La lingüística, Tarifa...y Granada (otra vez)

Hola a todos! As of today, I am scrambling to update this blog to the present, as I am still blogging about things that happened well over a month ago (hehe).

Which brings me to a very off-the-topic segway: as a linguistics enthusiast, I find it so fascinating the amount of words that have been added to our lexicon in the last 10 or even 5 years due to the internet. For example, the word "blog" has become part of common speech (for my generation, at least) and now we even have incorporated new verbs like "google it" or "I am blogging right now". Imagine if you went back in time to 1997 and said: "Check his myspace to see if you can find the link to her blog post and if you can't find it on his profile, just google it".... no one would have a clue what you were talking about!! Jeanie Mackers! (as my Irish friend Natasha would say).
Another segway: not only am I improving my level of Spanish, but I am also learning a new dialect of English from my friend Natasha, who is from Donegal in northern Ireland. She also works at my school and is an absolute joy to be around. By the end of this year, I will have incorporated a new dialect into my language inventory, which will then consist of (Spanish, very weak Italian, French (equivalency of a five-year-old) and Northern Irish English. Here's a few key phrases you should know when going to northern Ireland:

"What's the crack"= How's it going?
"Wheres the good crack?" = Where can you have a good time around here?
"That was some good crack" = I had a great time
(you could see how this might cause some confusion for an American in Ireland, hehe)

Ok, Back to Spain :)

About a week after the Feria, Aaron and I decided to take a weekend trip to Tarifa, a beautiful city at the southern tip of Spain. From Fuengirola, Tarifa is about 3 hours away on a bus (although you could arrive in half the time in a car). One of the most amazing things about Tarifa is that you can see Africa from the beach. It is an amazing sight: beautiful mountainous land, so large, you can't miss it! A large ferry leaves from the port in Tarifa every couple hours and arrives in Tanger (Morocco) in 35 minutes. We decided not to go to Morocco on that trip because it is much better to spend a long period of time there in order to see the sights further South, such as Marrakech and Fez, which can be reached by train in about 8 hours. Since we did not have the time, we spent a very relaxing time in Tarifa, which is small enough to explore in one day. The "casco antiguo" (the old part of town) is extremely charming with Arab arches that enclose and ancient walled city. After a while, you begin to wonder....how does this tiny place survive?

Well, Tarifa is very famous for one thing: kite surfing. In fact, supposedly it is one of the best kite surfing destinations in all of Europe. Because of this, in the new town, you will find a surf/kite surf shop on about every block. Each surf shop also has its own school, which provides classes with a private instructor and equipment, neither of which are cheap. Why kite surfing? Well, it would be an understatement to say that Tarifa is windy. It has powerful winds most of the day, almost every day of the year. On a good day, you might be able to lie on the beach without getting sand in your mouth and ears. But this is exactly why it is a kite surfing paradise. Now, I know what you're thinking and no, we did not try it. It was pretty expensive, I think I would kill myself, and Aaron wasn't super excited about it. So, we lived vicariously through people we met in the hostel, one of which had come for 2 weeks, just to learn kite surfing. Funny enough, his name was Aaron, and he was from Australia (they are always travelling, those Australians). He told us some crazy stories and how much it was costing, and we didn't feel so bad about not doing it. Although, he absolutely loved it...and he loved his instructor even more, a blonde and beautiful Norwegian girl who happened to be a pro kite surfer, hehe.

Overall, we enjoyed the scenery and really enjoyed meeting new people at the hostel. We befriended some girls from Zaragoza who are now living in Malaga, and they offered to take us back in their car....sí! Malaga is not far from us and since then we have gone to Malaga to see them and to explore the town. We went to the Picasso Museum, which is quite wonderful, and explored the old town where we found some amazing seafood, many dishes typical to Malaga (as you can see in the pictures, Aaron was very happy about this.)







