Manoli.

“There’s nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be." - john lennon

Manoli.

Last weekend, Elli and I went back to Sevilla for Christmas. When I lived there, I was there from January to June. So I had never gotten to experience Sevilla at christmas time. And I know it sounds corny, but it was pure magic in every way. Christmas lights plus el ambiente de sevilla, just felt like home.

I was super sick with the flu and bronchitis and debated not going to Sevilla on Thursday night. But I'm so glad I did. It was like in the high 60s, like 15-20 degrees warmer than madrid - which was exactly what I needed. And I don't how its possible to be healed with out knowing that you needed it, but that city just heals me in every way.

I finally saw Manoli on Friday afternoon/evening. And it was everything I dreamed it would be and more. I spent 3 hours just talking to Manoli about life, love, and dreams for the future. The time I spent with her made me remember, just how much we are like souls. How we have strong personalities, but that makes you love stronger and harder. And how she believes in being the best person you can be, she reminded me that I need to strive to be the best version of myself, which I often forget to make a priority in this crazy world. She told me that when you are really in love, you'll stay together, and when you're really in love, you'll know that it's meant to be. She made me remember that, while nice things make you more comfortable to live, living within your means in enough, and loving your family is more important.

She is just one of the best people I know. And she changed my life completely. It's crazy because when you think about all the people who have a profound influence on your life. And I think of her. I think of how I would be such a different person, without Sevilla, but especially without her. She's just one of those people that is so very close to my heart, and I'm so thankful for that.

2 weeks of bronchitis.

So if you didn't read my blog while I was in Sevilla (4 years ago) you know that I like to blog about everything. While this is a grand adventure and it's super fun and I get to travel around the world and live in Spain, it's also real life. So I like to portray that because not everything is always fun and flowery.

So let me tell you about the past 2 weeks.... being sick in a foreign country is just as awful as I remember it. When I was in sevilla four years ago, and I lived with Manoli, my friend Amir and Manoli both got bronchitis within like 2 weeks of each other. And those being 2 principal people I spent my time with, it was a big deal - maybe a few weeks later, I got some form of upper respiratory infection which turned into walking pneumonia because I waited 3 weeks to go to the doctor. It was totally not fun at all and quite miserable. I literally laid in bed for weeks, so sick, but dragged myself to school everyday because we had a super strict attendance policy at UPO. Ana claudio (one of my favorite UPO professors) sent me home from school one day and told me not to come back until I had gone to the doctor. Manoli also took really good care of me when I was sick so it made it better as well. I'm telling you this because that experience was pretty awful.

So fast foward to the present... and about 2.5 weeks ago, my friends, Elli and Brittani both had tonsilitis, so I knew it was coming to me soon because if you know me really well, you know that I get sick super easily. It's been better since I had surgery in May, but without allergy shots, I knew it was coming. I was really trying to avoid being sick by drinking a liter of orange juice a day. Orange juice can only do so much though...

So that Friday morning, I woke up and my throat was scratchy, like a cold/sore throat/need antibiotics because something is coming on scratchy. So after school on Friday, I went to the doctor and he looked at my throat and said I had pharngyitis (like tonsilitis, but I don't really have tonsils since my adenoid/tonsil reduction). He gave me antibiotics and all was well. I went out for dinner that night and wine on the terrace of Mercado de San Antón, but I didn't stay out late or get crazy or anything that night. I didn't really do anything of importance on Saturday, but Sunday I woke up and was super awful - congested and coughing and I didn't sleep through the night on Saturday and I just had this feeling I was getting worse. So I dragged myself back to the urgencia (which is like urgent care, because regular doctors don't work on weekends, including Friday) and the doctor listened to my chest and my cough and in 5 minutes told me that I had bronchitis. I stayed home Monday and Tuesday but was still pretty sick on later in the week and not sleeping still (because of coughing through the night and being on steriods) so the teachers at my school sent me home early on both Wednesday and Thursday. It was lucky that I had Friday off of school so I could rest because it was our patron saint day. Basically, I rested most of the weekend again, except going to our friendsgiving/spainsgiving Thanksgiving dinner at my friend Kristin's house on Saturday night. I was feeling much better on Monday of last week BUT THEN... on Monday night, I felt super flush and scratchy throat-ish so I went to bed early. On Tuesday, I woke up fully congested and coughing horribly again (mind you, my cough never really went away). I lasted one class on Tuesday morning and at recess, I told them that I was going home to go to the doctor.

I went to the doctor Tuesday afternoon, and they took this lovely photo of my lungs to make sure I didn't have pneumonia. Which, tells you how sick I was but I didn't have it. Yay, there is some victory in this story!! But the doctor just said I had a bad cough still, caused by drainage and congestion. It got super bad on Tuesday night and I was literally crying because my eyes were watering so bad and because I was pissed that I was still so sick. I called my dad and I was super sad and wanted to be home. I stayed in bed from Tuesday afternoon until Thursday night, which was nice because I slept like over 10-14 hours a day which is what my body really needed to heal. OH and I took TamiFlu that I brought from the US, and it worked wonders, so that helped me heal this past week too.

It's just so hard to shake a cold or an infection here because you have to walk everywhere when you are sick. So I've been sick and walking to the doctor in 30 degree weather (and sometimes high 20s at night) and walking to the pharmacy, and walking to get my groceries still. When its so cold out, it just exacerbates whatever you are fighting. But even so, I still love all that fresh air.

