Catching Up

So there were some things that I had to edit from my previous long journal post because of the surpise. In a nutshell, they were that the week before I left I exchanged Christmas presents with all of Victor's family. They all loved the pictures of their kids in frames I made for them and I gave Emilio Season 1 of Camera Cafe, which came with a matching cup which he also loved. I also got some really nice gifts from them.

Then after Victor's lunch with his work friends in Malaga, I spent 25 hours traveling to San Francisco where my sister picked me up on her way home from Long Beach. We then drove to my Grandma's house where Christmas Eve tamales making was underway ans suprised everyone. They all started screaming and crying and it was perfect. So we finished up the tamales and then I finally got to go home, take a shower and go to bed after who knows how long!

Sunday I went to chruch and suprised some more people, Monday was Christmas Eve at my Grandma's and I got to share a lot of the treats I brought home, Tuesday Christmas Day at our house, Wednesday I had breakfast with Katie, Chemo with my mom and church in the evening, Thursday was a Spanish lunch with Kahryn and Dave, and Friday I had coffee and an amazing visit with Tessa and Alicia and we left for Taft, where my other Grandma lives and had dinner with the fam and watched some Twilight Zones. The gaps have been spent reading, watching some much-missed American TV, talking on the phone with people I'm not going to be able to visit in person and otherwise relaxing and enjoying Christmas Vacation. I'm also always tired. I guess that has something to do with the time change. I got a lot of wonderful presents but the best part has just been being home.

Now I'm going to try and upload a lot of pictures!

Operation Christmas Suprise-prise

Saint Nick has delivered the package. Or in non-code, my sister picked me up from the airport yesterday and brought me home! Yes I am in California for 2 short weeks, until January 4th! Yay for Christmas suprises! My old cell phone is up and running so give me a call and we'll hang out! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! Love, Rachel

Finals Week and Christmas Vacation!

OOOOKKKK here we go! Last Friday, I had one more class, and still went home an hour early because the teacher wanted to give back and exam. Then I made lunch and ate it and went and had my Friday afternoon class. Something I realized was that I don´t really know the kid´s name. I´m not sure how that happened, but I just don´t know his name. I thought it was Alfonso like his dad´s, but then his mom called the younger brother Alfonso. So if anyone has any suggestions on how to get out of that pickle, you know how to reach me. Then I picked up some pictures I had processed, came home worked on presents and probably cleaned and Victor got to Granada and we ate dinner with the family. I spent quite a while taking pictures of Nachete so I could complete my Christmas gifts and then we left. Victor had said he was going to go out with his friends, so I made plans with Michelle and Samar who were going to go out with some other people. In the end, Victor fell asleep, and I went out. I met up with the group, which turned into a big group, which made for a bad time, and we wandered around Calle Elvira, from one place to the next, going in and out of bars, fighting the cold and all 12 people not agreeing. In the end, about 5 of us went to some different places, and finally a pub called Agora, which I really liked, and would like to go back to. When it closed at 4, I went home and went to bed.

The next morning, Victor went shopping for my Christmas present and I went for a run. It was really cold, and I ran into Nacho and Alicia in front of the house, and chatted with them for awhile before the run. Then I showered and went to drop off the pictures of Nachete and then to Victors house. That day Victor was eating lunch with the friends he was supposed to go out with on Firday, but I still ate with the family and helped crowd control with the babies. Raul and Patricia were there with Adriana, and Alicia and Nacho had dropped off Marina when I ran into them that morning. Then I went to my house and took a much needed nap, and later went on a walk with Victor. We picked up the pictures again, I was taking pictures of the beautiful Christmas lights all around the city and we visited the giant Nativity Scene in front of the Corte Inglés. Then we ate dinner and went to Santi´s house to hang out for a bit with him, José, Pepe, Antonio, Cristiana and Bea. We were there for a while, and later I went home and Victor went out with Pepe.

Sunday I went to church, which was borring, but not ridiculous for a change. Then I came home and had paella again. In case you haven´t noticed, its kinda a Spanish thing to eat paella on Sundays to which Victor´s mom holds to almost religiously. I like it a lot but, how many weeks have I been here for now? Then siesta relax time and all of a sudden, Alicia my old roommate calls me. She says, "Hey do you know where I am?" I said, "ummmm,,,,, Granada?" and she says, "nope, but I´m on a plane heading there to suprise you!" Well that was good, but I decided to clean the house. haha So I started to clean, and as I finished, Victor and José came over and visited for a bit, and we gave José his birthday present. His birthday was monday, and he loved the gift, a leather bracelet. (I am really good at picking out gifts!!) Then they left, and Victor went to have dinner with Nacho and Alicia. I finised up my Christmas gifts, and then Alicia got there. We chatted and went out to get schwarmas. Then we went to a teteria (tea house), and got a crepe, tea, and chocolate milk. Then we were walking around looking for this flamenco place Alicia had been too. It took us a while to find, and when we got there they were going to have a concert. That was cool, but it also meant we had to pay the cover. But also Alicia seemed to think that she had to treat me to everything since she was staying at my house, so that was good for me, although I felt bad after a while... So then a cool flamenco concert, except for they crammed as many people as possible into a tiny place filled with tables and chairs and we had people smoking right behind us and a couple making out and flipping their hair in my face right in front of us. Then at the end we took a taxi home because it was so freezing!! Then we chatted with Adri for a bit and went to bed.

Monday, I slept in till 12! which was amazing. I never sleep in anymore so I was loving it. Then we made chocolate chip cookies from a Betty Crocker mix Alicia had bought in the Dominican Republic. Baking American products in a gas oven that measures degrees in different sized dots is always an adventure. The first batch was black on the bottom, but the second turned out pretty good. Rosa got home and Adri woke up as we were finishing so we all ate cookies and chatted for a while. Then shower and Alicia and I went to eat at Il Gondoliere, a delicious Italian resturant and Alicia´s favorite. Then we went and watched The Golden Compass, stopped by the Corte Inglés and bought a few things, and went home. Then at 8 I left and went to a second interview, whic Veronica from Nachete´s English academy, had called me for, while we were in the movies. She wanted me to teach some classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, and one on Tuesdays. It was all kind of a shock, and rushed, but I´m officially hired for the Tuesday class and start right after Christmas break. Its a little difficult because pretty much all private English tutoring/classes are smashed into monday- thursday afternoons, let´s say 4-7. I´m pretty content with my current schedule, and while more classes mean more moolah, it may also be saying goodbye to low-stress. Anyway, we´ll see how it all goes. Then I went and had class with Nacho and Alicia, where I also eat dinner, and when I got back home, I went out for tapas with Alicia. So yes, since she arrived in Granada, we mostly just talked and ate. We stopped by a bar on the way home where she used to work and visited some of her old friends and then went home. We watched tv and visited with Adri and Rosa and then went to bed.

