Las Alpujarras...

...are some mountains located in the Sierra Nevadas (tallest mountains in Spain) in the province of Granada. Today I went with Ana & José (the kids I teach), Rosa (mom), Fede (dad), Maria (step-sister), José Ramon (Maria's boyfriend), Leti (Rosa's sister), and Keko (Leti's boyfriend) to the Alpujarras for the day. Sorry, that was a little confusing, so let's just say that I went with Ana & José's family. It was fun since Maria, José Ramon, Leti, and Keko are all about the same age as me. The Alpujarras are dotted with tiny white pueblos. Each of these pueblos are very typical and they each have their own unique church with a most spectacular view! We went to the cutest pueblo of Laroles, plus we drove through many others on the way there and back. ¡Qué preciosos! Here is a picture of a typical Alpujarreño pueblo - I didn't take this one though...

So we chilled at a restaurant for a couple hours talking, drinking, and eating delicious food. Such a slower pace of life here - I love it! It's great to have time to sit back and enjoy. So there is a typical red wine made in the region that is supposed to be excellent, so Fede joked with me that he could drink all he wanted and I could drive back to Almeria while he slept. Haha! Rosa & Fede have recently bought a piece of land in Laroles that they are going to build a small house on so we went to take a look and walk around. The view was incredible!! There were tons of almond trees all over already in blossom - they think it's Spring already! Well, I guess it is here in the Mediterranean...

This is Ana & me. I didn't get a picture of José, but I will soon.

There were some baby sheep in a building that sounded like a baby when they said, "baaaa." It was funny though, cause when they all baaaaa'd together at once it sounded like the toy aliens in Toy Story! Of course I was the only one who could laugh at that, pero bueno....

It was good to get out and experience the outdoors besides just the desert or beach. A relaxing day!

So apparently the people from the pueblos of the Alpujarra speak quite a bit different and Rosa says it's hard even for them (Spaniards) to understand them. For example, intstead of "croquetas," they say "encroquetas." Or instead of "se vende" they write it "seven de." Well, I realized something!! My roommate, Yoli, is from the Alpujarras!! No wonder I've had such a hard time understanding her! I feel a lot better now. I thought my Spanish was terrible and not progressing, but even the Spaniards would have trouble understanding her. What a relief to me. Even still, it's a bit hard for me to understand her. She slurs everything together a bit and just speaks in such a different way.

The USA - a "big" country....

Rosa and I were talking about how the US is a much bigger country than Spain in more ways than one. For one, our country is as big as all of Europe together. The highways are bigger, bridges are bigger, coches (sorry, cars) are bigger - so true with more SUVs and trucks. It's influence around the world is bigger. You get the idea. Even I am bigger than than the people in Spain! Rosa told me that José & Ana affectionately call me "La Torre" - The Tower!! I think that's a pretty good nickname for me...

BBQ in February

So usually you think of a BBQ as being the typical thing to do in the summer, which I love by the way. Today I had my first winter BBQ with Pablo & Eliana and the 4 missionaries. After my tour, which I had to cut short, we all went to Pablo’s house for the afternoon to enjoy the warm outdoor sunny weather for a little BBQ, Spanish style.

So we had a go at taking turns telling jokes in Spanish which, was very entertaining. So you always hear of people making embarrassing mistakes when they are learning Spanish like saying “embarazada” for “embarrassed,” but really means “pregnant.” It happens to the best of us! Well, the same thing happens for Spanish-speakers learning English. Most everyone had told a joke, but Pablo couldn’t think of one. Well, dessert was being served and so we were trying to figure out who wanted milk to go with the chocolate bizcocho. Instead of asking in Spanish, he asked me in English, “Do you want to milk?” Needless to say the missionaries and I all busted up laughing. Some milk, Some milk! Everyone get a kick out of it and he did in fact come up with a joke!!

Visita Guiada

This morning I went on a guided tour of Almeria Cristiana. We saw many of the Christian churches around the centro. I actually didn't get to finish the tour because I had to leave for the BBQ. This tour was centered around San Valentin and I thought it was THE Saint Valentine, but NO, it's just a Roman Saint with the same name. Apparently he used to be buried in the Cathedral here, but not anymore. There were a few "love birds" that read poetry to each other throughout the tour in honor of the big upcoming holiday.

So I saw about 5 or so different churches. This church of Santiago shows him killing the Moors that used to occupy the city.

During the Spanish Civil War, many of these churches suffered damage and fires and many were destroyed partly or entirely and so had to be reconstructed.

