tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34070211910939022792024-03-13T22:36:01.348-07:00Next stop, VigoAfter a wonderful year in Badajoz, it's time to start my next adventure in Vigo, Galicia.Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-54095957151376825652012-04-08T13:29:00.000-07:002012-04-08T13:29:54.465-07:00And another semester ends...<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM-hZlMhrPoFu7TmkaYck2UXbxjOGbEMXplLNyZkEy4sgT0_H3mP_lcd1SBImGm2zKhI4StFnxSpTrPCRkGCqhJypERKG8lR7cEZKnbUeOhmdm2MQHrq0Saf4npZMdEZSbRgPMcOcSCbxz/s1600/2012-04-08+21.19.22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM-hZlMhrPoFu7TmkaYck2UXbxjOGbEMXplLNyZkEy4sgT0_H3mP_lcd1SBImGm2zKhI4StFnxSpTrPCRkGCqhJypERKG8lR7cEZKnbUeOhmdm2MQHrq0Saf4npZMdEZSbRgPMcOcSCbxz/s320/2012-04-08+21.19.22.jpg" width="320" /> </a></td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anillo de huesos</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Objective: make different forms with files</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaxJdPksYp0QAfR7JjpMz8qZ83VVEWz4MQXTHHQtQ2H8ev8rH2XA50Qv64gSZxFLwX9lUYx75ZahGxhzzbOLKgckC74oPrGc8n-5WQP0PkoQ_NuV_g9eqC_NCQFYafCISgE4wSBjbz2erH/s1600/2012-04-08+21.42.01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaxJdPksYp0QAfR7JjpMz8qZ83VVEWz4MQXTHHQtQ2H8ev8rH2XA50Qv64gSZxFLwX9lUYx75ZahGxhzzbOLKgckC74oPrGc8n-5WQP0PkoQ_NuV_g9eqC_NCQFYafCISgE4wSBjbz2erH/s320/2012-04-08+21.42.01.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abre bocas</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Objective: Open one side of the hole in different forms with a saw while the other side remains circular</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWK4fbHtrZmvu-jnHmBJNOYwqbRDBPfVtHsha-YehkCFKiEXQ8Tbjmd5HvO88FeKyzO3WnwYws-tqDfepUEqFmVjnVW8N4fgYrl054xDeX2pl4DcZnk2BR_F0O1msO5BHuF74eXftCIhko/s1600/2012-04-08+21.49.22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWK4fbHtrZmvu-jnHmBJNOYwqbRDBPfVtHsha-YehkCFKiEXQ8Tbjmd5HvO88FeKyzO3WnwYws-tqDfepUEqFmVjnVW8N4fgYrl054xDeX2pl4DcZnk2BR_F0O1msO5BHuF74eXftCIhko/s320/2012-04-08+21.49.22.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anillo de Garras </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Objective: Make a ring with designed prongs and designed band</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBL1BuAj-KZPX5QBlLz6xnbiFGtM7n5JmvhVladoOpVCNZXuAolfvBWoHFirRIqkVaJRrpBdLT64PVZIUGtTBumISO1zU8r5XhdbVTwN2rwP_FyXoSdlcJyeQ4q1YKFHAomVvCAACICHSk/s1600/2012-04-08+21.52.00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBL1BuAj-KZPX5QBlLz6xnbiFGtM7n5JmvhVladoOpVCNZXuAolfvBWoHFirRIqkVaJRrpBdLT64PVZIUGtTBumISO1zU8r5XhdbVTwN2rwP_FyXoSdlcJyeQ4q1YKFHAomVvCAACICHSk/s320/2012-04-08+21.52.00.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gemelos </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Objective: Design and fabricate a father's day gift</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3gh8tys7cDRbneyk29X1_jAG-HYDoRy_m1Wb4co9iYP6gJuzEf7hpVEmKXg5Oe9sDmY0Mz2UpowiYCRf4aR0KCYAq-S7XSq9P5X-fxT25fvDfyyLEpP0db_VYr0yR0ERGkya-b7Z4pj_h/s1600/2012-04-08+21.54.04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3gh8tys7cDRbneyk29X1_jAG-HYDoRy_m1Wb4co9iYP6gJuzEf7hpVEmKXg5Oe9sDmY0Mz2UpowiYCRf4aR0KCYAq-S7XSq9P5X-fxT25fvDfyyLEpP0db_VYr0yR0ERGkya-b7Z4pj_h/s320/2012-04-08+21.54.04.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Casquilla pequeña </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Objective: Make a casing for a baby's pearl earing</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC4MARH1qz3hEF5ZxHHefjeRXdOzidcDnD3yheCn7g5eCVrmFc6Mpl3Vup3qpHVPJgliGlUWkqkVUCcs11HCEXiS4A3xSpgKLIQ0_v0Hh6pN5oaXfbvwr3o_p-ANfpX4RnXK2QtcYYBlyM/s1600/2012-04-08+21.55.38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC4MARH1qz3hEF5ZxHHefjeRXdOzidcDnD3yheCn7g5eCVrmFc6Mpl3Vup3qpHVPJgliGlUWkqkVUCcs11HCEXiS4A3xSpgKLIQ0_v0Hh6pN5oaXfbvwr3o_p-ANfpX4RnXK2QtcYYBlyM/s320/2012-04-08+21.55.38.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pulsera de texturas </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Objective: Explore ways to make texture on metal</td></tr>
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</script>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-53470869905761320912012-02-09T14:19:00.000-08:002012-02-09T14:19:19.353-08:00Happy (early) Valentine's Day!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here is my latest project from school. The topic was "Dia de los enamorados" or, Valentine's Day. I had to come up with a variety of ideas, and from there select six, and then narrow it down to one to make in the studio class. Here are the six options, and a professional photo of the final piece!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgypne0oYPP630-jKJWVPRa7k0mW6B-JHwKsqFthpjkqvpCDeitcsGyVnOedM9SnTmSvhgKIhi0czjmdLHNZQkTFXsLVhF7r5rV9C_2HibDEeKdLuEjpsghwaICqxts5tzjWOqlOJ-tIrYN/s1600/IMG_6172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgypne0oYPP630-jKJWVPRa7k0mW6B-JHwKsqFthpjkqvpCDeitcsGyVnOedM9SnTmSvhgKIhi0czjmdLHNZQkTFXsLVhF7r5rV9C_2HibDEeKdLuEjpsghwaICqxts5tzjWOqlOJ-tIrYN/s320/IMG_6172.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOO1kIYZAyq0CjJHPHxzasZ0ewc1clHUOPIek6d6AAY_OH3wwZL3crIQfSdPmXB9gC3hZXm0wJiVOJBMfe1suJPXtNaqMl6_c2-3lQ-XPKypakj65NwluexGR_DfwSKqT2Tcc0dM_fxCz0/s1600/dia+de+enamorados.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOO1kIYZAyq0CjJHPHxzasZ0ewc1clHUOPIek6d6AAY_OH3wwZL3crIQfSdPmXB9gC3hZXm0wJiVOJBMfe1suJPXtNaqMl6_c2-3lQ-XPKypakj65NwluexGR_DfwSKqT2Tcc0dM_fxCz0/s640/dia+de+enamorados.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-86404330349760435132012-01-16T14:18:00.000-08:002012-01-16T14:18:08.681-08:00Alternative Methods<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRO3-p74K6vNRzp3Q1mhInfqE7UrMvUzxOo0hVi_DJEpTYHyv-w8XTvMwAtQDPclI7uc75X6OmtDn_z1eo1icIl-uSrbvTySJ8LxqZLG2w6f45r1AgGk2WYIRloyjeA2Qj8a8ViX1VpXp3/s1600/Stephanie+Dautel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">These are from my Volume class-where we make jewelry out of everything except what you would expect. Including lettuce...project runway style!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpue7vKwJ1i0n0M0kojfu2xOllqqLlVjrqtWFELFJwVmuDCV2oS0E-ZxdpLh7-TiYGXbnP07Wu88X1nCoGznx7IJzqHFxCn6mNt31mOwn1PnC0OQ2WwjW6Ok8MlLam0IpcyQWiphDZbUn/s1600/Stephanie+Dautel+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpue7vKwJ1i0n0M0kojfu2xOllqqLlVjrqtWFELFJwVmuDCV2oS0E-ZxdpLh7-TiYGXbnP07Wu88X1nCoGznx7IJzqHFxCn6mNt31mOwn1PnC0OQ2WwjW6Ok8MlLam0IpcyQWiphDZbUn/s400/Stephanie+Dautel+2.jpg" width="282" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRO3-p74K6vNRzp3Q1mhInfqE7UrMvUzxOo0hVi_DJEpTYHyv-w8XTvMwAtQDPclI7uc75X6OmtDn_z1eo1icIl-uSrbvTySJ8LxqZLG2w6f45r1AgGk2WYIRloyjeA2Qj8a8ViX1VpXp3/s1600/Stephanie+Dautel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRO3-p74K6vNRzp3Q1mhInfqE7UrMvUzxOo0hVi_DJEpTYHyv-w8XTvMwAtQDPclI7uc75X6OmtDn_z1eo1icIl-uSrbvTySJ8LxqZLG2w6f45r1AgGk2WYIRloyjeA2Qj8a8ViX1VpXp3/s400/Stephanie+Dautel.jpg" width="282" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHl0Ley1dTQ0drD3-Jn1o0apqpHHXmQqqx2fjcpKzrMy0TJ6_2mAmY7wBn6qZEIL7ORWCAyeOnkx1wJHtnFF17aXe3xXHn8h2buxnb_KYszUYeIZHYnsowc-BurfH4-gBKQW7Z0fgdFvvf/s1600/Stephanie+Dautel+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHl0Ley1dTQ0drD3-Jn1o0apqpHHXmQqqx2fjcpKzrMy0TJ6_2mAmY7wBn6qZEIL7ORWCAyeOnkx1wJHtnFF17aXe3xXHn8h2buxnb_KYszUYeIZHYnsowc-BurfH4-gBKQW7Z0fgdFvvf/s400/Stephanie+Dautel+3.jpg" width="308" /></a></div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-72988041366751704722012-01-14T10:19:00.000-08:002012-01-14T10:23:24.927-08:00First SemesterIt's been a long time since I last wrote, but here's what I've been up to in the last couple months...<br />
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These are the pieces I made in my studio class. Nothing too impressive yet, but gotta start somewhere.. <br />
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After months of sawing and filing my hand are getting nice and beat up. But through blisters, callouses, cuts, and burns I'm enjoying what I'm doing. That's all you can ask for, right??<br />
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Up next: design and create commercial a piece for valentines day and an then an artistic piece about extraterrestrials, hm...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOxNa8-Q3MH7oq-M5XaI1isK7mpPQqahaZvhRx0p9WSevj67gHDOmPDli54gGaPgw-_M494G5k2CgyrkUdmoy8IPYRVZ4sNL1gQ5MaHXas3hKQHfFftw-g0rHovwx3WoUebosKSLqz-E7P/s1600/pieza+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOxNa8-Q3MH7oq-M5XaI1isK7mpPQqahaZvhRx0p9WSevj67gHDOmPDli54gGaPgw-_M494G5k2CgyrkUdmoy8IPYRVZ4sNL1gQ5MaHXas3hKQHfFftw-g0rHovwx3WoUebosKSLqz-E7P/s320/pieza+6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-3467630997416195302011-09-29T15:45:00.000-07:002011-09-29T15:45:55.341-07:00A taste of GaliciaSo, I've been here for almost a month now, and I'm finally starting to feel like Vigo is my home. I have a job teaching English, have made some friends and have my first jewelry class on Monday. So far I have really enjoyed the way of life in Galicia, and I am looking forward to everything that is to come!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmFTrzhhQevHEq1H3qXG6ivePLUlXd5JrSJN7AklzT4R5iScgj_zENjUi70bBxzBSJEIeWGyDZRZnpXVwKFgqAficziNmGUmdCuwOuBz0qi1pC6myj6MA7P7SCMslogQpPXTARb4BUk3oW/s1600/296560_10150295670532181_540587180_8476379_1460581271_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmFTrzhhQevHEq1H3qXG6ivePLUlXd5JrSJN7AklzT4R5iScgj_zENjUi70bBxzBSJEIeWGyDZRZnpXVwKFgqAficziNmGUmdCuwOuBz0qi1pC6myj6MA7P7SCMslogQpPXTARb4BUk3oW/s320/296560_10150295670532181_540587180_8476379_1460581271_n.jpg" width="320" /></a>Last weekend I was lucky enough to have a true introduction to Galician culture. A new friend took me ou to lunch where I had my first taste of pulpo a la gallega (Galician style octopus) and pimientos verdes (grilled green peppers). To my suprise the flavor of the octopus was pretty good, they make it with olive oil and ground red pepper. It has a nice little kick to it! The texture is a little strange, but all in all not too bad.