Práctica begins!

Something I meant to mention in my last post, but forgot to, is that I flew with ryanair airlines to Paris. And basically, during the flight I had to ask myself, why would anyone pay to go to an amusement park and ride roller coasters when they could just fly ryanair?

Anyway, as mentioned in the title, my práctica (internship) began this week. I thought that I would be helping to teach english classes, but no. I got there and was informed that I will actually be helping teach social studies, math, and natural sciences, but in english since it's a partially bilingual school. It should be interesting, but also not exactly what I was expecting. All of the schools here follow a block schedule, so I will be helping with different classes Tuesdays and Thursdays. So basically both days that I was there this week were like "first days." In two of the classes I just basically sat there because they didn't have anything for me to do yet, but in the other two I helped give the lesson. It was a little awkward when I corrected the science teacher about whether or not whales are mammals. I'm hoping he just didn't realize what "whale" translates to. Other than that, my experience last week was good but it looks my Tuesdays and Thursdays I will be busy from when I get up in the morning to when I end class at 8pm and with only an hour break for lunch (hmm sounds like my Uni days).

Something else of note that happened this week: Liz comes running into my room saying "ven ven ven" (come come come) so I went and her and Silvia were returning to the apartment when they noticed that the cleaning lady had left the door to the roof unlocked (not part of our apartment) so we got to go up on the official top of the building from which we had an awesome view of the mountains, the alhambra, and the fancy cathedral in Granada (which our apartment doesn't face). Here is a picture of the cathedral from what felt like the top of Granada:

Not much else really happened this week...but I did decide that I am going to be a cheetah for halloween. Liz is going to be a peacock, and our friend Morgan is going to be Cleopatra. Ironically enough, Cleopatra had a pet cheetah (and who knows, maybe she had a pet peacock too). The word for peacock is also kind of funny because it literally translates to "real turkey" (pavo real). So while I am normally of the opinion that animal print clothing is slightly trashy, I bought a cheetah print scarf and dress that looked better than I expected, so I will probably wear it again. I still want to find cheetah print leggings, which shouldn't be hard, but we shall see how much they cost. So, you may be wondering, is Halloween a big deal here in Spain? The answer is yes and no. Some areas celebrate it and some don't. However, the following day, All Saint's Day, is huge and celebrated everywhere here usually by going and bringing flowers to the graves of loved ones. But anyway, back to Halloween, I'm getting the vibe that because Granada has so many study abroad students from the U.S., Halloween has been made a bigger deal.

This weekend has not been and probably will not be superbly eventful because most of my friends are gone on excursions with their programs or otherwise, but I plan to go for a frigid run (and by frigid I mean upper 50s Fahrenheit) and explore a part of Granada I haven't really been to yet (which there are still plenty of). The disadvantage to the rain we got this week is that it also got colder, and heating and insulation are not a thing here. Two VERY eventful things did happen this morning/today though.
Firstly, I had a dream mostly in Spanish last night. Granted, it was on the oh so interesting topic of how disgusting porta potties are (why was my subconscious thinking about that...), but still, definitely a good sign.

Secondly, I was petting Luna this morning and heard her purring (quite similar to her growling) and she let me pick her up! I don't think she realized what was happening... because when she did the claws came out and she latched herself to the couch, but it was a beautiful short moment. As for tortuga, he has spent the last few days hiding from the cold in his shell. If only he knew that moving is what makes you warm.

Paris!

It has been a long time since I last posted, so I apologize to anyone who has been eagerly checking for new posts ;). Several notable thing have happened in the last two weeks, so I will break this into two posts.
Last weekend, I went to Paris! I had been to Paris before when we did the Bosch/Lilly family tour a couple summers ago, but we were only in Paris for a few days so did not do/see everything. Of course, I was only in Paris for a weekend this time, but I had my own personal French tour guide. I've decided that I like the city of Paris a lot, and will probably return at some point, but before then, I will have to learn some French. Since I was with Francois, there was obviously no problem, but I still noted a few snobbish looks while we were speaking English.

