Argentina's River Dancers: Malambeando

Last night I revisited Teatro Cervantes with my mother to see "Argentina's River Dancers: Malambeando." It was exhilarating. Argentinian dance is centered around three movements: tango, milango, and malambo. I have seen several flamenco, tango and drumming performances before and this blew them all out of the water. I want to say it was "Fuerzabruta"/ "De La Guarda", + irish riverdancing + tango + the movie "Step up." There was drumming, tap dancing, tango, and they used this jump rope type thing with an object attached to it and whipped it against the floor in unison (I really don't know how else to describe it.) They were so in sync and it happened so quickly that the ropes made a halo-type formation around the dancers. Overall the performance was diverse in content, extremely energetic and fun. They are coming to New York in 2010! Check out this website if you are interested in learning more about them.

shu's new shoes

My fellow Spain lovers can attest that it does not matter what kind of study/work abroad budget we are on, there is always some extra € to buy Spanish shoes.
Here are Shu's recent shoe purchases (all purchased for less than €40) :
Above: brown flat boots-essential in Europe. Very comfy and looks great in pics.
Above: (i don't even know the name for this type of shoe) Purchased at Blanco. Not comfortable, but very cute.
Above: Also purchased at Blanco. Also not comfortable, also very cute.

2016

What does this number mean to you? It might mean a lot and it might not mean anything at all. Maybe 2016 is your building number or your pin# at the bank...Maybe you'e turning 50 in the year 2016... Maybe that is the year your children will be done with college...Maybe you believe 2012 is the end of the world so 2016 will never happen.... Maybe you dont even want to think about where you will be in 2016....

It is impossible to walk down the street in Málaga and not see a reference to the year 2016. Málaga is the candidate for European Capital of Culture for the year 2016. When I first arrived in Málaga I was overwhelmed by the amount of construction and renovation going on in the city. I now realize that this is to ensure that Málaga is looking its finest by 2012 (when the allocated winner will be awarded). Throughout the city streets, and especially on calle larios, there are blue footprints with the printed image below. This image also appears in newspapers, theater playbooks and in restaurants. Although it seems far away, this date marks the turn of a Spanish city to be unveiled before the rest of Europe and the whole world as European Capital of Culture for the year. This is a really big deal and I hope that Málaga gains the support and backing it needs to make this possible. Buena suerte!

Ch Ch Ch Churro!

There are a few events that have occurred in my life that I can dramatically and confidently describe as "life-changing." I'm not talking about having divorced parents, going to college, or moving to a foreign country. I'm talking about those little things that you stumble upon, or that stumble upon you that completely rock your world. Por ejemplo, two years ago for my 21st birthday my mom bought me a facial at Lancome. I had had facials before and was pretty disappointed when I realized this was going to be part of my 21st celebration. In my memory facials were painful, long and left horrible marks on my face that I didn't think possible with all of the water that I drink to prevent them. The facial at Lancome however was "life-changing." It was relaxing, soothing and I felt completely rejuvenated afterward. It changed my life. My most recent "life-changing" experience was my visit to a churreria. I don't have a sweet-tooth, I am much more of a french fry and onion ring kind of girl, but these churros really rubbed me the right way. There were three fresh hot heavenly sticks placed before me. I carefully dipped them in chocolate and they found their home in my mouth. Above I am standing in the churreria. Life changing.

Trip to Ronda

Saturday my mom and I traveled to Ronda for the night. Ronda is a beautiful town less than two hours from Málaga and home to the oldest bullring in Spain.

Above we are standing in the bullring! There is only a bullfight here ONCE a year (in September). Get your tickets now, literally.


I'm on a horse! It was so funny, while we were inside the bullring and museum I kept telling my mom I was really dying to go horseback riding ( random I know). When we exited the ring there was a man charging 2euro to sit on his horse. Good enough.
Here we are standing in front of the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains.

White Pants

Memorial Day Weekend is by far one of my favorite weekends of the year for many reasons.
a. I generally celebrate it with Alice and her family in Shelter Island
b. It marks the beginning of the summer
c. It marks the beginning of when I can wear white pants.

