Pursuit of Happyness

I couldn’t come up with a creative name for this entry, so I decided to put my iPod on shuffle and see if I could come up with a name based on a song that came up. A couple song’s in, I came across Kid Cudi’s ‘Pursuit of Happyness” (yes, it is supposed to be spelled that way), and thought it was appropriate. So, there’s the story behind the title if it seems a bit random to some. J

So, last weekend, I went to a friend’s birthday party. In talking with them prior to the day of the fiesta, it seemed as if they were going to rage. I mean, full on rage. Honestly, I was a bit concerned solely because I’m not sure I can ‘hang’ when it comes to drinking in this country! HaHa! They can go for HOURS, but at a slow and steady pace. HaHa, not like the states, where it’s shot after shot after shot and doubles in a single glass, etc. Anyway, they text to tell me they were meeting in the plaza Saturday at noon to go buy party supplies. So, I threw some clothes in the washing machine and headed to the plaza. (This is where I witnessed the funeral) Once I met with the people, I was quickly aware that they were going to buy the supplies and get started right away. I was not dressed for the occasion and I needed to get my laundry on the line and Joanne hadn’t returned from her trip to Jaen. In essence, I was not ready. I gave some money to contribute to the supplies and then went home to take care of things and wait for Joanne. I had made plans that I was going to meet up with Grego around 3:30 or so to head out to the party. The party was on a ranch about 3 miles outside of town. I was immediately impressed by Tote’s (the birthday boy) ranch. It was quite beautiful and had all the essential amenities. There was a pool (covered since it is late October, of course). On one side of the pool, there was a small basketball goal set up on the fence. Flowers were abundant! He had chickens, rabbits, turkey’s, birds. He does his own raising and killing for food. His garden contains enough varieties of fruits and vegetables to make anyone happy. He even has a walnut tree beside his house. It was pretty cool to see. I really liked the area. It was nice to be away from buildings and out in the open on the side of the mountain. We ate, drank, and played games. It was a very laid back day, not much drinking at all--whew! I enjoyed a couple drinks and attempted to play games with them. Jenga, I could handle, haha! No translation required. Then, we played a different game that was a combination of Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit, and Apples-to-Apples. There was much more translating required in this game. HaHa! I was fortunate that there was a girl there that taught English. She was able to help tremendously!! HaHa! I didn’t do too terrible in some of the cases; I was actually able to help SOME. HaHa! J Caught a ride back into town with Grego and went to sleep pretty soon after. It wasn’t a crazy birthday party like I anticipated or am used to being a part of, but it was definitely a fun time and another opportunity for me to get exposed to the language and local people. Enjoy a few photos…

Tote's house... look at the gate... I really like that feature

Grego posing on the porch in front of the pool area.

The flowers lining the fence by the pool

Loli--the translator!  :)

From left: Tote (the birthday boy), Grego, and Jorge

It seems that this same group of people gather for coffee every Sunday afternoon. They invited us again, so we joined them for coffee at a fun little café around the corner from our house. I’m doing my best to keep up when they speak, it’s SO FAST and I genuinely feel like I get better every day. It’s not as fast as I’d like, of course, but patience is something I think I will learn while I am here… whether I want to or not, haha! J I do my best to talk to them and I definitely make quite a few errors, but I guess it’s great that I’m trying, right?

Today begins quite a long weekend for us. We don’t go back to school until next Wednesday. I thought about going out of town this weekend, but it seems there is a small festival in town this weekend that tends to bring some people to the village, so I figured I’d better stay here and see what it’s all about. J I’ll post more about that when I know more about it. Right now, I do not know a whole hell of a lot! J

NEXT weekend, though, is my birthday weekend, so I think I may try to take some sort of trip… Maybe Granada. I’d really like to go to Malaga. I’ll let you know how that goes, as well. J

OK… One thing that drives me nuts here is the lack of organization. I am not complaining!! It’s just that I am used to having a more structured work environment. Expectations are made well-known and schedules are to be kept, for the most part. Nothing is perfect, of course, haha! Let me give you an example of what I mean… I was supposed to come up with Halloween projects for my students in a couple of the classes. So, I did. I chose to make a graveyard, of sorts, so it required a little legwork. I couldn’t find a gravestone online that I liked and had room for what I had in mind, so I decided to put my artistic abilities (or lack thereof) to work and make my own. I needed to cut out letters and made some ghosts for decorations on my graveyard. I even stayed up one night and made my own gravestone so I could have an example to show the kids. One teacher, in particular, told me to have it ready for Tuesday (a couple day’s ago), so I did. And I talked to the other teacher of the other 5^th grade class so that the whole class could participate, to which she agreed and said was fine. So, I head to school on Tuesday with all of my stuff. It was literally like I was a little kid on my first day of classes and just excited to have all my supplies. HaHa, that’s what I felt like. My first class is one of the classes that will be participating, so I get everything ready and the teacher comes up to me in their lounge area and says, “They have an exam this first hour, so you don’t need to do anything.” Ummm… Ok. No big deal, I guess. She says we can do the project in the 2^nd hour (a different class all-together). So, 2^nd hour rolls around and we make our gravestones, I hand out pixie sticks at the end (they loved, by the way), and all was right in the world. My 3^rd class of the day was the class of the teacher that actually told me to have the project ready, so I took all my stuff as I was supposed to. When I got there, she said, “We have to do this before we can do anything. It’ll take 15-20 minutes.” Alright! No big deal, at all! Well, “this” was a 4 page English paper that they had to do. 30 minutes later, she says that I can go do something else in the office if I need to. What?! So, I leave to go do some cutting out of letters and what not actually a little upset that I wasn’t able to do the project more. But, it’s their classes and I am not going to push anything, so I just let it be. I was actually pretty excited about what I had come up with and I thought it was a good idea, but I didn’t really get to share it like I wanted to. I guess it’s good that I got to at all, though, so I’m not mad about anything. Just frustrated. I’ve definitely never been someone to always do what I’m told, haha, but when it comes to work… I do try to put my best foot forward and I definitely want to do the best job that I am capable of. I guess I just need to get used to the possibility of what I come up with not being utilized. All adjustments that I am going to need to make and I will along the way…. Just thought I’d let you in on an example. I hope it made sense, haha! J

My project... doesn't look as good as I wanted it to, but oh well...