Tuesday morning we had to get up early so she could catch the bus to the airport, and then I got ready and went to guitar. I was late, but started the lesson by giving Antonio his Christmas present, which made up for being late and not practicing again. haha Thing is, he goes into another room and comes back with a present for me. Wrapped in the same paper I just gave to him. It was a silver brooch/pin thing of a pomegranate (granada) with red jewels on it. I´m not sure if it was his wife´s or if all granadians keep a stash of those on hand to hand out as gifts to return unexpected favors. Victor´s mom gave me a similar one when I left Spain the last time and gave her an unexpected present. Anyway, then guitar class, then some errands and a bit of chill and internet time at Pepa´s and Emilio´s. Then I went at 6 to watch a class at Nachete´s school, so I would be prepared for after Christmas, and then rushed to my regular Tuesday night classes, which I had asked to be pushed back. Thankfully, Mari Angeles had cancelled on me, but I was still there with Carlos and Marta till pretty late as I got there late and spent an extra 20 mins with Marta who was working on a giant English project she saved for the last minute. (A girl after my own heart) Then I came home, stopped by Pepa and Emilio´s per request and then talked on the phone to my mom, made dinner and ate it, visited with Rosa and her supposed ex-boyfriend José Manuel who was visiting again, watched Shrek on tv and the next thing I knew it was past 12! I then went to bed.

Wednesday morning, work. One of the first things I did was talk to Carmina who told me that the was going to be activities for the kids, instead of class, starting tommorow at 3rd period, right when I start work. Long story short, I didn´t have to come to work the next day. Yay! So it was like finals week ended early and christmas break was here at the end of the day! That was especially nice to hear, because I didn´t have any finals this week, just work! That´s probably the first time in 10 or so years. woot! Nonetheless, Christmas break being so near was delicious. Michelle and I were giddy crazy! I had 1 hour of class with teachers, and one of them, Fernando, told me that Michelle and I had to go see the princapal because we were in trouble. I didn´t belive him and was hoping he was going to give us a Christmas bonus. During recess we went there and he gave us a big envelop with a pottery platter in it from the Granadian ceramics place near our school. Its really cool and then there was a smaller envelope with it. I was so excited, because I knew it was a check or cash! It wasn´t, it was 2 ugly bookmarks. At least I really like the plate. So then, 1 more hour of class with teachers, which I love, and then 1 hour with students, which went pretty bad. It was the whole group, and they did not want to hear about Christmas in America. But then it was over and Michelle and I said goodbye to everybody and went to cash our checks. It was nice to finally have a pay period not end in frustration with the banks, although I was really nervous walking home with all the money I´m going to get in a month in my pocket. Then I came home, ate lunch with Pepa, Emilio and Raul, and completely swallowed Raul´s story about him being in a kite surfing video on the internet. I think the fact that he was messing with me like that was another step in the direction of closeness. So then I had class with Conchi and Valentina, went back to Inglés Divertido to pick up a book and to Antionio´s because he made a wall calendar with my picture on it for me. Then I hung out with Rosa and her friend Raquel as they got ready for their school´s Christmas dinner. Then I went out to take a few picture of the lights, came home, made dinner watched Los Serrano on tv and went to bed.

Today I woke up and went running, deposited the cash in the bank, showered, ate breakfast and then Emilio took me to the bus station. Right now I´m here in Malaga, spending some time with Victor, since I´m finally on break, and to go to his company´s Christmas luncheon tomorrow afternoon. So then I was on a bus for 2 hours, got to Malaga, Victor picked me up, and we went to eat at this delicious seafood place. I had grilled octopus and he had grilled squid. It was really good. Then we came back home, I met his roommates, and Victor had to go back to work. I´ve been internetting and listening to music since. And that´s the story morning glory!

A Day in the Life

This week has been busy but fairly normal. Monday afternoon, post blogging, I talked to my mom on the phone and bought a few more postcards and Christmas gifts and went home later. Its getting really cold in Granada, so home is nice. Then I had a good class with Nacho and Alicia, came home and went to bed.

Tuesday I was going to wake up early and go running, but I didn't because its just too cold, so I showered and went to guitar. It didn't go so well because I hadn't touched my guitar since my class a week ago, and then I left. Then I went to get my legs waxed again, and to the mall to see if I could finish up my Christmas shopping, which I almost did. Then I stopped by a store where a friend works, visited with her for a while, went to the Corte Inglés, and then home and made lunch. I rested and watched friends with Adri and Zore but then I went downstairs to use the internet for a bit when Adri and Zore started fighting. Adri always seems to bring up controversial topics or something that he and Zore don't agree on, and then they get into a big argument. Today it started innocently enough, with me saying "I love Christmas!" and Adri saying "I hate Christmas!" and then I said he didn't have a heart. It was all fun and games but for some reason Zore got really upset because she really likes Christmas and Adri thinks its just commercial. So I stayed for a while but then I left early, used the internet downstairs and then went and had only 2 hours of class with Carlos and Marta, but not with Mari Angeles. Then I went home, wrote some postcards, hung out with the roommies and went to bed.

Wednesday I went to work in the morning. Two hours of class with teachers, and one with students. The main teacher I work with, Carmina, had changed things up quite a bit. Now what we are going to do is I stay with the 8 or so students who are good at English, or want to learn, and she takes the rest of the degenerates and teaches them. It works fantasticly. They are so much quieter with so few students, they pay attention and she did a good job of picking the kids who want to learn! So that class went pretty well. Then I walked home, ran a few errands on the way, and came home and ate arroz con huevos with Rosa and Zore. I heard them talking about what they were going to eat that day, which happens to be one of my favorite Spanish foods, so I asked if they would make some for me too. I brought them dessert and the whole thing was delicious! Conchi and Valentina had canceled on me for class that afternoon, but I was glad because that mean that I could go to Nachete´s Christmas Pageant! While I was getting ready, Zore, Adri and I started talking about abortion. Another light afternoon topic. This time it didn't end in disaster, since we all remembered yesterday, but it was interesting none the less. Then I went with Pepa and Emilio to Nachete's school program. I was so excited and he was so good and adorable. I'll post the pictures as soon as possible. So that was a good time, then I came home and practiced guitar, ate dinner, wrapped presents, watched tv and went to bed.

Thursday, my first hour of class got cancelled, so I got up early to go running, decided it was too cold, showered, bought some goceries, ate breakfast and went to the mall again to drop off some photos for processing. Then I walked towards work and stopped by a few places searching for the last gifts and finally went to work. It went pretty well, with smaller classes again. I also got to give a lesson about Christmas! yay! Then at 2:30, Michelle and I went out and got some tapas and this neat bar and talked for a long time about love, life and the looming future. We got kicked out of the bar around 4 and I went home. I had a snack, watched tv with Zore, who told me that she is leaving this weekend and not coming back till after Christmas break and then I went to the post office and guitar class, which went a little better. Then I came home and talked on the phone to Victor and Magdalena, visited with Zore who convinced me to not go out and work on my last errands, but stay and watch TV with her. Since it was cold and her last evening in Granada I consented and spent the rest of the night watching tv and talking to her. Then I went to bed.

