“in a cable car hanging above as the canyon comes between”

Listening to Menos El Oso, miss you

The work week went by smoothly as the first graders cracked me up with their witty statements, the kids I tutor after school melted my heart a little more, the fifth graders got that same heart racing in PE and the sixth graders continued to amaze me with their quick understanding of the English language. The cutest moment was Friday morning when 7 year old Diego turned to another teacher in the class and asked her in Spanish where the key was that she kept telling him to zip his mouth with… then he popped right back to attempting English with me in a much more polite tone. My week was topped off by a bus ride home from two students I tutor on Thursdays when the Spanish driver was singing along to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in English and still saying goodbye to me in the typical long farewell, “hasta luego! Venga! Venga! Buen dia, vale? Hasta luego!”

Teaching is certainly rewarding and I COMMEND those who majored in it and are headfirst in this back home or the teachers who have been at this for over forty years with so many lives touched. This is because teaching English is enough experience to show me that every career path requires serious consideration and thoughtfulness.

It blows my mind that a year ago, I had NO idea what direction to put my life. It’s one thing to want something badly, but it’s another to think you’ve realized you have no control over it. That’s when faith and belief kicks in for me, because how can you not believe in something Greater when things fall into place just the way you really needed them to? As usual, these thoughts creeped into my mind this past weekend amidst a“Friendsgiving” (thank you Erica M. for such an endearing title to our late Thanksgiving dinner), literally being in a cable car, and another happily lazy Sunday. I’m not taking these great Sundays for granted either; usually I research all those things I promised I would all through college…today it’s been politics, a usually neutral topic for me but these candidates really have me intrigued. That’s enough of that.

the two small pumpkins shadowed by all the olive oil here haha

So Thanksgiving in a country that certainly does not observe it in the least bit (really Spain, you chose Halloween instead?!) turned out a success. More so because yours truly attempted to BAKE with an oven that only has a dial ranging from 1-10. As in, no degrees, just suggestions (2: warm up, 6: baking 9: meat - which in this town is mostly pork or “ternera” at the market). My pumpkin pie was made from scratch, down to the tiny pumpkins roasted in the oven at about an 8 haha. I even crushed up cloves when I couldn’t find them at the supermarket. Everyone got together in Cadiz in Friday night and we definitely enjoyed a feast so my first “away from home” holiday really did go well. It helps that Skype allowed me to talk with my family back in Harlingen and hear from my 4 year old niece (today’s her birthday!):

Niece, "EBET! Where are you?!" me, "umm...in Spain. I love you!" niece (over it. gets off the phone and tells my sister in a make-this-happen-because-i-believe-you-can-do-it-all kind of way), "Momma I want to go to Inspain. Ebet needs turkey. I need to go to Inspain...Inspain...mom where is that?" geeeez ♥

 This dream I’m getting to live really does go further than I imagined. On our bus ride home from Cadiz that night, after a great evening with great conversations and too much cheap Spanish wine, I was amazed by this thought: You have to get outside your comfort zone and pursue your dreams. If you can just make it to at least one, you’ll open to the doors to even more possibilities. I used to dream about Europe, but now I know about how to really live here and everything I could do if I wanted to reach for more. You'll stop striving for more [happiness] if you don’t let yourself see what’s out there.

Africa over the coast!

The next day, roommates and Joe (Jackie’s friend visiting from Philly) caught a two hour bus ride to Gibraltar, down along the coast towards the south of Spain. The landscape views were sprinkled with the famous Osborne Sherry bull (previous post), awareness of the country’s several sources of renewable energy, and Africa within sight.

 As usual, there was a stop for café con leche beforehand, thank you great beans from www.delta-cafes.es – yes I’m that nerdy about it. Crossing the border brought back fun memories of Progreso, MX back home haha and it was a simple flash of your passport as well. Just like that, we were in an English speaking world. The cable car ride to the top was first on our agenda and we just so happened to be amongst the apes that inhabit this area FREELY. Fun facts about Gibraltar, through the owner of a local fish & chips place we had lunch at:

      -            you ride a cable car or touristy bus on the mountain to find these primates EVERYWHERE

-          there are about 270 apes roaming the city and they like breaking into tourist shops to steal bags of chips (smoky bacon being their favorite)

-          “he went ape” is a commonly…funny…phrase to use

-          Feeding the apes chocolate will stop their procreation abilities

-          The Trafalgar Cementary holds the bodies of those lost to the battle in 1805, but there is only a statue of their leader, Admiral Nelson, because his body was sent back in a bottle of good rum to France. The battle was the most decisive British naval victory of the war. The Franco-Spanish fleet lost twenty-two ships, without a single British vessel being lost.

the Meditteranean Sea!!!

Impressive lunch by the way, pretty excited for London in two weeks now! 

Christmas is looking down to be Brussels vs Germany vs Spain for the day, followed by a visit from my friends back home for New Years (Happy Birthday SHEA!) and Brussels –if I didn’t go for Christmas/need to reschedule it again vs. Italy because I still need to see Venice. I’m pretty grateful for my cheap rent here, cheaper Ryanair flights and tutoring jobs that allow for these adventures…not so much for the crappy shower that comes with said apartment. I’m this close to renting a hotel room for the weekend here in Chiclana just to have a great shower...