No me toques, no soy una guitarra!

This week may have been one of the most interesting in awhile. I don't know if its the weather or the beer at lunch or my comfort level here, but something is definitely happening around me. I swear I spent this whole week laughing and having a fun time while working. Even my night classes have been filled with laughter. The other day we did a segment on their thoughts of the US and we were all crying at the end of class. We were laughing so hard at each other and the crazy things that they came up with that no one could hold back the hysterics. I'm so glad that this semester's adult classes are so much better. I really enjoy my students and I can tell they really enjoy coming to class.

Monday and Tuesday at HCA were normal as far as classes went. The students are the same more or less. They talk a lot and do really frustrating things, but I enjoy them still. The English room on the other hand gets crazy and crazy. I think we have too much fun in there, and I know for a fact that the other teachers wonder just what goes on. I am proud to say that the room is now adorned with a hand painted American flag (picture to come soon). Thirteen stripes and fifty stars now cover the British cross because lets be honest, no one in the room is from there!

Wednesday was a little different though, there was a strike. I went to school on Wednesday with the intention of leaving before lunch because there were supposed to be few teachers and students. However, that was not the case, I put in a full day of nothing. The strike was for public school teachers against something to do with private schools. As you can see I didn't really pay attention because it doesn't have anything to do with me. Only about six teachers were at school out of about 40, and only about 200 children out of 753. They watched a movie, played on the playground, ate lunch, finished the movie, and went back to the playground. I read all the children's books we have in the room, wandered, went out for drinks at lunch, shot around on the playground, and played basketball with the kids. Super productive. I should have been more prepared with Spanish work or a book, but in the end I say it all worked out: I finally got to play basketball! I went out with the intentions of playing alone but when the little ones came out I had no choice, sadly. Apparently over the many years of not playing I've gotten a good shot going for myself and the kids were impressed. They all wanted me on their team (for the record I wasn't the only adult, just the best one) and were mad when I didn't shoot. I did the responsible thing and passed everytime. In the end I was given an ultimatum by Pablo to shoot and make us win or he wasn't going to listen to me in class anymore. Wonderful.
On a sidenote I've really been enjoying going out for drinks at lunch. Usually we find a place that has outdoor seating and we sit in the sun drinking cañas. It's a perfect break in the middle of the day and we might as well take advantage of the two hours!

Thursday started off on a fantastic note as always. My Thursdays begin with the lovely little children of 2A and their constant need to touch me. I am usually prepared for it and know who to avoid and so on. However, we have a new substitute gym teacher for a month named Alfonso and I was distracted. As we're standing there talking one little darling decides that this is the perfect moment to LIFT MY SKIRT! I wish I was joking, I wish I could tell you that she only lifted it half way, I wish I could say that no one was looking...but I can't. So we had a nice little chat and he flipped out on her and life continued. Well, until he told everyone at lunch... Alfonso and I spent most of the class talking about how the kids have a weird attraction to touching me. Even as class continued they would hang on my legs, try to jump on my back, poke me, or, my personal favorite, touch my face. I think they're like cats in the way that they can sense who doesn't like it. I don't like to be touched therefore the children must touch me. It's how life works I guess. Lesson for next week? Don't wear a skirt around this class, ever.
Translation of the title (literal): Don't touch me, I'm not a guitar. However, in Spanish the verb tocar also means "to play an instrument" so its a cute little word play that I was taught after this delightful day. It applies.


On a sidenote, I successfully got my hair cut today. This may seem simple to everyone reading this but in fact there is more to the story. With the exception of the unfortunante bangs incident of '06 and last week when Juanma cut my hair, I have had the same hairdresser my entire life. For 23 years my aunt has been cutting my hair and today that all changed. I guess secretly I always just assumed she would fly out here...

Negative: Not having a clue what I'm doing for Semana Santa.

Positive: My portero invited me for coffee!

Feliz Cumple

It's official, I am 23 years old, or in a direct translation from Spanish according to my kids: I have 23 years. While I would love to spread wild rumors that I lived up this birthday in true Madrid style, I can not. I was quite too sick to do so. The night of the 14th my co-worker Mary was in a play with her theater group so Lisa and I met up with a few other teachers to watch. The show was made up of mostly British people doing small performances from other works. It was great and Mary did fantastic. After, we went out for a few drinks because it was still pretty early. At midnight everyone sang in Spanish, and then again at 12:10 when they realized they could capture it on camera. It was a great night! And I even got a flower!
On my actual birthday I had a picnic in the park with some friends. It was a beautiful day with the temperature around 70 degrees. The sunshine was great and the park was filled with people. It was relaxing and a lot of fun just enjoying great food and conversation.

Now, on to the sickness. As I mentioned before I started to feel sick when Kristen was visiting. The Monday she left my body just decided to quit on me. I proceeded to take the next two days off because I could not stand without falling. If you remember my first interaction with the doctors here you'll understand why me staying home from school is a huge deal. When I miss school I have to get what is called a 'justificante', basically a doctor's note excusing my absence from work. The first time I tried this I ended up in tears after visiting three different places while being sick. So clearly I was nervous for this time as well. Luckily there is a doctor right across the street so I met up with him for my 1 minute diagnosis: Go get X-rays. Fair enough. I then headed up a couple blocks to the clinic to wait in a stuffy room for X-rays. The technichian was wicked nice, probably because I looked horrible, and even called me "Mi amor...". I wasn't able to get my results that Tuesday so I had to go back on Friday. I spent the rest of the time in bed. When I brought the results back to the doctor this was his reaction:
Looks at results and shakes head.
Says "Joder" (bad bad swear).
Looks at me, shakes head again.
Says "Joder" again.
Tells me I have a really bad sinus infection.
Prescribes me 5 pills a day for ten days.
Shakes his head.

