The one with the return journey

Here I go, bags packed, and I am ready.  I spent the afternoon taking a nap, packing up last minute things, and hanging out at our favorite place, Restaurante Ramirez.  Fran, our waiter, just kept saying, el ultimo dia (the last day).  It feels good to know we will be missed.  Marissa and I both gave him some Spanish kisses and bid him 'Hasta Siempre' (until always).  Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Yes, I will be carrying all of this, and yes, my arms are going to fall off.

As for what is coming, I have one good bye with Marissa.  We will eat a dinner of the random food that we have left and watch a  movie.  And then at midnight, she will help me carry my many bags to the bus station.  I am taking the 12:30 bus to Madrid and should arrive around 6 AM.  My flight to JFK will hopefully leave around 10:30, and then I will fly from there to DC in the afternoon.  As to how all of that goes, I will let you know when I get home, 24 hours from now.  See you on the other side of the Atlantic!

The one with the ending

Today was a day to wrap things and tie up all the loose ends.  I turned in our mobile internet.  Gosh that thing has created some memories, like that time when we took it to Portugal without realizing there would be extra charges.  Next it was off to the bank because Chus said they would convert my significant amount of change to bills.  Unfortunately I missed the memo where you have to put your coins into those slips.  The guy explained that to me, but then he counted it out and gave me the bills and told me I had to do it next time.  What can I say? I am an American, and nobody told me.  

Finished with my errands, I headed to school for my last two lessons with my third and fourth year students.  My third years and I looked at pictures of my travels this year.  Reduced down to one powerpoint, one slide per place, I am really impressed with all of the places and things I have seen this year.  Somewhere along the way, I became that person. All the homesickness, boredom, uncertainty, and confusion was definitely worth what I got in exchange. I finished my classes with my fourth years, watching a presentation about a FC Barcelona football player.  Each of the students has to finish the bilingual section program with an oral presentation and powerpoint on the topic of their choosing.  Let's just say I have seen several on football and various football players.  

After the presentation, Chus told me we were going to the Salon de Actos for a surprise.  Almost all the bilingual students were waiting there.  I absolutely love the enthusiasm of my first and second years.  I am truly going to miss them!!  We watched a slideshow of me teaching and going on trips with the students this year.  It was set to Home by Michael Buble, which is just not fair unless you are trying to make me cry.  I managed to hold it together for them to present me with a sash and sort of diploma-esque paper.  After followed many Spanish kisses and good-byes.  I gave back my key to the school and all my English books, effectively ending this part of my life.  

The one where I felt the love

Today was an awesome day.  I really wasn't looking forward to it because it was one of the longest days that I have had during my time in Spain.  I had to get up at 6:50 AM (I know, boohoo.) to get to school for the first lesson.  It was an extra lesson with one of the first year Arts classes.  They are working on an English brochure about our field trip to Merida, so I went in to help out.  The teacher, Lluvia (which means rain in Spanish), forgot to tell me that he didn't really need me, but I had fun walking around chatting with  my students and giving them advice on color combinations that look good.  

After an hour, I had my final English class with another group of first years.  We played Bingo and had a good time.  It is funny how not with it the first years are.  It makes sense because it is a lot like 6th grade in the United States; the kids are a bit older, but the adjustment is rough for sure.  There was one really funny moment when Chus was yelling at them to be quiet so we could play the game, and I heard, "Callate o nos separamos el huevo." This more or less means 'be quiet or we'll separate the egg.'  Seeing that this made no sense to me, I asked Chus whether it was an expression, and she and the kids laughed because she said, "nos separamos el juego," which is like 'we will stop the game.' Oops, so I guess my Spanish still needs some work.  

During recreo, the teachers in the bilingual section met to say good-bye to me and eat sweets.  It was sort of fun talking about my perceptions of the program, schools, and Spain in general.  After recreo, I said good-bye to my second group of 2nd years.  If I had to pick a favorite class, this might be it.  The girls from my private lesson are in it, and for the most part, the students are engaged and well-behaved.  After looking at American money and answering their questions, it was time to go.  Most of the girls gave me the Spanish kiss (on each cheek) before they left; it was really cute :)

Elena, one of my REALLY enthusiastic first years

I had another extra arts class that was fun.  I actually felt like I knew what I was talking about at that point.  The real highlight for the afternoon though came in my final first year English class, 1B.  Those students, well I love them, but they are the most rambunctious, talkative kids that I have ever had to deal with during the last class of the day.  But they also have really good hearts.  They got super into my entrance to class, with one of the girls covering my eyes and everything.  They had written 'Good-bye Sandy' on the board; it was pretty funny how excited about it they were.  I decided to show them my American money, so we did that for a while, and then the teacher randomly started telling me to wrap it up.  So I did. Then the students were suddenly all getting out of their seats and moving towards me.  They had made a card (with some of the worst grammar I have ever seen, thanks to the use of an online translator) and got me a frame with a picture of me and some of the girls from a class trip.  Then we took a new picture of the whole class for me to put into it.  After that I gave out stickers and took pictures with the students before it was time to call it a day.  