This is my favorite picture with all the shadows of the palm trees on the ground and building.

I Live in a Pirate City!!!

It's true! It's true! How cool is that?! The Cathedral here is actually also a fortress...Catedral Fortaleza...one of the few in Andalucia. It was built as a fortress to protect the people of the city from pirate attacks and such. There is only 1 facade with any decoration which is this one. The rest of the building is without ornamentation, as it was mainly to serve as protection.

The inside however, is a true Cathedral, but seems to be missing the typical stained-glass windows. There are only 2 small windows at the very top - that way no pirate or anyone else could get in. Also, you can see from the back of the Cathedral that the wall is slanted at the bottom, making it hard for anyone to climb up and over.

Fiestas

"No hay mejor manera de acabar una fiesta que con otra fiesta."

This was quoted in a newspaper in describing a fiesta in the small pueblo of Fiñana - There is no better way to end a fiesta than with another one! That seems to be Spain's theory and is very good at it! There are so many fiestas that it's impossible to keep track of. Seems like everytime I buy a newspaper there is a report of some kind of fiesta or another around the province. Take for example this website:

http://www.almeriocio.com/noticia.php?id=1487

This is a list of fiestas in the province of Almeria, where I live, but there are 50 provinces total, so you can imagine how much Spain likes to party! There are always seems to be some kind of traditional food involved. Take this giant pan of Paella for example. I took a picture from the newspaper. This paella consists of 54 kilos of rice and 100 kilos of meat & seatfood! It's ginormous. In Carnaval, they served a giant tortilla española and in New Year's, churros y chocolate. You gotta love it!

Carnaval

Carnaval this year was a 3 week event and there were plenty of activities, parades, etc. to see, but unfortunately this was the only thing that I saw - a huge sardine in the centro. There is big event known as the "Entierro de la Sardina" to close Carnaval that I was planning on going to tomorrow until I got invited to go up into the mountains with Ana & José. Every time there was something going on with Carnaval, I always had a private lesson or something going on at the church. Guess I missed out, but what can you do? Everyone dresses up for Carnaval and everyone I asked if they celebrated it told me NO. I think it is more for little children. I did see a few people dressed up around the centro though. You can dress up as whatever you want - kind of like Halloween. There are groups that dress up and perform with silly singing and there is even a king/queen chosen for the event.

I Have the BEST job EVER!!!

Ok, so imagine this.........

You only teach 12 hours a week, only 3 or 4 hours each day, you never have to prepare anything, the teacher tells you exactly what to do for each class, you never have to do lesson plans or grade papers, you have 10 minute breaks between each class, everyone pays attention in class and asks you questions, you work in a brand new school.....

This is my life! And I LOVE it! The other teachers always ask me questions on how the best way to say something or pronunciation - it's quite fun! Sometimes I've never really thought about things in English so when they ask me, it's interesting to think about it.

So check it out.....
I have the whole next week off because of exams (oh man, tests I mean. My English is starting to sound more like a British English since that's the type of books I teach with). I also have a whole week off for Semana Santa (Easter - a big thing here in Spain) and then the whole week off before that because of exams. Sweet! I'll have been paid for almost 2 months without working here - now that's what I'm talking about!

Also, I just found out that the school wants me to give a 50 minute speech on some aspect of the U.S.A in March and they are going to pay me 100 euros. That's crazy! I told them, "demasiado!" but they told me not to say that (too much), but just say, "that's perfect." So that's what I did! I feel famous or something! Haha!

Oh, and we're going to do a play at the end of the year....Alice in Wonderland. How fun!

Sushi & Chopsticks

This week I went out with Myrium, a Chilean lady in the ward here, to eat both Chinese and Japanese food. On Tuesday we went to her town - Aguadulce, which is very close to Almeria - and hung out for a bit in her apartment, then went to eat some delicious Chinese food. The only time I've had Chinese food in Spain before was in Barcelona and I wasn't a fan, but this was really good! Myrium said something interesting.....you know how to speak any language if you know how to say, "How do you say....?" In my case, "¿Cómo se dice?" It's true! You can learn to say anything in any language if you only know how to say that. Interesting....

So on the way back to school, I was a little late because of traffic - oops! So class ended up being canceled, but it was okay because I went to a cafe with the teacher and 2 of my students for a little 2 on 2 English/Spanish (Spanglish) speaking and some Cola Cao (Spanish version of chocolate milk, hot or cold).