This morning I had to get up early because for the first time since I've been here, I had to come the my regularly scheduled Friday class. Difficult, but I still arrived early since my first hour is really the second hour of the day and starts at 9:30. Then I had 1 class, and I've been visiting with Michelle, the teachers and internetting for the past hour and a half and I still have one more hour till my next class because an exam gave me another free hour. So yeah, that's pretty much it. This weekend, Victor is coming, but we don't have any set plans...

Road Trip!! Part II

Ok so now I´m back. We woke up early Saturday morning at 8 and drove to meet Deanna´s friends and teachers who go hiking on the weekends at 9. It was cold and we met everybody and went in cars to La Alberca, a pueblo about 1 hour away from Salamanca. Then we started walking. Today there was going to be a hard hike and an easier one. The leader guys recommended that Victor and I not go on the more difficult one since it was our first time. I paid attention but Victor didn´t. I should have gone on the more difficult one because it went to a cool monastary way up on top of a hill but oh well, I´ll do it next time. I had a great time with De, walking and talking on our intermediate hike. We started walking around 1030 or so and stopped at 2. We walked to La Alberca and visited a museum about the forest and trees in the natural park. Then we explored the town, which was really unique, but typical of the area. I had never seen anything like it. There was a ton of people there as it was a holiday weekend, but it was really cool. The whole group met back up and then we ate lunch in this nice resturant. It ended up being really expensive, because they just split the bill between everybody, even though we didn´t get drinks or desert or as expensive things, which was unfortunate. I felt/feel especially bad because it was mainly me who wanted to eat there. (Sorry again guys. :( ) But I also bought a magnet and it was a much needed rest. Then we started back. So the cars were exactly where we had left them that morning, but we weren´t going back the same exact way. Regardless, we walked for at least 2 more hours, first down and then straight uphill for a long time. I got really determined at the end that these 2 French girls were not going to beat us, and De and I ended up being the first girls and the second group of people to finish! Yay USA! haha Anyway, then we loaded back up into the cars and drove the hour back to Salamanca. It was an amazing day, a beautiful hike and although I am super sore, I am so glad we went because it was great to experience what Deanna does and what her life in Salamanca is like. So all in all, we walked for about 6 hours, and did around 18K which to my calculations is 11.25 miles. We were exhausted so when we got home we just showered, looked at pictures and listened to music, Victor and Deanna made pizza and salad for dinner, I did the dishes, we watched tv and went to bed. My mom and sister also called me and I was bummed because I was such a zombie I could barely talk to them. :(

Sunday morning Victor and I woke up early to start back to Granada. It was sad to leave Deanna. Its really funny because whenever the 3 of us are together, it seems completely normal, even though its truly rare that we are all in the same place at the same time. I love Deanna and it was great to see her. We left at 8 or 830ish and got there at 230, with 1 stop in 6 hours. It was a good trip back, we were both really tired, but we made really good time. There was beautiful scenery in the morning and we didn´t even hit traffic in Madrid. When we got to Granada we ran into some of Victor´s old friends and Adri and his friend in front of our house. We chatted for awhile then went upstairs to eat paella with Victor´s mom and dad. Then nap time, this time I took the couch. The rest of the afternoon was composed of unloading the car and getting things in order and then Victor left for Malaga around 8. My roommate Zore had come back Friday for a job she had found and Rosa also came back Sunday night after 8. We all went out for tapas with their friend Raquel who is a character. It was good to hang out with them, but Rosa and Zore have the tendency to talk nonstop about their friends from home and not really include me in the conversation. Sometimes that´s frustrating. Then we we got home, this boy called Rosa and she put him on speaker phone for us to hear. Then afterwards I listened to the two of them talk about that conversation for quite a while. I said it was like watching The Rosa and Zore Show, but that I had seen enough episodes for the day and was going to bed.

This morning I woke up and listened to some music for my guitar class and then went running, ate breakfast and took a shower. Then I went to the bank, and then to the CLM to use the internet. I left early because Rosa and Zore were making lunch for me, Raquel, and their 2 friends from home who were stopping by to visit. They made a yummy pasta with meat, but it was a lot more of listening to other people´s stories instead of being included in them. Then I rested and watched Friends and finally came back out to use more of the internet and this catches me up! Photos soon to come. Love and miss you all, Love, Rachel

Road Trip!!

So Wednesday night after blogging Victor arrived, we ate dinner and went to bed early because the plan was to leave on our road trip to Salamanca very early in the morning.

True to the plan we left Granada about 8AM, Thursday morning and hit the road. We had all our stuff, snancks, music and I was pretty excited to be going on a road trip, since it had been a long time. Victor also has a tomtom, which is my new best friend, a GPS thingy. It gives you turn by turn directions, speaks, tells your where your are, how much longer you have to go in distance and time, what time you´ll arrive, if you are obeying the speed limit or not, where all kinds of points of interest are along the way, everything!!! For a map fanatic like me, I fell in love instantly. So yeah, we stopped twice, hit some traffic in Madrid, but otherwise made it, without any problems in 7 hours, by 3:30PM. It was great to see Deanna and we unloaded the stuff and then went out for a walk around the town. We were just walking and looking for something to eat and after getting turned down by a couple resturants, ended up getting pinchos, which are what they call tapas in Salamanca, then some coffee and a lame attempt of churros and chocolate at a cafe where an art teacher from Deanna´s school has a lot of his work on display. It was pretty cold and we were pretty tired so we went home and took a nap. And that meant Victor slept and De and I rested and talked over his snores. hehe! Then we went to a movie theater really close to Deanna´s house and watched Bee Movie, which just came out here and is really cute. We want to see it in English because I bet its completely different with the different voices. Then we went back home, chilled some more and went to bed.

Friday we woke up and got ready and went out shopping and looking at more of Salamanca. The city is pretty small, and both Victor and I had been there before, so we didn´t go really crazy touristy like, just looking at things from the outside, and going in places you didn´t have to pay. We also went shopping, and I bought a new jacket I had been eyeing from Zara. Its really adorable. We also did, well I did, while my wonderful friends were paitent with me, some souviner shopping. I bought the perfect magnet, and a necklace and earrings of Castillian silver, all of which I love. We also ate lunch at one of the places we tried to eat at the day before, and went home for the siesta. This time we all fell asleep, and I woke up whem my mom called me. We chatted for a while and then Deanna and I convinced Victor to take us to Valladolid to visit my friends an hour away. We left Salamanca about 730 or 8 and got there around 9. No one was home, even though I called them and said when we would get there, so that was quite frustrating, and we went and walked around. It was kinda akward because Jesús said he would be home in 20 minutes, but it took him longer than that to call me. So by the time he did we were way out in the middle of Valladolid, and no one knew where anyone was, Carlos said he would call me back and he didn´t, it was cold, should we get somehting while we wait, etc, etc, etc,,,,,,, But after a bit we went back to their house, visited with Jesús, Inma, and Inma´s sisters and one of their husbands. Then we ate a delicious dinner with appetizers of meats, cheese, chips and olives, then salad and special lamb chop things, very delicious and typical of Castilla-León. We all had a good time talking, catching up, talking about wines, making fun of how Rachel speaks Spanish, (not my favorite part as usual) etc. Carlos came home for a bit and then we left around1230 or 1. It was late and we wanted to go out a bit with Carlos in Valladolid, but we had big plans for Saturday and in the end, ended up going home. It was good to see them again, but it was slightly awkward as usual. I was glad we went. Then we finally made it home through the fog and went to bed.

