Cordoba

Well I finally went to Cordoba, and it was just as nice as I thought it would be. Everyone told me a day or a night would be sufficient, but I spent 3 full busy days there, with time to relax too.

I don't think one day in any city is sufficient, if you really want to get "to know" the city. For example, I thought a day trip to Toledo was enough. So I made a day trip to Toledo…then another, and then another. There's always something new to find. Even in small towns or "pueblos", well I guess there are exceptions.

I stayed in the best place I've ever stayed, I think, at least here in Spain. It was an ancient Andalusian house, made from stone with a central patio in the middle of all the rooms. Surprisingly, it was kind of like a hostel even though I found it on airbnb. There were a lot of people staying there, I wasn't sure how many rooms there actually were. The lady was nice, don't think her first language was Spanish, but it wasn't English, because she didn't begin speaking to me in English when I told her I was from California. She kind of reminded me of my grandma.

Cordoba is hot. The way cities are built in Southern Spain are with small, narrow, streets, allowing the air to pass through and preventing the sun from beaming down on the walls. Also, the central patios in every house allows an opening up and through the house so air can flow. The streets are made with cobblestone so that it allows air to pass as well. When walking barefoot (way back in the day), in order to prevent your feet from burning, the streets were made this way so there was space between the stones to keep it cool. The fact that the houses are made of stone provides natural air conditioning, no joke! I would walk out of the hot streets into the cool and shady house. It was amazing, the stones were kept cold because they were out of the sun and kept the place cold. That'd be a good idea for houses in Thailand…all we have in my grandma's house there are tons of fans. And the canal I guess.

This was the first trip I took alone, I hope my mom is okay with that. It was nice, I got to do everything I wanted at my own pace and when I wanted. The Cathedral/Mosque was smaller than I expected, but it was amazing to see the Christian, Catholic, and Islamic fusion inside and out. There was an Alcazar, which I almost liked better than the one in Sevilla, but the one in Sevilla is bigger I'll give it that. I enjoyed "salmorejo" which is similar to "gazpacho", which is basically cold tomato soup, popular in the south because of the hot weather. I use to not like gazpacho when I first studied in Madrid, but now it's grown on me. I admit that there will be some Spanish food that I'll miss when I'm back in the states, and I'll just have to make it.

Taking the bus was okay, 7 hours both ways. But I got to see a lot of landscapes. I love how there are just all these random ancient buildings all around. Not only castles at the top of hills, but little buildings that were probably old bathrooms or who knows what, that are left over. They just sit in the middle of the fields, the grass, or the farms. They would make for good pictures, if only I had a car!

I'm too scared to drive here…the small european streets are too intense.

I won't even be here in Cartagena a week, we're off to Morocco this Saturday, I'm ready for something a little different. Or very different. Semana Santa begins Friday, Viernes de Dolores. I'm really excited to finally see the processions. I've seen videos and they seem intense. The first one is Friday at 3:30am, apparently everyone goes out at that time to see the first procession! And I'll be there!  Lots of my students are participating in the processions in the area, probably won't see them though.

Spring has brought around flowers that smell like the flowers that grow around the Thai Temple in Berkeley. They're not exactly the same, but the smell is.

Life so far

Well, I haven't got much to report. Well I did go to Granada a second time and to Valencia for Las Fallas which is a festival where they burn a bunch of burnable sculptures. But that's not what I want to write about. I want to write about life so far, in general.

Thanks to Facebook we get to look back on our lives in documented form. For me, I generally look back at old photos. And man have I had a good life so far!!!

