Eres una WAR-EHH

Ok so let´s start this off with a warning: I am writing on a Spanish keyboard and the keys are different. I will be making mistakes and I will not catch them. This should not reflect upon my great typing skills so I don´t want to hear any complaints. Nor do I want to worry that you think I write horribly. That is all.

It has been quite awhile since I´ve posted but I have been extremely preoccupied. I will try to group this by what has happened and what has been asked of me.

Obama
Per request I have decided to write a little about the election and Spain´s views. Let me just say first that it was very upsetting for me to not be in Washington D.C. for the inauguration this year. I was there in 2005 when I started my freshman year for the other president´s and it would have been nice to be there for this one as well. I was definitely jealous of all my friends still living in the area and how they talked about the city for the last 5 months. I can´t say that being in Spain was a disappointment either. All of Europe took this election seriously and mostly everyday there was something in the newspaper about it. As mentioned in the past I still consider Spain to be racist and with the election of a black president there were numerous editorials about how this term would fail. Unfortunately, this probably happened everywhere. Once Spain got over the color of our new president´s skin they did what EVERYONE else is doing: put total faith in the fact that he MUST do something to help them. Spaniards look to Obama as a way to save them from the crisis. While I agree that when the economy in the US does well there will be a domino effect and all other economies will start to change, I do not agree that it is the US/Obama´s responsibility to fix them. Being abroad has made me realize just how much other countries think we will save them. Countries look to us to fix all their problems and, if we can´t, we are horrible and to blame for everything. Specifically for Spain, the election of Obama is a trial run for whether or not they will speak highly of the US. The younger generation is similar to ours, they are expecting a change and see this change in Obama. The older generation is a little more apprehensive because they lived under a dictator. Spain´s politics are still a little uneven and this can sometimes affect their judgment. When Obama was elected in November I was met at school by teachers and students alike with applauding and cheers. Everyone wanted to talk about it and how it made me feel. I believe on a whole most people are excited for this change. The other president was not well received in Spain because of a few ´disses´. The other administration never seemed to put any confidence in Spain or feel that they were a country that needed to be in on European affairs. Whether you agree with it or not, the Spaniards certainly do not and thus they wanted change. After the inauguration all newspapers had full page spreads of the event. They discussed the future and what Obama has the potential to do for them. As stated their most pressing issue is the economy/crisis (I swear, if I hear one more teacher say ¨Pero, hay un crisis...¨). I hope this answers some questions about the issue. I can say that the night of the inauguration there were celebrations in Madrid that made me feel a little closer to home.

Pueblos
The last two weekends I´ve taken roadtrips to little villages on the outskirts of Madrid. The first was to a village a half an hour past Rivas called Chinchon. Lisa, Johan, Juan and I just walked around seeing what there was to see and ate. The most important thing to do in a pueblo is to eat and drink. Usually, its incredibly cheap and delicious. It´s a nice change from the fast pace of being in Madrid because on the weekends everyone is relaxed and just enjoying themselves. The atmosphere isn´t hectic and people are generally nicer. Chinchon was beautiful because it overlooked a great landscape. The drive there was amazing because I haven´t been on a long drive in awhile and I was able to see the countryside. Along the way we passed many little villages that just looked so peaceful placed inside the hills.

On Valentine´s Day we went to two pueblos near to Toledo. The first pueblo, Torrijos, was our main destination because we needed costumes for CARNAVAL! Juan knew of a great little costume shop there so we drove down for the morning. A success, but more on that when I get back from Carnaval. After that we went to another pueblo called Fuensalida to eat. Immediately getting into the village you feel that you must eat because you´ll never find food so authentic. This village is known for its shoes so while we waited for all the stores to open back up (siesta time remember)we grabbed some cañas and played cards. I finally learned a Spanish card game called Cinquillo. Spanish cards are different than what we are used to so unless you have a deck its hard to explain the games.
I like these roadtrips because not only are the pueblos great but just driving through Spain is a great experience. I see a lot more of Madrid too as we drive through to get to the highways. Since I haven´t taken a roadtrip of the US, other than RI to DC, its nice to get one in every now and then.

Kids
They are still simple minded and hysterical. I recently taught them Dodgeball in physical education and they couldn´t be happier. I even got my 3rds to play Lisa´s 2nds and got to play a little myself. I really do enjoy these kids and when you throw in a game that I love, well life is just grand.
Big controversy to report was who I was going to give my Valentine to last week. I was trying to do an arts and crafts project with glorious little 1B in celebration of Saturday and no sooner did I start speaking did they get all anxious. The only thing they could concentrate on was knowing where my Valentine was going to end up. Oh how they crack me up, I told them it was for my friends in the English room.

Closing notes
I´m writing on a Spanish keyboard because I´m at school and most of my classes were canceled. The first and second graders are going on an overnight field trip to the farm from today until tomorrow and therefore I have nothing to do. I would have loved to have gone to the farm but I´m realistic and understand that spending a night with the children may have fried my brain.
I recognize in my writing that I sometimes translate things from Spanish. Don´t worry, I´m also doing this with my English speaking so its not that I´m an idiot, it´s just that I´m confusing the languages.
Por fin, the other day on the metro I was sitting next to two young school girls who were discussing the new Spanish-English translator one girl had. After explaining to her friend how she just types in a word and the English word pops up she says ¨Eres una WAR-EHH¨ or so it seemed to me. I couldn´t for the life of me figure out what English insult she was trying to use, then it hit me: You are a whore. I love Spanish children.

Negative: All things British: getting accosted by my students after Spain beat England in futbol, the decorations/flags in the English room, and being taken for British by the new teacher.

Positive: Getting to draw the water cycle (my favorite thing from Science) about 80 times on a white board for my students.