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So first of all, I want to say how cool it is that one of my previous professors from Chile is in charge of a program in Santiago helping Syrian refugees learn Spanish. Like how freaking cool! If you know me personally, you've heard my talk about Claudia. She's awesome. And I think everyone should know how awesome she is.
And back to my current life in Spain... I joined a gym in my pueblito, and I have to say it's probably the best decision I made in terms of my extracurriculars in Spain. But let me clarify. It's not just any gym. It's a strongman gym. Yeah like this kind of strongman and this kind. The owner of the gym, Mr. Pineapple (we will call that his "Americanized" name), is a former strongman competitor and current boxer. He hosts a big strongman competition in July every year where people come from all over the world to show off their strong skills. Right here in the little town of Casariche! It took me a few days of walking past the gym to build up the courage to walk in and ask if how I could join. Turns out Mr. Pineapple is a big ol' teddy bear. A really freaking strong teddy bear, but a teddy bear. He showed me around the gym. There is a boxing ring upstairs and large truck tires for picking up, as one would expect. But there are also a bunch of stationary bikes. Turns out there are spin classes at the gym. And Mr. Pineapple's wife (we will call her Mrs. Pineapple) is one of the spin class instructors. Now let me tell you about these spin classes...they are HARD! I came to realize my love of spinning after I needed a way to cross train for crew while I was dealing with a bunch of back/shoulder/hip injuries. I really enjoyed Penn State fitness instructors and how well they ran classes. But there's just no comparison. Mrs. Pineapple's classes are just plain painful. And it's awesome. But it's not just the exercise that has me head over heels for the gym here in Casariche. It's slowly giving me more of a sense of community (shout out to the Y, my former employer, for making this something I look for in a gym). When I walk into the gym, I'm greeted by a friendly USA chant from Mr. Pineapple himself. He introduced me to his mother the other day who stops by the gym frequently. Turns out, she's my neighbor. One of the other spin instructors is really keen on improving his English, so he says everything to me in Spanish and then again in English. The other day he asked me if I liked hiking. He works at the town hall and is going to invite me on one of the town outings that he helps organize! This town is getting smaller and smaller by the day. In a good way. (And when it gets a little too small, I can always walk/run/wander through the miles and miles of olive tree farms.) Went to Córdoba on Wednesday (October 11th) evening for the holiday weekend and did a "5k" (people were complaining that they think it was closer to 6k) on Thursday morning. What a great way to explore a city! Definitely will be doing races in other cities because you get a nice little tour of the area. We snapped some photos walking to the race and afterwards while exploring. I also got to try some Flamenquín -- essentially fried meat. Loved it. Because why wouldn't I?! Then we were off to Málaga for the rest of the weekend -- Jill to do a tour leaving for Cádiz and explore Málaga since she had not seen it yet, and me to relax and beach it. Both missions now successfully accomplished. I met a nice Aussie girl named Keely at my hostel, and we got up to watch the sunrise together. We went to the modern art museum. We ate tapas. Jill and I explored the castles. We drank mojitos. All is well. Big shout out to my coordinator (my boss at school), Javi, for bringing us to Córdoba with him and my colleague Alejandro for carting us back to Casariche with him from Málaga! Weekend: success!
I said I was going to write about my orientation in Seville on October 5th. I forgot. But then my lovely mother reminded me. That's the good think about telling your parents about your blog -- they hold you accountable. To be honest, orientation wasn't all that exciting, but Seville did not disappoint as per usual. We went to Seville the night before. Since we live in the boonies, it's quite a process to get anywhere, so Jill (my roomie from Massachusetts who teaches at the primary school) and I decided it would be best to go early with the added bonus of being about to explore the city. Wednesday night we saw the beautiful catedral, ate ice cream in the shape of a flower, and... ...saw Flamenco dancing. After the show, there was a master class where you could learn a little Flamenco. I only wish I had videos of me, Jill, and this other girl (we were the only 3 who stuck around to try Flamenco ourselves) trying to follow the real dancer. So much fun, but dios mio we were terrible! The video below doesn't even begin to do the artists justice. I debated not posting it just because I think it's something you definitely need to experience in person. I wasn't too keen on Flamenco going into the show, but I can confidently say I'm a big fan now. Also -- side note -- I really liked how dominant the dancer was on stage. The history behind many tradition dances (the Cueca in Chile, Flamenco in Spain, etc.) often involves a woman being "conquered". Gotta say...not a big fan. Apparently, Flamenco can be done with a male and female on stage. But I loved how she was the center of attention on stage, and not just because of her look or sexuality but because she was so freakin' talented. Obvio the dress, fan, hand movements, etc. are based in a dance with a history of sexisms. But WOman she was a BOSS! Guess I'm trying to say...you can maintain tradition while addressing previous downfalls. Make something good out of something bad (fun fact: how I think of Thanksgiving, but we won't talk about that now). That might not be at all what these artists were trying to do, but doesn't matter because that's how I took it. On Thursday after orientation, Jill went to her TIE in Plaza de España while I wandered through the plaza and park. Then we took our sweet time walking to where we were going to catch our ride back to Casariche, strolling past some more beautiful buildings.