I've grown up with the two best little brothers.
I've got friends that have got my back no matter what. Friends that I can count on from across the world at whatever time day or night.
My parents are cool.
I've been spoiled with amazing cooking since the day I was born.
I've traveled.
I've seen things that are different from what I am surrounded by on a day to day basis.
I've grown up around cultural diversity.
I went to college.
I graduated.
I experienced "dorm life".
I was able to rent a cabin in the mountains and go snowboarding with all my friends. Twice.
I've learned another language.
I've seen the Eiffel Tower and the Colosseum.
I get to visit my grandma in Thailand.
My other grandma is the best human being alive.
I've gone scuba diving, and saw a giant tortuous.
I've gone zip lining in Costa Rica and Ecuador.
I've lived with families that are not my own.
I have a job.
I've swam in the Pacific Ocean, in the Meditteranean Sea and South China Sea, and dipped my feet in the Atlantic Ocean.
College was a great 5 years, but there will be many more great years to come.
I am currently living in the south of Spain.
I have health insurance (both here and in the U.S.)
I have grown up in Berkeley, California.
I have laughed so hard it hurt.
I've cried so hard it hurt.
My parents make me strong.
My friends make me strong.
My brothers are there for me to be completely ridiculously annoying around.
I've ridden an elephant.
I teach.
I have lived where the tallest trees grow.
I have lived where the craziest people seem to settle down.
I've gone inside the Oregon caves.
I've been camping.
I spent two amazing weeks in Hawaii with my best friend and her parents.
I've been in plays.
I've seen elephant seals in real life.
I've ran out of a canal because there was a giant snake.
I've crossed a bridge with lots of crocodiles below it.
I'm healthy as far as I know.
I celebrated New Years in Las Vegas, and in Madrid twice.
I have loved and been loved.
I've been inside a crater.
I've driven down California highways in a red convertible blasting music with my friends not caring about anything in the world.
I've been to the "City of Angels"….San Francisco is better.
I've eaten guinea pig.
I am able to travel with my family.
I have had the help and inspiration of teachers and academic advisors.
I have done lots of things that many others cannot.

Where do we draw the line between appreciating what we have and bragging about what we have? Is it wrong to be happy for all the things you have done? Should we constantly live in a depressing world where we compare ourselves to others who have less or to others who have more? Or should we just focus on what we truly want and think about. We don't have to feel guilty for the good things we have in life. We don't have to feel sad about the bad things we have in life. Do what you want to do and try to make things better in the world at the same time. At least don't' make them worst. But don't overanalyze, you will drive yourself crazy. If you want to spend big money on a fancy dinner go ahead. If you want to save up your money for a vacation in 10 years that's fine too. If you want to ditch a party and stay in, so what. If you want to spend your life in an office okay. If you want to spend it working on a boat that's great. No one can judge, we're all too different. We're too many in this world to know what's right or wrong. I guess it comes down to what they teach you in elementary school: treat others how you want to be treated. And Bob Marley: Don't worry be happy.

Homesick? Or just plain sick?

Well, nothing makes you miss your mommy more than being sick away from home. Let alone in a different country where they speak a different language and their hospital system is completely different. So you end up confused with a woman yelling at you in a different language at the front desk about why you don't know how to make an appointment, and you can barely keep up because you have a fever and pain in your stomach. I just wanted to punch her in the face, if I had had the energy, who knows. If I worked in a hospital, I would be a little more empathetic towards people that came in, obviously they feel horrible, and just need some help. Just because she hates her job or is having a bad day doesn't mean she needs to wipe her issues out on me. Finally, I found the nice lady that had helped me back in November, she was more understanding, and spoke a little slower. Which is all I needed.

The hospital I am assigned to here is not the best, people say it is the "ghetto" of Cartagena. It's not in the best condition, is very small, and always packed with people waiting for their appointments that are an hour behind schedule. Then you have the gigantic hospital that is not exactly in Cartagena, but a 10 minute bus or train ride away. But what is closer, is always more convenient for the people.

Sitting in the waiting room I was so angry with that woman downstairs, and exhausted and helpless (at least that's how I felt). I wanted to cry out of frustration. Then I realized how good I have it. How privileged I am. Here I am actually being seen for being sick, and I don't have to pay anything, in a different country. In the United States, I am lucky to be covered under my parents. In the United States especially, so many people are not covered, and go untreated or in debt for the rest of their lives. Now, I don't have it great, not even close, but I do have it a lot better than a lot of people. I also thought of my mom, my tough woman of a mom. I remembered all the stories she told me of her as a kid in Thailand, the dentist trip she had to make alone to get a tooth pulled, and walking back basically through the jungle afterwards to get home, bloody napkin in hand. I hope I can do that if the time ever calls for it. I know a lot of people who couldn't. Well, all of that made me feel better, and re-think, and calmly wait for the doctor. Luckily I love my doctor. Even though she prescribed me nothing and I'm pretty sure something is growing inside my stomach! Unless I'm paranoid…I don't know why I think I know more than a doctor does…I wish she would have just given me something.

But being sick does make me miss home, specifically my mom. Moms know all.

Being cooped up inside for 3 days gives you a lot of time to think, and thus write. When I finally came out of my shell, the world was bright, people were weird, I felt like I was in a bubble. But when I got to spend an hour with my favorite two boys that I teach English to, by the end I felt a lot better! Surprising.

