This past week, I taught a lesson on Thanksgiving for my English classes. I told them about all the food we eat on Thanksgiving. I also told them the history of the holiday and how we celebrate now by having a huge dinner with our extended family/relatives. I filled them in on watching football and parades on t.v. We also talked about things that we are thankful for....there's so much to be thankful for...family, my boyfriend, friends, living in Spain, life, laughter, love, fresh air, joy, music, freedom, health, and so much more...
On Thanksgiving day, it wasn't exactly a holiday for me because I still had to work, but I got to skype with my family, which was soooo great! It made me very homesick! They were at my uncle's house in Houston, so I got see my aunt, uncle, cousin and my grandma! I also got to skype with Victor, which was soooo goooood! I can't wait to go home for Christmas and see my family, Victor, and friends.
On Friday, we celebrated Thanksgiving with friends (Americans, Brits, and Spaniards). We made a traditional Thanksgiving dinner! Kendall and Karen worked really hard to make this happen....ordered a turkey from the meat market and made yummy desserts (pumpkin pie, brownies) brussels sprouts, and dinner rolls. Carolyn made some great stuffing, Christina made mashed potatoes, and I made green bean casserole! We had about 16 people come for dinner. Some other language assistants from Santander came over to join us. There was a guy named Joe from Forth Worth/Dallas area! I had a lot of fun talking with him...we spoke a little in a Texas accent and had people cracking up. My favorites were talking about how 'everything's bigger in Texas' and how we make 'rotel dip' (we said roh-tell with a thick accent haha) with velveeta cheese and sausage (sometimes deer meat). After dinner, we went to the park and attempted to show the Brits and Spaniards how to play American football! I made a touchdown! Johnny and Ben, Irish and British respectively, were being super hilarious and therefore cracking me up...making 'pelvic thrusts' as a victory dance and as a way to distract the other team hahaha!
We were then attempting to play a tag game (bears, bees, fish) and I got knocked in the face by another guy on accident. He was trying to tag (or more like tackle) the Texas dude, who was standing next to me and ran straight in to me too. His head hit the side of my face and made me bite my lip. My lip was bleeding and my jaw still hurts! It is a good thing it was cold outside because sweet Alex (a northern Brit) handed me a beer bottle that was cold enough to take the place of ice for the swelling.
Despite my injuries and not being with my family :( , I had a great and memorable time celebrating Thanksgiving in Spain :)
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Art After Dark and a Painted Forest
November 16, 2009
This past weekend, Christina left for a trip to Paris and Carolyn went back to the U.S. (wish I could do the same...I get homesick every now and then!) So, Kendall and I had the house to ourselves. Friday night we went to Art after Dark at the Guggenheim! It's a party inside the museum at night. They had a d.j. who played good music and you could browse some of the exhibits as well! After this, we went to a discoteca called Fever. This is a huge club just outside of town in an industrial area. The ticket to the museum included free admission to Fever. I enjoyed going here...they played a lot of techno/house music...but they also had a hip-hop room featuring songs by Jay-Z, Snoop-Dogg, etc. It was a nice change from the usual techno music that can be heard in most clubs here (but don't get me wrong, I very much enjoy dancing to techno music). Everyone that we were with was ready to leave the club around 430 or 5 (yes in the a.m.!), so we all walked back to the metro. However, the metro did not open until 6! Some people decided to walk back, but Kendall and I stayed and waited for the metro with two other language assistants (they did not want to walk because their feet were hurting from the shoes they were wearing). By the time the metro opened, people (who came from the club) were pushing and shoving to get into the platform...disaster! In the end, we made it home safely and I was sooo ready to crawl into bed!
On Sunday, one of my students from my English class (Xabier who lives in Basauri) took Kendall and I exploring! We went to Bakio, Bermeo, and Guernica. Bakio and Bermeo are both on the coast and Guernica is very close to the coast. We went to an island that had stairs leading to it from the mainland. There is a beautiful hermitage at the top of the island dedicated to San Juan (John the Baptist). The name of the island is Gaztelugatxe.......http://en.wikipedia.org
/wiki/San_Juan_de_Gaztelugatxe
Bermeo is a cute little fishing town right on the coast. To our surprise, there was a food market/festival going on. There were award-winning sausage chefs there and we tried marcilla....a really yummy type of sausage. We tried various cheeses, wine and cider! I bought some Basque honey too!
After Bermeo, we traveled to the Painted Forest of Ibarolla (the painter's name). This is a beautiful forest where the artist painted designs on the trees. When you stand in different designated places, the designs fit together to make a larger piece of work. Very cool!
We then went to Guernica and saw the Assembly Hall where the government of Vizcaya meets. We got to go inside and take a tour. While we were touring the hall, we met a very interesting Irish family. The woman and her two children were Irish, but the man of the family was Spanish. Through talking with them, we figured out that the man was the Spanish lover! The girls were talking about their dad being back in Ireland! Scandalous! After we left the Assembly Hall, we were walking in the park, briefly commenting on the Spanish lover and my Spanish student said, 'we make good lovers.' haha!