I have a brief, funny story for you. We have our English Club on Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s, right? Well, this week, we thought we’d watch a movie with the kids in celebration of Halloween. Hocus Pocus… Best (non-horror) Halloween movie out there!! And fairly simple, right? Well, I obviously do not have that DVD with me and they don’t have it here (not that I’ve seen and definitely not in English--we wanted English for the ENGLISH Club). So, I downloaded it on my iTunes and we were just going to play it through my computer. No big deal. One of the teacher’s showed me how to hook up my computer to their projector. It seemed simple enough. J (Side Note: he showed me how to hook it up during one of his classes, so my computer came on the projector screen. I have a picture of me with my brother’s as my background and it popped up and the whole class goes, “Ahhhhhhh!” in unison, haha!) Anyway, school gets out at 2:00 here. I had asked if I could set up my computer before I left at 2:00 and leave it there until our club started at 4:00, to which they said yes. So, I go into the classroom and get things set up as he told me to. Joanne came with me for a bit and then she left to get lunch. I was, seriously, not two minutes behind her and I went down the stairs to leave and the door was locked. I mean bolted and not going anywhere! I looked around the school (a small school) briefly and found no one. I got locked inside the school! It was 2:16 when I tried to leave the school. When they are done… they are DONE. HaHa! Teachers included! So, I just went back to the classroom and read my book. In the time between getting locked in and the club starting, something happened and we lost connection with the projector, so we had to attempt to watch Hocus Pocus from my computer screen. A very UNsuccesful venture!! We eventually moved onto something else… haha! They will never know the true value Hocus Pocus has. L

It is getting to be quite freakin’ cold! We are on the top floor of a house with zero insulation, so it is a wee bit chilly up here at nights and in the mornings.  I had been only using the small comfortor that came with the bed.  When I say small, I mean, if I tried to pull it up over my shoulders at night, my feet would come out the bottom... I'm a short person!  And there are no sheets, so I was working with one blanket.  So, the last couple nights, I stole the other comfortor (of the same size) off the other small bed in my room.  Any little bit helps, right!?  I talked to Douglas, who gave me a much heavier, larger blanket that has been amazing to cuddle up in!!  Whew!  Heat hasn't yet been provided.  We're waiting for the guy to 'come around' with gas cans.  That's how I'm heating my room... with a gas can and a small fire.  I am to 'take the chill out' before I go to bed and then when I get up in the morning.  This winter may be a long one, haha!

Well, I am going to get this posted and head off to bed... I hope this finds you well!  Happy Halloween to all my friends and family back home!  Miss you much, but having a great time!  <3

'Lil bit of this, 'lil bit of that...

Hello, again, friends! I’m doing my best to post as often as possible, but the truth is, there isn’t much new material, so I don’t want to bore you with the same ‘ol stuff. J You’re probably thinking, “You live in Spain, how can you not have a new story every weekend!?” The truth about that is simple. I saved a certain amount of money to allow me to survive until I got paid. I’m sure I’ve said something in previous entries, but oh well… I have to wait to get what is called an NIE number. Basically, it means that I become a temporary resident of Spain. I’m assigned a number that I have to give to the bank and a direct deposit is then set up so I can get paid. What is unfortunate is that I cannot do anything to speed up the process. This next step is out of my hands. The organizer at my school has to wait for the program to set up an appointment with the police station in Jaen. Once that is done, I have to take all of my paperwork to them and I get assigned the number. I’ve asked about this to a couple people who have done it already and it seems that part of the process is short and easy. THEN, I have to take the number to an what is called the office of extranjero’s (foreigner’s, basically) and I actually get a card with my number and school and such on it. THIS could take a month to process. Don’t hold me to all this because I’m still learning and remember, all this stuff is told to me in Spanish, so I’m counting on my ability to translate (which is not that strong of an ability right now). This card, though, will allow me to get discount and such in museums and various places throughout Spain, a cool feature, I think. J

As I’ve said before, I like to take notes of things I notice throughout the days and be sure to share them with you. I try to look for things that interest me, but also that might interest my followers at home.

One thing that I notice as interesting is how clean things are kept. I’m talking, there are women cleaning the OUTSIDES of their homes multiple times a week. They are mopping the sidewalk, scrubbing the walls, and sweeping the streets. Yes, you heard right. They spray down their streets with water and make sure everything is clean. It’s really pretty awesome. I haven’t asked yet why they do this, but I will eventually. I haven’t really noticed any men doing this, it’s typically a woman’s thing. It’s really nice to see the pride they take in their homes. I’ve also noticed that everywhere you look, there are women gossiping. Women of all ages stand in small groups and just chatter away. I am neither around them long enough to hear them, nor could I probably understand wholly, but you just know when it’s a gossip session. J The expressions on their faces are sometimes quite entertaining. I can’t wait until I can understand everything and then I may just watch and eavesdrop a little bit, haha! They’re probably talking about me when I walk by!!! HaHa! Who knows?!

OH! Before I forget, I intended on mentioning this the other day in my entry, but forgot. I told Dad the other day about it. When I was at La Feria, Joanne and I took a break to get some food and I ordered a hamburguesa (hamburger). This was, literally, a patty of ham. HaHa, it was NOT beef. It really wasn’t bad, but definitely NOT what I had in mind. HaHa! I heard there is a place here in the village that has steak (beef) and I am quite looking forward to trying it. I’ll let you know!

I took some pictures of places I frequent so far. I didn’t take photos of the inside yet, but I will in time.

This is an ice cream shop that has free wireless (kinda questionable wireless, but free none-the-less).  There is a drink called "Blanco y Negro" that I love!  Coffee with a scoop of whipped cream ice cream.  SO GOOD!  There are also alcoholic drinks served here (surprise, surprise!).

This is the outside of Christian's bar.  It's the first place I had a beer in Spain and the food is fantastic!!

Pub Genesis... A fairly nice place with free wireless and the futbol games on regularly.  Not a bad little hang out.

It obviously looks a little crappy from the outside, but I assure you, it is not.  It's a very cozy little place with cheap booze, GREAT tapas, and good food!  I'll take pictures when it is open next time, haha!

The library! Where I am now using their internet!  :) 

So, there's a few photos to satisfy the hunger... haha!  I'll post more on facebook sometime this week!

I was waiting in the plaza this morning for some friends and I was just taking in my surroundings and observing… as usual, the men were gathered throughout the plaza almost surely gossiping as much as their women counterparts (probably more about the olive harvest and weather, however). I was watching women (primarily) going into the church and a hearse drove up with flowers decorating both sides of the car followed by a procession of vehicles. Obviously, I realized I had stumbled upon a funeral, unfortunately. As the hearse parked and prepared to take the coffin inside, the majority of the men in the plaza stood up and walked to where they were taking the coffin out of the car and congregated around to pay their respects. Not all of the men went over there, but pretty much every single one stood up to pay respects. As they took the coffin in, many of the men followed it into the church and stood in the doorway. I wasn’t able to stay any longer after that.