Tomorrow I have a full day of high schoolers. Have you ever wondered, how do teachers do it? How do they NEVER get sick? They are there, all the time. Rarely do they take a sick day. Maybe with high school teachers it's different, because in elementary schools, the kids cough, sneeze, lick, touch, whatever and everything. Imagine though, if I was the main teacher, and I had to take off 3 or 4 days off of work?? What a disaster.

You'd think that homesickness would be gone within the first 3 months, but oh man it does come in waves at random times. 5 months or something later, yea I'm sick, so maybe that's why. Hopefully I'll be better by Monday, I'm going to Valencia to see the festival Las Fallas. My friend Elena told me even before I came that I need to go, and she lived in Valencia, so she knows!

Now I have to finish my powerpoint presentation on St. Patty's day. It's an Irish now Irish-Northamerican holiday, that I have nothing to relate to except that it's an excuse to have a few drinks and put on a big green hat. I wonder how it feels for people in this program who come from completely un-Northamerican cultures or backgrounds, with different religions and everything, and who are expected to give presentations on all theses typical holidays. Holidays completely irrelevant to them. My last presentation I'll do before I leave is this epic, kinda long, presentation all about Thailand! With videos, photos, everything. It'll be great.

Mind of a 15 year old

It always feels like I haven't written anything for longer than it actually has been. For the record though, my last post I had actually written a couple weeks before during a break at school, and then finally posted it the 18th of February. It was mostly about the option of staying here for the summer as an au pair. After finding out it would cost a lot of money to change the date of my return flight to California, I probably won't stay here as an au pair. I still have to find out if any of the families are willing to pay for my flight change (often times, families fly people over from the U.S. to live and speak English with their families for a summer, so why not a flight change?)

The past two weeks have been filled with good bye parties, dinners, outings, events in general. As well as welcome events for the new Erasmus. A few really good friends will be leaving back to their countries in the next few days *tear* it's sad but kicks in the reality that this won't be home forever. On the bright side, I have more excuses to travel and visit them. So far that includes Canada (Montreal), Sweden, and Italy, not bad. Everyone I meet says they want to go to California, so I think I'll be hosting a lot of people in the near future, better get my own place or at least room in a place. I've had little time to rest, and do my own thing. Which after a while, you start missing. Those lazy days where you don't step outside your house or apartment. Stay inside reading, watching t.v., cooking, sleeping, planning adventures, looking up stuff to do with your life, etc.  There are just so many events here with the new program ISAC (International Students Association of Cartagena) which is an amazing group/association that creates events for all the international students here. Which prior to, nothing existed like that. From movie sundays to jam sessions, to trips to other cities, ISAC is making it big. They just started it up this past fall.

I prefer being in the classroom alone with students, it allows me to be my real teacher self. When I'm with another teacher, I feed off of their energy, if they're serious, so am I, if they're silly, so am I. But most of the time I find myself laughing at their ridiculous jokes, even when I should be a symbol of authority. But then again, I'm just the teaching assistant, i'm allowed to be ridiculous. But it makes me think about the age I actually act. There I am, laughing with the students at stupid jokes or ridiculous situations. I can relate to them, still, and they are no older than 15 or 16 years old! When will I mature to be that serious teacher who really shows authority and focuses on the lesson plan? Or do I even want to be that teacher? Are the best teachers the ones that can relate to the age of their students? I need to find a good balance. The classroom is a science experiment, which makes it interesting everyday. Although, in the elementary school, a lot of the times I find myself bored and constantly looking at the clock. They work directly from the book though, every, day….not very stimulating if you ask me.

Well, whether my mind is where it should be at a 23 year old level, or if its at a 15 year old level, seems to be working so far. I think…

Just found out one of my best friends might come to Spain!!!!! I really hope she does, that would be an experience. I haven't traveled for two months, and i'm getting antsy. Currently planning weekend trips to Valencia for Las Fallas, Bilbao in the north, to Cordoba and Malaga, and eventually want to fit in Berlin and Sweden. For Semana Santa we will be going to Morocco, and my last big trip will be to Italy and Greece, which I want to start planning for now because I'm so excited for it.

I'm not going to lie, I am a bit homesick. I miss California. It's awesome. I miss the essence of Berkeley and the Bay Area in general. I keep daydreaming about all the familiar spots I will go to when I get back. The more and more I travel, the more and more I see how great the Bay Area is. The diversity (in  people, food, music, culture, religion, etc). It is such an accepting culture. Hard to not miss it. I don't miss the north really, so much as the people. It's been 6 years since i've lived in the Bay Area, and i'm ready to live there again as a 20-something year old and go out and experience what it has to offer. Hopefully I can find a grad school program in that area.