Also - one of the things that I will never understand is: my wonderful caring Spanish teachers told me I got sick from not wearing a scarf, so Javier (my head teacher) brought me a scarf as a gift (and so I wouldn't get sick). Spanish people saying I got sick from not wearing mittens or a hat. And I do wear scarves and mittens here, I just didn't happen to be wearing them on that day. Oh but something that I do love -- was that one of the teachers told me to drink hot milk with honey for my throat. Yes it sounds gross, but when I had walking pneumonia in Sevilla, Manoli gave me hot milk with honey all the time.

I'm finally finally better after essentially two weeks of being in bed. I still have the remnants of a cough, but no where near as bad as it was. I was so sick I was even debating not going to Sevilla this past weekend, but I'm so glad that I did. It was so much warmer in Sevilla (in the high 60s), which helped a lot. And that city heals me in every way possible, so I am just so much better after having been there this past weekend. I need to go to sleep but I will blog about Manoli and Sevilla later this week. :)

life lessons

i loved this article about life lessons learned while traveling. i will have to make my own list of lessons learned, when i'm finished with this adventure. :)

my favorites are #2, #7, and #14.

the original post can be found here.

18 Life Lessons Learned From Traveling The World

SEP. 23, 2013 

By MATTHEW KEPNES

kokorowashinjin

I never thought I would still be nomadic. My original round-the-world trip was only supposed to last one year before I went back home, found a “real” job, settled down, and by now, be married, have a house, 2.5 children, and complain about my retirement fund to my friends.

Yet life took a decidedly different turn and here I am, seven years later, writing this from an overnight train to Copenhagen with the same desire to explore the world and no sign of stopping soon.

After so many years on the road, there are a few life lessons I’ve learned from travel that I never would have learned otherwise and I wanted to share with you today.

1. It’s not that hard.

Every day, people get up, go out the door to travel the world, and survive and thrive. Kids as young as 18 make their way around the world without any problems. All that worrying and fear I had before my trip was for naught – this traveling thing is a lot easier than people make it out to be. You’re not the first person to do it and there is a well-worn trail that makes it easy for first times to find their way. If an 18 year can do it, so can you.

2. You learn a lot of life skills.

People who travel are better adjusted and less socially anxious people and traveling around the world has taught me to how to be more social, be adept and more flexible, and, most importantly, understand non-verbal communication a lot better. It has made me more independent, more open, and, overall, just a better person. There’s no reason to be scared that you might not have “it” in you. You’d be surprised how often you’ll surprise yourself.

3. You are never alone.

It may seem scary just throwing yourself out there and talking to strangers, but we are all strangers in a strange land. At the end of the day, everyone is very friendly. It took me a while to get used to just saying “hello” to strangers, but now it seems like second nature. Everyone is just like you – they are alone in a strange place and are looking for others to be with. People travel to meet other people and that means you. Don’t be afraid to approach other travelers and locals. You’ll find that when you travel alone, you’ll never really be alone.

4. You meet some of your closest friends traveling.

Whether it was in a restaurant in Vietnam, on a boat in Thailand, or walking into a hostel in Spain, when I least expected (or wanted) to meet people was when I met the best and developed the longest lasting relationships. And even though you may not see them for years, you still end up at their wedding, Christmas dinner, or family celebration. Distance and time cannot break the bond you formed.

5. Relationships come and go on the road.

I’ve met lots of people on the road, including members of the opposite sex I’ve found attractive. But the nature of travel doesn’t always lend itself to long-term romantic relationships. It’s hard to make something last when everyone moves in different directions and holidays end. If you get too attached too often, you’ll have nothing but heartache as people come and go. But I’ve realized you need to simply enjoy your time together and live in the moment. Dwelling on the future will only keep you from making that leap.

6. But chase the ones you like.

Yet once in a while, you’ll find someone you really connect with. Meaningful romance on the road does happen. And when you have nowhere to be and no place to go other than where you want, sometimes there is no reason not to follow. Don’t force yourself to say another good-bye if you don’t have to. Pursue it even if the distance seems too vast and the circumstances not right, because you never know where it could lead or how long it might last because, once in a while you meet the one and when you do, you should do everything you can to stay with them.

7. It’s good to try new things.

I used to be a very rigid person, but traveling has helped me loosen up and expand my worldview. I’ve pushed myself to the limit, eaten new food, taken cooking classes, learned magic tricks, new languages, tried to conquer my fear of heights, and challenged my established views. Travel is all about breaking out of your comfort zone and enjoying all the world has to offer.

8. Be adventurous.

Doing the canyon swing was tough. So was jumping off the boat in the Galapagos. As was eating the maggots in Thailand and caterpillars in Africa. Then I got my butt kicked in Thai boxing. And, while I won’t do most of those ever again, I don’t regret trying new things. Scare yourself once in a while. It makes life less dull.

9. There is no such thing as a mistake.

No matter what happens on the road, it’s never a mistake. As was once said, “your choices are half chance, and so are everybody else’s.” When you go with the flow and let the road just unfold ahead of you, there’s no reason to have regrets or think you made a mistake. You make the best decisions you can and, in the end, the journey is the adventure.

10. Don’t be cheap.

When you travel on a budget and need to make your money last, it’s easy to be cheap. But why live like a pauper at home while you save so you can skip the food in Italy, the wine in France, or a sushi meal in Japan? While it is good to be frugal, it’s also important to splurge and not miss out on doing once-in-a-lifetime things. Who knows when you will get another chance to dive in Fiji?! Take every opportunity.

