A piece of fall.

Last week while on the bus coming home from work I was studying Spanish, well specifically words with tildas and where to place the accents when there are no tildas. This is a difficult thing to study alone but I was practicing for a lesson so I was reading quietly aloud and trying to ignore the fact that people around me might think I am nuts. Well, as it turned out, the man behind me was amused at my attempts and so he asked me if I spoke English... in English. The man had to be well into his seventies and had a beautiful smile, but he irked me because he kept speaking to me in English even though I continuously attempted to steer back to Spanish. This happens to me frequently, people here like to practice languages so when they have the opportunity they jump on it. Although the man was nice, I was annoyed by his not wanting to converse in Spanish.

I saw him again on the bus tonight and chose a seat next to his so that we could try again. We spoke for nearly 30 minutes.. ok so it was Spanglish but I tried real hard to stay in Spanish even when I was at a loss for words. I think it was the first time I had a conversation that was remotely interesting. Ironically, his name is Daniel and he is a retired teacher.

It's weird to be learning a second language now, at this stage of life. It brings up strange feelings. For example the other night I was saying good night to a friend in Spanish and when it was over, I felt like I didn't give a proper good-bye. At first, meaning the first couple of months, I noticed I was repeating everything I said in Spanish in English but I made myself stop doing that... mostly, at least I try. I am taking two private lessons a week, and I finally found a workbook I enjoy using and think is useful. Additionally, I get to learn new vocabulary everyday I teach which is great. My students LOVE teaching me bits and pieces of their language and enjoy watching me struggle with the pronunciation.

It's hard though. Today, for example, my boss invited a friend to the house for lunch. They spoke to each other in Spanish the whole time while I listened for one hour of them talking about their kids, work, the weather, Christmas. Occasionally I added a little something, but listening and comprehending (I think I got about 70%) takes so much effort for me .To put together a sentence on top of that AND to make it come out of my mouth causes a type of headache I have NEVER had before... seriously. It's similar to the one you get when driving in a heavy rain or snow storm for too long, but it's not exactly the same. I seriously feel my brain being used in a new way and it's exhausting.

Do I sound like I'm complaining? Well, for the record I'm not, not really anyway. I remain frustrated, but determined. I enjoy the challenges 90% of the time. Now, I'm tired and my brain is on overload. I thought I might study a bit but I think I will only examine my eyelids.

I had a great weekend and am still having it in fact.

In NY, I have a friend Pat who has been a big part of our teacher's union. On the back of his truck, he had a bumper sticker that read, "Union, the people that brought you the weekend.". A brilliant idea the weekend is, I have to admit, but... I also have to admit the 3 day weekend rocks!!! I like this.

My work days are rather long or at least rather late and I am limited as to what I can do on those 4 days as I don't get home until 10:15, if I go straight home from the metro. Then I have Friday, Saturday and Sunday for meeeeeeeeeeee!!! I think I can get used to this. The thing is Spain has funny (funny as in annoying, not jaja) hours for shopping and other important errand like missions. So I will have to be careful how I use my mornings, but I think I can do that. I say I think because I find it a bit difficult to wake up, have a few hours to get ready for work and to actually use the time wisely. I find myself wanting to kick back, have a nice breakfast, answer emails, read and write blogs, etc... Not so in to getting up and getting out before I actually have to, but I think I'll learn.

Julie is moving in less than two weeks. I am really going to miss her. Neither of us expected to get along as well as we do and to find such ease in our living situation and our friendship. I am looking forward to visiting her in Belgium in a couple of months. I already have two new people moving in when she leaves. They're people I met from the "crew" that hangs out at the bar. Well not only the bar, for example last night, another friend had a party at his place. The company was fantastic as was the food and wine. I even got to make a version of my spinach-artichoke dip that went over really well. Some of the Spanish people at the party loved it and asked me for the recipe!!! I was quite flattered and almost embarrassed to tell them how easy it was to make. We all had great time was had as usual.

Anyway, Dave and Clara will be moving in probably a few short hours after Julie leaves. I think it will be a good situation as well. They are both very cool, intelligent, aware people and I look forward to getting to know them better. He is from Kansas and she from Hungary. The thing about the bar crew is they are very international and I get to meet people from all over... Italy, Hungary, Germany, the US, England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Argentina, France, ummmmm... more I'm sure but I can't think of any right now.... jaja.. Belgium!!!

I went shopping this weekend at a place called Carrefour, which is like a French version of Walmart. There were things I needed to get now that the weather is turning and I am committed to staying for at least the year. It was a strange feeling to have to buy things I know I have at home, but what can I do. I needed a blow dryer, socks, an alarm clock (tells the temp in C & F too), and a bunch of other miscellaneous things that I have been missing... like a lamp for my bedroom. I also found peanut butter... not the chunky kind that I like, but ok... I'll live with it.

