Be Positive!
Trip Start
May 27, 2009
1
10
11
Trip End
Jun 01, 2010
Granada, Andalusia, Spain and Canary Islands
Monday, November 16, 2009
Halloween
I dressed up as a black cat at school and the kids loved it! While I was teaching my kindegarten class every couple of minutes I would feel a tugging at the bottom of my skirt and would then see a small crowd of little 5-year-olds pulling at my tail. Hehe.
We had a poorly organized Halloween party in my 6th grade classroom on the Friday before Halloween too
Halloween
. I felt like more of a zookeeper than a teacher. I was supposed to give the kids a little summary of what we do for Halloween in the US and maybe a little bit of the history of Halloween, but that just didn´t happen. The kids were too busy being out of control and shoving candy and soda into their mouths. The teacher´s solution to this was hitting the wooden eraser on the board to shut everyone up and then yelling "Shut up" at the kids. This got them quite for about 1 minute and then they got crazy again. The classroom was a disaster area afterwards - the worst of part was the wet chips.. you know, potato chips that have been soaked by water or soda? In case you didn´t know, kids think it is a great idea, when they get sick of drinking their soda or juice, to fill the beverage glass with chips or candy to make a disgusting soda/soggy chip mixture. These cups full of goo were left all over the classroom and some of the contents were spilled onto desks and the floor. It was up to me and the teacher to clean it up. Gross.In general, the day was fun though. It was really cool to see some of the kids get dressed up and get really excited about the whole Halloween thing.
On a teaching side note, the school is teaching British English so some words are different like toilet instead of bathroom
kids at school dressed up for Halloween
. Also, I was once approached by a teacher who asked me if I had a rubber. I was a little taken aback since rubber is another word for condom in the US but in Great Britain it is an eraser! haha.Córdoba
Róisín and I went to the bus station on November 1st with the intent to go somewhere, anywhere within a few hours from Málaga and stay for the night.
We ended up choosing Córdoba. Here is a little wikipedia blurb about it if you are interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Córdoba,_Spain
The bus trip there was very scenic while the sun was still up. We arrived after dark and walked towards the centro hístorico to search for a hostal. We ended up staying at a really art-oriented albergue ran by the Andalucian government with breakfast included.
After tossing our stuff in our room we went in search for tapas. We were told that the Plaza de la Corredera was a good place to find them, but we didn´t get far from the Albergue before we found a different place. It was a little bar called Bodega Mariscal - from the street all you could see was just an ornate moorish door with stairs going down to a bar
FLAMENCO NIGHT!!!
. When we arrived at the bottom of the stairs there were only two people there including the owner. We sat down at the bar and ordered a tinto (red wine) and began chatting with the owner, Miguel. Miguel had a very raspy, deep voice and looked intense to me. He told us about his bodega and harvesting the grapes and gave us a brochure with a picture of him in it. Throughout the night he kept pouring more and more wine into our glasses without asking and assured us he would only charge us for one glass of wine. He even began pouring white wine into our glasses full of red wine and vice versa which surprised me a little because I thought mixing different types of wine was against the rules all things wine! hmmmm, I suppose he is the bodega owner, not me!A small family came in (older parents and two daughters our age) and a different man picked up a guitar from behind the bar. The man began playing at the bar right next to us and the whole family started clapping flamenco style. The man began singing in his 2-pack-a-day raspy smoker voice. The girls our age began singing as well. There we were, huddled around the bar, us listening to them play flamenco all night. It was spontaneous and amazing. Everyone who wandered into the tiny bar joined in and clapped to the rhythm of the music. Miguel just kept on filling our wine glasses and we kept on drinking and enjoying the magic of the evening
Bridge in Córdoba
. At the end of the night the man with the guitar serenaded Róisín (i´m going to try to upload a video). It really was magical and it reminded me of how amazing traveling is - the random things you stumble upon and people you meet that fill you will joy. After four hours or so we said our goodbyes to the crew at the bar and went to a different bar for a couple tapas. No hay palabras!The next morning we went to the famous Mezquita of Córdoba. The church turned mosque turned church again. I really enjoyed it and was glad I went to the Mezquita before seeing the Alhambra in Granada so that I could really appreciate it for what it was.
