“I’d like a pint, por favor.”

In the six months that I’ve lived here in Europe, I’ve been blessed to be able to travel to many beautiful places.  Most of these locations have been within Spain, except for my jaunt to Belgium and The Netherlands over Christmas.  During the last week of February, however, my friend Becky and I once again ventured outside our Spanish speaking world to see the green shores of Ireland.

pre-flight portrait

first glimpse of Ireland!

Ireland exceeded my expectations in every way imaginable.  The people were friendly, the landscape was beautiful, the transportation was fast and affordable, and there was a never-ending list of cheap things to do.  Becky and I arrived in Dublin via RyanAir, the notorious budget airline that is actually based in Ireland.  Our plane was only an hour late though (which is a feat, believe me) so we were unfazed and excited to begin our trip.  The shuttle we took to our hostel was actually a double-decker bus, which seemed luxurious compared to some of the others I’ve taken in Europe (busses smelling of feet, kidnapper vans, etc.).  Above all, the most surreal part of this journey was being able to ask questions in English.  This was my first time in an English speaking country since leaving the U.S. six months ago!

English!

We spent our first evening at the Temple Bar District in the heart of Dublin.  Though we hopped around to several different establishments, we eventually settled at the actual Temple Bar.  Becky and I had hoped to avoid the tourist traps that this area is clearly all about, but the promise of hearing some Irish music got the better of us.  So we grabbed ourselves a table and a couple of pints at one of the oldest bars in Dublin and enjoyed the scene.  That night at Temple was amazing—full of Irish sing-alongs, flowing Guinness, and reveling in all of the English around us.

Dublin by night

getting right down to business

Our next day was spent at the Guinness Storehouse, where we perused old fashioned Guinness paraphernalia and helped ourselves to the flowing supply of free Guinness.  The Storehouse is also the world’s largest pint glass and opens up into an amazing glass-walled bar on the top floor with some spectacular views of the city.  We enjoyed the panorama and our pints while chatting with an Irish woman who now lives in Chicago, and whose daughters live in Washington!

view from the top

ah, the anticipation

probando

happy travelers

On our third day, we decided to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the city.  We hopped on a train (roundtrip tickets for only 4 euro!) to Howth, a nearby village built on a tiny peninsula outside of Dublin.  Howth was beautiful for so many reasons—quaint little houses, a picturesque harbor, and sea cliffs that were absolutely breathtaking.  Though we had been careful about packing sandwiches to minimize our spending, we took a budget splurge for fish and chips on the coast.  The Ireland vs. Italy Six Nations rugby match was playing in the old man bar we chose, so we enjoyed our food and cider while feeling very Irish.  After lunch, we went on a hike that accidentally turned into us summiting a small mountain, but the extra time was completely worth it for the gorgeous views.

in the harbor

our seal friend

lunch

the Irish Sea

depth perception

nearing the summit

The final day in Dublin was one of quiet recuperation.  Becky and I took a walk at the famous Trinity College and gathered souvenirs for our families.  After our last walk around the city, we wrote postcards over our final Irish pints and reminisced over our ridiculous English-Spanish mix-ups.  I spent most of the weekend saying “perdón” instead of “excuse me” and adding “por favor” instead of “please.”  At least this means I’m learning Spanish, right?

Molly Malone

Trinity College

the Georgian doors

the final pint!

Carnaval de Cádiz

Sometimes in life we have great experiences that, despite being enjoyable, we may not ever want to repeat.  For me, Carnaval in Cádiz was one of those experiences.  I feel like Carnaval is one of those must-do events if you’re living in Spain, especially in the south.  So, I bought a bus ticket and prepared myself for a sleepless night of costumed debauchery.  What I did not prepare myself for were busses delayed over an hour, two and a half hour bus rides turning into five hour ones, or the utter exhaustion that comes with staying awake for over 26 hours.

But, I digress.

My friend Kels met me in Córdoba on Saturday morning to prepare for our festivities.  We decided to be pirates because it was an easy costume that involved purchasing very little, so we borrowed some clothing, packed our food and beverage supplies, and set off to catch our 5PM bus.  After over an hour of waiting in a mass of costumed people, we finally got on the road.  Almost everyone had begun drinking the alcohol they had intended for Carnaval during the hour of waiting, so the bus ride was loud and full of boisterous energy… meaning I sort of wanted to murder everyone around me until I too broke into my stash of spirits.

piratas

Sadly, being slightly buzzed didn’t really help the fact that we didn’t arrive to Cádiz until 11:30PM.  That’s a 5.5 hour bus ride folks, which is longer than it takes to get to Madrid.  By then though, I was so pleased to be off that godforsaken bus that giddiness took over that could not even be dampened by the bus driver’s following announcement: since we got a late start, the bus will pick you up one hour later—at 8AM instead of 7AM.  Everyone looked a little shocked, but there’s no point in arguing with Spanish bus drivers.

first Carnaval sight

Once on the streets of Cádiz, I was blown away by the sheer number of people.  Moving through the narrow alleys of the beach town was a difficult task and finding friends seemed nearly impossible.  We did eventually locate Jess and Kerry, which was a small miracle.  We spent the next several hours drinking, eating from somewhat dubious food carts, and talking to people from all over the world.  Carnaval seems to break down any normal social barriers one might have—it was completely normal to walk into a crowd of strangers and introduce yourself, share your drink, and get to know some new people.

