2 week Spring Break!

My Spring Break has officially begun!! And I have 2 whole weeks! One because there are exams and the other for Semana Santa. Heaven on earth. Actually, heaven on the beach. I plan to spend lots of time being a beach bum. Sorry, I don't want to rub it in too much, therefore I'll stop talking...

Luis

So Luis is my student, but I am also his student. We started just this week doing private lessons. We speak in English for 1/2 hour and then in Spanish for 1/2 hour, 2 times a week. It's great! I love it! Too bad we didn't start earlier. It's good practice for the both of us. We are both about the same age so it's a lot fun. I'd say he speaks English about the same as I speak Spanish. Wait, I take that back...I think he speaks way better than I do.

Luis hit the nail on the head after the first lesson...my Spanish is lacking in fluidity. It's true. I'm so concerned about saying things right that I take my time saying it. I have to think about the correct conjugation of the verb, the masculine or feminine of the adjective, the placement of the indirect object, and so on. You know how it goes. Therefore, he told me to try to speak faster and then he would correct me. That's exactly what I need so hopefully I'll improve quickly. I mean, I can speak quickly with other people, but they are less likely to correct me on everything. I've tried out 2 different Spanish classes, but the other people have been at a significantly lower level than me and I didn't think it was worth the money. So I think this class with Luis will be good! He is also in one of my students of my regular classes at the school.

I don't know how I have time to do all these lessons, but somehow it's all worked out, with my mornings still free!

Rescate Sahariana

This morning I went on a guided tour of an area close to the castle known as the Saharan Rescue for Gazelles. It was like going to the zoo! They breed and repopulate 3 different species of gazelles here - dama, cuvier, and dorca. Sorry, I don't know what they are in English, but they are listed from largest to smallest. All 3 of these species are in danger of extinction. The climate of Almeria is very similar to that of the African Sahara so that is the reason that it's located here. The reason the gazelles are close to extinction is because the people there are dying of hunger and so hunt them for food. At this rescue, they take the gazelles and put them back into the Sahara. Interesting eh? They are cute little guys! We also saw a little Arabic garden.

Chiringuitos

That's fun to say! Chiringuitos. The small restaurants/bars on the beach are prepping for the beach season now that's it's finally getting warmer. They are re-painting, setting out chairs & tables and setting up umbrellas in order to open up again. I suspect the beach is going to get very busy here pretty soon, and I'll be one of the first people there! In fact, I already went the beginning of this week.

Everywhere I go...

…I see someone I know! Even though Almeria is fairly big, about 190,000 people, I always see someone I know on the bus, in the grocery store, or just walking by on the street. It’s great!

So there’s this student of mine, a girl, who I see everywhere all the time! Well, she avoids me. Why, I don’t know. I think she’s a bit embarrassed and shy. So I know that she sees me, but avoids me. We used to ride the bus together all the time and talk (in Spanish nonetheless) so I don’t get it. Well…the next time I see her I’m going to yell out her name and REALLY embarrass her! Haha!

Preciosa, Guapa, Madre Mia!

These are the typical responses I get from the men around here. So it used to just be the short Latin American men, then it moved to Spaniards, and it's not just the young ones....old bald men with beards as well. Yuck! I do my best to ignore them, but it makes me wary of ever talking to anyone that I don't meet through someone else. Sometimes when I walk by someone, I find myself thinking, "I'll pop 'em upside the head!" or "I'll knock him out!" but he hasn't even done anything yet. Haha!

I'm taller than like everybody here. I think that's part of the problem...I stand out too much. Today on the tour I went on, I was joking with a lady about blocking the sun for her! But the other day I saw a girl taller than me. Seriously! It was a miracle! And I know she was Spanish because of her haircut...

Stay Another Year?

So I got a letter saying that if I want to come back here to Spain next year I can! I would teach in the same school and everything. I would even make a bit more money each month. I already have some good private lessons set up even that I could continue. I have really loved being here. It's verrrrry tempting.....

What do you think? Should I stay or come back to the US?

Physician Assistant School

I FINALLY heard from the PA school I applied to back in the summer. I had an interview back in September and it took them almost 6 months to let me know anything. Man! So I am officially on the alternate list, but I have no idea what number. Even if I do somehow make it in, I won't be going this year because it starts too early for me to make it. Maybe I can defer it for one year. I'm not sure if I want to be a PA anyhow.

So after 2 rejections from Pharmacy School, and now being on the alternate list, I figure the next time I apply to whatever I will definitely get in! I'm slowly moving up. Haha! Or maybe I just need to apply to more than one school at a time. I'm thinking the next thing might be MBA school. Why do I have to change my mind so much? It's ridiculous! Anyway, just wanted to share the news and let you know where I stand.