The red and white striped arches of the mezquita were lovely but the church plunked right in the middle of the place really rubbed me the wrong way. It didn´t belong there and ruined the aura of the whole building. Excluding the church part, I really enjoyed it. There was also a garden of orange trees right outside the building that was pretty too! We got really lucky with the weather in Córdoba too! It was real hot - 90 degrees or so!
After the Mezquita we went to the Plaza de la Corredera which is FULL of little cafes in this gigantic plaza. We sat there most of the day drinking tinto de veranos and coffees and soaking in the atmosphere
Córdoba´s Mezquita
.The night of flamenco music made me so happy. It is so important to just live in the moment, make the most of your time, and absorb and share the happiness and beauty of our surroundings. Nights like that make me want to learn more languages, learn how to play an instrument, and just talk talk talk to as many people as I can! Shared experiences and friends are the best part of life!
Granada
My traveling friend Rob who I had visited in London and his roommate Sean visited on November 6th. They picked me up from school in Álora in their rented car and we went to El Chorro which is this gorge nearby my school that is pretty impressive. It has a crazy treacherous walkway about 100 feet up from the water called El Camino del Rey (see photos). We just saw it from far away, but there were people walking on it and it was a really windy day! Apparently, a few people fall off of it every year - Have some common sense people! The rock climbing in the area is supposed to be fabulous too! Maybe it is another hobby to take up?
After stopping to check out El Chorro we made our way to Granada where we stayed from Friday to Sunday evening
The arches!
. It was a lot colder in Granada than in Málaga. It has not gotten chillier than 60s in Málaga but in Granada it felt like 40s or low 50s. Still, it is no Minnesota winter…In Granada with every drink you buy they serve tapas for free. So you can easily eat without actually paying for any food. And that is basically what we did all weekend. Some bars have better tapas then others… here is a sample of tapas we ate: ham and cheese sandwiches with fries, potato salad, meaty stew, paella, bread with cheese, olives, fish fillet. Yum. By the way, I now am beginning to enjoy seafood and olives - two foods that I used to hate!
So, I love Granada not just because of all the ¨free¨ food, but also because it is so adorable and historic!! There are tons of little streets with shops and cafes all over the place! It has a very big Arabic influence so there are all sorts of cheap hippie shops with hookahs and fun clothes and jewelry! The Sierra Nevadas also overlook the city and then of course there is the Alhambra!!!!!!! Oo, I could totally live there. The only thing Granada doesn´t have is the beach! But it isn´t too far away.
So on our first night we got lots of drinks which means lots of tapas
Saint Matamoros (yes that means kill moors)
. Then we went to this viewing point called San Nicolas (A plaza in front of a church) which has an outstanding view of the Alhambra. Sean got kind of lost leading us there, but we got to see a lot of cute streets in Granada because of it. We wandered through the hills of the city and into a neighborhood called Sacramonte (arguably the place where flamenco was born). Walking through the streets we were greeted by the echos of clapping, guitar, and other sounds of flamenco. It was brilliant. Finally we arrived at Mirador San Nicolas and just sat staring at the lit up Alhambra in all of its glory! We decided to go to a rooftop bar for one more drink and more gazing at the Alhambra and then called it a night.The Alhambra was SPECTACULAR. It is really impossible to describe it in words. Even the area walking up to the visitors´ desk is beautiful. Walking up the path you are surrounded by green trees and flowers. To each side of you are little rivers rolling over the pebbles and rocks of the sidewalk. We bought out tickets early Sunday morning and went right to the Alcazaba to start off – There weren´t very many people there that hour so we were able to each go on different towers of the castle about 50 feet apart and be alone on each one which made for some pretty cool photos with the city of Granada in the background. We then went to Palacíos de Nazaríes… ufff, impressive. This place was fabulous. No words to describe it. The architecture was unbelievable and so intricate. You could see the amount of time put into the carvings and the fountains and the ceilings in every room. The holiness just seeped out of the walls of this place. There was this one room that had an extremely high ceiling and just took my breath away. While staring up at the ceiling I felt as though I was staring into the universe. The walls were covered with verses in Arabic and stars and other carvings
El Chorro
.From there we went to Generalife Gardens which were also beautiful. The synergy of the plants and flowers filled all of us visitors with a sense of tranquility. And of course in the background of everything were the castle and the Sierra Nevadas. Wow. Instead of attempting to describe this amazing place maybe you should just look at the photos!
