toffee love

A great day in Chiclana! "Enjoy life, this is not a rehearsal."

I love the things that you've given me,
I cherish you my dear country,
But sometimes I don't understand,
The way we play.

I love the things that you've given me,
And most of all that I am free,
To have a song that I can sing,
On election day.
-"My Dear Country", Norah Jones

This song is fitting in so many ways :)

Recent news in Spain...
http://www.pp.es/actualidad-noticia/pp-ha-ganado-una-manera-absolutamente-irreprochable-andalucia_6226.html

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/spain/index.html

 I thought it'd be fun to do this comparison between my own experience here with my remarks in purple & what Wikipedia reports:

"Chiclana de la Frontera is a town and municipality in southwestern Spain, in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia, near the Gulf of Cadiz. (truth: they should elaborate on the beauty of it at this point, I mean no one can warn you about how stunning the beaches are!) It belongs to the association of municipalities of the Bay of Cádiz (Bahía de Cádiz), the provincial capital of Cádiz, Jerez de la Frontera, San Fernando, El Puerto de Santa María, Puerto Real and Rota (fact: all these surrounding cities are like brothers and sisters, with their own personalities and pride) which form the third largest metropolitan area in Andalusia, behind Seville and Malaga, (favorite! Picasso's spot) and the twelfth largest in Spain. It is located 20 kilometres from Cádiz, (truth: don't talk to me about km, it's a 30 minute bus ride for me. the end.) and borders the municipalities of San Fernando and Puerto Real to the north. In 1877, the municipality's population was 11,677;^[1] in 2012, it was 81,473 (I wonder if this is including us, as residents haha jk... and yes it's def a big city because of what its giant TWO beaches bring to the table). The economy depends largely upon modern industry, especially salt processing (fact: we often walk to the salt mines for exercise and to get in a nice view of the whole city. There is in fact a mini mountain of salt.) and tourism (truth: German visitors are like the "Winter Texans" of South Texas),^[2] and the municipality is known for its beaches such as the 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) long Playa de la Barrosa, hotels and golf courses (fact: GOLF COURSE OVERLOAD) in the resort of Novo Sancti Petri. The municipality contains the largest number of hotel beds in the Province of Cádiz and the Costa de la Luz. (fact: I didn't know this fact)The town's newspaper, Chiclana Información, is distributed on Saturday mornings. (truth: I've yet to see this "paper" but I'm also gone most weekends)^[3]"

(fact: we've definitely seen many amazing historical buildings here) Human presence in the area dates back to Paleolithic times. Several Neolithic era villages have been unearthed in the area including that of La Mesa.^[4] During the 1st century, the Phoenicians settled near the town, particularly in the small island, Islote de Sancti Petri, founding a temple dedicated to their God, Melqart.^[5] When the Romans arrived they dedicated the temple to Hercules (truth: we've yet to get around to visiting it because they say it's impossible to reach by boat but it remains a goal!). A marble statue of a Roman emperor deified during the 2nd century was found in the waters of Sancti Petri in 1905. The foundation of the current town of Chiclana occurred in 1303 by Captain Alonso Pérez de Guzmán (1256-1309), when King Ferdinand IV of Castile gave land to the House of Medina-Sidonia.^[2] During the Spanish War of Independence came the Battle of Chiclana took place here between French and Anglo-Spanish allies.

Chiclana de la Frontera is located on the Costa de la Luz of the southern coast of Spain, in lower Andalusia on the southwest coast of the province of Cadiz. Chiclana's climate, as in the Bay of Cadiz, is typical of the southern Atlantic coast of Spain. (truth: nobody warns you about the crazy winds going on right now...stop it "Levante"!!!). The town is humid with an average temperature around 19 °C (fact: nobody can beat how bad it gets in South Texas). The town has approximately 3,000 hours of sunshine a year. The average rainfall is about 600 mm, with December the wettest month (fact: causing me to buy my first pair of rainboots). and the summer months the driest, but at times the municipality can receive heavy rainfall and adverse weather conditions, making the town vulnerable to flooding. The mean wind ranges between 10 and 15 km / h. The strongest winds usually rises in the east or southwest during the summer and late autumn and spring. The municipality has a number of pine, olive, oak and chaparral trees growing within it and it contains the Parque Forestal Municipal "Pinar del Hierro y de la Espartosa"(fact: it's ridiculously gigantic and a loooooooooong walk from our apartment, resulting in an unforgettable memory with my roommates when we first got here); the park is popular with hikers and mountain bikers.^[14]