11. That being said, don’t be wasteful.

But remember you aren’t made of money, so don’t always feel like you need to party with your new friends every night or do every activity in a new place. Sometimes it’s OK just to sit around and relax or cook your own meal. Be frugal, but not cheap.

12. Drop the guidebook.

Don’t be so glued to a book. You can travel fine without it, especially with so many good alternatives on the Internet these days. You’ll buy it and hardly use it anyway. Just ask people for tips and information. That will be your best source of information, especially for those off-the-beaten track destinations and hole-in-the-wall restaurants that no one’s ever heard of but serve the best food you can imagine.

13. It’s never too late to change.

Even if you aren’t the traveler or person you want to be in your head, it’s never too late to change. Travel is all about change. The more you say “tomorrow,” the less likely it is that tomorrow will ever come. Traveling has shown me aspects of my personality I wish I didn’t have and also shown me I’m really lazy. I’ve always lived by the phrase “Carpe Diem” but sometimes I don’t really do it. It’s never too late though and realizing that has made being more pro-active a lot easier.

14. Relax.

Life is amazing. There’s no reason to worry. The universe unfolds as it should. Relax and just go with it. You can’t change the future – it hasn’t happened yet. Just make the best decisions you can today and enjoy the moment. Don’t get caught up trying to see all the “must sees.” There’s nothing wrong with spending a day playing games, reading a book, or lounging by the pool.

15. Learn more languages (seriously).

There’re some great benefits to not knowing the local language – like miming out “chicken” to let the lady know you want eggs for breakfast – but learning languages is very helpful when you travel, and works out great when you meet other travelers. There’s also nothing like surprising people by speaking their language. Moreover, knowing basic phrases will endear you to locals who will appreciate the fact you went the extra mile. You’ll find people will be much more helpful, even if you struggle to say hello.

16. Wear more sunscreen.

Seriously. Science has proven it helps, and with all that beach time you do when you travel, you could always use a little more. Being tan is great. Having skin cancer is not. SPF up.

17. People are good.

All over the world, I have encountered amazing people who have not only changed my life but have gone out of their way to help me. It’s taught me that the old saying is true – you can always depend on the kindness of strangers. My friend Greg taught me long ago not to be guarded against strangers. That experience when I first started traveling changed everything and when you travel with an open heart, unexpected goodness will happen. 99.9999% of the people in the world aren’t murders, rapists, or thieves. There’s no reason to assume someone is one. Sometimes people are just trying to be friendly.

18. There’s no such thing as must-see.

This is your trip. No one else’s. Everyone’s journey is their own. Do what you want, when you want, and for how long you want. Don’t let anyone tell you aren’t a real traveler for skipping the Louvre, avoiding some little town in Peru, or deciding to party in Thailand. This your journey. You owe no one an explanation.

I’ve learned more about the world and myself in the last seven years of travel than I had in the previous 25 years of my life. No matter what happens in the future, I know that travel has taught me life lessons I never would have learned had I stayed in my cubicle job.

Find a way to travel as often has you can to all the destinations you dream about.  They will change your life. 

teaching, outdoor markets, and santander

"Don't let your dreams, just be dreams." 

Sorry for the delayed update. I really need to be better about blogging, but life has just been so busy. so where to start. life in madrid has been really good. full of fun weekends, adventures, and crossing things off of my madrid bucketlist.

Hanging out at Elli's piso with Maury, Brittani, and Elli

Bucketlist adventure at the Vertical Gardens with Brittani and Maury

Two things that i love about madrid - first, is their love for books. There are always cheap used book stores that i get lost in and i'm there until closing when they kick me out, or half bars half bookstores which i love to hangout with friends in. And second, is this city's love for outdoor-open air markets. There are two regular outdoor markets that I go to the Rastro market which is every sunday morning from early morning until 2pm and Mercado de Motores, which is every second sunday of the month and its usually all day. This makes for awesome sunday fundays. Rastro has everything from dresses, to cheap purses, to kitchen ware, scarves, posters, socks, etc. and it's in the La Latina neighborhood under these huge oak trees. The market extends for several blocks and branches off in different directions too. There is a bar in this area that has English Breakfast Brunch - called the Rastro Bar, which we go to sometimes for after shopping fuel.

Mercado de Motores is in the train station museum which is located off of the Delicias metro stop, and it's in an old train station! The market on the inside is a little more expensive because its artisan stuff - anything from bags, to shoes, houseware, clothing, children's toys, etc. But the part on the outside is a flea market - which is neat, I've found some good books and random stuff out there too. Another thing about living here - that i know i talked about before but everyday i think it makes me so much happier and healthier, is that I love being able to walk in the fresh air and be outside as much as I am. christmas is coming and so are madrid's winter/christmas markets! I am so excited to be abroad in spain for the christmas season! They already started putting the lights up and they are constructing the huge Christmas tree in puerta del sol. I can't wait!

