Monday, November 29, 2010

Tramposos

I had class solo today, many of the English teachers are still out.
I had a class with 1 Bach. which is the older kids (16 or 17). Apparently they had a test in history after my class, so most of them were studying. SOME of them were CHEATING by writing on their desks, or they had small sheets of paper with notes on them. I was FURIOUS. I hate liars, and especially cheaters.
Instead of playing a game in class, I gave a lecture on cheating (and again, how much I HATE it). I let them study for the period, which I thought was pretty nice. Some of them explained to me that cheating is normal in class (HA!), so I told them how dishonest it is, and how unfair it is to those who studied and didn't cheat. I was just appalled.
One boy had a HUGE paragraph of notes written, so I waited until the end of the period and licked my finger and erased them all. Probably a 'bitch' move, but I gave them a whole extra hour to STUDY. Honestly, it isn't that hard! He told me he always forgets things, well, shoot, I had that problem a few times on a test but I didn't cheat over it, I took the grade (unhappily), but that is life. He also told me that I have yoga with his mother and to not tell her (which made me laugh).

Oh the adventures of teaching...

Thanksgiving

Dia de Gracias here was a nice second to being home. The whole week last week and even today, I have to give a presentation on Thanksgiving, which really made my mouth water the whole time! I talked about the history of Thanksgiving, and about the Pilgrims and the Indians (which is hard to explain what a Native American is...some of them don't even understand slavery but that is another subject). I talked a lot about the food and how my Mom makes many desserts on this day. This year she made a Pumpkin Pie, Cheesecake, brownies and TWO Apple Pies (one of which my dog Bandit enjoyed). I went in to detail about how the sweet potatoes are made (with cinnamon and marshmallows), mentioned cranberry sauce, and in one class had to talk about how to stuff a turkey (without getting too graphic). I also talked about the football games (Oh how I miss football!) and the Thanksgiving Day Parade, I even showed a video of it. And the last thing I talked about was of course, Black Friday. Many of them were stunned that stores would open at 5am, and how people CAMP OUT to be the first in line. They thought I was crazy. Stores here open no earlier than 10am, close from 2-5, and open again 5 to 8:30, except Saturday, when stores only open from 10-2, or Sunday when literally the whole town shuts down and NOTHING in open (Okay, maybe the gas station is open on Sunday, but for limited hours...
Mike had to special order a turkey, since they do not have those on hand here. And, after surveying my class, not many people here have even HAD turkey before (aside from sandwich slices).  He also made a homemade pumpkin pie, which turned out to be DELICIOUS. We had some mashed potatoes with a plethora of butter and garlic (yum). And an assortment of Spanish dishes brought by the Spanish attendees. It was a huge success, we even got to watch some of the Macy's parade since it was on 3pm our time. I haven't seen the parade in years given it comes on early in the morning usually, so it was nice to see it in the afternoon!
I was able to Skype with my family, and since my Grammy was in town, I even got to speak to her! It made me a lot less homesick.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Friday, November 26, 2010

Sintra

I. Love. Sintra.
I wish I had more time there. I could have spent a few days there even (people say it is just a day trip town). I went to Quinta da Regaleira which is this huge park in this pretty dense forest area. They had caves everywhere and tunnels. There is also this well that goes pretty far down:

You can go down it, and I went down a few levels then FREAKED out because I saw a huge spider web. Yeah, I am 23 and not above climbing down farther into a hole because of a huge spider. I also felt a water droplet hit my head and I RAN back up the stairs. I'm sure anyone watching me would have laughed. I spent some time walking up the steep cobblestone walkways. It was kind of calming and there were some great viewpoints to it. Same thing with the caves, I would "hear" and "feel" things so I would RUN out (possibly yelling some sort of obscenity.)
I was a little pressed for time, so I left the park sooner that I wanted, and headed to the next thing. I had to skip the Moor castle because I wanted to see the Pena Palace ( and I went to the castle in Lisboa). It is beautiful, and is painted a lot of colors.

