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!

Deanna y el Puente Part II

So I was talking about Saturday, November 3, 2007, waking up late and having a meal brought to our door. We watched some TV after that, took naps, got ready and went down to get Victor. Emilio always wants to take us on walks and everyone always wants to go but not after you don´t sleep all night long. Apparently when we went down to get Victor, we realized that he had been waiting for us for an hour, but we thought he had already left, and I felt really bad. So when Victor was ready we left and walked around, Deanna bought some postcards, then we went to a tetería, an arabic tea house. We had juices and milkshakes, we didn´t feel like tea, and a honey and cheese crepe. Then we walked down a street with more Moraccan shops while Deanna searched for the elements to complete her room decorations. We wandered by Soufian´s shop once more to say goodbye and then towards a Moroccan tapas place that Deanna wanted to go to. We got some tapas and ordered some food, all of which was delicious. We were all exhausted so after a large yummy meal, we wandered home, watched TV and went to bed.

Sunday morning we had to get up really early because Deanna´s bus left at 7. Thankfully Victor was kind enough to take her in his car and everything went smoothly. It was an amazing time with Deanna, so good to be with someone who really knows you. I´m so thankful for the friend I´ve never had to say goodby to. mua mua!

On our way back from the bus station we stopped by Victor´s (parent´s) house in Los Ojígares, a pueblo outside of Granada so he could pick up his winter clothes, came back and went back to bed. Later I got up and got ready for church, went down and somehow convinced Victor to go with me. We got there late, so we had to sit in this overflow area and couldn´t see anything. I was in a really bad mood by then and wanted to leave but I waited till the end. I don´t know about that chruch. I just don´t really like it. Its so difficult over here because... I don´t know why,,, So anyway we left and went home to eat paella with Victor´s parents and Nacho and Alicia and kids. I was still in a bad mood, and I felt even worse when Victor´s mom asked me about something I had said earlier about just being good isn´t enough to get you to heaven. The people at the table were shocked that I had said that to their dear mother and were instantly silent, and staring at me for a response. I don´t know what I said, but next thing I knew, we were talking about something else, and I was glad. I´m a bad person and sometimes very confused. Lately it seems that God makes it very difficult to understand/believe Christianty, and 1 zillion more times difficult to explain/have others believe.

Anyway, afterwards we watched some TV, played with Nachete, and then Victor went to hang out with a friend, and I started cleaning the appartment. I figured I would rather clean not on my day off, so I got about half done until Victor and Nachete came upstairs to get me. We loaded up the car, and went over to Nacho and Alicia´s and hung out and they convinced us to stay for dinner. Nacho is an excellent and very creative cook, who´s motto is, (that we created the summer I stayed with them, "Intimidad para crear" or "Privacy to create." So this evening I was allowed to be the official helper´s helper. Nacho the head chef, Nachete the helper and me the helper´s helper. So I ended up watching, trying to keep Nachete from making a huge mess, holding the baby, setting the table and cleaning. Anyway, then after dinner and a delightful evening, Victor took me home and then went to Malaga.

Deanna y el Puente

So, the Spanish have a great tradition of making "puentes", or bridges. This means that if there is a holiday on Thursday, no one goes to work on Friday either. So, turns out, the week of October 29th, I had to go to work for one whole day. :) Spain really knows how to relax. Monday I went for a run and cleaned the house. Then I made lunch and laid around the house like a lazy bum, watching tv, untill I showered and went out to do something. Tuesday was more of the same, a run, and then I don´t remember what I really did.