Halloween is not really celebrated in Spain, although commercialism is introducing the idea little by little, but nothing like the states. So, of course I was encouraged to do something fun for my kids on Halloween. Because I only had one class that day, I dressed up a bit (I was the ONLY person) and brought some candy, which almost caused a small riot in the hallway. Not surprising. As I will explain some other time, the kids at my school are, how should I say it, mmmm, a bit hyperactive. I love them to death, but they are in an school environment where chaos is quite the norm, so you can't blame them. Before I knew it, I was being swarmed and pushed by kids asking for candy, including older kids who were not even in my class and who tried to fool me by sticking their hands in the bag. A little flustered, I decided to retreat to the faculty lounge until the coast was clear, and was able to find some of my students in a classroom. They were very pleased and I'm sure the teacher who had them next was surely not pleased (sugar high for everyone!).

The Spanish do, however, celebrate "El dia de los santos" (All Saints Day) which is on November 1st, which means, yes, another vacation! So, on that Halloween night, Aaron and I hopped on a bus back to Granada, to see our friends once more and to greet Vanessa, a good friend from my program at the University of Granada who until recently was living in France and had come to Spain to visit. It was so good to see her, and she and I had a great time exploring all of our old favorite bars, tapas places and teterias (tea houses).






After a great (but very cold) weekend, we headed back to the warmer coast with Vanessa as our first house guest.....yeay! We LOVE having visitors (hint hint).

But, don't pack your bags just yet, cause you might miss Aaron, who left for Morocco on November 15th. He is spending 2 weeks in Marrakech. I wish so much that I could go, but I have to work (I get to work, hehe...the truth is, my job is very enjoyable). Aaron is extending his visa time here by spending some time in Morocco so he can be here for Christmas and New Year's when our families are coming to visit as well as some of our friends. After the first week of January, Aaron is planning on spending some more time outside of the Schengen states in order to stay here until June. Croatia, Turkey, Switzerland...Thailand? He's open to suggestions. Aaron will be back home (his home in Spain, that is) around December 1st. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the states....I'm so jealous! I might just have "pollo con patatas" to try to make up for the turkey.


So, I think we have arrived to the present...it's amazing. Thank you again to everyone who has written us...it'a a joy to hear from people back home. Hope you enjoy the pictures! Aaron is taking my (much more portable) camera to Morocco so you can all look forward to his very spectacular adventure in the weeks to come. He is enjoying Marrakech and would love to hear from you all. Peace and Love!!


¡Salud!

¡Viva la Feria!

"La Feria del Rosario" is the fair that Fuengirola celebrates each year from October 6th to October 12th. The days are spent dancing "Sevillanas", drinking "Manzanilla" (Spanish Sherry) and spending time with family and friends. For those of you not familiar with the "ferias" of southern Spain, the women (and often the men) dress up with colorful, outfits in honor of their heritage and tradition.













By night, an area of town is designated for the fair grounds and a carnival is set up weeks in advance for the people to enjoy every night of the feria. The lights are extremely impressive as they line the streets of the fair grounds. There are rides, food and drink vendors, shows, outdoor bars and discos, and the "casetas", which are special tents or buildings sponsored by local clubs or families where people may be invited to eat, drink and yes....dance Sevillanas.

We had an amazing time watching all the festivities and we attended almost every night of the Feria to enjoy "patatas asadas" (baked potatoes) and "churros con chocolate" (churros with chocolate). We saw some great performances and even went on some of the rides. My good friend and colleague, Natasha, also spent a lot of time with us at the feria. How do they do it so many days in a row???










As soon as the feria was over, we were glad to have been here to enjoy it. I was ready to start at the school again and have a more consistent schedule (hehe). The next trip we took was to Tarifa, for a long weekend. I will include some thoughts and pictures from that trip in my next blog.


Hasta entonces... ¡Salud!

Ay Granada, te echaba mucho de menos...