We stopped and saw the mural of Picasso's painting (Guernica) depicting the bombing of Guernica which happened in 1937. I love, love art and it was so amazing to get to see this mural. The actual painting is located in a museum in Madrid. After this, we went to an Irish pub for coffee. By this time, it was getting dark and we were tired, so we headed back to Bilbao.
I am so appreciative to Xabier (one of my students) for taking us on this trip!!!!
This past weekend, Christina left for a trip to Paris and Carolyn went back to the U.S. (wish I could do the same...I get homesick every now and then!) So, Kendall and I had the house to ourselves. Friday night we went to Art after Dark at the Guggenheim! It's a party inside the museum at night. They had a d.j. who played good music and you could browse some of the exhibits as well! After this, we went to a discoteca called Fever. This is a huge club just outside of town in an industrial area. The ticket to the museum included free admission to Fever. I enjoyed going here...they played a lot of techno/house music...but they also had a hip-hop room featuring songs by Jay-Z, Snoop-Dogg, etc. It was a nice change from the usual techno music that can be heard in most clubs here (but don't get me wrong, I very much enjoy dancing to techno music). Everyone that we were with was ready to leave the club around 430 or 5 (yes in the a.m.!), so we all walked back to the metro. However, the metro did not open until 6! Some people decided to walk back, but Kendall and I stayed and waited for the metro with two other language assistants (they did not want to walk because their feet were hurting from the shoes they were wearing). By the time the metro opened, people (who came from the club) were pushing and shoving to get into the platform...disaster! In the end, we made it home safely and I was sooo ready to crawl into bed!
On Sunday, one of my students from my English class (Xabier who lives in Basauri) took Kendall and I exploring! We went to Bakio, Bermeo, and Guernica. Bakio and Bermeo are both on the coast and Guernica is very close to the coast. We went to an island that had stairs leading to it from the mainland. There is a beautiful hermitage at the top of the island dedicated to San Juan (John the Baptist). The name of the island is Gaztelugatxe.......http://en.wikipedia.org
/wiki/San_Juan_de_Gaztelugatxe
Bermeo is a cute little fishing town right on the coast. To our surprise, there was a food market/festival going on. There were award-winning sausage chefs there and we tried marcilla....a really yummy type of sausage. We tried various cheeses, wine and cider! I bought some Basque honey too!
After Bermeo, we traveled to the Painted Forest of Ibarolla (the painter's name). This is a beautiful forest where the artist painted designs on the trees. When you stand in different designated places, the designs fit together to make a larger piece of work. Very cool!
We then went to Guernica and saw the Assembly Hall where the government of Vizcaya meets. We got to go inside and take a tour. While we were touring the hall, we met a very interesting Irish family. The woman and her two children were Irish, but the man of the family was Spanish. Through talking with them, we figured out that the man was the Spanish lover! The girls were talking about their dad being back in Ireland! Scandalous! After we left the Assembly Hall, we were walking in the park, briefly commenting on the Spanish lover and my Spanish student said, 'we make good lovers.' haha!
We stopped and saw the mural of Picasso's painting (Guernica) depicting the bombing of Guernica which happened in 1937. I love, love art and it was so amazing to get to see this mural. The actual painting is located in a museum in Madrid. After this, we went to an Irish pub for coffee. By this time, it was getting dark and we were tired, so we headed back to Bilbao.
I am so appreciative to Xabier (one of my students) for taking us on this trip!!!!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Lovely La Rioja
Wow....I need to make a point of writing more often!
So much has happened in the past three weeks! I started teaching English classes and I am enjoying it sooo much! I teach students who are anywhere from 16 to 60 years old. I teach beginner and intermediate English classes. I go into the classes for 30 - 45 minutes and pretty much teach about anything I want. So far, I have done lessons on Halloween, giving directions, and politically correct terms. I have to speak extremely slow sometimes, especially in my beginner classes, so that they can understand me.
This past weekend, Liz came to visit me!!! We met up in La Rioja (wine country). My roomies and I rented a car and I drove to La Rioja. We went to a wine museum:
(http://www.dinastiavivanco.com/inicio.asp)
The scenery and the colors of vineyards are beautiful!!! We learned so much about the history and the making of wine...there's so much richness in the culture of wine!!! We got to do some tasting here...but I only had a few sips so I could be a responsible driver :)! After this we drove to Logrono, the capitol of La Rioja, to pick up Liz from the bus station. We then traveled to a vineyard called Ysios in Laguardia.
After this, we went to get pintxos in the center of town and then decided to head back to Bilbao. Heading back to Bilbao was stressful....Karen, our GPS navigator, had an australian accent and would pronounce the spanish street names very badly! It was so funny. Karen, however, did not do a good job of navigating us back to the car rental place so we could drop off our car. A one and a half hour trip back to Bilbao turned into a three hour trip and most of it was spent driving around Bilbao....looking back it is hilarious, but at the time, it was super annoying! We finally made it home and then Liz and I went to get kabob's at a restaurant near our piso. These kabobs (gyros) are the best I have had...yum!