(Fact: I'm SO happy we chose this town)

"La nieve es blanca porque a Dios le dio las ganas"

Jack & I up in the Sierra Nevada amidst the clouds!!!

This week, my roommate and I had the opportunity to chaperone our first field trip of the year with my 6th grade class. Spanish karaoke, a beautiful snowfall, Spain's most famous palace, dinosaurs, a preserved whale heart, and this view on the 5 hour drive are just a few of the things that made this another unforgettable experience with my job here in Andalucia :)

Photo credit: http://marcanderson.photoshelter.com/image/I00009xHcMTMDcmk

I can't tell you how amazing these fields look in person! The Tuscany countryside back in October was breathtaking and completely took me away from all my thoughts, but now that Spain has crept into my heart and really felt like a second home, I really appreciate its landscape more. The symmetry, meaning, and colors behind the view of the fields on most trips out of Cadiz are framed with magnificent mountain ranges, and sprinkled with that famous Osborne bull sign all along the way. So much that after a few jokes with the driver on this trip, he pulled over so that we could run into an olive farm and take a few pictures. Hahaha "ask and you shall receive"...

So, our field trip to Granada goes like this: We drove straight up to Sierra Nevada, Spain's version of a ski resort. We drove through plain mountains like the ones pictured above and stared in awe as pine trees began to appear by the thousands on the slopes and stunned you with their snow covered branches. Being stunned by nature might sound silly, but we were in a Winter Wonderland; everyone on that bus was instantly oooh-ing and ahhh-ing.

you think I'd know "ski" is "esqui" in Spanish but I still find it new & amusing

We took the kids up to play with snow tubes first, then ski bikes (?!) that I ACTUALLY tried haha but I still don't think that counts, and a rollercoaster of sorts... It was interesting being on the other side of the trip where I wasn't the student, but the teacher...still surreal...

At lunch with the teachers, enjoying a warm Irish coffee right before the snowfall

...and so my title of this blog, rougly translated, means "The snow is white because God felt like it", as told by one of my 6th graders. I love how freely the teachers can express their caring emotions to their kids, everyone has a sense of humor, and as this kid showed: religion can be talked about. Even in the simplest ways. Sorry, America just takes itself so seriously sometimes. I'm not starting up a debate, it's just a personal observation. 

Anyways, we went back to the hotel afterwards and relaxed while the kids participated in a “disco” they put on for them in one of the event rooms haha. Learned a lot of popular Spanish songs. We decided this one reminds us of the Rihanna & Eminem song hahahaha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KSyWS8UgA4&feature=share

We woke up the next day to go visit The Alhambra (Spain’s famous palace/tourist attraction) and the drive up alone (built on the city’s highest peak for protection, hence the scenic views) was interesting… there are two extreme pieces of “real estate” if you will, in Granada. There are caves on the drive up to the palace where homeless people live because of the adaptable weather within. They hang up curtains at the entrance of their shelter. However, on the other end of the city, there’s a high demand and costly real estate area of homes actually in caves because of the “air conditioning”-like aspect of the caves. Figures.
So a little history from my visit:
This palace we visited used to be the Muslim Sultan’s home around the thirteenth century until the 1450-ish when Christians came in and eventually took over with intelligence, rather than violence (spoiler alert: Shawshank Redemption reference and not just because I still can’t get over the movie).

- As we began our tour, getting lost in the labyrinth gardens were the first step. For fun…it seems like the hedge trimmer stops by on the hour with how precise the designs are.

