'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!!