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBqm-pmAL96C8uL0NOTDFi2scX7dMwW9XKaMRXHi-Ep_kp1TFMmHTfZImz2ApXV1h_WpuIdJnDmDoIjY2-I-egi98-jCJqKISbUWVGfN8p4OT10Fb9Syk2OrB-a_px5OQ6e_G6hvri7IUn/s1600/298120_10150295670662181_540587180_8476383_1999389067_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBqm-pmAL96C8uL0NOTDFi2scX7dMwW9XKaMRXHi-Ep_kp1TFMmHTfZImz2ApXV1h_WpuIdJnDmDoIjY2-I-egi98-jCJqKISbUWVGfN8p4OT10Fb9Syk2OrB-a_px5OQ6e_G6hvri7IUn/s320/298120_10150295670662181_540587180_8476383_1999389067_n.jpg" width="320" /></a>Then we went to the beach where we spent the day surfing (very poorly) with some of her friends on the northern coast of Portugal, then we came back to Vigo to have a late dinner at a traditional Galician tavern. The people here really know how to eat and drink well! Wine is so superfluos that they brought us four bottles and served it in bowls instead of glasses! We ate tortilla de patatas, calmares, more pimientos verdes, and some sort of sausage. Que rico!! Dinner was followed by traditional Galician music and dancing. The music is very similar to the Celtic style-with bagpipes! Everyone played along using pairs of shells for percussion. We ended the night with the traditional drink of Galicia-Liquor cafe. It tastes like Kahlua, but is supposed to be a lot stronger!Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-64565823472761866122011-09-04T13:06:00.000-07:002011-09-04T13:06:23.644-07:00First post from Vigo!What a wild week it has been! Starting last friday with the Hurricane warnings and having to make all new arrangements for getting to Spain. Mom and I eneded up driving into the hurricane to NJ to stay there without power for 3 days. Finally I was able to get a flight out Tuesday. I flew Newark to Lisbon, Lisbon to Porto, then took a bus to Vigo. I arrived Wednesday afternoon, ran over to my school to figure out what I had to do for my entrance exam on Thursday.<br />
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Everyone at my school it very friendly and helpful, but when it comes to getting real information about the course they are definitely lacking...I was under the impression that there was one test on Thursday at the school, based around art History. Turns out it's a two day test, in Santiago de Compostela, and includes history, math (physics and graphing), gallego (the official language of Galicia), and Spanish language. And, the directions were only in Gallego. I saw the test and just laughed because I figured there was no way I would pass. But, 6 hours later the test was over and it turns out that I passed (with the highest grade of the other 3 people that took it). I don't understand how that's possible, but at least I have a little more confidence for the last portion tomorrow, which actually is based on Art History and drawing.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrjdDoJ1MySg95KeSwhkMQt6oLeRFIKNib32C3ecCnY2H_lu4iD1PzUwwG6AIAX0rik1V2ZhefaUuGI4RMf5IBHWEP33pT5YUQle73Jzy55EhmLEl_Wx6sEPi-RwM1DJDOc8VRfYX12_Ad/s1600/IMG_5935.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-tluGBALo5tFRv03iaxA-evw0DcDi4pVwglJjc3Eun6L_AY9SNviIxT7WsFTLhxZWCoG-Jm5yHDEUarUC_euVPMhyezg_fD-mlaXH57NT3330pDGvOCb93FEXAXaUaV-p34lg0QsTKl0/s1600/IMG_5936.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-tluGBALo5tFRv03iaxA-evw0DcDi4pVwglJjc3Eun6L_AY9SNviIxT7WsFTLhxZWCoG-Jm5yHDEUarUC_euVPMhyezg_fD-mlaXH57NT3330pDGvOCb93FEXAXaUaV-p34lg0QsTKl0/s320/IMG_5936.jpg" width="240" /></a>Saturday was spent walking all corners of the city to look at apartments. I saw a total of 5 this week, and really didn't like any of them but one. I ended up selecting the apartment that overlooks the ocean and I have 2 boy roomates. I hadn't thought of living with boys, so we'll see how it goes!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUmCgJkcPN9wUxnsder6aHiFTqKtc3Tl6Y7jKr5G-s1EgKnkmNJ16rA791oB2kQ-aq3QbKK_XNr73sOlEwVR_W58P0DyabX8z5c26IQIhJzBDVmlLpiasaDtKDQXdyo6SfLkoyPc_YLkiT/s1600/IMG_5934.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUmCgJkcPN9wUxnsder6aHiFTqKtc3Tl6Y7jKr5G-s1EgKnkmNJ16rA791oB2kQ-aq3QbKK_XNr73sOlEwVR_W58P0DyabX8z5c26IQIhJzBDVmlLpiasaDtKDQXdyo6SfLkoyPc_YLkiT/s320/IMG_5934.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnT1OWt5MYTALvrgJteF0afXaR68_G6d7kwpf9ReSGYEdU6ONOCJnlCEDcciHMtjd078vqPEnclIuALtApuGALLpCJYboPAhHX2jd7Nol5__yIn08Z_UEqQsgu7tleL8tOpWkg_HEpP0a/s1600/IMG_5940.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnT1OWt5MYTALvrgJteF0afXaR68_G6d7kwpf9ReSGYEdU6ONOCJnlCEDcciHMtjd078vqPEnclIuALtApuGALLpCJYboPAhHX2jd7Nol5__yIn08Z_UEqQsgu7tleL8tOpWkg_HEpP0a/s320/IMG_5940.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>After five days in Vigo I am finally starting to feel like this will be my new home. I'm sitting in my new apartment watching the sunset over the atlantic, which is beautiful. I moved my things into the apartment this morning, and then went to the beach this afternoon. Northern Spain is known for its beautiful white sand beaches, and I have to say I liked it better than the beaches in Southern Spain, where all of the beaches are pretty rocky. And, the beach is only about 10 minutes away on the bus.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf6H3FQZkJDbUILz7GV4VcB0bc065lqDT9HR-ilU8_V_9ctmy7c8kIAYBNTP2ZSSWkSpCnxMeJOWe8B_nHo53TNvv_mmdw4xGGADt7j8EJCXYQrxO0e113vqilYZdjDqYb7zQ8PfSRr1WH/s1600/IMG_5938.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf6H3FQZkJDbUILz7GV4VcB0bc065lqDT9HR-ilU8_V_9ctmy7c8kIAYBNTP2ZSSWkSpCnxMeJOWe8B_nHo53TNvv_mmdw4xGGADt7j8EJCXYQrxO0e113vqilYZdjDqYb7zQ8PfSRr1WH/s320/IMG_5938.JPG" width="320" /></a> So, all in all it has been a week of lots of ups and downs. Half the time I'm so excited to see what the year will<br />
bring, and the other half I think I'm<br />
absolutely crazy and I should be back<br />
in the States. But, I'm here, so check back to see where things take me! Ciao!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSe52y1VBqAeVC7kzOafNN0O88cbRmxWHGltAJJIQE4Czdmm8tlgpe6YNjfuhGIPrJh_a3ySd_cOy5i1Mmbv5rg7P5FrNesJJ80em-kYadc1TmtqsCie-hpBvQscQEKm7o4iC6vWn31wqk/s1600/IMG_5937.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSe52y1VBqAeVC7kzOafNN0O88cbRmxWHGltAJJIQE4Czdmm8tlgpe6YNjfuhGIPrJh_a3ySd_cOy5i1Mmbv5rg7P5FrNesJJ80em-kYadc1TmtqsCie-hpBvQscQEKm7o4iC6vWn31wqk/s200/IMG_5937.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="200" /></a><br />
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Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-54314371470978765022011-07-10T08:03:00.000-07:002011-07-10T08:35:50.150-07:00Goodbye Badajoz!!I know it has been at least 2 months since I last wrote, so I'll just give a short overview of what I have been up to for the last couple months since Valle de Jerte and Galicia:<br />
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*Dad came to visit for Semana Santa. We started in Madrid, came to Badajoz then wandered around Portugal for a few days.<br />
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*Went to Mallorca with Maureen for the weekend at the end of May. That trip concluded April, which my crazy month of traveling.<br />
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*Stayed in Badajoz almost all of May, and then my job ended on May 31st.<br />
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*Met Maureen in Madrid to start our trip to Romania and Hungary. My wallet was stolen on the metro in Madrid immediately, so I spent the evening canceling my credit cards and being stressed. Then had some interesting times figuring out Western Union in Bucharest, but then had a wonderful trip through Transylvania (Sinai, Brasov, Sighisoara, Sibiu, and the Transfargasan Road through the mountains) then worked our way to Budapest on a 16 hour overnight train.<br />
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*Back to Badajoz for a couple weeks, including a 3-day camp with 2nd of ESO, Birthday celebrations, enjoying the Feria de San Juan, and my Flamenco recital.<br />
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*Mom and Joc arrived and we packed up everything in Badajoz, spent a night in the Parador de Merida, and then headed to Copenhagen for a week. Then to Barcelona to meet Miss Sara Jenks, and now a few days in Badajoz before heading home tomorrow.<br />
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Wow, what a crazy few months.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiodcyqIlEM7z5AAd-ehg9Q_J9D416veZelW5kQH_WA1ESzO1cfyH95R6eiuRQGSwqqKt1VKFFAvgverRVQBtstbkr_pBqtsiB6JtYoGQ_OF28ApqZiFmmd0h_CtXxHgSywe6_hY9kbXQM/s1600/IMG_5373.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiodcyqIlEM7z5AAd-ehg9Q_J9D416veZelW5kQH_WA1ESzO1cfyH95R6eiuRQGSwqqKt1VKFFAvgverRVQBtstbkr_pBqtsiB6JtYoGQ_OF28ApqZiFmmd0h_CtXxHgSywe6_hY9kbXQM/s320/IMG_5373.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKzziNZbdoLp6eFcf-Yy7ZqWTBWm1eiq7oApY9ou-0KgQVKCQYUmuiI6p43bEXJLA2icVwQv5MfjI-4sfrjqYnjSItrdKEOgdsytKVkwN_R-nhIqDSsiwQstHDnIZzI4xd9cAcnOxuw_tB/s1600/IMG_5670.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKzziNZbdoLp6eFcf-Yy7ZqWTBWm1eiq7oApY9ou-0KgQVKCQYUmuiI6p43bEXJLA2icVwQv5MfjI-4sfrjqYnjSItrdKEOgdsytKVkwN_R-nhIqDSsiwQstHDnIZzI4xd9cAcnOxuw_tB/s200/IMG_5670.JPG" width="200" /></a>It's strange now to be saying goodbye to Badajoz, but I know that it will always hold a special place in my heart, along with all of the wonderful memories I have of this year. I can't put into words how amazing this year has been, and how fortunate I feel to have had this opportunity. I want to thank everyone at IES Sierra la Calera. I really appreciate everyone's openness to me (and my less than perfect Spanish) and their willingness to help me with anything and everything that I needed. I learned so much about myself and about Spain, and I will always feel that I have a home in Badajoz.<br />
