So Monday morning at 9:30, I had made plans to go on a walk with Emilio for reals. I didn´t go running because I knew it was going to be a serious walk, and I dressed appropriately, warm-ups, t-shirt, running shoes, sweatshirt and camera. He said we were going to be gone for 3 hours and I said I couldn´t be gone that long. He said ok. So we left and I bet we looked ridiculous, an unshowered, American girl, ready to exercise, and a slick, well dressed Spanish 72yr old out for a walk together. Anyway, I ignored the stared and proceeded to learn more that I wanted to know about Granada and its rivers, buildings, monuments, plazas, etc. Strange thing is, the walking was not difficult. He was so excited to be telling me all this information that he would just stop in the middle of the street and keep talking and forget to walk. We didn´t get very far either, according to his plans. He also had the audacity to knock on closed doors or things he had seen in special guided tours and ask if I could see it, because I was from California, here studying Spanish. I´m way to timid to do that sort of thing but I did end up seeing some beautiful buildings, hotels, monastaires, schools and carmens. About 1 hour into it, my brain was already on full, but we kept going. My favorite part was when Emilio said, "Te lo digo esto para que recuerdes," or "I´m telling you this so you remember." I don´t know why, it just struck me. After much asking where we were going and how much longer it was going to take, we made it home by 12:30. I rushed to put Zore´s room back together, (terrified she was going to come back before I had finished it) and finished cleaning the house. I made lunch, ate, chatted with the roommies as they came home or woke up and then showered myself. In the afternoon, I don´t really remember what I did, but I know that this Monday and Tuesday consisted mostly of trying to do things and not getting them done. I have a list of places to turn in resumes to, shop, things to send or buy or whatever, but no matter what I tried to do, it just didn´t work out. Monday evening, I taught a class with Nacho and Alicia, ate some anchovies, which I don´t really like, and felt kind of nauseaous and feverish when I got home. I watched the Spanish version of America´s Next Top Model with my roommies, which pales in comparison to the original version so I can´t really enjoy it. Then I went to bed.
As alluded to, Tuesday was an equally frustrating and non-fruitful day. I did get my legs waxed in the morning, which hurt less since it wasn´t the first time in a long time, but there were also parts that hurt one billion times more. I came home and made lunch, ate and tried to get out again to try and accomplish something but I don´t know what I did instead. I also felt like crap the whole day. Fever and who knows what else. I am supposed to be tutoring Zore, but so far we haven´t been able to yet because of life´s circumstances. I´ll explain. So I didn´t get anything done Tuesday morning. So when 5 o´clock rolled around and Zore was sleeping I thought, I´ll go buy that book I have to buy, come back and then tutor Zore. Well the book I had to buy (for teaching Conchi, something I had 2 weeks to do) was hard to find, and I had to go searching all over the freaking city for it from 1 bookstore to the next, eachone giving me different directions, etc. Anyway I got home at about 6:30, when I had to leave for me next class with Maria Angeles. I appoligized to Zore who doesn´t really care, and went and talked for an hour with Maria Angeles. Then Zore met me at her house and we went to my church´s English service that they have once a month. I was glad to have someone to go with, and it was fun because I saw a bunch of people that I knew before, but hadn´t seen since I left. Zore seemed to like it, but she really seems to speak no English, so I´m not sure what the understanding level is. Also it started at 8:30, and didn´t last more than and hour, but Rosa and Zore had made plans with Rocio so when we wern´t back, Rosa started freaking out, wanting to know where Zore was! Let´s just say, it cut the fellowship time at the end down to a minium. Then we walked home and I had a really sore throat and fever and went to bed and they left.
Wednesday, fever, got up and got ready for work and left and went to work. I think Wednesdays are my favorite days because I have 2 hours with teachers and low stress. Especially today when, my first hour of teachers canceled on me. I also tried to teach a cool lesson on plates and utensils vocabulary using visual aides borrowed from the cafeteria, but no one really learned. The kids just don´t care or pay attention. So then I went home, tried to eat something, took a nap and tried to get ready for class that afternoon. By now I knew I was sick and needed some medicine, but I don´t just want to take random antibiotics. So I went to see Pepa, who called her sister-in-law, and got me an appointment for that evening at 7. So me and my fever somehow managed to teach an hour and a half of English classes, and then go to the doctor with Pepa. The diagnosis was that I have a very irritated throat, more antibiotics, and some wierd stuff for the fever. I am really fortunate and blessed by Victor´s family because Conchi the doctor (Both of Victor´s Aunt´s happen to be named Conchi so I don´t know how we are going to tell them apart) wrote the prescription for Pepa which means I would have to pay less. Then we go to the pharmacy and Pepa doesn´t let me pay for the medicines at all, and told me to come get them and dinner when I got back. Then I rushed to a job interview I had at 8 with the lady from Fun English, Nachete´s school who had called me that morning. Turns out, she wanted me to teach a class for adults, Tuesday and Thursday morning, which I can´t do because of my real job. Quite dissapointing and frustrating. I went home, had some soup and medicine and went to bed.