We are all familiar with the rule: don't wear white after labor day (or before memorial day). I am not sure where this rule came from but I can only assume that it is to ensure that people only wear summer fashions during the summer months (I can see how wearing white open-toed shoes in January might be unwise). My new favorite thing about Spain is the ability to wear white pants all year round. Due to the lack of these holidays along with the amazing weather this rule does not exist in Spain. Above I am sporting my white pants in the end of October (total fashion faux pas in the US).

Mu in Málaga

Yesterday my mom arrived in Málaga! Aunque ella está un poco enferma, she is pushing through and we are having a great time. Here is a video from the lookout point on the way to Castillo de Gibralfaro.

Vodafortune

Vodafortune, also known as Vodafone did not work out so well as my mobile provider. While my friends were putting on max 10euro a week on their "Yoigo" phones I was doing 20euro within 4 days on Vodascam. So today I dumped the Vodafreak and made the switch to Yoigo!

New Number: 622077099

Te Quiero Nerja

We took the bus to Nerja today. Emily and I were determined to get there early so we left at 10:30am and it was a little over an hour. Dane and Greg came to meet us later and we had the most amazing day on the beach. There is a beautiful lookout point called "Balcón de Europa" where you can see miles to the left and right of the Mediterranean as well as a gorgeous view of the mountains. It was pretty much paradise.
Above is Emily sporting a delicious "helado" and "te quiero" lollipop.

Above is me and Emily in front of the gorgeous view from Playa Carabeillo. Me enjoying the beach.

Newlyweds

Emily and I were on Paseo del Parque on our way to Malagueta yesterday when we passed by town hall and noticed that there was a wedding going on. There were tons of people outside waiting for the bride and groom to come out so we figured we would join. We were both trying to imagine what the bride's dress looked like. To our surprise two older men walked out of the building arm and arm and everyone started cheering. I suddenly felt embarrassed and almost naive to assume that it would be a heterosexual couple. Congrats to these two newlyweds!

Happy Homecoming!

Dear Vandy,

We wish we could have been there for Homecoming this weekend. We miss you all very much. Please come visit soon!

Besos,

Emily, Clay, Schueler and Greg

Hand + Bird

Passed by this today with Emily...it appears to be a hand, but also has a bird head... Remember in middle school when your teacher would give you different colored construction paper and you would outline your hand and then turn the thumb into a turkey head and give it to your parents to decorate the house for Thanksgiving? Maybe that's what this is...

"Los Guardianes del hierro"

Two days ago I was going for a run on Paseo del Parque and I noticed these huge structures set up across the street. It seemed that they were giant metal soldiers sitting down in a line. I went back yesterday to investigate further and saw that it is an exhibition by the artist Xavier Mascaró. It is called "Los Guardianes del hierro" and it is to honor the memory of a dead civilization and the passing of time. It has only appeared in Paris and now in Málaga.

Street Nuts

So I finally decided to take the plunge and buy some nuts that they sell on every street corner here. I really like the roasted peanuts, cashews and almonds they sell on the streets in New York so I figured this would be similar. I was wrong. You have to peel this shell-like structure off of the nut before eating, but it is impossible to get the whole thing off so you end up eating some of the shell. The actual nut is soft and looks like a papaya. Overall not a fun experience and not very tasty. I am NOT nuts over these nuts.

Lesson Plan: Food

This is a lesson plan I have created for my 3rd year "Conocimento del Medio" (science) class. The resources I listed are very helpful, especially for ESL students and I highly recommend them if you need to write a lesson plan. Since the students are beginners and have trouble paying attention for long periods of time I will probably want to cut out one of the practice activities as well as the production activity and replace it with a game. For now this is what I have:

Objective: This lesson will teach students vocabulary and conversation tools about types of food and also help students to make healthy food choices by using a food pyramid.

