I love taking pics in Spain!

Sickness Overseas

Couch

Could I have some more ibuprofen please?

It started with a sore throat the Saturday before last and has lasted until now.  Cough. Cough.  It’s actually more like a Hack, Hack with a lot of flem in the background. Maybe it’s because I’ve been sick or maybe it’s my new hatred of traveling to McDonalds just to get on the Internet, or maybe it’s because nothing really exciting has happened since my last post.  I know, it’s not an excuse, so here we go.

The Saturday before last, Tad and I decided to go to Salobrena despite the weather.  We happened to miss our bus and while we waited at the bus station for another hour I took some pictures  (pictures below) while hoping that my sore throat would go away.  Once we got to Salobrena we started the hike up the steep roads to the castle at the top of the town.  As we were following the signs to the castle we happened to stumble upon a Spanish wedding.   It was hard to get a good view, but we got the end of the wedding on video, including the rice being thrown and fireworks, which made me and Tad jump like preteens at a horror flick.  Watch the camera jump at the end.

Once we finally got up to the Castle it was just closing for siesta.  Go figure.  Instead of heading home I convinced Tad to stay until it reopened.  Unfortunately the rain got to us first and we made our way home in the cold rain which I’m assuming didn’t help my situation.  Actually I’m blaming the cold rain for the last week I have had to endure.  Cough. Cough.

Getting sick abroad is like pooping in the woods.  Actually I have never pooped in the woods so I don’t know what that’s like but I’m assuming getting sick abroad is a lot like it.  It sucks and it’s it makes you miss home.  Going to the doctor abroad is challenging all in itself as well.  Luckily Mon was a Spanish holiday so I stayed home eating ibuprofen like it was Pez.   Tuesday I went to school and with half of a voice I tried to teach English.  Wednesday rolled along and surprise-surprise I feel ten times worse and took the day off of work to find a doctor to write me a prescription for an antibiotic. 

THE EUROPEAN HELATH CARE!!!  That’s all I have to say about that.  Without going into the details I finally, after hours of waiting, searching, trying, speaking spanglish, and with the help of my roommate Emily we finally found a doctor (I think that is what she was). She looked at my throat and asked me what my symptoms were and in less than five minutes I had a prescription for three different medicines, one of them being an antibiotic.  YAY!  Finally, some drugs to make me live forever.  Ok maybe they were magical immortal pills, but they sure made me feel better. Cough.  Cough.  Unfortunately the cough has not subsided.

Because I was taken ill all week long I was unable to join my roommates on Thursday for the weekend trip to Granada.  I finally met them on Saturday for Emily’s birthday and I stayed in my first Hostal, which took 3 hours to find.  We went out for a few drinks and sadly my tour of Granada was in the dark with a haze caused by fermented beverages but I still had a great time.  I’m definitely going to have to make my way back to see the Alhambra which my roommates toured while I was at home still feeling like death.

Despite getting sick and missing out on some fun times, my job here in Spain is wonderful.  The school I teach at is great!  I have so much fun with all the kids, and the teachers at the school are so helpful and are so patient with me when I’m trying to speak my spanglish.  I promise my next post will include pictures of all my classes and a video of them.  Till next time.

 Look at the view!

 The Cathedral

 Door to the Cathedral

 Look at the Bridesmaids Polka-dot Flamenco Dresses

 At the top of the stairs is the Castle which we never got in.

 I look goofy in this picture but the view is amazing.

 Bottom of the castle

 My photography

 That hill is steeper than it looks

School has started!

“Shhh!”

“Silence!”

”Sit down!”

“Only English”

“My name is Miss Mikey.”

“My favorite color is Blue.”

These are the phrases I say over and over every day and I love it!!! 

The first day of School for me started on Friday. I wake up super early get dressed in a comfortable outfit and walk 15 mins down hill to my school in Motril.  I’m super excited yet so nervous my stomach could barely hold my breakfast.  I get to the school super early, which is unusual for Spaniards, so unusual they didn’t know what to do with me until the Bilingual coordinator got there.   Well she got there late so they told me I could wait in the teachers lounge for two hours or just come back.  I decided the latter and went out for some good’ole Spanish pastries and some hot chocolate.  Once I got back I was given a tour of the school and was introduced to some classes.   The kid’s eyes were so big and they all wanted to tell me their names.  After meeting the teachers I would be working with and seeing some of the kids I knew that this year in Spain is going to be great!

Sat morning my roommates and I got on a bus to Algeciras to meet Tads Uncle and pick up the car his Uncle is letting us borrow the eight months we will be here.  Yeah I know, I’m really lucky…. road trips here we come!  Not to mention we can make one big trip to Al Campo instead of small trips in the matter of days.  His Uncle was a great host, we ate great food and we had a free place to sleep.  I practiced my Spanish in small amounts with is Aunt and played with his little cousin who was only 5.   Overall my favorite thing about the trip was the drive home.  Put my IPod in my ears and stared out the window.  The view the whole way was gorgeous, filled with mountains and the Mediterranean Sea.  Here are the Pictures.

The rock of Gibraltar.  We could see it from the beach in Algeciras.  Can you see the smog?

Roommate Emily

Roommate Tad.  Looking good there Tad!

From the road

Mediterranean...do you see it? 

Me and Daniel (Tad's cousin) isn't he adorable?  His English is great as well!

After the weekend I was tired yet ready to get back to the school and start officially working with the students.  Instead of a bell ringing to start off the day for the students, they play American music instead to get the kids pumped up to learn.  It's great!  One other American works with me at the school, Mitch from Philadelphia.  Our Bilingual coordinator asked us what levels we would like to work with.  Immediately Mitch said he would like to work with the older children, which was perfect because I really wanted to work with the younger children.  Two days have now passed and the first thing that has come to my attention is there is no disciplinary system within the classroom.  The children get up from their desks every two seconds and talk to each other while the teacher stands there and does nothing to get them to settle down and listen.  It is crazy madness!!!!  I constantly have to scream over their voices, especially with the little ones.   Today I had asked a teacher to help me get the classroom quite by having the children put one finger over their mouths and to keep in their seats.   It didn’t work.  There is no such thing as organization in the classroom.  Listening and paying attention isn’t that important here.  How these kids learn anything is to my surprise.  But this is the culture of the Spanish classroom.  This is Spain.  I’m not in Texas anymore.    

 It might be the toughest job yet, but I'm loving every minute of  it.  The kids absolutely love learning about me and about Texas.  Quick shout out to Caden Forst for letting me borrow the Texas map he got in his Highlights magazine.  The kids love looking at the pictures and it has been a great help when explaining where I am from.  Thanks!