Today I will clean some and prepare for the week ahead. I start my new schedule tomorrow and I want to be organized and ready. I have to meet with my boss at lunch time to discuss some important details about the job and such. One detail includes her promise of Spanish lessons for me. I really need to go back to studying regularly. I can't stand it when the Spanish people I meet switch to speaking English because I can't understand everything they are saying to me... some, but not everything. When they are kind enough to "make the switch" I always feeling so guilty and so "American"... I am getting super frustrated, which for me usually leads to motivation in my more recent years anyway.

I have come a long way in my life especially in the area of education. There was a time when I didn't even think I would graduate high school. I dropped out of college a few times, was kicked out once, then finally woke up and learned how to and why I should apply myself. It's been years since I have felt the negative consequences of my educational hardships. I have to admit though, this whole "'never learned a foreign language thing" keeps bringing my those times to the front of my mind. I wonder if I will be able to leap this barrier as well as I have so many others.

As always, I will do remain dedicated to do the best I can.

Above photo is an example of the paella John made.

Three days into the new job and I am totally exhausted. The kids are great, some more of a handful than others, but I feel like I can learn as much from them as they can from me. The learning is one of the things I love most about teaching.. Language aside, there is such a difference between these kids and kids I have taught in the past. For one thing, generally speaking, they are so organized. I know it's the first week, but I can already see that they take better care of their things. Each child brought in a notebook and pencil case with his or her own supplies. They all use erasers and actually carefully erase every little mistake. Even the little ones... it's unbelievable!!!

As of right now, I have classes Monday through Thursday from 4-7:30. Then I have another another hour or so of tutoring before I catch the bus at 9:10 PM. This gets me home about 10... Beginning in October, I will have to go in earlier for a 12:15-1:15 class, then have the break for nearly three hours before I teach the afternoon classes. Going home is not really an option because of the bus schedule. So 4 days a week I will be working long days, but three days a week I will not be working at all. I hope it works out ok... I think it will if I can use my time properly. So now I have to try to find Spanish classes (that don't suck) in Puerto de Segunto during my three hour break. I am hoping this will work otherwise there is a possibility of my getting private lessons from another teacher for a half hour each day I am there.

I am feeling really really frustrated about my Spanish... I am tired of saying that I only speak a little bit. I want to be able to speak more and move on. Being around the kids this week really inspired me to learn again for a variety of reasons. For one, it would be nice if I could understand them better when they did speak to me in Spanish and it would be nice to explain some things to them too. But mostly because I am so impressed with their courage. Most of them just go for it. I love it.

Goal for this week is to get a concrete schedule that includes lessons for myself again, lessons that will actually be helpful and not as scattered as the school I attended this summer. I really was not impressed, though I did learn. I don't want to go back there... though I really had a great time!!

I wrote this last week and just edited a bit so I could post something... I know it's been a while. The job is getting a little easier each day I am having fun with it. The kids range in ages from 5 to 15. It's funny teaching the little ones, I not used to it, but for an hour each class, I enjoy it. They are so cute and curious. I know they only understand a bit of what I say to them but usually the watch very attentively and I become extremely animated.

As much as I enjoy working, I really did like taking 2 1/2 months off. I have never taken that much time off in my life.

My thought are scattered because I am tired. I'll have to write more about it soon, though finding the time to do so is becoming more and more difficult.

Technological difficulties....

In the past few weeks I have had more than my fair share of having to figure out technological challenges. It makes my brain hurt and it's not like I can just read the directions or walk down to the shop to ask for help. I mean I can, but it's a lot harder to do with the language barrier... trust me a lot harder.

I moved into a new home with no WiFi and had to get a wire long enough for to go into my bedroom. What I don't understand, because it doesn't make any sense, is that whenever the wire gets unplugged and put into Julie's laptop she has to wait 10-20 minutes for it to "kick it"... when we switch back it is the same for me. It's annoying at best, but a new WiFi refuter is like 80 Euro and well...

Then a new camera, luckily those directions were in English as well as Spanish so I spent some time actually reading them. This is a rarity for me as there is little more boring to me than reading directions. However, I was so happy to see them in English I decided I would dive in. Still, there remain little difficulties and hassles that seem like they just shouldn't exist at all. Why did all my pics of the coast come out bluish??

Next a new phone, I have wanted one that would take pics, play music, be a date book and oh yes... of course allow me to communicate whenever and wherever I please. A friend was kind enough to give me his phone when I got here, but it began to break after a few weeks and it was giving me troubles in and off for weeks so I had to replace it.

Really what a luxury? Ever think about how incredibly luxurious a cell phone is? I have a love/hate relationship with my phone (aside from the fact that I can't get my frickin' music on there). Love/hate…yes… I love that I can be contacted wherever I am. I love that if I am lost I can call someone for directions, or if I am at a cafe I can call someone and invite them down. I hate feeling obligated to answer a call just because it is ringing and everyone knows you have your cell on you. I mean who ever leaves home with out it these days... Anyway, this bothers me far less here than it ever did in NY for a variety of reasons that I don't want to get into. For now, I just want my phone to play music so I can listen to it on the beach. I know it can do it, I just don't know how to make it happen. I think they gave me the wrong memory card because I can't seem to make this one fit anywhere in the phone... I'll go to the shop... AGAIN!!!!