Not that I want to spend my time talking about the weather, but I suppose it can be brought up. J Today (the 22^nd), it rained for the first time in my stay here. It was quite cold, to be honest. I’m told the area could really use the rain to help the harvest. I’ve heard that one before! HaHa! From what I hear, it’s supposed to rain tomorrow, too. I love the rain, so I wasn’t bummed at all. I enjoyed it. I DO need to get an umbrella, however… Add that to my shopping list along with a heavy blanket for the cooler months. J
I know Halloween is an Americanized holiday, but so many of the kids are very excited about it! Any time the teachers mention the word ‘Halloween,’ it is a ripple of excitement throughout the classes. I don’t think they do the whole ‘trick-or-treat’ thing like in the states, but I will let you know. Many of the students have figured out where we live and they already stop by quite a bit, so I imagine that, if they do go out, they will stop by our place. We’ll see, I guess! We don’t have school on the 31^st or November 1^st. The 1^st is a holiday here and since it falls on a Tuesday, the Spanish are known for taking of the Monday as well. Here’s hoping there are many holiday’s that fall on Tuesday’s!! HaHa! Just kidding… I would rather have school, to be honest, but I’m not going to complain. I just wish the whole ‘getting paid’ thing was set up so I could be a little more free with my weekends and do some traveling, but I still have plenty of time for all that. I’m in no rush. J I WANT to be and I WANT to start seeing some of southern Spain, but I have to be smart with my money. Papa John taught me well, even if it took awhile to learn. J

I have more notes, but I think I’m going to break up my entries and post again later this week. I went to a friend’s birthday party today at his ‘ranch.’ This place was awesome! I guess you’ll have to be on the edge of your seats waiting for the next entry… J

I heard K-State won this weekend… Go ‘Cats! Gotta put that out there! J And the Chiefs beat the Faiders!!! What the hell is going on over there?! Haha! J

‘Till next time! I hope this finds you all well!!

La Feria and beyond...

La Feria!

Let me tell you a little about my weekend… It’s been exhaustingly fantastic!

We don’t teach on Friday’s. I used the morning to check in with my online friends and then attempted to make a trip to the market. They were closing down at 1:00; so unfortunately, I don’t have any spectacular stories about that yet. I will try again next Friday, but much earlier. We decided to go out this evening. Well, let me rephrase that, I decided to go out WITH Joanne tonight. She’s been out and wants to go out all the time, but this lady is getting old and needs her sleep. We began our night at La Molina. I drank a few Cruzcampo’s, the beer made in Jaen. We had a couple free tapas. Do you all understand the tapa thing? It know I’ve mentioned it before, but I just think it’s amazing, so it’s worth repeating. With nearly every drink you order, they serve you a FREE tapa. A tapa is a sampling of an appetizer, basically. It’s fantastic. Some of them are not that tasty, but can you complain about something that is free? No. You cannot. But I can say that I have tried each one that has been given to us, so I’m not saying, “It’s gross” without, at least, giving it a chance. J I hear that, in Granada and a couple other Andalucian cities, you get to CHOOSE your free tapa. How bad ass is that? You order a drink and specify which free tapa you’d like. Picky with only the purchase of a beverage. Perfecto!

Anyway, we had a few drinks there and then headed to Los Pollos (yes, translated = “The Chickens”). Joanne is exchanging French with English lessons with a guy named Fran and was to meet him tonight. We arrived to a few people at the table. The two women are English teachers in a couple of the smaller villages. So, we were fortunate (well, I was), that they spoke some English. What I anticipated would be a short introduction/meeting of Fran and Joanne quickly turned into a group outing. Five more people showed up and ordered some beverages. Victoria and Loli are the two who teach English; Grego works at the bank we’re going to be using; Toti plays various instruments (I don’t know his day job yet); Jorge (not sure much about his details yet either, but a very nice guy); Angel is a photographer; Jose is another that I don’t have many details about either; and Fran is the one that is attempting to learn English, but still has a long way to go. (Like ME w/ my Spanish!) We stayed at Los Pollos (Lo Pollo as it is pronounced here) for a few rounds and then headed next door to Pub Genesis. Victoria introduced us to a few more people who spoke broken English, but I can’t remember names… I’m sorry!! (I guess that may not be that important, haha!) I’m a bit nervous to have too much to drink here yet. I want to be certain of my surroundings, including the people. I don’t want them to know the REAL me yet, Hahahaha! No, I just don’t need to be drunk… I’m enjoying socializing and slowly drinking. It’s a different pace that what I am used to and I really like it. It’s not the “go big or go home” mentality. It’s more of a turtle race. J Side note: I am excited to meet people my age!! I have been leery about going out because I feel so old, haha! I know I’m still a young pup, but I don’t want to go to pubs that are filled with 15-23 year olds. That’s right up Joanne’s alley, but not mine. I promised her I’d go sometime, though. I asked a couple locals if I would be the ’old lady’ at the pub and they said no, that there were people in their 40s there. Good to hear, haha! No disrespect to anyone, I just don’t feel comfortable. Now, I’ve found a group of people in their early 30s who are fantastic people and I am excited to go out!! (Even if I can hardly have a conversation with them yet!) J

I made my exit with Joanne about 1:30 or so. Victoria asked, “Why? It’s so early!” HaHa… man, I have a lot to get used to. J I have been trying to maintain conversations with people who speak little to no English, so it is forcing me to dig deep into my Spanish vocabulary and try to maintain a conversation. Let me tell you, it is exhausting!! And a bit frustrating at times. I am constantly thinking about how to say things (in what tense and use the proper vocabulary). I’m sure I sound like a complete idiot at times, but then I listen to how they try really hard to speak some English and see how broken and sometimes foolish they sound… it’s just like me! I have to be willing to just try and make these mistakes. And trust me; the mistakes are NUMEROUS on my part, haha! But, I am trying and I guess that is what is important. I think it is going to help me learn much quicker if I practice with native speakers and just have to speak it or have no conversation (which has happened on a couple awkward occasions). I mean, imagine trying to get a point across when neither person in the conversation knows the other person’s language. It’s hard. Trust me. Earlier in the evening, Joanne and I were invited to join everyone in Jaen for the first day of La Feria. They had some extra room in their vehicle. We decided if we woke up in time, we’d decide Saturday morning.

