Busy, busy day

Today in my third grade science class we were talking about the 8 planets, and we had to take Pluto out of the song- poor Pluto, you're still a planet to me!

In my fifth grade science glass they were talking about measurements, etc and someone did division on the board and I was like WTF is that. They write it differently here, I would call it backwards b/c the divisor and the divider are in the opposite places and the put the answer at the bottom instead of the top. We got the same answer (I did it in my head as not to confuse them) but it made me really appreciate the fact that I'm not teaching math here- we would all be really confused!

Also today was the first time I did laundry in my new apartment. To dry the clothes I had to move my couch away from the window, climb out the window onto a roof thing and then hang the clothes on the line. It was quite pleasant outside but I'm not sure how my older neighbors climb in and out of their window to hang laundry, maybe their kids or grandkids do it for them.

I'm sure everyone reading this blog knows I love travelling and am trying to do as much of it as possible while here. This weekend I had a flight booked to Cairo but because of the political turmoil my flights were cancelled. So I'm going to Helsinki, Finland to visit a friend there instead. I was looking forward to seeing my friends in hot, sunny Egypt, but it'll also be good to see a friend in cold Finland!

Sevilla

This past weekend I went to Sevilla with 2 of my friends (Julia & Liz) from Alcala. Sevilla is a city located in southern Spain, about a 6hour bus ride (much shorter by car) south, south-west from Madrid. I have a friend from elementary/middle school who is teaching there and Julia has a friend from uni there; so we both got to see friends along with visiting the city! We arrived late Friday night but went out for a bit to some bars along the river. Saturday is when most of the sightseeing occurred. We walked around downtown/the center area, toured the cathedral (the 3rd largest Cathedral in the world), climbed to the top of the bell tower and got to see a panoramic view of the city, walked through some parks, went to the Plaza Espana (pictured on the left), walked by the river, etc. The river that runs through Sevilla is awesome! It has running/walking and biking trails along it, and there were people canoeing, kayaking, rowing, etc. Because it's south, Sevilla is also warmer than Madrid. It's really a nice city and we had a blast while we were there!

Moving

It's human nature to resist change, but often change is good. I spent Valentines' Day packing up and moving all of my stuff a few blocks away to my new apartment. The new apartment is newly refurbished and so nice!! Most importantly it's clean, doesn't smell, and has no roommate issues (not yet anyways). It's a 3 bedroom place, but currently I'm the only one renting a room. Of course it has it's issues, and I spent 5hours with the locksmith the first day because the lock was broken when I arrived (from overuse from the previous owners not a break-in or anything I did), but that issue is now fixed. Another downside is that internet here is contracted annually, so I had to get one of the adapters specifically for my laptop and I have a limited amount of data transfers- so my apologies in advance if I can't update the blog as frequently or with as many pictures as previously.

However, I am now in a great new apartment :)

the Luck of the Irish

I spent a weekend in Ireland with some of my sorority sisters and their friends from study abroad- it was a much needed weekend away from Spain and I had an absolute blast! We got into Dublin Thursday night late/early Friday morning. Friday it was cloudy and raining, so we walked around Dublin to see some of the city's highlights, such as the historic Christchurch and the university, then we headed to the Guinness brewery! We spent awhile there, and even got to do a class where we tasted the different kinds of Guinness and learned to pour the perfect pint- and we each got a certificate to prove it! Guinness really does taste so much better in Dublin!! We were told it's because in the States we're obsessed with cold beer and so beer on tap is served at about 38degrees F, whereas Guinness is best served at 43degrees F/6degrees C. After the Guinness brewery we headed to the Jameson distillery and took a tour there. I even discovered a new drink I love- Jameson and cranberry juice! We went back to the hostel for a bit to chill then headed to Temple Bar. Temple Bar is a famous nightlife area in Dublin (which kinda reminded me of New Orleans' French quarter), but we went into the actual Temple Bar in the center of it all. There was a great live band, and the atmosphere was really chill- I loved it!

On Saturday we woke up early to catch our tour to western Ireland. We passed over the "mountains" of Ireland and stopped at a few churches, famous stone places, and got to see the BEAUTIFUL countryside of Ireland. Once we got to the west coast we stopped at the Cliffs of Moher- gorgeous! They reminded me a bit of Big Sur along the west coast of California, except for it was sunny in Big Sur and cloudy/rainy in Ireland. There was also a lot of wind, but we walked along the cliffs taking pictures and just soaking in the view for awhile. When we got back into Dublin it was after dark and we went out for dinner. We found this amazing vegetarian restaurant that was sooooo good! We went out for a bit after dinner before heading back to our hostel for the night.

Sunday we again enjoyed the full Irish breakfast that is included with our hostel. I love Irish breakfasts! We got oatmeal, fruit, baked beans, tomatoes, hash-browns, eggs, sausages, toast, bread with assorted toppings, juice, tea/coffee, etc. Really very delicious!! Shortly after breakfast we had to head to the airport to go our separate ways. It really was a great, relaxing weekend!!

Superbowl

So this post is a few weeks late, but I've been pretty busy these past few weeks and hope to finally catch up on my blog.

The superbowl was at 12:30am early Monday morning for us here in Spain. I went into Madrid with my work colleagues and we went to TGI Fridays to see the game. I'm proud to say there was a girl from Northern Ireland and a girl from Scotland with us- spreading the American love of football! It was surprisingly packed, with the grand majority being Spaniards. I was honestly surprised to see that many Spaniards interested in American football. We got there a bit early to have dinner- it was typical American food, although it still wasn't quite the same. For the game they had their normal TVs, so not very many, and my laptop screen is probably bigger than these TV screens. The game was shown on Spanish TV, so not only was the commentary in Spanish (which was weird to hear), but there were also no commercials- thus I spent the next day youtubing all the superbowl commercials I missed. We ended up leaving after the halftime show was over as we had to be up in 2 or 3 hours anyways to get to work. It was definitely an experience. I did get to see the game, but I'm really looking forward to being in the States for football season next year!

kids say the darnest things

In my 4th grade science class on Thursday we were reviewing matter- states, properties, etc. I was with a group of 4 students and they sort of got off topic, but we went with it. I am a solid, said one kid. Another replied, well you have liquid too. What's a liquid in the body? I asked. Blood they all shouted. Then one kid goes, you know why your blood is red? why? I replied. Your blood is red because of all the tomatoes we eat! another kid answered, I don't eat tomatoes, to which the response was, but you eat ketchup! Then another kid (surprisingly got us back on topic) asked there's air in your body too? correct I said. What about your brain? another kid asked? what's your brain? best answer of the day: your brain is air, mine is like a sponge! haha I couldn't help but laugh when I heard a 4th grader answer this- all in English!! I had to reply that yes, some people do have lots of air in their heads.