BURGOS

Last week we took a school trip to Burgos, about 2.5 hours from homebase. I think I actually learned a lot on this trip! But too lazy to detail, so I'll just post some pictures with captions. WHooopy!

Catedral de Burgos, a stop on the Camino de Santiago and a reason  Burgos is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Ceiling of the sacristy in Roccoco style. Our guide was fun and made sure we learned plenty of new Spanish vocab words

Maqueta, model, of the Catedral. It's a seemingly endless place.

Abuelitos!

Statues.

Kelsey and I decided the orange roofs make Burgos look "Spanish".

We decided to visit the castle and well, unbeknownst to us the tour included going into the tunnels surrounding the well where there were boobie traps over 700 years ago.

La Catedral de nuevo, con mejor tiempo, better weather

El Cid Campeador. We read his tale (in English don't be impressed) last year in a Spanish lit class. He is buried inside the cathedral. 

Me cago en la leche!

For me, today is about as frustrating as a day can get in my current situation. Meaning, keeping in mind the perspective that I am still living the dream in San Sebastián, it isn't such a bad day. But compared to other moments here, I'm just ready to say "aaaargh!"

I had 4 English classes again, my last ones in fact, but perhaps due to the heat I was beat after just 2. Anyways, then I headed to my host fam's for lunch. I asked last week if I could come since I was on a tight sched and the 1st school is right near their house. However, I am out of minutes so I sent Kelsey a msg to double check that it was ok this morning. I rang twice and nobody answered, and I didn't wanna be a pest so I just left. As I was leaving I was a tinge sad to be forgotten about, but I also thought "but...but what if she made me lentejas?" Anyways, I got over that ~pain~ by eatting half of a frozen pizza. Far from home-cooking, but oh well. After the last class I was supposed to meet my friend at the spa to get some "relax" in. Unfortunately she was unable to make it and we were then going to hang on the beach since I already had my swimsuit with me. Walking the length of the beach in long pants, I finally made it to the bathroom/changing areas only to find out you apparently have to pay for that luxury. Frustrated, hot, and tired I just went home. Bahh! Such nice weather and I wasted a siesta indoors.

Anyways, that was only minor frustration, no pasa nada. When it really started to pain me was when I saw the notice that my favorite Spanish band, and truthfully favorite band that currently plays period, is going on tour. In September. Of course, I will not be here during that time. Out of all the months I've been here, they couldn't have decided to go on tour?! Seriously! Estuve pero rabiosa!! WHYYYYYY!?!?! On second thought, at least it is a while after I'm gone and not like a few weeks. If that were the case you can bet I would be in a hurry to change my ticket's departure date jejeje. But really...I just can't even deal with the harsh reality at this moment! Buaaaaa.

Then, la gota que colmó el vaso: I found out my host madre did indeed make lentejas. Just for me, since she doesn't even like them but knows I do. GOSH DARN THIS DAY. Pedazo de mierda, de verdad! Es que...Kelsey left a message that said I might have to wait 10 mins bc madre was going to the store at 1, but obviously I didn't get it til after the fact. I MISSED THE LENTEJAS! Buuu. On the plus side, I will be going for leftovers tomorrow. :D

And honestly, I realize that all this complaining is illegitimate bc I'm in Spain! It is always a fabulous day here! I haven't posted in a while bc I've been busy. There have been moments when I remembered how extra lucky I am, but you just won't get to read thos. :P Oh, other pain of the day is tomorrow I have 2 papers due: 20 pages on Basque Carnivales and 6 on Buñuel. Nearly finished, so it's a huge relief to me.

Today was a swell day. The weather was de maravilla, the students I worked with were well-behaved, everything was splendid. Yes today was an English teaching day, in fact I had 4 classes rather than the usual 1. The first 3 were at an Ikastola, meaning the classes are taught in Basque. Aw yeah, how exciting! There were even international students--one each from China, Ecuador, and England. That impressed me because these kids came here perhaps not even knowing Spanish (ok, obviously the ecuatoriano did), and now they are taking classes in Euskera, Spanish, and English. Quite amazing! Actually, the British student knows Spanish and Basque for class, and speaks English and Welsh at home. Welsh and Basque! An incredible linguistic combination, really. In addition to these pleasant classes, my regular class that tends to be disinterested in anything I say (it's age-appropriate I guess) seemed more attentive than usual. Jeez, 4 classes is almost like being a real teacher. Haha, almost. To wrap up a tiring day, I took a nap on the beach. C'est ma vie!

Yesterday and Monday were free days thanks to the puente. Since Tuesday was Labor Day, in Spain the Monday is automatically also a holiday. Word on the street is Rajoy (current president) wants to change it. I'd like to see him try, as these folks are loco for puentes! :D I went to Ireland for a few days (post to follow) and yesterday went to the local cemetary. Morbid? Perhaps. There is only one in San Sebastian, so I wanted to investigate. Well, in case you were curious as to differences between a Spanish and American cemetary, there are no grassy pastures in this one. Just rows of ornate tombstones, dedicated to entire families rather than couples. Many of them say "Property of Don Jose Fulano" (example) and then list all of the relatives buried there. I saw one with the oldest having died in the 1890s and then the most recent in the 2000s. A lot of family history in one hole eh.