Gypsies

Back in November I remember hearing about how a 10 year old had a baby here in Jerez.  I kind of forgot about it until recently when my mom found an article about it and sent it to me.  It made me remember it and I had completely forgotten that it happened here.  The family is a Roma (gypsy) family that lives in Lebrija, a town closer to my school so it's maybe 25-30 minutes from here, but the baby was born here in Jerez.  The article talks about how the mom was happy that her daughter had a baby and how she doesn't see anything wrong with it.  It also talks about cultural differences among the Roma.  Here's the link to the article if anyone is interested in reading it: http://www.aolhealth.com/2010/11/03/mom-in-spain-happy-her-10-year-old-gave-birth/?ncid=txtlnkusheal00000002

One thing you will be sure to find in any semi-large European cities are gypsies.  They always hang around the major sights and here in Spain it's usually the Cathedrals.  Here they try and sell you something that could be rosemary, but who knows.  In the major European cities they come up to you and ask "Do you speak English?" and beg for money.  Most people know to just ignore them, but of course there are those who don't.  Example:  I was eating ice cream over the weekend and sitting on a side of the Mequita and these two guys maybe around my age were walking.  A gypsy woman and her baby she was carrying would sometimes randomly ask for money and as she passed the two guys one of them stop and sort of hesitated.  She had kept walking, but as soon as the one guy hesitated she went right back to him and they kept walking, but she followed.  I kind of laughed and two other guys sitting nearby were too and eventually the one gave her some money.  Over the summer we saw so many of them who would always ask "Do you speak English?"  I eventually told one of them in Berlin in English, "No, I don't speak English."  They're pretty easy to spot too.  Usually they have tan skin and darker hair and they always wear long skirts and mismatched shirts.  It's not like they blend in.  When we were in Paris we stopped to take a picture of the Arc d' Triomphe and one gypsy girl came up to Jill and barked in her face and then left.  Literally. 

Cordoba

This weekend I went to Cordoba mainly to see the Mezquita.  I definitely could have visited everything in one day, but I had already bought my train ticket and booked two nights in my hostel.  On Friday afternoon I decided to go explore La Juderia, the Jewish quarter.  I went to the Synagogue which is one of only three synagogues in Spain.  The other two are in Toledo and I visited one of them when I went with my highschool the first time I came to Spain.  It was quite small and only one room and slightly less impressive than what I thought it would be.  I vaguely remember the synagogue in Toledo and that's the only time I've ever been inside of one.  Plus, I'm not sure the one in Toledo is even used and the one in Cordoba surely isn't.  One cool thing about the synagogue in Cordoba was it had Hebrew verses engraved on the walls.  As I was leaving and walking down the street I heard two Australian guys discussing when the Muslims, Jews, and Christians all lived in Spain and trying to straighten out the history.  I kind of smiled as they tried to figure it out and then they turned around and asked me if I knew.  So we stopped and I gave them a brief history of when the Muslims came and how the Muslims and Jews were expulsed. 

After my brief history lesson I went to this museum that is known for making paper, although it wasn't really too interesting, but it gave me something to do.  Then I went to another museum that discussed Judaism in Cordoba.  On Saturday morning I went to the Mezquita and I went early enough because my hostel told me that if you go between 8:30 and 10:30 it was free.  I got there around 9:50 and still had to pay eight euros, even though I saw a sign that said it was free until ten.  Oh well, it was well worth the money.

The Mequita was originally a Cathedral, but when the Muslims lived here it was turned into a mosque and it's probably most famous for that.  It was eventually converted back into a Cathedral, but you can see the Islamic influence still.  The mihrab, the place where the imam (leader) leads prayer from is still there.  Normally a mihrab faces Mecca, but the one in Cordoba doesn't and historians have yet to figure out why not.  The most amazing thing about the Mezquita though is the arched columns that are painted white and orange.  The inside is so much larger than I thought and the columns go all throughout and it was just amazing.  This alone was worth the visit!  I'll post pictures later when my internet is back to its normal speed.

One thing I noticed in Cordoba was there were hoardes of Americans there, especially students.  I think the new school semester is starting since I met a German and French girl who were both there about ready to start school.  Americans are easy to spot and I can be feet away and not even have to hear us speaking to be able to tell.  We travel in packs and there's just this air about us that says "oh, they're an American".  Maybe we have an air of confidence about us, afterall I did read that we were the "most confident" country - not too surprising there, but it's just easy to tell.  And let's not forget the Asians.  They always travel in large packs, always have their cameras, and the younger ones always pose with the peace sign.  Let's just hope that when they travel to the UK they don't throw up the peace sign.

Spanish children

Today in my first grade class we talked about the body and since next Monday is Valentine's Day I had a Valentine picture for them to color.  As I'm sitting there the kids are talking to each other in Spanish and I overhear quite an interesting conversation for six year olds.  I heard some of the kids saying "kill yourself!".  I have no idea why or what brought this on, but they were most definitely talking about killing yourself since I heard 'matate' and 'quita', both which refer suicide.  Obviously they were joking, but it still surprised me.  Then one of the girls asks "well what if they call the police and they come?"  The boy who they were saying 'kill yourself' to and who was laughing along with it replied, "Run!" 

In the sixth grade class four girls were sitting at their desks sniffing glue for a few minutes.  Then in the second grade class one seven year old came up and informed me that he has a girlfriend.  Oh goodness. 

