We had a great weekend! Our friend April, who is from GA but currently study abroad in Salamanca, Spain, flew in for the weekend. It was nice to get to show someone around OUR town. On Saturday we took the half hour bus ride out to Soller, a small town in the mountains north of Palma. Joe and I had never been there before, and it was BEAUTIFUL! A charming little old town (pictures to come soon!) We found a secondhand shop run by an older man from CA, he has been living here 16 years! After looking around the market (because, of course, every town has a Saturday market) we decided to make the about 2.5 mile walk to Fornalutx, an even smaller and MORE beautiful town than Soller! And the walk was amazingly scenic. Mountains, valleys, farms, sheep, tons of orange trees. It was a wonderful adventure!
Oh yeah, and I Friday I went on a field trip with my 6th graders. They called it a farm, but it was more like a farm/dude ranch/adventure camp/park. There was a pool (but of course it was far too cold) horses (but the children didn't get to ride them, though I'm not sure why) animals (pigs, goats, chickens, the usual), a petting zoo, a garden, a ropes course with a zip line, a rock climbing wall, an obstacle course, and a "paddle" court (which, from what I can tell, is kind of like a mix between tennis and racquetball). The kids had a great time playing and exploring while the teachers got to do pretty much whatever we wanted. We sat around and watched TV, played Parcheesi, ate free snacks, and went for a nice bike ride through the scenic country side! It was a nice, relaxing day.
We also found a used bookstore in town, with all of the books in ENGLISH! It's great! It's kind of book-nook-esque. The prices are what I would normally consider high for used books, but after looking at the prices of trying to buy new English books here, or the shopping costs of ordering books on line, it seems a lot more reasonable.
In other news, here are some interesting observations/tid-bits about Spain:
- All cars stop for pedestrians. It's amazing. You hardly need to pause at cross walks because you know the cars are going to stop for you.
- They don't have coffee like we have coffee. The closest thing you can get is a shot of espresso with a lot of milk.
- They are great about recycling here. There are recycling bins right next to all of the dumpsters. So as long as you separate your trash at home, it's just as easy to recycle as it is to throw it in the trash.
- They are also very energy efficient. Most lights, like in bathrooms at restaurants, or stairwells in the apartment buildings are on timers. So they automatically turn themselves off a set time after the button is pressed.
- Dogs are allowed pretty much everywhere. Stores, restaurants, you name it.
- The cider here is nothing like British cider.
- They don't have sweet potatoes here.
- The things that look like giant shutters on the front of buildings are actually doors. Once you open the shutter type doors, then there is a small foyer, then the actual front door. This is so that during the hot summers, they can close the shutters and open the front door to keep the house cool.
I always think of tons of things while I'm out and about, but by the time I get back to my computer, I have forgotten! Maybe I will start writing them down....
Luego!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
New Photos
Well, this weekend we were kind of bored and felt that although we have been living here for more than a month, we had not done our duty of snapping as many photos of our new city as possible. So, we spent Sunday walking around unknown streets in Old Town, the historic district of Palma, and photographing to our hearts content. It was so touristy and great!
Check them out here, under "Tourist Day" http://photobucket.com/ourspainadventure
Check them out here, under "Tourist Day" http://photobucket.com/ourspainadventure
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Paychecks, the French and Other Updates
After a lot of confusion and round-about conversations, we finally got paid!! Apparently our program was created by the old government, and the new government here doesn't like it so much. So getting the money out of them has been difficult. Luckily our schools agreed to pay us out of pocket while the government figured it out. Having money is definitely nice, but I'm having trouble accessing mine. There is something wrong with my bank card, so I have to go to the bank tomorrow and figure that out! Luckily I have two tutoring gigs right now (and another one starting next week!) so that keeps me in pocket money.
For those of you who haven't heard, my grandmother, Maw Maw, was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer last week. They've given her two weeks to live. I struggled with what to do, but have decided not to fly home. It is too expensive to be practical and I think I'd prefer to keep my pleasant memories rather than seeing her in this state.
Josh (another UGA student doing the program here) had some friends from France come visit last week. I'm not sure how exactly he knows them, but they were really nice. We had a great "botellon" which is where you buy bottles and go sit in a park and drink until your heart is content (there are no open container laws here!) It is much cheaper than going to a bar! Being from France, they spoke very little English and so we conversed in Spanish the whole time. I found it easier to converse with them since they were not native speakers. They spoke more slowly and clearly, and I wasn't as nervous about messing up. My Spanish is slowly getting better. Tomorrow I am meeting with one of the parents from my schools, I didn't understand her exactly, but I think she wants a conversations partner. This way I could help her improve her English and she could help me improve my Spanish. So hopefully that works out well!
