What the what?

Today in Manzanares was Divina Pastoras. It is like a mini county fair. And when I say mini- I really do mean mini. They have about 4 carnival rides and several food places and maybe 2 places selling random junk. The main part of the carnival is the beer booths which outnumber the amount of carnival rides and food and random junk places. I did buy popcorn and churros. Got to get my fried food in for the week.

The attraction I found most interesting was a ride where you get on these fake bulls and they move and try and knock you off. They played classic ditties like "Cotten Eyed Joe" - which made me think of Texas. This is a pretty tame ride for children. I did capture some video. Also note the paintings of naked women with big boobs in the background. I don't know where this is supposed to fit in a rodeo game...and I don't understand the relevancy. I just thought it was hilarious and wanted to share the sense that is Spain.

Enjoy!


Tori

More-Occo Please

I know I haven't been so diligent with keeping up. Time is really flying here, I can't believe April is almost over!
I just returned from Morocco - maybe one of the best trips of my life (which is really saying something!) The 6 day trek was perfect, it included a lot of Moroccan cuisine, guided tours, and even a night in the Sahara desert. We had a woman from Fez on the tour that was able to answer questions and tell us some history of each place we visited. I still can't believe I was in Africa.

We took a ferry from Tarifa to Tanger, and immediately headed to Rabat. It is a pretty city on the west coast of Africa.
We first exchanged money - I look totally rich!

The restaurant we stopped at was probably my favorite of the whole trip. We had this pastry dish filled with chicken and topped with cinnamon and sugar. I need to learn how to make it. It was delicious.

After touring the small Medina, we headed to Fez for the night. Then early in the morning headed to the desert!

This is the monument for King Mohammad.

The trip into the desert was interesting. It will be all dead looking and then out of nowhere an Oasis of palm trees will pop up!

The last city with roads that you see on a map is Merzouga. After that it doesn't look like there are any roads...because there aren't. We hopped in to 4x4's and each driver took a separate route across the sand to the hotel we were staying at. A little scary at first because the road just ends. And each driver takes off differently because it is hard to follow someone when the sand is all being kicked up. It is a bumpy ride, and one of the cars even got a flat tire on the way! Such a contrast from the rocky desert to the sand dunes!

The rocky desert. Cattle in the background!

Our 4x4 group.

Picture of the sun...there was a dust storm that day!

I still couldn't believe I was in Africa. Such contrasting landscapes throughout the drive.

Until next time - I will be updating on the Dunes of the Sahara. Probably my favorite part of the trip!

Tori

Ice Cream in a Bag

So last Friday I was able to go to the Chemistry class of 4th eso (students are equivalent to being Sophomore's in High school).
I had been asked to come to the Chemistry class, so after racking my brain from my high school/middle school Chemistry classes, I finally decided that making ice cream in a bag was one of my favorites. It shows chemical changes with salt and it lowers the temperature of the ice when the Na is splitting from the Cl. I remember having to take the temperature of the ice in this process, and the detailed lab write up we had to do for this. Including the Scientific Method - which I hated then but now it makes sense that we had to do that...
The students in this class though - didn't have to do any of that. I basically told them step-by step what they needed to do AND I gave a description of what was happening with the chemical changes and WHY we were doing this experiment. 
We had most of the supplies we needed (finding Vanilla extract here is impossible - so we just had them make chocolate flavor instead) The professor bought the wrong kind of pint-sized bags - I was a little disappointed about that because the zip-lock works SO MUCH BETTER. He bought the ones you tie - which makes the experiment a LITTLE more challenging. Even without, the experiment worked just like I wanted, and the students really liked it.
They were too funny because the ice gets SUPER cold. I warned them of that, and told them to try and put their sleeves over their hands to do it. Some of them whined that the bag was too cold, I had to explain that they needed it be that cold for the liquid in the other bag to turn more solid - just like ice cream. haha. After about 7 minutes of rocking the bag of ice back and forth, I checked all of the students, and most of them did a great job and their liquid was cold and solid like ice cream.
It was really neat to be able to go to a class other than English and do an experiment. Another chemistry professor came in to watch the experiment and decided to do the lab with her class as well - it was a good feeling.
Glad it all worked out, maybe we can do it next year too!

Until Next time

Tori

Italia

I have been away from a computer for awhile.