Type: Food

Vocabulary: food, diet, healthy, unhealthy, food pyramid, water, carbohydrates, vegetables, fruits, protein, fats, vitamins, yogurt, bread, cheese, meat, eggs, tomato, potatoes, carrots, peas, apple, banana, pear, orange, grapes, strawberries, pineapple, pasta, butter, oil, rice

Levels: Beginner (3rd grade science section B)

Materials: food flashcards (with visual and name), 1 filled in food pyramid, 1 blank food pyramid, blackboard and chalk.

Resources:

http://www.eslflashcards.com/

http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-flashcards.htm

http://www.esl-kids.com/flashcards/food.html

Time: 60 minutes

Interaction: Student to teacher, Teacher to Student

Potential problems: Students may have trouble remembering vocabulary and pronouncing vowels while trying to speak in English.

Presentation:

Pre-work:

Before the lesson begins (one week before) students will be told to bring in a list of their favorite foods. If they know the words in English they can write them and if not they will write them in Spanish and learn them in English when they get to class.

Create Interest in Topic:

Students will come to class with their list of favorite foods. I will ask them the following questions before we begin:

What types of food are there?

Why do we need food?

What does food give us that helps us stay healthy?

I will also ask them in Spanish because most likely they will not know the answers in English. I will write the different types of foods on the board (carbohydrates, protein, fats, vegetables, fruits) and explain how they each keep us healthy. I will also draw a giant pyramid (but leave it empty, to be filled in later)

Then I will call on the students and ask them what they wrote down as their favorite foods and copy these onto the blackboard next to the pyramid.

Practice:

1. Pronounciation is what we focus on the most. I will hold up a flashcard that says the name of a fruit/vegetable/meat (along with a picture) and the students will repeat after me. After they are able to pronouce the vocabulary well I will fold the sheet in half so that they can only see the picture. I will then ask them, what type of food is this? A fruit? A vegetable? I will do this for every vocabulary term.

2. Then I will hand out the filled in diagram of the food pyramid. Students will use this as a study tool and it will help them in this activity.

I will ask the students what they like to eat, and what they eat for each meal. They will respond with:

“I like to eat ____.”

“I don’t like to eat ____.”

“For breakfast I eat _____.”

“For lunch I eat ______.”

“For dinner I eat ______.”

We will make a list on the board of breakfast, lunch and dinner foods. They will also write this beneath the food pyramids I have given them. We will talk about the different categories and how much of each we should be eating (serving size).

3. Then I will ask the students to come and use tape to place the flashcard in the proper box in the food pyramid.

Production:

1. Lets make a salad. Ask the students what type of foods you put in salads? Name some of the specific foods you would put in a salad. (review vocabulary again)

2. Students will be given a food pyramid diagram that is blank. They will begin to fill it out in class with the names of the new foods they have learned. If they do not finish in class they can bring it home for homework.

"Side Hustle"

Here is the flyer that I recently created to advertise English lessons. I posted it in my school, a popular cafe in Plaza de la Merced and a university nearby. I definitely need to get the word out so I can make some extra € on the side!!

CLASES PARTICULARES DE INGLÉS

¿Quiere perfeccionar su inglés? ¿Necesita ayuda con sus deberes?

• Me llamo Alexandra

• Soy un hablante nativa de ingles ( de los EEUU)

• Tengo el certificado TEFL

• 12euro/hr (descuento para grupos)

Tlf: 666 70 66 26

"Seño"

"Seño" is what my students call me. It is short for "Señorita" and I guess much easier than remembering my real name. It is very cute because they say it in kind of a whiney voice like "sennnooooooo" but since they are six years old it just makes me smile :)

Teatro Cervantes

Last night Emily and I went to see La Cena De Los Generales at Teatro Cervantes. Teatro Cervantes is a big beautiful theater near Plaza de la Merced. In the play the Spanish Civil War has just ended and Franco has called for a celebratory dinner for the generals that have led him to victory. Lieutenant Medina is in charge of making sure that the dinner goes over perfectly. However, all of the kitchen staff is currently nonexistent or in jail due to their political beliefs. Since there is such a shortage of good cooks he decides to break them out of jail in order to guarantee a delicious meal for Franco. The entire play takes place in the kitchen as the cooks are slaving away preparing the meal.

