At this rate...

I don't know if I should hold on to my euros for a few months in the hope that the € will rise against the $ or just give in and trade them as soon as I get home because it's just getting worse...HELP! CRISIS!

Inspirational Quote #18

"Don't be dismayed at goodbyes, a farewell is necessary before you can meet again and meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends" - Richard Bach

La Despedida

It was definitely a weekend of mixed emotions. As usual I was excited to go to Madrid and stay with Rachael, but there was naturally a feeling of sadness being that it was my last weekend there for a while... I just can't believe how fast it's gone by...

The toughest part was having the last "cena" with Mercedes. We had dinner on Thursday night- delicious salad, tortilla, pizza, and sangria. Yum. We talked about the usual things, teaching, Vanderbilt, the economy, gypsys, and what are plans are for the upcoming months. Her son, Fer, says he definitely wants to come to New York this fall and she sounded like she was on board. I'll need to use my unmatchable persuasion skills to make sure she follows through. She gave Rachael and I a little gift so that we "wouldn't forget" her. To forget her would be to erase the past two years of my life.

Even though I know we'll see each other again and therefore there was no need to be too sad I got unexpectedly emotional towards the end and couldn't help from bursting out into tears. I don't know if she'll ever really know how important she has been to me. She is the most thoughtful, caring, fair and motherly person I've ever met that isn't my own mother. I feel so lucky to have ever been a part of her home. She ended her last email to me like this:

"Ha sido increible verte estos meses, eres una persona muy especial y me alegro de que Vanderbilt os trajera a mi casa a Sarah y a tí, espero que no dejememos nunca de estar en contacto, quiero saber siempre de tu vida, cuando te cases... cuando tengas hijos.... etc, etc.

Te queremos

UN BESO GRANDE"

Naturally I was thinking of ways to extend my Madrid stay- quitting my job and moving there for the next month or so to spend more time with her and everyone else -but if I was able to make this year happen I know I'll find ways to come back again.

Above: Me and Rachael in front of El Mercado de San Miguel

Above: Me, Cristina and Rachael at the Yamba Charity Event

Above: Me, Rachael and Cristina at dinner at Castellana DF

Más de Madrid

Here are some new awesome places I went to in Madrid this weekend:

La Kitchen
Snobissimo
Le Cabrera
Castellana DF

First Holy Communion

May is a very busy month here for both children and adults because this is when all the little niños have their First Holy Communion! The teachers have been telling me how busy their weekends are this month because sometimes they have 3 communions to go to in one weekend. They are all also very concerned with the weather because most of the celebrations take place outside and we´ve been having some morning rain recently. The children are all excited to dress up and have parties.

I remember I made my First Holy Communion at Marymount (before I went to Chapin) in the 2nd grade when I was 7 years old. In Spain, it seems to be more common to make the First Holy Communion in 4th grade. Today in 4th grade English, the head teacher showed me pictures that the children had given to all of the teachers after their First Holy Communion celebrations. Above is a picture of a few of them. It´s funny a lot of the pictures are printed and lamented to be used as bookmarks.

EU Rescue

I´ve spoken to many Spaniards recently about how they think Spain´s economic problem can be solved so that they won´t face the same bailout situation as Greece. My friends say that there are groups of families here and more specifically, politicians, that have too much money and power. Therefore, there is too great of a descrepancy between the common people and families of Spain and this upper class. Spaniards hope that the politicans will start to, or be forced to make economic decisions that will benefit the entire country instead of their elite crew. My friends believe that time will solve everything, that better days are coming, but that unfortunately their generation will not be able to enjoy it. On a sidenote, I´m selfishly pretty bummed the $ has gotten stronger since I get paid in € and will be coming home with a fresh paycheck...
Here are some recent articles on the EU bailout:

NY Times
Ny Times
CNN
BBC

Spelling Bee

I have started doing a weekly spelling bee in 3rd grade English. It all began when I realized that even though they have English and Science class twice a week and they have learned things like the water cycle and plant reproduction in English, they STILL can´t pronunce the alphabet prefectly . "E," "i," "a," "j," "h," and "y" are the big problems so once a week we have the spelling bee to practice vocabulary they have learned from the unit and to practice the alphabet. The head teacher Maria Carmen calls two names of the students and they come to the front where I am standing and I give them a word to spell. If the first student makes a mistake he/she steps back and the other student has a chance to spell it correctly. If the student spells it correctly I write their name on the blackboard. The winners play each other until we have a 1st place winner. He/she gets a big sticker and the runners up get smaller stickers. They get so excited and nervous for the spelling bee. When it gets down to the finals and a students spells the word correctly they all clap and cheer, it really is precious. Maria Carmen told me that when I´m not in class they all ask where I am and if we can have the "concurso."