Christmas and Vacation

I am the world's biggest slacker. Sorry I've taken such a hiatus from writing. Yeah, a "hiatus", that's it! Anyway, we've just celebrated our first Christmas away from home, and though it was different, it was good nonetheless. I'll start with my schools' pageants. For weeks, each school prepared songs, acts, and other goodies to be performed by each grade. There were some days were I didn't even teach because the whole class period was devoted to the preparations. Anyway, they did well. Little kids singing is always cute (even if it's in Catalan and you can't understand what they're saying!) and older kids singing is always funny. Here, they don't really have Santa Claus, or "Papa Noel." Instead they are given gifts by The Three Kings (wise men). So, instead of leaving cookies and milk out, they leave carrots (for the camels) and shots of whiskey (for the Kings)! Another thing I found interesting is that during the pageant, the kids would dress us as the Three Kings, but one would always be in Blackface. It was a bit shocking at first, but I guess it's just a different culture and history. On the last day of classes I celebrated with the teachers at each of my schools. I went to Corpus Cristi first. We all gathered together and exchanged a Secret Santa. Here, they call it "Amigo Invisible" which literally means "invisible friend." I got a really nice scarf, and gave a bag of "Luz de Luna" tea and a nice mug. As soon as we were done exchanging gifts I hurried over to where the other school was having their party (of course they scheduled them for the same day, around the same time). I got to the restaurant a half hour late, but they had only just begun eating their salads (sometimes the long meals can work in your favor I guess). We had traditional paella with shrimp and mussels, and then paella negro, which is made with squid. It is cooked with some of the ink from the squid, thus "black paella" and it is DELICIOUS. I loved it. Dessert was equally delicious. And, oh! so much wine and champagne. We also traded Secret Santa gifts. I gave a 4 gig flashdrive to the technology teacher (he like it a lot, his other one is only 1 gig). I received a bottle of really nice Mallorcan white wine with a bag of roasted almonds to eat with it. It was really pleasant, and the teachers are opening up a bit (I imagine that I am too). They were all impressed when I wished them a "merry Christmas and a happy new year" in Catalan. 

Christmas was nice as well. We all wish we could have been home, but know we were thinking about y'all! It was really nice talking to some of you. Anyway, we woke up and exchanged gifts. Nikki bought me a really nice sweater and I got her a coat. The rest of the day was rather relaxing. That evening we ate a big dinner. For appetizers we had deviled eggs and homemade spinach and cheese dip. For the main courses we had a roast, veggie lasagna, glazed carrots, mashed potatoes (with garlic, green onions, and a local cheese), and gravy. For dessert we had homemade banana nut bread. It was amazing. We miss y'all! Nikki and I are off to Zurich this evening. We'll be there for a few days, then on the 30th we'll take a train over to Paris and stay there until the 4th. We'll fly from Paris to Frankfurt where we'll have an afternoon, and then return to Palma that evening. So, visiting 3 countries in 10 days seems pretty sweet! We'll take lots of pictures and (try to) update the blog as we go! 

No Longer a Tourist

Hooooola!
Long time, no write, I know. I keep trying to get Joseph to write a blog, but he refuses. Men! :)
I haven't written mainly because I've been busy and distracted, but also because all the day to day things don't seem so worthy of telling anymore. Every little thing is no longer new and exciting. I no longer feel like a tourist, I feel like I actually live here. We are regulars at cafes where the waitress knows our orders without even asking. We know which days to go to the market for cheap mushrooms, and which grocery store has a better cereal selection. It's kind of nice.
All recent events seem somewhat of a blur now, but here are some of the highlights.
- Jessica had a friend from home come visit. It was nice. We drank a lot and pushed her in a shopping card down Calle Olms.
- We got a new roommate! Stephen (another teaching assistant from LA) moved into our small office sized room. This now means that of the 40 Americans doing this program in the Balearic Islands, 6 of them live in this apartment.
- Stephen, Andy, Jess and I all took a day trip to Valdamossa. Another small beautiful town on the out-skirts of Palma. We found our dream house. Apparently Michael Douglas (a famous actor) apparently has a house there, maybe it was his?
- One of my second graders broke out a surprising level of English and serenaded me with an adorable rendition of "Killing Me Softly."
- It is freezing here. Ok, not really, but a lot colder and rainier than I expected/wanted it to be (avg high 55-60). And apparently a lot colder/rainier than Mallorcians are used to. Oh, and our apartment has no heat. Not that that's anything new in my life, but it doesn't make me like it any better.
- In fact, in a recent storm, Jessica was struck by lightening! Ok, not full-blown lightening. Just one of the little "feeler" lightening. Enough to make her umbrella spark. No worries, she is ok!
- I have at least one more tutoring gig lined up for next semester. And a possible four more in the works! Yay extra money!!
- Joseph finally bought a new pair of shoes! But then the "perfect storm" occurred. Which included a) new rubbery soled shoes b) lots of rain c) a bit of alcohol. The result? Joseph falling on his butt 8 times on the way home. It was somewhere between amusing and painful to watch.
- We currently have 3 Couch Surfers (ie random college-aged kids) from Iowa staying with us for a few days. So far they seem really great! After that we have Dan (a friend from UGA) coming to visit for a few days, and THEN....
- We are off to Zurich!! We will spend a few days there, then take the train to Paris, where we will spend New Years. I am super excited!!

Well everyone just came home, so now I am too distracted to write. I think we are going to make a giant Chicken/Rabbit Paella for our guests! What is Paella? Read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paella

Hope everyone is having a good winter! Miss and love you all!!!
Luego!!

PS: If you want a postcard, make sure we have your address!!!!