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!

The Sardine is dead

This week may have been one of the longest yet to date. Besides the fact that I ended up working all five days in Rivas, it took me forever to recover from Cadiz. I even subjected myself to the endless comments about my glasses after deciding to wear them three days in a row. That's how tired I was.

I haven't mentioned my night classes so I figured now was as good a time as ever. I've cut down my classes to just three days a week. I have a group class Tuesday and Thursday, and then an individual class on Wednesday. My group class is made up of three people from last semester and two new ones. At first I was a little hesitant with a large group because many times the levels don't match up, but I love this class. We've actually been having some pretty awesome classes these past few weeks. I introduced them to an edited version of the "Never Have I Ever..." game. We were practicing the present perfect and past simple so it worked in quite well. They got a huge kick out of it and we spent a great deal of time laughing at each other from some of their crazy things. Most recently I started the 20 questions games with them and its caused some arguments. I told them can fight all they want as long as they do it in English! My individual class is with a fifty-something year old man who just had his first child at the beginning of the month. He hasn't been getting much sleep but still manages to come to class all energized. We are supposed to do grammatical stuff but he just loves to talk. Usually I get him started on one topic and we spend the rest of the class just talking about it. Recently, I learned that he's nervous that his son his going to turn out like him as a child because he was a little trouble maker. Him and his twin were known throughout their village for causing trouble. His stories are great and its nice to get paid to just sit, listen, and laugh at great tales. I'm really enjoying this semester at Mosaic a lot more because I actually like my students and I'm not as overworked.

Now, about my dear little school in the vast desert land of Rivas. On the way into school on Wednesday one of the teachers asked us if we were sad. She said some other words as well but since her English is terrible Steve and I decided to ignore her. (This sounds harsh but we have some issues with her, not to mention the next day she tried to correct our pronunciation on 'Hasta Luego' which is another story within itself) Anyways, upon entering school we noticed that most of the children were wearing black. I fortunately hadn't done laundry in about 3 weeks so I was wearing nice dress pants and a black sweater, so I fit right in. Upon investigation we learned that the giant paper sardine in the front lobby that the children had decorated would be burned right after lunch. So many things go through your head when you're told that there would be sardine sacrifice to symbolize the end of Carnaval. Where am? Who possibly came up with this idea? You're joking, right? But no, this was reality. This is my reality, I work at a school that has bonfires after lunch.
I'm veering, as promised we were led out to the sandpit playground on the side of the patio along with all 752 children. Everyone waited patiently until we heard it, the sound of the drums. The crowd looks in the direction of the main doors as 8 sixth graders carry the doomed sardine out on handles. Following them are four of our teachers playing the death march by saxophones and drums. If you still remember who I am and how I react to ridiculousness like this, please applaud me for keeping my composure. I fought back laughter during the whole procession because I feel it would have been inappropriate. Just when I thought the seriousness from the musical number was going to do me in, the students put the sardine on the skewer to be burnt. Goyo, being ever so handy, lit the poor 15 foot paper fish and there it went. Flames devouring ever last part from head to tail. After about five minutes of bonfire glory the children chanted to extinguish the flames. So let's see, how can we keep this in true Spanish fashion? Oh yes, use an extinguisher that once sprayed is taken by the wind and blown in the face of all the six year olds sitting down wind. I had to hear for the next couple of days that my students were not fine, they were feeling quite sick because if I had seen correctly they were the ones whose faces filled with hazardous smoke. How dramatic. How Spanish. How I love my life.
(for the record, if you doubt any of my stories from Rivas I have many available references.)

Oh, and the other exciting activity for the day? If you remember a few weeks back I had to show my 6 years olds about Valentines day and all its glory. Well in class I like to color with them and made my own picture. On Wednesday I finally finished the picture during my free time before lunch and decided how fitting the picture really was for the English room. I proceeded to assign us all characters that fit our personalities in one way or another. The end result? The picture is now online and the original copy is laminated for all to see. Negative: Grocery shopping at Carrefour on a Saturday morning, it makes you hate people.

Positive: Going out for sushi with everybody at school on Friday.

Cadiz 1, Melanie 0

So as previously mentioned I went to Cadiz to celebrate Carnaval this past weekend. Cadiz is one of the best places in Spain to go, along with the Canary Islands. It is original and quite popular with Spaniards. With this being said I made the easy choice of going with some friends, who had been before, down south. I left Thursday night and traveled by bus to the farthest point from Madrid. Seriously though, we were told many times that the distance from Madrid to Cadiz is the furthest distance from Madrid to anywhere else on the Peninsula.