I got there thursday evening, and walked around Paris at night (really an enchanting city in the dark). My Spain accustomed self was surprised to see people going to sleep before 12, but as Francois reminded me several times, the French actually work, unlike the Spaniards (hehe). Then Friday morning he went to class and I went to the Eiffel Tower because I wanted to go up to the top. I would have to say, it was very much worth it. And because I got there early and before it opened, I was in the first group up. Even though it was cloudy, and not peak tourist season, there were still quite a few tourists there. Next to the Eiffel Tower, there was a huge exhibit of the "United Buddy Bears" honoring the anniversary of some sort of friendship between Berlin and Paris. The bears were all pretty big (between 6 and 7 feet tall) and painted in cool ways each representing a different color. I posted pictures on Facebook, but here is one for you to visualize the bears better:


Anyway, I also wanted to see Moulin Rouge because I love the movie and it is a pretty famous place. So I went there/walked by and took pictures which was pretty cool. Then Saturday, we got up really early to go to Versailles and see the Louis the Sun Kings palace. That was pretty fun because the palace is gorgeous, huge, and very impressive. Also cool because I had been to Ludwig's "copy" of Versailles, so it was interesting to see some of the differences and also striking similarities. We did a lot of other stuff to, but these were the key things.

Getting to Versailles was also an adventure. I used one of the standard Paris metro tickets to enter the train, and Francois used his student metro pass (because the train ticket is a little more expensive). But then once we were on the train, they checked our tickets so we both played innocent and pretended to be American tourists. This was particularly funny because they were speaking French to each other about what to do with us, and apparently noted but did nothing about the fact that an "American tourist" would not be likely to have a student metro pass... Never a boring moment. Before going to the palace, we looked up how much everything cost, and EU citizens get in free, which of course I am not, but I did have my jank University of Granada student ID card (which doesn't actually say that I'm from the U.S.), so Francois did all the talking and I pretended to be a European student and got in for free. Wooo! We didn't end up really going in the gardens because there was special event going on so everyone had to pay a lot, and it started raining so wouldn't have been worth it, but we did get to see them from inside and, wow, our friend Louis lived pretty well!

My flight back home left Saturday night and got to Malaga late that night, so I then had to wait in the airport for a while to take the morning bus home, which was a while, but I made a friend who was on the same flight there and back as me, so she stayed with me until the last train into the city of Malaga and we got burger king. I asked them if they could make me a burger without the burger and fries. The guy was like "Okay, okay, I will make you a very good sandwich." And it was indeed a very good sandwich with lettuce, tomato, cheese, pickles, onions, and some sauce. The best part was, he didn't charge me for it! So my meal was like 3 euros and my friends was 9... (yes fast food is much more expensive here). To add to my luck, a flight was delayed, so they were given a 30 euro credit to some of the restaurants in the airport, but most of them were closed so someone gave me his which was really great because then in the wee morning I "treated myself" to 30 euros of Starbucks, including a travel cup that says Spain! It was also kind of fun travelling by myself and I've decided that I kind of like waiting in airports (when they are clean).

Anyway, my weekend was really awesome and I was so glad that I was able to go. Also, I almost forgot, the Apartment that Francois lives in is really nice and big (especially for Paris) AND the person who owns the apartment and lives there part time has a cat. I spent most of the weekend wishing I could trade Luna for Bill. This cat was fluffy and adorable and so much nicer than Luna. He enjoyed being picked up and playing and didn't even mind being chucked across the room (not that either of us would ever do that...). So basically, Luna is lucky I even like her at all.

Feliz cumpleaños, to me!

A few updates on my last post to help you sleep soundly. Tortuga is alive and well! We weren't sure how he got lost in the house, but then Silvia (the new woman living here) witnessed him making the foot long jump into the house another time. So now we have come to the conclusion that he might be suicidal. No wonder this species of turtle is endangered. And also illegal to have as a pet.... No pasa nada ;) Also, thanks to Abby's comment on one of my previous blogs, we figured out that Dona Flor (the tortuga) is indeed a male!