- The “Generalife” was the Sultan’s summer palace; where he took the four wives he was permitted to have, depending on his economic stand. In the smaller garden, we saw a giant petrified Cypress tree trunk with a legend about how it’d been struck by lightening to forever mark the night his wife cheated on the Sultan. To find out who she did it with, he invited all of the men from the area to a revenge party in the Lion’s Patio and chopped off all their heads so that one way or another, he got revenge. They say the blood stains are still on the walls. Somehow, this story has inspired couple to come and kiss under the tree to seal their love forever…?!

      - At this point I have to mention how amusing it is to me that Spain will serve beer at monuments but not at the soccer/futbol game we went to in Cadiz…JUST SAYIN’ haha

      - We continued our tour, going through different special rooms with Arabic language on the walls and Catholic messages in Latin as well, as blended in with such a respectful manner in the irony of it all. The guide talked about how Isabel & Fernando of Spain, along with King Carlos V down the line, made their mark on the Alhambra right at the point in history when this country was conquering the world. About 1/3 of the U.S. in the 1500s, Asia, Europe, etc and now, as my coworkers slyly murmured…”this country’s in a crisis, along with the rest of the world anyway.”

     - Next was the tallest tower, where the Sultan strategically invited visitors over at a certain time of the day when the reflecting pool shined onto the building and the design of it made it stand alone as the most impressive. Important people are buried here, such as family members and the kings of Spain. There’s an incredible symmetry throughout the architectural design and closed off areas to the public where pieces have remained intact.

     - Then we went to where Arab baths were held (a spa like experience my roomies went to the other weekend and I might just have to check out soon after all this traveling) and what I’d like to call the original Grand Central Station: the kids went to each corner of the room to whisper and see what the acoustics of certain buildings could do:

http://manhattan.about.com/od/historyandlandmarks/a/secretgrandcent.htm

 

 There's an "F" on the top left of the picture and a "Y" on the right inscribed up on the ceiling for Fernando and Ysabella (old language/spelling) of Spain after they came in & took the palace

Where Washington Irving worked on his famous book

     -The Lion’s Patio, where the Sultan wore his heart on his sleeve, was recently renovated and they learned that there actually 6 male lions and 6 females. Random J This area is supposed to represent paradise, with the columns like palm trees (missing Texas and that trail to the Valley!) and 4 rivers of gold from the fountain.

...AND YOU WONDER WHY I DON'T EAT THE FISH OPTIONS SOMETIMES...

Later, that afternoon we went to the famous delicious tapas of Granada for lunch and made our last stop at the Science Museum. I think one in the U.S. is working with it? Most of the signs around were listed in English and Spanish, except for a few…It has a cool exterior and a North American “Texan” plane at the front door!

 

We stopped at a dinosaur expo first where they asked the kids if the T-Rex was a predator or a scavenger. It was definitely an interesting theory! The dinosaurs on display were larger than life and had very realistic robotic movement.

 

Then we went to the Human Body expo, where real bodies that were donated are in display as well, like the blood system, organs, etc. Creepy and cool there…A whale heart was my height and like…6 times my width…while a human heart next to it was the size of my fist. Amazing haha. Then we went to a safety workplace area to play with different job titles like scientist, builder, car safety tester (enter the fun test car ride), etc. Finally, we went to the planetarium show where they blacked out the room suddenly and I…well the children and I haha…learned how to spot the Northern Star next to the Dipper…etc. Okay, I’m obviously over writing at this point but I really did have a lot of fun and have definitely realized time is FLYING BY!

Albert Einstein & I

Next stop is Italy for the Northern coast, Portugal, a potential visit to Cordoba with my dad, Greece and TEXAS on June 11^th!

"a picture of you holding a picture of me"

Just wanted to jot down some pretty great things today:

--- Ray LaMontagne makes me wish my name was Jolene...good Lord that's a beautiful song, mostly in the way it's sung <3

--- I got to speak to her recently on Skype!
It's usually hard to get my niece Sabrina to tell me she loves me (imagine that!) However, as I settled for the thought of just getting random children's song belted out at me with sheer happiness and pride, she surprised me. I requested a song and all she said was, "not today Ebet. I just want to tell you I love you." There are no more words.