Thursday, fever, sore throat, wake up, shower, feel like not going to work, and I see a voicemail on my phone that says, "Hey Rachel, its Carmina (teacher I work with the most) I don´t feel well so I´m not coming to school, let´s see if you can teach my classes by yourself." I hate my job. So I finish getting ready and go to work. There Carmina calls me again, and I ask if there is going to be a sub there to help with crowd control. She tells me to talk with MariAngeles. MariAngeles, says, well, there is an on-duty teacher, if you need help find her. Hmmm, I have no idea how to do that. So good. So I go to teach the last class I´ll ever teach because I won´t come back alive, after what these kids will do to me, and I make my peace with God. Thankfully as I was struggling to open the door, Blanca, another English teacher, came to my rescue. She happened to be the on-duty sub, and stayed and helped a little. It went ok, I was teaching my Halloween lesson, but the kids here really don´t care. Then I had a break for an hour and a halg, tried not to die because remember I still have a fever, cough and an extremely irritated throat. Then I had to teach again. Blanca said she could help me, that I should start and that she would come by later. She never came. This random teacher walking by helped get the kids to sit down for roll, but then he left. I had to kick 3 kids out of the classroom. I almost died and I hate my job. Apparently several English teachers passed by and peeked in the back window and saw that everything was going smoothly, so they never interrupted. I think we just have different definitions of classroom behavior, and the kids are never going to act like I think they do in the USA. Then after that I had 1 more hour and I went home and slept. No one was home and no one came home so I laid in bed till the landlord came to collect the rent. He informed me that my roommates had gone to Malaga, and that I was supposed to give him the rent. Thankfully I found it on Adri´s desk and the landlord, who is kind of like a big, stupid, wierdo, went away relatively quickly. Then I went downstairs, borrowed the computer and wrote the update about Ana and Deanna, went back down for dinner, back up, finished and went to bed.
Friday, woke up, fever, spit up some blood, got ready for work put in a load of laundry and left. I got to go in a little later but I was still pretty tired. I also had an awkward conversation with my roommate because this weekend, Magdalena and her mother were coming to stay, who are my friends and now the ex-sister-and-mother-in-law of Rosa. She was mad at them because they told me and Adri they were coming, but not her, so she didn´t want them to stay in her room and had bought a lock to make sure they didnt. I was in the middle. Work was fine, I was so tired and sick, but it finally got over. Then I came home to Magdalena and her mom waiting for me at the door. No one was home and they had never told me when they were coming. I let them in, chatted, they had already eaten so I went downstairs to eat because Pepa was making lunch for Nacho and Alicia and told me to stop by. Then I went back upstairs, chatted some more, took a nap, watched tv, cleaned up a bit, and got ready for Victor to come. I had a terrible fever but I had bought concert tickets for us that night as a suprise and I was going to go no matter what. He got there, we all visited and then we went to the concert. It was packed, a ton of people, smoking everything, and drinking in a small area. I love the group, Los Delinqüentes, but I´m only really familiar with 1 of their cds, so that, the fever, tons of people and being really short didn´t make for an amazing concert experience, but later I found a ledge to stand up on, and it was better. We rushed out of there directly after and went home. I was almost dead. I ate some soup and went to bed and Victor went out for the night.
I felt better the next morning, and finally didn´t have a fever for the first time in 4 or 5 days. But my throat was really hurting and I was spitting up significantly more blood. Magdalena had come to Granad to go to a dental implants conference, as she is about to open up her own dental protesis labratory in the Canary Islands. Her mom came to visit her daughter. So all day Saturday, Mada was gone and I had a guest in my house. I love her mom, Maria, but its wierd to have a guest in your house all day. So I watched tv all morning and she made a yummy rice dish and we ate it. Then I showered and got ready and Victor stopped by to see if I wanted to go to the Corte Inglés with him. I finished getting ready and we left. We bought him some more jeans, had an easier time than before since we knew what size and where to look, and tried on some shoes and jackets and looked around. Then I made a spare key for Maria and Mada, and we went home and decided to go to the movies. We saw, La Torre de Suso, Suso´s Tower, and it was really good, funny, but also sad. I liked it. Then we came home ate something for dinner while watching tv and went to bed.