When you upload all of your pictures to google photos and it makes a nice little video of your time in Málaga. Thought I'd take a few minutes to review the time I spent with my parents when they were helping me move in. On a side note...for those of you who have been following my struggles of navigating how to set up a life in Spain...wait for it...you ready...I HAVE A SPANISH BANK ACCOUNT! I've said it once, and I'll say it again: it's the little things in life. And now to talk about the parental vacay adventures. We arrived in Madrid from JKF early Tuesday (Sep. 18) morning. Let's not talk about the drive to JFK. It was rough to say the least. Shout out to my dad for sucking it up and doing the drive! Anywho...we stayed at Vértice Roomspace in Madrid, or as we came to call it: Ikea Hotel, due to it's choice of interior design. The hotel was in an oddly industrial part of town. Nonetheless, it was nice enough, and we didn't mind being a little farther away from the center of Madrid. (That's a lie. My mother and I minded a little bit when we went on a run together, and it felt like we were running through a landfill in a desert.) After getting slightly lost, we found our way to Plaza Mayor. Beautiful architecture, ok food, good beer, great gelato. Wish we could've spent more time in Madrid after escaping the industrial zone and seeing how pretty the city could be. Alas, we had to find me an apartment! The next morning we were off to Casariche! Or not quite...we had a night booked in a town near Casariche called Fuente de Piedra to give us time to meet the landlord and check out the apartment. All went smoothly and we could've stayed in the apartment that night, but we gladly stayed in Fuente de Piedra at a cutesy little hotel called Casa Rural Aire. The owner was super nice, and they even had a pool! (Which we didn't use. But still!) There is a famous lagoon in Fuente de Piedra which is home to Europe's largest flamingo (shout out to my flamingo girl, Callie H) population. Unfortunately, there were not many flamingos there when we visited because there is a big drought. I will definitely be coming back after rainy season to say hi to all my pink, feathery friends. By the following day (Thursday, Sep. 21), I was all moved in to my new apartment! After figuring out how to use the stove and going grocery shopping, one of the first meals we made was omelettes. By the end of the week, we felt more or less at home despite the terribly uncomfortable beds (still working on getting that mattress pad). With government buildings and banks being closed for the weekend, I couldn't progress on any of the other tasks I needed to get done (registering for empadronamiento, setting up a bank account, getting a foreigner's ID card). So we decided to go to Portugal! We went to a town called Vila Real de Santo António just on the other side of the Spanish border. It was a fantastic weekend of walking around town, eating Italian and Indian food (I know, strange choices), shopping for cork wallets and purses (cork is apparently their thing), beaching it up, exploring a castle in the nearby town of Castro Marim. Also, weird fact: there is an Olympic Training Center in Santo António! We saw lots of cyclists riding through the streets. It made me homesick for OKC and all my training buddies from this past summer. And off to Málaga we went directly from Portugal. We saw a midieval Moorish palace, Alcazaba... ...and an even COOLER castle than the one in Portugal, Gibralfaro.
Next on the to-do list was going to Sevilla to get my TIE (foreigner's ID card) in Plaza de España (photos below). Turns out, you just go to submit your paperwork, and they take your fingerprints. I'll be going back to Sevilla in November so they can print me the actual card. Some would say it's annoying that they don't just mail it to you. But hey...I'm not going to complain about having to go back to Sevilla - what a beautiful city! Last but not least, we headed off to Gibraltar, an English-owned peninsula in the South of Spain. We stayed in La Línea de la Concepción on the Spanish side and walked through the border. I got to use my British passport for the first time! Immediately across the border is the Gibraltar airport. You have to walk across the runway to get there...super strange but cool. They have to shut down pedestrian and vehicle traffic crossing the border when a plane needs to land. We ate lunch/dinner in Gibraltar and walked around town. My mother ordered a fish she had never tried before - trying to be adventurous and getting something she had never eaten before. It backfired a little bit when the ladies who prepared the fish were not at the restaurant, and she got sick later in the evening. :( The following day (Sunday, Oct 1), we were back in Casariche and my roommate, Jill, arrived! My parents stuck around Monday morning, and I met up with them at their favorite café across the street after my first class. The lady from the bank came in and asked how the account set-up process was going, an I told her poorly. I went back this past Friday and she helped me out. If I had not seen her at the café that day, I do not think I would've gone back to that same bank. Yay for living in a small town and everyone knowing you're the gringa who needs help. We said our goodbyes (including my father saying farewell to his new friend, the café owner). They headed to Madrid, and their flight left the next day. They are safe and sound back in the US of A. Meanwhile, I am slowly figuring out my role as a conversation assistant and how to live in rural Andalucía.
Today is Wednesday, my third day of work. I leave for Seville tonight for orientation tomorrow morning. My parents left Monday for Madrid and flew back to the US yesterday. While they were here, we went to Portugal, Malaga, Seville, and Gibraltar. So far my favorite class is economics with the 4th years (10th graders). It's a class of all girls and the teacher is super strict (makes the students behave) but super fun (really makes them think and learn). My least favorite classes are the gym classes. They students are wild and I've been more of a participant in the class than an instructor, but I'm hopeful it will improve with time as the teachers learn how to use me as a conversation assistant in the classroom. Also weird story... So the physics and chemistry teacher I'm working with apparently had surgery last week, so he was out of school. The students initiated on their own account a minute of silence for his health. During the minute he turned to me and said, "At least they're being quiet."
Ok...on that note....my next post will be about my adventures with the 'rents! Huge shout out to them for driving me all over Spain, helping me find an apartment and meet with a landlord, going to appointments with me, dealing with Spanish bureaucracy in general. I cannot tell you how many pre-teens asked me if I like salchichas (sausages) today. Still not entirely sure if it was middle schoolers trying to make some joke about the phallic-shaped food or if I'm missing some cultural thing by never having tried Spanish sausage before. Will update when I have more insight... Ta ta for now.
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AuthorI'm Emma. I love food more than anyone will ever understand - specifically cheese, chocolate, bread and pretty much every fat & carb combo you can think of - apple cider donuts, ice cream, the list goes on. Fats and carbs just go so well together. Don't you think? Why is it when I'm tasked to describe myself, I always talk about food? I guess if you want to learn more about me, you'll have to read my posts about my year as a teacher in Spain. Archives
May 2018
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