Let me tell you about my job and teaching - In a different life, I always thought I would be a kindergarten teacher if I wasn't an SLP. So the fact that I teach 3-5 year olds should be perfect, right? It's a lot harder than I thought it would be - controlling a group of 27-30 babies who don't speak English is not how I imagined it. As a teaching assistant, the teacher is always required to be in the room with me - some help you with their kids and others not so much. And the education system in Spain is very weird to me. Some of their discipline tactics would get you fired in the US. For example, their discipline system is shame based. Basically, if the whole class is not paying attention or listening - you pick out the worst kid who is talking and yell at them a foot from their face, and make them stand up the entire class period, or pull them by their ear. Yes and they do this for 5 year olds. They constantly "castigar" (punish) kids all the time, and make them sit or stand separately from the class. And when the 5 year olds cry about being "castigada" (punished) they threaten them with sending them to 3 year old classes or they pull out a necklace of baby pacifiers to put in their mouths if they don't stop crying. For 3 year olds, they put them in a really high chair so they can't get down and/or they make them cross their arms tightly so they can't touch anyone else. Or they threaten to hold them/rock them like a baby in their arms. It's shame based for maximum embarrassment so that the other kids are scared into behaving. It's quite strange really. Oh also interesting fact - I pray the Lord's prayer at least 4 times a day (teaching 5 yr olds the Lord's prayer in English).

One of the 5 yr old classrooms

Other than the behavior and discipline system, I like my job - i love the kids they are just so much fun. My favorite are 5 year olds and 3 year olds. 5 year olds fascinate me because some are so smart and can read and write already. And their system of teaching reading and writing is so different from English!! In the Spanish language, when you read a word or sentence, it looks exactly how it sounds. There are only 5 vowels in Spanish (and they are always the same) but there are 20 vowel sounds in English and there are different letter-grapheme combos to each of the English vowels). Thus, there are no sight words when teaching kids to read in Spanish!! Isn't that crazy?! The 5 year olds that I teach are from a pretty affluent neighborhood so a lot of them have a decent amount of English. In their education system, they teach children how to write in print at 4 years old and cursive at 5 years old. The 3 year olds are sponges and some of them just learn so fast. I love how fun they are! 4 year olds are not my favorite because their just not there yet with reading and writing, and they are old enough to be super mischievous and misbehave.

It's nice having a job - that's just a job for me. I don't have to take work home or worry about reports to write. But I do miss being an SLP.... I saw PTN's annual campaign video come out this week and missed some of my kids so much!!

What else is new? Hmmm.. about a month ago, Elli and I were eating breakfast and talking about our upcoming "puente" (long weekend - with a Friday holiday) and so we searched online for the cheapest tickets we could find in Spain and decided that we wanted to go to Santander. We both loved it. We spent the weekend shopping, being tourists, drinking tea, being by the ocean, and eating tapas in Northern Spain. Santander was really small but homey like Sevilla (a lot smaller than Sevilla though). It rained some, but not a ton, so it didn't ruin our weekend.

Elli and I taking a jumping picture in the street in Santander

In the coming weeks, my school has our patron saint day - our patron saint is San Jose de Calasanz and we have a huge party, celebration, and dinner for the teachers on that Thursday AND the best part is that we have Friday November 29 off of school! Then the next weekend, Elli and I are going to Sevilla to celebrate Christmas with our beloved host moms. I cannot wait to see Manoli. I am so excited!!

Then the 24th of December, I fly home and will be in Los Angeles for 2 weeks. I am super excited to get to spend Christmas with my family. and to fly home to some warmer weather. It has been 34 degrees in Madrid this whole weekend and this week it's going to get down to 32 - which means if it rains, snow will stick. The cold is not agreeing with my California soul, I am constantly freezing.

Other things to look forward to: My dad is coming in April and we are going to Barcelona, Lisbon, Paris, and then he's coming back to Madrid. Sharla and I are in the process of planning her trip for her to come in June!!

travel articles

For all of you that know me really well, you know that I read constantly. So reading travel articles from a variety of different sources, while abroad, is only natural.

I read this article this past week and wanted to post it. My favorites are #13 and #20. I didn't post the whole article, but just excerpts. Click the link for the full article. I promise to post a real October update soon!!

One of my favorite parts of the article is the paragraph below from the intro.

"When I was younger my dad often said, "The hardest part is just getting out the door." And that may be the most important lesson of all: it's too easy to get complacent at home and if you aren't at least a little uncomfortable, you probably aren't learning anything."

This paragraph reminds me of a good friend that told me wonderful things when I got accepted to the BEDA program and decided to move to Spain this past spring. She said, "When you are on the plane and you crying and sad because of what you left behind, don't look back, look forward because this is the most amazing opportunity." While many people in my life were so excited for me like this friend, there were still some who were not so excited. I understand this because I left my life's passion/calling (being an SLP), job, wonderful friends, family, and life in Los Angeles. But I've always wanted to be here and I think people are right, life gets hard and it's so easy to say no and life gets too complacent which makes you stay home. So this article was a good reminder of that friend and why I will always have wanderlust, but why that isn't such a bad thing. :)

Here is the original link (click below):

20 Things I Learned From Traveling Around the World

Clayton B. Cornell

SpartanTraveler.com

20 Things I Learned From Traveling Around the World

Posted: 10/09/2013 9:41 am

Read more

Around The World, How Much To Travel Around The World, Jobs Traveling Europe, Solo Travel, Travel, Traveling Alone, Traveling Solo, Travel News

Travel for long enough and one day you wake up to realize: This is no longer a vacation, it's your life.

Over one year ago I quit my job and decided to travel around the world. This was both a dream 10 years in the making and one of the best decisions I've ever made.

Night train from Belgrade to Sofia.

In the last 12 months I learned a lot about long-term travel, what I need to be happy, and how to survive outside of the U.S. Many of these things can't be learned at home or in a book, and while reading about them on the internet can only get you so far, a lot of people have asked me to explain how I've done it.

Well, here's part of the answer.