Wednesday I went to work, had 2 hrs of class with professors and 1 with kids. I had looked at doing a lesson from the book, but since it was Halloween, the teacher remembered pretty much as we were gonig to class that I was going to talk about Halloween. So she told the class that I was going to bring a lesson about Halloween, and sat down. I was left standing in front of the class, not having a clue what to do. So I took my whiteboard pen and wrote Happy Halloween on the board, and then proceeded to wing the best lesson on Halloween ever. I talked about costumes, decorations, and parties. It was amazing, and I was pretty proud of myself. Also that day I got my first check. I went after school and deposited it, but I couldn´t take any money out untill next Tuesday because of the holiday. Then I went home, ate some lunch, cleaned my room, took a nap, went to the post office to pick up my Halloween package from my Aunt Lisa, came back, ate way too much candy, went to buy De´s birthday present, used the internet for a while and then went to the bus station to pick Deanna up. Her bus was late, but we finally found eachother! I got to talk to my good friend Katie, because she had called Deanna for her birthday, and Deanna and I took the bus home. Then we said hello to my roommates who were all getting ready to go out with friends for Halloween, and made plans to meet up later. Deanna and I prepared a special candlelight birthday dinner of salad and pesto pasta, I gave her her present (an awesome bracelet that I also bought for myself :)) and then we got ready to go out. Deanna wasn´t feeling the costume, so I said she was dressed up as a supermodel, but I went out in my favorite costume, a kitty kat. Which consists of normal clothes, and a drawn on nose and whiskers. Its the best and easiest and you get soo many comments!! So later we met up with all of the roommates, (the first time the 4 of us have hung out ever, outside of the house, which rarely we are all in at the same time either!) We met up at a bar called El Granero and were there till it closed at 4. The rest of the family went home in Adri´s car, and Deanna and I started walking home. But then we decided that we weren´t really tired, and so I called my friends Michelle and Samar from work, and we went and met up with them. But by this time it seemed colder, and we got more tired, and there were extremely long lines everywhere. Because no one can really make good decisions at that time of the night/morning, it was taking too long and we all went home. We made plans to get tapas with them the next night though.

Thursday we slept in, till 11 when some really annoying bells woke us up. We ate breakfast with Rosa and watched TV, and then went back to bed till about 1, woke up again, ate something else, Victor came from Malaga, and we lazed around and watched TV with Adri. Rosa and Zore left again, to spend the weekend in their homes. We sat around all day until we got ready that night and met up with Victor and some friends around 7. We first went to this cafe place and played darts and hung out untill we left and met up with some other friend of Victors. We ate a ton of tapas, switched bars and had some more tapas, went to this realy freaky bar where all the underground crazy people go, and then to a plaza to say good bye to one of their friends who was leaving for London the next day. It was waay too cold to be outside, so eventually we went home around 2 or so. The tapa plans I had with my work friends fell through, they never called to say where they were. So then we went home and went to bed.

Friday we woke up, and went out to walk around. We visited my school and the Granadian pottery exposition near it, El Mirador de San Cristobal, the Albyzin, and the Mirador de San Nicolas. Then we ate more schwarmas and french fries, and Orange Fantas in Plaza Nueva, and stopped by Soufian´s store again. We walked around some more and shopped and then started home. On the way home, we ran into Pepa, Patricia, and Adriana and got tricked into babysitting for a while Patricia went to buy some socks. Adriana is a crazy child. We stopped by the grocery store and went home. We rested, showered, and changed, went down to Victor´s house and visited while he got ready and munched on some ham and cheese they were having for dinner. Then we went and met up with some of the friends from the night before, had some tapas and then went to this cool bar near Plaza Einstein. It was cool because they gave you sunflower seeds with your drink, which I like. We were there till it closed at 4, and then walked to this disco, called the BoogaClub. I saw Michelle there, but she went home pretty quickly, and we were there till about 6:30. It was a really, really fun night, and then we walked home and stopped by Cafe Futbol for some early morning churros and hot melted chocolate. Victor completely fell asleep, but we all finally made it home and went to bed.

Saturday we woke up, really late, and lazed around. Victor brought us up some delicious pasta and meat for us to eat, compliments of Pepa, which was pretty much the best thing that could have happened that day.

I wrote the previous entry the same day that I wrote Ana´s entry but the internet stopped working so I couldn´t finish or post it. I´ll finish it later and add the appropiate photos. :)

To Be Continued...

