Return to Europe

Five months after my last post, I'm finally updating! A lot has happened in that time...a couple more trips, the end of school, a summer spent in NC, and now my return to Madrid! My school year wrapped up June 23. I couldn't believe the year was over, it truly flew by. It was sad to say goodbye to my coworkers because most of the ones I was closest to won't be returning this year. However, I'm trying to stay positive and view this year as an almost completely new experience! Hopefully though I will be working with the same kids which will be great.

I had a very relaxing summer in NC, but was ready to get back to my routine in Madrid and see everyone again. I arrived about two weeks ago and since getting back I've been busy! We are staying in the same apartment this year which is so great because we were able to keep our stuff here this summer and not have to worry about apartment hunting again!

Three days after I got here, one of my best friends from college, Erin, came to visit from the States. I was SO excited to have her, and the timing worked out well since I still haven't started working yet so we could travel a little. We decided to go to Porto which is a city in the north of Portugal. Lots of people in Madrid have been there because it's a cheap Ryanair destination...only 26 euro a ticket!! We arrived Sunday morning and immediately went to check out the city. It was so pretty! Much prettier than I expected. I've been to Portugal numerous times and I've loved every place I've been...Porto was no exception. It's a very hilly city (we were exhausted by the last day) with the River Douro cutting through it. We spent a lot of time by the river where there were good restaurants, jewelry markets, and wine cellars. We also took a river cruise tour. We were by far the youngest people on board, but it was fun none the less. There are 6 bridges that connect the two sides of the city and we got to see them all on the cruise.

We also took a day trip to a small town about an hour and a half outside of Porto called Vila Real. The town's main attraction is a Duke's country house and vineyard. When we arrived at the house, we first went to a wine tasting which was fun because we hadn't had much chance to try the famous wine of the region. Then we went on an English tour of the house and chapel. The inside was pretty, but not as extravagant as a palace. Afterwards we were able to walk around the beautiful gardens and vineyard.

Overall it was a fantastic vacation. I highly recommend Portugal as a place to visit in Europe. It can sometimes go overlooked which is unfortunate because it's a great destination. And it's extremely inexpensive compared to the rest of Europe. We were able to eat a HUGE portion of food and a drink for around 5-6 euro. Accommodation is also very reasonable.

Until next time!

Spring Break

Wow, it's been a really long time since I've written. I'm really not the best at keeping up with this whole blog thing!

Spring has FINALLY sprung in Madrid. I say Madrid and not Spain because I feel like Madrid is the coldest city in Spain! Well, not really, but it's been a super cold winter and even now it's only hitting the lower 60's. I'm trying to enjoy it though because summer is right around the corner which means temperatures in the 100's...and there is not air conditioning at my school or apartment. Thank goodness I'm heading home for half of the summer! Speaking of heading home, I decided to renew my contract for the next school year so it looks like I'll be a madrilena for one more year! I turned in all my paperwork before Easter break so now I just have to wait for the official acceptance, but the director of my school was very supportive so there should be no problems on that end. I've had an amazing time here so far, and it just feels too soon to go home. My roommates are also staying another year which is great!

Weather isn't the only great thing about Spring...there is also Spring break!! I had about 10 days off from school so my friend Jessica and I decided to go somewhere together. My two other friends, Bethany and Allison, both had their parents visiting that week, so they weren't able to travel with us. Our break coincided with Semana Santa or "Holy Week" which is celebrated throughout Spain the week before Easter. Every town has processions with people carrying statues of the Virgin and Jesus. It's especially famous in the south of Spain. However, Madrid doesn't have that many processions, and after living in Sevilla I've seen my fair share. Since it's such an important week, most Spaniards have at least part of the week off from work so plane tickets were very expensive, but we finally found a cheap one to the Canary Islands.

We celebrated my birthday on the 29th (it was great!) and the morning of the 30th, Jessica and I set off to Las Palmas which is on the Gran Canaria Island. There are a total of 10 islands that make up the Canaries, and they're located right off the coast of Africa, close to the border of Morocco and the Western Sahara. So even though they technically belong to Europe, they're in the continent of Africa which definitely made the terrain very tropical. We stayed in the south of the island in an area called Playa del Ingles or "English Beach." That's a very fitting name because everyone there spoke English and apparently in the summer it's filled with British people. During our visit, we mostly noticed Germans rather than English, but there still were quite a few of them. It was strange because we didn't feel like we were in Spain at all! All the signs were in English and German and the restaurants were not the typical Spanish ones we're used to, but rather food from around the world. Everyone says the Canary Islands are like this in general since they have so many Northern Europeans visiting.

We were also by an area called Maspalomas which had some really cool sand dunes. We never went on them, but you can rent 4-wheelers to ride around in them.

