1) In honor of Columbus Day, we christened each of our flights the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. This is the Niña.
2) The Pinta. Landon and Brenna came along for this flight. No photographs were taken on the Santa Maria flight because we were passed out for the whole thing.
3) At the Hostel from Hell, Astin lounges in the ancient, yet tacky living room.
4) Using the flusher and the community bathroom mop.
5) Relaxing in our tiny bathtub/washbasin.
6) Astin fixing the tub plug in our apartment.
7) Our first meal…canned ravioli which we decided to adult-ify by adding a tomato and some garlic.
8) Figuring out how to organize the dining room was a dilemma.
9) We rode the bullet train to a nearby town called Toledo. Graham (his real name, coincidentally) and Kastin (our team name) had a show-down between the two types of cookies we bought. We called this the Cookie Off.
10) Part of the landscape visible from one of the look-out points.
11) More panoramic view…you can see bridges and castles and whatnot in the distance.
12) Streets of Toledo.
13) Illegal picture taken in the Monasterio de San Juan de las Reyes (Monastery of St. John of the Kings). Tope was outside waiting, so she’s not in the picture.
14) Cathedral.
Well, much has happened since I last blogged, most of it positive. The most exciting thing was that Astin and I found an apartment we like and we talked the owner down 100 euros in the price. He’s a super nice guy who helped us with all of our luggage, cracks jokes, and we’ll probably grab something to eat together sometime. Just a good guy. It’s fairly furnished, like beds and tables and chairs and a few glasses and plates. I definitely think longingly to my kitchen in the states and replay fond memories of time spent with my spice rack, cheese grater, or measuring cups.
I also started classes. It takes about a month to take all the classes and start on practice teaching and lesson plans and whatnot. I can’t get certified until I finish enough hours of guided teaching and I hear that can take a while. This basically means that I’m without an income for November and probably part of December. I believe that is what optimists call “an adventure.” I’m not too stressed about all this, though. Teaching has never been listed in the Lucrative Professions Category in my mind.
Other positive things? Understanding the Metro system, learning how to get around Spain’s complicated streets…at least to the areas I’ve needed so far (think Portland on steroids and crack. At the same time.), cooking, enjoying classes, learning what a phrasal verb is, going to Toledo, recovering from a bad cold that caused me to accidentally sneeze on a wall at Starbucks (that was horrifying).
Well, that’s my blog for now. I’m trying to keep it a little interesting, informative enough, and a bit humorous. Feel free to leave feedback. I know I didn’t go into much detail, but let’s face it, the best way to wonder if watching the grass grow is interesting is to read someone’s blog about travel. Most of them go like this, “Hey everyone! Here is a boring list of all these awesome places I’ve been that will be of no interest to you and you might not ever go there, anyway. Haha! I love you soooooo much.”
Rest assured, I am safe, in relative good health, I am learning about all those parts of grammar that make most people vomit (predicate nominatives, anyone?), and having a pretty good time. If you aren’t on the e-mail list and would like to be, shoot me an e-mail or facebook message with your e-mail address. I will be sending out an e-mail that has my postal address. Take note, those who wish to receive higher percentages of my estate should send me lots of mail. Otherwise, I will instruct my lawyer to take you out of my will.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Living in Style
Astin and I found a two-bedroom apartment. We live in it now. Onto ruling the world.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Surgeon General's Warning: The following post may or may not contain mild whining. Whining is considered annoying to the health.
Well. Here we are back at MAD hostel after a weekend stay at what Astin and I now refer to as "The Hostel from Hell." Really, the hostel itself wasn't awful, aside from running out of toilet paper. When we arrived at 11 or 12, there was no sign of a desk or any way of getting beyond the locked doors on the 7th floor of the building we were in. Apparently, guests are supposed to miraculously divine that the desk is located at least a block away where an elderly and grumpy old man was attending to several outraged clients. (Apparently there were several problems with the hostel.) In short, it took the goodwill (and different levels of broken Spanish) of several amazingly kind individuals to get us situated. For example, Sabine and Filipe from France let three different groups store luggage in their room since we couldn't check in till 2. Or the Spanish couple that wouldn't leave the office until Astin had her room keys, even though they had theirs. They also gave her their cell number in case we ran into anymore problems. There was also the taxi driver that we miscommunicated with when we gave directions. He pulled over, shut off the meter, and helped us find exactly where to go. So many suprising acts of kindness kept us safe and relatively happy.
I now have another suggestion for future travelers. You should get sick while you're living in a hostel. In fact, you should convert your old nose to a new-and-improved faucet. You should also accidentally keep half your fake hostel up at night when you can't sleep. This will make you feel like a great person.
Final news...no apartment. We may be relatively close on one. We're crossing our fingers. Tomorrow begins the test to see if I am fit to teach grammar. I am pretty nervous. Most of what I know and what I write is gut feeling. I'm not sure I will be able to explain how or why things work. But I guess I'll find out tomorrow!
Well. Here we are back at MAD hostel after a weekend stay at what Astin and I now refer to as "The Hostel from Hell." Really, the hostel itself wasn't awful, aside from running out of toilet paper. When we arrived at 11 or 12, there was no sign of a desk or any way of getting beyond the locked doors on the 7th floor of the building we were in. Apparently, guests are supposed to miraculously divine that the desk is located at least a block away where an elderly and grumpy old man was attending to several outraged clients. (Apparently there were several problems with the hostel.) In short, it took the goodwill (and different levels of broken Spanish) of several amazingly kind individuals to get us situated. For example, Sabine and Filipe from France let three different groups store luggage in their room since we couldn't check in till 2. Or the Spanish couple that wouldn't leave the office until Astin had her room keys, even though they had theirs. They also gave her their cell number in case we ran into anymore problems. There was also the taxi driver that we miscommunicated with when we gave directions. He pulled over, shut off the meter, and helped us find exactly where to go. So many suprising acts of kindness kept us safe and relatively happy.
