A few customs I have learned about the Spanish:
on New Year's Eve, right before the clock strikes midnight, they eat 12 grapes and then give a kiss. then they stay up until 11 or 12 in the afternoon eating churros and big meals with their families and friends
they eat octopus about 4 different ways. i have tried 2 and they are pretty good. very chewy.
they do not eat breakfast. instead, they have coffee about 4 times in the morning until lunch around 2.
lunch is usually their biggest meal of the day. afterward is siesta. then they eat a light meal at 10ish.
they love their football (soccer). i told my high school class yesterday that i like real madrid the best of all of the Spanish teams and about half the class exploded in applause while the other half booed (the booers like barcelona).
they like to mix things with wine. there is a drink called a calimocho that is coca-cola mixed with red wine. then there is tinto de verano which is sprite or 7up mixed with red wine.
Just a few to name. This is not a custom but I do believe they are the most laid back people in the world, at least the most laid back I have met!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Weather maps are beautiful!
Every other morning we wake up and turn on the news to look at the weather forecast. Every morning, or about every morning, it shows rain in almost all of Spain. All of Spain except for Almeria :) I love to look at weather maps!
The wind has been a bit more ferocious lately but I love the wind and especially a beach wind so it hasn't become too much of a hazard yet. Things are starting to close down in our little beach town as the winter begins. It should all open back up in March or April when Northern Europeans start to venture down here again. But I think the places we go the most will be staying open all throughout the year!
Last week I went to Bingo for the first time and sat with an incredibly nice British couple!! I could hardly understand Charley with his thick English accent which was odd to me because that is usually how I feel when I talk to Spaniards! Bingo was great though and that will definitely be a regular Tuesday night outing for me!
Halloween is this Friday but I do not think I am going to get to celebrate it :( This is seriously one of my favorite holidays because I LOVE getting into a costume! Who knows I might find something super cheap so I can wear it to school on Thursay and give some candy to all the little kiddies :) This coming Saturday is going to be an adventure! I signed up to go on an Evangelizing project (?) with the church I have been attending. I have absolutely no idea what is going to take place other than I need to bring 2 meals and there will be a Gospel choir. So we´ll see what happens!
It has been an awesome week this past week getting to spend time with the Word and I am loving Donald Miller´s "Searching for God Knows What" - it is a fantastic book! YL application is almost finished and can´t wait to see what happens with that!
My roomies and I have Lost - Season 1 on dvd so we have started watching those and since season 5 doesn´t premiere until Feb 2009, I think I am going to attempt to watch every season again because I know I have forgotten many things.
We had a little outing last Thursday night with some of the teachers from my school! We went to a Tapas bar in the nearby town, Aguadulce, and were there for about 3ish hours. It was such good ham (Spain is very passionate about their ham) and there were legs of ham hanging all around the bar! When we left, I thought we were heading home but instead we ended up at a discotech until 3:30 am. I think that is the latest I have been up since being here and it was a Thursday night! These teachers had to get up and be at school at 9 - I don´t know how they did it! Apparently the norm is being out til 6 or 7 am though, having a coffee, and heading to school til 2 then napping! Crazy time schedule but I guess that is why the siesta is so important here!
In school news, I am now working one day a week at the instituto (secondary school) and only 3 days at my colegio (primary school) which will be interesting! I am excited to see what the older kids are learning here! Well that is the latest from Spain! Hasta luego!
The wind has been a bit more ferocious lately but I love the wind and especially a beach wind so it hasn't become too much of a hazard yet. Things are starting to close down in our little beach town as the winter begins. It should all open back up in March or April when Northern Europeans start to venture down here again. But I think the places we go the most will be staying open all throughout the year!
Last week I went to Bingo for the first time and sat with an incredibly nice British couple!! I could hardly understand Charley with his thick English accent which was odd to me because that is usually how I feel when I talk to Spaniards! Bingo was great though and that will definitely be a regular Tuesday night outing for me!
