Travelers have a thing in common

Last weekend my friend and I went out for tapas and we were catching up, talking about our puentes that we went on over Christmas break.  She traveled solo except for one place where she stayed with a friend, but she was explaining how she met an Australian in Prague who was currently living in London and when she was in Austria she met a girl who was visiting friends and she was invited to see a classical music concert on New Year's Eve by them.  Pretty sweet for being in the country of Mozart and all things classical music.  We were walking back and she made a good point that I never really thought about before.  When we travel we meet people from all over the world and there's already an instant connection in the fact that we love traveling.  There're always the questions 'where are you from?', 'why are you traveling?', etc., but already you have something to talk about.  Over the summer Jill, Jackie, and I met countless people, a large number of them Australian and Canadian, but it was always fun hearing other people's stories and listening to their advice.  In Nice two sisters told us a fantastic beach to go to (way better than the beach in Nice itself) and a girl we met in Rome told us to eat at this great little restaurant hidden in the alleys in Venice.  She also told us to visit the islands of Murano and Burano and we weren't let down.  In Amsterdam we met a guy who told us where to buy cheap tickets to see a show in London and sure enough we went to Leicester Square and bought tickets to see a musical, a musical which was recommended by the girl we met in Rome.  All of these bits of information and the encounters we made had an impact that made our trip even more memorable and fun than it already was and it was thanks to other people and their love for traveling too.  Not only were we given advice about places to visit and things to do, but we also learn from other people about their culture.  How can I forget the time on the overnight train to Switzerland (my 21st birthday!) when we were sitting by two Australian girls who told us that yes, kangaroos truly are vicious and there are A LOT of them, and koalas really do sit in trees all day and just eat.  In Florence I met two Australian girls (again!) and they were talking about work, healthcare, etc., and it was quite different than ours. 

Some people love to spend money on clothes, shoes, etc., but I would spend it all on traveling.  I've told my mom and friends that my perfect job for me would be what Samantha Brown does on the Travel Channel.  She visits a bunch of places, eats the food, stays in great places, and gets to explore the world.  Who wouldn't want that job?  There are so many places in the world to explore and history to learn about I can't understand why people wouldn't want to travel and how people can be content with never leaving the city that they've grown up in.  I've been to twelve countries and this is only the beginning!  There are still so many places that I look forward to visiting in the future and I'm determined to go at some point in my life.  I'm going to Belgium at the end of February and Portugal for a week in April and I look forward to both!  Hopefully I'll be able to visit Morocco at some point too and my mom mentioned to me that she wanted to go to Scandanavia some time which I think would be amazing (they do have a Scandanavian Eurail pass afterall!). 

So us travelers, we're kind of special.  We all have a common love for something and it's amazing the places you'll see and the people you meet while doing so. 

My friend Jackie and I in the Swiss Alps this past summer

Dang, those kids are intense

Generally I like Thursdays best because those classes are usually the best behaved and I don't work Fridays, so it feels like a Friday.  There have been several times in the classes where I'm pretty sure a smackdown between the kids is going to happen and I always brace myself for inevitable shouting and hitting.  Take today for example.  My second class is one of the sixth grade ones and the kids are listening to a story in their book.  I have to read the dialogue and then the students take turns reading and translating it.  About half way through one of the girls sitting right in front of the teacher's desk decides she wants one of the boys to sit next to her and not the two other girls.  She decides to shove all of their things off their desk and yell in their faces to leave.  The other two girls yell back and pick their things up off the ground, setting it all back on the desk only for it to be shoved right back onto the floor again.  This continued for several moments and the girls continue shouting and I'm just waiting for the inevitable smack to occur.  I should say I was surprised that the teacher didn't intervene right away, but really I'm not becuase these sort of things are usually ignored.  She finally stepped in shouting right back at the girl who started it all and I'm just sitting there wide eyed.

On a better note, my school is finally getting internet and digital screens in all the classrooms.  Toma!!!!  Hopefully I'll be able to use it to my advantage and it'll be easier to do certain activities with them.

One thing I like about my school is that it's not unusual to find some sort of food that was brought in during the break.  They don't serve lunch or anything so the children bring a snack and so do the teachers, but usually someone has brought in food.  This week two teachers had birthdays and one brought in these amazing brownies the size of a sheet cake.  Today was another birthday and she brought in a bizcocho (basically a light cake) with powdered sugar on top and a slight lemon flavor.  Delicious.  As we were leaving today the two other teachers we're like 'ohh we forgot something!' so we went back inside and they were sneaking away some of the brownies.  Of course I couldn't resist when they asked if I wanted to take a piece home with me.

Dear Junta de Andalucia...

Thanks for finally giving me my medical card today.  It's nice to know that if I ever need to go to the hospital, dentist, doctors, etc. that I can now do that.  Too bad the program is practically half way over with and it's basically spring here (or what feels like spring compared to back home).  Thank goodness for those Italians who spoke English back in December when I felt a sinus infection coming on.  I also realize why the book I was given with the list of doctors, dentists, etc. is for only the Sevilla province, but really, that will only get me so far since I live in Cadiz province. 