What a Nightmare!!

Man talk about an adventure!....one I'd prefer not to have again, however....
Ok so I had a few problems with my Visa and everything here. So when I first got here, I had to get my NIE (Foreign Identity Number) to be able to open a bank account and basically just live here. But then I wasn't sure if I had to do anything else or not. Another American girl had her permiso de residencia, but another just a tarjeta de estudiante, and another guy just his NIE....so I was a little confused. They didn't inform us very well. I even went to the Oficina de Extranjeros (Office for Foreigners) twice, but they were no help. Apparently I had to make an appointment and that could only be done over the phone, not in person. Ridiculous! So I called like 10 times everyday for 2 weeks, but no one EVER answered. So I resorted to email. Well, that proved fruitless as well. This was all back in November, mind you. So I wasn't getting any responses back from my email, so I sent a few more. Well, finally I got a response from the first one I sent saying that I didn't need anything besides my NIE. So the case was closed, or so I thought....

Well, the beginning of February I got an email saying I had an appointment for Feb. 29 (today). It took them almost 3 months for them to respond!! I swear, these people don't have it all together. They have told me so many different things and all of us Americans here are all confused and all have something different. It's insane. Anyway, in the meanwhile my Visa had expired Jan. 2. So I thought, crap! They are going to see that my Visa is expired and throw me in jail or deport me back to the US, or give me a huge fine! I was scared out of my mind! I had no idea whether I should go to the appointment or not. Elise, my sister, became my mentor threw it all. So I had decided just not to show up cause I figured nothing had happened yet and the Office seemed to be a bit incompetent. But the 2 other American girls convinced me that I needed to go.....so I did!

I was so freaked out to go. It turned out not to be a big deal, but it was one heck of a day! So stressful! I woke up this morning and had to go print the emails about them telling me that all I needed was the NIE so I could show them. I tried to print it last night, but with no success. So I went by 3 locutorios this morning that were either all closed or I couldn't print anything. I finally found one, but it was getting close to my appointment. There was a taxi stop closeby so I figured I'd be fine. But when I got there after printing my emails, there was no taxi and other people were waiting ahead of me. I only had about 35 minutes until my appiontment and it was a good 45 minutes or more to walk (they said if I was late, I would have to make a new appointment - it took me 3 months to get one, so there was no way I could miss it). So I made a decision and just started booking it. I walked as fast as I could! I made it just in time to catch the bus, fortunately, so that saved me some time. After exiting the bus I started running to make it on time. And let me tell you, by the time I got there I was all sweaty and nasty, from the humidity especially. I got there at 11:15 and my appointment was at 11:20 - a miracle!

Well there was a huge line, like always, but I had an appointment right? Well, I had to wait in line anyway just to get a number. By that time it was 11:30 and I thought I had missed my appointment, but I finally got to see someone. Well, he didn't give me the chance to explain my whole situation, but just got some forms and told me I had to take them to a bank to pay some tasas (fees). So I went to the first bank and waited a good 10 minutes, but then she said she wasn't taking any more tasas. So I had to go to another bank and wait in line. Well, my forms weren't filled out, so I had to sit down and fill them out. THEN, I couldn't pay with a debit card so I had to go back to the first bank and use the ATM and go back to the other bank. Man, what a hassle! Then I went back to the Oficina de Extranjeros and gave the dude my forms with the tasas paid (20 euros). He put all my info into the computer, but.....there was a problem....

I totally thought I was going to be busted for having my Visa expired. Something wasn't working in the computer. So I had to wait a bit while the dude went and talked to some other people. Finally the problem was resolved - there was an accent mark on a letter! That was the whole problem! Finally everything was taken care of - I gave them my pictures, some fingerprints, and now I have to wait 1 whole month just to pick up my card. And I don't even know what it is! I don't know if it's the Student Card or Residence Card. It's only good till the end of May so really I'll only have it for 2 months. The whole process took about 2 hours this morning, I paid 20 euros, I tromped all over the city, and I'm thinking I probably didn't even have to do ANY of that. I probably could have just not showed up and been fine, but you never know....I'm glad I got it over with though. Now I can breathe a sigh of relief! I had like a mountain of papers too! That's what the picture is of...

Sorry if this is all confusing....let's just say that I thought I was living in Spain illegally for a couple of months, but now it's all straightened out, thank goodness! It's all kind of funny when I look back on it.

So check it out....in the Oficina I saw this dude that looked exactly like President Bush! I'm telling you, it was insane how closely he resembled him! I wanted to ask him if he was his brother or somehow related, but then I saw his passport. He's from Romania. Nope, definitely not! That was my bright spot in the day at least. I wanted to take his picture just to prove it to you. I thought about asking him, but then didn't - a little too weird. Hehe

I'M GOING TO GREECE!!!!!!

