Radio City

Tonight I went to an overcrowded bar called Radio City with my friends from school. There was live Flamenco dancing and music. The music was fantastic, so passionate and alive. It was too crowded to see much of the dancing so for a while I stood apart from the crowd, closed my eyes and felt just the music. I would like to go again, only earlier so I have a better view.

I can't deal with not having a camera much longer. I vow to have one by this weekend.

My teacher told us today that the Spanish think Tuesdays are bad luck.
En Martes ni te cases ni te embarques.
On Tuesday don't get married nor embark (like on a ship)!
Shouldn't be a problem, though if I get the invite... on a ship I may go. I'll keep my fingers crossed though so I should be just fine.

bueno, bonito y bararo

It's kind of strange that it is getting harder for me to write.
Each day more words are popping into my head as Spanish mixed with English... well it's still mostly English, I just hear more Spanish than ever. It's a sounds little weird when I try to explain it, so perhaps I won't. I will say this though, I understand more everyday.

This weekend some friends and I went El Puig, a small Pueblo outside of the city. We watched the running of the bull. I was separated from the group for a bit when the bull ran into the square in which we had safely stationed ourselves. For almost an hour I sat and spoke with these two old men, yes in Spanish! Well, truth be told, they did most of the talking but I listened and answered. Sure I had to ask them to repeat and slow down, but in the end we all got a kick out of it and I am pretty sure one of them wanted to introduce me to his son the doctor...lol. They were lovely men, though a bit on the dirty-old man side, if you know what I mean..

Sunday, I went to a Formula One barbeque at my new place-to-be. There were about 20 people there from Spain, France, Holland, Belgium, Great Britain, and one other from the US. It was a lot of fun. I watched and listened to people speak and attempted a wee bit of Spanish on my own, but it's really hard a large group. About half the people there were ESL teachers so I asked a lot of questions and made a few connections. Finally, I came home to relax for a bit before my friend Ed came over to say good-bye. His flight left Monday morning, but little did we know that he would miss it. Now I get 4 more days with my amigo... well now only 3.
Yesterday. I started to attend afternoon classes at the school because they wanted to move me out of the beginners class. I have a new teacher, Miguel, he is very nice to look at.. oh yeah, and he seems like an excellent teacher as well. What's nice is, the class is full of new students and while I miss the old group a bit, I know more about what's going on and was able to answer a lot of questions. Miguel asked me if I wanted to move to a higher group, but I decided I would rather stay here a bit to reinforce what I have been learning and to gain some confidence with my speech. I think this will help a lot. Everyone keeps telling me... poco a poco... little by little... I like that. I find that often that it is easier for me to have patience with others than with myself. So I try to keep in mind that I deserve a break too... sometimes it's not easy.

Between class yesterday I found a flea market in my new neighborhood which is just a few blocks from school. I bought 3 new pairs of shoes... they are all very comfortable. look great, were super cheap and 2/3 are made here in Spain... I love them!!!

My new favorite expression for shopping... bueno, bonito y barato.... good, pretty and cheap!!!
Pero suena mejor en españaol. But it sounds better in Spanish.

The dilemma today... which new pair should I wear????
Life is good and I am grateful.

¿Cómo está mi español?

The big question I get from everyone... How is my Spanish????

Well the following is a perfect example, but first let me explain.

I have met a woman, Adriana, via LoQuo, (similar to Craigslist) with whom I do a language exchange. Her English is far more advanced then mí española, but she doesn't seem to mind. She is about my age, has been in españa for 10 years and is from South America. She is very bright and friendly and I enjoy her a lot. We use Skype and email to communicate pretty much daily, plus we meet once a week.

Today I decided, for the sake of practice, I wanted to write in Spanish about my new flat... well I think it is my new flat, at least I want it to be. Anyway, I wrote what I thought was a fairly decent paragraph and asked Adriana to check it for me. LOL... the following is our correspondence. Her corrections, all of which I am thankful for, are in red. The reason I post this is not for anyone to try to figure out what I was saying, just to show how many mistakes there were in my writing and how much I have learned and have yet to learn. Please don't try to translate...that would be crazy!

Quiero hablarte a tú de mi piso nueve nuevo... vale?