Saturday Morning:

We decided to take them up on their offer and ride with them to Jaen to La Feria. La Feria is exactly what it sounds like, The Fair. Since we were their guests, we were on their time schedule. We joined a couple other cars in Los Villares (the village between here and Jaen) and made our way to Jaen and parked. We then hopped on a taxi to el centro (the center of town where a lot of pubs and cafes are). Once there, we found a little tavern called Taberna Esteban. Everyone ordered a drink. A bit later, we ordered our food after some free tapas, of course! I had pechuga relleno con el jamon, otherwise known as barbecued chicken breast stuffed with ham (& cheese). It was freakin’ delicious!! So good! Ok, let me explain how this mealtime thing works. It is NOTHING like the states. It is definitely something I am going to have to get used to and embrace because there is really no changing it. Not that I would want to. I want to experience the authentic Spanish lifestyle, right? Anyway, for meals, you have to be able to dedicate hours… I mean hourS to having a meal. It is not abnormal to wait 45 minutes to an hour to get your food. Our expectations of speedy service in the states would floor some of these people. And I can’t blame them. The slower pace is refreshing in a sense. I really enjoy it. I love to just watch people and I spent a lot of the time just watching the passerby. I didn’t mind it, but Joanne was getting a bit restless. I understand her frustration, though. And alcohol goes with EVERY meal. I’m not complaining, nor am I bragging about it. I don’t drink at every meal, but the Spanish… they do. Every meal and many rounds sometimes. And NO ONE is in any type of rush. At all. I think we were there for 2 ½ to 3 hours for lunch. (Lunch begins, on average, around 2:00 in the afternoon.) Another new thing I am getting used to is that most people go for coffee after they are done with the meal. The place we ate lunch at did not serve coffee, so we walked to a different place down the way. I’m embracing the coffee thing, too. I’ve never been much of a straight coffee drinker, but I’m starting to be. Café con leche… Delicious with a little bit of sugar in it. J We went to this place called El Trovedor (I’m not sure the translation off the top of my head) where they had an inside bar/club area that was filled with people and you go through to their patio area that was a nice lounge area filled with colorful couches, chairs, and pillows. They were bright and comfortable. Our group grabbed one and enjoyed some coffee before starting in on some more adult beverages. I should mention that our group had grown by quite a bit. At one point, there were 20 people, I think. I am not even going to start trying to tell names because I cannot remember them to save my life… as I am around them more often, I will write about them more and more, I am sure. J Names will come then. HaHa! We stayed at this café, which is not like a café in the states. Café means bar, pretty much, but they also serve coffee drinks. Drinks are definitely more expensive in Jaen, but I also think that it didn’t help that the Feria began that day. Thousands of people flocked to the area to participate. We joined the masses and walked to the feria after El Trovedor, maybe a 10 or 15 minute walk from where we were…

El Trovedor for coffee and some adult beverages before the fair.  These are some of my new friends!  Joanne (my roommate) is in the "I heart NY" t-shirt.

The Feria was like any state fair I’ve ever been to for the most part. I’ll explain the differences I noticed, but the usual, “How strong are you?” and “Pop the balloons to win ‘this’ prize” games were in abundance. All the fried food and cotton candy, etc were scattered about the place. Rides and games and lights everywhere. We arrived with still a little daylight to spare and made our way to a ‘caseta’ of the groups choosing. Ok. This is where things get different. In one area of the fairgrounds, there were TONS of tents. Maybe 20 or more side-by-side. Most tents sold drinks and had a different variety of music in each one. Some were, sporadically, food vendors with tables and chairs to sit down in. Most were music, however. And EVERY SINGLE ONE was packed full of people dancing and drinking. Remember, it’s still daylight. I want to try to explain what it was like in a comparison that you may understand. It was a lot like Oktoberfest in the sense that so many people flock to town for it, but also a bit like a music festival with different acts and booze everywhere. You could walk to the rollercoaster and then to your favorite tent and dance for awhile and then go to the bumper cars (probably not a wise choice--and I did not DO that, it’s just an attempt to help you visualize). There were thousands of people walking around and drinking and having such a good time. What I noticed was that there were very few people that were actually just hammered. It was a leisurely and well paced (for the most part) drinking. We all went to Moet and then to a tent called El Torro. The first was more Spanish Top 40 hits (none of which I knew, but attempted to dance to anyway) and the second was a techno tent. I do not like techno in the slightest, but I am trying to embrace it and I’m not going to be rude to these people who so graciously accepted us into their group of friends, so I bit the bullet, grabbed a drink, and attempted to dance to techno… or FEEL the music, I suppose. Then, I took some time to look around at the rest of the people in the bar… I was in the same establishment as children. I took a photo as proof. I felt extremely awkward attempting to dance while teenagers were in a cage grinding and dancing on the bar. I couldn’t really get down with that. I didn’t see any of them drinking, but that doesn’t’ mean that they weren’t. I guess there are many places, even in my village, that allow 15 & 16 years olds in to drink and it isn’t even questioned. A few of us took a walk around and saw the sights. Joanne, Grego, and Jorge enjoyed a bit of bumper cars. Eventually, we joined back up with the group for supper. At 11:00 p.m. This is normal. Most fairs I’ve been to are full of vendors that fry food and have pizza or hotdogs or whatever… this fair had actual places to sit down and order off of a menu. At 11:00 p.m. We went to one of these places. It was packed full. I just couldn’t believe that they waited on us at 11:00 at night, at a fair, and didn’t expect tips. It was insane! Our car of people decided to head back to the village after supper. 12:30 or so and we were on our way back to Valdepenas. It was nice to get home. They invited us out to continue drinking, but we were both so worn out that we decided nothing sounded better than our beds (& a shower).

Of course, I had to take a picture of the "Rodeo Americano" at the fair... bullriding, haha!  With all types of American icons painted all around it

Their likeness of John Wayne right on the front... Gotta love The Duke!

This is the picture I HAD to take to prove that I wasn't kidding about children dancing on the bar!  It's insane!  HaHa! 

I will just mention some notes I took along the way and after I get home that I wanted to be sure to write about. One thing, the 2 girls who spoke English did not come with us today. We were left to do the translations on our own. Joanne is much better versed than I am, but Joanne can’t be there with me at every moment, so I was forced to use my skills. Man… It was very difficult sometimes, and I found myself apologizing A LOT. (Side note: I’m watching Dances With Wolves as I write this… I feel very similar to Kevin Costner when he is beginning to converse with the Native Americans) However, the people that I was with were very accommodating and understanding. They put out their best effort and did not (it seemed) get annoyed with the fact that we couldn’t have a real extended conversation. I’m grateful that they continue to try!! J They invited us to Toti’s birthday party next weekend. It’s on a ranch in the middle of nowhere, they say, haha! But I’m going!! I want to have fun and attempt conversation… now, what to get him for a present… Hmmmmm… Something cheap so my funds survive the next month and a half!! HaHa! J But I’m excited to join a group birthday party! And my birthday is actually quite close… I was thinking maybe a trip to Granada or Malaga… depending on funds and friends, of course! I’m just so excited to be meeting people!!