Some other highlights of Granada were….
-Outdoor cafes with musicians
-Outdoor spice stand with baskets of fresh loose teas and colorful herbs and spices.
-Mirador San Nicholas which we went to at night on Friday and during the day on Saturday when there were wandering musicians playing guitar.
-Meeting a Spanish Portuguese couple in a tapas bar who after 5 minutes of meeting them invited me to call them if I ever came to Lisbon for a visit and they would show me around
La Garganta del Chorro
!I understand why people go to Granada over and over again!! It is a great city that I would be happy to visit again!
School
Ahh, Álora! Well, since figuring out that I was actually supposed to be teaching both classes and teachers English basics for the classroom like ¨Turn to page 3 in your books¨ or ¨Can I go to the toilet please?¨ I was a lot more happy with how things were going, more organized and I felt comfortable in the classroom. This feeling lasted for about 2 weeks.
I came to school one Friday and was told that Carmen the principal was looking for me. I went into the office to find Carmen, Fernando, and two women from the Delegation of Education. One of them María Dolores was the woman who I talked to twice about things going on at my school. She didn´t help me at all and had really blew me off when I asked for her help working things out at my school. She said that the organization would come and it would all get better, just give it some time. In a nutshell, she suggested they put me in English classes and meet with the professors once a week to plan.
So, the meeting was over and I asked Fernando and Carmen if we could meet regarding planning the new schedule to ensure it was as compact as possible. Well they blew me off again and said that they were really busy right then, etc...
Camino del Rey
I arrived to school the following Tuesday and asked Fernando if there was a time we could meet about discussing how to organize the new schedule. He told me that it was already done and he didn´t want to talk anymore about it. I asked to see it and he was reluctant but he finally gave it to me. It was much worse than the previous schedule. So although my contract says I am to work no more that 12 hours per week at the school, I would be at the school or waiting around or in transport to the school for more than 30 hours per week. It seems a little ridiculous right? Plus with the new schedule I was losing my three day weekend.
The next day I presented Carmen and Fernando with two different more reasonable schedules schedules to them - In order to get them to talk to me I had to intercept the two in the Teacher´s Lounge while they were getting coffee and ask them if I could talk to them while they were pouring their coffee so that I wouldn´t be wasting any of their precious time. So I began with a brief summary with a year with them thus far... Confusion and frustration at the beginning, then a month later some understanding and acceptance of what I was supposed to be doing and then I felt in my groove planning some pretty fun lessons for the kids, and then the coming of Maria Dolores telling them to put me into English classes
Alhambra at night
. Well, since I had already planned for a couple months for the classes I was already in and they were working and the teachers and students were used to me coming it at that time, I didn´t think it was a good idea to switch my schedule around to English classes (not to mention the new schedule was horrible). Anyway, a gigantic argument began and they told me I didn´t think of this was a job and I wasn´t taking it seriously and I couldn´t go picking and choosing the classes that work for me just because I wanted to. And it is their job to do the schedule not mine so I should accept it how it is. Many teachers don´t like their schedules but they don´t ask to change it because if all the teachers wanted a certain schedule to fit their needs it would be chaos, yada yada yada. Then they brought up the fact that I had gone to complain about them to the Delegation of Education in the first few days and that my actions had consequences and that Maria Dolores had been calling them every week to see how I was doing... news to me!The principal called me "caprichosa" which basically means flip flopper and this went on for about 40 minutes. I attempted to explain that I was an assistant not a teacher and I only work 12 hours a week so didn´t it make sense for it to be as compact as possible and couldn´t they just be flexible.. No. It was like speaking to a wall. I was so frustrated and felt like I was being ganged up on that I started crying
Barrio Sacromonte
. Finally, after settling down I asked them to just please look at the schedules I proposed and consider them leaving the hard feelings behind us. Fernando took a look and denied them.I love my co-worker Juan! He also is really frustrated with how the school works and sympathizes with my problems with the administration. He offered to come with me and go talk to them the following day. I decided the best I could do now was ask for my old schedule back plus the meeting Monday afternoon (5 days of work per week). The following day 5 teachers were out sick so Juan was unable to come with me but Fernando accepted my proposal without a hitch! But there was another problem...
