Fishy Business

October 10, 2008

After school on my third day of classes I went to the open market to see about getting some seafood for lunch. The market was full of women stocking up on lunch and dinner items and little stands with fresh fruits and veggies. There were also stands with the fresh catch of the day and I walked from stand to stand searching for what I imagined uncooked calamari to look like. I couldn’t easily identify any so I asked one of the vendors if they calamari. He pointed out something that looked more like a whole fish but I was clueless so I bought one and took it home for my first cooking attempt. 

It did not go well. I hadn’t looked closely at the calamari, or whole squid at this point, and hadn’t realized that the head was still in tact and I swear it was an alien, with its beady little eyes glaring at me. After freaking out a little I chopped it off quickly and hid it where it wouldn't be staring me down as I cut up the rest of it. As I was quickly trying to make it into what it looked like when I ordered it at restaurants I cut into the ink and it exploded all over the counter and freaked me out even more. If I hadn’t paid so much for the one calamari I would have thrown it away, but I was cheap and determined. I had to clean out the rest of the ink and and put out some other gross stuff that I didn’t want to identify. It was becoming very clear to me why I had become a vegetarian in the first place and I screamed “EWWWWWW” and “ICK ICK ICK ICK” the entire time until I got the 5 sad little pieces into the frying pan. 

They actually came out pretty tasty, but I will not be repeating this experience any time soon. I described what had happened to Mirna later and she promised that she would be the official fish cooker from now on. 

Our stove also has a personality all its own. You have to turn on the gas manually on our patio to get the hot water and to turn the stove on. Then you have to take a match to the burner once the gas is turned on to get the flames going. It was a little scary at first since I was not sure how close to get the match to the burner before it would light. One of the burners however, is supercharged and if you turn it on while one of the other burners is already lit, the flame will jump to it, and it will light by itself. Also, every once in a while, when you go to light it, you will find yourself engulfed in flames for a split second. A little unsettling. 

Hiking in the Park

After classes today Mirna and I hiked up one of the trails in the park in our town and it was amazing. It took us up to these cliffs and an old ruin. The pictures don't even do it justice. The view from the top was spectacular. While we were hiking up we kept seeing horse hoof prints which I was excited about because I am interested in riding here. When we got to the top we found the horses and were invited for a drink of Manzanilla Wine, which is like a sherry wine, by the "society" a group of older friends who went riding together. They were wonderful and one couple in the group was from Belgium but had a place in Spain and spoke wonderful Spanish. 

First Day Teaching

Monday was my first day at school and I went without Mirna the other American teacher since she went to Cadiz to get some paperwork taken care of. I was glad though because it put me on the spot to practice my Spanish. Everyone in the school was so incredibly nice and their English was much better than I had expected.

I was only going to work with two teachers but after talking with the PE teacher about teaching aerobics and telling the music teacher that I wanted to learn guitar they switched my schedule so that I work with both of them as well and I also have Friday’s off! Which will be good for traveling.

The kids are adorable. Mirna chose to work with the older (7+) children so I work with the little ones (3+). We pretty much just sing good morning songs and play with puppets and color. With the older ones its the same thing. They are learning school things (pencil, eraser-they call it a rubber, desk, chair). The three year olds are my fav because they are quieter and are super cute. The older kids scream at me from all directions to help them, look at their coloring etc. Maestra!!! Teacher!!! Alejandra!!! They are fun though and are so excited to learn English. We also play games like Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar, and I Spy. 

One of the little 3 year old girls just walked around the room saying Mama for the entire 1/2 an hour. It was cute but I didn’t really know what to do when she just stood in front of me repeating that. 

After the second day the teachers that I work with invited Mirna and me out for a beer after classes. It was fun to get to know them outside of the classroom and practice Spanish while they practiced their English a little as well. 

Tomorrow one of the administrators is taking us to get bank accounts and I have my first music class! 

I also watched some TV during lunch yesterday and Sweet Valley High was on...in Spanish...awesome. 

That night when I went grocery shopping I ran into one of my little girls from school and she and her sister followed us around the grocery store talking non-stop...it was kinda cute...even though I had no idea what they were talking about.

Sunny Sunday

Today we went topless on the beach! It was great but for some reason we were the only topless ones. Hmmm.... Mohawk showed up and stood a short distance away and just stared at us for a good hour and a half. We also found out that he likes Sarah, lucky girl! 