1B

That wasn't the end for me because Wednesdays I have three private lessons in the afternoon.  First I had Pablo and Maria, my young ones.  I had them draw me pictures to take back to the United States with me.  Mine was the best, and I am not biased at all and the fact that I am 15+ years older than them had no effect on the outcome.  They have a lot of energy, and I often spent much of the lessons telling them to stop hitting, kicking, yelling, etc. but I will miss them nonetheless.  At least I am going home to a bunch more of my kids : D Can't stop smiling about that.

I also said good-bye to my Antonios, Chus's husband/son combo.  I will really miss talking to them.  It is really funny to me that I went the whole year without watching a whole football match, but I still know so much about it from talking about it with them.  I truly believe that the best way to get people talking is to have them talk about something that they are passionate for, and I learned a lot and loved having them teach me all about it.  I also gave Chus a book, Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein.  She gave me one as well, a novel written by an author from Zafra who is quite famous.  The book is about a family after the Spanish Civil War.  It will be a challenge, but I hope to read it.  My final good-bye was with Alvaro, my third year.  He has improved so much this year, and I can't believe it is over.

Only one more day and then I am headed out.  I gave my students my email, and I joined the social networking site that is popular here, so hopefully they will keep in touch!  It has been quite the year, and somewhere along the way, I made a home here.  I am so excited to go back to my US home, but it is still hard to leave my home here.

The one with the first good-byes

Today I started the final school week.  I am so filled with mixed emotions.  I am sooooo ready to go home and see my friends and family and get started with Fintastic coaching again, but I have grown pretty attached to many of my students.  It is exceptionally weird to think that I may never see anyone that I have met in Spain again, including Marissa and Masha.  Hopefully that isn't the way it goes, but stranger things have happened before.  Which brings me to my first good-bye.  Marissa and I grabbed lunch with Masha at one of our favorite restaurants to eat at.  Masha will be staying in Spain next year to teach English in the bigger coastal town of Huelva.  It has been awesome getting to know her throughout the year, and it was strange to say good-bye.

I also kind of said good-bye to my five 13 year old girls.  I have English class with them at school later in the week, so I will see them again, but it was our private good-bye.  I brought some pastries, and we played their favorite game from this year, Apples 2 Apples.  I even talked them into some pictures, which for 13 year olds is quite the feat. They have grown up so much this year, and their English has improved by leaps and bounds.  There is no question that they are going to be quite proficient by the time they finish secondary school in two more years.  They have helped to make my year great, that is for sure :)

The one with clouds in Cadiz

This weekend, my last weekend in Spain, we headed to Cadiz, Spain.  Cadiz is a typical beach town along the southern coast.  In general it is windy and sunny, a population destination for water sports and relaxation.  Unfortunately, as has been the case all too often while here in Spain, the weather just did not cooperate with us.  We were hoping that the last few weeks in Spain would treat us better, but at least it has been consistent.

We took the early bus on Friday, leaving for the bus station at 7:30 AM to get to Cadiz.  I was so tired! It is interesting how much habits play into how I feel in the morning.  I don't mind getting up early, but when I am used to being able to sleep in, it is like pulling teeth to get up and feel awake.  I am going to have to get used to it with many early swim practices to come.  We arrived in Cadiz to lots and lots of clouds. The original plan had been to lie on the beach, but with the cool wind, we decided to walk along the shore instead.  The rest of the day consisted mostly of a rest, lunch, and another rest.  Luckily the clouds gave us a reprieve around 6 PM, so we headed to the beach to enjoy the sunshine.  The highlight of the day was watching the sunset on a beach recommended by the hostel. The angle of the beach was perfect for the sunset, though the sand was quite cold.  I also enjoyed looking for sea glass along the shoreline; it is so pretty! We finished the day with some delicious tapas.  We had some goat cheese and spinach bombitas, vegetable cous-cous, potatoes with aioli sauce, and some fried chicken pieces with BBQ.  They were new for us and made my tummy happy!

Day 2 in Cadiz was much better than the first.  The clouds parted to a certain degree and made lying on the beach fun, if not slightly chilly at times.  Therefore, we spent most of the day reading and listening to music, with a break for lunch.  We capped off the day eating a Bolognese  pizza and watching the first half of the King's Cup Final football game between the two German teams.  I haven't watched much football here in Spain, but Antonio, Antonio, and I often discussed football, specifically the Champion's league, in our lessons.  By nighttime, it was definitely one of those days when after a long day of doing nothing, I was ready for some sleep.