After the meal is over Franco makes a surprise appearance in the kitchen and stares at the Spanish flag hanging above the kitchen door. He mutters something to his guards and leaves. The manager of the hotel asks the lieutenant what Franco said and he says, "He says the flag is slanted." "Did he say if he liked the food?" the manager asks. "He didn't say anything about the food," the lieutenant responds. The play is very humorous but also highlights the corrupt and militaristic rule of Franco. The director Miguel Narros says that, "we have a need to and our condemned to understand ourselves. We are in charge of reconstructing our coexistence, which is why the kitchen represents a devastated Spain that must be put back in order." I am really looking forward to seeing other productions at this theater!

GOOOOOAAAAAALLL(s)

I find it very motivating and therapeutic to make a list of goals for myself. I have always been a big list maker, whether it's a grocery list, list of people to call, emails to write, things to do during my day, it is very satisfying for me to be able to check off what I have done and it gives me a sense of accomplishment not to mention keeps me organized. Many times I have to update/revise my goals because they start out fairly vague and I need to make them more specific. Here is the list of goals I made for this year:

Short Term (within the next week or so):

• Type up tutor flyer and post it in my school and universities in Málaga
• Check out outdoor gym on beach (apparently there is a a free facility on the beach with weights)
• Go to ikea and buy a full length mirror

Medium Term (within the next few months):

• Plan November trip to Madrid
• Plan trip to Norway/Sweden
• Plan trip to Berlin

Long Term (within the year):

• 1hr Spanish grammar review every day
• Set up intercambios with Spaniards
• Run 4x/wk
• Make extra $$ from tutoring
  

"Feria del Libro Antiguo y de Ocasión"

Right now on Paseo del Parque there is a cultural celebration of old books sponsored by the government of Málaga. There are several stands selling novels, short stories, coloring books, guide books, cook books etc. Everything is very well priced and I think having cultural events sponsored by the city is a great idea!

Summer/Post-Graduate Idea

I met a girl this weekend from England who is working here in Málaga as an aupair. It sounds like a pretty sweet gig. She is living with a family who have two daughters, ages 5 and 7. They live near the mountains with a beautiful view of the city, but only 20minutes from the city center where I am. The parents are doctors and she said they have made her feel extremely at home. Her housing as well as her meals are covered by the family ( she lives in the "basement" which she says is about the size of her actual house in England). In addition she is paid 400euro/month. The kids go to school during the day and she begins her time with them at 5pm. She is required to speak to them in English, which is easy enough for her since she barely knows Spanish. She gets weekends off and if they need her to babysit she gets paid extra for that. Anyway I just thought it was an interesting option and if you want more information this is the name of the website: aupair world.

"Speedo Medley"

When I found out that this weekend was going to be a long one (I don't work Fridays and Monday is a National Holiday) and the weather was going to be amazing I came up with the idea to have an ongoing project to keep myself busy. My proposal was to create a "Speedo Medley," basically a compilation of the various speedos I encountered this weekend at the beach. The "speedo" is something very common in Europe, but fascinating/disturbing and often made fun of by Americans. It appears to be exactly like a bikini bottom for a girl but worn on a man...Anyway this was quite a fun undertaking for me and my friends. Thanks to everyone who helped to make this collection possible.

The father/son speedo shot. My personal favorite.
Who knew a backpack and speedo looked so good together!
The speedo makes for a great people-watching outfit.
Lounging in the speedo.

Going for a stroll in the speedo. The speedo can clearly be worn by all shapes and sizes.
The red, white and blue speedo.

Bald with the speedo. Quite the statement.

"Single Ladies"

Emily discovered this youtube video and it is hilarious. They dubbed Beyonce's song "single ladies" with this Spanish song "Paco Paco" and somehow everything matches up perfectly!