We also didn't end up going to the mountains last weekend, due to reasons I will explain in a moment, so Liz and I ended up making the trek up to and exploring the gratis (free) part of the Alhambra! We also discovered that some security guards will enforce the no-backpacks-allowed-in-the-free-museum rule whilst others will not. The guards that do not allow backpacks also like to speak condescendingly in English to foreigners. So two lessons learned there; 1. we need to carefully pick which entrance to go in, 2. we need to work on not looking foreign.

Anyway, I was all set and ready to go to the mountains last Saturday. Gloria was 2 hours later than she had originally predicted, but this is Spain, so that wasn't unusual. Then Silvia comes into my room, and very nonchalantly says something along the lines of "I just got off the phone with Gloria, and we probably won't be going today because Gloria and her friend just drove off a cliff." at this I'm like "WHAT???" freaking out wondering if they're okay, and she's like "oh no no, they're both fine, just waiting for a tow truck to get the car." Now maybe here in the mountains, driving off of a cliff isn't a big deal, but to me, that seems like something I would be making a big deal out of. We finally came to the conclusion that the word she used for cliff, doesn't exactly translate to "cliff," but still.

So then came my birthday, I went to class as I normally would at 8:30 in the morning, officially voted for the 2012 election (hopefully it gets there on time...) and came home to Silvia banning me from the kitchen and slapping me on the butt saying that she was in Canada when she turned 18, and she doesn't really remember 19, 20, and so on, but 18 she remembers and she wants me to remember my 18th birthday too. For lunch she made my favorite foods: Spanish tortilla (this particular one was the best you'll ever have), home-made HUMMUS (a rarity in Spain), and a salad. Then came desert of this absolutely amazing mango torte/cake/pie. It was delicious. I barely made it to German my stomach was so full. For la cena (late dinner), Liz and a few of our friends went first to tapas at this cool hip vegetarian place, and then to a Mexican restaurant where we ate food and they gave me fried ice-cream with a candle and sang feliz cumpleaños to me. All around it was a good day. I also met another girl who is taking a gap year who turned 18 the day before me!

Friday was an adventure of its own. We didn't really do much all day, but a friend came over and we were all hanging out sitting in Liz's room. You may have seen from facebook what happens next, but if not, here I will repeat myself.
Morgan: wow it kind of smells like somethings burning...
Liz: yeah all kinds of scents come in this window from other apartments.Me: yeah, someone's cooking...[a few minutes later]Me:...Wait guys, why is there so much smoke? [run to kitchen]Me: uhhhh we have a fire...Liz: FUUUUEEEEEEGGOOOOOOOOO

I turn off the stove, but the fire persists so Silvia runs in with a towel and beats out the flame. After spraying febreze everywhere in the house, no pasa nada.

And now we get to the weekend. Since we didn't get to go to the mountains last weekend, we went this weekend! Leaving yesterday and got back this evening. Gloria has a friend who owns a house in el campo (a farm house in the country) outside of Guadix. His house is one of the cave houses, so tucked into a hill. I felt like a hobbit, it was great. To get there, we had to drive through a river. No, I have not forgotten how to speak English, and do in fact mean, through (not over, not under) a river. It wasn't a raging river or anything, but still an experience. We finally got there and the place was beautiful and with a gorgeous view. To be perfectly honest, although the place was awesome, it was a little bit weird being there since it seemed like Gloria and her friend were sort of together and we didn't know anyone there. However, as soon as the puppies came out, Liz and I were set. So yesterday ended up being pretty fun.

Unfortunately, today was not the greatest because I slept on my neck wrong, and weirdly enough, the smallest silliest seeming injuries that occur whilst sleeping can also be the most debilitating. So I was in pain most of the day unable to move my neck, but I was happy to sit in front of the fire and read El Hobbit, so no pasa nada. After getting home, Liz and I felt a little weird about our home situation/lack of being in the know so decided to ask Silvia her thoughts on the matter (Gloria is staying an extra night). So we asked her if she knows anything about the marital issues/possible boyfriend in the mountains. And as it turns out, Gloria and Rafael split up about a month ago (this was the first thing Gloria told Silvia back when she came to look at the room). Knowing that all explains while Rafael is never home anymore and why it's okay for her to go hang out with her friends in the mountains so much. Thank goodness we have Silvia here!