Another note I took is about the trash situation. Yeah, trash. It is common to just throw your trash on the ground (I’m referring to meal time right now). If you are snacking on sunflower seeds as a tapa, you just throw the shells on the ground whether you are inside or out. You throw napkins on the ground and I’ve watched waiters just wipe the table scraps onto the ground before letting the next group of people sit down. Trash everywhere. I feel so rude! I try my best not to take part in this. It’s not something I want to become used to. I guess, when they are done at the end of the night, the owners or workers, sweep up the street and it is spotless for the next day. That’s crazy to me!! While at the feria, everyone just dropped their trash on the ground, too, mid-walk to the next place. And they served glass!! I was floored! Each place served mixed drinks in glasses. You could walk from tent to tent with it. So many people just dropped the glass on the ground when they were done, too. I can’t imagine what it looked like this morning. And how is that cost effective to serve in glass at that kind of function? Oh well! HaHa! I also asked when they closed… 7 A.M.!! If there were people still there, they stayed open. And then they open again to the public at noon or 1:00. I can’t imagine the amount of trash they had to clean up… only to do it again in the morning and for the next 10 days. Just insane. On this same line, the thousands of people that were still walking and enjoying the fair included little children, babies, etc… Till the early hours of the morning! They are tougher than this chick, haha!

Are you sick of reading yet? HaHa! I know this is a long, long entry, but I want to be as descriptive as possible and I don’t want to leave anything out. So, I’m sorry that it’s a bit wordy…

Every event in Spain seems like a fashion show. Everyone dresses so well, even just to go to the store. Women dress in their best (sometimes quite provocative) attire with heels and perfect hair. At the fair, there were people walking around in flamenco attire and other costumes celebrating the festivities. It is definitely a place for beautiful people. Speaking of people, a little note that I took that I think it worth mentioning… guys here aren’t afraid to dance and just have a good time. They are very free with hugging or kissing girls or guys. I know that some close-minded people may not enjoy that “note,” but I think it’s refreshing and it shouldn’t be taken in a “gay” way, because it’s not. Not in most cases, anyway. The men dress beautifully as much as the women. Not being one of the beautiful people, I watch in admiration all of said beautiful people. It actually makes me want to be a part of the beautiful people. (Has ‘beautiful people’ been said enough, haha?) What I mean is, it makes me want to dress nicely when I go out, even to the store, etc. I want to put effort into my appearance; something I rarely do. I am a t-shirt and sweatpants kinda girl and I love it! I will never stray too far from that, but I am consciously making an effort to look better when I go out. I feel like I might have lost a little weight just because of all these hills and the walking… But I see nothing physical yet and there aren’t any scales (I am OK with that). Anyway, I’m trying to become one of the beautiful people with roots that allow me to be a little lazy, haha! J Make sense to you? I hear it. HaHa!

Spain has been fantastic, so far. I can’t wait to visit some other cities, but I need to get this bank account stuff set up. Paperwork/politics are so slow around here. In order to set up a bank account in my village, I have to have an NIE number. It is, basically, a number assigned to me that says I am a temporary resident of Spain and can set up an account in a bank. I have to have this in order to get paid. I don’t actually get paid until it is set up and it could be December before that happens because everything is just so damn relaxed around here, yet, if I were to get caught without it, the fines are hefty and I’d have a difficult time explaining my legally being in Spain to work. I hate that I don’t really have control of it and the people in my school don’t seem to be in any rush to set up our appointment. A bit frustrating, but there isn’t much I can do.
Patience is something I need to embrace if I’m going to survive here! HaHa!

Well, I am going to close this entry. It’s a bit lengthy, but oh well. I’m having fun and wanted to share it with you. Enjoy the pictures and thanks for looking!! I hope this finds you all well!

Thought I’d do a little shout out in my entries, if I remember, haha! Someone who crossed my mind throughout the day… Today: Adam Blurton crossed my mind… I was taking in some sun on our patio and listening to my iPod and Darkest Days (w/ John Rich) by BLS came on, followed by their version of Bridge Over Troubled Waters (one of my favorite versions, by the way!) and I thought I’d thank him for my introduction to them! I hope that Hays is treating you well, my friend! J

Our group... I'm peeking through in the center back, haha!  This was in one of the tents that we were dancing and drinking in!

La casa on Calle Damas...

Hello, family and friends!

I figured I'd stop by the library today and hijack some free internet.  This town shuts down tomorrow, I guess.  I thought it was their labor day, which one of my books DOES say.  But my teacher said it was Columbus Day.  Whatever, I get a free day!  HaHa!

Dad's been bugging me, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to take you on a photographic tour of my house.  I hope it gives you some sort of an idea... 

Our doorway... Please, come in...

This is the hallway/entrance area.  The living room is to the left and the dining room is to the immediate right.  The 2nd right leads to the kitchen... and the stairs... heads up, up, and up...

This is the living room.  There's a small TV in the bottom left corner (you can't see it, obviously, but that's where it is in relation to the photo).  They have tons of books that I plan on borrowing!  :)

The dining room.  We've never used this area at all.  I either eat in front of the TV (typical!) or out on the patio if I'm not at a cafe for supper.

Continuing on to the kitchen area.  Figuring out the oven and microwave was a bit tricky for me, but it's all good now!  Above the sink (I should've taken a pic, sorry), in those cabinets is the dry rack where you put the dishes when you're done... it's open on the bottom so it just drips into the sink.  I really like this feature!!  HaHa!  All that booze on the bottom left is NOT mine, I promise.

Through the kitchen, you go up some through a little hallway, out a door, and up some steep steps to get out to the patio area.  It's still very sunny here and Douglas and Joanne spend a lot of time tanning.  I'm quite ok with not being in the heat!  :)

This is taken from over by where those chairs were on the patio.  The top middle is our terrace area where Joanne's clothes are hanging to dry.  The stairs up and down are to the right just behind that potted plant.

Here they are!  The steps up & down to the patio area.  To the left is a small storage area.  I didn't take any photos.  I hope that's ok.  :)

Ok, back inside and back through the kitchen... you can kind of see the kitchen doorway to the left of the photo.  These are the steps leading to the 2nd floor.  Douglas lives on this floor and there are a couple extra bedrooms.  That is Bracken, our canine roommate.  :)

This gets kind of confusing... even for me to.  At the top of those stairs where the dog was, you go around the corner and up a few more steps to this... This leads to the 3rd floor where our rooms are.  Mine is at the top of the steps to the right.

My room.  Please excuse the mess.  I tried to tidy up a bit before taking photos, but this is what you get.  HaHa!  The window offers great lighting, but is shut most of the time.  I used a scarf I brought as a makeshift curtain.  It works quite well!  Notice the ceilings.  It is like that all over the top floor of the house.