Está en el piso noveno... ocho pisos con el elavador ascensor (if you say elevador, people can undertsand you but here in Spain they use ascensor) y (uno pisos) un piso con las escleras.
El salón, la cocina y el baño (is muy un pocito) son pequeños pero (mí) mi dormitorio es (medio) mediano.
(De mí) Mi dormitorio (es) tiene una terraza con plantas, (la) una mesa y (mucho) muchas sillas. (Más) Otra (escleras) escalera va a otra terraza (otro) donde se puede ver (la vista de) las montañas, el mar y (ciuidad todos) toda la ciudad... (el) la vista es hermosa.
Julie es de (Belgium) Bélgica, será (mí campenera nueve) Mi compañera nueva. Es viente y cinco agosto de 4... Leo así mí.

Tiene veinticinco años y es del 4 de agosto. Es Leo como yo.

The good news is, I think I kind of got my point across... she knew what I was trying to say and I barely used the dictionary because these particular words were in my head.

Basically it says... I want to tell you about my new flat.... ok?

It is on the 9th floor, 8 floors by elevator and 1 floor by stairs. The living room, kitchen and bathroom are small and the bedroom is medium sized. From my room there is a terrace with plants, a table and many chairs. There is another staircase to another terrace (the roof) and from there you can see the mountains, the sea and the whole city.
My new flat-mate is Julie from Belgium. She is 25 on August 4th and a Leo like me.

Yes... I know... the writing is very basic, but the flat is still great (and CHEAP!!!!) and I may even get to move in before my birthday!! Too bad I have no camera to take pictures... maybe buying one will be a project for this weekend.

It's weird how the Spanglish is seeping into my brain... even when I write now some words come out in Spanish instead of English and my brain gets confused. They tell me I should stop everything that is related to English, writing, talking reading... thinking... all of it!?!?! But how can I do that? I feel like I will never be able to communicate as well in Spanish and if I stopped all the writing I have been doing I just might spontaneously combust.

Sometimes the whole experience reminds me of the first grade when I was learning to read and write. It's like I can feel those same feelings again.. The frustrations and joys of putting together a new sentence. I have no doubt my empathy for this type of learning will be apparent when I enter a classroom as a teacher again.

Such a bizarre feeling.

Hey! Can anyone tell me how the spell check on my blogger window could be broken? It hasn't worked in weeks and claims everything is always correct?!?!?

I have WiFi !!

Yo tengo WiFi!!!! (Wee Fee) lol
and some privacy too!!

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!!!

Yesterday I spoke with my mom as my cousins buried my aunt in upstate NY. Mom is back in Florida unable to get to NY and feeling sad about it as I am. Aunt Ann would have understood why each of us couldn't be there. She really would have, I thought about my cousins. At this point, from that generation, my brother and I are the only ones left with parents. I miss my parents.... sometimes the missing makes me feel like a little girl.

Anoche

Last night...
Mí amigo, Stevie, from England left today (Sat.) so last night Erin and I threw a little party in his homor. He has kind of been the leader of the pack since we all arrived, he gathered everyone's numbers and always made sure no one was left out. Though he always tried to act like he didn't care... he did and showed. He's already missed by all. of us.

The party started early for españa, maybe 9PM. We bought snacks and everyone brought beer and wine. We drank for a couple of hours than headed to the Jardines del Real (the park down the street) for a free concert. The band played Queen songs entirely and they were pretty good, though once again I was hoping for some español and little appeared. At one point we were all up close to the stage dancing and singing... yeah a bit tipsy too, what a great time. I was smiling proud to be amongst these new people singing old tunes such as "We are the Champions", "We Will Rock You" and" Bohemian Rhapsody". I simply couldn't feel alone while such memorable songs were playing and I was dancing with my new amigas... and Stevie...lol...

This morning I met with Adriana, my language exchange partner. Intercambio, as they call it is very popular everywhere in Europe, but not so much in the US... at least none was found in Craigslist in the Hudson Valley. (¿ Craigslist flawed... could it be?). Anyway she is wonderful. She is from Urugua (South America) and has been in Valencia for 10 years. She was very empathetic of the culture change as she has been in my shoes before. I really like her.