Speaking of Silvia, you should all know that she is in fact a pretty famous Hispanoamerican news reporter! She has worked in Spain, Mexico, and Chile so knows all different varieties of Spanish and also speaks English because she lived in Canada for 3 years. Basically she has been an excellent addition to the household.

No pasa nada...

This week my new classes began! I am doing an internship in a local school most likely helping teach english (the actual school part starts after a 2 week prep), taking history of contemporary spanish art so we get to learn about Dalí, Picasso, and some other gems, taking history of flamenco (I'm not sure if it involves learning to dance flamenco, but I hope so), and then also taking the next level spanish class and german 1b (a slight up from 1a). I also don't have classes on Fridays which is awesome. The next level spanish class is level 9, which is the highest level they have, which is supposed to mean that everyone in it is fluent... but I'm definitely not fluent, so I'm not exactly sure how this will work out. On another note, my teacher of this class has been to Champaign-Urbana 5-6 times! Small world.

My classes went really well and I would have to say that German could end up being my favorite because everyone else in the class is Spanish. It's kind of weird, but also fun to learn german in spanish.  I also met two other girls taking gap years in my art history class! Well met is a strong word, it's really hard to sit for 2 hours straight without a break and then the teacher went over the 2 hours because decided we should all go around and say our names, where we go to school, and what we are studying with less than 5 minutes left (and 20-30 people). Anyway, there isn't a word for gap year here (probably because every year for spaniards is a year of not doing anything.... loli'msofunny), so we call it a year of sabbatical and two others said they are doing this also (sabbatical is slightly more ambiguous though so I'm not entirely sure if both of them are coming from high school). I will probably talk to them/find out more this Monday though since after Wednesday class everyone bolted.

I'm also starting to figure out/look more seriously at what I will be doing next semester and it's amazing what sending a few e-mails can do, because I suddenly feel like I have too many options that I won't know how to choose! But regardless, I'm excited to see that I have so many possibilities (including but not limited to the possibility of tracking bears in the andes, monitoring sea turtles in the caribbean, and much more). I also am thinking I will apply to be a counselor at Concordia language camp this summer which could be cool to get paid to basically go to a fun camp and speak spanish. And of course I'm very excited to be going to Germany!!

Anyway, you are probably wondering about the title of this post. No pasa nada. Translated by google as "it's okay," translated by bing as "nothing happens," translated by all of Spain as a way of life. No pasa nada. Basically, it's all good, we don't care, don't worry, no pasa nada. In case the meaning is unclear, I will give a few key examples of no pasa nada situations that have happened to me these past few weeks.

-I walked into the office to ask about my schedule and they told me I was supposed to have paid my housing bill a month ago. Had they e-mailed me about this? no. Would I have known had I not coincidentally been in there? nope. No pasa nada.
-A new lady moved in to the extra room and will be staying here indefinitely while recovering from being in the hospital. Did we know she was coming before she got here? nope. No pasa nada.
-Rafael doesn't seem to sleep here or really live here anymore, but occasionally makes appearances during the afternoons. Do Liz and I have any idea what's going on? nope. No pasa nada.
-We didn't get our schedules for the next 3 months until the day before classes started. No pasa nada.
-All of my teachers try to correct my pronunciation of Illinois. No pasa nada.
-Liz and I still don't know for sure if we are going to can tomatoes with Gloria this weekend... no pasa nada.
-My teachers encourage us to miss class if it's because we are travelling somewhere cool. No pasa nada.
-15 minutes late to class? probably getting there at the same time as the teacher. No pasa nada.
-Tortuga is currently lost somewhere in the house. No pasa nada.
-I was very disturbed to find a tiny turtle (not tortuga) exoskeleton among the dead tomato plants on my balcony... no pasa nada.
-Gloria only ever gives Luna milk and never water in her little dish. I really want to tell her that cats are lactose intolerant... maybe that's why Luna is always such a little brat. No pasa nada.