MuSchu Barcelona

Tomorrow I'm off to meet my mom in Barcelona! She arrived this morning and I was supposed to fly out of Málaga tomorrow at 8pm and arrive at 9:35pm, but I am going to surprise her and try to fly stand by at 7am so Ill get in at 8:30am! Is that love or what!? It's a surprise don't tell her!!!

LAGOS LIST

Meia Praia
Praia Dona Ana
Elements

Inside Out

Grande Café
Bom dia boat cruise
Cabo de San Vicente
Aqualuz hotel

Olé!

This week CNN reported on S. Pellegrino's annual "World's 50 Best Restuarants" list and guess what? While the United States was this year's most honored country, 5 of the finishers were in Spain! Olé !

2) El Bulli (Roses, Spain)
4) El Celler de Can Roca (Girona, Spain)
5) Mugaritz (Errenteria, Spain)
9) Arzak (San Sebastián, Spain)
33) Martin Berasategui (Lasarte-oria, Spain)

Inspirational Quote #15

"You may wonder, 'How can I leave it all behind if I am just coming back to it? How can I make a new beginning if I simply return to the old?' The answer lies in the return. You will not come back to the 'same old thing.' What you return to has changed because you have changed. Your perceptions will be altered. You will not incorporate into the same body, status, or world you left behind. The river has been flowing while you were gone. Now it does not look like the same river" - Steven Foster

Feria Sevilla

After my weekend in Lagos I made a spontaneous appearance at the Feria in Sevilla. It was the last night of the week long celebration, but still a great time!

Feria means "fair" in English and dates back to 1847 when it was originally organized as a livestock fair. Feria is held two weeks after Semana Santa. The way Feria works in Sevilla is that over a thousand "casetas"are set up in a section of the city called "Los Remedios." A caseta is a tent fully equip with furniture, decorations, full menu, bar, dancing and music. There is a doorman that monitors the entrance so that only members and friends of members are allowed in. Casetas can be owned by families, groups of friends, trades or political parties. Usually there are about 30 members to a caseta. For this reason, you cannot fully enjoy the Feria unless you are a member of a caseta or know someone that has one. Many malaugeños that I have spoken to do not like the Feria in Sevilla because of this-way too exclusive. So if you are a sevillano, Feria is a week long celebration of eating, drinking and spending time with family and friends...sound like pretty much every day in Spain rigtht?

Aside from the casetas, there is a massive carnival with games, rides and amazing junk food. It felt more American than Spanish to me...

Above: Outside the caseta

Above: A view inside the caseta

Above: Me holding up the traditional Feria drink- tastes like Sherry

Above: With Manu's family and the DiscoverSevilla crew inside his caseta

Above: Doesn't this girl look like she is having the time of her life!

Above: Typical Feria dress

Spanish Children

This photo was taken last night at Feria in Sevilla. I have just one question. Why are Spanish children sooooooo much cuter than other children?? I mean are these children not THE most precious things you've ever seen!?!? Or maybe since I've been spending most of my time this year with kids I have a new affinity for them...No, Spanish kids are lo mejor del mundo.

Cabo de San Vicente

Cabo de San Vicente, the southwesternmost point in Portugal is a picturesque spot where you can view an incredible sunset. The Romans considered it a magical place where the sunset was much larger than anywhere else in the world. They believed the sun sank here into the ocean thereby making this point the end of their world. We did not spend much time here because it was SO windy we felt like we were going to blow off the cliff. On the way back though we got a wonderful surprise, a giant rainbow!

Above: Me bearing the wind to take a nice pic

Above: Me, Lauren and Rachael in front of the famous lighthouse

Above: Toba (one of the guides) throwing me off the face of the world. Just kidding I'm still alive!
Above: gorgeous sunset

Bom Dia Boat Trip

Our second day in Lagos we went on a sangria sailboat cruise of the grottos!! It was so fun!! We hung out on the sailboat sipping on sangria and then took turns in the smaller boat to tour around the caves. There are different names for the rock formations based on what they look like. Can you see the connection?Above: Me with cool rock formations

Above: Me, Rachael and Lauren staring into the distance

Above: "Monster"

Above: "Camel"

Above: "Toilet"

Above: "Elephant"

The Algarve

This weekend Rachael and I had the lovely pleasure of traveling with DiscoverSevilla again, but this time to Lagos, Portugal located in the Algarve! The Algarve is the southern region of Portugal and is becoming one of the most popular tourist destinations in Portugal. "Praia" means beach in Portuguese and the pictures below are from Praia do Camilo. While in Lagos we also went to Praia Don Ana and Meia Praia (the biggest). Unlike the beaches in Málaga, the sand in Lagos is white, the beaches are wide and spacious and the water is a gorgeous green. The cliffs and land formations are very unique and breathtaking. Definitely one of the best beaches I've been to!