Also, I'm still waiting for my TIE (my official card with my foreign number on it).  I applied way back in October, but at least I have my NIE (the number) so I'm not kicked out of Spain.  It's not like people check for those things around here anyway. 

Cadiz and Sevilla

Our last two stops were Cadiz and Sevilla.  Cadiz is definitely a beach city more than anything else.  We really only spent one day there because the other day we went back to Jerez, but we did climb up to the top of the tower next to the Cathedral that overlooked the city and the ocean.  We also went to a museum that had old artifacts in it - something I thought would be more interesting, but wasn't.  We did buy a Three King's Cake there because on Three King's Day we were leaving for Sevilla and I also got my haircut there!

The Three Kings cake



Cadiz

 In Sevilla we saw the Cathedral where Christopher Columbus' remains are, climbing to the top of it and having a great view of the city while also visiting the Alcazar.  Overall it was a great trip and I miss everyone back home!

Ronda and Gibraltar

New Year's Eve and Day was spent in Ronda.  It's a small beautiful town that is renowned for its bullring.  We went to the bullring the first day and I thought we could only get in to the museum at first since they don't have bullfights right now, but we were able to see where they keep them and even go out into the ring.  I was surprised to learn that they only hold bullfights there in September during their feria, or festival for the city.  We also visited the Arab baths there and it was the best Arab baths that I had seen yet.  There was also a great informative video about it in the inside and the baths used to be situated close to a mosque so that people could go there first before going to pray.  It was hard to find food later that night to eat so we ended up eating nutella on bread (not that I complained) and my sister hadn't been feeling good so we stayed in.  The next day we walked down in to the gorge where we had a great view of the bridge.  Overall Ronda exceeded my expectations and it was a beautiful city that deserves a daytrip if someone is in Andalucia.



Ronda



The bullring in Ronda

 Gibraltar was next and it was kind of a hassle to get there.  First we had to take a train to Algeciras, a Spanish port city.  Next we had to take a bus to the Spanish town of La Linea, the closest town to Gibraltar.  With all of our luggage we had to walk across a border and then get a taxi.  At the border you just walk by a window and show them that you have a passport (they don't even look at it) and then you're good to go.  Honestly, I thought Gibraltar would just be...more.  The main attraction is the Rock and that's pretty much it, although it was nice hearing English and seeing signs in English, you know, as a friendly reminder of home.  Our hotel was really nice and it overlooked the sea and we were surprised that our room had a fantastic view of the sea too!  When we checked in we got a letter along with other info about the hotel that said to make sure you keep your windows closed because apes could come in.  We didn't believe it until the next day when we were outside waiting in front of the hotel for the bus when we saw two monkeys jumping on the wall next to the hotel.  We totally did not expect it, but then we realized they were serious in the note! 

To get to the upper rock we took a cable car up (not nearly as nerve racking as the one going up in the Alps) and sure enough as soon as you get off the cable car you see - monkeys!  The upper rock is home to a type of apes and they say to not get too close and honestly, it makes you kind of nervous to just see them walking and jumping about.  At one point mom was opening her bag because Val wanted a Life Saver and a monkey started going towards her.  It was kind of scary, but the scare was averted and needless to say Val did not get her Life Saver at that moment.  We went through tunnels on the upper rock that were used in World War II which was pretty neat.  They had an old Moorish palace, but that wasn't anything special.  People thought I was crazy when I came back from my trip last summer and said that the food in England was pretty good (pasties, mashed potatoes, chicken, ummm this sounds like delicious home cooking) so yes, I did enjoy the English food in Gibraltar.  I much prefer it to my jamon that I can't get away from here, although the jamon tapas at the bodega were delicious. 



Our hotel and the Mediterranean



At the top of the rock - Morocco is just behind us over the strait



Jerez, Granada, and a side note about Spanish names

The first two days of my mom and sister's visit was spent in Jerez, the city that I live in.  Because their plane got in later than expected we didn't explore too much of the city since I showed them where I live.  They came to my apartment and met my roommate.  We also cooked dinner and then my roommate was nice enough to drive us to the hotel later that evening.  The second day we had a bodega visit.  Jerez is known for producing sherry and some brandies so a bodega is like the equivalent of a winery back home.  We went to one of the more popular ones, Tio Pepe, since it was kid friendly and everything.  There were definitely more people at the bodega on the tour than we expected there to be and the tour guide explained how sherry and brandy were made.  We also watched a short film about the start of that bodega and at the end we had tapas and were able to try two different types of sherries.  I'm not a huge fan of sherry to be honest, or at the least the kinds that I've tried, but visiting a bodega is a must in Jerez.



