Un xoves

Have I ever mentioned how Thursdays are my favorite workday? And not even because it's close to Friday. Aside from only working in the afternoon, my Thursday classes are the best. They include the 2 oldest groups who understand me the best and therefore laugh at most of my jokes and who I went on the trip with so we've bonded. Also I have class with the youngest kids who are so enthusiastic and fun to work with. Last year's youngest kids were not this in love with me haha.

For this week's English blunder, one of the young kids tried to tell me to step on his foot. In Spanish, step on is pisar. So in his head he translated that to English by saying "pissing of the feet." I laughed for 10 minutes in class, and finally explained to them that piss is a verb quite similar to that in Spanish (hacer pis= to piss). They too found it hilarious, and probably will never forget that verb!

Excursión: Excelente, un 10

Recently I went on a week-long trip with my 15-17 year-old students. That was an experience, to say the least. Summed up in two phrases we repeated during the trip, it was "Excelente, un 10" because "en Estados Unidos eso no pasa!" (that doesn't happen in the USA!) Something unexpected happened every day. The trip was almost surreal at times. Chaperoning is a loose term here: because of the age we tried to promote independence. For example, a lot of these kids have probably never been on the subway before, so we taught them to use public transportation. Also, we'd go around in a group for the cultural visits in the morning, and then set them free with a time to meet back with us in the evening to make sure they were alive.

Salamanca
We only spent a few hours at our first stop. Everyone told me how much I'd love the city, so I guess it fell short of my expectations. It was nice to look at, and I'm sure it's fun to go out in since it's a big university city, but it didn't blow my mind. We got to go up the Cathedral, which was very cool but also nerve-wracking. We went up so many winding steps, all the way to the bell tower. Great views of the city though. We also saw the cathedral and university walls which are covered in elaborate sculptures, and you have to find the hidden astronaut and frog. Then we had lunch and were off to...

Mérida

The theater, where they still hold plays in the summer

I loved it, and although some of my students would say they hated it, that's only because there was no nightlife ON A TUESDAY. Jeez, what did they expect? But also they'd be lying if they said they had a bad time by the end of the night--after walking around for an hour we finally found a karaoke bar. There was just one man there, plus our group of ~20. The kids had a blast singing Spanish pop hits together. I even learned some catchy tunes (si hay que ser torero oléeee). But the best part of Mérida is the Roman presence. It's like Lugo, except more like Rome or Athens. In the middle of the city there were random Roman ruins. Not to mention the glorious and pretty intact theater and amphitheater. Why pay hundreds on a flight to Greece when you can see some great ruins here in Spain? Also Mérida has the national Roman art museum. Very cool, even if we didn't have time to see it all.

Mosaic in the museum

Temple of Diana, in the middle of a plaza

Lisbon
I guess you could call it the main attraction of the trip, since we spent 3 nights there. We saw the typical things: a cathedral, the port, a castle, and that great Portuguese tiled architecture. With the other teachers I

Super Chaperones in the
 Castelo de San Jorge

saw the Café A Brasileira and an overpriced fado show. It's a trap! One day we took the kids to Belém--a neighborhood or suburb 20 mins away--when the bus drivers just happened to be on strike. Despite the fact that when the bus pulled up it was already standing room only, we manged to cram our group of 32 onto the bus. Uncomfortable, for sure. When we drove by stops people were indignant at the amount of people on the bus, and yet tried to cram in with us. I was basically sitting on the dash for part of the trip. In Belém we saw the necessary Monastery, Monument to the Discoverers, and Belém Tower. Of course I also deemed it necessary to get custard pastries from the famous Pasteis de Belém.

Here comes a surreal episode: One of the nights we all had dinner in this elegant ballroom. It was just our group, but people would walk up to the door to take pictures, that's how glam it was. Anyways, then the other two chaperones (a priest and a middle aged woman) started to waltz. The students were flabbergasted. Shortly afterward, the priest started singing the "Vals de las Mariposas" and about 5 pairs of students got up to dance! I couldn't believe my eyes! But wait, it gets better--one of my students asked me to dance! I don't know how to waltz! But I tried anyways, with my two left feet. For the rest of the night I didn't hear the end of it. "Americans can't dance! You need to learn how to dance. Dance is the language of love" Hahaha. Strange and amusing times.

In Lisboa I also learned to accept the Spanish hands-off approach to chaperoning. Like when we told the kids to meet us in the lobby at 2 AM. Then we'd go out for some wine. But we definitely had our kids under control compared to another group (there were 5 school groups in the hotel at once. I feel bad for any adult guests trying to have a nice getaway). The other group threw a bed out the window. Do you believe that?! I'm telling you, it was an unexpected trip.

Porto
Our last overnight stop was Porto. I can't really tell if I like it better than Lisbon. Since it was the last night, by that time I was pretty much mentally checked out. The weather was excellent, and we had lunch on the docks where they were having a little street fair. Some students were attacked by seagulls haha. We also saw a cathedral where they stored some bones, but frankly it was disappointing--you just looked through a small hole in the ground to see a few bodies worth of bones below. At night I know the kids were hoping to go out with a bang, but unfortunately for them, Porto's abundant nightlife is full of adults. People my age! I did feel bad that they were left so disappointed on the last night, though. We all went out together, then gave them a curfew of 3 am. Oddly enough, when we returned to the hotel at 2:30, all of the kids were back already. I also imagine they were tuckered out after a week of sleeping probably 2-4 hours a night! Ah, youth.