Cabra amigos

Francistos

Sevilla amigas

This was all very enjoyable until about 5AM, when it got cold.  We decided to go to the beach, since it seemed silly to be in Cádiz without spending some time on the sea.  By 6AM, I was frozen and Kels and I decided to walk to where the busses had dropped us off to check out the scene.  We thought we might be able to board the bus at 7AM, even though we knew it wouldn’t leave until 8AM.  This didn’t happen, of course, so we spent the following two and a half hours sitting on top of a wall and getting to know endless groups of people as they filtered onto various buses.

madness

At 8:30AM, after watching the sun rise onto the streets that had turned into a giant trashcan/bathroom, we boarded our bus and headed back to Córdoba.  It’s been a very long time since I have felt that exhausted.  Obviously, we went to a Chinese buffet when we finally made it back to Córdoba.  My only regret is that I was almost too tired to eat.

In any case, Carnaval is a true experience.  I recommend it, but it’s not for the faint of heart.  And maybe if you go, don’t be as cheap as I was and consider renting an apartment so you don’t have to stay awake for 26 hours straight…

Stay tuned for stories from my latest adventure in Dublin, Ireland with my friend Becky!  We met all of our goals of seeing green hillsides, hearing good Irish music, and drinking an obscene amount of Guinness... tales to come!

“Put me a bigot.”

Yesterday we celebrated Carnival at my school, which really meant that we shouldn’t have even bothered teaching because all the kids wanted to do was run around and yell about whatever costume they were wearing.  As I mentioned in October, Spaniards believe that Halloween is a holiday for scary disguises and Carnival is one for ridiculous, funny costumes.  This meant that my classes were filled with clowns, hippies, superheroes, and one particularly daring boy who dressed as the late Franco.

adorable fourth graders

Manolo

my fourth grade class

During the school celebration of carnival, the best moment of the day comes during fourth hour, when the entire school parades around the park for a crowd of parents and random Cordobans.  Before this event, I was in my fourth grade class where one of my students, Dani, asked me to draw a mustache on his face with eyeliner.  He was dressed as Zorro, and all the other kids were feverishly covering themselves with face paint, so I agreed.

“Teacher, teacher!  Me pone un bigote!”  (Put a moustache on me)

“All right, Dani.  Hold still.”

“Que?!  TEACHER!  Put me a bigot!”

“No, Dani.  Just… no.”  cue imminent death by laughter

Never a dull day here in Spain.

school congregates on the patio

punks, futbolistas, and Star Wars villians from 5th grade

sweet fifth grade girls

parade around the plaza

Today I’m headed off to Cádiz to celebrate Carnival on a grander scale (by the way, if you have no idea what I’m talking about, click here).  I’m going with Emily and some of her college friends and will be meeting up with 3/4 of my girlfriends from Sevilla—Jess, Kels, and Kerry, because Keely will sadly not be traversing for the festivities this time.  This will be my third trip to Cádiz since I moved here and will involve very little sleep, as the bus I’m taking leaves Córdoba today at 5PM and picks us up again in Cádiz at 7AM.  However, sleepless nights are becoming a pretty regular phenomenon for me here in Spain, so I’m going to suck it up for the experience.  Feliz Carnival!

Winter Bliss

I’m more of a summer type of girl, so usually I fall into the winter blues sometime in early February.  Lately though, I’ve been enjoying my quiet routine, sweet moments with friends, and the crisp winter sunshine.  So here’s to visits from people you love, lazy coffee dates, and afternoon strolls.  Happy February, everyone!

sunny afternoon vino

en la Juderia

tortilla in Patio de las Naranjas

coffee enthusiasm

Kids Say the Darndest Things…

This week, the city of Córdoba is holding a clothing drive for less fortunate community members.  On Monday, Rosa, our school’s secretary, came into my fifth grade class to solicit donations.  She explained that in previous years, every student had been given a plastic bag to bring home for collecting clothing, but that because of el crisis a lot of spending cuts had been implemented and we didn’t have individual bags for the kids.

I must pause here to state that no matter where I am or who I’m with, el crisis comes up about once a day.  Spain is hurting.  Unemployment is abysmal and spending cuts threaten social programs that have become the norm since the fall of Franco.  Watching all of this from an American perspective is very surreal, and an entirely separate story.

Anyway, last month I had taught my fifth graders a until entitled “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,” in which we specifically mentioned clothing drives as a method of reusing resources.  When Rosa left the class, I excitedly asked my kiddos:

“So, what is our clothing drive an example of?!”

In unison chorus, they shouted back:

“The crisis!”

Ah, the times we live in.