I shut the window and took a photo looking back at my doorway.

Our bathroom.  Impressive, huh?  HaHa!  I am sure this is the highlight of your tour, but I didn't want to exclude anything!

This is still our bathroom.  I'm at the doorway.  There's lots of space!  Ceiling?  I love the ceilings!

Across from our bathroom is the door to our terrace area.  It's a nice place to just chill (and let your laundry dry of course!)

I'm standing on our terrace looking over our patio area...



This concludes today's tour.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed being your host.  :)  I will take pictures in the school and around the village and of the people in due time.  I definitely want you all to experience this with me (as much as you can, anyway!).

I skyped with Dad last night.  That was nice.  It was good to see his face, not just hear his voice!  More of you need to set it up and ADD ME (ashleyjocook)!  I'm not as homesick (YET) as I thought I would be at this point.  I am managing quite well.  I'm sure it'll get rough at some points more than others, but I'll survive!  :)  So far, so good, though!

Aside from the language, the biggest adjustment I'm having to make is having a roommate again.  I'm just not used to having someone there all the time.  :)  It's not a bad thing, though.  It offers a sense of security knowing you aren't alone.  I'm sure she thinks I'm annoying because I don't think I talk enough for her (Shut up, it is NO surprise to anyone that I'm quiet when you first start to get to know me... AFTER you get to know me, well... you're screwed! HaHa!).  I've been so used to just living alone and doing my own thing when I'm at home that I've kinda forgotten how that constant conversational thing goes.  I'm working on it, though, just like the language!  :) 

Well, the library will be closing soon.  I hope this finds you all well!!  Let me know if there is anything you'd like me to add or address on my blog!  :)  Thanks for viewing! <3

Take a walk with me...

Not MY best picture, but the scenery is pretty!  HaHa!

First, let me begin by wishing my little brother, Garrett, the BEST 24^th birthday! I wish I could be there to celebrate with you.

I went out to get my laundry this morning and there was music playing from one of the other flats nearby. The first song I heard this morning was Eminem’s “Love The Way You Lie.” That has to mean it’s going to be a good day, right? HaHa!

Joanne and I decided to walk this pathway to what we were told was the top of the village. I’m not quite sure we went high enough or even went on the correct path, but we made it a little ways up & got a few decent pictures (I think). This path was very steep and was quite a daunting task, especially for someone in my shape. HaHa! J I am going to try to do this walk a couple times a week. Beautiful scenery and a little workout… can’t really complain. Anyway, we sweat our way up the mountain side (the trip down was much more pleasant, haha!) and once we hit the bottom, we went on this path next to a stream and into the trees. THIS might be the walk I take a little more regularly. I tried to take some pictures, so please enjoy. I hope they do it a little bit of justice. There were some very pretty waterfalls hidden deep into the trees. The water is very clear and pretty cold. We walked for quite a ways on a path that took us through the trees, up stairs, and over bridges. We stopped before the path ended and made our way back to the village. The paths we took were just on the south end of the village (I think that’s the direction… I’m all sortsa confused here!). I’m hoping to take it at night sometime when the sun is setting. I imagine it will be quite the view. I’ll let you know when that happens and definitely post pictures when I do.

The view from the top...

I am in olive country... there are literally thousands of trees all over this area!

Another view with the surrounding mountains

A snapshot of what I got to walk by on our walk

How pretty is this?!

I’ve been here just over a full week so far. I haven’t ventured outside the village but a couple times to Jaen. I’ve got plenty of time to explore. I’m also waiting on the whole getting paid thing. I have money and I’m doing fine, but I don’t want to run out before we start getting paid. They said it could be December before we get our first paycheck, so I need to be very aware of what I spend. Things are pretty cheap here, so it really shouldn’t be an issue, but still… you can never be too careful. I will probably wait for a steady income before I do too many trips (ones that are farther away, especially).

I miss Sunday Funday and football! I heard the Chiefs won a game! Who woulda thought?! That’s one thing I haven’t got to watch any of. There are no places in the village to watch games and there are no buses that run on Sunday in or out of the village, so I’m pretty much stuck here. Oh well, there are worse things than missing football, I suppose. J I also hear K-State is stepping their game up. I sure hope they keep it up! I will, always and forever, bleed purple, even in another country where K-State is unheard of. J (I did meet a guy at our orientation last Thursday that was wearing a Chiefs t-shirt! He’s from Missouri… thought that was kinda cool!)

I want to take a chance to give a little shout out to my bestie, Amber. She made these journals for me before I left that have pictures of my family on the front and on every single page, it says, “I am always with you. Love, A” I take one of the with me at all times for notes and reminders about my day. I love them!! And, the keychain you had made for me is on my house key for the flat I am living in. It has a picture of Mom & I on one side and Lynnon on the other. It’s a great reminder to have on me at all times! I love you, Amber DeAnna! And thank you!!

Ok, sorry, had to put that out there. J I am not sure what the rest of the day has in store. The whole siesta concept is pretty awesome. Maybe I’ll nap and then head to the ice cream shop (where they have free wireless internet). Tomorrow, we start school again. Wednesday is their labor day here, so we have a free day. I have yet to have a full week’s worth of work. Tomorrow, we have a class from 4:30 to 5:30 where we teach the teachers? English. I’m not sure how that’s going go, but we’ll see!! HaHa! I hope this entry finds you all well!

EMAW <3 J
CHIEFS <3 J

A FEW photos & a little more notes!

I take a notebook with me everywhere I go. In it, I write little reminders of things that I want to be sure to write for my fabulous readers on the other side of the world. J Before I go into the random notes, I thought I’d write a little bit about my school and what I’ve done so far.

My school has 3 year olds to 6^th grade. It’s two buildings, each 2 stories high, with a big play area outside. There isn’t any playground equipment, just some soccer (futbol) goals and some balls to kick around. Every child seems to be fairly content, though. There are three gates into the school yard/area. All are metal gates with an intercom/lock system that you must press to get in & out unless it is at normal beginning and ending school hours.
My Tuesday’s are filled with science. I work with 2 6^th grade classes and 2 5^th grade classes. Each class does the exact same thing as the other so as not to put any class farther than the other. All classes stay in their classroom, but the teacher’s rotate rooms. Wednesday’s, I have two classes. One is an English class for 3^rd grade and the other is a 1^st grade science class. The 1^st grade class is super cute; very excited to learn. I don’t want to show any preference for any one age group, but I sure like those little kids. J Those are the only days I’ve worked so far, so I’ll update the rest sometime. I should note that I work Monday-Thursday for a total of 12 hours. On Tuesday & Wednesday, Joanne and I were asked to lead an English Club from 4-5. We will each get paid an additional 100 euros a month. It is a voluntary thing, that from the sounds of it, is illegal. If the ministry of education finds out that we are doing this (& getting paid for it), then the school could get in trouble. That’s my understanding. They’re stressing to us not to be vocal about it when we go to our orientation meeting. Probably shouldn’t put it on here, then, huh? Oh well.