Now I´m going to post this and try to continue later. :)

Sun, Leaves, Rain and Frost

So true to my predictions, the rest of Monday was spent doing a lot more shopping, till I went home at 9:15, after having been gone for 9 plus hours, made dinner, watched tv and went to bed.

Tuesday, I woke up at 5:30 and couldn´t go back to sleep. So after about an hour or so of fighting it, I woke up and wrote a bunch of postcards and called my dad. That took me to about 8 and I showered and left to go to guitar early and went to the post office and a store before! Then I had a really dissapointing lesson, because everything Antonio asked me about, I hadn´t practiced. He always asks, "Did you study blah, blah, blah?" And I sheepishly reply, no.... This time he said, "Good, I don´t want you to study." Oh dang, that hurts. Anyway, then I went home and went out on a walk with Emilio. We were out for 3 hours again. That guy does not know how to give short tours. Once again, we didn´t go anywhere I had been before. All new stuff. I don´t know how it seems that Granada just keeps getting bigger... We went to through the Albayzin, to a palace, and got a coffee and a cake in Emilio´s favorite place. I told him I didn´t like coffee, and he assured me I would like this coffee. He was wrong but I drank it all anyway. I was so tired and starting to feel the fact that I had woken up at 5:30, but we finally made it back and I ate a huge delicious lunch with them. Grilled squid, asparragus scramble, green bean and red pepper salad, and clams were on the menu. I couldn´t say no. Then I went upstairs and took a nap for 1.5 hrs. Then later in the afternoon I went and had 3 hours of class with Carletes, Marta, and Mari Angeles. I really like all of them and the classes we are having. They are all such nice, pleasant people, and its just great. Then I talked to my mom on the phone for a long time and my friends in Valladolid. Then I finally made dinner and ate it and went to bed.

Today I woke up and went to work, which was pretty easy. Only 2 hours with teachers, which are another favorite group. Then I came home and made lunch and spent the afternoon watching Friends, resting and using the internet because I borrowed the computer from Emilio and Pepa. Then I went out and bought some groceries and supplies for the road trip, and now I am back in my house blogging. Tomorrow we are leaving for Salamanca, and while this mini update catches me up, it was not the main purpose of this blog entry.

On the contrary, I have been wanting for some time to write about the changing weather here in Granada. When I go for a walk or a run, I always think of things that I want to write about the city, but then I forget, or don´t have time or spend 3 hours writing about what I did and it gets left behind. So I wanted to say that when I first arrived here in Granada, it was warm and sunny. Unusually so from what I remember of last October and November. But that changed around the middle of November when it started to get colder and the leaves began to fall. Anyone who has waited for the shuttle with me outside the Parkside Dorms, been my sister in Newcaslte, or walked with my anywhere where foilage had fallen on the pathway knows that I really like to crunch leaves. I had some amazing runs and walks here in Granada crunching piles of yellow leaves to my heart´s content to the stares of Spainards. Then it started to rain a lot and the leaves didn´t crunch anymore. The winds and the street sweepers took them all away and it got cold. Now there is frost on the grounds in the morning when I go out and it seems really cold to my wimpy Californian body. That´s all I have to say about the weather.

Una Guitarra Desafinada Es Como Una Mujer Sin Arreglarse

Ok so last Monday after blogging, I probably ran some errands, came home and practiced guitar until it was time to go to have class with Nacho and Alicia. The dinner that night was a delicious Mexican feast that included the Spanish version of nachos and soft tacos, including, guacamole and sour cream. Nothing really like the true taste but close enough to be amazing. We had a good class and then Nacho took me home and we rocked out to Queen´s Bohemian Rapshody all the way home. Then I probably did some more stuff and went to bed.

Tuesday, November 27th I woke up, also was too lazy to go running and went to guitar. Then I mailed some more postcards and stopped back by my house and now the details are all so fuzzy. So yeah more running errands and shopping. I think I did some serious Christmas shopping that day. I pretty much go crazy Monday and Tuesday since they are my only days off. Tuesday after lunch I had a full evening of class. From 6-7 with Marta, 7-8 with Carletes and 8-9 with Maria Angeles. So they all went pretty well and then I came home pretty tired, talked to my mom on the phone, watched some tv and ate some dinner and went to bed.

Wednesday, I went to work, 2 hours with the teachers, and then 1 hour with the kids that just went so - so. It had been a long time since they had had real English but it got over soon enough. Then I walked home, made a pizza, and got ready for class with Conchi and Valentina. They kinda come whenever they make it out there so its always a suprise and a little frustrating. But that went well too and it also got over soon enough. Then in the evening.... I don´t remember anymore except for practicing the guitar and posting the pictures on my blog. Then Kyle XY with the roommies and bed.

Thursday I actually had a pretty good day at work. My classes went well and the kids were pretty good and seemed interested and I think we all had a good time. It was fun because I told them a joke in Spanish but made them learn the vocabulary in English and translated phrases for them like "I´m the bomb" or "I rock!" which they care more about learning that other vocabulary. They can talk about whatever they want as long as its in English. So it suprisingly went really well. Then I came home pretty late, made and ate lunch, rested and went to guitar. My guitar teacher is a character and either Tuesday or Thrusday he said this epic quote, the title of this blog, which my feministy friends will love. He more or less said, "An untuned guitar is like a woman who leaves her house without getting dressed up." When he said that all I could do was smile and laugh. And then he tried to explain himself more. You gotta love 70 year olds. Then I bought some stuff on the way home and then watched tv and went to bed really, really early.