Then last night Myrium and I went out for Japanese food to try some sushi. Um, I'm not a huge fan. I had two different salmon sushis. The problem is that I don't know what the best kind is. It was alright, but not the best. So there was this huge dallop (that's a fun word to say!) of wasabi on the tray and Myrium thought it was avocado and put quite bit in her mouth - boy, did she have a surprise! Sorry, but I'm glad it was her and not me! Hehe! The fun part was that I got to eat with chopsticks...always very exciting! We stayed so long in the restaurant talking and laughing that they finally had to kick us out cause they were closing. Myrium is 7 years older than me, but we have lots of fun together!

Febrero Loco

Here in Almeria, this month is known as Crazy February - for good reason too! One day it will be very sunny and super hot (70s) while the next day it can be very cold (fresquito) with the wind blowing and such. Just typical Spring weather....hopefully I'll be able to go back to the beach the end of February. Hey, I can't just speak like a Spaniard, I have to look like a Mexican too! The best of both of my favorite cultures!

Super Tuesday

Well, it didn't turn out quite the way I had planned, pero bueno....
At least I voted - absentee ballot. I did my duty as a U.S. citizen. Did YOU vote?

It's interesting because like all my students have been asking me about the elections, how it works, about the candidates, etc....
There are elections here in Spain for the presidency in March, but everyone seems to be more interested in the United States. One of the other teachers and I always talk about them and what's new. I've never been so up on the news before! It took me to leave the country to care...

Clases Particulares

With the start of this new year, I have started giving more private lessons - 7 hours each week to be exact! It's nice to be busier, meet new people, and make more money. They all live really close to me so it has worked out perfectly. These are my students:

• Carmen, mid-40s. I started teaching her before Christmas. 1 hour a week.


• Mariola & Juan Javier, late 20s. I also started teaching them before Christmas and they are also my students at the school. 1 hour a week.


• Marta, 11 years old. I started just 2 weeks ago with her and get to help her study Science and Anatomy in English. 1 hour a week.


• Cristina, 17 years old. I started just this week and she is also my student at the school as well. 1 hour a week


• Ana & José, 9 & 10 years old. These two are my absolute favorites! I have never seen such adorable kids! I love them! I just started last week teaching them. 3 hours a week.

Ana & José are both so concerned about me understanding Spanish when I speak to their mom, Rosa. So Jose asked me, "¿Cuál es tu nombre?" So of course I told him my name, Kristina. But then he said, "No, repite." So I repeated the question, ¿Cuál es tu nombre? After listening intently to me, his reply was, "Sí, sabe español bien." (Yep, she knows Spanish pretty well). I thought that was pretty funny!

These are some of their favorite sayings: Anda, es verdad, ooh la la, bingo

Kristina's Birthday in Spain

Well, I wish I had something more exciting to tell you about my birthday, but about the only celebrating I did was eat a ginormous kebab (I'd eat one everyday if I could) and bought myself a giant chocolate bar as you see pictured. "I wanna big chocolate bar!" (Sorry, inside joke with the family...)

I did want to go to a Real Madrid vs. Almeria soccer game on Saturday, but the cheapest tickets were 90 euros. Um, no way. I live pretty close to the stadium and you could here the fans cheering from inside my room. Almeria ended up beating Real Madrid 2-0 to end their 8 game winning streak.

Llamamiento

Well, I got my new calling in the Ward yesterday - Young Single Adult Representative! There are only about 7 or 8 of us, so we'll see how it goes. The day before, Saturday, we had an activity where we had lunch and watched a movie, but it lasted like 5 hours and I had to leave before the movie even finished. Some people forgot to bring their food and stuff so it didn't even start until 2 hours after I got there. Crazy! Oh well, it was fun anyway. But the activities I plan are not going to be like that...

Streets of Almeria

Well my dad has been wanting to see some pictures of Almeria for quite some time now, so here they are Pops! This first group are pictures from downtown - the old city center.

There are 2 main streets downtown. The first is the Paseo de Almeria, where most people do their shopping.

Then there is the Rambla de Federico Garcia Lorca, where people walk or rest around fountains and just enjoy the outdoors.

These other pictures are in my neighborhood: Cortijo Grande

I'm fortunte enough to have even this view out my window. Most apartment buildings are surrounded by other buildings so you can't see much. I live on the very eastern edge of the city and I love it! There is lots of construction as you can see. I don't know what I'd do without the view of the mountains or the sunlight....