Tiles in the train station São Bento

Galician Coast
On the way home we drove along the west coast instead of the freeway. Lovely views! We then stopped in Santa Tecla, a huge Castro with amazing sea views. Then we went up to Vigo where we spent the afternoon on the beach. I didn't bring my suit, but did enjoy a nice nap in the sand. The kids got in the water...I dipped my toes in and it was freezing, so I dunno how they did it. I was also happy to see them playing volleyball, since we teach that in gym class and often they're a bit uninterested. So Vigo concludes this trip of unexpected moments. Glad I was able to go and bond with the students.

Moor Fun in Córdoba

Córdoba in a word was sensual. It felt like we were in a tour book, probably helped by the strange feeling of being reunited with a friend from America and temperatures in the 80s when I had left Galicia bundled in a scarf. The architecture is just how you imagine Spain to be. We spent a good part of our time strolling Cordoba's winding cobblestone streets and eating or sipping either outside or inside typical restaurants with patios open to the sky. Andalucían gazpacho, check.

Arabian nights, no?

Matching in the Alcázar gardens.

First tourist stop was the Alcázar de los Reyes, a fortress of Ferdinand and Isabel (aka los Reyes Católicos). Indoors there wasn't much to see, except some Roman mosaics. The real treasure was the gardens. They had various pools, trees, and flowers. You could also climb up the tower for a nice view, but I had a hard time imagining the guards running down the stairs in case of invasion--they were uneven and cumbersome. With our ticket we got to return after sunset for a fountain/lights show which was cool.

The next day's tourist highlight was the Mezquita. Damn. What a cool place. During the 5 centuries of Muslim (Moorish) rule in Spain, it was a Mosque. But then it was converted into a Cathedral when Christianity kicked the Muslims out. The set up is basically the old mosque with a church area in the center. The most interesting thing from the Cathedral part was the choir chairs which were carved with saints (normal); in the foreground was a general portrait and in the background was them being martyred. Um, creepy! The mosque part was really beautiful, as Muslim art can't contain animals or people it was made of entrancing geometric patterns.

La Mezquita

The other main attraction in Córdoba are the patios. In general, Córdoba has a style with Middle Eastern influences (as I imagine them). Some balconies are nicely decorated with flowers and beatiful plates, or as you walk past doorways you glance in to the tranquil, plant-filled patios with natural light beaming down. But in the neighborhood near the Alcázar, you can actually pay to enter people's private patios. They are beautifully decorated with the typical potted plants covering the walls. Sometimes the owner welcomes you in, or other times it's just someone who maintains the place because it's no longer inhabited. But for those who do get to wake up to that sight every morning--wow, qué suerte!

I Know Why the Andalusians Cry

For the first part of Semana Santa (Holy Week/spring break), my friend came all the way from the USofA. So for a typical Spanish experience, we went south to Andalucía.  Basically, Andalucía is the idea that most Americans have of Spain: flamenco, siesta, sol. I'd never been, but their stereotypes are known throughout Spain. Here Andalusians have the stereotype of being overly emotional, a bit lazy and maybe less educated/caught up in traditions rather than moving forward. Obviously stereotypes aren't always accurate, but they can give insight when generalizing a large population. And factually, the Autonomous Community of Andalucía has one of the highest youth unemployment rates. Spain as a whole has one of the highest in Europe, so it's all around bad news.

Girl collecting wax

In the foreground, taking a break and gazing
upon the float he just carried.

For Semana Santa, Andalucía is known for their daily processions with giant floats of Jesus or Mary. Some of my Spanish (well, Galician) friends joked at the fact that during the processions the Andalucíans would cry, or hold their babies up in the crowd to touch the float. But after witnessing it for ourselves, I can understand their emotion. First in the procession come the hooded fraternity members with walking-stick length candles. Some go barefoot. In Córdoba we noticed children with multi-colored balls, and then noticed them scurrying between the halted fraternity members collecting wax drippings. Some kids had wax balls as big as their heads! After the hooded candle carriers comes altar boys with a lot of incense. By this time you can hear the shrill music of the brass marching band. After the altar boys is the giant float, carried by perhaps a dozen men. Once it's in view, a hush falls over the crowd. Before the float passes, you can usually see a few sweaty guys in sleeveless shirts and the hat with neck protection walking ahead to witness the float. These men recently rotated out from beneath the float and are taking a breather. It takes about four people to direct the float, since the men underneath it are covered by a wooden border with holes designed just to breathe. So the directors yell out "Right! Left in the back!" We saw one parade from a pretty narrow street, and there wasn't much room for error between the row of viewers on our side and the opposite side. That's a lot of pressure. For one float in particular they called out "No one leaves! No one stops!" to encourage the men carrying. Then the guy next to me spoke into the breathing holes, "Lift it with all your heart!" Also we've been told that some flagellate before they go to carry. Yikes. When the floats pass by, most people touch them with a kiss of the hand or sign of the cross. And as a float of the crucifixion passed by, from a window up above children reached out trying to touch it. After the float comes the band, and then it repeats several times. Each parade has at least 3 fraternities each with their own float, band, and hooded marchers, so they got awfully long. At first I was annoyed by the people who walked along between the procession, but then after 2 hours we, too, decided to vacate and had to try to sneak through without being too disruptive.

In conclusion, thanks to this extremely sensory and touching experience, I know why the Andalusians cry during Semana Santa processions.