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Now onto another adventure...Galicia, here I come!Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-17271307358651263162011-04-13T14:36:00.000-07:002011-04-13T14:36:42.748-07:00Trip to Valle de Jerte and GaliciaThe month of April is crazy for me. I will be traveling for 20 our of 30 days. I already want camping for the first weekend in Valle de Jerte, which is known for it's cherry trees. Every year around this time (depending on when the trees bloom) there is a festival and celebration of the cherries. Everything in the towns within the valley is based on cherries. It was really nice to get out into the wilderness and hike in the area called ''La garganta de los infiernos'', or the throat of hell. It sounded menancing at first, but ended up being a great hike with some really nice views. I went with a group of Erasmus (the European version of Study Abroad) students: There were two French, two Italian, one Turkish, one Spanish, two Americans and one Canadian. Everywhere we went we were asked where we were from, for records and statistics of the tourists, and we always had to list six countries. It was quite the international group<br />
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Then, three days later I rented a car with my friend Morgan to go to Vigo, Santiago de Compostela and A Coruña. I am looking at a jewelry design school in Vigo, so I went to spend 3 days there to see if I liked the school. Morgan explored the city and showed me all of the most important parts when I finished school in the afternoon. The school was great, and everyone was super friendly, and helped me with everything I needed. Also, the accent there was so much clearer than in Badajoz! It was much easier to understand. <br />
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After Vigo we went on our way to Santiago de Compostela, where they were celebrating the 800th anniversary of the Cathedral by "hugging" it. People were dressed up in traditional Gallego costumes and they organized people to surround the cathedral holding hands, to give it a hug. It was fun to see. Then, we took a quick trip up to A Coruña, another city on the northern coast of Spain. It was a nice city, but sadly the highlight for us was eating Subway... We were craving American food so badly that we were thrilled to find Subway and Foster's Hollywood Cafe. And we ate at both...Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-87302423263327896552011-04-01T03:46:00.000-07:002011-04-03T12:07:36.781-07:00Felipe, Prince of Asturias<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV0-kWNHMfB099RzpxixDls5wG2Q3FChXt6zRvuYqkiiZeV-Kycn11R0M5uBgZEYv8pZtZZVbd0AhajScEO79EvUwo9dYL_evDE4zi50j8tj4wRimAfkKAUpecPeqyZK5sUHq46LdZqwqp/s1600/IMG_5030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV0-kWNHMfB099RzpxixDls5wG2Q3FChXt6zRvuYqkiiZeV-Kycn11R0M5uBgZEYv8pZtZZVbd0AhajScEO79EvUwo9dYL_evDE4zi50j8tj4wRimAfkKAUpecPeqyZK5sUHq46LdZqwqp/s320/IMG_5030.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Felipe and Letizia getting out of the car</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Today there was lots of excitement in Badajoz. Felipe, one of the Spanish princes came to Badajoz to participate in the Congresso Nacional de Jovenes Impresarios (National Congress for young buisnessmen). Lucky for me, my window overlooks the building where it was taking place. The road outside was completely blocked off with barriers, and there were crowds of people waiting to see the Prince arrive. When the motorcade arrived everyone began pushing to see and cheering. There was a group of school children watching, and they shoute 'Felipe, Felipe" as he arrived, and of course him and his wife greeted them, and everyone cheered. The woman next to me yelled, "Felipe, guapo!' His wife, Letizia, is also very popular. It was a very exciting thing for Badajoz.<br />
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I was also able to see the democracy of Spain in action. Some of the kids from the dorm brought out a Spanish Republican flag to protest the royal family. Immediately the police went over to them, confiscated the flag, and took their IDs. Nothing else happened, but they were really annoyed, and said to me, "now you know how democracy works in Spain".Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-92102321885274487642011-03-24T04:21:00.000-07:002011-03-24T04:21:02.032-07:00Feria Taurina de Olivenza<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhWP_3jYefSDrbP5NnxZBRLcNZ63j0aAc4bvmsZQdRxEt009hdwjqGjEDQovU3_0moQhbW719D-Qn8Si8aUsXASt-L8TvZKTqh2fxu6Icb8woAdaVx-AxnVFCQd3UlP1TrQh8PLfVCF3Up/s1600/olivenza2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhWP_3jYefSDrbP5NnxZBRLcNZ63j0aAc4bvmsZQdRxEt009hdwjqGjEDQovU3_0moQhbW719D-Qn8Si8aUsXASt-L8TvZKTqh2fxu6Icb8woAdaVx-AxnVFCQd3UlP1TrQh8PLfVCF3Up/s400/olivenza2011.jpg" width="305" /></a></div>Two weekends ago my friends and I went to a festival in a nearby town, Olivenza, that marked the beginning of the the Bullfighting season in Spain (Feria Tuarina = Festival of the Bulls). Like any other Spanish festival it involved alot of eating and drinking in the streets. The most important part, however, was the bullfight. The festival lasted 4 days, and there was a bullfight each day. In each bullfight there were three toreros (bullfighters) and six bulls, and each torero fought two bulls.<br />
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We tried to get tickets to one of the fights, but it was completely sold out. We left, but then came back about an hour into the fight just to see if we could buy tickets from people who didn't use the tickets they had already bought. Instead of watching the bull fight we saw something much different.<br />
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When we walked up to the bullring we saw a large crowd of people standing outside of the doors. We didn't know why they were standing there waiting, but we soon found out. There was a knock on from the inside of the bullring, then police began to push the crowd to the sides. The doors burst open, and three horses ran out, dragging a dead bull out of the ring. The children ran over to the bull and tried to pull out the banderillas (the long, colorful things with a sharp end that are used to weaken the bull). The children who got the banderillas were really excited. Then, the bull was lifted with a machine into a truck, where butchers were waiting to butcher the bull for everyone to see. They used axes and huge knives, and you could see the blood spraying all over the walls of the truck and the men. Yuck! We had no idea that they butcher the bulls right outside of the ring. It turns out that watching the butchering of the bulls is almost as fun as watching the bullfight. The amusing part was that the outside of the truck had a cartoon of a smiling bull, but inside the bull was in pieces, and i don't think it was happy...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bull with banderillas</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cayetano Rivera</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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Though I really didn't like watching what happens after the fight, I still want to see a bullfight. It's been a large part of the Spanish Culture, and I think it would be worthwhile to see once. I have heard many different opinions of bullfights since being in Spain; some people saying it is a disgrace, some saying it is extremely important to Spanish Culture, and some saying they are indifferent. While I was studying in Granada, people talked about the artistry and beauty of the bullfight, which is interesting to me, so I'd like to see one to be able to make my own opinions. Also, I think the traje de luz (the outfit that the torero wears) is beautiful, and toreros have a stereotype of being super guapo and manly! Nowadays, toreros have become huge celebrities and are viewed as sex symbols, as can be seen in the ad for Loewe's cologne. So, the bullfight interests me more because of artistic and fashion side, rather than watching a man fight and kill a bull. There will be bullfights in Badajoz during the Feria de San Juan in June, so I will probably go to see one then.Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-11745630041174320262011-03-22T15:45:00.000-07:002011-03-22T15:48:43.200-07:00I can't stand it!!!I'm getting so sick of living in the dorm. I've had my complaints all year, about the food, the size of my room, not being able to have visitors, etc., but those are all things I can deal with. The one thing that has driven me absolutely nuts every single time is the laundry. It has been bad all along, but has gotten worse now. Originally we had one normal washer and one dryer (yes, I know I should feel lucky that I have a dryer) for 80 + residents. It was hard to find a time when both the washer and dryer were free. Because if you use both at the same time the fuse blows... So, it would normally take me a few days to clean my clothes; from the time I decided I needed to do laundry until the washing machine was actually available.<br />
