An Update

Last post was specifically dedicated to Christmas, since I felt that it was an important subject in and of itself. But what has happened since then? The holidays were almost two months ago, and February is halfway over. To be honest, not much. It seems like with each update I haven't much to report other than "Well, I'm sick. Let me tell you about it."

This is no different. Yep, I'm sick again. Looking back, not more than two weeks has past without me contracting some new ailment. That's the downside of working with young kids. You are exposed to practically everything. Almost all the staff was sick last week, and they have passed it on to me.

It is putting a damper on things, since my apartment converts into a war zone throughout the week and I usually spend the weekends reorganizing it. I haven't really got the energy to wash the dishes (OK--this may be an exaggeration. I just really hate washing dishes and will find any excuse not to) or cook dinner. I've either eaten out or resorted to cookies. Really, it's a wonder how I get so sick with such a healthy diet. Not to mention I've been trying to start jogging again and I can never form a routine before getting ill again. Bah.

Yet even with my constant state of disease, I don't have as much to complain about these days (OK--also not true. I complain way too much about insignificant things). I like my job. Working with kids, as germy as they may be, gives me a sense of accomplishment. I've also been getting more private classes, which has made me incredibly busy but is a good source of income. I've also finally reached a place where I feel more comfortable in this apartment. Granted, it still could use some improvements but I can live in what is more or less an organized chaos. I'm really looking forward to the spring when the weather is good again and we can enjoy our terrace.

In addition, my social life is finally coming together. I've started going to intercambios, and it's been a good resource for meeting new people and branching out. It's nice to have weekend plans for once. I suppose next is to meet more Spanish people, but poco a poco.

Time to curl up with a cup of tea and some cough syrup.

Navi Navidad

OK, so maybe I've neglected posting. It's mid-February, and here I am writing about Christmas. I have a mental block when it comes to writing. It doesn't matter if it's an important essay or just a simple blog post for my family to read--I will put it off until the last minute. So, here we are almost three months later.

How was my first Christmas away from home? It was--well, a mixed bag. At first, I was fairly confident that I could manage the holidays away from my family. After all, I had Alvaro's family to celebrate with. While they could never replace my own flesh and blood, being closed to loved ones can make all the difference. And in truth, it really did ease the pain of celebrating Christmas on a separate continent.

I spent most of December trying to create my own holiday spirit. I made eggnog from scratch, bought a miniature tree, and cheap Christmas stockings. I sang all my favorite songs and watched Elf. I ate my weight in chocolate.

Christmas at my school was no small feat either. Each class rehearsed and performed their own carols--one in English and the other in Spanish. I even opted to come in on my day off and watch them perform. It was a lot of fun! The kids all wore Santa hats and red jumpers and it was a great way to kick off the Christmas vacation. As a bonus, the teachers were offered a free lunch after school ended. Oh, it was delicious. In true Spanish fashion I ate until my stomach couldn't hold any more, and then ate some more. It was also interesting to see the staff celebrating all together. Teachers were throwing bread across the room and dancing on tables. Alcohol may or may not have been involved (it totally was).

Some of my second graders wrote my name on the board. Second graders are the cutest!

I also went to see the Nutcracker ballet. On Christmas Eve I was lucky enough to come down with a cold. In addition, one of the packages my parents sent for Christmas had failed to show up. I called correos (the Spanish postal service), only to be told that such a package never showed up and must have been lost. So, I did the only thing a reasonable, sickly adult would do and had a mental breakdown.

But life goes on, and that night I begrudgingly went to a holiday dinner with Alvaro's family. I admit that I felt better afterward, although being sick kept me from really enjoying my time out. When I'm sick I just want to stay in bed and watch TV until I stop feeling like death.

Thankfully I was much better on Christmas. My family has a tradition of waking up before dawn and lighting a fire in our fireplace while opening presents. Well, I don't have a fireplace and Alvaro isn't a fan of waking up early, so I made due with what I had. I lowered the blinds to darken the room and found a "fireplace" video on Youtube. Surprisingly, although it wasn't the same as home, I found that those little details made a difference.

The best thing about Spain is that the holidays don't end with Christmas. New Years Eve is usually an eventful holiday, and Reyes is the main gift-giving celebration. So, while I didn't do any travelling over the break, I did go to a lot of family dinners. And my "lost" package did turn up, albeit after Christmas. All in all, it was a successful holiday away from home.

Twelve grapes at midnight to ring in the New Year

My mom made that scarf--it was part of my "lost" gifts.

New Year's mischief

A second family

December Puente

Ah, the Spanish puente--a long weekend. We've had quite a few puentes this year, although the majority have fallen on a Friday, when I conveniently don't work (a "first world problem": Woe is me, I can't take the day off because I already have that day off). The remaining long weekends I've spent either sick in bed or furniture shopping. Fun.

Now that things are settling in and I've spent a whole week without harboring some virus, Álvaro and I decided to travel out of Madrid to his pueblo in Garrucha.

Wait, what do you mean "his pueblo"? Time for a Spanish culture lesson.

