Catch Up

Other things have taken priority over blogging: I've been trying to act like a functioning adult and start taking care of myself. While I still spend far too much time in front of a computer, typing words on a screen hasn't been on my to-do list. But now I've found myself with gobs of free time as the year winds down  and the children are taking exams. So I'm sitting here in the school's computer room, surrounded by shouting 6th graders, and suddenly compelled to update this dang thing. In the spirit of laziness, here is the Cliff-Notes version of these past months:

October

I love Halloween. Always have. This year I convinced Álvaro to take me to the Parque de Atracciones to check out the Halloween-themed decorations and haunted houses. We went with his aunt, uncle, and cousin. In one haunted house, I had a complete stranger cling to my dress the whole way through. Fun times.

Halloween at school was the usual dress up in the afternoon merriment. I was a pirate. Again. I was also sick. Again. I watched the original Night of the Living Dead. Again. I am a creature of habit.

November

I still have this idealized vision of a potluck Thanksgiving with expat friends, to compensate for the loneliness often felt while being away from home during the holidays. Didn't happen. So, I had two options: cry about it or suck it up and have my own dang Thanksgiving. I chose the latter. I managed to make a tasty meal without an oven (I cheated and bought a chicken from a Kebap place). It snowed the day of. Overall I was satisfied. 

Also, I finally decided that I was tired of fiddling with my phone during my two-hour lunch break, and took up knitting. 

December

Christmas! Holidays! Festivities! I love the schools at Christmastime, when you get to spend time singing songs with the kids, and suddenly you have delicious dinners with your co-workers. 

Unlike last year, I got to go home for Christmas, bringing Álvaro with me. I decided not to waste my two weeks at home, and actually got to visit a few old friends in the area. The weather was way too hot, but overall I left feeling content. No place like home.

January

I got pick-pocketed for the first time! Fun! It could have been prevented, but I had let my guard down for ten minutes while walking down a relatively empty street on a Saturday morning. I would've been impressed if I wasn't so upset. On the upside, Álvaro was a champion and helped me look through nearby trashcans on the off-chance that I could at least recover my ID card (the only really valuable item stolen). No luck, but watching him take pictures of the inside of trashcans was so ridiculous that I felt better.

February 

I turned 25! Álvaro turned 26! I had a CAT scan on my ankle. I now have a cool 3D image of my foot. I made hats. 

March

After applying back in September/October, Álvaro and I finally had our appointment for pareja de hecho, the American's golden ticket to long-term residency in Spain. While we mostly did it for immigration purposes, I was definitely giddy about adding an extra level of commitment to the relationship. Nothing has really changed, but now I can legally claim him as family. That's pretty cool.

I made my first pair of socks.

We went to Zurich, specifically to see James Mercer perform in Broken Bells. I was in the front row and it was glorious. Worth a post on its own.

April

Weather warmed up. I made a shirt.

We hit three year mark in our relationship, and went to Portugal. The students took some exams.

In late April I was rejected from a supposedly non-competitive auxiliar program, which meant I was suddenly scrambling for employment next year.

May

Lots of holidays, but little to report. Students have taken exams, and have essentially checked out for the remainder of the term. I'm still looking for a job, but to save my skin I've signed up for a CELTA course. This means I can't go home this summer, but hopefully it brings good things. We'll see!

My Parents' Visit

In keeping with tradition of posting one month late, I am finally getting around to writing about my parents' trip to Spain. They left the 5th, and it has been 21 days of radio silence on my part. What's my excuse? Did I get sick again? Nope. Super busy? Nuh-uh. In fact, in June work ends a full 2-3 hours earlier and I haven't had any private classes in the afternoon. I've had more free time than ever! I haven't got a single excuse, save my own laziness. However, I'm leaving for summer camp in less than one week, which means no internet and no blogging. With this time limit, I'm suddenly motivated into blogging again. Ever the procrastinator.

I'll skip the nitty-gritty details, since writing about a two-week visit would take too long. After a month-long haitus I'm not exactly in blogging form.