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Last week they exchanged the washer and dryer for new, smaller, and apparently more economical versions. Unfortunately, the wash cycle on the new machine takes TWO HOURS! And, when I took my clothes out of the washer, after 2 hours, they were sopping wet. So I had to wring out all of my clothes in the sink, then put them in the dryer for another 2 hours. Now I don't know how I will ever have time to wash my clothes. I put them in the washer tonight at 9pm, it's now 11, and they won't be done until 1am. To me this is absurd. I have put up with a lot of inconvencies living here, but this just seems totally ridiculous. Yes, it costs less now, but I don't have time to sit around the dorm for 4 hours waiting for my clothes.<br />
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In January I actually decided to look for an apartment, because I was tired of living here. I ended up deciding that I could stick it out for the next couple months, just because it was free. I had a really hard time thinking about paying for an apartment when I have everything here for free. I will never live in a dorm again though! The positive side of living in the residence is that I don't think I will ever have another living sitaution as inconvenient as this. And I will greatly appreciate having my own place next year, even though it means I have to clean and take care of all the other things that come with having an apartment. Now I know that having a free place to live is not necessarily worth all of the cons that come with it...Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-53592782682707326312011-03-15T05:14:00.000-07:002011-03-15T05:14:51.408-07:00CarnavalLast weekend there was a HUGE celebration in Badajoz for Carnaval. Everyone says that Badajoz has the 3rd largest Carnaval celebration in all of Spain. We had two days off of school, and everyone was in costumes for the entire 4 day weekend. Carnaval here has a couple main components: Las Comparsas, Las Murgas, Botellon, and to close the celebration there is El entierro de la sardina (The Burial of the Sardine).<br />
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The Comparsas are large groups of people, about 100 in each group, all dressed in very eleborate and intricate costumes. Each comparsa has a group that dances and is followed my a group of drummers. Each group selects a theme shorter after Carnaval for the next year, and the people in these groups work on the costumes, dances and music all year. There was a children's parade on Friday and the adult parade on Sunday, with about 20 Comparsas in each parade. The costumes were amazing!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjey97vfE980SGET7o7izfVtTop3fEXRpWc0JluGNdJLQaKKyUKFWeglXOTDvoHnEAEKwyqucZi9cQQgNDlXnhrDdaS7K1lVyvzxRcPIEUBXUsr3wDKz52l9AKVwBdzx6e5jsN6ekSBIU6o/s1600/IMG_4808.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNfCr-_QQIQRh0tZ_KMFFG0StKe_mfyUXsUm5UCIGjm9NNUTy9-hNxaXjQyL0ChL7A_YWlYaemtW4ADmFxDv23QEW1z3g0ADMyVZbrO4ui1yvxUZMZB27JpAplvtLyZmoUsRK2pYBfEcxK/s1600/IMG_4885.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNfCr-_QQIQRh0tZ_KMFFG0StKe_mfyUXsUm5UCIGjm9NNUTy9-hNxaXjQyL0ChL7A_YWlYaemtW4ADmFxDv23QEW1z3g0ADMyVZbrO4ui1yvxUZMZB27JpAplvtLyZmoUsRK2pYBfEcxK/s320/IMG_4885.JPG" width="320" /></a><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjey97vfE980SGET7o7izfVtTop3fEXRpWc0JluGNdJLQaKKyUKFWeglXOTDvoHnEAEKwyqucZi9cQQgNDlXnhrDdaS7K1lVyvzxRcPIEUBXUsr3wDKz52l9AKVwBdzx6e5jsN6ekSBIU6o/s320/IMG_4808.jpg" width="240" /></div><br />
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The Murgas are groups of people who sing humerous and satirical songs. They are normally politically or socially driven, and there is a competition every year for the best Murgas. The competition begins a week or two before Carnaval and the winner is selected during the celebration. I went to see one of the groups, but I couldn't really understand the jokes they were singing about.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJz2T7dYE8vb0ib35WVKpdztuslRl4rAkUzCUxeMv_GjfuHntPf64EflBx-WmEh-t75tc507pVVPjwqv_fnADfAfIpeP6E-Gl021kN_s5RbtFivcqX1ecsk31l3zmcQBpxuKECNYhYDZU-/s1600/IMG_4819.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJz2T7dYE8vb0ib35WVKpdztuslRl4rAkUzCUxeMv_GjfuHntPf64EflBx-WmEh-t75tc507pVVPjwqv_fnADfAfIpeP6E-Gl021kN_s5RbtFivcqX1ecsk31l3zmcQBpxuKECNYhYDZU-/s320/IMG_4819.JPG" width="320" /></a> There are two main nights that people celebrate all night in the streets. Everyone dressed up in costumes, like for Halloween. I dressed up as a nerd one day and a ninja the other day. Both nights there is a Botellon, or "Big Bottle". Botellon is common the rest of the year too, where people gather outdoors and drink. During Carnaval though, there are thousands of people in the plazas in the old part of the city.<br />
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On Monday night everyone stays out until the next morning, and goes directly to the Burial of the Sardine. This year it was raining, so there weren't as many people there as there usually are. The Burrial of the Sardine is the symbolic end of Carnaval. It consists of people dressed as "death" carrying a stuffed Sardine, while a man dressed as a widow cries and acts as if someone very important has died. The bars all served fried sardines and beer. It was quite ridiculous, especially at 10am after being out dressed as a Nija all night. <br />
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<a href="http://www.hoy.es/multimedia/fotos/ultimos/73129-sardina-entierra-bajo-agua-0.html">Click to see photos from Hoy neswpaper of Burrial of the Sardine</a><br />
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That's Carnaval in a nutshell. It was a lot of fun, but by the end I was so tired!Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-36961247521638197112011-03-03T12:40:00.000-08:002011-03-03T12:44:18.317-08:00Today I went on my first field trip with my students. The 3rd of ESO group went to a nearby school for its "dia del centro". Students from16 bilingual sections from surrounding towns came to participate in a day of speaking English and playing games. There were more or less 20 students from each school, which means 320 students, plus a couple teachers from each school. With that amount of people it turned out to be impossible to control anyone, and I'm pretty sure the students just hung out and spoke Spanish all day. There was a schedule of events, but there was no organized way of telling the students where they were supposed to go and when. I ended up sitting in the auditorium with David for the whole morning listening to students presentations about their schools, watching an abridged rendition of High School Musical and watching students sing karaoke in Spanish. I was amazed at how disorganized everything was in comparison to how everything always has to be organized to a T in the states.<br />
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One of the consequences of this disorganization arrose later in the day when we were leaving. Apparently there had been an soccer game earlier in the day, and there had been some tension between my students and another group of kids who didn't even go to the school. These kids were able to just walk in because no one was keeping track of who should be there and who shouldn't. There was an issue with one of the other kids pushing and teasing the students from my school, and later on when it was time to leave it escalated to the point I had to step in.<br />
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At the end of the day the students were waiting outside the school gate for the bus, alone. They shouldn't have been allowed to just leave in the first place, but again, no one was keeping track of the students. I was outside talking to another lanuguage assistant and waiting to leave when I saw a couple students run over to me saying that the other kids from the game were going to hit my kids. So I ran over and pushed the kids apart and just stood between them. I told them to leave in my not perfect Spanish, and they just laughed at me. The kids were standing all around us, and kept trying to get my students, and I had to push them away a couple of times.<br />
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They were saying things to me that I half understood-enough to know they were not at all friendly- and one of them stood so close behind me I could feel his face in my hair, just to push my buttons. I had enough of a power position, though, that they didn't try to push past me, and finally I got my students inside of the school gates. The group of quinquis (loosly translated to hooligans-but with a negative conotation) taunted us and even banged on our bus as we were leaving. <br />
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Today was the first day I have been in the position where I needed to be in control, but couldn't because I don't speak Spanish fluently. Usually I am able to communicate whatever I need, but here I was just at a loss. I knew that the only thing I could do was to keep them apart until another teacher came out. Luckily we were supposed to leave right then, so the other teachers came out shortly after.<br />