DJ Universe

There is a baby wailing so loudly on the bus I am starting to think it is:

a. more likely a retarded person mumbling
b. so loud it might as well be sitting on my lap

After a while I can't even pinpoint the direction the noise is coming from because it's everywhere. I turn around because I think maybe there is a chance it's behind me. Instead, I see a black-as-night Moroccan man digging for his boogers, finding them and then staring in awe. Literally. I take off my sunglasses and give him the grossest look I've got so he knows I'm blatantly staring at him in complete revulsion. He doesn't catch my eye, too busy examining his findings. I turn back around. Some new black-as-night men have entered the bus and are shouting in a foreign tongue. One is playing music from his mobile. My new pet peeve since living in Spain. People who think it is appropriate to blast music from their mobile phone in a confined space. All I can think is WHY didn't I buy new headphones yesterday instead of leaving it for this afternoon, because for the 4th time since I've been in Spain one of the headphone ears has stopped working making it physically impossible to block out this torturous track the Universal DJ has dealt me on todays life playlist.

I close my eyes and smile. It really is the bad tunes on your life soundtrack that make you appreciate the good ones. Can't wait to see what the Universe has in store for me next.

"Yes, we want!"

Recently, a new commercial and campaign aired for the bilingual program in Madrid... in bad English... If that's not ironic I don't know what is!

The commercial begins with a girl saying in perfect English: "We want to learn another language." The scene changes and there are a dozen children on a basketball court and they scream: "Yes, we want!" The scene then changes to some girls who say, "We want to speak and read English" and the group says: "Yes, we want!" and so on. This campaign is also featured on the radio and buses... Upon being initially heard, some people thought of the Obama campaign, Yes we can. However, there is a difference. This slogan, headed by the campaign the government is using to promote the bilingual schools, is gramatically incorrect.

Yes, we can is correct because it uses a modal verb (like must or should), and can be used in short responses, just like an auxiliary verb (to do, to be). However, "Yes we want" lacks a direct object and is therefore incorrect English. What the slogan should have said was, "Yes we do," which would have been the proper response/agreement to the statements: "We want to learn another language," "We want to speak and learn English" etc.

The objective of the commercial was to promote the bilingual program in Madrid which, similarily to the bilingual initiave in Andalucía, provides the public schools with a great opportunity to learn English from native speakers. So the question that has arisen for public school parents is if this commercial, which costed over 2 million euros to create, is grammatically incorrect and no one caught the mistake before it hit the air, are our children learning bad English in the bilingual schools?

Many Spaniards are afraid that this campaign, "Yes, we want," has ruined the image of the public school bilingual program. Parents are saying these campaigns are not what children need to learn good English. More is explained in this article in El Pais.

However, as my co-worker Dani pointed out: Increíble, no sé si será intencionado, pero no deja de asombrarme que se intente promover la enseñanza bilingüe con un slogan con errores gramaticales. En fin, cosas del marketing!!!

Otherwise known as the common saying, "there is no such thing as bad press." Touché.

Biznaga Malaguena

I recently found out that this is a traditional symbol of the city of Málaga! The biznaga is a handmade flower created by placing jasmine blossoms onto the indiviudal stems of the armazon plant. Thanks to the infuence of the arabs and the warm climate here there is an abundance of them. Most gardens/patios in Málaga are decorated with this flower because it is not only beautiful, but also gives off a lovely sweet smell. It is typical in the summer for men to sell these flowers in the street, leaving a trace of their wonderful smell wherever they go.

Inspirational Quote #14

"I guess I wanted to leave America for a while. It wasn't that I wanted to become an expatriate, or just never come back, I needed some breathing room. I'd already been translating French poetry, I'd been to Paris once before and liked it very much, and so I just went" - Paul Auster

Alicia en el País de las Maravillas

Today the parents at my school put on a much anticipated theater performance of "Alice in Wonderland!" It was ADORABLE. Tomorrow they will perform "Pinocchio." What dedicated padres!!

P.S. If you haven't seen the recent movie, you are seriously missing out. The costumes and graphics are amazing, as is Johnny Depp. Go rent it!

Eyjafjallajokull

No that is not gibberish, it's the name of the volcano causing all of the air travel chaos throughout Europe. And possibly major economic repercussions??? Joder!!

Gym-goer Gala

Being recent college graduates, one of the things we really miss here are all of the organizations you have at your fingertips in high school and college. Therefore, one of the hard things about this year in Spain has been the lack of networks.

We aren't erasmus students, we're aren't American study abroad students, we're English teachers. And when we go out, since there is no prominent industry in Málaga (aside from tourism) and therefore no young professional scene, it tends to be the two former groups dominating the social scene. We were lucky to have a great group of teachers come here through CIEE, but other than that we haven't found a real network of friends. The teachers at school are all too old and/or live outside of Málaga, and our students spend their weekends coloring and playing with Hannah Montana dolls.