"Mercado Atarazanas"

Today I went to a huge fresh foods market near my apartment. It has over 20 different "stands" of fresh produce such as: meat, fish, vegetables, fruit and even sweets. They are called "Carniceria" "pescaderia" "fruteria" "pasteleria" etc. You can find many of these individual fresh foods stands on the street but this place is so great because it is a one stop shop. It is not all one company, there are several brands competing. It is under a giant tent-like structure. I went there today and bought 4 apples, 4 oranges, 2 tomatoes, 1 onion, 1 piece of garlic and a head of lettuce for only 6euro!
Obviously there is copious amounts of jamón.

Unicaja

Today I opened up a "cuenta joven" with the bank "Unicaja" so I can receive direct deposit from my school. A "cuenta joven" is a checking account for people ages 18-26. Unicaja is located all over Spain and is the bank that the Junta de Andalucia uses. I was originally going to open an account with Citi since that is what I use at home, but since the Junta banks with Unicaja I know I will receive my salary (hopefully) without a delay.

Happy Birthday Mu!

Today is my mom's birthday and I am so sad I won't be able to spend it with her! But so excited she will be here in 2 weeks!! The picture above is from Toledo, Spain in spring 2008.

ch131

ch131 is my new favorite website. Although I am not an avid TV watcher, Gossip Girl is a show that I cannot live without. When I realized my i-tunes wouldn't let me download episodes I panicked. Then I dug up my orientation packet to the page where it said "watching tv online abroad." bingo. Sidereel was the most common one, but gossip girl didn't work on there! It took me directly to the CW website and it won't let users not in the US watch TV shows. I've tried various other websites in the past but the quality is either horrible or it redirects you so many times that you end up on a
"Do you know your IQ?" website. So then I tried ch131. It's perfect! I was able to watch the past three episodes of Gossip Girl that I've missed and there are sooo many other shows that I might start watching now too! Definitely check it out, it is free and the quality is really good.

My room

Okay so I finally think my room is presentable. I still need to do a major cleaning but here are pictures of my room and the bathroom 1, living room and kitchen in our apartment.
Above is the closet I bought at Corte Ingles. I love it! I want to get one when i get home to New York. You can fit so much stuff and it's so much easier to browse and find outfits you want to wear. I almost feel like I am in a clothing store starring me!


Above is the desk and closet that came with my room. I bought the white clothing rack dryer when I got here. Our kitchen. Notice the gas tank on the right and how there is no oven.

Living room where I use the internet. Bathroom 1. No hot water. Enough said.

Supersol

Supersol is the grocery store that is right next to my and Emily's apartment building. We went there today to stock up. I bought more pasta, frozen vegetables, ravioli, salt, water, deli meat, yogurt and plastic plates and silverware ( until we get our hot water fixed in the kitchen I don't really want to use ours). They have these really great baskets in the supermarkets here that also act as carts. I think it is genius and definitely something I would like to see at Gristedes in New York when I get home. Above is a picture of Emily sporting the extremely versatile shopping basket.

More commuting pics

I took these pictures this morning on the way to work. The sunrise is so beautiful I don't think I will ever get used to it!!

First vaccines go out

I'm glad to see the first swine flu vaccines came out in the US. What's Spain's plan?

1st day in 2nd grade with Danny

After my class with the 3rd graders I went to 2nd grade with a teacher named Danny. There are 25 students in Danny's class. Danny used to teach high school in Torre del Mar and this is his first year working with the 2nd graders. There are no separate special education classes in this school although a specialist will come in periodically and pull kids out who need special attention. Integration is huge. Danny told me there is one student who came last week to his class from an orphanage. His parents are unreachable and his brother is in jail. The student does not know how to read and write so Danny mostly gives him coloring activities. No one knows how long he will be here for. There is a girl who sits in the back of the room at least 3 feet behind the last set of rows in the center. She is in my direct line of vision since I stand in the front center of the room. I observe her for a few minutes and pick up that she is very autistic. Danny tells me she is repeating 2nd grade. He says he doesn't know how to say what her disorder is in English. He explains it in Spanish and basically says she is "half a normal person" almost "deficient." If she fails this year she will have to go to 3rd grade next year even though she most definitely will not be prepared. I want to save her. My plan is to kidnap her and place her in one of the autistic programs my mom has helped to implement in Washington Heights, NY.