In the original plan, we were going to leave Cadiz Saturday night, but we decided that it would lead to us returning to Zafra to wait around until it was time for us to leave to go home.  Ultimately, it was a good choice, though Sunday was once again cloudy and chilly.  We walked around, saw the plazas, and explored the castle on the coast.  It was definitely a castle in terms of the defensive meaning of the word, rather than being palace-like.  There was some interesting art exhibits inside, and it was a good way to pass some time.  We ended the afternoon with a couple of hours on the beach reading before catching the bus back to Zafra.  Somehow I made it to 5 days until I leave for home! CRAZINESS!!!

The one with silly Salamanca

This weekend Marissa and I headed back to the north to Salamanca in the region of Castilla y Leon.  Many of our teachers are from or went to university in this area, so they were very excited for us to go see it.  Our landlord and Marissa’s mentor told her she was going to love it so much that she would never want to leave it.  Unfortunately, the weather was so terrible that it made it extremely difficult to get excited and motivated to sightsee.  Despite that, the city was really beautiful; I only wish the weather had cooperated with our plans.

We left on Thursday after school, taking a bus as usual.  It was five and a half hours on the bus from Zafra to Salamanca, including a thirty minute stopover in Caceres.  It wasn’t too bad thanks to the beautiful countryside, a new Criminal Minds episode to watch, and a good book to read.  It is still amazing/crazy to me that it is light so late in Spain.  It still wasn’t completely dark when we made our way to our hostel just before 10 o’clock at night!  By the time we arrived, all we could do was grab dinner and head back to the hostel to rest.  We were both craving kebabs so we found a place nearby and ate up. 

Friday was supposed to be when we did the majority of our sightseeing, but it was a rainy, cold, miserable mess. Because of the weather, we had a late start in the morning.  We met an interesting, young woman from Mexico who is studying medicine in Spain for the semester and ended up talking with her for nearly an hour.  When we did leave, my umbrella broke thanks to the wind, but I could not bring myself to buy another with less than two weeks left in Spain.  We weren’t prepared for the cold, so we decided that a café con leche and pastry was in order.  We settled into a café in the Plaza Mayor for warmth. 

See the red roofs!

Afterwards, we walked over to see la Iglesia de la Clerecia.  Based on previous experiences, we decided to pay to see go up into the towers of the church, rather than pay to see the inside of the church itself.  We always enjoy getting a view of the city from above, and to be honest, the churches start to look the same after you see so many of them.  I believe we chose well, seeing how pretty the city looked, despite the bone-chilling wind.  I love the way the red roofs look from above, so classically Spain to me.  Next to the church is the Casa de Las Conchas (House of Shells) which is covered in stone shells.  It was built at the end of the 15^th century and has the shells because the owner was a member of the Order of Santiago (St. James), whose symbol is the shell. 

Then we saw the Catedral Nueva and Catedral Vieja.  They are basically combined, with the older cathedral being built sometime during the 12^th century and the newer cathedral being built during the 15^th century, I do believe.  The old cathedral had tombs and art that were old and neat, but it was much smaller and plainer than the new cathedral.  The new cathedral was more of the baroque and renaissance style, with sweeping arches, domes, and columns.  All of these churches, cathedrals, basilicas, etc. are just so breath-taking, though Sagrada Familia is still my favorite (love me some Gaudi!).

We stopped for a delicious Spanish lunch.  I started with a plate of paella mixta, that I am pretty sure included rabbit, seeing as that is the typical way to eat it in this part of Spain.  It was good as always, though impossible to eat the tiny shrimp with their shells and heads still on.  My second dish was a pork chop with french fries.  We both finished with some flan, that wasn’t quite as good as I have had in Spain but still better than most.  I am going to miss being able to get a meal like that, including drink, bread, and tip (no tip) all for 10 Euros. 

On Saturday, we got ready a little earlier and headed out to walk around the city a bit more. As you can tell from the picture, it was pretty cold, so we bundled up in our scarfs and sweatshirts.   Honestly I am not exactly sure what we saw specifically.  I know we saw some old churches and part of the Ponticifia University, which is extremely old with construction beginning in the 13^th century.  We also walked along the river, which was quite nice.  We even witnessed the start of a protest rally, though I’m not sure what they were protesting, probably budget cuts.  The last thing we saw was the Roman bridge, dating back obviously to Roman times.  Salamanca was on the same ’Via de la Plata’ (Silver route) as Zafra, which is pretty nifty. We finished the morning with another cafe con leche and pastry in the Plaza Mayor before going to get our bags from the hostel.  After it was time to get back on the bus and head home. 

With only one weekend left in Spain, we wanted to be able to go to our café on Sunday and relax.  Can you believe it? I only have one more weekend in Spain.  We are going to the beach in Cadiz and will enjoy swimming and reading a lot, I am sure.  This week I am seeing all my kids for the second to last time, which is definitely bittersweet.  I had a really good lesson with my second years today about baseball.  I loved telling them about something I enjoy and that makes up a part of American culture, and they seemed to be really into it, asking questions and listening for the most part.  I am definitely going to miss them!