Sometimes now I think (a veces ahora creo) in my head like Spanglish... I know some of the Spanish words that I want to say but they get mixed in my head with English words... though I don't let it come out that way too often. I get very frustrating trying to write in Spanish and think about buying a Spanish keyboard so that the letter "ñ" por ejamplo does not require me to push 5 keys in order to appear on my screen.

la playa por la mañana

the beach in the morning or tomorrow... either way it fits.

This has been a rough week for me. I think my aunt passing away was very was difficult for everyone who knew her but for me it brought about a whole new set of issues. Here I am so very far away. I miss my family regularly, but to not be there in this time of need was really hard for me. I am a caretaker, it is what I do. I have always taken care of my family, especially my parents ( to some degree). To not be there for my mom was so hard... I called as often as I could and tried to comfort from afar, but there is nothing that can actually replace a hug.... nada.

I'm feeling bit better today. I love it here in Valencia. They say it has over 300 days a year of total sunshine... some days have minor clouds for brief periods, but mostly the weather is perfect... though some say too hot, I don't think so. The people are friendly and the more Spanish I speak the friendlier they are I spent two hours with un hombre (a man) the other day doing a language exchange. He speaks no English except he can say his numbers, hello and yes.... lol. After two hours of me trying to speak to him, it finally began to flow a bit and then he had to go to work. He is a photographer and I might help him out with a project, more on that if it happens... don't worry nothing inappropriate, I just don't want to jinx it.

Tomorrow I meet with a woman for another language exchange... She is a couple of years older than me and I know she at least types in English beautifully. We will to meet at the beach and see how it goes. I'll be happy to know someone my age.

During this difficult and emotional week I decided I needed a better bathing suit. Since I lost weight this year and more since I got here, I thought the tankini I had bought was too much. Most every woman wears bikinis here no matter how big or small. So began the quest for a new bikini, not to mention the stress. Seriously, I tried on over 40 before I found not one but two I was happy with... I love them. Even though I still would like to slim down more, I feel more comfortable in a bikini here and letting myself be natural, than to try to cover myself.... and know what? I look pretty good if I do say so myself. I'm looking forward to wearing one to the beach tomorrow... but ahhhh which one?

The Serb sisters went away for the weekend so Erin and I are having a little party with some classmates. Stevie, the young Brit boy who is the life of every party, is leaving to go home tomorrow... so we are giving him a proper farewell. Afterward, there is a free concert at a park near my house so I think we may move the party there.
As so many things in life, only time will tell.

¿ What the was I thinking...?

I went to the bull fight tonight... yeah, yeah, yeah... I can say it in Spanish, but I don't feel like it. Besides I think I'm still in shock.

Perhaps today wasn't the best day for me to go to a bullfight... perhaps there really is no good day to go watch a beast be tortured... because don't let them fool you, what they do to the bull is tease, bully and torture him. What el matador and his sidekicks do is flirt with and tease the bull. It's almost like a beautiful dance, only with pain and blood...

Next time I will watch people dance instead or maybe even dance myself... not a good day for a bullfight.

I have always been a firm believer in trying everything once... if you don't like it don't do it again, if you do and it's good for you then hey... that's great. I am going to have to keep a limit on that motto... no more watching animals be tortured. Years ago I went to the rodeo in Colorado, that was equally as disturbing...

What was I thinking?

The bottom line is just because your ass looks great in an outfit, doesn't mean you have to be a bully.... It just doesn't.

Not a good day for a bullfight, especially if you are a bull.

Oh and if anyone was wondering where the King of Spain was tonight...Well rumor has King Juan Carlo was at the Corrida de Toro en Valencia hanging with me... though I am still not sure and no one even said to bow... I would have given a bow or something for a king... damnit... this is not a good day for a bullfight nor to see a king. .

Also... and then I will day no more on this matter, if you ever decide to see a bullfight, go late. At least one hour into the time you are told to be there. This way you don't have to see 6 bulls being tortured and killed. Arriving late means you can see the latter ones which seemlingly have more angry and energetic bulls. I left before they speared the forth bull, I just couldn't watch anymore.

Today is not a good day for a bullfight, not good for the bulls nor for me.

Now I will sleep and try not to have nightmares of what I have just seen.

I am so tired I am having trouble making complete sentences appear from my hands... seems more like psycho ranting to me... lol... I think I will be better tomorrow... no more bull shit...