Teacher! Seño! Mi Corazon! Guapa

Teacher!  Seño! (short for señorita) Mi Corazon! (my heart)  Guapa! (beautiful)

No matter how many classes I teach, it never ceases to amaze me how the words of a 5 year old can completely make my day.  It's my third week teaching and there have already been many highs and lows at my school.  I have a little boy in one of my classes and each time he sees me he runs over and says ahhh mi corazon (ahhh my heart) like he was just waiting for me to get there and now he can relax.  Talk about heart melting and an attempt to be teachers pet, it's working.   The schools here are as different from the U.S. as the culture itself.  It's perfectly common for a child to start walking around the classroom or interrupt you in the middle of your lesson plan. The teachers don't make a big fuss about it and just continue.  The classroom is a lot more relaxed and the children are allowed to be children.  I'm learning more and more that all cultures have an asset in the classroom to make it more functional.  The Spaniards got it right with the relationship teachers are able to have with their students.  I walk out into the playground and the kids come running shouting along the way "Teacher!  Senor! Mi Corazon! Guapa" and if I didn't kiss each one on the cheek or give them a world famous Jessica hug they would be heart broken.  I love that you can have that relationship with them and truly feel connected!  Needless to say I'm in love with my job!

We are all moved into the apartment and settled in. Realizing I'm not Dorothy and no matter how many times I click my red slippers I won't get home has been adjustment. We are trying to do small things to the apartment to give it the feel of a home and small sanctuary.  I must say at this point in the trip I'm not to impressed with the cuisine.  I told a Spaniard this and they of course told me I haven't been eating the right things haha.  My goal is to take a cooking class and see for myself what I'm missing out on! 

I'm sure many of you have noticed the delay since my last post and I'm extremely sorry!  A drink was spilled into my computer and my computer is now dead :(...I use my roomates from time to time but my posts won't be as regular as I'd liked!  I'll load more pictures soon!

Your Work-aholic

Jessica

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

A favorite hideaway :)

A view from Alcazaba

The Port for Costa del Sol

The Bull Fighting Ring

View from the top

Kerianne, Me, Kelley, Bianca (Orientation Friends Came to Visit)

Soccer Game (Me, Juan, Kerianne) Arnesto took the photo :)

Ain’t no mountain high enough and no valley low enough…to keep me from a futbol game!

What a busy last few days.  I’ll admit the newness of Spain began to wear off and the shock of being in a foreign country with few friends and no family began to sink in; I was blue.  After walking around the city aimlessly we accumulated lots of numbers of available aliquos pisos (apartments for rent).  Sounds great lots of for rent signs however most of the follow up calls included some really fast Spanish speakers and the words occupado (occupied).  At last we found our gem of a place in the exact location we wanted; it’s a quaint 2 bedroom apartment and is going to be our first perfect cozy place.  Now if only my mom could fly in to help arrange furniture and decorate on a budget, her specialties.  Fun Fact: most apartments here do not include dryers or stoves and of course no air or heat.  Also, most guys/girls live with their parents until they are 28-30 or until they marry.  On the bummer side we can’t move in until Friday which puts us homeless for 2 days so we’re trying to bunk with friends so we don’t have to pay for a hotel or hostel.  The exchange rate of the dollar to euro is killing me haha

After the stress of the hunt we needed a little fun.  Yesterday we went for a hike and let me tell you it was a hike.  We climbed an old castle Alcazaba and Gibralfaro.  Talk about working for a good picture.  What I saw was nothing less than a speechless view.   I’ll put up pictures to explain it.  I being as graceful as I am managed to fall on the way down but left with only a scratched up knee, no worries friends. 

Now the highlight.  I went to my first Spanish futbol game!!   Spanish friends (Juan y Arnesto) invited us to take on the experience and who could refuse?  Fans of futbol here are like nothing I’ve ever seen; three times more verbal and cheerful than the states.  It was exhilarating and stressful as we chanted MALAGUETA MALAGUETA.  The other team kept taking cheap shots and kicking the Malagueta’s in the shin with their cleats OUCH so one of our players punched him and of course got a red card.  For all of you not familiar with soccer a red card means you’re thrown out of the game. I can't wait until the next game!
     On a final note I must share a funny story with you where our languages failed us.  We were discussing cars and Juan said “Cuantos caballo’s en un coche” “How many horses are in a car.”  Kerianne and I look at each other and are like what the heck, why does he want to know how many horses you can fit in a car?  So we ask him to explain in another way and he says the same thing. I’m like ok well maybe his family is into horses.  So we respond  “ahh dos cabellos” (ughh 2 horses)  Juan and Arnesto look at each other and die laughing and say “no no no.”  Kerianne and I are more confused than ever and say “well how many can you fit in a car?”  They respond “at least 200” and we’re like “no entendemos es no possible” “we don’t understand it’s not possible” and then a light bulb hit and I said “you mean horse power how much horse power is in a car” hahaha we died laughing and explained we thought they were talking about the animal it was a fun learning experience..
Your Struggling Spanish Learner

Encantada (Enchanted)

I’m pretty sure my heart just skipped a beat as this country continues to give me butterflies every day.  I continue to be enchanted by the places and people here.  I went to a Flamenco show and saw the passionate performance of two dancers who dance for one another love, it’s very intense.  The men here are beautiful, to put it mildly, but the women are equally gorgeous.  On the flip side Spanish women typically want nothing to do with Americans (men or women) so making friends has its challenges.  We left orientation today and I took a train to Málaga.  It was my first train ride and it was amazing it really helped me to see parts of Spain I probably wouldn’t have otherwise.  We got to another hotel, living out of a suitcase isn’t what it’s cracked up to be, and immediately went apartment hunting.  I wish House Hunters International would just come help us find a place. 

Your Homeless Traveler J 

a few tears and lots of airports

Or maybe that was lots of tears and a a few airports.  Today begins the first day of this scary, unfamiliar, out of this world journey.  I must admit I am quite technologically challenged, hopefully this blog will be user friendly.It's unreal to me how quickly this summer went by.  I began the summer worrying about saving money and buying a plane ticket, then I moved on to the tedious task of getting paperwork together for a visa, and then actually waiting on the arrival of the visa.  Before I knew it September was here and all I had left to worry over was nothing and everything.  I went to Ohio to visit my family and was able to temporarily hide from the anxiety but the last few days it managed to find me.  What will my class be like?  How much English will they already know?  Will the students like me?  Will I find an apartment on my budget?  Will I make friends?  Have I fell off my rocker for doing this?  These are the questions that swarm my mind the majority of the day.  I can't wait to answer these questions for you and myself!  I am thrilled and terrified to start this adventure. The song A Whole New World from Aladdin has an entirely new meaning!  Until we meet again!