Begin Culture Lesson

As it turns out, many Spaniards have a pueblo, that is, they have a home in another city where they usually spend summers or long weekends. In essence, it's a vacation home without the stuffy uppercrust connotations. Unlike in the US, a second vacation home doesn't seem to be limited to the upper class. In some cases, the pueblo is a small village where their family is from. To be fair, I'm not particularly knowledgeable on the subject. In any case, travelling with a Spaniard to their pueblo is a great (and relatively inexpensive) way of getting to know the country.

End Culture Lesson

We went to Álvaro's pueblo in Garrucha, a small fishing village on the coast of Almería. It's a 500+ kilometre drive from Madrid, so we left midday on Thursday to arrive before sunset. Now, escaping to the beach in the middle of December sounds pleasant in theory. Warmer temperatures? Sunshine? The Metiterranean coast? Great! Of course, many of houses in Garrucha are built to endure blistering summer temperatures. The inside of his house was maybe 10 degrees colder than the outside, which makes a difference when it's 50-60 degrees out. Additionally, Garrucha caters to summer tourists (many who flock from the colder climates in England), so many buildings and restuarants had closed for the season, leaving behind only the gypsies. In other words, it's not the best place to travel in the winter.

Wool coat at the beach? Yep. You can't see it, but there is totally a rainbow behind me.

Found a jaw at Playa de los Muertos. I wanted to take it home with me but I settled for this photo instead.

Cold. So cold.

Complaints aside, I really enjoyed the weekend. Friday was cold and cloudy--a shame since I was excited to see the famed blue-green waters of the Metiterranean. Still, we drove down the coast along a protected natural park and took in the sights (mostly from the heated comfort of the car).

So much wind

Saturday, the sun came out and the temperatures warmed up. Unfortunately, Álvaro slept until noon, and by the time he got dressed and packed his things it was time to leave. 

Yep. Perfect weather

Looks like I'll have to go back in the summer!

The Holidays

It's December already? Have I really been in Spain for almost four months? Where has the time gone? Admittedly, I haven't had much to update in the past month. I am finally settling into my life here. The apartment is slowly starting to feel like home. I'm meeting new people and building new friendships. Slowly but surely things are coming together, and hopefully this travel blog will have some actual travelling.

Unfortunately, I've spent November nursing various illnesses. Yes, in my last blog update I was battling a rather nasty common cold. Not three days after recovering, I developed a persistent cough and once again I was sick. OK, bad luck on my part. At least that time I enjoyed a full week of good health before coming down with what I assume was a mild case of the flu. During the last month, I spent the majority of my free time in bed. It doesn't exactly make for an interesting post. What can I say? Kids are germy.

Hopefully my excessive handwashing will reward me with good health and allow me to actually enjoy my weekends. In the meantime, here's an update on what has happened:

• Elections. Since Spain is nine hours ahead of California, I opted to sleep during the election results. It's a bit surreal to wake up the next morning and not know who won. 
• Huelga General (General Strike). Spain loves to strike. We've had three or four in my time here, but this was larger than most. Stores closed, the metro ran at 30% capacity, students stayed home. We auxiliares still had to go to school, although we literally had nothing to do. I spent the first 3/4 of the day browsing my iPod, and the last hour watching a movie. 
• Thanksgiving. How does one spend a traditional American (or Canadian) holiday in a foreign country? Unlike Halloween, Thanksgiving hasn't become popular with Spaniards. Moreover, common foods like pumpkin puree, whole turkey, and cranberry sauce can be difficult--not to mention expensive--to find. My apartment doesn't have an oven, which makes preparing the majority of these dishes impossible. Thankfully, Madrid has a fairly large American immigrant population, and some bars/restuarants offered Thanksgiving dinners (for a hefty price). So, we went out to dinner and gorged ourselves on an all-you-can eat turkeyfest. Sure, we didn't get to enjoy the smell of food cooking, or the leftovers the following day, but we did eat pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie makes the world a better place.

So now the Christmas season is upon us! The cold weather has set in, the leaves have [mostly] fallen from the trees, and the Christmas lights are up and lit in the city! This will be my first ever Christmas away from home, so this year I'll have to improvise some of the holiday traditions. I can't bake cookies or roast...well, anything (again, no oven), but I can [attempt to] make eggnog and mulled cider/wine. Our tiny apartment cannot accomodate a full-sized tree, so we're making due with a teeny tiny artificial one. Hey, at least it's fiber optic.

Assuming the Spanish postal system works as intented (packages can take a week or several months, depending on the day, current air speed, the phase of the moon, etc), I should still have presents to open the day of. Unfortunately, I expect to wait hours and sacrifice my first-born child to collect said presents from customs (whose office is conveniently located in Mordor). Ah, the price I'll pay for a sense of normalcy. Thankfully I can at least use my American bank account to order gifts from American stores (Amazon, Target, etc) to be shipped to my family. The wonders of technology.

Dead Man's Party

When I was a kid, Halloween was my favorite holiday. Come October, I'd beg my parents to drive me to Target to browse the Halloween decorations. I watched Nightmare Before Christmas on VHS until the tape wore out. I loved dressing up and especially loved the free candy. Even though, as an adult, Christmas has surpassed Halloween as my favorite holiday, come October 31 I find a way to inject a bit of the macabre into my day.