Halloween is this Friday but I do not think I am going to get to celebrate it :( This is seriously one of my favorite holidays because I LOVE getting into a costume! Who knows I might find something super cheap so I can wear it to school on Thursay and give some candy to all the little kiddies :) This coming Saturday is going to be an adventure! I signed up to go on an Evangelizing project (?) with the church I have been attending. I have absolutely no idea what is going to take place other than I need to bring 2 meals and there will be a Gospel choir. So we´ll see what happens!
It has been an awesome week this past week getting to spend time with the Word and I am loving Donald Miller´s "Searching for God Knows What" - it is a fantastic book! YL application is almost finished and can´t wait to see what happens with that!
My roomies and I have Lost - Season 1 on dvd so we have started watching those and since season 5 doesn´t premiere until Feb 2009, I think I am going to attempt to watch every season again because I know I have forgotten many things.
We had a little outing last Thursday night with some of the teachers from my school! We went to a Tapas bar in the nearby town, Aguadulce, and were there for about 3ish hours. It was such good ham (Spain is very passionate about their ham) and there were legs of ham hanging all around the bar! When we left, I thought we were heading home but instead we ended up at a discotech until 3:30 am. I think that is the latest I have been up since being here and it was a Thursday night! These teachers had to get up and be at school at 9 - I don´t know how they did it! Apparently the norm is being out til 6 or 7 am though, having a coffee, and heading to school til 2 then napping! Crazy time schedule but I guess that is why the siesta is so important here!
In school news, I am now working one day a week at the instituto (secondary school) and only 3 days at my colegio (primary school) which will be interesting! I am excited to see what the older kids are learning here! Well that is the latest from Spain! Hasta luego!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Tapas, Toros y Teaching
¡Bienvenidos a mi blog! I arrived in Spain on September 26 and stayed in the "big" town of Almeria for a few days while searching for a place to live. It's a pretty cool town with a huge street called La Rambla in the center with tons of restaurants and shops. I was very excited when I got off the plane and realized it was about 75 degrees outside and every day since then it's been about the same, if not hotter. A few days after I got in, my roommate and I met her school's director who agreed to let us rent his summer home for the 8 months we will be teaching. SWEET DEAL! We've got a duplex with 2 floors on each side and a garage and it's all located about 50 feet from the beach... seriously an above and beyond answered prayer! We moved in and started school last Wednesday. I teach in a town called La Mojonera at a school for ages 3-12! It has been awesome so far - all of the kids are excited to have Americans in their classrooms and the little kids are absolutely adorable!!
On Saturday my roommates and I went to the mall and had tapas and saw "Che - El Argentino" which was really fun. We had great tapas (little appetizers) like chicken with a hot sauce, pork with peppers and a potato cake. If you have a tapas restaurant near you, I highly suggest checking it out!
This week has been the festival week for the town where I live, Roquetas de Mar. On Sunday night we went to the bullfight (my first one!) which was interesting to say the least. While not all Spaniards like the bullfight, I found myself surprisingly enjoying it except for the last part where the bull actually dies. At first I could barely stand any bit but by the end I was really glad I had gone.
Now the working has officially begun and I'll be working with the little kids until January! Hopefully I'll be pretty good about keeping this blog updated so definitely check back in for more adventures from Spain!
On Saturday my roommates and I went to the mall and had tapas and saw "Che - El Argentino" which was really fun. We had great tapas (little appetizers) like chicken with a hot sauce, pork with peppers and a potato cake. If you have a tapas restaurant near you, I highly suggest checking it out!
This week has been the festival week for the town where I live, Roquetas de Mar. On Sunday night we went to the bullfight (my first one!) which was interesting to say the least. While not all Spaniards like the bullfight, I found myself surprisingly enjoying it except for the last part where the bull actually dies. At first I could barely stand any bit but by the end I was really glad I had gone.
Now the working has officially begun and I'll be working with the little kids until January! Hopefully I'll be pretty good about keeping this blog updated so definitely check back in for more adventures from Spain!
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