New life

Sometimes I have to keep reminding myself that I'm living in a place people vacation to, that currently I'm sitting in a cute cafe next to Plaza de España with tapas and pastries being served, Spanish conversation everywhere. And other times I walk around amazed at the random statues and pretty buildings I'm passing by, craning my neck and taking pictures like a tourist. I think living here is proving to be the exact experience I was looking for, but I don't notice it really except when I make myself sit and carefully compare my life now to two months ago. Which is kind of cool actually - it's happening naturally.
This week was easier with the kids since I've started being more strict, and also I've had a couple of lessons that made teaching feel fulfilling. This upcoming week is only 3 days because of All Saints Day, and the academy is being decorated in Halloween theme, we're all dressing up, and all the kids are doing Halloween crafts. Should be fun. I'm looking forward to the long weekend and enjoying madrid and probably something around the area.
This past weekend I hung out with Jo at the botanical gardens (pictured below). It's quite nice in there and cheap, I highly recommend. The best part was the humidified tropical greenhouse - our skin and lungs were loving it! Saturday night I went to see a singer/songwriter in a teeny tiny venue called Rincón del Arte Nuevo. Great acoustics, great music, overall awesome. After rounding off the night with some drinks, we were happy campers. Also had a nice dinner with friends from the course - making sure to take advantage of the Spanish food at our disposal. My favorite was the ox tail! Speaking of ox tails, apparently I missed out on watching the farm animal parade through the center of town! Darn! Would've been a sight for sure. Note to self - hang up an events calendar.
Anyway, this whole move to a new country has definitely been made much easier by having friends around that I met here going through the same thing. There are certain things to be experienced alone, and certain ones within a community. I think Madrid is a bit like LA where unless you go seek out a specific group of people, it might be hard to make friends. As opposed to if you are in a small town, but I can't speak for that experience. I definitely don't think I'd be as well adjusted here without having done the course and having met this fine group of peeps. It's nice to share the joys and sorrows and to trade tricks for dealing with rambunctious children.
And here are some pics!

Pietro and Napoleon discussing languages. This was followed by Pietro looking over one of Napoleon's Italian operas that he's in for pronunciation corrections!

Plaza Cibeles on my walk from Spanish class to the botanical gardens

Craning my neck and taking pictures like a tourist

Botanical gardens

Jo and I in the tropics

Getting used to things

Well, I do believe that I've done as much learning in the last week as all my students combined. Which there are 8 different groups, ranging from 7yr olds to adults! It's a really bizarre feeling, especially on Tuesdays, when I teach 1st grade, then 5th, then 8th. It feels as if you're walking through your house and when you leave the room and come back your children are all of a sudden 4 years older and you have to instantly switch how you talk to them.
The first week I had a discipline problem. The Spanish are a warm and party-loving people because they grow up as loud misbehaving children. On Friday we went out for drinks with all my coworkers, and one of them was asking why some parents were yelling at one of my bosses earlier that day. He said, oh no, that's just how they talk. These were parents of two of my quite lovable but loudest kids.
Today was better. I am now writing Rules on the board and explaining them in as much Spanish as I can manage. The whole immersion thing can wait! But the adults are lovely and I really enjoy teaching them. They all want to be there and are trying hard, and it's a nice break from the discipline game. I'm also loving my bosses and coworkers - awesome group of peeps. Overall though - teaching is hard!!! Kudos to all the teachers out there!
I'm also getting to know my neighborhood. Today I decided that I'd like to lesson plan over some wine, so straight from the metro on my way home from work I looked into a few bars and picked this one that struck my fancy - turned out to be a good choice! The bartender Mario was very friendly with everyone, was running around like a chicken with its head cut off getting orders to everyone in the place, and kept feeding me cheese on bread. I finally told him I can't have any more cheese, but then somehow ended up having more tapas with him and another person that works there and a customer after the place was closed. Of course I wasn't charged for the extra food. I think I will be coming back to this place!

Oh, you know, lunch of Spanish broken eggs, black pudding, wild boar, and a blue cheese and apricot tapa (which was way too heavy on the blue cheese, but hey, these are our problems) (this is Jo by the way)

 Happy people (Erica and I) waiting to get amazing food

Did I mention the awesome teacher friends? :)

What, I have to work to live here?

On the metro - going to my first day of work! It was pretty easy to find a job, actually what was difficult is making decisions. English teaching in Madrid is this game of hours, pay rate, and most of all - location. There's tons of work, but a lot of it spread out around the city. I was too lazy to rush around so I took a job with lower pay but all in one location. Also I got a good feeling from everyone there, and I always trust that. So, my schedule is 5-9pm every day, which suits me well as I like to sleep in (as some of you know)! I may or may not take on private lessons too depending on how I like my life like this.
My apartment (pictured below) is great. Yesterday we had a little chat amongst all the roommates, which was really nice. They are: Napoleon, who is also the manager of the apartment, Estefania, Napoleon's girlfriend, both of them from El Salvador, and Pietro - the Italian. Napoleon is an opera singer!! I found this so cool. He came home last night from a performance and when I asked him how it was he belted something out. Love it. Estefania is a lawyer in IT I believe and is also studying. Pietro is a PhD Classics student. Imagine that - an Italian studying Classics...what do they know about it anyway? :) Yesterday he and his girlfriend (also PhD student in Classics) were making Caprese salad. I told them I like seeing Italians actually making Italian food, and there are now plans to make it all together next time she visits. Um yes please!
Speaking of food...eureka! I have discovered the Spanish Whole Foods. El Corte Ingles. I know I know, it took me a month and a half to walk into one of those, but that's because I was so attracted to the little markets, fruterias, and bakeries and was anti- the supermarket. But I finally went in, and it's oh so pretty. I do have to say, I had not found kefir anywhere else. But also, the specifically Spanish stuff - the pastries and the entire isle of canned seafood, and the dedicated corner just to jamon, and the cheeses...oh the cheeses! Today I had a lunch of fresh bread topped with tuna in olive oil. It was glorious. Of course I have also been having various tapas as much as possible. The food is amazing, but heavy. At home I normally end up making salad to balance out the ehh bread, cheese, meat, and egg!

 My new hood...

And my new room!!!

And my amazing teacher friends

It's Becoming Real

I leave the misty mountains of Basque Country with two decisions: 1. I am going to go to a beach town once a month or once every two months, and 2. I want to do the Camino de Santiago. The trip to San Sebastián to meet Adrienne and Adam was kind of planned before, but left to the final decision to two days before. I came on Saturday night and stayed through today, which is Monday afternoon. I am so happy because I got to put my toes into sand and swim in an ocean today - things I didn't think I'd get to do for a while. The trip was so easy and reasonable to take spontaneously that I decided I can do that for any coastal destination, hence decision #1. Decision #2 came to me as I was looking at the below view from the old fort. The misty mountains called to me and I pictured walking through them, their forests, and their villages, meeting so many interesting people, and of course having some pintxos on the way, and I decided I have to do it.

I absolutely loved San Sebastián. It's my Granada of the north. As Adrienne put it, you just want to hug and squeeze this town. Also, the pintxos stand up to their reputation. I had the best food I've had yet in Spain here. It's also really nice to see old friends. Like a care package with a warm blanket in human form. I thank them for deciding to have their honeymoon here. 
The class is done, graduation party had, and jobs applied-for. Going to start interviews tomorrow. I felt much better about the teaching this last week, so I don't feel behind anymore. And I'm loving my new apartment! (More on that in a later post.)

The mountains I was talking about

The good friends I was talking about

And this: this is happening