It has been my #1 dream to go to Greece for the past couple of years and now I am finally going! I can't tell you how excited I am!! My sister, Elise, and I bought our tickets online last night so now it's final. It was funny cause we were chatting online through Gmail and buying our tickets separately, but at the same time. I hope we indeed bought the same flights! Haha. No, I asked her like 5 times just to be sure. When I was in Amsterdam I bought myself a Greece travel book to read all about it and get even more excited.

So we are going in June for 1 and 1/2 weeks. Imagine this....
Spending a day at the Acropolis in Athens, then taking ferries to some small islands throughout the Aegean Sea seeing black sand beaches, white-washed towns, volcanic hot springs, hiking through old Greek ruins, riding scooters around the islands....I could go on forever for those of you who know just how excited I really am! But I don't want to make you too jealous....

My other sister, Sonya, will finish her Study Abroad in Madrid about the time we get back from Greece and then we head off on a grand tour of Europe for 3 more weeks. I can't wait!

Tourist Sites in Almeria

So my excitement for having this whole week off at work was dashed to pieces with the bad weather. It was cold, windy, cloudy, and a little rainy all week. I had hoped to sit on the beach every day and read a bit, but so much for that! Instead, I became a tourist and finally saw the rest of what Almeria has to offer. It's great cause there are NO tourists around and everything is free, now that's what I'm talking about. These are some of the things that I saw:

Mezquita de San Juan - an old mosque that was also the original cathedral of the city

Santuario Virgen del Mar - a cute little white church

Aljibes de Jayrán - underground water cisterns - now used for Flamenco concerts & meetings

Some old boats on the beach

Antigua Estacion - the old train station facade. It hasn't been used in years, but they are planning on reopening it and putting shops inside

Arqueology Museum - there was a really cool section on The Incas in Peru, then Almeria during the Arab reign (Almeria was called Al-Mariyya), then the Roman reign (Almeria was called Portus Magnus), but most of it was dedicated to the prehistoric people that lived in the area. We are talking like 3000 BC! This is a representation of the graves they made

Cable Inglés - this was originally built by the British for trains to directly load minerals from the mountains of Almeria & Granada onto big boats to be shipped out. It is no longer used, and it's got to be the ugliest thing here, but it is known as a "monument" nevertheless. There is a ship heading out to Morocco to the side

Puerta de Almeria - a museum with part of the old city wall that used to surround the entire city with various entrances (puertas)

Cerro de San Cristobal - I then climbed up the Hill of Saint Christopher to where there is a giant statue of Christ. There is a great view of the city from here, as well as part of the walls that surround the city that are still standing. Here is a view of the Castle from the back.

A statue in the city center

Pipas = Sunflower Seeds

Ok so everyone here eats sunflower seeds. It seems to be the popular snack and only the "cool" kids eat them. I've found myself munching on them quite frequently. The two most popular flavors are Mariachi and Tijuana - a little surprising for Spain! My favorite is Mariachi. I always used to think sunflower seeds were just for enjoying a baseball game, but not so here in Spain....
Apparently, there aren't any sunflower seeds in London, so one of my students took 2 kilos to her friend over Christmas!

Bruja de Suerte

The Lucky Witch. Here in Spain, the witch is a symbol of luck. Why, I don't know... but if you win the lottery (which is very popular) the witch is said to have brought you luck. This particular witch has Almeria's football logo on it. I sent it to my Mom, so hopefully she'll have good luck - not on the lottery, but in life!

EVERYBODY I meet speaks English!!

It's insane! So I came here to improve my Spanish, right? Well, it's a little hard when everybody speaks English. Each new person that I meet speaks at least a little English, if not a lot. It doesn't matter if they're from Peru, Chile, Spain, Romania. No importa. I met 2 new people today and they both speak English, even though they claim not to speak it very well.

I went to my friend Doreen's apt. for lunch and her friend spoke English. He's Spanish. Then I went to the mall to hang out with my friend Myrium who was working at a restaurant there. Her co-worker was asking me all these questions of how to say things in English. So mostly I get by here with Spanglish - seems to be the most popular language!

Apparently, in the schools here they start taking English classes at 8 years old. It's obligatory and they can't be home-schooled here. So pretty much you have to study English. I think it's a great idea.

Terremoto! Terremoto!

Earthquake! Earthquake! It's true...I experienced my first earthquake. Apparently this area of Spain has small seismic movements maybe 3 or 4 times each year. They are nothing big or scary, but you can still feel them! The other day at school I was teaching and all of a sudden the building started to shake, but it only lasted a few seconds. ¡Qué loco!