Awesome.

By the end of the following week I was feeling much better, unforunantely not well enough to travel for the puente. Thursday was Father's Day here in Spain so I had that day and Friday off to make a four day weekend. Fortunantly for me the NCAA Tournament officially started and I was able to catch some of the early games at the pub. My medicine said nothing about mixing beer with pills.

Negative: My first and second round picks in my bracket put me last in all three of my March Madness pools.

Positive: Celebrating St. Patrick's Day at school by going out for beers at lunch.

"I like your friends better than my friends"

As cliche as it may be March definitely came in like a lion here in Spain. The weather has been averaging 65 degrees, the children have decided that they're done with school, AND Kristen came to visit. After a particularly crazy couple of days at school it was nice to finally have some 'home' around me. I completely understand that the children want to be outside in the sunshine, I definitely remember those days at school too, problem is that here in Spain those days start in March instead of May. There has been a lot of yelling and more unruliness than usual. Hard to believe that's even possible, I know! This is also around the time that my body decided to shut down so my patience were gone to begin with.

Anyways, Kristen came in on a Wednesday and she finally gave me the chance to take the new metro out to Terminal 4. Funny story: I saw one of my adult students at the arrival gate getting off a flight. I didn't want to leave my spot in line so I figured I would just tell him about it in class later that night. Well, its a good thing I didn't because when I saw him a few weeks later (he canceled class of course) he said it was his twin brother! That could have been wicked awkward. I'm going to recount Kristen's time here by day:

Day 1:
On the way home from the airport and for the rest of the day we caught up on gossip, clearly. Since my class canceled we went to Retiro for the usual see Madrid routine stop. Although, it was quite interesting because we got to the lake and were met with a freezing rain storm for about 20 minutes. Fun! The park still looked amazing because the sun was setting and that always changes everything. From there we took one of the back exits out of the park and walked the Paseo del Prado (aka Where Monique was almost robbed). We walked the whole way down to Atocha and then back up the opposite side of the park. This may sound like a nice little walk, but in reality its about ten miles. The weather cleared up so it was pleasant and we saw a lot of the city.

Day 2:
I had school so Kristen set off on her own little adventure that involved the Prado and shopping. She was in her element. After my night class I met her and my roommate at one of our local bars, Bo'finns for dinner and drinks. I certainly know how to pick them because we quickly discovered that there was a men's rugby team from New Zealand celebrating their completion of a two week circuit in Madrid at the bar. Fact: Rugby follows me everywhere. With that said, it was a fun night.

Day 3:
We did Sol, the Palace, and Plaza Mayor. The norm. With the construction at the Palace still it doesn't give as good a view as it did two years ago but its impressive nonetheless. Plaza Mayor was perfect because everyone was just sitting out drinking and eating. Very Spanish. I hear that come Spring time the Plaza is packed with people enjoying the sunshine and each other. Sol was crowded as usual but its the center of Spain so you have to expect that always. The night was wicked lame because I was still feeling horrible and wanted to preserve myself for Saturday night. Kristen and I spent the night acting like idiots in my apartment for no particular reason.

Day 4:
This Saturday night was one of the greatest in the history of my time in Spain. Kristen, Lisa and I got ready together for a continuation of Juanma's birthday. We all met at a Mexican restaurant in Chueca for dinner reservations at around 11. But in true Spanish style that meant that we didn't get our table until 1230ish. While we waited outside we felt like we were on display because the Spaniards closed us in to the middle of the circle. There was no escape, we were the centers of attention. After we were seated we all agreed upon an all you can eat and drink price for the next 2 and half hours. I'm proud to say that the sixteen of us put back enough beer and pitchers of alcohol to quench the thirst of a small army.
After they closed the restaurant around us we headed off to the next bar. We met up with some other teachers from my school and then all got in cabs to head to 69 Petals, a club. The music was fantastic, and listening to Spaniards try to sing American classics made it even better. I served as translator most of the night because Kristen's a little rusty on her MBC trained Spanish. Antonio, who used to work at the school last year and who I've written about before because of his intense Sevillian accent, would say something and then expect me to translate the whole night. I have to say I'm quite proud of myself because on average most Spaniards don't understand him. My Spanish is definitely favoring a southern accent, or at least my understanding. We spent the rest of the night dancing and singing, all around craziness.
At around 6 when the bar closed the seven of us that were left took off for home. Just the walk to the metro was a challenge but we managed. After a successful night Kristen and I strolled into my apartment around 7am. By far one of the best nights ever.

Day 5:
Kristen and I rallied. We got up early and headed off to the Rastro, the outdoor flea market. We both bought new earrings and took in some of that Madrid sun. Its popular after the Rastro to find your way into one of the local restaurants. I had a delicious house dish of paella and she was introduced to croquetas. We came back home and caught up on our sleep. At night we went out, finally, to this amazing sushi restaurant near my apartment. The food was great and we were there on 'date night' which was even better, haha. It was a great end to a wonderful visit!


Oh, and in case you're wondering why I love it here so much, here's a video from that Saturday night:




Negative: Little sunburns.

Positive: 6 packs of American gum!