Sunday, Mada again had conference, I woke up, spit up blood, watched tv again all morning, showered and went downstairs for more paella. Then a nap and then more tv with Mada and her mom, by now I was seriously sick of tv, I don´t even want to think of how many hours I spent watching tv I didn´t really enjoy. Anyway, later when Victor left I went with him and stoped by Nacho and Alicia´s, played with the kids, ate a dinner I didn´t really like and finally leave, Victor dropped me off and left for Malaga. Then I visited more with Mada and Maria over some tv and their dinner. Then I went to bed.
Monday, woke up, got ready and went to what will be my doctor, with my private insurance in Granada. She said that I have a seriously irritated and infected throat with pus in it and gave me stronger antibiotics and anti-inflamatories. Then I went with Pepa to look for beadspreads and I found one that I like for 45€. I was still unsure, because that´s a lot of money and I hadn´t looked everywere so we went to this other wharehouse place that usually has good deals. I didn´t like anything there especially the really, rude grouchy old man who "helped" us and mostly made me want to cry. So after that I was ready to buy the 45€ one and did so. Then we went home, Pepa went home, bought my medicines, and didn´t let me pay because she was going to see if her Conchi Doctor would write her a prescription for them. So I put my new beautiful bedspread on my bed which makes the room one trillion times better and went to the bank to see about getting my account online. Then I went home and started to make lunch with Mada, we ate, watched tv, the girls came home, and Mada and Maria left about 4. Then we had a really awkward roommate moment because Rosa was upset that they were still here, and that she had to see them and that they had been in her house while she was gone. Also for our big pasta salad that day, I had used a new bowl that they hadn´t used before. (In a month) and they were upset that their stuff gets used in the kitchen. So, apparetnly, their moms said, don´t use anything in this house, its all gross, here we bought you all new nice stuff. They say, you guys can use our stuff whenever you want. Now they say, why do you use our nice new stuff when, there is a lot of old gross stuff that you can use? Apparently those weren´t donations to the household. I´m always confused, but just going to try to not use their stuff. So yeah, then Monday afternoon we had a little salsa class in our house because Wednesday is Adri´s Bday and we´re having and party and guess what all his friends know how to do that we don´t. Dance salsa. I pretty much dance with 2 left feet, but oh well. I also showed everybody my new bedspread because I was so happy and proud of it. Untill Zore told me that her comforter cost 24€ and her duvet cover cost 10€ and that she could have brought me one. In Granada the cheapest I found that for was 100€ and that´s why I chose to go with a bedspread instead of a comforter. Nothing quite takes the pleasure of a new purchase as knowing you spent twice as much of the money you don´t really have and that in Spain taking stuff back because you don´t want it anymore isn´t an option. Then I used the internet a bit, made photocopies and went to teach class with Nacho and Alicia, underprepared. Thankfully, Nachete was still awake and was waiting for me to come out of the elevator with open arms and a giant hug, and so dinner was taking a longer time than usual and I didn´t have to teach the grammer lesson I had photocopied, but not really prepared. We talked about other things like the United States and California. Then I went home, chatted for a while and went to bed.
Today, I woke up , showered and went to a guitar class. Its been waaay too long since I played the guitar and I suck again. But I did that for an hour, came home and ate some leftover pasta salad from yesterday around 12 and came out to try and finish up my paperwork at the police station. I went there, to the bank, back there, back to the bank and finally gave up for the day and have been using the internet since one o´clock, its not after 4. Tonight I have maybe class with Zore and Mari Angeles and hopefully I can go to the store and buy some stuff that I really need like deoderant and conditioner. Haha. Wouldn´t you like to know when I ran out?¿?¿ :) Ok I´m finally all caught up!
The official name of my school:
Me at the front gate of the school. It kind of looks like a jail doesn´t it? Sometimes it feels like it too when you can´t get the gate to open to let you in or out...
The actual school, hands and camera inside the gate. 
View of La Alhambra from El Mirador de San Cristobal, near my school.
All of us at El Granero: Adri, Zore, Deanna, Rosa, Rachel, now as a kitty.
Two kitties, Kristen and Rachel, Kristen is another Language Assistant here in Granada.
Michelle, as a pig, and Rachel. Michelle is the girl who works at my school with me and I love her so much. I don´t know what I would do without her!
A bad picture, but it shows Kristen in the front and my only other Language Assistant friend, Samar, in the back. She´s dressed as the sun.
Here we are ready to go out Saturday night. Notice new red jacket from Alicia. Victor is also a good photographer.
Here is a picture of Said, Ana, me and Soufian, outside of his shop. 