I now have another suggestion for future travelers. You should get sick while you're living in a hostel. In fact, you should convert your old nose to a new-and-improved faucet. You should also accidentally keep half your fake hostel up at night when you can't sleep. This will make you feel like a great person.
Final news...no apartment. We may be relatively close on one. We're crossing our fingers. Tomorrow begins the test to see if I am fit to teach grammar. I am pretty nervous. Most of what I know and what I write is gut feeling. I'm not sure I will be able to explain how or why things work. But I guess I'll find out tomorrow!
Friday, October 17, 2008
How to have an exciting day
I know you are all relishing my access to free internet use and the fact that I have free time. Apparently that will soon change and Astin and I will begin studying for our first exam which is on Tuesday. I push aside my nervousness for that. In the meantime, I can post wild blogs, knowing that basically the whole world is hanging on my every word. (Sarcasm.) The following is an instruction manual for one or more people, follow closely.
How to Have an Exciting Day
1) Set your alarm for 8, plan to leave at 9. Wake up at 9, realizing uneasily that it's never been light at 8 on the other mornings.
2) Get ready in mere minutes, shoving a croissant in your face as you hustle across town. One of you should also stick approximately half of the glazed side to the front of your jacket. This is really attractive.
3) This is already pretty exciting, so it's okay if you only walk past your street for a couple blocks and then find it on the map.
4) Go to orientation, eat an awesome free breakfast, and then have the guide from the school help you buy a cell phone. This should be done through the Movistar company because your life is already so exciting...you should basically be considered a movie star anyway.
5) Limp back to your hostel wondering why that one bone in your foot hurts so much. Then rapidly forget about the bone and everything except for the fact that the door to your room is wide open and so are your empty storage lockers. One of you should exclaim in words you wouldn't share with your mother and sprint downstairs to frantically quiz the receptionist.
6) For beginners, this level of excitement will suffice. Thus, you can just find that your luggage, iPod, computer, etc. are safely stowed behind the desk. They only took it out since you'll have to move to a different room for a night and they need the one you were in.
7) Plan to spend the rest of the day looking for apartments, crossing your fingers, knowing that if you don't find one, you'll spend the next week bouncing between the three hostels you booked last night.
The End.
How to Have an Exciting Day
1) Set your alarm for 8, plan to leave at 9. Wake up at 9, realizing uneasily that it's never been light at 8 on the other mornings.
2) Get ready in mere minutes, shoving a croissant in your face as you hustle across town. One of you should also stick approximately half of the glazed side to the front of your jacket. This is really attractive.
3) This is already pretty exciting, so it's okay if you only walk past your street for a couple blocks and then find it on the map.
4) Go to orientation, eat an awesome free breakfast, and then have the guide from the school help you buy a cell phone. This should be done through the Movistar company because your life is already so exciting...you should basically be considered a movie star anyway.
5) Limp back to your hostel wondering why that one bone in your foot hurts so much. Then rapidly forget about the bone and everything except for the fact that the door to your room is wide open and so are your empty storage lockers. One of you should exclaim in words you wouldn't share with your mother and sprint downstairs to frantically quiz the receptionist.
6) For beginners, this level of excitement will suffice. Thus, you can just find that your luggage, iPod, computer, etc. are safely stowed behind the desk. They only took it out since you'll have to move to a different room for a night and they need the one you were in.
7) Plan to spend the rest of the day looking for apartments, crossing your fingers, knowing that if you don't find one, you'll spend the next week bouncing between the three hostels you booked last night.
The End.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Learn it as you go
I have recently learned the following important life lessons. I may provide illustrations as needed.
1- Moving to another city and expecting to find an apartment in 4 days is unrealistic. This may cause mild anxiety and discouragement.
2- One of the best ways to get to know a city is to spend each day walking several thousand miles through different zones, arguing with your party about which street you should turn right on.
3- When you go to view an apartment, remember which street it´s on. That way if you know there´s no way on earth you´re living in that sketchy place, you´ll know to turn down offers in the same neighborhood. (When we asked the realtor about the neighborhood, she said there were a lot of young people and families. She didn´t focus on what substances we suspected those young people were on.)
4- Appreciate the little things. Like the kind old guy who helps you figure out that the 5 digit number in the address you´re looking for is a zip code, not a house number. Be really glad about this when you´re on house number 42. Appreciate the random lady at the hostel who gives you a free back massage and tells you you´ll have plenty of homework in your program and that she hopes you like grammar.
5- Get off the public computer just because you´re too lazy to go upstairs and get your laptop.
1- Moving to another city and expecting to find an apartment in 4 days is unrealistic. This may cause mild anxiety and discouragement.
2- One of the best ways to get to know a city is to spend each day walking several thousand miles through different zones, arguing with your party about which street you should turn right on.
3- When you go to view an apartment, remember which street it´s on. That way if you know there´s no way on earth you´re living in that sketchy place, you´ll know to turn down offers in the same neighborhood. (When we asked the realtor about the neighborhood, she said there were a lot of young people and families. She didn´t focus on what substances we suspected those young people were on.)
4- Appreciate the little things. Like the kind old guy who helps you figure out that the 5 digit number in the address you´re looking for is a zip code, not a house number. Be really glad about this when you´re on house number 42. Appreciate the random lady at the hostel who gives you a free back massage and tells you you´ll have plenty of homework in your program and that she hopes you like grammar.
5- Get off the public computer just because you´re too lazy to go upstairs and get your laptop.
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