Today the students learned the different parts of the body in Spanish and next week I will need to prepare a lesson plan of the body parts in English. It is my job to make it extremely easy and simple for the students to learn and to also make it fun and enjoyable. We have been told to focus first on pronunciation because if we write the words down the students will focus too much on the way they are spelled and not how they are actually pronounced. I will most likely use a game like "simon says" or "head, shoulders, knees, and toes" to engage the students.

I felt like a celebrity again when at the end of class Danny told the students they could ask me some questions. "¿De dónde eres?" they ask. "I am from New York." Then there are two more questions which I had to look at Danny for clarification because I could have sworn they were the same as the first question. One was "¿dónde vives?"and the other Danny translated to me as "are you REALLY from New York? there is no way!"

I'm a celebrity

It's pretty much official that I am a celebrity in Torre del Mar, Spain. I went into my first class today, third grade. The class had not started yet and since it was my first time in there I thought I would chat it up and see how their English was before the teacher got there.

Me: Hello, my name is Alex. I am from the United States.
Chica: "¿¡conoces Hannah Montana?!"
Otra chica: "¿¡ La conoces?!
Me: Si la conozco. ( I just made the critical error of mixing up "saber" with "conocer." )
Chica: (squealing) aaaaaaaaahhh. ¿Tu eres famosa?
Me: No I am not famous. I meant I know of Hannah but she is not my friend in real life.
Chicas: (sighing)
There are more questions about Hannah and comments on how much they all love her. I decide I really can't talk about Hannah anymore so I ask them if they want to see some pictures of where I am from in the United States. I tell them I am from New York and I whip out 3 postcards I grabbed in the airport before I left (one is of the statue of liberty, one of times square and one of the skyline). I am INSTANTLY swarmed. They scream "¡¡¡¡FIRMAME!!!!" All of a sudden the number of students surrounding me doubles, triples, and then quadrouples. Girls and boys alike flying out of nowhere. They are tugging on my shirt, standing on their chairs to see me, shoving pens, notebooks, napkins whatever they can find in my face for my autograph. I am finally understanding why celebs hate paparazzi and wishing that I had a team of security to fight them off. The teacher walks in as I am clearly powerless amongst her 9-year-olds. In an attempt to assume authority I say, "¡sientate! Después podemos ver las fotos." The children disperse to their seats and I can finally breathe. Then I taught them the different parts of the body in English. Not sure if they still think I am a celeb or not. I guess I will find out next week when I return to that class.

'Tis the season...or not

Everything in Spain is seasonal. Towns, stores, clothing and fans. This is something that I respect, because the Spanish do not waste anything and are very practical, but it is extremely inconvenient and basically defies what most people love about America. Convenience. For example, although it is October and technically we are in the season known as "fall or autumn" it is extremely hot here and therefore my room is stuffy. I went to over 5 stores this week looking for a small fan to put in my room. Nada. They all told me summer was over and they were no longer selling fans. Really? Any department store/electronic store/drug store in America is most definitely selling fans and I am pretty sure it is a lot colder there than it is here. However today I popped into a chino store in Torre del Mar and found a fan! SO satisfying. It is the perfect size, but it makes a humming noise when I turn it on. I also have to put it on top of a towel or fabric because otherwise it moves along my tile floor making an even louder sound. It will just be another song on my life soundtrack. Are you high maintenance? Not if you live in Spain.