Back to Reality

Things have been quiet around here in little Córdoba since returning from my Christmas travels.  I’ve spent the month catching up on projects and attempting to plan for the future, which proves to be rather difficult when you aren’t sure what you want to do with your life.

I’ve been in Spain for five months now, which is the longest period of time I’ve ever been away from home.  This is also the longest I’ve ever gone without seeing my parents, sister, brother, aunts, roommates, many friends, dog, cat, etc.  While I miss my loved ones and my beloved Pacific Northwest every day, this time away from home has led me to the realization that I am fully capable of making a home for myself.

I decided to come to Spain because I knew it was the right thing for me.  I knew I needed to see the world and live on my own and force myself out of my comfort zone.  That being said, I anticipated… well, disaster, I guess.  I’m a homebody who doesn’t like to be away from her family and I’ve spent my adult life living with and surrounded by my best friends.  Being here hasn’t always been easy.  I have most certainly had meltdowns, dark days, and moments when I was ready to hop the next flight to Seattle.  But overall… I’m actually doing really well.  Sometimes that fact still surprises me.  Maybe I’m more grown up than I thought?

In any case, I’m weighing a lot of options for next year as it’s now 2012 and I suppose I need to start planning.  An obvious choice is to return to Córdoba, renew my current contract, and continue my life here.  I already have a network of friends and coworkers here, so I know I could do that fairly easily.  I never thought I would want to be a public school teacher, but I’m starting to love my job more and more every day.  The challenges I face at work are among the most difficult I’ve ever had to accomplish, but also the most rewarding.  For example, this card came from one of my timid fifth graders who never raises her hand.

I have such a long name...

striking resemblance, no?

She approached me after class a few weeks ago and said “Teacher… this… for you.”  It’s so adorable, I nearly cried.

However, I’m also becoming increasingly aware that I could find another job working as an ESL teacher pretty much anywhere in the world.  I’ve been reading a lot of teachers’ blogs (shout out to you, Heather!) and checking out different programs for English teachers.  I haven’t made any decisions yet, but I’m definitely scouting out my options right now.  If anyone reading this has any advice or resources, please comment and let me know!

Keely visited Córdoba last weekend for the first time, which was lovely.  She was feeling a bit under the weather, so we had a very calm visit peppered with plenty of leisurely lunches and siestas.  It’s nice to have friends who fit perfectly into your daily routine—going on walks and lounging around is sometimes just as nice as doing touristy activities.  We also consumed enough hummus to feed a small country (I recently discovered some at my local supermarket and am considering buying stocks in it).

at the Roman bridge

soaking up some sun

However, one touristy activity that we just couldn’t pass up was our local medieval festival.  Apparently, medieval themed fairs are very common in Andalucía, although I’ve never actually seen one myself.  We perused the festival on both Friday and Saturday because it was just that hilarious.  Spaniards in period garb, meat roasting on spits, and “exotic” birds on display is not something that you want to pass up.

Plaza Corredera, medieval style

serious meat

most of these candies are not for children

so "exotic"

it wouldn't be a Spanish festival without paella

yes, that is an octopus being cut with shears

In other news, I am planning a trip to Ireland for the end of this month with Becky, which I’m anticipating will be fantastic!  It’ll be very interesting to travel to an English speaking country after being displaced for five months.  I’ve also picked up a couple of new clases particulares to aid in my travel habit.  This weekend, Kels and her boyfriend Reggie are coming to Córdoba, so I will be spending some time with them in my beloved little city.  They don’t arrive for another 20 minutes though, so for now… more hummus!

Feliz Año Nuevo!

After a fantastic week in Belgium and Holland, I rang in the new year in Madrid with a group of wonderful people.  Bryson, Keely, Becky, and I stayed in a hostel located right in the center of Madrid, surrounded by all of the festivities.

Puerta del Sol

Bryson and I spent one afternoon walking around Madrid, during which we attempted to visit the Reina Sofia modern art museum, but instead found ourselves a cheap and delicious lunch…

we at least went to the building

yum!

We spent New Year’s Eve having a dinner party with Katherine, her boyfriend Josh, and her roommates at their apartment.  Kelsey and Reggie also joined us for the festivities after their Christmas trip to Paris!  We played charades and had a dance party, which is perfection as far as I’m concerned.  It was a wonderful way to ring in the new year before saying goodbye to Bryson, and it made me feel a little closer to home!

our cena

Katherine and Josh

Happy New Year!

PNWers

one guapa girl

When I made it back to Córdoba with Becky, we got one last holiday hurrah because the real day of celebration here in Spain is for Los Reyes Magos, or the Three Kings.  Spanish children are visited by the magi on the eve of January 6, so the country celebrates with cabalgatas (parades) in which the kings are all present on giant floats and lots of candy is thrown around.  Becky and I went to watch for the holiday experience and got to hear lots of complaints about how the economic crisis has affected the quality of the festivities.  Oh, Spain.

the biggest party in town

cabalgata

balloon surprise!

Baltasar's float

finish with a bang!