I headed there to take some pictures, and go inside. I saved so much money with my Carnet Joven!  I spent some time there and got lost in the Pena Park on my way out. I was a little freaked because there was NOTHING around, and NO ONE could be seen, I felt so alone. Lots of green, lots of trees, and no people. I looked at the map, which was NO use when you are surrounded by trees and no signs to tell you where to go. I knew I needed to go DOWN (because the climb up was a bitch) only cobblestone roads at an almost 90 degree angle. Almost to the point where if you didn't run you would tumble backwards. 
I finally made it out of the woods (haha) and made my way to the bus to take me back to the bottom of the mountain. 
I wanted to go to Cabo da Roca which is the farthest western point on the European continent. By the time I got there, it was pretty dark, but it was neat to just BE there. It was super windy and cold, but I managed a few pictures before the last bus came for the night. I made it back to Lisboa by 8pm (and boy was I TIRED). When I got back to the hostel I made some yummy pasta and watched a movie.
I would definitely go back to Sintra if I had more time and money at the end of the year. Portugal was amazing! 


Wednesday, November 24, 2010

3 Hours on a Stairmaster

Saturday I wanted to go to the big market close to the Alfama district of Lisboa. I hopped on a tram (so convenient) and away I went. The plan was to go to the market, walk through the Alfama district (which is made up of windy little streets with great architecture), through the city viewpoints to the Cathedral. Then take a tram or bus up to the Castle on the top of the hill.
It started off alright, I went to the huge market, my mom would have loved all the crafty things they had, like Mainstreet Days on steroids. The weather was great, and I didn't even need a jacket. I reached the end of the market and found the street marked on the map so I headed that way, then nothing looked right and streets were not matching up, so I turned around. I was looking at the map while walking and of COURSE I step in dog poop (Europe just lets their dogs go where ever, even if it means in the middle of the sidewalk. VERY Unnerving.) I was so frustrated because the ONE time I'm not looking at the sidewalk and that happens. , I regressed and finally I stopped and asked for help. The Portuguese are some of the nicest people in the world. Always willing to help.
Unfortunately one person lead me to the river, which was the exact opposite of where I wanted to go. Thus, I walked about a million stairs through Alfama district up to the top of the hill to the castle It took me a good 2 hours 45 minutes and I thought I was going to die. So many stairs and uphill cobblestone walkways to get to my destination. It was worth it, and I have some great pictures and I did have a great workout.
I got back to the hostel around 4 or 5 and I had to take a nap.

No international Incident

Meaning, I didn´t hurt anyone with my karaoke skills (or lack there of). We had karaoke night here in the hostel. I was heavily persuaded to join, and after hearing some heavy Portuguese accents sing some classics, I decided I wouldn´t be so bad. I was saddened to see that Don´t Stop Believing by Journey was not on the list so I did the next best thing: Livin on a Prayer by Bon Jovi. hahah - don´t you wish you were there for that? I ended up contributing a lot. Song selections included Backstreet Boys, Queen, Men at Work, Ace of Base and of course some Celine Dion. There was an Australian that did a solo to Aerosmith, Don´t wanna miss a thing. It was hiliarious, he even did all the high notes. It was actually pretty fun, and the Alcohol provided helped.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Portugal

Hello from Portugal!

I am taking a break from walking all over the city. I am not used to the one hour time difference and I am starving. I´m going to have to make dinner pretty soon. I am hungry! My hostel is awesome. Everything feels safe and the staff is super helpful. I have many questions, and they helped me plan my weekend! It is a bit difficult because the NATO talks are going on right now so the city has a bit of chaos to it.
I have seen numerous protests against NATO, last night there was a huge parade of protesters chanting. The police are everywhere. No shenanigans here. You never know when things will be blocked off, which can be unfortunate. Today I was surprised when I was leaving Belem, they were setting up a ton of guardrails, and police were out in full force. That and it took the trolley about an hour instead of a scheduled 20 minutes...which was fun.