I walked around town got a feel for my new little pueblo. It’s very cute and there are lots of surf shops and little boutiques that seem to have some potential. A lot of the buildings are white which almost make it look like a pueblo blanco from some spots. I also located the park that has some running trails I want to check out and which also is the location of the fully nude beach. 

While I was walking (and dodging piles of dog crap which are everywhere since people don’t clean up after their dogs) I saw a man go by on a scooter with his dog on the scooter with him! I couldn’t believe it, one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.

I start school tomorrow! Mirna is not coming with me since she is going to get her residency card so I will be all alone with my shaky Spanish! Yikes!

Life in Barbate

October 5, 2008

Yesterday Sarah went to look for an apartment while Mirna and I went to pay the landlady and sign the contract. Our landlady was very sweet but spoke so fast that I had a difficult time understanding much of what was going on. As we were leaving she asked my my name again and I said Alejandra, which I want to use here because Spaniards always tell me that Alex is a boys name here, and Alejandra sounds way better when they say it in Spanish. I then thought that she responded with, “Oh you speak a little Spanish!” so I replied, “un poquito” then quickly realized that she had said that I had a Spanish name, which I had replied “a little” to. Oh well. Leanne told us that she once asked for a “bocadillo de polla con queso.” Wanting a chicken sandwich with cheese, she actually asked for a dick sandwich. With cheese. Gotta love awkward miscommunication. 

We then went out for tapas with the other girls and got a new drink called a “tinto de verano” which is similar to sangria. I then gave up on the no fish rule of my diet and had some of the most amazing calamari of my life. When in Rome! And it’s just so fresh here. I also don’t feel that bad because I need protein and I can’t get a lot of the things that I ate in the US to get it. 

That night Sarah and I got ready and went to the other girls apartment and  when we arrived there was a guy there that one of the girls had become friend with the night before. His name was Ramon, and none of us could understand a word he said. I swear it wasn’t Spanish. He had shown up to “pick up his jacket” which he had left there that morning and then apparently proceeded to make himself comfortable and invited his friends over.  We dubbed one of his friends “mohawk guy” for obvious reasons. Now I had not seen any of these people the night before so I had no idea what to expect. Well mohawk showed up with another friend, Baldy (don’t know his name either). So Sarah and I are meeting these people and there really aren’t even words that can fully capture these people. Ramon is a truly a nice guy, as far as I can tell, he just didn’t finish school and maybe that is why his Spanish was...unique. Oh, Mohawk also had no front teeth...like not just the front 2, at least 4-6 were missing and he's only 21. I've never appreciated oral hygiene more. And Baldy didn’t speak one word to me the entire time but stared like it was his job. The best way to sum up this experience is a quote by Sarah, “If I wanted to hang out with carnies from Wisconsin I would have...” People in Sevilla described some of the people from Barbate as Spanish rednecks, I can only assume these were the type of people they meant. 

  Sarah and I went down to the boardwalk after a bit and stumbled upon the cutest little cafe that was very bohemian with some extremely sexy waiters. We hung out there for a little then met up with the girls at another bar before we headed to The Botellon aka, The Fast and the Furious: Spanish Style. Everyone and their brother drives down to the river to drink, smoke etc with their tricked out hatchbacks and ridic stereos thumping. It was the most insane thing I’ve ever seen. It was mainly guys and we met a lot of people, I had the same limited convo with about 8 different people that I was really not interested in talking to. I’m all about practicing Spanish but not with ppl that are sketching me out. We hung out for a while with some guys at the very farthest end of the Botellon. I was also getting semi annoyed by  one guy holding a hooka who felt it was necessary to keep blowing hooka smoke in my face.  Maybe this was flirting? No me gusta. 

We then went to a club where we found out there was a 5 Euro cover so we were about to walk away when the bouncer grabbed us and let us in for free. We headed to the bar to look around and another bouncer hooked us up with free shots that were like carmel (yum!). I was happy about the sweet deals we were getting but the place was not having a great night. It might have been fun had there been more than 15 ppl there, I mean there was a DJ and everything! Sarah did ask the female bartender about locating a roommate and the bartender was actually interested, so it ended up being a good thing we went there. They also ended up living together!

OH MY GOD!!!!/ Barbate

Coming to Barbate

So last night was our first day/night in Barbate. Sarah and I had a bus ride that seemed like an eternity simply because we were semi hungover from a fun last night out in Sevilla...very worth it though. It was made even more fun by a woman that sounded like she was screaming every time she spoke. Perfect cure for a blasting headache.

My favorite place on the trip down was a hilltop pueblo blanco (White walled town) called Vejar. Apparently one of the other English teachers lives there and I need to make friends with this person immediately and visit. 