Ok… I’m going to go on to some notes I’ve made… again, this may be a bit disorganized, but I suppose if you don’t want to keep reading, you don’t have to! HaHa! J

I haven’t really addressed the person I am staying with. His name is Douglas. I may have mentioned that his wife is in Scotland, currently, looking for work. He pretty much sits in his den, watches rugby, or tans on the patio. He’s a really nice guy and is very helpful when needed. He really just stays outta our way, for the most part. We have a TV in our living room that has a set of English and a set of Spanish channels. Not a lot of options, but I’m not going to be picky. Nor am I going to be spending a large amount of time in front of a TV. J That’s not why I came, is it? Another side note, Douglas will be going back to Scotland in January leaving us the house on our own. SO!! Anyone that wants to visit, I will have spare bedrooms! And I have an extra bed in my room, too! So come on over!!! I’ll describe and post pics of the house at a later date.
As part of our rent, we are able to utilize his washing machine. I get to hang my clothes from a line, though, to dry! HaHa, it’s kinda fun. I was a little leery about hanging my undies out to dry, but eh.. Oh well.
The weather… The weather has been pretty perfect. A few times, it has been a bit warm, but NOTHING like that Kansas heat. Nights typically require a jacket for me. I miss my hoodie, though. I wasn’t able to fit one in my suitcase. I kinda wish I would have. Oh well!! I asked a bit about the winters. Douglas said it gets really cold, but NO snow! He says snow is very rare. And when it rains here, he says it’s a downpour! There’s no sprinkles or drizzles and the water just floods its way down the streets.

Speaking of the streets… the streets here look more like alleys. ALL of them. But somehow, they fit cars on them. I don’t know how & sometimes it terrifies me, but it’s the norm around here. The hills here are so steep in most places. I guess the good thing is that you have a lot of downhill’s, too. ?? I don’t know. I was walking with Joanne and her sister a few days ago, just exploring the village and we made our way down one hill that was a bit steep. I was just wearing flip flops and bit it pretty hardcore. I guess I should get used to that; I’m sure I’m going to fall 100 more times or more. I try to tread lightly, but man… sometimes, it just can’t be helped! HaHa!

In walking around the village at night, I try to be really observant of my surroundings and just watching the locals. At night, the square is filled with old men sitting on the benches and shooting the breeze. I haven’t taken pictures yet, but I will. My hope is that, by the end of this experience, I am able to sit with them and hear their stories. I imagine that have plenty of stories to tell. No women are there. And women don’t really join their husbands at the bars. The older couples are so cute! They walk hand in hand or arm in arm around the square. It’s super cute to watch, haha!

A final note for this entry, I thought I’d write about the actual language here. There is definitely a barrier, even with those that know English. Douglas said English didn’t even really come to this village until a few years ago, so we are definitely in a location that does not speak much English, if at all. It’s not nearly as easy as I thought it would be and I’m trying to stay positive and focused. I’m feel like I get better every day and some words come back to me as I go and I need them. In Spain, there are different dialects all over the country. I am in the Andalucia region, so I am exposed to a very thick accent. They drop the ‘s’ on everything. “Buenos dias” is “bueno dia.” It’s that way on every word. Another adjustment I am making is their ‘c’ and ‘s’ has no ‘c’ or ‘s’ sound, they are all ‘th’ sounds. “Gracias” sound like “Grathia.” I think I remember going to speech therapy when I was younger trying to get rid of my ‘th’ as an ‘s,’ and now I have to speak that way… haha! Weird. J People are very friendly here. You address everyone you pass on the street. Simply say, “Hola,” and they will reply, “Adio (adios).” You say hello, they say goodbye. J We definitely get stared at, but I think by now, it’s all over town that we are the new teachers. Things aren’t much different here in that aspect… it’s small enough that the whole town knows everything about everyone as soon as it happens. J

I want you all to know that I am safe. I feel very secure and I’m comfortable walking to the store or the library alone. I’m told crime doesn’t really exist here, that everyone is safe. Children run the streets in groups until ten or 11 at night without any parental supervision. It’s very laid back. I’m hoping that rubs off on me. I don’t feel any concern about my surroundings at all. So, do your best not to worry about me. I’m doing good and am in a safe place. J

This sign is posted at the entrance of the village.  It's also a wall that, behind it, is the school I teach at.

This is the street I walk down & up daily to get to school.  This is minor compared to the incline of some of them!!  HaHa!

This picture is for my food loving friends.  It's the Flamenquin I talked about in the last entry.  Looks yummy, huh?  It was!!

This is the 'street' that I live on.  Looks like an alley, huh?  Very tight space!  I'm on the right a quarter of the way up; you can't really see it.  I'll take more later.  :)

Hello, again!

I didn't think I'd have time to update things so soon, but I made some notes and wanted to share some of them while I had the opportunity.  I don't want to leave anything out.  :)  Please feel free to message me questions or make comments on things you may want to know about here and I'll do my best to answer them.  I'm still trying to figure things out myself, so please be patient.  Pictures will come eventually.  The following paragraphs will probably be out of order and kind of messy, but I'm just kind of writing it as I made my notes...

One thing I'm struggling to adjust to is the different units of measurements.  In addition to the monetary change, I have to adjust to things being in kilometers rather than miles and temperature in Celsius rather than Farenheit.  I still don't have any type of grasp on it, but I'm working on it.

We had our first day of school today as teachers.  I sat in on 4 classes, all science and the environment.  Some of the material is stuff I haven't tackled in a long time!  I'm going to learn as much as these kids, I believe.  HaHa, you'll get a laugh to know that my first science class with my 6th grade kids was covering human reproduction.  HaHa, awkward!  (For me!)  My first word in English to these kids (aside from "Hello, my name is Ashley") was "Penis." NOT kidding.  HaHa!  Anyway, these children have been exposed to Joanne and I for a day and already we get mauled in the streets by these kiddos.  They're screaming, "Hello!" (One of the few words they are confident in in English) and calling us, "Teacher, teacher!"  It's super cute.  One set of young girls, probably 4 or 5 years old actually knocked on our door (at our house) and asked us to come out.  HaHa, it was cute.  :)  They are so excited to see a new face that they are definitely showing off and acting up in class.  I can see the frustration in some of the teacher's eyes, but I guess it's something they have to expect.