With much relief, we settled things in Fuengirola and agreed to move in to our new home for nine months, an apartment on Calle Marconi, on October the 3rd. Until then, we ventured to Granada to catch our breath, avoid more payments to the local hostel, celebrate finding a place, and most of all....to return to the place I had grown to love so much, to spend time with the people who had made me feel truly at home in Spain not long ago.

When I lived in Granada during that amazing year, I was so fortunate to find this tiny appartment in the Albaicin at the last minute, and made the decision to live with two perfect strangers, Adrian and Carlos, who would come to be more than just people I shared my living space with: they would become like family. When I was homesick, lonely, or frustrated by langauge barriers, my new brothers always put a smile on my face and made sure I was surrounded by friends, good food, dancing and music. They helped me to see the wonderful opportunities I had there and to embrace every moment.

And with Adrian and Carlos came more wonderful people who I would grow to love. Pablo shared his love for music and was always in our house bringing laughter, great Brazilian beats, and a witty sense of humor. Gisela came from Bilbao in the north of Spain to be with Adrian, but in time, she became special to all of us. Surrounded by so much male energy, Gisela was a breath of fresh air when she came to visit...always with a open heart and a knack for making amazing "croquetas" and "bizcochos". So, it is an understatement to say that Granada was a special place for me....and going back was much anticipated!

We spent the long weekend in Carlos and Pablo's apartment in the Albaicin, enjoying the beauty of Granada and the companionship of good friends. We did a lot of cooking, playing music, and enjoying a good "desayuno" (breakfast) in the plazas of the Albaicin.

I was also very excited to see Paula, the little girl I had taken as my student while living in Granada. When I started with Paula, she was only six-years-old. I had grown very fond of the whole family who had welcomed me with open arms during my time in Granada. When I left, Paula's mother was four months pregnant with a baby boy. So, it was so wonderful to see Carmen, Paula, and her new brother, José (who is probably one of the chubbiest babies I have ever seen....and one of the happiest). Paula has grown up so much and I was so proud to hear that she gets complimented at school on her good pronunciation of English. As you can imagine, Paula was very excited to meet Aaron as she had heard so much about him, and we had such a great time with the whole family.

After having a wonderful trip to Granada, we headed back to Fuengirola, to move into the apartment and get settled. As I prepared for my first week of school, I was informed that my services that week would not be needed....it was the week of the Feria del Rosario (the Fair of Fuengirola) and many of the students would be taking the week off. A little anxious to get started at the school, I was actually disappointed to cut the week short for the Feria, but given the opportunity, it was a great week to enjoy the festivities (day and night!)...

De vuelta a España

It doesn't seem so long ago that I found myself walking the streets of Granada on my way to the University to attend my classes at the "facultad". As I left Granada to return to California during the summer of 2006, I wasn't sure if I would be back for many years. While finishing my degree in Santa Cruz, I began searching for an opportunity to return to this amazing country to continue my education. With one year of experience in Spain, I felt confident to return to Spain and continue where I left off, enjoying the Spanish culture and language. I received an email from a professor of mine about a Language and Cultural Assistant grant that is offered by the Dept. of Education in Spain. I applied immediately and upon acceptance, began to prepare for another year in Spain, this time with Aaron by my side :)

The position involves working as an assistant English teacher in a school, providing not only my native expertise (there are few native English teachers in Spain) but also offering the students a chance to learn about another culture by introducing traditions and cultural aspects from the United States. I work minimal hours and the pay is just enough to get by, but having this opportunity is priceless. I also consider another year in Spain as an opportune time to reflect on what I am most interested in and what I most enjoy doing so I may start focusing on what I might want to do in the coming future.