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This situation would have been so easily avoided if there had been some form of supervision throughout the day. This was an issue that had escalated from earlier in the day, and should have been taken care of right then. Instead, I was the only one there to deal with it when it finally turned into a fight. Hmm...Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-22851708325056554182011-03-02T14:57:00.000-08:002011-03-02T14:57:17.628-08:00Lots of travelsI've been really busy the last few weeks. It seems like I have hardly spent any time at home. In the past month I've been to Salamanca, Lisbon and Sevilla. When I am home, the internet in the dorm shuts off a lot, so it takes forever to write a blog and upload pictures. That is one of the complaints I have about the dorm on a list of many. I will leave my issues with the dorm for another post, though.<br />
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So, my first trip after rreturning to Spain was to Salamanca. My friend Morgan studied abroad in there, so she was our tour guide that weekend. I was there once before with my study abroad program, but we didn't spend enough time there to explore. This time we went to all of the historical sites: the cathedral, la Casa de las Conchas (The entire outside of the building is covered in shells or 'conchas'), the university, and of course Plaza Mayor. We stayed in a great hostal that had a balcony overlooking the plaza.<br />
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Two weeks later we took a trip to Lisbon. The only time I had been there before is when I was flying from Porto to Philadelphia, with a stop over in Lisbon. Our suitcases made the plane, but we didn't. We had to stay the night in Lisbon without clothes, toothbrush or anything. We managed to get by, and actually had a great time eating American food at Hard Rock Cafe and going to a Sporting Club soccer match.<br />
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This time the trip was very different. We rode an old trolly up to Saint George's Castle where we had a beautiful view of the city and the river. We ate and went out in Barrio Alto, the old part of the city, and ventured to some small towns on the coast. We tried to have a picnic on the beach in Cascais, but as soon as we got off the train it started to pour. We ended up having our picnic under an awning of a building across from the trainstation. Later, it stopped raining and we were able to walk to the beach, where we all took our shoes off and played in the sand and water for a few minutes. It was still too cold to stay out long, so we headed back shortly after to Lisbon.<br />
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The next day we went to a beautiful town in the mountians, called Sintra. High up on the summit of one mountain there is a castle called the Palace of Pena. It is a castle that seems like it is out of a fairytale. The ouside is blue, pink, yellow and purple, and resembles a dollhouse. There was a beautful view of the valley and the Atlantic Ocean in the distance. Overall I really enjoyed Lisbon and would love to go back again to see all of the things I still haven't seen.<br />
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Unfortunately, I'm still not able to upload pictures, but you can search for any of the places I talked about to see them online!Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-10707132516243684862011-01-24T08:07:00.000-08:002011-01-24T08:07:34.277-08:00It's been a while... I'm sorry I haven't written in so long, I was really busy while home, and have also been super busy since returning to Spain. I'll just write a brief summary of everything that has been going on over the past month. First, I want to comment that my trip to Valencia (pre-hospital) was wonderful. It is a great city with a really interesting science museum that they call La ciudad de las ciencias. There are multiple, futuristic looking buildings each dedicated to a type of science. It seemed like we could have been in Star Wars! We rented bikes one day with some people we met in the hostal which was also alot of fun!<br />
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My trip home for Christmas was really nice. It was great to see my family and friends. I spent 2 weeks at home and then went to NYC to spend New Years with my friends from college. Then back home for a couple days and two days later I left for Spain.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1bairZBNcYt-VQuPguY2Nbmy7r59XBtuGWVdo6mtxFX7frkrN6OPuPW8WttTAUQ5qFUI5zxeRKknKeCPK7fSLXhdacZyqZxvyRJp6rnyVbtwslmeu4dHJpk5pnsLWtj9t9Nf_H_CORcyf/s1600/165601_582045643739_3805635_33976756_5252269_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1bairZBNcYt-VQuPguY2Nbmy7r59XBtuGWVdo6mtxFX7frkrN6OPuPW8WttTAUQ5qFUI5zxeRKknKeCPK7fSLXhdacZyqZxvyRJp6rnyVbtwslmeu4dHJpk5pnsLWtj9t9Nf_H_CORcyf/s200/165601_582045643739_3805635_33976756_5252269_n.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_q1otM8oJQCf2kpKNV3kO4KyvTZbihey9s77PiwyDutL9eFUI_Z7Qnm9taWVBuew5tS2brenxAec5sDcaX40uQuYJspA2Y8jQkg4G2uvK3_omJeiSwoCNkDIiZ_ZtmlNAolo32SjFmdHs/s1600/IMG_4579.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_q1otM8oJQCf2kpKNV3kO4KyvTZbihey9s77PiwyDutL9eFUI_Z7Qnm9taWVBuew5tS2brenxAec5sDcaX40uQuYJspA2Y8jQkg4G2uvK3_omJeiSwoCNkDIiZ_ZtmlNAolo32SjFmdHs/s320/IMG_4579.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dad's side of the family. Mom, I don't have any from yours :(</td></tr>
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Now I am back in Badajoz and am getting used to being here again. I lost some of my Spanish while I was at home, so now I have to practice alot! I am making plans for lots of trips now, including Salamanca this coming weekend and Lisbon in February. I also have Mallora, Germany, Denmark and the Running of the Bulls in the works for later this year!Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-5717074739194935492010-12-16T13:03:00.000-08:002010-12-16T13:07:59.168-08:00The one about the Hospital...This post will be dedicated to my hospital stay, since everyone has been asking me about it and wants to know what happened. I met my friend Maureen in Valencia, then we went to Granada, where she is living. I had some sort of stomach bug, but thought that if I ignored it, it would go away, apparently not... I went to get ready for bed one night when I began to feel a lot of pressure in my chest and didn't have much feeling in my left arm. Again, I tried to ignore it, but it was too uncomfortable, and we decided I should go to the ER. When I got there I had to convince the woman in admissions that I did have insurance, even though I have still not received my insurance card and didn't have any other information about my insurance company. She finally just told me to fax her the information the next day...<br />
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When I went to talk to the doctor all of my tests came out normal, and they told me to wait for the results of my blood test. I already had started to feel better and thought it was just a fluke and would be able to go back to Maureen's apartment that night. But when my results came back they told me I needed to stay for a few tests because the results were similar to those of a heart attack (Ah!). Everything is a blur from there, I had people poking me from all angles with an IV, another blood test and some other injections, while they were asking me questions about my health history and my activities of the night. Then they took me to the ICU, but Maureen couldn't come with me, and that's when I started to freak out and cry. They put all of my belongings in a bag and handed them to Maureen, telling her she could come visit for 30 minutes the next day. When I got to the ICU the doctor immediately did an ultrasound of my heart and concluded that it was working perfectly, so I still thought it wasn't serious and would be able to leave the next day.<br />
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But that wasn't the case. I spent 2 days in the ICU hooked up to machines to monitor my heart and an IV. I could only get up to go to the bathroom accompanied by a nurse. The ICU was dark and lonely, and I felt really out of place being 22 years old and surrounded by people who were seriously ill. I felt completely fine by the next morning, and the nurses kept the curtain closed around me because they said it was too sad for me to be seeing the other older and sicker people there. I also became well know as la nina americana, and one of the nurses called me la reina (queen). <br />
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Then I started to hear rumors about "the planta" which seemed like a magical place that I never would actually get to go to. The planta was the normal cardiac wing of the hospital, where the patients can get up, walk around, have visitors, eat real food and not be attached to an IV. I learned that the doctors really enjoying saying, "just one more day". For six days everyone told me "just one more day, then you can go to the planta", or "just one more test tomorrow and you can leave". <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHVH9RHZS-G-igugdgnuZ1BOhyAjXyPbDy03weSKmGFj-nIBRtlQTTvWrero_y0J-IXnz_M3pY_Ud4WyR-p0DxShHlV1rwCapUcTcG5-Zl33TFsjbcHHuaVDeZdHx-1e6o6_ksDwpKJNi/s1600/IMG_4560.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHVH9RHZS-G-igugdgnuZ1BOhyAjXyPbDy03weSKmGFj-nIBRtlQTTvWrero_y0J-IXnz_M3pY_Ud4WyR-p0DxShHlV1rwCapUcTcG5-Zl33TFsjbcHHuaVDeZdHx-1e6o6_ksDwpKJNi/s320/IMG_4560.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My bed was the only place big enough for the puzzle...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I eventually got to the planta and Maureen came to visit as much as she could. We did a 1000 piece puzzle, played alot of rummy and went for walks around the hospital and courtyard. I really can't express how grateful I am to her for keeping me company, but more importantly dealing with all of my insurance issues between the hospital and the insurance company. She did absolutely everything for me.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkHC4j38pCUUZNJ03AGiLuX4vn5Ry1RbIHUXo0G3oA5koK0-WFAc-Ze66ZaPhsUoStBFixsNcjVpVHSuTTMr0Jmy4B1b8jhB2NuB_CG6XDqycb7CX3YyDRyxcBQquiwEAq9c_7EBqwpYk7/s1600/IMG_4561.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkHC4j38pCUUZNJ03AGiLuX4vn5Ry1RbIHUXo0G3oA5koK0-WFAc-Ze66ZaPhsUoStBFixsNcjVpVHSuTTMr0Jmy4B1b8jhB2NuB_CG6XDqycb7CX3YyDRyxcBQquiwEAq9c_7EBqwpYk7/s400/IMG_4561.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally Free</td></tr>