Problem Solving

I have already shared the popular saying "so miz" on my blog, but last night can be described by another favorite phrase, particularly that of my friend Clay: "rock bottom." "Rock bottom" is used amongst my friends and I when you are pretty positive nothing else in your life could go wrong. You have reached the worse point (of the hour/day/week/month). "Rock bottom" can be used as a noun or adjective. Here is the "rock bottom" list of things that were wrong with my apartment by 10pm last night:

1. I have been eating out for every meal because there is no room in the fridge for me to put groceries
2. My closet and chair have been broken since I moved in so I have been living out of a suitcase for over a week
3. My i-pod will not upload new songs from i-tunes or charge for that matter or upgrade to the newest version of i-tunes so I cannot download any tv shows
4. I cannot find a fan in all of Málaga so it is very hard to go to sleep
5. There is a mysterious leak coming from the toilet area in bathroom two
6. The shower-head in bathroom 2 broke so we can no longer use that to shower
7. I finally decided to buy pasta and keep it on a shelf since there was room there and after I cooked I realized there was no hot water in the kitchen to wash any of the silverware and plates (they have been using cold water)
8. Bathroom 1 is next to the kitchen and therefore does not have hot water either

I sent an email to my friend Vitor, who works as an intern in the EPS agency, about all of these issues. Here is the copy of an email I got midday from him:

Hey, I spoke to my boss and the bathroom that has hot water has an electric shower - the other bathroom has a gas powered one, and I guess the kitchen sink is powered by gas too. You'll need to get the gas canister replaced before you can have the hot water.... I wouldn't recommend lighting a flame near the gas though haha.

Also they said that the electric shower will break if it is used by too many people every day because the motor is pretty small... so one of you guys needs to come down here to talk about that.

The number to call for gas is, 952306339, they normally bring it the next day, but one of you would need to be there to take the gas and pay for it.

Hope that helps, let me know if you need anything...

At 8pm right now here are the solutions I have found to the following issues:

1. There is now room for my groceries in the fridge and I am going to eat pasta with vegetables tonight!
2. I decided to take initiative and buy a free standing closet at Corte Ingles ( it was 50% off! they must have known I was having a rough week) so I can finally unpack and feel comfortable here. Also EPS says I can buy myself a new chair and they will pay me back for it!
3. Emily lent me her apple adaptor ( I had been using a regular one). I got it to charge if I plugged the i-pod directly into the outlet but not when I tried to plug it into my computer to get my new songs. I decided to try plugging my computer directly into the wall instead of into an extension cord and then plug my i-pod in and now I am able to upload my new music and charge it! Sounds kind of strange, but it works.
4. I went into a "chino" shop ( they are the little Chinese stores all over the city that sell literally everyhting you could possibly need) in Torre del Mar and bought their last fan! It makes noise when I turn it out but better than nothing.
5. My roommate Lee realized the leak is coming from this area that is connected to the shower and it probably needs to be drained somehow....
6. After going to the EPS office today to talk to them about all the problems the director agreed to call someone to come Thursday to fix the broken shower-head.
7. The director also told me that I might need to call to have the gas canister replaced to make the hot water work in the kitchen and bathroom 1, but the people who live downstairs (Emily's roommates) have been here for a while and since I know we have a gas canister I am going to ask them to help me figure out how to make it work.
8. I took a cold shower last night and will do it again tonight. I kind of feel like I am camping but I know we will have hot water soon!

Malagueta

In case you have forgotten what sand looks like I made a little video this past weekend at the beach.

Commuting

I think it's fair to say that the thought of commuting doesn't excite most people. I have had to commute to school/work for most of my life. I grew up on the Upper West Side and took the bus crosstown 86th street to the Upper East Side every day to school and back. It was usually 30 minutes. My dad moved downtown to Murrary Hill when I was 11 so I learned to take the #1 train and then the shuttle to grand central. So while some of my friends still don't know the names of the avenues on the west side I was easily navigating uptown, midtown, and union square by age 12. I went to college in Nashville, so I didn't commute but home was definitely not close by. Summer internships were in midtown so that was a hot underground treck back and forth every day. When I found out I was going to be teaching in Torre Del Mar, a small beach East of Málaga my first question was, "how far is the commute from Málaga?" The commute is generally 45-55minutes there and possibly (but that means never) 25minutes on the way back if you get a direct bus. Some of my friends who were placed to teach in Torre del Mar or Velez-Malaga (near Torre) thought "no way do I want to make an hour commute" and they now live in Torre. Even though I may regret saying this later, so far I love my commute. I have always liked taking buses even though some people I know swear that they will never use one. I think it is a great way to get to know your surroundings. It is also a good time for self-reflection, reading, writing, and since my commute is along the Mediterranean there is really nothing to complain about. The picture above I took this morning of the sunrise (don't mind the random man that made it into the pic).