My town has about 22,000 people and is located pretty close to the Strait of Gibraltar. The people aren't extremely wealthy and there are a lot that aren't well educated but apparently is a hopping summer vacation spot. 

When we arrived in Barbate we found a taxi driver to take us to Sarah’s hotel to get her checked in and when they heard the hotel name they informed us that the hotel was literally five feet away. So we felt like big idiots and they helped us drag the luggage over to it...not an easy feat on cobblestones. We got Sarah settled in then headed to my apartment where we met my roommate Mirna outside. She is an adorable little Bosnian girl and seems like she will be a lot of fun. 

My apartment is perfect...the building is cute and feels very safe (even though I’ve heard this town is extremely safe anyway) and my room is small but perfect with two twin beds that I’ve pushed together to make a very cozy king. My window opens out onto out little patio where we hang our laundry to dry. We have all the necessities: washer, 1 bathroom, toaster oven, and we are one block away from the beach...you literally see the ocean when you walk out my front door...what more could you want!?!?

After I got settled in Sarah and I went to meet the other girls at the internet cafe down the street. I will be visiting this cafe a lot and am actually there now since Mirna and I decided not to get internet in the apartment, way too expensive and unnecessary. The cafe is adorable with funky art and is right on the beach. We met two other English teachers, Meredith and Leanne. I had actually spoken to Leanne via email because she actually taught here last year as well which is great because she knows how things kinda run here, and she knows where the good nightlife is. There are actually clubs here which I was NOT expecting at all.

After meeting the girls Sarah and I went to get a bite to eat in a little tapas bar nearby (where I had more totilla de patata, not vegan, but it seems that that is going to be wayyyy more difficult than I had imagined when traveling) where we sat across from some very attractive young Spanish men. In fact, we seemed to keep seeing younger decent looking men everywhere we went and Leanne later told us that the ratio of guys to girls was 4-1! Probably an exaggeration but still you can get the gist and I’m a pretty big fan of those odds! Apparently they all come home from the University on the weekends! (We have since learned that there are many men but they are..ehhhhh...not so appealing.)

We also found that many of the young men have pretty nice cars with unbelievable stereo systems. Which seemed weird since this is in no way a wealthy town. Most likely these are the drug dealers that we had heard about before. Since we live so close to Africa and it's a smaller town, many boats come over with drugs that are then picked up by the young men.

As Sarah and I began walking around the town all I could think and say was “OH MY GOD!!!” This place is unbelievable! It’s a dream come true for me to live at the beach and being in Spain, along with the cutest little town ever. I cannot believe I get to live here for a year. As we walked on beach around 7 or 8 in the evening it seemed that everyone had come out for tapas and a cerveza. Parents with their children and the boardwalk was packed. There were fewer people on the beach but a few lone couples or friends were still laying out soaking up the rays. We took some cute beach pics and then as we were about to walk back up we spotted a couple with the man mounted on his girlfriend/ wife and Sarah (who cracks me up) says, “Wow, that's some definite penetration.” Oh man...PDA is totally acceptable here and I have heard some absurd stories of other teachers awkward encounters with PDA. It's a cultural shock at first but once you get used to it you wonder why it ever bothered you.

We went to a few bars and chatted for a while, really trying to soak in the environment. The sky here is so clear and you can see ten times more stars.

The Break In

After being out for a little Sarah was exhausted and wanted to go back and since she lived really far away I offered to let her stay at my place and we walked back to my apartment. I had been having trouble opening the locks to the front gate of my apartment building and tonight was no exception. I spent a good 15 minutes trying to get in with people staring at us most likely thinking we were idiots or trying to break in. There is a front gate to the apartment building and then a frond door. I realized that I could fit under the front gate and thought that maybe I could get the second door opened since I had struggled with it less earlier that day. I couldn’t, and ended up stuck between the two doors. Sarah then flagged down a guy to help us and he somehow jimmied both doors under a minute each. We thanked him and headed up to my apartment. When we got to my front door I looked at the door curiously and then turned to Sarah and said, “I swear there were TWO locks on this door before. They changed the locks!” At the same time she was saying, “I swear you were apartment K, but this says E? What the hell, I feel like I’m in the freaking twilight zone.” Seriously. Everything else looked exactly the same, and while we stood there staring at the door a huge dog was barking at us because Sarah had buzzed everyone in the building when we were downstairs, hoping that someone would buzz us in.