</tbody></table>It was certainly an experience talking with doctors and nurses only in Spanish. I found myself paying more attention to understanding the words they were saying than actually being able to internalize and analyze what they were telling me. It didn't help that I don't know anything about medicine or the heart. I also had some medical students do some of my tests. For an ECO two students worked together to figure out how to do it correctly, and it was actually amusing to observe. I met most of my roomate's family, who was a women in her 40's. Her nephews helped Maureen and I finish our puzzle, and I taught them the English words for the things in the puzzle. I also met another 22 year old boy who was there for the same condition as me. He came into my room one morning, handed me a piece of paper and said, "I drew you a picture. I'm in the room down the hall if you want to talk." It was pretty funny at the time and we ended up hanging out in the courtyard for a while. Many of the teachers from school also called me to check in and see how I was feeling. It was really nice to know that so many people were thinking of me.<br />
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This entry is getting quite long, so I will just conclude with my diagnosis. I had mioperiocarditis. I'm not exactly sure of the English translation, but it was an inflammation of a small part of the heart called the pericardium, caused by a virus, and is apparently fairly common in people my age. I am completely fine now, and just need to rest for a couple weeks. I am SO excited to go home and relax with my family after such a stressful and strange week.Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-14932784252025343012010-12-02T14:47:00.000-08:002010-12-02T14:47:51.706-08:00Improptu Ice Skating<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5c0Bv5i5QAOrAUYU8huTSQ4Ha3W1mAFlbCKfUidNbEm7UfTm96pwJXBY0PHH8EExJrJC75b7FJAJvVeAxbF2Wh4vxapyvcACfeDEMUcfvqucp_P3I9lT_Tw12fETlbZ6njZQfVQRaQo9o/s1600/IMG_4489.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5c0Bv5i5QAOrAUYU8huTSQ4Ha3W1mAFlbCKfUidNbEm7UfTm96pwJXBY0PHH8EExJrJC75b7FJAJvVeAxbF2Wh4vxapyvcACfeDEMUcfvqucp_P3I9lT_Tw12fETlbZ6njZQfVQRaQo9o/s320/IMG_4489.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
Last weekend I was on my way to the Feria Hispano-Portuguesa, a fair that celebrates the relation ship between Spain and Portugal, when some friends and I were distracted by an ice skating rink that popped up over the weekend. The rink and some other kids rides were there to celebrate winter and the Christmas season and will be up for a few weeks. </div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxDycEphRylVMR0Ds-Yuj04mX0TD9Pb0b6CQdXYIT7BZqH4w5JqbIVTXDdtR4SPyZtpRNyH5TLQPU7EXm4EQZ-waXe2lyTZTB9vHs2T_ssuzTwyO34jXsoSE1QohqTgMpDXF_OnpIXUx1y/s1600/IMG_4504.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxDycEphRylVMR0Ds-Yuj04mX0TD9Pb0b6CQdXYIT7BZqH4w5JqbIVTXDdtR4SPyZtpRNyH5TLQPU7EXm4EQZ-waXe2lyTZTB9vHs2T_ssuzTwyO34jXsoSE1QohqTgMpDXF_OnpIXUx1y/s320/IMG_4504.jpg" width="240" /></a>I haven't been ice skating in years, and I'm definitely not a very talented skater. However, the Spanish proved to be worse. There were quite a few people who would stand up, and immediately fall again, over and over. It was entertaining to watch, but looked pretty painful! Morgan and I were the only two who actualy went skating, and we had fun...for a short time. The skates were super uncomfortable, so we had to stop after only about 15 minutes. It felt so good to have normal shoes on after that though!!</div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-36310610101980641462010-11-28T14:06:00.000-08:002010-11-28T14:06:34.591-08:00Happy Turkey Day!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTaucLsu7gPPC26fL94c8DV_G0oPeA89QNsUXkxMFguzMkENrOM6T3c6q6nPvk-eZ3CG3pe56V3JaLGh5qMt0FN9N40DYLgE4A7HfAthOyClQaP-TfwGMzM6YrUrhvz0tqzm-AJU9zJhZ8/s1600/IMG_4479.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTaucLsu7gPPC26fL94c8DV_G0oPeA89QNsUXkxMFguzMkENrOM6T3c6q6nPvk-eZ3CG3pe56V3JaLGh5qMt0FN9N40DYLgE4A7HfAthOyClQaP-TfwGMzM6YrUrhvz0tqzm-AJU9zJhZ8/s320/IMG_4479.jpg" width="240" /></a>As you all know, last Thursday was Thanksgiving. This was my first year that I wasn't at home for Thanksgiving. Though I missed my family, we managed to have a really nice celebration here. All of the Americans organized a feast for us and some Spanish friends. It was complete with a 14 lb. turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, baked brie and pumpkin souffle. For dessert we had pumpkin and applie pie, apple and blueberry crumble, apples with a caramel dip, and of course yummy bars.<br />
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What is a yummy bar you ask? Well, if you have ever been to a gathering of my family for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any other holiday, you will sure have eaten them before. If not, you are definitely missing out. Yummy bars are a chocolaty combination of cake, brownies and caramel and lots of butter. I knew that they were delicious, but I had no idea just how popular they would be in Spain. First I will say that it wasn't easy to find all of the ingredients here. There was only one brand of cake mix in Carrefour (similar to Walmart), and I could only find caramels in El Corte Ingles, and both were wildly expensive! Everyone at the dinner was blown away and begged me to give them the recipe. The Spanish guests told me that nothing like yummy bars exists in Spain, which is probably why they seemed so delicious!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1oze7OciQJdu9U3wsEvmnujfugZnWS4-4FdNKeyCaVvp0VQKzlmM2UvhuPaM4mE_qKQZB50PolNttjcxHk9IiuIKLHyfBju3-qLYvISITuKPpwcmHn3qWOA3JX3MtdbUnr-VnprvXIqOo/s1600/IMG_4481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1oze7OciQJdu9U3wsEvmnujfugZnWS4-4FdNKeyCaVvp0VQKzlmM2UvhuPaM4mE_qKQZB50PolNttjcxHk9IiuIKLHyfBju3-qLYvISITuKPpwcmHn3qWOA3JX3MtdbUnr-VnprvXIqOo/s320/IMG_4481.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>In fact, none of the food at the dinner is easily found here. While us Americans/Canadians/English were so excited to have our traditional food, the Spaniards looked intimidated and nervous to try our strange recipes. By the end though, they were all happy to say that they had experienced their first Thanksgiving dinner. All in all, Thanksgiving was a success.Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-2094116769414376192010-11-21T15:35:00.000-08:002010-11-22T10:12:04.597-08:00A Quick Trip to SevillaSo, it's been a long time since I last wrote, sorry for the delay! My time here is flying by. I am so busy with school, private lessons, tennis and flamenco during the week that before I know it it's Friday, and then the weekends fly by as well.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1auuM7jZqGor88khaqMrOLUiGKUNlMXauyg9Ijuvdo6JWPIntCB2PwyNRLgaJWBSohOhbcYUDzIrNsto322D16azAnGSwFXnY_JdlE0FLiMHeYiIrxnVp3IafCe5mUz7VQD8gUMyL2Oaz/s1600/IMG_4404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1auuM7jZqGor88khaqMrOLUiGKUNlMXauyg9Ijuvdo6JWPIntCB2PwyNRLgaJWBSohOhbcYUDzIrNsto322D16azAnGSwFXnY_JdlE0FLiMHeYiIrxnVp3IafCe5mUz7VQD8gUMyL2Oaz/s320/IMG_4404.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of Plaza de Toros from the Giralda</td></tr>
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Two weeks ago a bunch of us English Assistants spent the weekend in Sevilla. It's such a beautiful city, and it was nice to get out of Badajoz for a little while. Over the course of the weekend we saw the tourist sites and ate some delicious tapas. We went to the cathedral and climbed the Giralda, the bell tour of the cathedral. It was a beautiful day and there was a great view of the city in all directions.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOsTIqmsY8sOHctrnS_CShRX_PNwsHBXsFKcDXbtvMGdk_Z78oCM0GAI8q43YrHJIJymNoXKtzeaTKNxdAP9cb9J1PDeWM4-J-hLmXELjQ6NjzW452Dm34GPNWJaFllmigPRWaem7KnpXC/s1600/IMG_4412.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOsTIqmsY8sOHctrnS_CShRX_PNwsHBXsFKcDXbtvMGdk_Z78oCM0GAI8q43YrHJIJymNoXKtzeaTKNxdAP9cb9J1PDeWM4-J-hLmXELjQ6NjzW452Dm34GPNWJaFllmigPRWaem7KnpXC/s320/IMG_4412.JPG" width="320" /></a> <br />
We also visited the Real Alcazar. I had been there before with the Bucknell en Espana program when I studied abroad, but I had forgotten how amazing the Moorish architecture is. It's almost impossible to believe that people were able to create such intricate and detailed designs hundreds of years ago. There are extensive gardens full of fountains, flowers and ponds. Can you imagine living in a place like that?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcwgEUCBK9SyXlbxJmB94AZGg1MIcV0Sv2N2zWjXqUkWhbIljn0b6zVlCSjxHoQv0K9RZu1KzIJ2-zt1BU4J9jE_ui_PimyqhyphenhyphenNqR77VYYL3D7aYsTkM73XqBSlbd_wE4sOGLiNlx042FF/s1600/IMG_4418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcwgEUCBK9SyXlbxJmB94AZGg1MIcV0Sv2N2zWjXqUkWhbIljn0b6zVlCSjxHoQv0K9RZu1KzIJ2-zt1BU4J9jE_ui_PimyqhyphenhyphenNqR77VYYL3D7aYsTkM73XqBSlbd_wE4sOGLiNlx042FF/s320/IMG_4418.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