Jessica and I stayed in a bungalow about 15 minutes walking distance from the beach. It was only 40 euro a night (did I mention the Canaries are pretty cheap surprisingly enough??) and we had a living room, full kitchen,clothes washer, bedroom, and 2 terraces! There were also 2 pools in the complex.

During the day we didn't really do much other than relax by the pool and tan! The pool water was freezing so I only got in one time the whole trip, but the weather was perfect. It was in the lower 70's but since the sun is so intense, it feels warmer than that but never too warm where you're sweating. It allowed you to lay out, but still feel comfortable the whole time due to the nice breeze. They say the Canaries have the best weather in the world because it stays the same almost the whole year round. However, it was windy, especially by the beach, so we didn't get to lay out there because the sand was flying around.

It was great wearing sundresses and sandals for the first time in months! Who knows when I'll be able to do that in Madrid because people here don't tend to where short sleeved clothing or sandals until it's REALLY hot. It's hard for us since we're American and live in sandals from about April to September! Here's some pictures of Jessica and I relaxing on our patio enjoying the nice weather!

Like I said before the sun was INTENSE. It's more intense here in Spain in general than at home, but maybe since we were so close to Africa it was even more so. Throughout the stay I kept developing a rash all over my body from the sun. By the last day it got so bad and itchy I had to go in after only 2 hours in the sun. Luckily though, I didn't burn and came home tan, but it was no fun having to be itchy the whole trip!

It was sad to have to come home after 4 days! It was so relaxing and quiet there, and was such a change from busy Madrid. I definitely want to go back sometime soon and rent a car to see the rest of the island.

Until next time!! Besitos!!

School days

Looking back at my posts, it seems like all I post about is traveling! So, I decided it would be good to put up photos of the place where I spend a lot of my time- school!! As I mentioned in one of my first posts, I work in a suburb of Madrid called Tres Cantos. I take the commuter train directly to the town every morning which takes about 30 minutes. It's pretty far north so you can see the Sierra Mountains from the train station:

And from my classroom windows:

I recently went on a field trip with my 1st grade students to the main public library in Tres Cantos. They saw a little play and then got to color some pictures having to do with the play, and look around the library. Here they are coloring,

Enjoying the reading room

Back in the classroom after the field trip

The whole school also celebrated "Dia de la paz" or "Peace Day" in English. Everyone went out on the patio and sang songs and danced. Here are my kids preparing for the dance

They were all supposed to wear plain white shirts, but it was really cold that day so they put them over their jackets, making them look like little marshmallows! Here they are dancing.

Two students from each grade got to read a message in English and Spanish promoting peace. Below are the 3rd graders.

At the end the teachers released balloons into the air.

It was a great day and fun for the kids to do something a little different. Overall, I have been really enjoying school and loving the kids! I couldn't ask for a better work situation.

Hasta luego!!!

Pais Vasco..food, wine, and beautiful scenery!

Hola!! Last weekend I visited a new part of Spain I'd never been to before, the Basque Country, or as it's called in Spanish, Pais Vasco. As you can see from the picture to the right, Madrid is in the center of the country (this map is missing Portugal, so it looks kind of oddly shaped) and Pais Vasco is directly north of it, and west of Barcelona. My friend Kit, who I studied abroad with in Sevilla, was visiting the area, so I took the train to meet her in a coastal town called San Sebastian. I got in around dinner time, so we went out to eat a traditional Basque meal which consists of tapas called pintxos and a white wine called txakoli. As you can see, the spelling of the words doesn't look like typical Spanish, because they also speak another language in the Basque Country called "Euskara." It's unrelated to any other language in the world, so it's apparently hard to learn.

So, back to the food! San Sebastian is known for it's gastronomy and has the most Michelin Stars per capita than any other city. Kit is a foodie, so she had researched different "tabernas" or bars we had to visit. It's common when going out to dinner at night, to move from bar to bar where you order a drink and one pintxo. Pintxos can be served hot or cold. The cold pintxos are usually a slice of bread covered by toppings such as ham, eggs, fish, etc. They are sitting out on the bar counter and you ask for a plate, and then take the ones you want. It's based on the honor system, because when you're finished you tell the bartender which ones you had. Here are pictures of some:

A variety

Bread, Spanish ham, and quail eggs...yum!

Hot pintxos are usually some type of meat or vegetable like mushrooms. The bottom picture was my favorite! And it only cost about 3 euro!

Pork, caramelized onions, potatoes, and quail eggs.