First, the low points:
Every travel story has its rough moments. My parents had excellent luck right out the gate, as they opted to take the train to the airport and skip Los Angeles' famed rush hour traffic. To reward them for their forethought, the train decided to arrive 2 hours late. Two. Hours. In comparison, a 15 minute delay in Madrid means that the metro workers are on strike. Thankfully, they caught their plane on time and we had a glorious reunion at the airport. In retrospect, there was only one hiccup in regards to transport. A big hiccup, but manageable nonetheless.

Unfortunately, none of us were in stellar health during the trip. My dad still has some lingering [and unresolved] issues, which meant that we had to take things slowly and frequently stop to rest. In addition, I'd had a lingering cough since the beginning of May, which suddenly worsened just after my parents' arrival. My mom gave me some antibiotics, since Spanish doctors are impossible (open one hour a day and your "office" is in your living room? OK). At one point I almost passed out/threw up in the metro, which was a fun experience. Thank you, random Cercanias worker who bought me a soda. So, I missed out on some valuable time with my mom and dad because I was too dizzy to stand. By the way, cough is resolved and I rescind my judgements on Spanish health care. It isn't all useless old dudes who operate out of their apartment.

Now, to the good stuff:
So much good stuff! First we had good weather for almost the entire trip. It was cold and rainy both the week before and the week after they left, but warm and sunny during their stay. Second, I highly  recommend Hostal Gonzalo. The owner upgraded their hotel room to an apartment so that they'd be more comfortable during their stay. So, my parents got to live the European apartment life with a kitchen, living room, and a balcony. Talk about good customer service.

During the trip planning stages, I was the typical over-eager daughter who wanted to recreate a year's worth of exeriences in 13 days. It was their first trip to Europe and  I wanted them to see EVERYTHING. I think, considering that I was still working Monday-Thursday during their stay, we managed to see quite a bit.

The Itinerary:
May 23: Arrival in Spain. Showed my parents the main sights (Sol, Plaza Mayor, etc). Ate chocolate con churros.
May 24: More walking around and looking at things. I've been in Spain for almost a year and I'd never gone into Templo de Debod, despite the free entrance, so we did that. We experienced a menu del dia (3 course price-fixed menu) at El Lacon.

No, you can't high-five Don Quijote

May 25: Day trip to Córdoba via the high-speed AVE train.

May 26: My parents met Álvaro's parents for the first time, and we went to Toledo.Neither had a good grasp of the other's language, so I was the translator. All things considered it went well.

May 27: Back to work. I tried going to the doctor, which was open for only one hour. I arrived 3 minutes after it opened, and his living room already had about 10 people waiting. NOPE.
May 28: Parents went to the Thyseen museum and the Royal Palace. I went to work. We met up in the afternoon for pizza and watched TV.
May 29: Parents went to the Prado. I went to the Prado with my students. Later, I almost fainted in the metro. I didn't see my mom and dad that afternoon.
May 30: Was still feeling dizzy, so I went to urgencias (urgent care) and was given some medicine for my cough. Rested, and that afternoon we went to Café Central for dinner and live jazz.

May 31: An easy day. Walked around the Retiro park. In the evening we met up with Álvaro's family (including his aunt and uncle) for some tapas and Asturian-style cider.

June 1: Day trip to Barcelona. We woke up at 5 A.M. to catch the train and we back in Madrid by midnight. We spent the morning in the Sagrada Familia. My dad wasn't feeling well, so we caught a hop-on/hop-off tour bus and rode around. Having already been to Barcelona twice, I was content to go along for the ride.

June 2: Met up with Álvaro's family again for a trip to La Granja and Segovia. We were treated by his aunt and uncle to cochinillo (roast suckling pig) and judiones (giant white bean stew). In the spring, La Granja turns on its fountains to the public. We drove to Segovia and saw the aqueduct and alcazár.

June 3: I went to work, and hung out with my parents in the afternoon. My mom and I walked around Spain and picked up a few souvenirs.
June 4: Ate lunch at Café Central and enjoyed the terrace views and warm air. Álvaro's parents stopped by to say goodbye to my parents, and Santi (Álvaro's dad) let my dad ride his scooter around the block.

June 5: I accompanied my parents to the airport and we said our goodbyes. They had an uneventful return trip.