Friday morning, I woke up and somehow made myself go running, ate breakfast, got ready and went to work. It was just an ok day, but shorter because I didn´t have to go in for the first hour. At the beginning of the one class where the girls drew the note/drawing of me, (featured in the last photo blog) they came up and apologized to me for how they acted during that class. I think that was very nice of them even if I´m sure a teacher made them. In the last hour of class the teacher never told me what we were doing so I didn´t prepare anything. Then on the way to class she said we´re gonig to correct some exercises and I said fine... But by that she meant, you´re going to correct the exercises you´ve never seen and I´m going to sit in the back of the class while you look stupid because you don´t really know what you´re doing... That was fun and I was glad we ended 10 minutes early and that my dad called me right after so I could talk to him the whole way I walked home. So I got home really late, cooked something and rushed to the class I have at 5, which thankfully repeated with me even though I charged them 15€. YEssssss!!! :) So then when I was walking home I saw a store that had FREE MASSAGES written all over it and I went in to check it out. They were selling these massage beds and let you try them first. It was pretty cool. Any free massage is a good one. Then I came home, visited with Pepa and Emilio for a bit. I stopped by to tell Emilio that I couldn´t go with him to this Grand Opening of a Factory for somethign with his work. He had invited me but I really didn´t want to go because there was really no reason for me to be there except for me to be awkward, but Emilio feels I need to break out of my circle of what I usualy do, because students in Granada don´t do anything worthwhile, and do more things with him. Anway, I just stopped by to tell him that I couldn´t go because I had plans, and excuse I had made up, but they trapped me there for a while untill he left and I could finally break away from just Pepa. Its kinda like lions hunting in a pack. Its easier to escape from 1 than from 2. So then I went upstairs and practiced guitar and did some other stuff and then Victor made it from Malaga and the Grand Opening thing. We were going to go over to Nacho and Alicia´s for dinner and I stopped by the 7th floor again. Raul who was back in Granada for his Master´s class and came with us to hang out and give Nachete his bday presents. I was a little nervous because it was going to be all the Bullejos Brothers together for some bonding time and that was the first time we were all going to hang out like that. We had a really good time, playing with the kids, talking, joking and eating. I feel like I had a breakthrough with Raul, who scares the crap out of me, that now that I´ve hung out with him and his brothers, I´ve seen a different side of the super serious guy he is with his parents, slightly less serious, and capable of joking around. He still scares me to death, but Friday night was a step forward. Raul went home pretty early, and then the kids went to bed and the 4 of us left watched a movie on tv, then we went home and went to bed.

Saturday Victor and I had some serious shopping to do so we went out to do it in the morning. All 3 of his nieces and nephews have birthdays in December so we had to buy at least 6 toys, 3 for bdays and 3 for xmas. We drove to this big toy store next to Toys-R-Us, called Jugetelandia and were there for hours picking out the perfect gifts and wrapping them. I had a ridiculously good time as I love Christmas, and shopping for presents, and wrapping and everythng!!! It was really, really fun and I think we did really well with our final choices. Then we came back and ate a really good lunch with Victor´s parents and Raul, chatted and watched tv and then Raul left to go back to his home and after a while Victor and I went back out for some more walking around and Christmas shopping. Victor is almost completely done, because I´ve helped him so much, but I still have a ton to go... We also stopped by this cool photography exposition that showed old pictures of Granada. Then we came back and bought tickets to go see Blade Runner at the theaters. We watched the soccer game on tv and had some tapas before the movies. I didn´t really know what Blade Runner was about, only that it had Harrison Ford in it, and it was a Sci-Fi thriller, so I thought it was going to be good. It wasn´t and I don´t really reccommend it to anyone. Then home and bed.

Then Sunday I went to church and they had a lady preach. She talked about demon possesed people and how we should pray for them. Then I went home and Victor and I made lunch for ourselves. Pepa and Emilio had left for the beach to visit thier other granddaughter, but not before leaving us stuff for lunch. We had bread, fried potatoes, delicious meat, mandarins and even Tiramisu for 2! Spanish moms are ridiculous! We watched tv, I fell asleep in the chair again for siesta time, chilled around in the house for the rest of the day till we went over to Nacho and Alicia´s in the evening to give Nachete his birthday present. His birthday is on Tuesday, so we wanted to give him his present when we could both be there. When we got there, eveyone, except Alicia, had just woken up from a nap and was in a really bad mood. So Nachete opened up the giant bucket of 168 pieces of legos and put it in his toy box without playing with it. I was a little, ok extremely, dissapointed at his reaction after how excited I was about his presents but hopefully he will like it a lot more later. We stayed there for a while, then came back and Victor packed up to go back to Málaga. Then he left, I ate dinner with Pepa and Emilio, as ordered, and went upstairs and did some laundry, wrote some more post cards, watched Camera Café and more tv with Adrian and Violeta his girlfriend and then went to bed.

This morning I slept in a bit and when I woke up I had a really hard time going running but I didt it anyway after wasting tons of time. Then I showered and wasted some more time but made it on time to meet up with Samar and Jenna to pick up or resident cards! Yay!! I finally have it and it should be the last time I have to go wait in line at the police station. Then we split up to run some seperate errands, I went with Jenna and Samar met back up with us again and we had some tapas. Then we parted ways and I went shopping and came here to use the internet. Now I plan on doing some more shopping, going home, eating dinner and doing more stuff. Tomorrow I have guitar and another cultural outing with Emilio and classes in the evening. Wednesday 2 hours of work and then its another puente!! Victor and I are planning a road trip to visit De in Salamanca, so I´ll write more later!

Aún Más Fotos!

This is what I look like to my students. They love me... oh wait...

Victor showing off my beautifully colored Thanksgiving decorations. Samar in the background. My new best friends some of which I met that night. Left to right is Amy, sitting by the tv, Jenny is the girl in the red sweater, her boyfirend Juan is next to her, you can just barely see his head over Jenna´s, with the long black hair. Those are the only people I know.
Yay for turkey and cherry sauce!! This was one of 3 tables.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Michelle and I with our new Thanksgiving Turkey Baby Bellies.

Más Fotos!

Walk # 2 with Emilio. This is the Cartuja Monastary. Emilio inside the Royal Hospital. This time he put on a tie and a vest. I dressed up more too. Good thing...
A granada (pomegranate) on the floor of the Royal Hospital grounds.
Inside St. Jeronimo´s Monastary.
The Door of Forgiveness in the cathedral. Apparently a criminal went in through that door for asslym and he got forgiven.

Fotos!!!

Los Delinqüentes concert. I had a fever but it was amazing. The weekend with Mada, her mom, Maria and me! Notice new beautiful sweater from Kahryn and Dave´s care package.

The roommates giving Adri his birthday presents. I´m actually wearing the same sweater. Even though no one looks happy, we´re at a birthday party. Also I´m apparently the only roommate who doesn´t show off their cleavage at said birthday party.

Que No Te Enteras, Que La Vida No Es Una Carrera

Ok so Friday. I had called Carmina earlier to see if she was really coming or not. She was, but since she had been gone for about 2.5 weeks thought it would be better to just catch up and teach the class all by herlself. I agreed wholeheartedly. I slept in a little, woke up, read and prepared the lesson I had that day and went for a run. Then I went and shopped around for some ingredients I needed to make my Wild Mushroom Fajita Gravy. I ate breakfast, then I showered and got ready and did my hair and left. I walked to the store where I have been trying to buy those CDs for the past couple of weeks and finially did. Then I took the bus to work, checked my email and was ready to go by 1:30. The teacher wanted me to talk about Thanksgiving, and I once again winged a wonderful lesson about Thanksgiving, including the history, a detailed description of the parade, football, eating, and how the most important part is to be thankful for your family, friends, and all the blessings in your life. We didn´t have much time for the other lesson I had prepared after that but it was ok. I love sharing my culture, and this is the best group of students that I have. So hours of work for the day, 1, Weekly total 3.25/12. I can´t complain but sometimes I still do.