I think I've covered everything I've wanted to say. This weekend is Carnaval, no idea what I'll dress up as. I'm thinking a cat, and orange, or a pirate. Until next time!

Au Pair

So I´ve been in-between thoughts about staying in Spain and going back to California. I don´t know if I´ll do another year here, and the numbers for the program are already very high. If I really wanted to though, I´m sure I could request to stay in Cartagena and continue to work at the schools where I am currently working. I don´t know if I would have to go back to the U.S. to do another Visa application? Just thinking about it makes my head hurt. Another option was for me to stay here during the summer (since everyone has told me the summers here are the best, of course) and live and travel and basically spend all my money instead of making money. I could always find private lessons though. It´d be nice to stay in Cartagena, since i´ve already got a network going here. Another option just came up, Au Pairs. The program is for the summer, and all over Spain, but more positions in Madrid. This would be a good way to stay and make money but still be in Spain. It is a big commitment though. Living with a family gives me less freedom, although I´d have my own room, still. It would be a 40 hour a week job with kids, probably little kids, taking care of them, and I don´t know if that floats my boat. Nannyspeaking is already hard enough. Kids really take the life out of you. But maybe it would be easier if I´m living with them, and actually doing stuff. I would be required to teach them English in lesson form at least 2 hours a week. The program offers anywhere from 2 weeks to the entire summer, so maybe I could do a month, then another month to travel, I don´t know. They would pay for my ticket as well, but maybe I can just have them pay for a date change in the one I already have. So those are my options. Oh, also I could just stick with my return date and go back to work this summer and academic year. But is that what I want? Rent is SO cheap here, I´m talking 140 euros a month, that´s like $200. Way cheaper than anything I would find in California. I´ll apply to the Au Pair program, and see where I get placed, etc.

It´s amazing what you can shock kids with. Today we made Valentine´s Day cards.

Bored

Sometimes inspirational or good titles don´t come to me, and frankly I´m writing a blog post because I´m bored and have nothing to do during my 2 hour break here at the elementary school. It sucks that I am here from 9am-2pm but only work 3 hours. Since it is a town away from Cartagena, I can´t go back during my 2 hour break. So I surf the web, make lesson plans, plan trips, and day dream basically. All the kids here have exams this week, so that´s what we´ve been doing in class. It´s interesting to see the wide variety of levels in the English language here, a lot of the Moroccan students are still learning Spanish. I think there is some obvious discrimination against those kids, because of their origin. Both from the students, and I have seen some subtle actions from the teachers. I´ve talked with the other auxiliar about it and a couple of the teachers. Why do us brown people always get the short end of the stick? Really, where did darker skin become the "bad" and white or lighter skin become the "good" or "superior"?  In the majority of countries and cultures world wide, society always seems to follow this. Does it have to do with the general idea of lightness associated with heaven and darkness associated with hell? Daylight is nice but nighttime is scary?? I don´t have answers, i´m just writing thoughts. Even if two people are "pure" whatever, Spanish, Thai, Moroccan, etc. the child who comes out lighter skinned with lighter hair, is preferred or praised more often than the child who is not. It seems to be in only some parts of the United States and other countries where tanning or tanned bodies is desired. But even still, a tanned body is different than a naturally brown body. In the Spanish language, i´m a morena, which I know is just whatever, and is common, but it literally means brown girl. Or when they say el negro/la negra, it´s weird! It´s one of those cultural differences, or more linguistic differences that has taken me more time to get use to. Maybe it´s the fact that I am directly referred to as la morena? Because it doesn´t bother me when people say eres morena, but more when they use it as my name. I have a name, bruh. Should I take it as a compliment? I don´t know! Or if people would say la chica negra instead of just la negra. I should re-take linguistics.

That was a long paragraph. All in all, I understand the differences. But these are things that have crossed my mind more than a couple times.

Finding a flight from Madrid to Morocco has been more difficult than we thought, they´re pricey, probably because it´s only one way. Not sure what we´ll end up doing. Berlin is coming up, 2 weeks-ish, and it´s going to be COLD. As in, below freezing cold...pertty sure I´m going to die. I can´t find it in me to buy a new jacket just for that, plus how would I fit it in my suitcase on my way back to the states. Might go snowboarding en La Sierra near Granada, if it´s affordable.