We also found some delicious food in Sevilla. We ate at an amazing tapas bar that one of my friends knew of from previous trips there. It's not very often that you have to wait for a table in Spain (at least not that I have experienced) and this restaurant had a 40 minute wait list. Everyone put their name on a list, then waited in the street with drinks until there was space. The food was certainly worth the wait!<br />
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Then, one night our hostel served Moroccan food, which was also delicious. As much as I love Spanish food, it was nice to have some international flavors for a change. There are much more opportunities to find international food in Sevilla than in Badajoz, but still most places serve tradition Spanish tapas. The one thing that I am finding hard to get used to is that all of the restaurants in Badajoz have almost the same menu, with some variation of ham, cheese, croquettas, tortilla and bocadillos. There isn't much variety from place to place, except for the handful of international restaurants. I recently tried the sushi in Badajoz, which I was a little nervous about, but turned out to be quite good. There is also a couple Italian/pizza, Chinese and Portugese restaurants around to be tried. Good thing I've got seven six more months to figure out all of the food options!Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-10001034683264085512010-11-01T15:35:00.000-07:002010-11-02T07:04:37.622-07:00Happy Halloween!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0SMaR8pi7KvgIWfuUmOhT9gQrBomdBa2rS10_ivhChOioFcDLfGk28NyWMZnsk_AtNO9JCCtpg3qpTR3D_TfZFAlcWBeAGr-TCvjYahkWiWhJKeKCeWPRM9ZCqeli97sI8NFh1QrUEkRM/s200/IMG_4371.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1st ESO</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Friday we had our Halloween Party at school. We have been talking about Halloween all week in classes and finally it was time to celebrate and have some fun! All of the students in the Bilingual section went to the audiovisual room, and we started the party by watching two Halloween episodes of the Simpsons. The Simpsons is a very popular show here, and is on TV every day, dubbed in Spanish of course. We watched the episodes in English, so the students had a hard time understanding what was being said. That's probably for the best because there were quite a few inappropriate topics!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0SMaR8pi7KvgIWfuUmOhT9gQrBomdBa2rS10_ivhChOioFcDLfGk28NyWMZnsk_AtNO9JCCtpg3qpTR3D_TfZFAlcWBeAGr-TCvjYahkWiWhJKeKCeWPRM9ZCqeli97sI8NFh1QrUEkRM/s1600/IMG_4371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKkT_s8MUWUiKWlXQFYTFXXoUt9eSopCNDjtNyetqn7Q2f3HJ5HnZ2_XTyZj2D3URt4shFCH5zQqCY_qEYZtoXtGw7YM_dKNr3UZfq-QUCwWFqI5L-5EDNlKBCvzda3KMLTxkTQyeLAGNU/s1600/IMG_4376.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKkT_s8MUWUiKWlXQFYTFXXoUt9eSopCNDjtNyetqn7Q2f3HJ5HnZ2_XTyZj2D3URt4shFCH5zQqCY_qEYZtoXtGw7YM_dKNr3UZfq-QUCwWFqI5L-5EDNlKBCvzda3KMLTxkTQyeLAGNU/s320/IMG_4376.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Then it was time for the costume contest, the pumpkin cake contest and the jack-o-lantern contest. Only a couple of the younger students dressed up, because the Spanish don't actually celebrate Halloween. I asked a lot of students why they didn't dress up and they said because it wasn't really worth it to make or buy a costume just for school.<br />
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More students participated in the jack-o-lantern contest, and there were some really interesting submissions, and even some made from gourds and melons!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaSTuPTdFulmI4dnD30_BTueQ4yOMPCcq04atIvPWz8ohFHU0tk5sDsybbLVPjM4LC8FlyxnbFR2X0PlOi4OTQilZ7PpVI9K7E939pQciYgKVjWhtOg-kIR8yORvnp-W_wamjncIzRV_s2/s1600/IMG_4375.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaSTuPTdFulmI4dnD30_BTueQ4yOMPCcq04atIvPWz8ohFHU0tk5sDsybbLVPjM4LC8FlyxnbFR2X0PlOi4OTQilZ7PpVI9K7E939pQciYgKVjWhtOg-kIR8yORvnp-W_wamjncIzRV_s2/s320/IMG_4375.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
And then there was the pumpkin cake contest. I decided to make a pumpkin pie to give everyone a real taste of an American treat. It sounded like a great idea until I realized that it is impossible to find canned pumpkin here. I managed to find pumpkin that was already cleaned out in the grocery store, but had to boil, peel and mash it myself. It was quite the project!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8KHpc6krkkiTBZWz6py00KnR_Q7MAqV3QIN6Oeip_uSEdmHp-wqs6Nj-JEzNfpOrcbGdCHwXtkWnpKLBKYdd_Clzoy2OnnhPQ0c_NhdtsHnN6bfBIOejb7EYfvA2ZecWz6E4Zg5ypMWUU/s1600/IMG_4378.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8KHpc6krkkiTBZWz6py00KnR_Q7MAqV3QIN6Oeip_uSEdmHp-wqs6Nj-JEzNfpOrcbGdCHwXtkWnpKLBKYdd_Clzoy2OnnhPQ0c_NhdtsHnN6bfBIOejb7EYfvA2ZecWz6E4Zg5ypMWUU/s200/IMG_4378.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The final product...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I was able to use the kitchen at school because I don't have my own at home, and the woman who runs the kitchen thought I was crazy for making such a strange food! It was a bit ambitious, seeing that the kitchen lacked a measuring cup and I was using ingredients that were slightly different than the ones I would find in an American grocery store. After 2 hours of baking I ended up with a pretty decent pie. The crust was questionable, but the rest was yummy! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Lr3Z3KO9coygeSM_wnZxUGlFz0-cLS1yRpNFggDRfzIT1AmJllBfvO9KVEdNZFXUTUQxrQk-aANCKRnlGSXqHWEcqYutic6mR5sg3S5quWFwoj7J5_bCCipMQVBbzgRRjP2ONG2pd5O7/s1600/IMG_4367.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br />
</a></div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-72736203422942411452010-11-01T11:10:00.000-07:002010-11-01T11:10:37.303-07:005 Minutes in Portugal<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUdycXEiewXkXXUyGm9iJ1xjZKqRNpus2ont8eFxtKVq8nmcv0GwbtoT25Y949doWXJldLrnQlOCpGzHMEyVdqnVMoAkFZs7qYvgihN2cL_V75F2uEWOipm3pkzJ8J_SaHTsk5YOu9lMYb/s1600/36171_841913805899_7814005_47044340_158899_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUdycXEiewXkXXUyGm9iJ1xjZKqRNpus2ont8eFxtKVq8nmcv0GwbtoT25Y949doWXJldLrnQlOCpGzHMEyVdqnVMoAkFZs7qYvgihN2cL_V75F2uEWOipm3pkzJ8J_SaHTsk5YOu9lMYb/s320/36171_841913805899_7814005_47044340_158899_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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Badajoz is located just 4 km from Portugal, and last weekend we decided to walk to the border. As you can see in the picture, there wasn't much to show the distinction between Spain and Portugal. There was only an E for España and a P for Portugal. No fences, no tolls, just a some paint on a bridge.Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-44381508527728973462010-10-21T07:32:00.000-07:002010-10-21T07:32:04.771-07:00Siestas, Fiestas and Three Day WeekendsHappy Thursday!<br />
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I've just gotten from school, ate lunch and am now settling in my room to make some lesson plans during siesta. I am already taking full advantage of siesta since I get up for work at 6:15 and the kids in the dorm are up running around and yelling late into the night. Everything closes between 2:00 and 5:00, so I generally take some time to rest and catch up on some American tv. Today I have to make my first lesson plans for the students that live in the residence. I'm making some Halloween themed activities so it should be fun.<br />
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Also, since it's Thursday, my weekend has begun. This week was my first full week of work, and it flew by. I am starting to really enjoy my time at school, and the days go by quickly. There are a lot of weekends that are even longer though. Two weeks ago we had Friday-Tuesday off, for Dia de la Hispanidad, during which the Spaniards celebrate Colombus finding the Americas. It was the day after our Columbus Day, and even better because we got 2 days off instead of one! Next weekend we also have en extra day to celebrate Dia de Todos los Santos. We also have a whole week off in December right before Christmas, so I will travel for a week, come back to work for a week and then head home for Christmas. Not bad at all...<br />
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And becuase it's Thursday there's all sorts of parties. Here, Thursday is the biggest night to go out because so many students leave over the weekend. Everyone goes out till 4 or 5 am, and then goes to class in the morning. Luckily, I don't have to worry about work on Fridays!Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-89852560865437853152010-10-18T14:12:00.000-07:002010-10-18T14:29:37.704-07:00IES Sierra la CaleraHello all, I'm back to write some more about my teaching experiences so far. Today starts my first full week of work at school, and I am also beginning private lessons this week. It took me a little while to get used to my role in the school, but now I am getting to know the students and am very impressed with them so far. My schedule varies every day, and I am working primarily with student in the Bilingual Section. Many schools in Spain now have a Bilingual Section where the students have regular English classes, as well as Math, Science and P.E. in English. The students and their parents decide to enroll in the bilingual courses, so the students really want to be there.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEjHAz69MpkZO06OfnHvrz6G9ttepEUySY7E6i2sKAO3sNpUDBmy0QCvfcGy8dvRqb1btVLB4cVECyv7sioiDBg8WKGSNm80owc-ZEUXngiz1MxpJaj-z0O0CgZOuF1y6cMqXJsq68x0gZ/s1600/iessierralacalera.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="65" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEjHAz69MpkZO06OfnHvrz6G9ttepEUySY7E6i2sKAO3sNpUDBmy0QCvfcGy8dvRqb1btVLB4cVECyv7sioiDBg8WKGSNm80owc-ZEUXngiz1MxpJaj-z0O0CgZOuF1y6cMqXJsq68x0gZ/s400/iessierralacalera.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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Spain's educational system is different than ours, having primary school (6-11 years old), secondary school (12-15) and<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Spanish_Baccalaureate_.28Bachillerato.29"> then an optional baccalaureate</span></span> (16-18). I am working mostly with students ranging from 12-15 years old in the ESO level (Educacion secundaria obligatoria) in the bilingual section, and I see each level two or three times every week.<br />