We finally decided that this must be the wrong apartment building, but had a hard time believing it since it looked the same and we used the keys to get in. So we walked back out and headed about 4 or doors down to my actual apartment building where I had no problem using my keys to get in. When we got to my door I looked down and realized that I had also forgotten about the doormat that said HOLA. How obvious could  that be? We felt amazing knowing that we had just broken into another apartment building and most likely awoken everyone in the building.  It also did not make me feel very secure about the front doors since it seems like a swift kick will open them pretty easily. Great way to start our trip. We laughed for a good hour and then passed out. 

Orientation y Sevilla

The next day I was able to sleep in and feel a little less disgusting and grumpy. I went down to check into the program and get my new room. I got my packet of papers and got settled in. They had two twins pushed together for me and the other girl, Sarah, who would be going to Barbate as well. Kinda weird since I would be sharing a bed with a total stranger. 

I found out that my friend Janelle wouldn’t be arriving until 1ish and my roomie wouldn’t be in until that night. So I met a few people from the program and we went out for tapas. We then took a siesta and went out later for drinks with some other people from Minnesota, Arizona, Texas and Illinois. 

That night I met my roommate Sarah when I got back to the hotel. Sarah had lost her computer when she had gone through security in England and when she called the next day they still had it! Unbelievable!

The Orientation was pretty good although somewhat boring. The sessions included the Spanish Education System, Banking, info about the Junta de Andalucia (the government program we work for) and teaching tips. 

I also met another CIEE participant that is vegan (as I attempt to be) and who also bears a striking resemblance to Garth from Waynes World. I learned that telling people about my dietary choices is a big mistake since after he found out he began asking me everything I was eating every time I ate. It’s very difficult to find vegan meals here but I began to feel like I an anorexic daughter whose father kept checking up on her.

What I'm doing

So I was hired through the government of Andalusia, Spain to work as a Language and Culture Assistant for bilingual schools in Andalusia. They have a policy in Spain that all children are required to go to school until 16 and they have begun some bilingual schools and want native speakers to assist in teaching the students about my English speaking country and also to assist in teaching English. I work 12 hours a week and am expected to assist in lesson planning and also teaching the students cultural differences, for example we will be helping plan fun Halloween activities!

They also have free health care for everyone...which I really like. 

Sevilla

The Sevillanos seem to be much more attractive than the people from Madrid which was a nice surprise. The mullet movement seemed to have moved on...but I found that was only in Sevilla and it is still alive and well in Barbate. Yea for me. Sevillanos are much more patient and helpful when it come to Spanish. The skinny jeans on men is still pretty popular and once again I was blessed with an older lecturer wearing jeans so tight I can able to view his entire crotch area and also learned his preferred underwear style. 

Downtown Sevilla was even more beautiful than I remembered. There was an amazing display of photos near the Cathedral, and the weather was perfect. I also went to a Flamenco show that was the best I’ve ever seen. 

Our last night there we went out for a tapas dinner with everyone in the program at a really nice restaurant and then out to a club called Buddha Bar with new friends which was amazing and lot of fun. 

Getting to Spain

I was dreading my four flights but they ended up being pretty interesting. I flew through Zurich, Geneva, and Lisbon and

was able to hear a bunch of cool languages, French, Swiss German and Portuguese. Flying through Switzerland also made

me add it to my list of places to visit.

I had an eight hour layover in Zurich and found it to be the most luxurious airport I have ever visited. It reminded me of Nordstrom during Christmas...piano player, glam stores etc. I spent the day drifting in and out of an uncomfortable sleep after a long flight with out any sleep due to a faulty sleeping pill and a screaming child. Always a treat. 

The rest of the flights wen relatively quickly except for an ordeal in Lisbon where I almost missed my flight and was told to RUN to to make it. Which I did only to find that there was something wrong with the plane and we sat on a bus for an hour. I did end up meeting a kind Indian man who chatted with me and ended up at the same hotel and invited me to India! I had been planning on hanging out at the airport until the CIEE ride arrived at 10AM the next morning ( I got in at 1am) but I was politely told to leave since the airport was closing. A nice security guard helped me out by letting me use the phone since I couldn’t figure out the payphone. It was too late to find a hostel or price out hotels so I had to suck it up and dish out a fortune to pay for a night in the hotel I would be staying at for CIEE. Along with the not so cheap cab ride, Damn that falling dollar!

I found my Spanish to come back enough for me to get by and people seemed to be understand me which is always nice! And the hotel was nice as was the room so I was able to get a good nights sleep.