I decided to walk home, and ran a few errands on the way. Then I made another turkey sandwich and ate it with some potatoes that Rosa had left for me. Then I washed the dished and started making the sauce. It was an excellent wild mushroom sauce, not really like gravy, and I decided that mixing the chicked fajita sauce with it would ruin Thanksgiving for everyone so I didn´t. Then I borrowed some jars from victor´s mom and put it in there, washed the dishes and rushed to a new English class. This was with Alfonso´s kid, another student of my guitar teacher. It went ok, it was a little awkward because we hadnt decided on a price yet, I had just said 12-15€ for an in house lesson, depending on what type of a class it would be and his son´s level. So he asked me what I was charging before the class and before I had even met his son and I said 15€. He then asked why, 15 instead of 12? and I said, because that is what my time is worth and that´s how much I charge. Oh yeah, go Rachel! haha, hopefully they decide to continue to have me as their teacher. The kid, I think his name is Alfonso too, is also 14, but was a little wierd and I think he didn not look at my face most of the time we were talking.... So after that I walked home, bought some crayons, grabbed the gravy, looked at our new dryer that had arrived while I was gone and went to the dinner.

At the dinner I helped Michelle finish setting up, and started coloring the decorations we never got to color at school. Then people started arriving. It was pretty nice, we all had a lot in common, bad kids at school, frustrations, etc. I also ended up talking with the only Spanish person there, who asked where in Andalucia I was from, apparently my accent is that good! Yesss!!!! So I made some new friends, talked with people I already new and Victor came when he got there from Malaga. The food was also pretty good. Someone who knew someone had a connection in a bakery, so we had 2 delicious turkeys. They also mixed some of the turkey juice with the gravy and eveyone said they loved it!! and wanted to know how i made it.!!! So that was exciting! We had Arabic chicken things, corn, green beans, stuffing, turkey with lots of skin, my favorite, fruit salad, mashed potatoes (not that amazing), red currant sauce and cherry sauce, both surpisingly good, bread, chips, olives, pickles, sweet potato casserole with skull marshmellows, pumkpin pie, apple pie and some spice cake breads and ice cream. We all ate a ton, and it was all pretty good. We all had fun and talked and I got to explain the meaning of Thanksgiving to another Spanish guy, a Belgium and a Dutch girl. Victor and I went home earlier than most and went to bed. After a long week and a long day, the tryptophan had a strong effect on us.

Saturday morning I woke up and went for a run. It just so happens that from Victor´s kitchen window, you can see the main walkway to the house so on the way back, his mom waved to me from the 7th floor. I stopped by to see what was up, and Victor called to tell me that we were going to eat lunch with Nacho and Alicia. His mom was a little upset as she had prepared a ton of stuff for us to eat, but thankfully she wasnt mad at me. I went upstairs, cleaned up my room and showerd and got ready. Then Victor and I went with Nacho, Alicia and the kids to a fancy, famous resturant called Sevilla, where Federico Garcia Lorca used to eat. We had morcilla and black rice. It was good, but I usually don´t like morcilla and after that, the black rice wasn´t amazing for me either. We had a good time and out of no where Nacho started planning a family vacation to Newcastle in the month of July! I started getting really excited for the oppourtunity to be Californian tour guide and return all the favors they have done for me over the years, but we´ll see what happens. Then we walked around, came home and took a serious nap. Well Victor did, his mom and I watched a movie over his snores. Then we went over to Nacho and Alicia´s house, and watched a movie and chilled. Then we came home, ate some of the leftovers from the lunch Pepa had made, and went to bed. It was extremly windy in Granada all afternoon, and night.

Sunday, I got up and got ready and Victor and I went to church. We made it in time to get some good seats and it was pretty good. They sang an amazing old song I knew from last year, ¨La Victoria Está en Jesús¨and a different precher preached. But they didnt songs an announcents for an hour and then 30 minutes of preaching, which was more like talking and seemed to be getting to the good stuff right when he stopped. Everyweek is different at that church. Then we came home and had yellow rice with rabbit and i got the kidney. It was gross, just the kidney, the rest was delicious as always. Then we watched some tv, and then had serious nap time. I fell asleep for 1.5 hrs, slouched over in my chair. That usually doesnt happen for me, but we were all tired. Apparently paella has tryptophan in it as well. Then we went with Victor´s mom to their house in Los Ojigares to run some errands, and pulled a potted cactus out of the pool. We also visited Conchi and Valentina and a lot of other family members next door for a bit and then came back home. Then Victor and I went out in the gusty winds with Jose, and met up with Santi and Pepe in La Liberia, the bar/café. We stayed for a bit but it was getting late and Victor had to go. So we walked back and he packed up, we ate dinner and then he left. I went home and to my suprise, Zore was there, as she had gotten a ride with a friend, so she came back early. We watched Camera Café and then Love Actually on tv and then went to bed. It was a really good weekend.

Today I slept in, woke up and felt too lazy to go running, so I watched tv and ate breakfast. Then zore woke up and we watched more tv. Then I showered, got ready and made and early lunch and watched tv. Then I talked with Adri, who had been dancing at a special salsa convention this weekend and I hadn´t seen him yet to ask how it went. Rosa came home too and then I left to use the internet and blog away which I have been doing for the past, 3.5 hours. I know I´m a nerd but I hope you all enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing. As the title of this blog says, a line from a Los Delinquentes song, ¨You don´t understand, life is not a race.´

Thanksgiving in Granada

So Thursday, Thanksgiving, quite possibly the worst ever. As previously mentioned in the previous blog entry, I was in the middle of a terrible week. I´m pretty sure one of the reasons for that was that Thanksgiving was this week and I was not in the United States with my family. Last time I was in Spain, I had a great time because I went to a giant, delicious dinner where I stuffed my self silly with my 40 newest American best friends. Not the same thanksgiving as always but we definitely captured the essence. This year, Michelle told me that some of the other people in Granada with our same job, were organizing a dinner, for not Friday but Thursday night. I signed up, and got the email saying what people were bringing, and under gravy and cranberry sauce was a note that said, (Rachel, Michelle´s friend do you think you could bring a ton of gravy?) Well, I was a little worried because, one I suck at cooking, 2, gravy is hard to make, and 3, I was pretty sure you need fat and juice from the meat to make gravy. Also, I´m pretty sure cranberries don´t exist in Spain. I emailed her back and explaing my concerns. Well the girl Jenny, who was organizing the whole thing had gone to Corte Inglés and bought some packets and sauce to mix it all up for some immitation gravy and I met with her Wednesday night to exchange the goods. When I saw what she had bought I was still a little worried, Wild Mushroom Sauce, and a spicy fajitia like chicken marinade.

So the gravy question was taken care of, but I was still pretty upset to be spending a fake thanksgiving celebration, on Friday, with people I didn´t even know. Victor at first said that I should go by myself that way I could meet more Americans and he could go out with his friends, but I convinced him that as one of the few friends and loved ones I have here with me in Granada, I really wanted him to come.