"Swimming with no direction"

This morning at work Jenny and I had a nice talk with the music teacher, "Chauny." Many Spaniards know English very well, but are nervous to speak and will therefore only speak to you in Spanish. I have definitely experienced this, but "Chauny" is great because it is clear she does not care if she makes mistakes with her grammar or vocabulary, she wants to practice. She has been helping to design our schedule along with several other teachers in the school. Today she explained that as "auxiliaries de conversación" aside from teaching we will also help the teachers to design the curriculum and to translate what they already have into English if they have not done so already.

Chauny also shed light on our role in the school (we are employed by the Junta de Andalucia and therefore a "project" of theirs). While she thinks the concept is very important she told us that she does not like the way the project is being carried out. She thinks it is extremely disorganized or like, "swimming with no direction." She said that when CEIP Blas Infante volunteered to have this program in their school the Junta said they would give them all new computers and paper etc. However, this has not happened yet. Since it is a fairly new program at CEIP Blas Infante (only three years), I knew there were definitely going to be some organizational challenges and obstacles. I told Chauny that we understand and it will be our job to prepare for anything, be flexible and take initiative. A big part of our position is to be creative. I consider this to be one of my strengths so I am actually looking forward something coming up last minute and figuring out a way to improvise.

By 2012 all schools in Andalucia will have "auxiliares de conversación."

weather.com

Weather.com is for the most part accurate in the US, but when I plug in "Malaga" it gives me basically opposite weather information. Earlier this week it said it was going to be “heavy rain” for two days. I wore jeans and brought an umbrella in my bag with me all day but it ended up being gorgeous all day long! I am in desperate need of a european weather.com. eltiempo.com???? Today is so beautiful. Greg, Clay, and I are going to the beach (at 5pm). For some reason the weather gets better as the day goes on and the sun doesn’t set until much later. Right now on weather.com it says its going to be "mostly sunny" in the 80s and high 70s for the next ten days. I hope that's right!

Project "Comenius"

Project "Comenius" is something that C.E.I.P Blas Infante is working on implementing into their program. They are working with schools in five other countries in Europe, (one is the Czech Republic) to orchestrate a "pen-pal" sort of system. The students allowed to participate are ages 6-11. The schools must apply for the project using a "preparatory visit grant." The goal of the project is to talk about traidtions, festivals, and holidays in each country so that children know more about their European neighbors. Although we did not learn much about this project I think it is such a great idea and I am really looking forward to helping out with it and possibly even giving them contacts in the US so that they can become pen-pals with Americans.

C.E.I.P Blas Infante

Today was my first day of work. C.E.I.P stands for Colegio de Educación Infantil y Primaria. I got to work early so I walked down to the beach to watch the sun rise over the Mediteranean. It was gorgeous. I met Jenny, the other girl working in the school as an "auxiliar de conversación" (that is our official title in the school). She is from Britain choosing to do her year abroad teaching. We did not do much the first day besides walk around the school and get introduced to everyone. There were lots of kisses and hugs and I felt very welcomed. The kids are very cute and I found out I will be working with students ages 6-12. I will have a period with each grade. Each grade is divided into "A" and "B" and I will be working with "A." Each year is given a number for example, the 6yr olds = 1; the 7yr olds= 2; the 8yr olds= 3 etc. We were not able to finalize the schedule because there was a bit of a dispute over whose classroom we would be helping out in so I will know by Monday when and what classes I am teaching. I am really excited to get to know the students and watch their progress over the year.