So here is the summation of my trip:
Yelled at by the woman in front of me on the bus because SHE had put her seat back all the way into my lap.
Could not sleep on the 8 hour journey and wasn´t in the best of moods.
Arrived to our hotel in San Fernando to be told that we couldn´t check in for four more hours.
Wandered around until the doors to our amazing room were opened.
While taking pictures of the place discovered I was out of battery in my camera.
Upon checking my luggage realized I brought the wrong battery charger so there would be no pictures to capture my experience in Cadiz.
Did some sightseeing in the city that was pretty fantastic.
Had a great conversation over some delicious tapas for dinner.
Woke up early just to eat a buffet breakfast and go back to sleep.
Dressed as a gangster for the night.
Took a bus to the city center with a bunch of study-abroad-ers.
Danced and drank in a small plaza.
Admired many great costumes that took a lot of effort and creativeness.

Here´s where the story gets tricky. After many conversations on the subject a conclusion has been reached that something was put in my drink that made me really sick and my night ended there.

My overall impression of Cadiz as a city is that I must go back, it is some where that I need to experience again under better conditions. My impression of Cadiz at Carnaval is that it is too dangerous. I can not express how unsafe I felt trying to walk through the main plaza with people throwing glass bottles and everyone in mass chaos. I do not think that I will return to Cadiz for Carnaval next year because in all honesty I did not enjoy the end of the night.

I do have to state that Lisa was amazing the entire night. She took me back to the hotel and braved the shards of glass, the stampede, the two hour wait in line for the train, the hour wait to buy a ticket, and the crammed train heading back to San Fernando. What a night!

Oh, and for the record I´m not telling my school where I´m going anymore because there are just too many questions. I particularly like the teachers who just said to me today, ¨You´re face says it all...¨ Fantastic.

Negative: Losing my hot pink suspenders and revolver.

Positive: Getting to recline my seat all the way back on the bus ride home.

Al fondo y arriba

This past Sunday I decided to throw a traditional 'Lawton style' brunch. After realizing that it would not be healthy for me to go through two boxes of Bisquick myself over the rest of my time here, I decided the best solution was to share. (how very non-only child of me). However, a few things are different about brunches in Spain and in my household. For starters when I invited some of my Spanish friends they didn't understand the concept that brunch starts at 1130ish or 12 at the latest. When you go to a place here that offers 'brunch' usually that means 130 or 2, and the place doesn't even open until then! The other thing that is a little strange here is pancakes, not popular at all. Knowing all this, and the fact that I was going to cook, I somehow managed to convince a group to join me.

With the exception of my roommate Liz everyone else was work related. Lisa, Juanma, Raul with his girlfriend Gloria, and Steve brought his wife Susannah. All together there were eight of us cramming into my tiny little apartment. The menu included an excellent fruit salad (Keith would be jealous), eggs, bacon (I didn't cook it), and my fantastic pancakes. I also stopped by the local bakery and picked up this amazing fresh bread to serve with the eggs. Something that was different about my brunch (that I recommend highly) was the mimosas. I would say that mimosas definitely made the brunch a lot more exciting, especially since the Spaniards had never had them. All of the food turned out excellent and everyone was quite pleased with the spread. I have to be honest, I was wicked nervous earlier in the week because I do not have a lot of cooking space. However, after finding a griddle (una plancha) I was able to calm down and enjoy the brunch a lot more.

After brunch we headed to two of the restaurants/bars on my street for some cañas. The first place was more of a food atmosphere so we left after only one. The other place is actually attached to my building and is always crowded. I've been meaning to go in for some time now but I never do it. No matter what time of day I walk by there is always people packed in tightly and having a great time. The place is also super loud and energetic. Finally, after five months, I went inside and as expected had an amazing time.

After beer we picked up some rum and vodka to continue the fiesta up in my apartment. Steve and Susannah had brought some great appetizers so along with that and snacks we hung out listening to music. The party ended somewhere around 9 when everyone finally realized that it was a Sunday and we all had work the next day. We lead great lives.

In the end, I must say that I am very proud of myself and ecstatic that everything turned out well! Maybe I can actually do this adult thing...

Negative: Fontaneros (plumbers) destroying my apartment.

Positive: I´m leaving tonight for Cadiz to celebrate Carnaval!!!!

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.