Overall, I was glad to have shown them a bit of my adopted country. Our families met and in spite of the language barrier everyone got along swimmingly. I think their trip helped bridge the gap caused by the sheer physical distance between California and Spain. They've seen the home I'm starting to build here, and the wonderful people I'm surrounded by. I've gone from the girl who couldn't do her own laundry to the girl who is living in a foreign country and speaking a different language. I think, having seen the life I've been leading here (albeit in my little dollhouse of an apartment), my parents can more readily accept their eldest daughter living abroad.

May Puente

Note: Pictures to come when I get around to uploading them from my camera
PICTURES ARE UP!

Now that the gloom has hopefully passed, it's back to writing about fun things (Edit: Nope, it's going to rain forever). May 1st was the last long weekend before the end of the school year in June. We had two days of school (why even bother?) before a five (!!) day weekend. Álvaro also had time off, and he wanted to take advantage and travel.

As I had mentioned here, we had previously purchased a Groupon for a wine tasting in La Rioja. Our holiday travel plans started there. We made our reservation for Saturday afternoon. The trip expanded from there. Since we've got all this time, and we're already up north, why don't we visit a few more places? It began with Bilbao. Then we added Santander to the list. We made our hotel reservations the night before we departed (the incident with my dad had left me in no mood to make travel plans).

In the end, we went to eight cities, spanning about 6 autonomous communities. 

The trip

Thursday, May 2nd: Burgos and Santander

In keeping with the "we planned this trip last-minute" theme, I packed my back the morning-of. We left around noon, because Álvaro isn't one for early starts. We arrived in Burgos around two hours later, and spent a good chunk of time trying to find the tourism office for maps and suggestions. Surprise! It was closed. Thankfully, due to our late arrival, we seemed to have missed the rain that had recently passed through the city. We visited the cathedral, which was originally constructed during 1221 (thanks Wikipedia) and rebuilt to accommodate the growing city's needs. 

Around 6 PM we left the city and drove up north to Santander. The drive was beautiful. Everything was green and hilly, and we passed sheep and horses grazing. We arrived in Santander by nightfall, so we couldn't see much of the city.

Friday, May 3rd: Santander and Bilbao

We spent a few hours in Santander to see the city during the day. The weather was awful. It was grey, humid and cold. There was a perpetual drizzle that made it hard to want to leave the car. The city itself isn't particularly impressive. I'm sure its a fine place to live, but not not so great for tourism. I would rather explore the smaller pueblos we passed in Cantabria. Oh well--next time.

Next: Bilbao. We arrived in the early afternoon, just as the sun was coming out. The weather was mild. Bilbao is a beautiful city, nestled among green hills. We spent most of our time at the Guggenheim museum. This was definitely the highlight of my trip.

Saturday, May 4th: Vitoria-Gasteiz, Logroño, Alfaro, Aldeanueva de Ebro

After quickly grabbing a coffee and saying our farewells to Bilbao, we made our way back south.

Álvaro and his handy-dandy travel guide

We wanted to see a bit more of Pais Vasco (Basque country), so we made a quick stop for lunch in Vitoria and wandered around the city.

Nothing says "old city" like a moving walkway.

Then, another long car ride, with a 15 minute stop in Logroño.

Camino de Santiago

We had to be in Alfaro (an hour south) by six for the wine tasting. We arrived five minutes late. The wine tasting (around which this whole trip was organized) lasted only an hour.

The winery was technically in Navarra, not La Rioja. Oh, the inhumanity.

Coincidentally, Álvaro's coworker was in a neighboring village with his wife, and they invited us to a get-together.

No photos here, sorry.

Sunday, May 5th: Zaragoza and home again
I don't like travelling late on Sundays. I prefer to relax and have time to unwind before returning to work. I would have prefered to go straight home and watch TV, but Álvaro was determined to make the most of this trip (for which I am thankful). So, we made our final detour in Zaragoza.

Honestly, I feel like this post is fairly boring, despite having been to so many places. Going from one city to another in a short time span doesn't exactly lend itself to nuanced experiences. You see an interesting thing, take a picture, and move on to the next interesting thing. One week later and the trip has become a blur of cathedrals and grey skies. Also, I have since returned to Burgos (that'll be my next post) and I am very, very tired. I no good at English no more.