The weather here has gotten a little colder. With a high of mid to low 60 during the day. Lots of people here are wearing huge coats, but I am fine with my light jacket during the day. Plus I walk everywhere, so that helps me keep warm!
For Thanksgiving, the American style diner is having a big turkey dinner, so I think we are going to try to join in on that!
I think we've decided on Christmas plans as well. We will spend Christmas eve/day here with the roomies. Then we will fly to Zurich (Switzerland) and spend a few days there. After that we will take a train to France in time to celebrate New Years in Paris! I'm very excited, I can't wait!
School is going well. In some classes I'm just there to pronounce words and help with work sheets, in some classes I deliver the teacher's lesson plans, and in others I get to do whatever activities I can create. So it's a nice range. I think the students here are more or less the same than at home (and definitely better behaved than in England). Some of my roommates say the students here are worse behaved than American students. I don't know if their students are that much different than mine, or if my time actually teaching and working in classrooms at home has given me a different perspective. None of my teachers here have very strong management strategies (most rely on sheer voice volume) so it is difficult to compare. Plus there is just a more relaxed air to the classrooms here that is hard to find (but not unheard of) in the states.
Shipping here is definitely much cheaper than shipping to England! Joseph's family sent him a rather large package (9lbs I think) and it cost about $50. A similar sized package to England cost almost $150!! Also mail appears to take just over a week to arrive.
Also Jessica discovered that shopping on Amazon.co.uk (the British website) ends up being a lot cheaper than the American one. International shipping from the American one is outrageous, so even with the conversion rate, shopping in Pounds is a better deal!
Well I guess that will have to do for now! We are getting ready to head out to a Cider Bar! From the little I've had, Spanish cider is nothing compared to British cider (which I fell in love with while I was there) but I am looking forward to it none the less! Luego!
For those of you who haven't heard, my grandmother, Maw Maw, was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer last week. They've given her two weeks to live. I struggled with what to do, but have decided not to fly home. It is too expensive to be practical and I think I'd prefer to keep my pleasant memories rather than seeing her in this state.
Josh (another UGA student doing the program here) had some friends from France come visit last week. I'm not sure how exactly he knows them, but they were really nice. We had a great "botellon" which is where you buy bottles and go sit in a park and drink until your heart is content (there are no open container laws here!) It is much cheaper than going to a bar! Being from France, they spoke very little English and so we conversed in Spanish the whole time. I found it easier to converse with them since they were not native speakers. They spoke more slowly and clearly, and I wasn't as nervous about messing up. My Spanish is slowly getting better. Tomorrow I am meeting with one of the parents from my schools, I didn't understand her exactly, but I think she wants a conversations partner. This way I could help her improve her English and she could help me improve my Spanish. So hopefully that works out well!
The weather here has gotten a little colder. With a high of mid to low 60 during the day. Lots of people here are wearing huge coats, but I am fine with my light jacket during the day. Plus I walk everywhere, so that helps me keep warm!
For Thanksgiving, the American style diner is having a big turkey dinner, so I think we are going to try to join in on that!
I think we've decided on Christmas plans as well. We will spend Christmas eve/day here with the roomies. Then we will fly to Zurich (Switzerland) and spend a few days there. After that we will take a train to France in time to celebrate New Years in Paris! I'm very excited, I can't wait!
School is going well. In some classes I'm just there to pronounce words and help with work sheets, in some classes I deliver the teacher's lesson plans, and in others I get to do whatever activities I can create. So it's a nice range. I think the students here are more or less the same than at home (and definitely better behaved than in England). Some of my roommates say the students here are worse behaved than American students. I don't know if their students are that much different than mine, or if my time actually teaching and working in classrooms at home has given me a different perspective. None of my teachers here have very strong management strategies (most rely on sheer voice volume) so it is difficult to compare. Plus there is just a more relaxed air to the classrooms here that is hard to find (but not unheard of) in the states.
Shipping here is definitely much cheaper than shipping to England! Joseph's family sent him a rather large package (9lbs I think) and it cost about $50. A similar sized package to England cost almost $150!! Also mail appears to take just over a week to arrive.
Also Jessica discovered that shopping on Amazon.co.uk (the British website) ends up being a lot cheaper than the American one. International shipping from the American one is outrageous, so even with the conversion rate, shopping in Pounds is a better deal!
Well I guess that will have to do for now! We are getting ready to head out to a Cider Bar! From the little I've had, Spanish cider is nothing compared to British cider (which I fell in love with while I was there) but I am looking forward to it none the less! Luego!
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