All in all, I stuffed myself on the trip! Definitely a highlight. Apart from food, San Sebastian was incredibly gorgeous! It's usually rainy in northern Spain, but we got lucky and had 60 degree, sunny weather. I'm used to rainy, cold Madrid so it was a pleasant surprise! The city is pretty small with an old quarter where our hostel was, and a beautiful beach called La Concha. The city surrounds the beach and it makes for beautiful pictures:

We also took a funicular to the top of a mountain and had amazing views of the city and beach.

Here are some more photos of the city:

The next day we took the bus to Bilbao to meet up with my roommates and Bethany. Unfortunately the weather was a lot worse that day, but we still had a good time and got to walk around the city and go to the world famous Guggenheim Museum. Everyone told me before I left that the museum is more interesting from the outside than inside, and they were right. The exhibits were pretty boring, but I'm glad we got to experience it regardless.

The city

Views over the city

The Guggenheim

The famous spider statue outside the museum

Puppy made of flowers outside the entrance

Overall, I had an incredible time and definitely suggest people visit the area if they're ever in Spain. It's not a well-known destination for foreigners, but it would definitely be worth a look.

Next posting I'll try to put up some pictures of school! Hasta luego!

Return to Sevilla/Spain

It's been forever since I've written! One of my New Year's resolutions is to update more! I hope everyone had a great holiday season. I spent my holidays in the United States visiting my friends and family. It was great to be back home and see everyone. Speaking in English and eating American food was also plus! I got back to the US on the 21st, but didn't make it home to Charlotte until the 22nd! Basically, I left Spain in a snow storm and came back in a snow storm. Here's what happened (I'll make it short and sweet). So, the day I left Madrid I woke up to snow. Since Madrid isn't really accustomed to snow, much like NC, the whole city freaks out. My train to the airport was late, but I finally made it and discovered my plane was 2 hours delayed. I was lucky though, because I was flying direct from Madrid to Dallas, Texas which meant that our delay wasn't too bad compared to people who had to fly through another European city first. Most of Western Europe had been hit by the storm as well, so the airport was jammed up with people whose flights were canceled. It was a madhouse! My friend Jessica was leaving the same day, but had to fly through Amsterdam first. After waiting 4 hours in line, she was rebooked on another flight TWO days later!

After a 10 and a half hour flight(!!!!) I finally made it to Dallas right at the time my flight to Charlotte was leaving. It was ok though, because American Airlines put me in a fancy hotel for the night and I made it back to Charlotte the next morning without problems!

Coming back from the States was even crazier because I had to fly through Geneva, Switzerland and when I landed I discovered that my flight to Madrid was canceled due to ANOTHER snow storm in Madrid. I was rebooked on the next flight which was of course delayed, and ended up leaving oh, only SEVEN hours later! And since I don't really sleep on planes, I was exhausted. I also discovered that my bag was lost so I had to wait in line another 45 minutes in Madrid to file a claim. On the bright side, I did get to take these beautiful pictures of Geneva out the plane window and my bag finally showed up 2 days later.

It feels greats to be back in Madrid and see all my friends again! I also came home to a completely remodeled bedroom. Before break, I began to notice mold on the wall of my closet. My landlord figured out it was coming from a leak from the kitchen of the apartment above us. Luckily it happened at the perfect time because they were able to work on it while I was gone. I have a brand new dresser now, and the room looks great.

It was also great to see all the kids again. Work has been going well. Before the break, the kids were getting ready for Christmas and the Epiphany which is even more important here than Christmas. Each year they have certain traditions at the school. On my last day there, they did a card exchange where two classes of two different grades meet one day and exchange Christmas cards. I missed it, but on the last day of school, the kids have a big show where each grade prepares Christmas carols to sing in front of the school. I got to go to music class with the 1st graders and watch them practice for the show. They sang jingle bells and a Spanish carol about a train, so they all had to line up and walk around as if they were a train. It was so cute, I wish I could have seen the final performance!

Another New Year's resolution of mine is to travel more! Next weekend I am meeting one of my college friends in the Basque Country, a region in the north of Spain. I am really excited to see my friend, as well as a new part of Spain that I've always wanted to go to. I am also going to a city outside of Barcelona called Girona, in February. Can't wait! Before the break, I traveled to Sevilla with my friends. Since I am so bad at updating, I'll go ahead and put up some pictures now. It was great to be back where I studied abroad three years ago (I can't believe it's been so long!) and see all the places we used to love to go to. However, as much as I love Sevilla, the trip made me realize that I made the right decision to live in Madrid this time around. For me, Sevilla was an amazing place to study, but Madrid is better for living and working.

Girls in front of orange trees

Jessica and I in front of the cathedral

Plaza de Espana

Magical tinto de veranos

Carriage rides

Sunset over the river

So that's all for now! More updates to come! Besos!!