Today it rained. Which put a cloud over some of my plans. I had a wonderful breakfast cooked FOR ME. So I had some great scrambled eggs and toast. Tomorrow I think I will try the pancrepes with nutella. So good.
I went to Belem and saw the great big Monastery. Took the scenic walk around it, which ended up not being so scenic but I got some exercise. I then went to the contemporary art museum which was perfect timing due to a downfall of rain. They had some really neat things and some artists I recognized, which was nice. They also had some weird house exhibit. Hard to explain but it was set up pretty neat, it was kind of like a maze. Unfortunately the Warhol exhibit wasn´t quite set up yet, it looked like it would have been neat.
It was still pouring rain after I left the museum so I went to Pasteis de Belem, a famous bakery in Belem. There was a huge line out the door when I got there, so I decided to get a table and just have a waiter come to me, saved time and my patience! I ordered two of the famous custard tarts and a cappuccino. I added some powdered sugar and cinnamon to the tarts and they were to DIE for. SO good, and warm. I could have eaten 20 in one sitting. I was in heaven - no other way to describe it, guess everyone is going to have to come to Lisboa and try one...just saying.
After the rain let up I walked to the Disoveries Monument on the Tagus River. I took many pictures, sometimes I miss having a travel buddy - taking pictures of myself trying to get whatever in the background can be a challenge. I walked along the river for a while (VERY windy) and made it to the Belem Tower which was built to fortify the city. I took many pictures and walked all the way up it (by the time I got to the top I was quite dizzy. All spiral staircase!) It was neat reading about all the history since I feel like the only things about Portugal I know are based on their relations with Spain since I know a lot of Spanish history.
I did a lot of walking today. I got off the tram a bit early so that I could just walk back to my hostel. Lots of wind and rain today - hopefully tomorrow is better. I saw two FULL rainbows (no gold), but it was a huge fat rainbow and I could make out all the colors, which made me feel recharged a bit.

There is Karaoke tonight, but I don´t know if I want to subject anyone to my singing. I may check it out...I don´t want to cause an international incident.

Until next time,

Tori
XOXO

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Odds and Ends

I haven't updated in a while, things sometimes move slow here in Manzanares, just ask Michael Feighner (he has such an uncanny way of describing it).

I've learned a few things from my students lately. I always think I know EXACTLY what they are going to say when I ask an opinion, but I am always surprised when their opinion is something different - something I hadn't thought of. For example, when I was talking to a class about when stores here open vs. when the ones in the USA open - I asked their opinion about the "ciesta" time they take and what they thought other Countries thought of it. In my head I had "lazy", and when a girl said "jealous", I was thrown off my guard! I had never thought of it that way!
Then, the other day, we were playing a game where they draw out an english word and have to describe it and the other students guess what it is. It is a mix of countries, colors, body parts, etc. The color Red came up and the girl started describing the internet. It is called "red" here, or network. I looked at her a bit puzzled and whispered that it was a color. Another group quickly knew what it was because of the internet clue. haha.

The other night Mike made a pizza. I jokingly asked if he was going to put anything weird on it (I was not too fond of the carrot/avocado mix he tried one time), and he joked back saying he was going to put an egg on it...Next night, we went to an Italian place. The man across from me ordered some sort of pizza...WITH A FRIED EGG ON IT. I about lost my drink from laughing so hard. Has anyone else SEEN anything like that? Another note about that place: we were at a bar with some friends and they said "let's go to Casa de Maria!" I assumed it was someone named Maria's house...when in fact that was the name of the restaurant we were going to. I kept asking who Maria was, and everyone looked at my strange and laughed...

I think my Spanish is improving a bit. I have been thinking in phrases and not just words. Mike suggested a cutoff date for English in the apartment, I'd have to concur. Speaking English is becoming a bad habit. It is nice though to have someone if I can't think of what exactly to say in Spanish help me out a bit. Bea and Mike are really patient with me when I am speaking Spanish, sometimes conjugations can be a bitch. I did have Mike go with me to the Bank this morning to help me figure out my credit card. I think with Money I don't want to mess around. I'd rather have someone who knows more help me with that.
Mike proposed a game night on Thursday nights, I'm really looking forward to something like that as it will help my Spanish pop culture. I think I learn best by going out with people and being surrounded by it all. The other night I was trying to say something to Virginia and needed some help...Mike was about to help me and Virginia made me do it on my own - WHICH I DID! I just sometimes need some encouragement.
I leave for Portugal on Thursday. Of course I have to stay in a hostel in Madrid the night before in order to make my flight on time. What a freaking hassle. I miss Barca and the 30 minute train ride it took to get to the airport...Here it is a 2 hour train ride and almost an hour metro ride to the airport. Better to be safe than sorry!