So, Thanksgiving didn´t really have a chance, even before it got here. Then when Thursday finally did come, it proved itself to be just as terrible as expected. It was, of course, raining a lot. I woke up early and went to work, (something no one should EVER do on Thanksgiving) only to find out that contrary to popular belief, Carmina didn´t come back to work like she said she was going to. The other 2 teachers said, ¨She said she was coming so wait around and see if she does. Then we´ll decide what to do.¨ So, I´m not going into savage land alone and used the internet and talked with Michelle for an hour, because her class with teachers didn´t happen. I did enjoy all the e-cards and e-mails that I got that day and that was fun for both of us. Then we had 30 minute recess and I have a free period for an hour. During recess, I talked with Sacramento who said ¨Well, Carmina´s not here so just go home, its Thanksgiving. (Great news!!) I´ll have to teach her class later. Where are you in the book? (So I show her, and then she says,) ok so you can teach that. Sounds good?¨ It actually sounded confusing to me because she had just said that I could go home and then that I was teaching. Lesson learned: when someone says you can just go home, you pack up immediately and leave before they change their mind. So I waited around during my free period. Michelle was supposed to work too, but there was a suprise assembly so she came up and we went on a search to find some crayons so we could color some Thanksgiving drawings we had printed out. We didn´t find anything, apparently schools in Spain don´t care about coloring. We gave up and just talked for the rest of the period. Then I went to my first hour of class at 12:40, after having arrived at work at 10:00. The kids of course were overjoyed to see me. Any by overjoyed I mean they started cursing their terrible luck that the sub spoke English. So that was a great atmosphere to try and teach a class to the half of the kids that brought their books. It was horrible. Then I went home an hour early because another teacher I work with was gone. So total for Thursday, 1 hour. Weekly total, 2.25. I shouldn´t complain, but I had been at work since 10.... I ended up walking home with MariAngeles, who also made the mistake of asking how it was going teaching at the school and prompting me to tell the truth after hearing my unconvincing ´fine.´ So that´s what we talked about for the whole walk home. Her conclusion was that, the teachers have been stripped of all power and authority, so there is nothing we can do about it. Try to teach the best you can and dont let yourself get frustrated, its not worth it. Good Spanish advice. Pretty much impossible for an American to follow in my opinion.

So yeah, get home, make lunch with mashed potatoes from a bag, and the chicken marinade to try it. the sauce was pretty good on the potatoes, but i still wasnt convinced it could be used in gravy. then i ate the leftovers from rosa´s, zore´s and jose manuel´s (magdalenas brother and rosa´s ex/boyfriend?¿?¿) who was there spending the day with them. Watched some tv, practiced guitar and went to class. I bought a new toothbrush, and then came home. During class, my family and victors mom had called me. I hadn´t seen victor´s parents all week and she wanted to know where the heck I was. So I called my home back and talked with the fam and mostly my sister for 2 hours. That was the best part of the whole day and its only saving grace. i love my sister soooo soooo soooooo very much. and the rest of my family too, but i get to talk to them more than my sister. Then I went and visited victor´s mom for a while. Then I came back and I made a turkey sandwich and ate it for dinner. My feeble attempt at what I would normally eat for dinner on thanksgiving. My other family members called me from my grandmas house and passed the phone around so I could say hi to all of them. It was good to talk to them too, but I was also pretty jealous they were all together and eating deliciousness. Apparently my sister made the pumpkin pie and the whipped cream. need I say more? Then i watched House on tv, and later ate a piece of pizza from the other kids´ meal, not because I was hungry, but because it was thanksgiving and you eat a lot on thanksgiving. Then I went to bed.

When It Rains It Pours

Ok so last Monday after blogging I went home and played the guitar for a bit, and then Nacho called to cancel class that night because Alicia was sick. Perfectly normal and I completely understand. Regardless, I was frustrated because after you tell yourself all day that at least your are going to make some money that night, and then it doesn´t happen, you kinda feel like a looser. So I ended up practicing more guitar, writing postcards, watching tv, and then going to bed.

Tuesday, I went for a run, and it went pretty well. I don´t like running, but I like it better when its easier. Then I don´t really remember what I did all day. Oh wait, now I remember more. Run, shower, breakfast, guitar, post office, hour of English tutoring with Zore, internet, then talked on the phone with my dad for a long time because someone was using my debit card in the United States, lunch, rest and then the afternoon, which I remembered about. The only thing I know is what I did in the afternoon which was at 6, go and start with some new private English classes. Maria Angeles´neighbors have some kids who wanted classes. So I started with them. The mom´s name is MariPaz, I don´t remember the dad´s name, the son´s name is Carlos or Carletes, 10 years old , and the daughter´s name is Marta, 14 yrs old. They also have an adorable dog. I had an hour of class with each kid and it went great. Carletes told his mom that they should pay me a lot because I was such a good teacher. The whole family is so nice and I had a great time with them and the classes its seems like its going to be great. I didnt have the usual class with MariAngeles because she was spending time with her husband, recently returned from the hospital. Then I went home in the pouring rain, dinner, tv, and bed.

Wednesday I went to work in the pouring rain, only to have my first hour of class with teahers be turned into about 15 minutes of class with one teacher and check email for the rest of the time. Apparently both teachers had meetings. It obviously wasn´t important to let me know about that. Then 30 minute recess, and 1 more hour with teachers, which went well. That´s probably my favorite class, its more like practicing conversation and learning vocabulary. Then since Carmina is still not back I left an hour early. So I worked. 1.25 hours. While walking back, I walked back with Isabel who is some sort of an Administrator. She asked me how it was going and I said ok, apparently not very convincingly. Then she made the mistake of saying, really?? tell me the truth. So I let her have it for the next 45 minutes we walked down. Our situation is very interesting. A few years ago, the education laws changed. Taking about more of the disiplinary tools teachers had and the cirruculum. Now everyone wants to pay to go to private schools, or to private schools where the State pays your tuition. Leaving the public schools to become worse and worse. After all our chatting, we still didn´t reach a solution, but I felt better and she knew how it was going. I wanted to run some errands of the way back but couldn´t find a way to break off the conversation, so we ended up walking all the way down to the river. Then I ate some lunch and prepared class for Conchi and Valentina. Before they got there, I went downstairs to use the internet at Emilio and Pepa´s. Raul answered the door and I was so suprised to see him there in the middle of the week, that I said, ¨What are you doing here?´ Only later to realized that I just asked him, what he was doing in his own parents house. We had a slightly awkward, yet brotherly-sisterly time of internet sharing, chatting and searching the house for an ethernet cord so he could hook up his computer to the internet. Emilio was really sick and Pepa was gone. Then I left, and had class with Conchi and Valentina, which went well, practiced guitar and then I went to meet up with this girl who was going to give me stuff to make gravey. I dropped that off at my house and went grocery shopping, which was way overdue.

I was in a pretty bad mood all week, for no particular reason, one of those moods that no matter how hard you try you can´t get out of. And it all ways seems to happen that when you are in one of those moods, everything happens at once.