Val and I in front of a Christmas tree
made from sherry bottles in Jerez

Next we were off to Granada, the city infamous for the Alhambra, an old moorish palace.  This time I had made sure to get us tickets in advance so we were able to get in with no problem.  You have a designated time that you can visit the palace and the other parts, the Alcazar and other palace, you can visit whenever.  They say that it takes around three hours to go through all the parts and it's true!  The palace probably takes the longest to go through and the grounds of the Alhambra are just huge in general.  It was a twenty minute walk to the entrance to where the Alcazar and palace were! 

We hiked up (or rather took a bus up and walked down) from the Sacromonte area that are known for it's caves in the mountains and we walked through the Albaicin neighborhood, the old moorish neighborhood.  There's a great spot here that offers an amazing view of the Alhambra.
 

 This doesn't have anything to do with the trip, but I just thought of it tonight and I had wanted to mention it at some point anyway.  I'm sorry, but some Spanish names are just ridiculous or at least when you translate them they are.  There is a Maria (Mary) in every single one of my classes and if you come to Spain you will unknowingly probably meet a Maria or a Jose (Joseph) or Juan (John).  Those names are just fine, but then you get to the interesting ones.  Let's start with Jesús.  The translation is pretty easy on this one since it's Jesus.  Now back home you will not find a child named Jesus because, well, it's Jesus, but over here you shall encounter another being named Jesus.  The second one is the name of one of the girls I work with.  Purificación, or in English, Purification.  Seriously?  The next one is Inmaculada, or Inma for short.  In English it's Immaculate.  And today I heard this girl being called Ma Je and then they said her full name, Maria Jesús, or Mary Jesus.  Say what?  I get that Spaniards used to be super Catholic, but really, these names....

My mom and sister's visit part one

So my mom and sister came to visit me as many of you know and we had a great time!  I skyped everyone on Christmas and my mom had strep throat and my first thought was 'oh no, she's going to be feeling miserable most of the time!'  She was going to try and get medicine before she left so I crossed my fingers that she would.

They were flying in to Sevilla and since it's only a little over an hour away from Jerez by train I decided I was going to meet them there.  When I got to the airport it said that their flight had arrived and I was waiting and waiting and so were other people.  People came and went and a family standing nearby asked one of the people who came out of the baggage claim if their flight was from Madrid and they replied that it was from Barcelona.  The father and the daughter left and they came back shortly after.  From what I could understand either the flight was late or delayed, but either way they left.  I went and sat down and waited for about forty-five minutes until I decided to go investigate myself.  Another flight from Madrid was supposed to arrive at 12:50 so I figured surely they would at least be on that flight if theirs was delayed or they missed it.  I went upstairs to the Iberia desk and told them the flight number of the plane and they said it would come at 12:50.  When I went back downstairs I saw that the flight number was one number off from my mom and sister's flight and for a moment I started to panic that perhaps I misheard the lady, but I decided to just wait.  In the meantime I was trying to connect to the internet with my ipod since the internet provider at the airport was the same one I have for my phone so supposedly you could connect to it by putting in your number.  Of course it didn't work.

I probably wouldn't have been as anxious or worried, but over the summer while traveling to Europe there was a debacle at the airport.  Jill and I had bought our flights over to Madrid before Jackie decided she was going to come.  When she did buy her ticket her flight arrived before ours so we told Jackie to just meet us at the baggage claim when our flight arrived.  So Jill and I arrive and we are scouring the airport for Jackie and probably a half an hour had already gone by.  Jill goes up to the information desk to ask if they can ask over the intercom for her to meet us and they say no.  So we look around again when I think that perhaps this isn't the only terminal.  Turns out it wasn't.  We were in Terminal 1 and her flight was in Terminal 4.  We had to take a twenty minute shuttle ride over to Terminal 4 where we then frantically search the place, thinking for sure we would find her.  No such luck.  We tried to talk to two different information desks who were no help whatsoever when we realize that the baggage claim here is before you come out to meet everyone.  We were thinking Jackie had been sitting in the baggage claim for hours not realizing that she had to leave it (it was the first time she had flown so we weren't too sure).  I tried to go up to the security people and explain to see if we could go look for her and he said no.  Luckily we found a nice man who spoke English very well and we gave him her description and he went in search of her.  We waited and waited thinking he would come out and we would see her with him.  No such luck.  He said he didn't see anyone like her and we asked if they had internet since we couldn't connect with our ipods.  We thought we were going to have to email Jackie's mom and tell her we lost her!  When we checked our email we were so relieved to find out her previous flight had been cancelled and she would be there tomorrow!

Needless to say I was a little anxious and of course the 12:50 flight from Madrid was delayed.  So I waited and waited and then I saw the family from earlier that morning so I knew that they should be on the flight.  Luckily I could peek into the baggage claim area and I saw them!  Then they disappeared and I had to wait forever to find out that the luggage was on the following plane, but luckily it would be delivered in Jerez.  My mom was feeling much better, but now it was my sister who was feeling sick!  I was just really happy to see them! 

I'll continue to post more about the places we visited later and over the next couple of days.