So what does one do when they are in a foreign country on Halloween?

To be fair, I've come at a time where Halloween is becoming a more "recognized" holiday here in Spain. My teachers recount, years ago, when no one had heard of it. Now, our school puts up Halloween decorations and the kids dress in costume.

See that small pumpkin? I made that.

Nevertheless, it's not quite the same here in Spain. You can't exactly go "trick or treating" when most people live in apartment complexes. Even finding a pumpkin turned out to be a bit of a challenge, but thankfully my local grocery store sold some.

Also pictured: Halloween-themed nails

Unfortunately, I've been sick since Monday (for the record, today is Saturday), which has put a damper on my holiday celebrations. I almost took the 31st off, but thought against it since I was curious to see how my school celebrated Halloween. The first half of the day is normal, but after lunch the kids (and teachers!) change into costume and have a Halloween "parade." Then everyone goes home.

Pirate! The coat is for storing tissues

Teachers in costume: dead Infanta Margarita (my favorite costume) and a mummy

Waiting for the parade to start

Had to admire this kid's dedication to stay in character

Dance party!

I'm glad I went, but afterward I decided to spend the night in and rest. Madrid probably has some great Halloween parties, but I was in no shape to go out.

Alvaro bought me these to make me feel better. Notice the box of Frenadol (Spanish cold medicine).

I carved my pumpkin which catching up on season 7 of Dexter. While I had hoped to spend the night in bed with some good horror movies, Alvaro's mom ended up visiting and I spent the evening cleaning instead. Oh well.

Happy Halloween!

Poco a poco

OK, so a month has passed without updates. Here's an quick list on what's happened since:

• Plane ride went well. I had a personal television screen on both flights, and I watched the Avengers. Everything arrived on schedule and without complaints.
• I spent the first week or so with Álvaro's family in Leganés. While it was infinitely better than a hostal, I definitely started to get cabin fever, and wanted to settle in to my new apartment.
• Moved in to the apartment. It was a bit surreal to see the buildings and stores that I had previously stalked on GoogleMaps. Ah, the wonders of technology.
• I spent two weeks without a cell phone and without internet. On an unrelated note, I also finshed three books in that time span. 
• I went to a Spanish wedding!
• I started my new job as a language assistant.
• Álvaro and I have gone furniture shopping more times than I'd like to think about, without actually buying any furniture. I hate furniture shopping. 
• Migranes! I've had too many migranes. I've started carrying aspirin at all times. 

In between the humdrum of settling in, I haven't had much time to play tourist or meet people. To be honest, even after a month in Spain, we still have a laundry list of things to do/buy/fix, and I haven't really had the chance to spend a weekend doing anything fun. 

It's been a challenging month, which has definitely contributed to my lack of updates. I have cursed this country. I have threatened to pack my things and move home. I have collapsed into a weeping mess. Shocking news: moving to a foreign country is hard. I miss my friends, my family, and my cat. I miss the ease of going to Target and buying everything in one store. One month in, and I still have my stuff packed in bags on the floor, because we don't have enough furniture to store everything. 

But! Things are getting better. Poco a poco, they say. Little by little. I started without an apartment, without a phone, without an internet connection. Now, I spend my evenings snuggled on my [admittedly ugly] couch while streaming Game of Thrones. I celebrate the little victories, like installing a new faucet or stocking the fridge with food. The tough times still come--those lonely moments where I ask myself What am I doing here?--but they come less often. 

And what of my job? I came here to work as an auxiliar de conversación, an English language assistant. I was most worried about this role, since I've zero experience as a teacher. I like it! OK, some moments are frustrating, but I generally like coming into the school every day (well, Monday-Thursday). More on that later.

I'm not good with conclusions. BLOG POST OVER.

T-Minus

Once again I've fallen off the blog-writing bandwagon. Whoops. My visa appointment came and went without much hassle. I turned in my documents and picked them up again--with the addition of a shiny new visa--four weeks later. In between I've had my own slice of Spain stateside and I got to play tourist.

My flight leaves tomorrow, which has left my room looking like a disaster zone as I'd attempted to condense my life in one sub-50lb suitcase, one duffle bag, and a backpack. As usual, I think I've over-packed. Everything should be ready, save a few last-minute additions.

This past week I've been a bundle of nerves. My chest is heavy. My heart is racing. I have a headache. I'm not too concerned, as I went through something similar last year when I went to study abroad. I won't undo over a year of planning because, at the last minute, I got cold feet. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but the move has the potential to evolve into something more long-term. I know it. My family knows it. Of course, I'm not making plans yet. Two years ago I went to Madrid with the intent of seeing Europe for the first and last time before settling down into the "real" world. Tomorrow I head back to Spain for the third time to teach English. To be honest, I'm not sure where this will lead. I have a one-way ticket and an undecided future. What happens next?

To my friends and family, I love you all and I'll miss you. But by this point I've accepted that I'll always have my heart spread across the country (or in this case, countries). We're all moving on to wherever life takes us, but fortunately we live in a digital age. Keep in touch. And if you happen to find yourself in Spain, you know who to call.

Here we go.