Well, well, well. It’s been a wee bit since I’ve written because last weekend Cassie came to visit. We had a grand ole time. On Friday, Liz, Astin, and I headed to the airport to pick her up with signs that said, “Hookers International Welcomes Cassie Lara!” Of course we drew hooks all over the signs so there would be no confusion of the purity of our group.
We came home and made breakfast together and then Cassie and I walked around Madrid for a while. In the evening, since it was the festival for the patron saint of Madrid, San Isidro, we went to this humongous outdoor concert with our Spanish friend and some of her friends. But really, we were just in the same park and couldn’t hear the music.
On Saturday the highlight was definitely a performance of Carmen. The director/producer/choreographer/set designer/costume designer/lighting designer is also the protagonist. She rewrote the story so that it was more of a flamenco performance than an opera and it was FANTASTIC. Here’s a sample:
We also almost had a showdown with some old ladies who tried to take our seats.
Sunday, we went to a town outside of Madrid called Ávila. You may have heard of the mystic, Teresa of Ávila. Yep, her old stomping grounds. The city’s surrounded by this massive wall that we climbed all over and I also stuck my leg out of. None of the other tourists did that. We visited some cathedrals and museums and we also found the finger of Teresa. Yup, they definitely have her finger on display along with her sandals, rosary, and a few other things. During the course of the day, Cassie dropped her ice cream cone and was also shat upon by a bird for the first time in her life.
Then a normal weekend of classes. But last night, I became a celebrity. Yes. Celebrity. I, along with Astin and some others, was nominated as teacher of the year in my company. Everyone at the pub where we celebrated thought the whole ceremony was kind of hilarious, but our bosses took it rather seriously. Although I only garnered a bronze trophy, I still count myself on the same celebrity level as Audrey Hepburn. On the way home, it started raining and I stuck my trophy/cup out into the rain to rinse out the champagne and some guy tried to take it. I was too fast for him, though.
If anyone wants an autograph, just let me know.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Susie B. and the 6 Giants
So this guy I work with has been planning hikes lately and I decided to join. I showed up at the bus station and said hi to the 3 guys already there waiting. I soon learned that no other females were coming and I would be spending the whole day with 6 guys who promptly nicknamed me Susie B. in reference to facebook profile. Let’s just say the estrogen cloud I was living in was blown away by a huge gust of testosterone. Really, we had a good time and it was great to get out of the city and see the mountains. We scrambled up rocks, left pieces of our flesh on various pokey plants, and I know that I, for one, transported roughly half the forest home in my socks.
A Wild Journey to Barcelona
So here’s how it rolled out. Astin’s friends Traci and Kelsey stayed with us for 2 days before we left for Barca. And it a hilariously surprising turn of events, Liz, a teammate of Astin’s and a fellow council member of mine choose the same TEFL company as us. We had a full house with all five of us and lots of hectic last minute planning. After landing in Madrid, Liz (million props) decided to join us in Barca so we bought five overnight bus tickets, booked a hostel room for Liz and headed out.
After listening to some kind of stupid people refuse to shut up for most of the bus ride, we rolled into Barca at 8:30 am and found our hostel. We then went searching for breakfast and then busted out the map from the hostel and the guide book my student loaned me. After a while of planning, we set out for…nowhere. Really we were looking for some tourist discount card and never found it. This was pretty hard work so we decided to break for lunch. If the slideshow works, you’ll notice the “paella mixta” or “entire sea creatures surprise” that everyone else ate. I ate spaghetti and chicken…thank you seafood allergies!
Then we went to La Sagrada Familia (Sacred Family), a partially finished cathedral designed by Gaudí, who is now my favorite architect/artist. Seriously, google him. He’s really the first artist that makes me want to see more and more of his work. After that, we went to see two more of his works—Casa Batlló and Casa Milá.
Day 2 – We went on a “Free Walking Tour” which really means that they advertise it as free and then ask for money. But it was a really great, informed tour and I learned a lot…about Picasso, George Orwell, Evanescence, Gaudí, etc. We also went to the Guell palace (Guell commissioned a lot of Gaudí’s work), Parc de la Ciutadella (which had a huge mammoth statue), saw the Arc de Triomf. Did you know that Eiffel offered Barcelona the Eiffel tower for their expo but Barca wanted to keep their architecture classic and made the Arc de Triomf instead. So the next year, Paris got the tower. We ended the day with a trip to Parc Guell which was also designed by Gaudí. It was like something out of a funky fairy tale.
Day 3—We hadn’t seen enough of the park yesterday, so we went back for some more exploring. After lunch, we headed to the beach. It wasn’t warm enough to swim, so we just “took the sun” as they say and it was incredibly relaxing. Except that I kept getting a lot of sand stuck to myself. Happily, I was the only one who did not torch some part of my body. Everyone else was partially converted to members of the lobster family. Basically, Barcelona was a blast. Good people, good food, and good laughs.
After listening to some kind of stupid people refuse to shut up for most of the bus ride, we rolled into Barca at 8:30 am and found our hostel. We then went searching for breakfast and then busted out the map from the hostel and the guide book my student loaned me. After a while of planning, we set out for…nowhere. Really we were looking for some tourist discount card and never found it. This was pretty hard work so we decided to break for lunch. If the slideshow works, you’ll notice the “paella mixta” or “entire sea creatures surprise” that everyone else ate. I ate spaghetti and chicken…thank you seafood allergies!
Then we went to La Sagrada Familia (Sacred Family), a partially finished cathedral designed by Gaudí, who is now my favorite architect/artist. Seriously, google him. He’s really the first artist that makes me want to see more and more of his work. After that, we went to see two more of his works—Casa Batlló and Casa Milá.
Day 2 – We went on a “Free Walking Tour” which really means that they advertise it as free and then ask for money. But it was a really great, informed tour and I learned a lot…about Picasso, George Orwell, Evanescence, Gaudí, etc. We also went to the Guell palace (Guell commissioned a lot of Gaudí’s work), Parc de la Ciutadella (which had a huge mammoth statue), saw the Arc de Triomf. Did you know that Eiffel offered Barcelona the Eiffel tower for their expo but Barca wanted to keep their architecture classic and made the Arc de Triomf instead. So the next year, Paris got the tower. We ended the day with a trip to Parc Guell which was also designed by Gaudí. It was like something out of a funky fairy tale.
Day 3—We hadn’t seen enough of the park yesterday, so we went back for some more exploring. After lunch, we headed to the beach. It wasn’t warm enough to swim, so we just “took the sun” as they say and it was incredibly relaxing. Except that I kept getting a lot of sand stuck to myself. Happily, I was the only one who did not torch some part of my body. Everyone else was partially converted to members of the lobster family. Basically, Barcelona was a blast. Good people, good food, and good laughs.
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