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)

Seriously? How is this my life?

I don't think I can even express how ridiculous my life is nowadays. Sometimes I look back on these posts and realize that I often lead a crazy life. Whether it is something my children do at school or something the Spaniards do in life, I am always amazed. I've debated for a few days how to retell the story of my Tuesday. I thought maybe I'd post a tiny bit of the subject and tell readers to email me if they wanted details. I also thought about censoring the story a little bit based on the demographic. And then it hit me, I haven't really censored much else in this blog (which is evident) and I wouldn't be keeping true to myself if I didn't put in the whole story. So without further adieu here goes nothing:
[This post is dedicated to my grandma and my aunt Lydia]

Tuesday:
On Mondays and Tuesdays I read to the Infantil kids in the morning for a half an hour each per class. Only three classes in total so the 30 minutes doesn't seem to take too long. They pretty much love anything you do and every week its like Christmas becasue you're are there. Great self-esteem boost on crappy mornings. So I head off to the second 5 year old class with my Old McDonald book ready to enlighten these little minds (haha). As I'm reviewing their names and ages one little boy, I'll call him 'H', says something to me that I missed. So I asked him to repeat what he was saying and it went something like this (clearly I'm translating): "Teacher, you have huge boobs." ...and he used his arms to demonstrate just how big. I glance at the permanent teacher and she has her head down looking at papers. (Later she told me that she was so embarrassed and was hoping I didn't understand).
Well that 30 minutes dragged on after I told 'H' he couldn't say that, but he didn't understand me. I returned to the English room and told my counterparts...they found it hysterical. Story's over right? Wrong!

After Recreo I went to my 1st grade class to teach them about their families. Earlier in the week I had given them a great laugh talking about my family. First, they couldn't understand how my parents could possibly have names like Monqiue and Keith, it just blew their minds. Second, having not one but two grandfathers whose names began with 'W' is a hard concept to grasp. The 'W' is not a popular letter in the Spanish language and for names it is unheard of, except in my case. But I will say that in the end I won out when I had to choose one uncle to tell them about. Although I have many great uncles to choose from I had to go with my uncle Mickey, for obvious reasons. I was greeted with cheers and hysterics becuase of...MICKEY MOUSE!!! While the rest of my family might not have a high approval rating from my 6 year olds, my uncle Mickey has won them over.
Anyways, back to the story. At the end of this class they were instructed to draw themselves and talk about their features. To get them started I decided to draw a picture of myself on the board (I'm becoming a great chalk artist). I was explaining to them to draw their hair color and eye color, and I even gave myself earrings. While I'm finishing the last touches on my full length drawing I hear one girl, we'll call her 'P', tell me she has a question. "Melanie, Where are your boobs? You have big boobs, why didn't you draw them too? You have to have your boobs!" So the teacher tells her she's rude and that she can't say that to me and I just laugh. I explain to the teacher what happened in the morning and said that I'm giving up.
Back to the English room to hear more laughing and then a discussion about why this was happening today. What was different about today? Was it my clothing? For the record, I was wearing a white teeshirt and a button up sweater! Story ends here? Obviously not!

After lunch I went to gym class with my 2nd graders and Elena. She informs me that the class is free time for them because it's right before the break and neither of us had anything planned. So we're sitting in the circle while the kids are fooling around and I tell her about the events of my day.
We're having a good laugh when out of no where four or five of the students put their knees inside their teeshirts giving them the appearance of boobs and start saying "I'm Melanie, I'm Melanie!" and hobbling around the group. I officially lost it. I was literally on the floor in hysterics, Elena as well, because we could not believe what we were seeing.
This Tuesday was by far the most ridiculous day of my life and it was at the hands of small children. At first I started to think how ridiculous it was that these children have no filter. Then as the day progressed I gave up analyzing any of it and just went with the flow. Although, I have to admit, if they're just noticing now then maybe we have bigger problems on our hands to deal with...

Also, telling the story in English is bad enough, but when you have to say it in Spanish it gets that much more embarrassing. Fantastic! I brought one of my coworkers to tears he was laughing so hard.

The rest of the week continued in this crazy way and now I'm on Easter break, (or Semana Santa). I leave on Monday for someplace great but you'll have to wait till I get back to know where exactly it is...

Negative: March Madness is almost over and I might lose in my pool to a Spaniard.

Positive: Learning that 'grillos' are always black.

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!