Serious Blog Time -- Ana

So I haven´t figured out how to get the pictures where I want them (for example at the end of a blog,) but here is one of Ana and I in the Mirador de San Nicolas. Apparently I am an amazing photographer. :) 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.

Ok sorry for those of you who got mad at my lack of blogging during the last 3 weeks or so. I have been so busy doing things to write about that I didn´t have time to write! And that´s a good thing in my opinion. Who wants to know about how many times I brush my teeth a day...

Ok... so Friday with Ana we walked around and hit all the spots on her list, shopping and visiting old friends. Then we came home, rested, got ready and waited for Victor to show up from Malaga. When he got there we visited, and then went downstairs to meet the parents, and then went out for tapas at Ana´s favorite place. Our friends from earlier, Soufian and Said (Ana Accion´s latest Moroccan love interest) met us there. We had one round there and then got in Soufian´s car and went to a nearby pueblo to have fried fish tapas. Soufian keeps his car in a really sketchy underground garage and drives like a crazy person, so it was all a little frightening. But we made it there and back safely, and enjoyed some hearty tapas and Soufian´s impressions of forgien tourists in his shop. Then we walked around Calle Elvira a while, but since Soufian was sick, he went home, and Said went with him. Ana, Victor and I tried to got to all the old hangouts, Babylon and Dolce Vita, but apparently they now suck. We stayed as long as we could, but Victor went home because he was exhausted and we wandered around from place to place, cold and dissapointed with the Marcha, we found in Granada that night. We ran into Deanna´s old roommate, Ghislaine, on the street, totally by accident because she now lives in Malaga too. It was great to see her and catch up a bit. Then we finally gave up and went home around 3??' and went to bed.

Saturday, October, 27th, we slept in, ate some of Pepa´s delicious paella, and went out again to walk around the Albyzin, get some more tapas, and buy the last couple of things Ana wanted, and wanted to see. We came home in the afternoon, ate some dinner and watched TV and were waiting for Victor, but he had gone out to take some pictures. We had been dissapointed with out going out Thursday and Friday nights, but we were ready for Satruday to be the mother of all marchas. (Marcha means going out in Spanish.) So around 9 we went down to look for Victor, but he was still MIA, and we called him and he had ran into some friends and was hanging out with them in the Albyzin. Just around then, it started POURING DOWN RAIN, LIGHTENING AND THUNDERING!! It seems that going out was going to be difficult. Said also called and said he was staying home because of the storm. So we waited a bit, debated what to do, and finally went upstairs to get ready. It was a very difficult process, what to wear, where to go, who else we could call.... Finally Victor came home and we tried to convince him to go, to no avail. But we did convince him to take us to the Mae West, and huge new disco in Granada. We had a good time until the place filled up so much that it was impossible to move around, and the only people who hit on us were really old, gross men. We left there around 4AM and started walking home, and stopped by Merengue, an old Salsa place where Ana saw some old friends. We stayed for a while, and finally made it home around 5 or 4 because that night the time changed, and went to bed.

Sunday, our friend Maria, and old director of our program, picked us up around 2, and took us to her house for lunch. We had a nice time visiting and eating homemade bread with cream cheese and membrilla, a thick, sweet, jelly like thing. We stayed for quite a while, then walked back and stopped by Soufian´s shop to say goodbye and Ana´s favorite schwarma place for one last schwarma. Then we came home, Ana packed everything up and we visited with Pepa and Emilio until Victor took Ana to the airport and then went on to Malaga. I then ate some dinner, watched TV and went to bed. Ana is the best, and it was great to have one of my old girls back in Granada with me!

Weekend with Ana

So I´m quite a bit behind, but Friday, October 26th, I slept in, because my first 2 periods had a test. Then I went to work and was almost late, worked for 2 periods, the first made me want to cry and the second went really well. The 2nd one was the oldest class, so they actually want to learn English. Then I met Ana in Plaza Nueva, and we had schwarmas for lunch and then walked around and shopped and visited all the sites that Ana wanted to go to and our old friend Soufian and his shop. Ok i don´t have any more time. I´ll try again later.