I wanted to let my food friends know that I haven't gotten to experience too much yet.  I know I'm supposed to update that and I haven't.  I've had a variety of tapas (appetizers) including chips (they call them crisps), french fries (they call them chips), ham, olives, nuts, shrimp, etc... Tapas are served every time you buy a new drink.  It's kinda genius.  You drink & eat & the food helps slow down the drinking and fills you up so you don't drink as much.  I haven't, anyway.  HaHa!  I did try something called a flamenquin last night.  It was a mix of chicken kiev and cordon bleu... but it was a thin pork chop rolled up with ham and cheese in the middle and deep-fried.  It was actually very tasty.  Looked a bit funny, but quite tasty.  I have pictures, but I will post them at a later date.  :)  We also went to McDonald's yesterday in Jaen.  It wasn't much different.  Different options, but overall the same.  The beef definitely tastes better in Kansas.  Food and drink places are open until all hours of the night here.  They open early (some at 8 a.m.) and then close from 2 to 5 or 6 for siesta and then open back up until the last patron leave, be it 7 the next morning or whatever.  I haven't been out past midnight... I'm still trying to catch up on my sleep and get this figured out.  HaHa!  But I'm sure I'll experience Spanish nightlife soon enough.  Since I was in the industry, I asked about tipping.  They don't.  And they don't expect tips.  Isn't that crazy!?!  I feel awful not tipping, but they litterally do not expect them and no one gives them.  I haven't had much opportunity to actually tip yet, but I probably will just because.  I'd feel too bad if I didn't.  That's just me.  :)  All the food and drink has been pleasant, but a little rough on getting the stomach.  Slowly, though.  I'm getting used to it.  :)

I have a whole page worth of things that I will eventually post about, but I am being surrounded by 6 of my students who are chatting with me in Spanish and I do not know what they are saying.  I'm going to log off and attempt to conversate with them.  :) 

Not in Kansas anymore...

Well, hello, friends!

I have made it successfully to Spain.  I apologize that you haven't heard from me before this, but I must say, finding internet here has been a tough task.  I'm a lot more "in the boonies" than I thought I would be.  It's definitely a little village nestled in the mountains.  It's very small, but seems large to the beginner's eyes.  It's very compact and there are many mazes one can take to get around.  I've been confused on more than a couple occassions.  :)

I journalized my first couple days here & I'll highlight what I wrote... For now, no pictures.  I haven't really been taking any and am not in any rush seeing as I will be here for awhile.  :)  Please be patient.  They'll come. 

My flights were pretty typical.  Saying goodbye to Dad at the airport was definitely the hardest thing I've had to do in awhile.  You know those scenes on the movies where the family is hugging and crying while everyone looks on staring.  I lived that.  HaHa!  And the flight to Chicago was rough for me.  I teared up on more than a few occasions.  I quickly made my way to my next terminal and boarded my flight to Madrid right away.  It wasn't the most comfortable of flights.  It was almost 9 hours and the seats were just not accomodating for that extended of a trip.  In my opinion, anyway.  Getting around the airport in Madrid was failry simple.  The signs were in English and in Spanish.  I had to wait a few hours & that was tough seeing as I hadn't slept in awhile.  Finally, I boarded my flight to Granada.  An uneventful 1 hour flight that was to a very small airport.  Fortunately, all of my bags made it with me!  I made my way outside where a taxi was waiting... I asked him if he spoke English.  None.  (This will be interesting, I thought.)  I explained where I was to go and he had never heard of it.  Awesome.  He then asked his friend.  Nope.  We called the people I was to be staying with and they spoke on the phone for a moment before the taxi guy loaded all of my bags and said he knew where he was going.  Wrong again.  This guy stopped FOUR different times to ask randos on the street where he was going.  The last person finally directed him in the general idea... This road, ugh!!  SO winding and steep and up & down in the mountains.  I couldn't help thinking how sick Janet would be, haha... It was rough.  BUT, I finally made it to the village where the person I am staying with picked me up.  We made our way to my new "home" for the next 8 months or so.  It's a cozy little townhouse about 6 blocks away from the school I will be working at.  The stairs are extremely steep, so getting my luggage to my room was a task in itself.  He has an 11 year old dog named Bracken who is as excited as he was when he was a puppy, apparently.  :)  He's been a good buddy already.  :)  I feel asleep after a short tour of the house and then unpacked a bit.  I was definitely not real excited to be here right away.  I think it had to do with the 20 hours of travel time and lack of sleep because I definitely feel better. 

Saturday, we toured the village a little bit.  Nothing too crazy.  We found a little bar where I had my first Spanish beer made in Jaen.  It was tasty.  I honestly didn't do a whole lot these first couple of days because my sleep schedule is so out of whack!!  I'm 7 hours ahead of you (most of you).  :)  Went to bed early and read a little of my book, that's about the extent of my Saturday.

Yesterday (Sunday), Joanne and her family arrived.  Joanne will be my roomate for the next 8 months and her family will be staying here until tomorrow.  It kinda makes me sad that her family is here.  It made me miss mine, but I'll be ok.  They are fantastic people who have been very kind to me.  They're from Scotland.  They've taken a bit of adjusting to (language wise) as well.  I'm sure they're thinking the same thing about me, haha.  :)

Today, we went to Jaen, the capital of our province, about 30 miles away.  We went to this place that was a Wal-Mart and Mall combined.  The mall was on the outside of it, but if you went to the center, there was a giant Wal-Mart like store.  We bought some groceries and necessities for the next couple weeks, hopefully.  I got my cell phone... that was really difficult.  I'm glad Joanne is better versed in Spanish than I am.  I may have been screwed if not.  The road to this city was also quite winding and up and down... had to close my eyes on more than a few occassions.

Hardly anyone speaks any English, something in which I was not prepared for.  And when they do, it's broken enough that it is difficult to translate.  I'm trying, though.  Another bump I've ran into is cash exchange.  I haven't had any success in exchanging my cash for euros.  Fortunately, I exchanged SOME at the airport in Chicago, so I'm surviving right now, but it's on the top of my list of things to get figured out.  I'll work on it.  :)

We also went to the school this morning for a little meet and greet with the teachers and students.  We were only there an hour and were dismissed.  It's going to be fun, I think.  These little ones seem very eager to learn and try very hard to speak English.  We've also been asked to participate in an after school "English Club" where we'll get paid an extra 100 euros a month.  Not bad at all.  We just play games and sing songs with the kinds for an hour every Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon.  Tough, huh?  HaHa! 

Well, I know this is kinda short and to the point, maybe even a little scattered, but I wanted to be sure to get an entry posted so you all know I am safe.  I miss the states already, but not in a bad way.  I just miss my family and friends.  You'll hear more soon!!  Thanks for all of the support!  <3