The one with Portugal, take two!

This weekend we had a fabulous adventure to Albufeira, Portugal.  It is a relatively small town on the coast, part of the Algarve region, and it is fabulous.  Masha, Marissa, and I left on Friday around noon because the bus schedule wasn't being very cooperative.  Our bus from Sevilla departed at three, but it was impossible to figure out when it was supposed to arrive.  Portugal is one hour behind Spain, and the tickets made no note of arrival time.  The website said six o'clock, with a five hour bus trip, but on Spain or Portugal time that didn't add up with leaving at three.  We finally arrived at around 6:20 PM, though still as confused as ever with how the return journey was going to go.   

We put all of that out of our minds and headed to our hotel.  We stayed in a nice plalce called Sol a Sul Apartments.  The apartment was complete with a bedroom, a private bathroom, balcony and a kitchen, though we didn't end up cooking while we were there.  After de-traveling for a bit, we headed out to find dinner.  We weren't that successful for a while. It is rather difficult to get three people to agree on a place that is also in the right price range, meaning relatively cheap.  We didn't mind too much because it gave us the chance to wander around a bit and see the beach.  We settled on a place, I think it was called Eddie's, and we actually had a fabulous time.  Our waiter was this young-ish guy from England, and he got a major kick out of us, probably because we are awesome.  Marissa and I shared a supreme pizza that was exceptionally delicious, though I can never understand why they put olives with pits on the pizza.  Eventually, we headed back to the apartment to wind down before bed. 
 

Saturday was the best day! We lied on the beach for most of the morning, after slathering up with sunscreen.  I read my book, listened to some music, and even got in the water a bit, though being the Atlantic, it was freezing.  As you can see, my facial expression says it all.  Eventually we got hungry and ate lunch at an over-priced restaurant along the beach.  After, we decided to walk the length of the beach to see what we could see.  The hotel owner had said it was a twenty minute walk, but it was more like 45.  It was fun to people-watch and see the different parts of the beach.  After making our way back, we stopped for some gelato; I got chocolate.  We whittled the afternoon away with more laying on the beach, reading, and swimming; I even went almost all the way under.  It was a peaceful, relaxing day, the kind of day where you finish and say, "After a long day of doing nothing, it feels good to kick back." One hundred points to anyone who recognizes that quote.  Not feeling up to making the decision on where to eat, we returned to the same restaurant as the night before.  This time I mixed things up and ordered fish and chips. I love me some fish and chips, and these were exceptional. I even treated myself to a beer and a second gelato, this time mint. 

 

Sunday was kind of an awkward day.  We weren't supposed to leave until late afternoon, but we couldn't track down the hotel owner to ask if we could check out late.  Ultimately we decided to spend the day relaxing by the hotel pool, so that we were out of our room but could enjoy the sun without getting covered in sand.  The pool was also really cold, but I enjoyed doing some shallow water aqua-jogging and cooling off from the intensity of the sun.  I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't get burnt at all on the whole trip.  It probably helped that I put on sunscreen like it was my job. Eventually we changed into our clothes and went back to the restaurant for a final meal before heading to the bus station.  Yes, Marissa and I shared another supreme pizza.   

Then the real adventure began.  Like I mentioned, we were having a terrible time with deciding what time zone the buses were using.  It didn't help that many people on line said that it was often the case that a bus would leave Portugal using the ticket time as if it was in Spain.  Because of this, we decided to show up early in case our 5 o'clock bus actually decided to leave at 4 o'clock.  We arrived and asked at the information desk when the next bus to Sevilla left.  The lady told us there were no more buses.  Then when we said that we had tickets, she said that the bus was at five, but you can't buy tickets from this bus station, which is why she didn't mention it.  Ok, weird. 

We finally got on the bus, but we were quite concerned how a bus leaving at five Portugal time was going to arrive in Spain (supposedly at 9 Spain time).  That leaves time for a 3 hour journey, which seemed impossible when our journey there took 4 hours and 20 minutes.  We were doing well on time until we hit beach traffic headed into Seville about an hour from our destination.  It was a real nail-biter, with us preparing to have one of us literally impede the bus to prevent it from leaving without all of us and our bags if necessary.  By some miracle, we made it the station at 9:55, five minutes before the bus to Zafra was supposed to leave.  Masha had to pee, so she told us to hold the bus and went bounding off into the darker end of the bus station.  I swear I thought she had gone to pop a squat somewhere, but evidently there was a bathroom that I didn't know about.  We finally made it on the bus and then on to Zafra.  This is why we usually try to come home early in the day, to prevent all this stress, but Albufeira was definitely worth it.