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.
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.