We (Mike, Karlyn, and I) have moved to a new flat. It is awesome. It is located closer to the main square which gives me easier access to one of our favorite bars - Meson del Toro. It has been especially nice since the weather has been beautiful and it is easy to go and get a drink or some of their delicious food and sit outside in the nice weather with other Spaniards living the Spanish lifestyle. I could also be the demise to my bank account...
The new flat also allows us to all have our own rooms, which is really nice since Karlyn and I had different schedules. We spend more time in the Sala now, there is a huge balcony for us to do laundry, and a nice terrace. I am happy to say I am very happy and very content here. I welcome anyone that wants to come for a visit. :)

I left for Italy on the 18th and got home on the 23rd. It was the annual Italy trip for Sotomayor. There were 58 students and 4 professors (counting me). We hit 8 cities, and no one died. I was exhausted by the time I came home. It was an adventure from the start. We took a bus to Barcelona and then sailed the great Mediterranean sea on a huge boat. I had never been on a huge boat, much like a cruise ship before. So that was all new to me - especially the rocking back and forth, there were a few times I lost my balance and had to grab the wall for support! The boat ride was about 22 hours and we finally disembarked in Genova.
We spent a few hours in Genova. The souffle for dessert was amazing. If I ever see 'souffle' on a menu, I am getting it. We did some scenic walks and then left for Milan. 
I thought Milan was awesome, the Duomo (the cathedral) was so pretty. It was very white and gleaming. It was the day of Italian Unification so there were many flags flying, and choirs singing. Some of the group went to the top of the Duomo, and I thought I was going to die with how many stairs were there. I was at the front of the pack and almost threw up (haha @ my Dad and Brother). The cheered me to the top, it was rather humorous.
In the afternoon we left for Verona - the place of Romeo and Juliet. All I could think of is that scene in the modern version that has them in the opening at the gas station saying:  "Do you bite your thumb at me?". Always a good laugh. We didn't have too much time there so we went to a museum with Juliet's 'tomb' - semi funny since some of the students got in it and pretended to be dead. So silly. Then we went to Juliet's house where they have a statue of her and a balcony replication. There are many love messages written on the walls. I wrote one for my friend Dara and I. I probably should have written one for Prince Charming <3's Tori too...

In the night we left for Venice. Venice of course is beautiful and last time I went there I was exhausted, so it was nice to see it wide awake. We went to many plazas and churches - and even took a gondola ride to cross the grand canal (which turned out to be a bit scary because I thought I was going to fall out of the boat!). The food was good there, I had Risotto and of course some gelato.  I bought a few things including a new purse - it is gorgeous and leather.
In the afternoon we left for Pisa - we got there at night so some of my pictures didn't turn out, but it was neat to go and see. Then we left for Florence.
Florence - I do love Florence. It is a really pretty city and has many plazas. We went into the Accademia to see  the sculpture of David by Michelangelo. Plenty of people snuck pictures of that! I ate a ton of Gelato there, I remember last time I was there and the Gelato was the best out of any city in Italy. We then drove to a panoramic site and took a group picture before leaving. Then we left for Siena.
We weren't in Siena long, so I wasn't too impressed with it. It was also at night so all of the churches were closed. I would have liked to see it during the day to see what it had to offer. I hear it is a beautiful city.
Then we left for Rome! Our last stop on the trip! We got to the hotel after midnight and the students wanted to go to the beach, which was a 5-10 minute walk. Only problem is that the hotel owner would lock the door so if you went to the beach, you had to stay out until 6am. Plenty of them did it, and told me I "slept a lot" meaning I didn't go to the beach to stay out until 6am then walk all around Rome the next day!
I like Rome a lot, I love Roman art history, and the plazas, and the fountains everywhere. So it was nice to be there for 2 days. We went to the Vatican the second day and this time I was able to go and see the tombs of the past Pope's. which was really neat to do - especially seeing Peter's tomb.

All in all it was a great time and I was able to speak a lot of Spanish and get to know my students as well as the other professors more. We all laughed a lot, and one of my students asked me to marry him (which I said "No gracias" to.)

I'll have to post some pictures once I get them organized.

Until Next Time

Tori

Tick Tick

We have finally moved into the new flat. Over the weekend I took numerous trips - WALKING my stuff to the new piso. I took about 6 trips, with a few trips in the rain.
It is a cozy place, and I am loving it. It is an" Espacio sin ingles" - meaning no English. Which is a great idea - I wish we would have implemented something like that in the old place and stuck to it. It is a bit difficult and I sometimes get flustered but we have a dictionary and I should be picking up and adding words to my Spanish vocabulary.