Until next time:

Tori
XOXO

Friday, November 5, 2010

Cordoba

Yesterday I was able to go on the Religion trip to Cordoba. I. Love. Cordoba. I went when I was studying in Barcelona - it was ridiculously cold then. Yesterday, the only way to describe the weather: perfect. In Cordoba, the Jewish, Christians, and Muslims live together in peace – how crazy is that?! It is just a city of peace and it is gorgeous. I could see myself living there.
I don't know if I have ever really expressed just how much I love La Mezquita. It is such a symbol of peace. I love the musulmana (muslim) architecture. The double arches, the red and yellow colors, and of course the history of it all. When Cordoba was conquered by the Christians, it was turned into a cathedral. It is really interesting because it is this great hall of arches and wooden planks at the ceiling and then BAM! Cathedral. It has all the likings with a Gothic style, large arches, huge columns instead of the muslim style of the skinny arches that get wider and form a shape at the top. It is all white, leaving the heavily decorated arches behind. There is a pulpit and two huge organs, and of course a TON of gold. The outer structure looks mainly musulmana style, and later the tower was built from the Christian era. The courtyard has three distinct fountains and it has the aroma of sweet citrus, mainly because it is filled with orange trees. It is one of my favorite places. 
 
 
  Later we went to the Synagogue there. There was a rabbi there doing sacraments. He had a mini torah on his head, a prayer shawl, and then he did something that cut off his circulation in his arm (I'll have to do some research on this since I am curious about the ritual, and what exactly he was doing and what it symbolizes).
Then on the tour we went to the Calle De Flores. It is a beautiful part of the city. They hang these beautiful red flowers from the white washed walls. From there, you can see the tower of La Mezquita (pictured right). It smells beautiful there, very peaceful. 
After that it was lunch time. All of the students split off and I went with the other professors for lunch. It was nice not to eat at Burger King – we had an authentic Cordoban lunch. We had the menu of the day, so it was several courses. We started off with some wine and cheese. Then Salmorejo. Which is a thick dip. It consists of tomato, lots of garlic, ham and eggs. Tasted better than it sounds...haha. Then I had a mix of ham, mushrooms and eggs with rabo de toro sauce (Rabo de toro is the bull tail, and it is very typical of Cordoba). Again, tasted better than it sounds! Then we had a thick chocolate mousse dessert, I could only eat half. I also had a beer with lunch so I was so FULL! Arrta. That is the word for full, make sure you roll that RR! Then of course cafe to refuel for the rest of the day.
After taking 2 and half hours for lunch we went on a leisurely walk through the city. Went to the square, I feel like I was there with my trio from Barcelona there taking multiple pics at the fountain.
Lastly, we went to the Alcazar, or the Palace of the Kings. There were many steps to climb up and down, I don't know how I didn't trip! We took many pictures and had a great time there. There are huge fountains and ponds, slowly in my head I said “Don't fall in the water”, luckily no one did. But it did make me think of a story about my Grandma Zosia repeatedly saying “don't fall in the water”, and then she fell in the water. I made sure not to get to close, as I was sure I would have fallen in the water. 
 
 
Many of the students wanted a picture with me, I always feel so loved by them, and I do love them. Many of them asked me questions, made sure I liked everything, asked me my favorite part. They can understand my sometimes broken Spanish, and I can understand their sometimes broken English. It is a beautiful thing.
Until Next Time, 
XOXO
Tori

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Official

I'm starting to feel official here.
I opened up a bank account today (with a LOT of work and help from Mike). It was a process, they said no, again. Then Mike helped and they let me open one. I only needed 5 sources of ID, and my Mother's cousin's brother in-laws name. Okay, so that was sarcasm, but it took a long time and they did say No at first. Mike knows how to work the system.
Then we went to the plaza for me to register. I am officially registered in the city of Manzanares. That let's me go do other things, like save money because I am under 25. Woo.
I get paid for the first month on Wednesday.
I have to pay rent by Friday.
Need to keep tabs on my spending. It is harder than you think when you go to the grocery store pretty much everyday. I love fresh bread, what can I say?
So far no one has signed up for classes with me this week, I'm sure Thursday/Friday I will have a full day, so tomorrow I will come in around 9:30 to see what's up.
Time change has me messed up. Last year in Barca, we didn't "spring forward" for another week after the US, but apparently we all "fall back" at the same time. So I woke up extra early on accident this morning. Now I have no idea what time it is in Texas and I don't want to text my parents at 5am instead of 6am. Who knows if my computer automatically changed or not. I am so thrown off!

Monday, November 1, 2010

All Saints Day

Halloween here was rather uneventful. Mike, Bea and I watched some Castilla-La Mancha short films. Some had a scary element. I re-watched some today with English subtitles, changed some of those movies completely for me since some of them I didn't always understand the translation!