A little note

Yesterday in one of my second grade classes I received a note from one of the girls, Daniela, that said "maestra mala, muy mala" (my bad to my facebook status:  I mixed up maestra and mala), which translates to "teacher bad, very bad".  I wasn't offended by it and I laughed when she gave it to me.  I had seen her writing it and she gave the other teacher a note too, although I'm not sure what it said.  From the beginning she would always tell me speak in Spanish (which all the kids say to me), but she knows I can't.  When I do speak English she replies "no entiendo" or "I don't understand".  Go figure.  So when she gave me the note I wasn't the least bit offended.  I really think it means she likes me.  She thinks it's oh so funny to tickle me and giggles as I try to stop her.  Niños.

If snow ever came to Jerez...

I've come to the conclusion that if it ever snowed in Jerez it would be quite problematic.  I already had this figured out when people complained how cold it was a couple months ago, but today just proved it.  It's been cooler here all week and especially in the mornings.  In the morning when we go to work it's been between 37-39 and it was pretty cold this morning too.  One of the girls I go to work with had a thin layer of frost that was partially icy and I sat her and watched how she dealt with it.  Back home we'd turn the defroster on and get out a scraper to scrape off the ice, but oh no, not here.  First off, she didn't have the defroster on or any sort of heat which would have helped melt the ice quickly.  Second, she tried using a towel to get the ice off, which, obviously, was not going to work at all.  She kept repeatedly trying to spray more water on it and I know from experience that that will not help one bit.  It only makes it worse.  Then she decides to get out some sort of spray that looked like the color of Windex and she sprayed it on the front window.  Maybe I should have told her she needed something to scrape it off with and she should turn the defroster on, but honestly it was too funny watching it all and it's not like I know the word for ice scraper.  Nothing was working, but she got back in the car and we started to drive, although you couldn't see anything out of the window.  We pull over and she gets out some small plastic card, smaller than a credit card, and starts to scrape part of it off.  Finally she realized you had to scrape it off with something! 

If people here don't know how to get a small bit of frost/ice off their car, I'm sure the entire city would be shut down if it snowed even a little bit.

Spanish customs is a pain

I've gotten several packages sent to me from home and not once did I receive the dreaded customs letter that my package was stuck in Madrid.  Until yesterday that is.  I first heard about this awful procedure on facebook in the group that I'm in for the program.  People were telling horror stories about their packages being detained in customs and this long process they had to go through to get their package.  One girl wrote that someone she knew ended up paying 260 euros for her package while another said one of hers ended up in Spain and another ended up back in the U.S. after months of waiting.  The paper you receive barely explains anything and I asked my roommate if she could help explain what I need to do to get it.  She said she had to go to the post office today so when she was there she asked about it.  They told her that more packages are being detained in customs, especially ones from the U.S., and if it does get sent back home you still have to pay a customs fee.  She made it sound like they pick packages at random to detain. 'Sometimes they keep them and sometimes they don't' was her wording.  Well dang.  It's definitely a way just to get more money out of you and it's extremely frustrating.  You only have a certain amount of days to fax these 'documents' and they don't specify what exactly these are.  I have no idea where to even find a fax machine over here and I'm not sure if I have to scan the paper they sent with it so then I would have to find a fax machine and a scanner.  Like that's going to be easy.  Even if I don't get the package at least it'll be sent back home, although it's all super frustrating. 

Why I'm glad it's February

I'm glad it's February for a couple different reasons.  First, I have four months left in Spain!  I'm truly grateful for the opportunity to be living and teaching here and I'm so glad I did it, but there truly is no place like home.  I'm not really homesick and I'm looking forward to the last few months here since there's so many things going on (the Feria, Semana Santa when I'm going to Portugal, etc.).  I'll be so happy to spend the summer back home with all my friends and family!  Plans are already being made (T. Swift concert with Jill either in Columbus or Louisville) and it'll be nice to celebrate my birthday in the U.S. for a change.  It'll be the second time in five years that I'll have been back home to celebrate it!  (When I was 18 I was in Germany, 19 in Mexico, 20 I was home, 21 on a night train from Barcelona to Switzerland). 

Second, I can't wait for it to be warm here!  I can already hear the grumbling about how it's in the 50s here and there is a blanket of snow back home, but at least back home everyone is comfortable sitting inside a 70 degree house even though it's 14 outside.  My heating in my flat consists of a round metal plate under the table in the living room so really, only if you are sitting on the couch do you get the warm.  My four euro slippers were one of my best purchases here and I have three blankets on top of my comforter.  I guarantee the inside of my flat is colder than everyone's house back home.  Sure it's cheaper, but I know there have been some days here where it was warmer outside than it was inside.  When I skype people I'm always wearing the same sweatshirt because it's freezing, although I have two new ones now (thanks mom, although maybe they were secretly tired of seeing me in my purple sweatshirt.  Just kidding!).  I'm ready for it to truly be spring here just for the reason that I really want my flat to be warmer. 

I'm also going on two trips in February.  I'm going to Cordoba next weekend since it's not too terribly far by train.  It's known for the Mezquita, which was at one point the third biggest mosque in the world after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.  I've seen pictures of the inside and I'm really excited to see it and share the pictures with everyone.  I'm going to Belgium at the end of the month also since we have a longer break.  I'm already thinking about waffles and chocolate, mmm.