"There's no substitute for just going there."
-Yvon Chouinard

My trip hasn't been about sightseeing (although I've done that) as much as just being somewhere. The simple challenges of daily routine can be overwhelming: trying to eat, drink and sleep in a place where nothing makes sense, you don't speak the language, and where none of the basic comforts of home are available. It's not easy, but if you want a fast-track to personal development, get on a plane.

When I was younger my dad often said, "The hardest part is just getting out the door." And that may be the most important lesson of all: it's too easy to get complacent at home and if you aren't at least a little uncomfortable, you probably aren't learning anything.

If you've already traveled extensively, you may get a kick out of this. If you haven't, here are some reflections, tips, and advice about long-term travel on my one-year anniversary of life on the road:

#13) Traveling doesn't get 'traveling' out of your system.
If you've got this bug, it's not going away (sorry), but the obvious question is: why are we trying to get traveling out of our system, anyway?

Rolf Potts did a great job in Vagabonding of justifying not just travel as a lifestyle, but also a lifestyle that makes travel a non-negotiable ingredient. Whether that means saving for a big trip or just taking a few weeks a year the important thing is to make room in your life tokeep traveling.

I was actually told on this trip (if you're reading this) that I needed to stop screwing around and: grow up." I think in our culture that means going back to the "real world" of office jobs, succumbing to general complacency, and trying to enjoy two weeks off a year.

If that's the case you can count me out.

The world is just too big and interesting to not be exploring.

#20) Long-term traveling can teach you more than almost anything else
About yourself, about life, about what you need to be happy. It also really highlights just how different home is from everywhere else, especially when you start to get a large sample size to compare it to.

For some, this can mean going home with a heightened perspective. For others, it may mean never going home. For everyone though, long-term travel will change your life.

Read more on Clayton's blog, Spartan Traveler, where this post originally appeared.

this week's adventures - tierra, real madrid, nomada market, & carmencita.

Highlights of the week:

This is the view of the sunrise, that I have walking to the metro when going to school in the morning. Everyday. :) 

Tierra!! (e.g., copy of Chipotle in Spain)

On Tuesday, Elli and I went to this mexican food place that greatly resembles Chipotle. For those of you that know me really well, you know that Chipotle is one of my staple foods in the US. There is this restaurant in Chamberí (super close to our pisos) near Islas Filipinas metro and its called Tierra. It was amazing and spicy (because spicy food doesn't exist in Spain), and I was soooo happy. We went back again on Friday after BEDA class with some of the girls. Seriously, amazingness.

With my roommates - Elina & Teresa

On Wednesday, I went to the Real Madrid vs. Copenhagen soccer game at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu with my roommates, Elina, Teresa, & Cynthia. It was okay - not super exciting and not the Dodgers. But I forgot that at Spanish soccer games they have a cheering/band section that literally cheers the ENTIRE game. It was fun to go and do at least once though!

Friday, we had BEDA class from 3pm-6pm, which was really boring - but we brainstormed teaching ideas for school so some of it was helpful (like 5% helpful, the rest not so much).

Nomada Market 

Saturday, Elli and I went shopping all day. We went to an artisan market called Nomada Market in the attic of the Chamartín train station that was super cute and artsy. It's so fun to see what artists can do/come up with. I wish I was that creative but I give Kays most of the credit for that in our family. I always wish that Kays would be a high school art teacher and then she could sell pottery on the side at craft fairs on the weekends and during the summers, maybe in a different life, maybe after she goes to Africa. Then later in the day, Elli and I went to H&M and I bought super cute spanish tights (I'll have to take a picture of them and then post because I love them so much), purple jeans (gofrogs!!), and two tops. Oh and I used my Spanish credit card for the first time on Saturday at this bookstore but then at H&M they asked me for ID and I literally had no form of ID (no driver's license, no student ID, or anything) so I showed the guy my abono and he rolled his eyes at me but he let me get away with it. HA! I can't wait until I have my NIE card...

Today, we went to Sunday brunch again at La Carmencita/La Gringa and both restaurants are owned by the same lady (and she's from Arizona) and they have American comfort food. I had Huevos Rancheros with salsa, guac, and in tortillas! for breakfast. Tortillas really don't exist in Spain so I really need to find a way around this... and for all of you think that tortillas are spanish food, don't be stupid because it's mexican food. Another thing that I LOVE about madrid - brunch is from 12pm-5pm... how awesome is that?

Sunday funday at Carmencita!

The Dodgers are in the playoffs tonight so I'm gonna be wearing blue and you should too. Garrett - don't jinx them. SERIOUSLY. They play at home in Chavez Ravine and I wish I could be there!! I will write a longer post about my new found respect for teachers since it hasn't been super easy teaching preschool/kindergarten. Also, I'm still working on my Madrid bucketlist but I need to go buy markers because I'm gonna make a cute bucketlist poster - but right now I'm gonna go and siesta.

the simple things - highs & lows

Elli's birthday dinner

My room!!

My cute bed!

My own bathroom. Amazing.

Huge closet with full length mirrors. Yay!