--- As I was walking along the street in the midst of the music video-like setting I depicted in my last entry, the sound of confused English speaking tourists (familiar with that sound haha) interrupted my Switchfoot playlist on that old iPod of mine. Without a second thought, I stopped my perfectly-timed-brisk-walk-near-workout-routine to drop an earbud and help. After explaining my expat situation and lack of sense of direction as it is, we were able to figure out the street they were looking for. Then I spoke with a local Spanish couple sitting nearby on a bench and they offered to walk with the woman. A plan was made, coffee invites as a thank you were made, and I carried on. Well it's moments like this that remind me to make the most of what I've got. If I can try to make the world a better place by building a communication bridge wherever I am, and that's the most that I can do or offer, then that's good enough. For me. I dunno, just thought of the day that went full circle with doing a tutoring lesson with a trauma surgeon tonight that had a better grasp of a new study he found in English because we read it together. All the while, his 3 year old daughter kept asking me how to say colors in English as well. I love this.

--- This text from one of my "brothers" back in Texas :)

--- My dad might come visit in May. Once again, someone I love in my life that DESERVES an experience like this and I can only hope for the best.

--- I got a BASKET of fresh fruits and veggies, including the fact that mangos are now in season, for about 4 euro. Yay!

 --- Flamenco "season" has also started in Chiclana and we live across from the performance area so here's hoping for a great show this Friday. Other than this, I think it's safe to say everything is going really well and REALLY fast.

Strawberry Day at my school, really?!

If I could stop to appreciate the sunset from our rooftop EVERY DAY, I would. Yes, that's my clothes hanging to dry after using our loud washing machine...

the pink starting to take over the sky and hit the white rooftops

our kitchen window!

So I thought I’d write myself a play by play of these great memories lately, now that I’m pretty much used to living in Spain. Of course, I’m happy to share it with those of you reading along and I appreciate it! This is my average week lately, sprinkled with hilarious anecdotes about the kids I teach and such J

The week starts on Monday here, even in English and I don’t know how to correct my students on that…so moving on.

On Monday, I have the blessing of a day off. Yes, the oh-so-despised Mondays are my favorite now here in Spain. Sure procrastination kicks on throughout the weekend and sometimes in the midst of traveling, this day becomes my “oh crap time to get on the ball and make lesson plans, deposit money to the bank, pick up groceries, etc.” but I still love it. It’s still my own day to do what I need to do after enjoying a full weekend. So I’m not bragging, I’m just saying – look into it Uncle Sam. Please. This is actually thanks to the amazing bilingual director I was blessed with at my school. She goes back and forth between a mom role (“I made your schedule at the school a 4 day so that you can travel at a better price and such on the few weekends you have here”) and quite the mentor with her fantastic (I have a feeling this is her favorite English word - I love it) bilingual skills and inspirational teaching manners.

These pictures features my town during siesta, the bakery that we LOVE, the fail on Cheetos here in Europe, and the American goodies my roomies found last week!

Then there’s Tuesday, the start to my week at Al-Andalus Elementary at 10:50 am, which means I need to go down my 5 flights of stairs with no elevator and WALK (hello morning workout) about 25 minutes to work. I thoroughly enjoy it. For instance, the other day I felt like I was in my own music video: I turned the corner and there were musicians playing a duet by the grocery store, an old Spanish man in his adorable sweater vest and plaid newsboy hat observing the duo, and finally a happy child in their awesome stroller (Spain just does the whole “cute children” thing better, with outfits and all) reaching for a balloon with a smile decked out with big dimples….this day is spent with my genius and incredibly respectful 6^th graders followed by a silly afternoon with my 2^nd graders. Sad to report that the latter group still hasn’t learned how to subtly pick their noses….

the Peace Wall at school, i love it!