On Fridays I teach 6th grade for 1 hour 45 minutes and that is my work day. The 6th graders were going to be out on a field trip so the teacher told me they didn´t have class. The principal, Carmen, told me I still had to come and prepare materials. I asked a question which I thought was very reasonable... if I only have to prepare materials can I come early on Tuesday and do it then? No. Then another 30 minute argument began. There is just no flexibility. After a half hour I stopped her and just said, clearly there is no changing your mind about this even though I see it as so simple
Spices and Tea!?
.With all of this I have been so overly stressed out and have hated going to school. Juan really helped me think about things differently though and encouraged me to be positive. I am now trying to think positive about my time on the road on my way to school and about school in general. I can listen to new music now or NPR or think about things now! I have 10 hours a week in buses or trains to do that! Woo hooo! And really, it is a good thing. I just need to think about it that way instead of as time wasted. So, I am now going to avoid Fernando and Carmen and just enjoy teaching, the kids, and the transportation! Think Positive!
Well, today is Monday and I had to go to Álora for this meeting with professors they have me scheduled for from 5-630. I suspected that it was going to be a waste of time and it was actually just going to be me preparing materials, not actually meeting with anyone.
So I took the train there today and was walking down the street towards my school when I saw Juan driving away from the school towards Málaga. I flagged him down and asked why he was leaving. He was wondering why I was on my way there because almost everyone had already left. There was a meeting with some really specific people in the school that surely I was not to be a part of
At café below Alhambra
. I called the school and the special education teacher answered and agreed that I had no reason to be in that meeting. I was so mad. They didn´t call me to tell me not to come. It is a complete lack of respect and courtesy. Again, I was so fuming that I was on the verge of tears. Juan drove me back to Málaga and again helped me to cheer us by focusing on something else. I would never stand for this in the US but I feel because I don´t speak Spanish perfectly and get flustered when I am frustrated that I just can´t do it anymore. I have tried to figure things out and complain and it doesn´t get me anywhere. I just don´t know what to do anymore except just keep my mouth shut and keep on keeping on. I am going to be as positive as I can, but sometimes it is really hard in this school of mierda.Life in General
I am still trying to keep busy outside of school and it has been a great success. I have been to museums, free showings of films, and flip cup tournaments among other things. My schedule has really filled up with private classes and I now have about 8 hours a week of them! It is more than enough to pay my rent every month which is also a stress reliever! :)
I also just bought plane tickets to Turkey where I am going with Tara in February!! I am super excited! My dream of going to Turkey will finally be realized!
Also, Spain is just full of random things. The other day I saw a man walking a pig on a leash. I often see children peeing in the middle of the street. How strange!
Well that is more than enough for now I think! I will try to sit down and write in here more often!
Hasta luego!
Comments
Ha! I was TOTALLY expecting Miguel to try and force you to pay for all that wine he kept pouring you! I'm really glad he didn't and you had a great night. I'm pretty jealous...
Louise Brown
TravelPod Community Manager