ahem, more in your price range..." I eventually got a room. After being so scared, the next emotion that follows is anger so needless to say getting to sleep was a hassle.

The next morning I went in search of the hostel to no avail so hopped the metro to the city center. I hit up information first and then found a nice office in charge of getting people places to stay. The woman offered me a loft with a German girl for three nights which would be cheaper now that there were two of us. The girl was extremely nice and I lucked out because the place overlooked the water and Buda. We were on the same schedules so getting up early was easy and then we'd go our separate ways. At night we'd recap and share interesting places for the other to check out.

Recapping my trip is a little difficult only because I'm not the museum type. [With the exception of Brussels where I went to two chocolate museums.] I do a lot of exploring on foot and take many pictures. I did enjoy the city very much and took in many of the classic things. I love to get lost down side streets because that is where most of the hidden things can be found. Both Buda, which is where the Palace and Fisherman's Bastion are located, and Pest, the city center, were wonderful. So much history involved in all the buildings and sights.

Budapest was great and I defintely recommend it. No matter what the trouble was in the beginning the city made up for it. Great people, transportation, and weather all made for a great vacation!

Negatives: Three hour plane delays on the way home.

Positive: Langos (typical Hungarian flat bread)