Teresa's birthday dinner in our living room

Beginning of the year party at Elli's apartment

So I guess I will just start off from when I got home from Sevilla.... the Saturday I got home from Sevilla, I had already moved my bags to my piso (apartment) but had not really met any of my roommates. When I toured the apartment, Cynthia was there but I didn't really get to talk to her because I was talking to Javier (my landlord). So Saturday night, I met Teresa, Elina, and Cynthia. I have to tell you, I love my apartment and the area I live in. Elli originally saw this place and told me about it when she found out I was looking for apartments in the Chamberí neighborhood. The landlords (Javier & Isabel) are Spaniards and they are new owners (and they are SO nice and so excited about being landlords) - so my roommates and I are the first people to live in my apartment. Everything is brand new - which is amazing. It is a 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom apartment which is unheard of in Spain and it's pretty spacious. My room in Sevilla and a lot of the apartments that I saw when I was apartment hunting were just a bed in a room with maybe a desk, and maybe a dresser. Usually in most Spanish apartments you can lay on the bed and touch at least 2-3 walls when you reach your arms out. So I just got super lucky because I love where I live. My roommates are fun too - Elina is from Teluz, France and she is learning to speak Spanish and has a little English, haha so it's funny watching us communicate. Teresa is from Portugal and she speaks Portugese, Spanish, and English. Cynthia is from Portugal as well and she speaks fluent Spanish and English really well because her family spoke both at home. I practice speaking Spanish with Cynthia but when I'm tired it's nice because she can speak English too. I have lunch with Elina most of the time because our schedules have us home for lunch - and its funny because she uses a mix of Spanish, English, and French. Sometimes we sit at lunch and I will look up words on google translate as we are talking because I have no idea what she is saying. The other day I was making lunch and she came in the kitchen and she was like, "Donde buy a dossier?" I was like, "Really?!" (Where do I buy a folder?)

The start of school has been really good. I really like my school and the teachers I work with. We go on coffee break at recess and I get to practice my Spanish with them 4 days a week during this break. On Fridays, I have yard duty so I am on the playground with the kids (which is not a playground but a rooftop with rubber on it and plastic baby sets). September is really relaxed in Spain because all of August most everyone in Spain goes on vacation for the month and so during September they are just trying to get back in their routines. Also because there is no AC at school - it's too hot to have school all day, so we have half days for the entire month of September and June, which has been so nice. I'm bummed it's gonna be October on Tuesday. So at school, I have been doing maybe 2 English lessons a day with the 4 and 5 year olds, this involves a semi-circle time and maybe a vocabulary activity or movement game. So it's been really easy going and I'm really just getting to know the kids and their routines. Our unit for the next 6 weeks is back to school, classroom supplies (which is really boring and non-motivating for 4-5 year olds). I just got my new schedule for October through May and I will be teaching 5-7 English lessons a day for 45mins each to the 3, 4, and 5 yr old classes. So school goes from 9am-12:15, 2:30-5 but on Fridays I get out early. I'm still trying to figure out working with the extra curricular program and private lessons for a little extra money, so my schedule is still up in the air at this point.

I was a little annoyed that I have a 2.5 hour break for lunch and siesta in the middle of the day. But it's so Spanish. So I'm just gonna go with it and learn to embrace it because there is really nothing I can do about it. And I can't be a brat because I have a school in the city center, so I have the luxury of going home during my break if I want to. Other people who have an hour commute each way, have no choice but to stay at school and just not get paid for that time. And I do realize that I can't get everything I want.

When I would go to Fox every summer, at cabin time each night, we would do highs & lows (or pits & peaks - whatever you want to call it) so I decided for this blog update I would do first month highs & lows...

5 Highs
5. Siesta!! - I'm actually not having as hard of a time taking siesta and resting as I did when I got to Sevilla. When I was abroad in Sevilla, it took me months to actually rest. Maybe it's because I'm older and less anxious to do everything right now, but it's nice to be able to slow down for a part of the day and just take time for me. I literally sleep during siesta every day when I'm done with school and lunch. It will be interesting to see how I'm gonna work in a long siesta (2-3hr siesta) when I have full school days and such. But for right now, it's great because I am well rested and enjoying the time I have.

4.  Our ikea trip - HA! So last weekend I was not feeling very well on Saturday but Sunday I felt better so Elli, Maury, and I went to Ikea. First of of all, it takes an hour to get there on the metro each way because it is very far away. So our 6 hour trip resulted in a lot of things we all needed to get: I got towels and sheets for my room, a bathmat, an extra pillow, and random other things. AND ikea has plastic baggies. If you have been to Europe you know: ziploc plastic bags are like gold. People aren't wasteful so they just don't use ziploc plastic bags. It is just not something that exists. Usually I bring a ton but this time, I ran out of weight room for my luggage and I felt clothes/shoes and meds were more important than plastic bags so you should have seen my excitement. But we also had a whole ordeal at ikea that was not funny at the time but its funny now. So basically it's a huge pain because if you want to use your credit card in europe you need to show your passport as ID and even so sometimes your CC won't work because it doesn't have a "chip" in it. But none of us are stupid enough to carry around our passports to use our credit cards, because it's just not safe. Elli actually carries around a color copy of her passport page and it works pretty much everywhere. And we were at ikea so we knew we would be spending a good amount of money. And everything was fine up until we went to pay... So Maury went first to pay and the teller was that the end of her shift and kinda made a stink about her just having her driver's license but then Maury offered up different credit cards and the checker finally just let it go so we thought we were in the clear. BUT it was the end of her shift so they switched tellers (and let me mention both tellers were girls) and Elli was next so she showed her driver's license and passport photo copy and then this teller chick was just being mean and difficult and made a huge stink about not taking the copy of her passport unless it had an official stamp. So we were arguing with the lady and Elli said she had a pin on her credit card and asked if she would be able to use that. So the girl ran her credit card through but the pin number didn't come up, and but the signature box did. Then this teller girl was still yelling and being difficult about not having our passports but the signature box was just sitting there begging to be signed. -So Elli whispered to me and was like, "Should I just sign it?" And I was like, "Yes." So she did and then the teller got all mad and was like "I told you not to sign it. I told you not to do it!!" Then she called her supervisor over and her supervisor gives us this lecture on how we have to have a passport as ID and it's the law in Spain and when she goes to America she has to follow US laws. So she entered item by item to return Elli's stuff. They were just mad and they could have let it go but didn't. And this story makes us sound like a pain and a little ignorant but its stupid to carry around your passport or 100 euros in cash, you are begging to be robbed. Anyways so we had to scrounge up enough money between all of us to buy mine and Elli's stuff with cash, thank goodness I brought a few extra euro bills. What a mess. But it was funny afterwards because the lady was dumb and mad. I'm glad we went though because I've been wanting a bathmat and towels so bad!!