The next day (Saturday) Liz and I went to Ikea so that she could get some things for her apartment. At Ikea, we ate hotdogs and donuts for lunch...so healthy haha! We also went to El Corte Ingles so she could get a straightener. That night, the roomies and I had some friends over for a little gathering...Kendall and Carolyn made some yummy finger foods (bars and bruschetta). A few Spaniards came to the party, as well as other language assistants from the area. Some of them played flippy cup on our patio...while Liz and I and others chatted in the kitchen and living room. Martin (our British friend) brought his ipod speaker and soon enough, we were jamming to spanish music, justin timberlake, and beyonce...jamming turned into a dance party in our living room. This was a fun night and it was great to hang out at our apartment instead of go out for the night because none of the language assistants had gotten paid yet!
Sunday...Liz and I went to see the Guggenheim Museum. There was an exhibit of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright and I got to see some paintings by Picasso, Kandinsky, and many others! So exciting! We also went salsa dancing at Mozart's in the evening. I got asked to dance quite a few times. Most of the guys who asked me to dance were older. They did a lot of spinning me around. I learned some salsa steps, but still need some more lessons! They have classes on Mondays and Thursdays...so we are going to go back one day because you get one free lesson!
Liz and I got to skype with Victor when we got back, which was fun! He was being so hilarious! We toasted our 'webcam reunion'...I had wine, Liz had water, and Victor had a mojito drink (which he ran to get from the convenient store haha). Good idea on the toasting, Victor ;)
Liz had to go back to Siguenza on Monday morning...I was sad to see her go, but am looking forward to traveling with her to other countries!!
So much has happened in the past three weeks! I started teaching English classes and I am enjoying it sooo much! I teach students who are anywhere from 16 to 60 years old. I teach beginner and intermediate English classes. I go into the classes for 30 - 45 minutes and pretty much teach about anything I want. So far, I have done lessons on Halloween, giving directions, and politically correct terms. I have to speak extremely slow sometimes, especially in my beginner classes, so that they can understand me.
This past weekend, Liz came to visit me!!! We met up in La Rioja (wine country). My roomies and I rented a car and I drove to La Rioja. We went to a wine museum:
(http://www.dinastiavivanco.com/inicio.asp)
The scenery and the colors of vineyards are beautiful!!! We learned so much about the history and the making of wine...there's so much richness in the culture of wine!!! We got to do some tasting here...but I only had a few sips so I could be a responsible driver :)! After this we drove to Logrono, the capitol of La Rioja, to pick up Liz from the bus station. We then traveled to a vineyard called Ysios in Laguardia.
After this, we went to get pintxos in the center of town and then decided to head back to Bilbao. Heading back to Bilbao was stressful....Karen, our GPS navigator, had an australian accent and would pronounce the spanish street names very badly! It was so funny. Karen, however, did not do a good job of navigating us back to the car rental place so we could drop off our car. A one and a half hour trip back to Bilbao turned into a three hour trip and most of it was spent driving around Bilbao....looking back it is hilarious, but at the time, it was super annoying! We finally made it home and then Liz and I went to get kabob's at a restaurant near our piso. These kabobs (gyros) are the best I have had...yum!
The next day (Saturday) Liz and I went to Ikea so that she could get some things for her apartment. At Ikea, we ate hotdogs and donuts for lunch...so healthy haha! We also went to El Corte Ingles so she could get a straightener. That night, the roomies and I had some friends over for a little gathering...Kendall and Carolyn made some yummy finger foods (bars and bruschetta). A few Spaniards came to the party, as well as other language assistants from the area. Some of them played flippy cup on our patio...while Liz and I and others chatted in the kitchen and living room. Martin (our British friend) brought his ipod speaker and soon enough, we were jamming to spanish music, justin timberlake, and beyonce...jamming turned into a dance party in our living room. This was a fun night and it was great to hang out at our apartment instead of go out for the night because none of the language assistants had gotten paid yet!
Sunday...Liz and I went to see the Guggenheim Museum. There was an exhibit of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright and I got to see some paintings by Picasso, Kandinsky, and many others! So exciting! We also went salsa dancing at Mozart's in the evening. I got asked to dance quite a few times. Most of the guys who asked me to dance were older. They did a lot of spinning me around. I learned some salsa steps, but still need some more lessons! They have classes on Mondays and Thursdays...so we are going to go back one day because you get one free lesson!
Liz and I got to skype with Victor when we got back, which was fun! He was being so hilarious! We toasted our 'webcam reunion'...I had wine, Liz had water, and Victor had a mojito drink (which he ran to get from the convenient store haha). Good idea on the toasting, Victor ;)
Liz had to go back to Siguenza on Monday morning...I was sad to see her go, but am looking forward to traveling with her to other countries!!
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