Adri´s Birthday

So I completely forgot what happened last Wednesday, (now 2 weeks ago) November 14th. It was Adri´s birthday!!! After class with Conchi and Valentina, I cleaned up, used the internet and helped Adri set up for the party. I put Pink Panther tablecloths on all the tables and then went to look for ballooons. I didn´t find any, but came back and then we had a fun party. I didnt know hardly anyone because I had never met any of Adri´s friends before, but they were nice and I talked with some really cool people. There were card tricks, riddles and tons of delicious food and of course salsa dancing. Adri made us dance, but I was the only one of the roommates brave enough to do so and he really appreciated it. I was only brave enough for about 10 seconds but he really appreciated the effort. Adri loved his presents we got him, I amd amazing at gift giving! The people all relatively early and we cleaned up and I went to bed. It was a fun time.

Same Old Same Old

So last Tuesday after blogging I had a really good day. I stayed out all day running errands, Christmas shopping, I bought Adri´s birthday present, and just getting stuff done. I ended up really close to where I was supposed to have class with Mari Angeles, so I bought a delicious chocolate filled crissoant thing and waited. She wasn´t there at 6:30, so I figured I was miskaten and waited till 7, and she wasn´t there either. Sooooo she finally answered her phone and told me that her husband was at the hospital and the other teachers at work were supposed to tell me. Since I don´t work till Wed, they apparently didn´t think to call me.... I was pretty upset at first but when I found out her husband was in the hospital, it brought things back into perspective. So then I went home and chilled the rest of the evening with Zore and went to bed.

Wednesday, I went to work but my first hour of class with the teachers was really short because the teacher I work with just found out the night before that her good friend had died, so she didn´t really feel like learning English. Then 1 more hour with teachers, and then I got to go home early because there wasn´t another teacher to help me with the hooligans and Carmina is still out with a bad back. So I took a leisurely walk home and found a new, big Spanish version of the 99 cent store, where everything is cheap, but not the same price. I found a really cheap 7.15€ dirty clothes basket that I have been looking for since I got here and went home. Ate some lunch and then had 2 hours of class with Conchi and Valentina, that went quite well with the new book, but I discoverd that the cd that comes with the book is not the teachers cd, that comes seperately and costs even more. Perfect, my venture to make money is costing me more than I make.... Anyway I don´t remember what I did after that but oh well...

Thursday I went to work, this time with kids. They were all behaving terribly, even with the help of a sub so I decided to change tactics. I spoke to them in Spanish and explained to them how I had come from California, crossed the United States, then the Alantic Ocean, then came down from Madrid to here to teach them English. I wasn´t there to waste my time, I didn´t write things on the board just to waste ink, and they way they were acting was a huge lack of respect and if they had any suggestions for how we could actually learn from eachother because I was out of ideas. They listened and were suprised to hear me speak Spanish, since I had originally told them I didn´t, but then they started talking again. And then talking to me in Spanish, now that they knew I spoke Spanish.... Oh well, maybe something good will come from it.... So that afternoon I ate lunch and cleaned my room because Alicia, my old roommate, was coming to visit that evening. I went to guitar class at 6 and she called to say that she couldn´t come anymore because the flight she came in on was really late and it just wouldnt work anymore. I was bummed, but also slightly relieved as it would be my 4th weekend in a row to have company. So I had a guitar lesson, came home and watched tv and House with Zore.

Then Friday morning I got up at the same time as usual even though I didn´t have to be at work till later and went to the police station to try and finish up the paperwork once and for all. I did, and then went to work, used the internet and had 2 more hours of class. Usually Fridays aren´t so bad because I work mostly with Jrs and Srs. so they are a little more interested and better behaved. Not today, in my class of Jrs, I saw these girls passing notes. I gave them a look that meant they should stop but they didn´t pay attention. So then I went over and took the note from them. I said give me the note, she said no, I said give it to me, no, I said you don´t have a choice, give it to me and she did. I didn´t look at it till after class because I knew what it was. They still didnt shape up so I repeated my speech, to no avail. By now I was pretty much close to tears and after class I looked at the note. It was a drawing of me, complete with bugging eyes and a pig nose. Victor says its not mean, maybe I´m just sensitive. In a way its funny, but not really to me. Maybe I will post a picture of it later but right now I´m not sure. Then I survived 1 more hour of class went home, ate and rested till 6 when I went to meet with Alfonso. Alfonso is another of Antonio´s guitar students who wanted English classes for his kid. So we met, talked, had a coffee and went our seperate ways. I wandered home, bought some stuff for dinner and rented 2 movies. At home I got ready and started making dinner for when Victor came. We ate and watched a movie and went to bed.

Saturday I slept in, went to eat lunch at Victor´s house with Raul and we all had a stimulating conversation about UFOs, aliens, the Ark of the Covenant, and the likes. I mostly listened because I had no idea what to say. Then in the afternoon, Victor and I went for a long walk, he got another haircut, we shopped around for Christmas present ideas and wandered home ate dinner and watched the soccer game and other movie and went to bed.

Sunday I went to church which was a little better but also quite ridiculous. There was a guest preacher who was much more animated and funny than the regular preacher but he referenced scriptures by books, saying, I don´t really know where it is, somewhere in Isaiah, and said some other ridiculous things. I sat next to a lady whose daughter might want English classes and I gave her my number so that might be great. Then I had lunch with Victor and family again and then we all took naps. Later Victor and I went out for a walk in Sacromonte and passed by my school on the way home. Then we returned the movies, ate dinner, watched Camera Café, and he left for Málaga. I love Victor´s dad, but he has a tendency to comment about whatever he´s thinking about, like how fat I was when I came, how much better I look when my hair is pulled up and back, the chuch, Spain, English, teaching, etc, etc, and I´m getting close to all I can take. That was a sidenote. Then I used the internet for a bit and went to bed.

This morning, I woke up at 8, showered and cleaned the house. Then at 10 I went on another 3 hour tour with Emilio and we went to the Cartuja Monastary, San Jeronimo´s Monastary, the Royal Hospital, and some other churches along the way. It was cool to be touristy and the 2 monastaries were truly amazing, 2 things I never visited when I was here, but as usual, my brain was full of information about 30 minutes into our excursion and I spent the following 2.5 hours nodding and saying yes. Then I came home, ate, took a nap, and came out to look for the CDs again, which are on order and have been updating the blog. Tonight I have class with Nacho and Alicia and this week promises to be more of the same old same old.

Random Granada III

La Alhambra at night from a different Mirador. De´s last night in Granada :( Notice I´m wearing new jacket from Magdalena.
In a Carmen on my long walk with Emilio.

Fotos de Granada II

Deanna and I at the Mirador de San Nicolas. I have mad photography skills.
Reason number 1 why if you have a house in the Albayzin, you should never leave your door open. Proof that Adriana is slightly scary but cute and makes us laugh.
Anybody else miss Jolene, Tim and the genie? We do.
What happens after you don´t sleep all night and then get breakfast.

Fotos de Granada

Deanna by a pretty fountain inside Fajalauza, the Granadian pottery/ceramics factory thing. 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.

Fotos de Halloween

The 4 roommates about to go out: Zoraida, Adrian, Rosa and Rachel. I wasn´t ready to go out yet. 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.

Te Lo Digo Esto Para Que Recuerdes

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!