3. Birthdays and celebrations - It's always fun to celebrate anything so it was Elli's birthday 2 weeks ago and Teresa's birthday was this past week. About 5 of the BEDA girls went out to dinner for Elli's birthday at this place near the Noviciado metro stop called Con 2 Fogones. It was low key but super fun because when we sang happy birthday the whole restaurant sang with us. And it was nice to compare stories about our first few days of school. This past week it was Teresa's birthday (my portugese roommate) and so we made dinner at our house and she invited a few of her friends from school over. It was awesome because Elina doesn't have class in the morning and so we all got home from school/work and there were like 7-8 dishes all over the kitchen counter of cut up vegetables. She cut them up so that we could make Ratatouille for that night because she was getting home later. It turned out to be really good and Teresa made rice (but it was a little mushy, which was funny) to go with the Ratatouille. Elli also had a beginning of the year party with her roommates at their piso on Friday night - which was fun because we got to meet Elli's spanish roommates and their friends and they were all super fun. I left my house and drank coffee at midnight and got home at 7am. So Spanish.

2. Getting my NIE & bank account - An NIE stands for Número de Identidad de Extranjero - basically it's a tax identification number. Why do you ask am I happy about Spain taking taxes from me? An NIE number & card is basically like a ID card/driver's license too without the license to drive part. So I can carry around my NIE and use my credit card and not need to carry around my passport (which is a lot safer, but it is a pain if I lose my NIE too). But getting an NIE and bank account means that I am really living here and I'm really getting to do this (pinch myself!). Not that it doesn't feel real without those things but I think because I have traveled to Europe on vacation and because it's still so new (I've been here almost a month now), it still isn't as real yet. My NIE and bank account just make me feel like I am actually a resident of Spain and that I'm living everything that I wished for.

1. Fresh air - I get to walk to school as the sun comes up, how many of you can say that? It's pretty awesome and I love being able to walk or take the metro any where. Have I mentioned, I don't miss sitting in LA traffic especially downtown on a Friday afternoon. I think walking and fresh air is good for my soul because I feel a thousand times less stressed and less intense. Also, I have this huge window in my room that lets a ton of light and fresh air in so it's awesome. And the weather has been great so I haven't even noticed that we have no air conditioning (which is pretty standard in all of europe - when I need air conditioning, I hang out in corte ingles, zara, and carrefour).

5 Lows
5. American Airlines - Originally, the program coordinator of BEDA, Samantha, sent us an email saying that our winter break would end around/on December 24th but it differs for all over our schools. So when I bought my round trip ticket to come home at Christmas, I still didn't have my school calendar dates and just booked it for the 24th of December. I should have just booked it for the weekend before because the 24th is a Tuesday and it doesn't really make sense to come to school just for that Monday but whatever. So I called American Airlines trying to change my flight to go home a few days earlier and it's $275 minimum to change a flight. AND THAT IS HIGHWAY ROBBERY. And once again I hate American Airlines. They have such poor customer service but they are super cheap and I flew them all through college so we have miles with them. Remind me that I hate them next time I want to buy a cheap flight. So I won't be home until Christmas Eve, but I have a week for break so I will get to be home a little bit.

4. Being sick - Last weekend, I was actually really sick. I ended up going to the pharmacy on Saturday morning and tried to get meds and I have had this chest cough all week which has not been the funnest thing. But most doctors don't work on weekends (and so you need to go to their version of an emergency room) so I just stuck it out and took some of my American meds that I brought. It's just hard not having comfort foods or my dad to make me soup or super accessible medicine. I also am worried how winter/the next year will go because I am not currently on allergy shots - so we'll see!!

3. Laundry - There are really simple things that I realize, I don't know how to do in Europe. And while Manoli and Mary Alice took such good care of me in Sevilla - there are things that I just never had to do or learn to do because I was so well taken care of. Things like doing my own laundry. I don't know how to do this because every two weeks Manoli would give us a baby trash bag to put our clothes in and she would do it for us. Learning how to use a european washing machine is a whole different ball game. First of all laundry machines are baby small and I'm always afraid that I'm gonna overstuff it. Second of all, they are pretty finicky. My washing machine is so finicky and you choose the number of spin cycles (I think 400-1000), and then the temperature in celsius, and the the amount of time. My roommates have been helpful with this but even on the same settings my washing machine will constantly flash and not start and its brand new. And thirdly, I didn't even know how to buy/what to buy for detergent and softener. Elli's solution to everything is just put a lot of softener in the washing machine and everything will fine.

My CRAZY washing mashing just flashing and not wanting to start. 