I leave for Italy on Friday! There are 58 students, 3 professors, and me. That is a lot to keep up with! So I don't really know what to expect at this point. I will just go with the flow. I know what I need to buy :)
I hope my camera is up for the trip - it has been acting up so I may need to invest in a new one this summer when I come home.

Last night (and this morning) there was the most annoying tick or click sound in my room. I don't know where it is coming from - but it needs to stop. It is driving me nuts and interrupting my sleep. I feel like the Croc from Peter Pan with an alarm clock in his stomach with a tick-tock and ringing he can't stop. I need to figure it out after school - at least before the day is over if I want any peace and quiet and SLEEP. I slept with earplugs in last night to try and drown it out. So I guess aside from THAT I love my new place :)


Must be off - I have a lot of things to do before I leave on Friday!

Love bite.

I was in class the other day, playing a question game. Where each of the students asked the person next to them a question and the person answered the question, then asked another question and we kept it going in a line. They could as anything they wanted, but I wanted them to practice using question words.

One boy asked the girl next to him about the mark on her neck, accusing her of having a 'love bite'. They asked me the word in English, and so, that is where they all learned 'hickey' and I had to explain it. I am an awesome teacher.

Later tonight when I told the story, Mike's sister told me that they brag about them here. I just laughed because that is the exact opposite reaction at home in which girls try and hide them with make-up, a side pony-tail, a scarf, etc
We all laughed a good while over it. I am really enjoying time with Mike's sister, Lauren, she reminds me of my friends back home.


Until Next Time

Tori

Paper memories

I have many private English lessons here in Spain, ages ranging from 2 to 17 (and sometimes adults). I like working with the older ones because they know more English and it is easier to come up with activities for them. The younger ones, I have learned a lot from and hopefully next year will do an even better job at lessons with them (songs and games). The 9 year old I have is in between - he HATES singing and songs so we don't do things like that but he has a wicked memory and learns vocabulary pretty fast.


The younger ones have filled my drawers with paintings and drawings:

I treasure these so much. I have some sort of understanding as to why my mom has kept all the things I made in preschool, although I am still confused as to why she still has a lock of my brother's hair from his first haircut :P
These mean so much. Irene has made me the most, and even made one with glitter! The main one in the picture is from her painting. She lights up when she gives me these - and she says Victoria with such enthusiasm. It reminds me of my Brother when he was little, and he couldn't say "Tori" so he would follow me around and say "Torti! Torti!", I wish he was still that cute.

You think it's funny but it's snot: (This part is gross)
Yesterday was a bit hard because Irene has a cold. She sneezed and snot went flying. It was sort of comical, but I gagged and ran to get some tissues and told her I couldn't help her because I would be sick, so I just handed her some tissues.Then the little boy was jumping up and down and sneezing at the same time, making snot hit the floor. OMG SICK. Her mom came in and laughed at my reaction and told me it was alright. To my future husband and father of my children - I can't do snot. That will have to be a prerequisite for sure.


My lesson after that is with a 6 and 7 year old, the picture of the girl on the left is from Silvia (the 6 year old). The 7 year old, Paula, has a great memory and seems like she likes to learn English, so she is pretty easy to work with (although she wants to play the color game where I say a color and they have to run and point to it ALL THE TIME!) Silvia, poor Silvia - I don't know what to do with her. We were practicing fruits and vegetables and she was doing fine. Then we read a book, and then we practiced fruits and veggies again and she forgot everything! Even simple things like tomate, naranja. So I asked her what happened and what was going on. She looked at me with her big brown eyes and couldn't tell me and almost cried! I felt so bad! I told her I wasn't mad, I just wanted to help her! She said she was dumb/silly. I said "No, no you aren't!". So I have no idea, I talked to her father about it and we don't know exactly what to do...so that will be a work in progress.


Carnival is this weekend and we have Monday and Tuesday off, so I am thinking about making a trip but who knows. Then the following week, I leave for Italy for 9 days. I find out the full itinerary this week! I know we are driving to Barcelona, then taking a huge ship to Italy! Need to keep saving up to buy things :)


Until Next Time

Tori