Than there is my computer, I am terrified of something going wrong because who would I turn to? I tried to change a little something in the settings the other day, with the help of a friend, and low and behold it turns out I am not even my own administrator... Ken took care of these things and now I am without a password to create a new account on my own machine. It's curious how interdependent we become. Each time I have one of these challenges my first reaction is to find a man to fix it. Now anyone who knows me knows I am a handy person, I like to fix things... but not everything!!! Is it wrong to want someone else to do some of it for me??? And yes, generally speaking, men tend to be better at these things than most women I know. We don’t often like to admit it, but it is true. Luckily, I have some friends who help out here and there and I totally and completely appreciate it when they do even if I don’t like to have to rely on others, I know that I do.

I have spent about two hours this morning trying to get music on my phone. First I created a play list, and then tried to transfer it... easy right??? NO! I couldn't get it to transfer onto the memory card because it was a different format, so I used the wire which didn't work either and now after all that time I lost the play list I created and still don't have music on my phone. I also can't figure out how to get the pics off my phone into the computer... how annoying!!!

PS... I woke up with a soar throat two days ago, worse yesterday and now I appear to have a cold on top of it all.... guess I am feeling a little cranky. Think I'll go to the beach and listen to some..... never mind, I'll study instead.

PPS Still no spell check or photo download on blogger... I don't get it¿?¿?

Mejor

Better day today. Need I say more?
Dias mejor. ¿Necisito hablar más.?
Rough translation, but I think it works.

Taken for a Ride

My camera is gone. I lost it at the beach last night. I am so sad!!!

I got home about 4AM and as soon as I realized it was gone and dragged Erin into a cab and headed back to the beach. I told the cab driver, in Spanish, to take us to the metro stop at the beach. He headed in the wrong direction immediately. I was watching carefully because I know there are many ways to get to the beach... but this wasn't one of them.

In my horribly broken Spanish I explained that I had been to the beach from Benimaclet (my neighborhood) many times and asked if this was right. He said, "sí, sí la playa metro". Well the bastard took us clear across town and tried to drop us off at another metro station having little or nothing to do with the beach. So I said, "no señor... la playa Eugenia Viñes" (a specific stop at the beach)... He was like "¿oh la playa?"... Ok my Spanish isn't that bad!!!

So the meter is running and what should have cost 6-7 Euro was now upwards of 10 Euro... and I had no idea where we were. The worst of it was that all I had was a 50E bill. So all I could think of is I had to give it to him when I got to the beach. So I started attempting to explain to him in Spanish that it wasn't fair that the meter was so high and I didn't think I should pay it. He started yelling at me in Spanish so I started yelling back in English because I can't yell in Spanish... I can barely talk!!! I figured if he was going to yell at me in a foreign language I would do the dame!

"Este es mert" was all that kept coming out of Erin's mouth which we think means "you are shit" in part French and Spanish, but... I don't know.

Anyway, here we are yelling, really yelling at each other in different languages and I was pissed so I said,"no, I won't pay policia..... Sooooo.... he pulled right up to a cop and started telling him the story. I heard what he said and could tell he was lying about my original request to go to la playa. The cop wouldn't even make eye contact with me... and I had on my best "he is a liar and wrong pouty face". After a couple of minutes the cop looked at me and I explained that I asked for la playa, not the other stop that I had never heard of. The Spanish was horribly broken but I knew I made some sense. He didn't seem sympathetic at all but in the end, the guy gave me 40E change and the meter said 15.35E. Still we were about 3 km from the beach and it was starting to get light out. We walked the rest of the way to the beach and searched for the camera but nada... The beach was filled with people heading home from the nearby clubs... it was a mess, garbage everywhere broken glass, cans, plastic bags, etc. We watched sun the come up and took the tram home. I was in bed by 7AM... what a drag.
I am sure though before the morning beach rush started the garbage was completely gone. Here people drop trash everywhere and at night the streets are a mess, but by the morning they are spotless... everyday.

Although I tried to break that 50E several times throughout the course of the day, the lesson I learned today was no more going out without small bills in my wallet. I think I will start stashing some mad money so that I will be better prepared in such an emergency. The only "crime" I have heard about here in Valencia is the cab drivers ripping people off. I think I will talk to my teacher about how to explain I know you are going the wrong way without being offensive or rude. Also how to be offensive and rude when you know you are "being taken for a ride". There is no being timid here, the passion is high, people yell at each other all the time. I see it on the streets regularly and I guess if I am going to be part of this place successfully, I'll have to learn to do it too...in Spanish! Lesson learned.

NO CAMERA IN VALENCIA!!!!!

The new challenge is buying a camera in a store where I can't speak properly!!! OMG this is so frustrating!!!