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<a href="http://iesslacalera.juntaextremadura.net/Joomla_1.5/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=279">Information about the Bilingual Program at IES Sierra la Calera</a><br />
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My first week of classes were dedicated to question and answer sessions so that the students and I could get to know each other. I am language assistant, so I am always in class with another teacher. I am able to make lessons plans or suggest topics for the classes, but am always following the plans that the teacher has prepared. Because the students in the bilingual section have Math, Science and P.E. in English I go to each class once a week to help with the vocabulary of each subject. This means that I have to re-learn middle school Math and Science! Now the students are learning about fractions and powers in Math and Energy and the Universe in Science. It is interesting because I don't know all the official terms for these subjects, and I have to do some research so I am prepared for the student's questions. I also meet with each teacher once a week to go over lesson plans so I know what we will be learning about the following week. I am the third language assistant that has been at my school, so they have established a good system for our collaboration.<br />
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This week I am starting to give private classes to people I have met. Almost everyone I meet asks me if I would be able to give them lessons. It seems strange to me that people are willing to pay me just because I speak English! Most people just want conversation classes, so I will just go to their house and talk to them in English for an hour. There are other people who are just beginning to speak English so I have to make lesson plans and activities to practice grammatical points. I will be teaching a college age son of one of the teachers at school and my Flamenco teacher, so the classes are also an opportunity for me to make friends in the community.<br />
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Lastly, I am also starting to give classes in my residence hall. There are 40+ students interested in the classes, so I will break them into two groups that each meet once a week. There is a variety of English levels so I have to create activities that everyone can participate in and enjoy. I think these classes will be fun because the students are already friends, and they aren't mandatory so I hope they will be enthusiastic about the classes.<br />
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When I found out that I would only be teaching in school 12 hours per week I was afraid that I would have too much free time and not enough to keep me busy. However, that is turning out to be completely untrue. I seem to be filling up all of my time with private classes and other activities, like Flamenco and soon Tennis. Turns out that tennis is quite popular here and I'm signing up to take lessons, which will be good exercise and a way to meet more people.<br />
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Overall, everything is going very well and I am getting used to my life here in Badajoz. Everyone that I meet suggests new places that I <i>must</i> see while I am here, so I plan to explore Extremadura a lot over the next few months. Until next time!Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407021191093902279.post-51081206798425329672010-10-13T13:53:00.000-07:002010-10-13T14:34:16.193-07:00Getting settled in Badajoz<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hello everyone, welcome to my blog that will document my year living and working in Badajoz, Spain. Here I am working as a language assistant in a school in a small town called Santa Marta de los Barros, a town that I have been told has some of the best churros con chocolate in the world. I have yet to try them, but I'm sure they will be delicious.</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><a name='more'></a> I have already been here for almost three weeks, so today I will just focus my post on my first few days here and getting settled in Badajoz. <div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0NBaLMUyLQjI1UaniuXxlg0cejVDaJwWAYAf2CQa-Soncsda4r3L-5ePWO5ZfdUB7Ch0vqai0mX4N_SlkeCaDQg813iRoygR48CkqsRcfX0YCs93pzpRlHU3Mw4t1QxscTpdHHJMi_EGE/s1600/AytoBadajoz01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0NBaLMUyLQjI1UaniuXxlg0cejVDaJwWAYAf2CQa-Soncsda4r3L-5ePWO5ZfdUB7Ch0vqai0mX4N_SlkeCaDQg813iRoygR48CkqsRcfX0YCs93pzpRlHU3Mw4t1QxscTpdHHJMi_EGE/s320/AytoBadajoz01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">My trip began with a drive to JFK airport, where my flight was delayed because Barack Obama's plane had priority over mine. A United Nations meeting had just ended and all of the diplomats, including Obama, left on their private jets. We sat on the runway for two hours watching all of their jets leave, each accompanied by a motorcade. Once I arrived in Madrid I had to lug my 70lb. suitcase to the bus station, where I boarded a 6 hour bus ride to Badajoz. I finally arrived in Badajoz Saturday evening, where I was unable to find a taxi and had to walk the 20 minutes to my hostel where I crashed immediately. </div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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Later that night I met some Spaniards in the hostel and they brought me up to the Alcazar of Badajoz, one of the oldest Moorish castles in Spain, where a Feria was in full swing. It was a festival weekend and it was a fun introduction to life in Badajoz. My new friends left the next day, so I was on my own again. In Badajoz <i>everything</i> closes on Sundays, and I wandered around for a long time searching for somewhere to eat.</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">The next day I moved into my room in a university residence hall. Here I am living with 80 Spanish college students, and it has been quite overwhelming at times. I was offered a free room and meals here in return for teaching two English classes every week. I never expected to be living back in a dorm, but it is really worth it to be saving all the money I would otherwise spend on an apartment and food. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWp-rLwbyddQ159LQnVmBAXV9fYH4uVM4e3BZDkt3aUWXOsk1Pxzy2hs9MuqFTotKPdK4XQ5He0Cl3KQnUfFa5DoYXZtVDpxDG3tpy-J2sQdEe8tSwbyxBPvnjH4uvc_JdzbjUjMWx2Nyw/s400/IMG_4322.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of Palacio de Congreso from my window</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOYALy3-3Ztey0zQwbsKMKsQ7h97PzTjY_t_T5J6RLMXWNQlPsvhvHnCVvS6SuppQLjT-TWIyRUXZi7Ky-67FwSlG_TGYMTdKbIvcscTozogxkTlCvqCsDILKpzf1HIWxV9yhZ69B0eBL8/s1600/IMG_4321.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOYALy3-3Ztey0zQwbsKMKsQ7h97PzTjY_t_T5J6RLMXWNQlPsvhvHnCVvS6SuppQLjT-TWIyRUXZi7Ky-67FwSlG_TGYMTdKbIvcscTozogxkTlCvqCsDILKpzf1HIWxV9yhZ69B0eBL8/s320/IMG_4321.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My tiny room</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">The next few days were a whirlwind of moving into my room and meeting the Spanish students. It turns out that in all Spanish residence halls the new students go through a period of initiation, called Novata, that lasts for a whole month. I moved into the dorm at the same time as the rest of the students, and it took me a while to establish myself as a teacher instead of a new college student. After a while everyone accepted that I wouldn't be participating in the Novata, and I was invited to observe the process instead. Everyone is very friendly here, but it is still very hard for me to communicate in a room full of native speakers using coloquial language. It is especially difficult at meals, where we all sit at a couple long tables and everyone talks loudly, quickly and there are many people speaking at once. </div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">My Spanish has already improved so much in only a short time, but there is still so much more to learn. Though I am constantly surrounded by other students, I sometimes feel very alone because I can't express myself completely yet. I also am not a student, so I have a very different life than the rest of the people living in the dorm. Everyday is a challenge, but everyday it also becomes a little easier.</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">I will end this post here, and will continue next time with a little bit about my first week teaching at IES Sierra la Calera in Santa Marta de los Barros.</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hasta pronto,</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Stephanie</div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17051284216357227394noreply@blogger.com3