June 2012
1 post
May 2012
4 posts
“Do you think that’s blood, or coffee stains on there?”
– Brandon, pointing out the suspicious stains on the overhead lamp in our hostel room
On the way to Barcelona,
A boy sat next to me at the gate, and we read quietly in our separate bubbles for half an hour or so, until I put my book down to pull out my laptop. As I glanced his way, I saw he was reading Cormac McCarthy’s ‘All the Pretty Horses’, so I excitedly thrust my book towards him, eagerly showing him that I, too, was reading a McCarthy work, his play ‘The Sunset Limited’! (Technically I was reading...
April 2012
9 posts
bread. bam.
Today we discovered the intense joy fresh baguettes bring. I don’t know why we haven’t tried this before…there’s shops everywhere where you can buy ‘pan recien hecho’, which means freshly baked bread. On a whim we ducked into one after class and bought one, for 50 centimos. It was warm, and biting into it was transcendental. I’ll never be the same again. I...
Marzo ventoso y abril lluvioso sacan a mayo...
(That means April showers bring May flowers! Our students taught us that!)
On Sunday it rained for the first time since we’ve been here. Which means it hadn’t rained from January 23d to March 31st (at least). I took all kinds of pictures, but somehow my camera lost them. It even thundered a little. And a burst of lightning burnt up Juande’s computer.
But then on Monday JP and...
The other day as JP and I walked home...
JP: Hey, check out that guy over there. He must be a priest or something.
Rachel: Yeah, definitely a priest.
(the priest overtakes us and walks towards Plaza Mayor)
Rachel: Whoah, check out that wizard dude!
JP: We JUST determined he's a priest.
Rachel: What? No way man, what are you talking about.
JP: You don't remember anything, do you?
Rachel: Umm
-It's not my fault the priests dress like wizards! I mean, come on!-
Destroyer of Beers, Kisser of Faces.
So. I’d say for the most part, my blog has been pretty kid-friendly. We do a lot of really cool, wholesome things. But sometimes debauchery happens, mostly at these demonic botellones. The last of which was Ferial, or Primavera. When I first heard about it I was thinking, cool, a fair, rides and candy apples and rat tails and obesity and roasted corn ROCK. But when I asked my students what...
Madrid
In the last post that wasn’t about Neil Gaiman or Brandon terrorizing elevators, I mentioned going to Madrid to pick up my mom. She flew into Madrid on the 17th, so we went on the 16th and spent the night there to pick her up the next morning. On Saturday morning we dined on typical spanish fare (JP had churros) and went to the Prado Museum, which we get into cheap as free for being...
March 2012
3 posts
This whole blog thing is really cuttin' into my...
I keep meaning to post, like every day, but every time I get on tumblr a trillion posts from FUCKYEAHTATTOOS come up and I waste hours scrolling and coveting until my eyes bleed. It’s bad. So here’s a few posts I wrote over a week ago and lazily never put up. Enjoy!
(March 16th) I’m writing this on the train on the way to Madrid to pick up my momma, and I’ve realized how long it’s...
February 2012
11 posts
This has nothing to do with Spain..but check it... →
But it’s important to Greensborians nonetheless! If you grew up in G-boro like me, you know that downtown was a total wasteland until sort of recently! Let’s keep it poppin! I’ve already talked to two classes about Greensboro, and one of the highlights was our downtown scene! Keep it a highlight.
Snookie from 'Jersey Shore' in Spanish= 'Esnookie'
Today was the first day of teaching class! Mondays and Wednesdays I’m in charge of expanding the knowledge base of the students in ‘Lengua Inglesa VI’, or English 4. According to the ‘Common European Framework of Reference Levels: English’, my students ideally should be at level C1. I’m familiar with the written, official definition of what that means, but putting it into practice is a little...
http://josiehoggard.blogspot.com/ →
By the way, that seemingly random conversation/post was inspired by my perusal of fellow spanish journey-er Josie Hoggard’s fabulous blog, check it out!
Josie and I attended Jones Elementary together, where we learned all our mad spanish skills, and now we’re in the motherland! The world is a magical place.
The following conversation just ensued.
Rachel: ugh, why haven't we had churros yet?
JP: I DON'T KNOW!
Rachel: what is wrong with us?
JP: This is genuinely crazy. We are in the birthplace of churros.
Coles 2012
The Leal Bello home. This is just from inside the compound, but the whole thing is super enormous and incredibly beautiful. The pigs are raised on a farm about 20 kilometers from the house.
Once a year, the Leal Bello family hosts a giant luncheon to celebrate one of the tri-annual slaughterings. They call it ‘Coles’ after the first course, which consists of spanish collard greens...
The colloquial word for nerd is 'friki'.
Interspersed with all the takin care of business, we practice aimless wandering a good deal. Here we are, having dangerously crossed a multi-lane highway to explore some open space.
Such intrepid explorers.
Today we learned the word for doorknob! Also some...
Brandon and JP had heard tell from Dra. Sotomayor that in Spain there are these magical contraptions that you keep under a special table and cover with a tablecloth and they are circular table heaters. For your eating/chillaxing pleasure. Sounds too good to be true, don’t it?
WRONG they are real and we experienced one in person this very evening. Here’s what happened:
Earlier in the journeys...
“See? That’s my whole problem with pickin’ up tourists…They...”
– Jayne Cobb
The Harry Potter Trivial Pursuit Card
Geography: ¿ A qué estación londinense pertenece en andén 9 y ¾ del que parte el Hogwarts Express?
Espectaculos: ¿Qué personaje encarne Emma Watson en las películas de Harry Potter?
History: ¿Cómo se titula el primer libro de la serie de Harry Potter?
Art/Literature: ¿Qué asignatura enseñaban los profesores Quirrell, Lockhart, Lupin y Umbridge?
Science: ¿En qué ámbito relacionado con las...
The Misadventures Continue
When we came to look at the apartment, there was a layer of water on the floor of what is now the boys’ bathroom, along with water damage to the ceiling. Elena said she had already called somebody about it and it was being handled so all was well. Three days later a man came, felt the ceiling, whispered to the pipes, then cut a big square hole to the pipe, knocking it around a bit. Then he bounced...
January 2012
4 posts
Apartment!!!
Our epic search commenced (and ended) Thursday! Our lovely friend Borga dropped us off at the University, which was depressing because we realized that one day soon we’ll have to actually do some work. The campus is enormous! We didn’t take any pictures because we were too dejected at the prospect of school, but I’m sure we’ll take some eventually. After purchasing a cell...
Arrival.
“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” -Jack Kerouac
Yesterday we spent over 30 hours in travel! The plane rides were totally uneventful, although we all watched ‘Up’ and might have cried. Upon arrival in Madrid, totally wacked out with sleep but ecstatic, we quickly realized that...
the journeyings ahead
A very helpful map! Cáceres is in yellow.
In six days, Brandon, JP and I will be on a flight to Madrid, where we will begin our indentured servitude to pay for our passage. Once our seven year bondage has been fulfilled we’ll hop a bus to Cáceres, city of dreams.
I suppose introductions would be wise:
This is my friend Brandon, we’ve known each other since we were very small....