That fun start to my workweek is followed by the first of many after school tutoring gigs, for lack of a better term. “Clases particulares” sound so much more legit. Anyways, there I am at 4 pm after robbing myself of a perfectly hot southern Spain siesta period to teach 5 crazy fun 8 year old some English and improve their skills. In the next hour, I meet with my 2 thirteen year olds. They are awesome; we tend to correct each other on our words (yes, I’m still learning new Spanish words and their proper use) and laugh with cheesy jokes. I even busted out the “Jamaican me craaaaaaazy”line when we studied countries the other week. It was followed by a bored stare. Haha, good to know that my joke telling abilities stand their pathetic ground.

On these evenings, my roomies and I tend to touch base on where we stand at our schools and the duties for the week, along with cooking adventures and introducing Abbie to Sex & the City. We’re on the 6^thseason, which is fitting with our experience coming down to its last 3 months.

On Wednesdays, I get up at the same time and do it all over again, except this time I meet with my Physical Education group of 5^thgraders, followed by science class after recess. They have progressed at an incredible rate and I am so proud of every word that comes out of their mouth –in English. Haha. This is a picture of us this past month during – AND I CAN’T MAKE THIS UP – Strawberry Day at the school. Alright, it’s a move by the government to encourage the food pyramid with a myriad of fruits & veggies every month. I was soooooooooo happy!

That afternoon, in the middle of the week, I cherish the 45 minutes I spend in the teacher’s lounge (woahhhhhh I’m a teacher) before school let’s out because I am graced by the presence of a beautiful soul. There’s just no other way to put it. The Special Education kids meet in the hallway outside and Juan, one of the 9 year olds, has become my good friend. He first peeked in earlier this month, when he said “hola” while I was at the computer. The next week, he caught on that I was on the bilingual teacher and said “Hello”, and finally, after several weeks, he just said “que tal” - as in, ‘what’s up?” On numerous occasions. he’s asked if it’s true that there’s a Disneyland in the United States. Melt my heart, kid. Makes me remember and smile more about my overdue 23 year old visit to Disneyworld for the first time a while back. Juan is awesome and he catches on quick to the words I teach him. I’m pretty grateful for this experience alone.

Later, I have a couple of lessons: from a colleague at the school to adorable 7 year olds (2 girls of which like to tell me who they are going to marry this week) and 2 women my age that carry on a great conversation and unknowingly give me great fashion tips. Why are Spanish women so good at this whole matching thing!? Ha.

these are some of the kids at my apt, admiring the rainbow from our window

Here are a few more great stories about the kids:

The other day, the 6^th graders I tutor were trying to guess the animals I was listing, almost like playing Taboo. I began to discuss a butterly by saying “it has wings….it has many legs…it’s an insect”to no avail. Finally, I said “okay..it had beaaaaaaaaautiful wings” and suddenly Eduardo yelled out “beautifly!’ No, I mean butterfly!!!” I kinda like the ring to it J

Eloy, one of the quite hyper active kids in first grade, showed off his new hairstyle (gel attacked his head) and said he wants to be a rock star when he grows up, so that’s why he was practicing (as I suggested earlier, he was air guitar-ing all over the classroom). Then he then he paused and said “well…or military (mind you this is all in Spanish, we’re still only covering colors and favorite foods) and I said “why?” and he said, “To protect the world Elizabeth! but I also want to be rock star to strum the guitar like this: brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Speaking of 1^stgrade, there’s Samuel. He started drawing hearts a month ago during the “shapes”chapter and putting faces in them to show me it was a picture OF me. Awesome. I get one every week and have a proud collection. Only this past week, when I was covering school supplies like ruler, pencil, eraser, glue, book, Samuel drew a small heart without a face. I asked “what happened? What’s missing…” and he said “oh yeah!” and ran back to his desk to glue the whole thing together….umm…. then proudly said, “GLUE!”. He’d learned a vocabulary word. Too cute. Really makes me miss my niece’s crazy antics but definitely fills the voice just a bit.

