Back to School

Reality has hit! I've gone to all my new classes now and I think I'll enjoy them. There are always more that I want to take, but you have to decide! I have five classes this semester instead of four so it will be a challenge. This is what a typical week will look like for me this semester:

Monday- go running, class on "The Subjunctive" 11-12:20, class on "Don Quijote" 12:30-1:50, lunch at home, study, intercambio and dinner (practice Spanish and English w/ Ana) 8-10

Tuesday- class on "Teaching a Foreign Language" 9:30-10:50, class on "El Camino de Santiago" 11-12:20, study and lunch in or near school, class on "Teaching Literature" 5:30-6:50, tutor my English student 7:30-9, dinner at home

Wednesday- just like Monday except I will tutor from 5:30-7 instead of having my intercambio

Thursday- just like Tuesday but no class at 9:30 and no tutoring

Friday- go to the high school where I was teaching one class a week last semester and teach English the whole day (This is my "internship" that goes with the "Teaching a Foreign Language" class), intercambio with Rocío 6-8, dinner, go out with friends??

Saturday-if I'm not traveling... go running, catch up on homework and sleep, Bible Study 7-9, go out with friends??

Sunday- if I'm not traveling... church 12-1:30, find a bocadillo (sandwich) somewhere, catch up on homework and sleep, dinner at home

It will be busy! I am thinking about joining a tennis league or class, but I'm a little worried that I won't have enough time!

Some highlights from my classes:

I'm most excited about the fact that we are going to publish a book in my teaching class. We already have a publishing contract and each one of us is going to contribute a chapter! It will be distributed to English teachers here in Madrid.

El Camino de Santiago is a path starting in France that runs through Northern Spain from East to West. It's a pilgrimage that people have been making since the 11th and 12th centuries. So, for that class we will be backpacking and doing part of that pilgrimage.

I am going to read Don Quijote. Yeah, it's huge.

So, that's my life for the next few months. I am also going to have lots of visitors including my Aunt Marty in a couple weeks, my parents over Spring Break, my brothers (if they ever buy tix!) in May, and my students from HC in June! Woo hoo!

Last night Sarah (my "Greek friend") and I saw "El laberinto de Fauno" ("The Labyrinth of Fauno"). It was pretty a pretty interesting movie that takes place just after the Spanish Civil War. Those of you who know me well will be surprised to hear that I actually liked it even though it does have some characters that are part human and part not. :) I'm expanding my horizons.

Well, I've tried to post more pics, but the camera still isn't working too well. I'm going to go see if they can fix it today. Hopefully I can show you Greece soon!

Stranded on an Island

I am sitting in an Internet cafe on the island of Santorini in Greece. I am supposed to be on a ferry back to Athens, but our ferry was canceled due to high winds. That means that we will miss our flight back to Madrid and I will miss my first class on Monday. The trials and tribulations of travel! Well, until now we've had a great time here in Greece. Actually, now we're really not having a bad time; we're just having a good time a little bit longer than we thought we would!

Santorini is gorgeous, but definitely feels like a ghost town in the middle of the winter. Yesterday we rented a Smart Car and cruised around the island! It was so much fun. I've always wanted to drive a Smart Car (or Coche Inteligente, as AVP calls them). :) The island is really small. It's long and skinny, and the length is only about fifteen miles I think. So, we saw EVERYTHING (at least once). The island is unique because the landscape was formed when a volcano exploded, creating huge black cliffs on the west coast and black sand beaches on the east coast. Green farmland and whitewashed towns contrast against the black landscapes. I took tons of pictures and will post them when (if?) I get back to Madrid.

We've been eating well, mostly enjoying the plethora of Feta cheese. It's SO GOOD! They bake it in foil with olive oil, oregano, tomatoes, onions, and hot peppers. I've also eaten lots of lamb...Souvlaki (which I think just means grilled meat, but sometimes they cut it off of a big huge hunk that is rotating on a pole over heat), Gyros, Pitas. I decided that the Greeks really know how it eat. Sorry, Paco, but it's better than Spanish food!

Well, I'm signing off now. Hopefully we'll be able to board that nine hour ferry tomorrow so we can get back to "real life" (as real as life feels in Madrid!) soon.

Kallin' ychta from Greece

Kallin' ychta means "good night" in Greek! I sitting in my hostel in Athens enjoying a little down-time before dinner. My friend Sarah and I have been wandering around Athens the last two days looking a ruins and eating Moussaka (lamb casserole dish...yum!). Tomorrow we leave on a ferry for the island of Santorini. We'll be there for a couple days before we head back to Spain. The island is gorgeous and we hope to rent a Smart car and tool around.

We'll I had a great time catching up with you all in Michigan around Christmastime! I got back to Spain on the 4th and was there for Three Kings' Day before coming here. Three Kings' Day is January 6. The night of the 5th the Three Kings come to bring presents to the kids. The sixth is like a second Christmas. The Spanish exchange gifts on Christmas, but even more so on the sixth! So, the 5th I went downtown Madrid and saw the procession (well, sort of...there were THOUSANDS of people there so it was hard to see). During the procession ("La Cabalgata") the kings arrive and wish everyone a happy new year. (Then I guess they stay in town to deliver all those gifts.) On the sixth I went with Maria Jose, my roommate, to her sister's house and we had an incredible dinner (lunch). Then they exchanged gifts and talked and lots of family kept stopping over. I will post some pics of the Cabalgata and the dinner when I get back to Spain.

Classes start Monday so I'm sure I won't write again till I'm back in the good ole' Middlebury library!