Just when I was seriously giving up hope on Malaga nightlife I was SO pleasantly surprised last night. I guess I never considered the gym a social network, but it turned out to be a very good one! We got invited to a party at Moliere Playa in Torremolinos by the instructors and figured we should give it a go. Even if the venue was disappointing it would be fun to see our fellow spinners out at night. Since we don't own a car we took a taxi to Torremolinos (10minutes away, 18euro split between 3 people). We got free drinks with our invitation and the music was great- 2 key ingredients to a fabulous night.

After this party the gym crew took us to Sala Moliere (same owners, but the "club" version) just a few minutes outside of Málaga center. And OMG it was an actual real club! None of this little discoteca with bad Spanish pop music business- a real club! EUREKA! Thank you gym crew!! See you at Spinning this week!

Above: Me, Alina and Maria
Above: Maria, Me and Alina with the gym crew.

Above: Me, gym owner and Alina

Pharmacy/Tea shop/Drug Store

Our tour guide in Morocco took us into this incredible pharmacy where she knew the owner. We had a 45minute explanation of several popular creams, spices, perfumes, oils, teas and what they are used for. Then it was time to comprar. I picked up a few massage oils, anti-aging creams and herbs for headache/congestion/relaxation. I would CONSIDER giving up my beloved Duane Reade for this extraordinary Moroccan medicine megahouse.

Medina- Fes - Fotos

An inside peak into the Medina in Fes!

II Intercultural Festival

Málaga is currently celebrating the 2nd annual Intercultural Festival on Paseo del Parque. The government sponsors and organizes this cultural and social event which definitely has a lot to do with their nomination for European Cultural Capital in 2016. The entrance is free and it's so much fun!

More than 50 countries and 5 continents are represented in this festival. Each country is represented by a stand with jewelry/clothing/accessories or food from the specific country. There are also dance and music performances at the Recinto de Eduardo Ocón.

This weekend we were not able to enjoy it due to weather, but last weekend we walked around admiring all of the different trinkets each country had to offer. The atmosphere is great for during the day or at night. The food stands are by far the best part- hamburgers from Australia, empanadas from Mexico, crepes from France, beer from Germany and SO MUCH MORE!! For more information check out this website.

Festival de Málaga Cine

Calle Larios has been converted into a red carpet event. Literally, the ENTIRE street is covered in a red carpet! This is to celebrate the Málaga film festival that is going on this coming week. This film festival has been celebrated since 1998. There are short films, full length movies and documentaries, some of which are followed by a round table discussion. The films take place in the different theaters around the city. To check out a full list and schedule click here!

Above: Red carpet on calle Larios.

Above: On calle Larios there are posters from all of the movies being showed.

Above: The set up in front of Teatro Cervantes

Alventus

Looking to plan a trip but not sure where to start? I just heard about this travel agency that plans group trips all over the world that might be able to help you!

Tapas Tourism

If you´re going to be in Madrid, Barcelona or San Sebastian any time soon I recommend that you
a. call me so I can meet up with you
and
b. check out this article from the WSJ on the best tapas restaurants AND tapas tour guides in those cities. Ms. Alonso, for example, is a 44yr old Spaniard who has abandoned engineering in favor of tapas tourism- for just €95 she will take you on a private tour of tapas bars in Spain.

I will be going to Barcelona with my mom in just two weeks and can´t wait to check out Tapas, 24 and try one of their famous mini sandwiches (por ejemplo: jamon iberico, mozzarella, and grated black truffles.)

¡Que aproveche!

Earthquake!!

Apparently there was an earthquake in Spain yesterday morning! News to me!!

Inspirational Quote #13

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes" -Marcel Proust

Kupka exhibition

Today Alina and I started a new Sunday tradition: Productive and Cultural Sundays. For our first Sunday we spent four hours in a cafe getting organized with our job search. Then we went to the Picasso museum to see the Kupka exhibition. It was fabulous! Normally I am not a huge fan of abstract art, but I loved his use of geometric shapes and the abstract. My favorite paintings were from the 1920's collection: "Time Passes (or The Instant)," "Undecided," "The Shape of Vermillon," "Lines, Planes, Space III," "Idol," "Purple Turmoil," "Robust Execution," "Syncopated Bock No.1," "Animated Lines," "Vortex," "Flower."

Dance dance dance

Upon arriving at a rest stop at a hotel we were surprised with this lovely dance performance and tea!

Operación Verano 2010

"Operación Verano 2010" or "Operación Bikini" as the gym instructors like to call it, is fully underway. The instructors at the gym yell out these motivating phrases when they can tell that we are all about to collapse. Sometimes they even describe a scene at the beach equip with sangria, cerveza y guapos. I personally think of Adriana Lima. Currently my "operación verano" consists of going to the gym 3 days a week, running on the beach two, cutting out patatas fritas and getting my tan on (because we all know the key to looking good on the beach is to ALREADY be tan).