I was assigned to the autonomous region of Andalucía, to a High School/Middle School in Mijas (in the province of Málaga). The school is within walking distance of the coastal town Fuengirola, which is where Aaron and I have chosen to live. Most of the kids come from low-income families and the class sizes are much too large. With 1,000 students and 80 teachers, it is a school facing many challenges. The hallways are constantly in a state of chaos and culturally, Spanish people (in the south, at least) tend to be very loud, so you can imagine how loud the kids get. However, the students I have been chosen to work with have been wonderful so far. Their eagerness to learn makes up for their occasional off task behavior. I also am not working full time so I have a lot of time to relax and do other things while the teachers at the school are there all day long, which is why many of them seem quite stressed out. I help out in the bilingual program with the younger kids, most of which are between 12 and 14 years old. I provide English teaching in Social Studies, Physical Education, and English as a second language, working alongside the other teachers to make sure the kids are learning good pronunciation since there are no teachers in the school who are native speakers of English. Overall, I have enjoyed it so far...I really have to take charge and be spontaneous and often have to improvise to keep things going smoothly. It's a great challenge.

The Costa del Sol (The Sunny Coast) lives up to its name with about 300 days of sun a year and moderate temperatures in the winter. It is quite beautiful and the water is warm.
Aaron and I have already been in Spain for about a month, and so much has happened in that time. We first arrived in Torremolinos, a town just outside of Málaga. A friend of ours was generous enough to offer us a place to stay for the first few days, allowing us to recover from jet lag and ease ourselves into the Spanish schedule. From there, we traveled to Fuengirola to find an apartment before my school started on October 4th. Thank you Virginia and family for helping us settle in!


Upon arriving in Fuengirola, it was apparent that this experience would differ greatly from my time in Granada. Fuengirola is not a university town, so shared apartments were scarce and most of the young people are working and have more of a regular work schedule (as opposed to the student schedule of studying and socializing). When I say "regular work schedule", I'm referring to the notoriously relaxed Andalusian work day, which involves arriving to work around 9:30 or 10:00, taking a siesta from 3:00-6:00, and then returning home from work between 7 and 9pm. It has definitely been more challenging to meet people here, but it just takes time and effort. I have slowly connected with colleagues at my school and Aaron and I have made friends while travelling to nearby cities.

When the weather is hot, some shops here may not even open, and good luck trying to find a coffee shop open before 8:30am....not many people are on the streets at this time. I can't say this lifestyle I've come to know so well is Spanish, as many of my friends from the north of Spain assure me it is not the norm everywhere. Andalucia, as I have experienced before, has a unique flavor that does not seem to favor productivity or organization. They value social and family time more than their work, although this is slowly changing, it seems, due to the influences of television, over development, and the need to compete in the global market.

The plazas here come alive at night, when everyone sits to have a cafe and the old Spanish people sit on benches just to gossip and watch the people walk by. That is one of my favorite aspects of southern Spanish culture. The plazas are beautiful. This following photo shows La Plaza de la Constitución near our apartment. It is specially decorated in honor of the Feria del Rosario, a fair which lasted the whole second week of October.

The city of Fuengirola is very diverse because of the amount of immigrants who have come here to live and work, or simply to retire. There are many Africans from Nigeria, Senegal and Morocco who come in search of survival. On the other hand, it is an extremely popular holiday destination for the well-off British and Irish, so there is a very interesting mixture of cultures here. Aaron and I were lucky enough to find an apartment near the beach, but close to the center. Aaron wishes he had the Spanish schedule but unfortunately, he has to stay true to his American schedule to report back to the office in California. No need to shed tears for Aaron, however, as his life here is quite tranquil considering he can enjoy the beach on his lunch break by simply walking 100 meters.

After finally finding a place to settle, we were off to Granada, my old stomping grounds, to meet up with old friends, experience the magic that is that ancient city, and to attend an orientation for all the Language and Cultural Assistants who are working in Andalucía. The orientation was amazing and I was able to meet people who had received the grant from all over the world, including Belgium, France, China, England, Ireland, Germany, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, New Zealand, Holland, and the U.S. At this point, I had yet to start teaching at my school in Mijas. Granada was an amazing weekend trip and good times were had with old friends. Thank you to all the people who have written us....we appreciate hearing from everyone. I have created this blog to make it easier to share my experiences and I hope you enjoy them. Salud!

To be continued...