The english language...why do we have two ¨f¨s in affordable if we only pronounce one? Or two ¨r¨´s in preferred if we only pronounce one?!

I´m looking on Pinterest for recipes, I looked up ¨Thai peanut sauce¨ then realized my mom is Thai....so I just emailed her. I need to learn more recipes. I don´t know how she does it, goes to work all day then comes to cook the best meals ever at home, incredible.

I guess bringing towels to the gym here in Spain, or in Europe in general is a norm, and a requirment. So when the guy came up to my sweaty self asking where my towel was, pretty embarassing. I didn´t know! Definitely went home shortly after that. It´s a nice gym though, with good classes.

I found a good website for printable coloring pages for a variety of subjects from the alphabet to holidays to music, better for younger kids. The website is twistynoodle.com 

Smiles

I'm sitting here at the elementary school where I work, and in the office I sit directly facing the open door where students constantly walk by. Whenever a student of mine sees me, they put on this huge smile and wave either saying "hello teacher" or "hola maestra". One of my first graders just passed by and did this while entering his classroom. Those smiles you can tell are so natural, and it's impossible for them to not smile, because they're so innocent and happy and un-corrupted by the world. And in response I can't stop smiling when their cute little chubby faces are grinning back at me. You can see the happiness in their eyes!!!! As cheesy as it is, that smile finally inspired me to write a post.

I still prefer teaching older students.

After traveling for 2 1/2 weeks I was exhausted. So now I'm very excited to just hang out in Cartagena, work, eat, and relax, and workout since I joined that new Vivagym that everyone is raving about. Talk about first world problems huh? Too much traveling, oh no! Poor me...but it IS exhausting.

Traveling with my family was amazing, a privileged experience, and of course, frustrating. I think we can all relate to family time as great and sometimes unbearable at times. I was so happy to be with them. Christmas day, just staying inside and watching movies with my brothers was exactly what I needed. Makes me think about when're we're ALL grown up and have our REAL own lives, how many times will we be able to hang out for an entire day together watching movies and eating chocolate...we spent Christmas in Paris and New Years in Madrid. Partying with Watson was at first extremely weird and uncomfortable, for the both of us, but after the first time we got used to it. Wyatt enjoyed the parks and outdoorsy stuff, my parents enjoyed the museums, historical sites, food and drink.

When I finally came back to Cartagena, it was sunny and warm, made me really appreciate where I live. I am not built for the cold.

One of my roommates will be leaving us soon, she's only here for a semester. That'll be sad, and to think about who will replace her?! We went out to tapas last night, always fun, and filling. Cartagena is one of those small cities, or towns, where you almost always run into someone you know. My official favorite tapas place is Maricastaña.  DELICIOUS! About food and eating...usually I bring a lunch to school, and eat it around noon. Because normally, I am hungry at this hour and don't have any other time to eat because I'm either running to the bus, on my way to a tutor class, or working. You can't imagine the looks I get. Eating at any other time besides 2-5pm is ridiculous. Always always always I get weird looks from other teachers and they ask me "You're eating?" What do I say to that question? "Yes, i'm eating"...and they always continue with "You're eating at this hour?" And on and on.  Some people don't ask and just look at me. I like to think they're just jealous and hungry. Sorry, but I'm going to eat when I'm hungry.

My next planned trip is to Berlin. SO EXCITED! I looked up a bunch of things to do there, and there is a ton of stuff, luckily we'll be going for 4 nights, and have 3 full days to be there and do stuff. Semana Santa I'll be going to Morocco, also super excited. Ready to see something different! I wonder if I 'll ever be able to "settle down" in a place for a long time, eventually I will have to. Being a teacher, at least I get 2 months to travel in between.

I have started looking for jobs back in California, for the summer and academic year. A lot harder than I expected. But it puts my mind out there in California. Now I'm starting to plan my summer, my life there. Which is weird, being that I'm still living here. I thought I was going to do a second year, but when the time actually came to it, I didn't. There is still the option, but I'm not going to. I don't think I would make as much money as I am right now, since I have two jobs plus extra tutoring hours. I want to get my credential in the process too, so i'm not screwed with health insurance in two years. Definitely drift into jobs that are abroad though, when I'm searching online for jobs. Somehow I always end up on those sites. I've found some great programs! But it'll have to wait a bit. All the jobs I've been looking at require more education than I have, as in a credential or 5 years or more teaching experience. Still young though.

I always have all these thoughts to write about but when the time actually comes I can't remember them all. Just made a super long presentation/class about Thailand, can't wait to show it to my classes!!!