2. Feeding myself and going to the market. Another thing I never learned how to do in Europe because Manoli always cooked for us and fed us so well. With homestay, we got 3 meals a day/everyday and Manoli always made so much food and made me fish, or salad, or tortilla, or paella, and it was really well balanced. She always used to say, "It's not good for your body if you eat the same thing all the time." So she would make a variety of veggie friendly food for me. I also have never been much of a cook. At home, I can make pasta and eggs, and hashbrown casserole, and veggie chili and canned soup, and caprese, tacos/mexican food, and I pretty much eat a lot of frozen food too. But going to the market is such a chore here!! I literally drag my carry-on rolly bag to the market (Día or Lidl or Carrefour) and only can buy what fits in it. Then I have to walk home for a few blocks, its annoying dragging all that stuff home, so you have to make multiple trips. I feel like I go to the market daily because its cheaper to eat at home too. This is tedious and bothersome because in the US, I like to shop at Ralphs or Vons like once every month and then I am there for like 3 hours but I only have to do it once. The things I have made myself to eat so far: fried eggs, tuna sandwiches, pasta with grated cheese on it, cheese sandwiches, pasta with corn and peas and balsamic vinegar in it (questionable), soup with chicken broth and pasta noodles (semi-chicken noodle), brie with crackers. I need to work on this because I feel like eating 1-2 eggs a day is bad for my cholesterol and I need to eat more/different things. I looked up a lentil soup recipe because you can buy lentils here. I might attempt that. Fish is also questionable when it is frozen but I just might have to get over that and when you buy it fresh it sometimes has espinas (spines) and you have to de-bone it yourself. I'm working on it though. If you have ideas of what to make, tell me!!!

1. Simple cultural things - There are incredibly simple cultural differences that are actually not so simple that kind of just drive you crazy and make you have culture shock. And I'm sure these things will get easier over time, because eventually I didn't notice them or let them bother me anymore when I was in Sevilla, but some of them I never will understand. First, opening doors - I never have had such a hard time with this in Spain. Not in Sevilla, not in Barcelona, not anywhere in Andalusia. The doors in Madrid are the opposite from the US, you push away from you to go in and pull towards you to get out. Whatever it is, its the opposite from what I'm used to and my motor plan is all wrong and it drives me nuts because I always look dumb and stuck and look like I'm fighting with the door. Second is not refrigerating things. The other day I can home and Teresa & Elina had made chicken and left it out on the pan on the stove WITHOUT A COVER AND WITHOUT REFRIGERATING IT. It sat there all night and I was expecting it to be in the trash that evening. BUT NO. Teresa put it with vegetables and ate it for dinner the next day. I about died sitting next to her. My roommates don't understand how I want to just refrigerate everything too. I don't think I will every get used to that. And I'm a germaphob so things can't get moldy (my biggest fear) or flies (I don't mess with flies since I got salmonella in Honduras) and so everything is covered and goes in the fridge.

Yuck!!!

Also Elina does not understand why I buy bottled water. I just don't trust the tap. It's safe and people drink it but not like America safe and purified, but I will drink it from time to time when I'm out a restaurant, or someone's house, or really thirsty but I don't prefer it. Third - paper products, things like toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, and tissue are available but they cost more and they are just not widely used. When you go to restaurants they give you these flimsy half paper half I don't know what plasticky type napkins that are super thin and smaller than the size of a baby cell phone. And these Spanish napkins, they are not useful and you end up using like 10 to wipe your hands so it would just be way more efficient to give you 1 regular soft, square, paper napkin. 4th - watery lotion/bath soap, again I didn't have to encounter this last time because I brought industrial size shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and body soap from costco in my bags but yet again I ran out of weight in my luggage so that just wasn't possible. But body soap and lotion in Spain is super watery. I don't understand why and it doesn't really make you feel clean. You need to buy "body milk" if you want regular thickness of lotion consistency. And I just splurged and bought Nivea body wash which is a german brand but the consistency is better.

Don't buy this watery stuff from carrefour

5th - buying coffee, I didn't drink nearly as much coffee in Sevilla as I do now. So coffee is really an essential. However, initially buying coffee - it is mostly sold in beans at the store, but because I don't have a coffee grinder this is not great. So I was looking for coffee grounds and I bought a cheap french press from a chino bazar (like a 99cent store in the US). But coffee grounds aren't soft when they come in the bag, they are hard so you don't realize that they are ground - I think they are hard because they are vacuum sealed and just packed that way. But you also have to make sure you are not buying instant soluble + add hot water coffee, so that was an ordeal too. And lastly, using a dryer. I love dryers. I don't care that I put everything in the dryer and it beats up my beautiful dresses and shrinks my clothes - it just makes my life easier because I can do wash and I don't have to wait for it for days to dry and then I can be done and put everything away. We had a dryer at Manoli's so she would put clothes out on the hanging line when it was sunny and warm out (she used to say "The sun is good for your clothes" which is a HUGE LIE but saves money) but during the winter it was nice because with 5 girls in the house - she was still able to do laundry in one day. Teresa (my portugese roommate) also told me that they have a dryer at their house in portugal but they never use it, even in the winter. She said it's a waste of money. Oh how different life is. We'll see how winter goes without a dryer and only one drying rack in our piso!

Elina hanging up clothes out on the clothes/hanging line

Things have been really good, and I can't wait to update next on new adventures, my Madrid bucketlist, and how my school schedule and really getting to teach is. I'm sorry these past 2 blog posts were so long and it has been a while since I've written. So if you read until the end and are reading this now, I apologize and I will really try to keep up better. Miss & love you all!!