Fun fact, “shelf” is “estanteria” in Spanish. Some of the third graders explained it the other day. I had NO clue. I love finding another reason for living in the life that I’ve built myself here and now: always able to learn something new. Like how to make paella or plan out a cross country trip easily with airline, hostel and entertainment rolled into one.

The week goes on, with a late start on Thursday followed by an afternoon at school with 6^th graders and second graders again. The 6^th graders sure do know how to strike up the most random conversations in English and the second graders have this intelligent backtalk that I can’t help smirking at. The other day, an assistant asked Nuria, in second grade, why she wasn’t listening. She replied, “que (what)?” and the assistant said “listening, Nuria. Use your ears! Do you have a listening problem?” Nuria replied in Spanish with an elaborate story about how her ears were broken because of listening to cartoons too loud and blah blah blah…kind of funny haha. They’re quite witty!

Speaking of second graders, nothing says unconditional love like the bombardment of hugs by 1^st and second graders. Oh my gosh, to have these big blue eyed, green eyes, brown eyes kids just look up at you (literally and so on), is just the most rewarding thing ever!

By the way, I meant to mention this earlier, but I’ve realized that paella is a lot like pizza and other cuisines of the word. Paella, is of course, one of Spain’s trademark dishes. Well, it can be made of up anything under the kitchen sink. The other day, after classes were over, I was dragged back to the teacher’s lounge only to find that they were cooking Paella in a giant cast iron pot. The cook was the usually silent 1^stgrader teacher drinking beer and describing all the ingredients to me. He talked about the squid ink in black rice paella, the saffron in the authentic orange-y yellow one he was making, and the vegetarian, etc. This one had 12 kinds of shrimp (no thanks, glad to know I’m close enough to the janitor like a daughter to scoop them onto his plate – sorry Cody haha) and chicken along with red pepper and tomato sofrito (best thing everrrrr) and so on. He said he also does a variation with rabbit and chicken…interesting.

I’ve gone off topic, but I have to mention that I’ve noticed Spain has a holiday - oh I dunno - every other week. But more importantly or seriously, every month. Coming up is the Semana Santa which happens to be Spring Break for auxiliars like me…but I talked about it with the girls I tutor on Thursday at their home (the reason I have so many recipes from Spain households that I want to share like Berenjenas con Albondigas, eggplant fried in olive oil and meatballs in tomato sofrito). Essentially, there’s a big procession during that week and it lasts about 7 hours like a parade. On that note, Spain did the traditional hats first, a long long time ago. Everyone holds a giant wax candle, as it drips onto their hands, scalding their skin but they carry on. All they could say about it was, “It’s cool! We like it and we spend time with our family. If kids want to stop they can stop. There was a 4year old who walked 6 hours last year.” and yes folks, that’s all in English. So proud of my girls J I dunno, I just think we need more family stuff like this back home. Most of Spain’s events have tradition rooted in it (i.e. Carnaval) but at the end of the day it seems to be a get together with Family and friends that is cherished every year.

It’s been so cool seeing students and kids basically from a parents/teacher’s perspective. It’s amazing how much parents sacrifice and work with schedules in the midst of futbol/soccer practices/gymnastics/surfing/horse riding/ etc. to still have an English class with me, make sure their kids are doing well at the school, and more.

So that’s my week, it goes on until Friday with a full day ending with 3^rd graders who are too anxious to learn that it causes a competition every time….they sure do love chalk board race games I’ve created.

Did I mention that the bus driver I ride with almost every week likes to hum “Mick Jagger” by Maroon 5? I’m never alone J This is an incredible experience and I urge you to follow your dreams. It is worth so much more than you think it will be.

This meal above was the start to my weekend: jamon serrano, queso fresco, pan con aceite campesino de oliva and that amaaaaaazing red wine from Santander (wine region in the north of this country). Translation: salty cured strips of ham, crumbly fresh goat cheese and thick olive oil from a local farm.

This is is version of Twix candy here. Random.