Merry Christmas = double post!

Ok, ok. I realized this would happen at some point – I would get behind in blogging. I realize that as these posts aren’t about current things, they may hold less interest with you, but in the interest of documenting as much of Spain as I see it, I’m going to post these stories/thoughts anyway.

1 month after Presidential elections

This is one subject I delayed writing about until after elections simply because it can get dicey. I feel a lot more comfortable relaying the way the elections were seen from abroad a month afterward than I might have a month ago. I’m not going to tell you who I voted for (hooray for absentee voting, however!), though Becky (my soon-to-be-architect sister) knows, and if you really want to know I’ve heard that bribes involving foam-core board work like a charm with her this season.

Comments heard surrounding the U.S. elections (by Spaniards):

“These elections are important not only for you, but for us as well, because the U.S. has so much power.”

“Usually conservative Spaniards want the U.S. Republican candidate to win, and the liberal Spaniards want the U.S. Democratic candidate to win, but in these elections both groups want Obama to win.”

[by a woman from the Democratic Republic]: “I was really glad Obama won, because I think it will have a good impact on race-relations in the U.S.”

[When students were asked who they wanted to win] “Obama!”

[When asked why they wanted Obama to win] “Because he’ll be the first black president.”

“Because it will be historical.”

[By a teacher] “I was under the impression that Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton were very similar as they were both well-known women in U.S. politics.”

[By a teacher] “When I saw the polls in the morning, I just started crying, it was a change that not just the U.S. needed but that we needed, that the world needed.”

how to get lost on a mountain, and then get back down

Lauren’s colleagues have been pretty good about inviting her to weekend venture with them, and one teacher in particular who we call M, invited her to go on a hike several weekends back. M is a fantastic person, but also someone who can be a bit intense (though endearingly so). When she’s enthusiastic, she’s very enthusiastic! (Sidenote: when Lauren asked one student why they didn’t want to skip class with M, the student replied “because she’ll kill me”.) Anyway, as Lauren wanted to go, she was also all about having “backup” on this one, and asked me and our friend Colleen to go along with. We met up with M and her friend, Pablo, who would be leading us on the hike he had mapped out on his GPS system. Lauren had been able to gather that the hike would be somewhere out in the country, but when Colleen and I both asked her where exactly we’d be going, she was all “heck if I know!” (Sidenote: this is something I love about Lauren. Very rarely does she hesitate on doing something new here, even if we don’t fully understand what’s going on…a perfect friend to travel with :)

Halfway through the drive out to the “country”, we were able to figure out we’d be somewhere in the hills just west of Gibraltar. The climb up was great – Pablo had promised we’d see the northern tip of Africa, and we did! It was amazing.

And then we got lost. Colleen, Lauren and I, along with 3 other Spaniards (Javi, Yolanda, and Susana) who had come along on the hike had gotten a bit ahead of Pablo and the rest of the group (including M). Javi had been on the hike before and thought he knew where to go, but after we watched the sun set and noticed we were still on the top of a mountain where the wind was blowing fiercely (they call it “viento de levante” – lifting wind/east wind), all 6 of us decided we should figure out some way to get down. We had ended up on the highest mountain where there were several cell phone towers in a slightly flattened area. With the mix of fierce wind, being at the same level as the clouds, and it getting darker by the minute, it felt like a scene straight out of a Hollywood creeper movie like “Psycho”.

We ended up deciding to take this paved road back down the mountain, instead of trying to go back on the mountain paths to try and find the rest of the group (we had their cell phone numbers). It was one of the best calls anyone has ever made. I’m sure we would have been stuck on the mountain overnight if we had tried to go back. Even going down the paved path we weren’t entirely sure where we’d end up, but we figured it would probably be a lot warmer than the top of a windy mountain J Javi, Yolanda and Susana were impressed at how happy and calm the “americanas” were (we were singing and laughing, partially to distract ourselves, and partially because it was kind of cool how we’d have a story to tell IF we ever made it back home). We told them it was probably because of the bottle of wine we had in our backpacks that they didn’t know about. Just kidding.

Looking over to Africa from Catherine Steiner on Vimeo.


after getting back from being lost on the mountain from Catherine Steiner on Vimeo.

Happy Turkey Day in Spain!

A couple of weeks ago Lauren and I offered to host Thanksgiving at our apartment for all our fellow Teach in Spain folks around the Cadiz area. Of course, being hosts this meant that the bird was our responsibility. Lauren took care of asking for a 4-kilo turkey at the local open air market last week (she said she kept feeling like she’d signed some turkey’s death warrant – it probably wouldn’t have gotten the chop until Christmas otherwise), and I grabbed a bucket from the local equivalent of Meijer to brine the turkey in. Lauren took care of the sweet potatoes (she also brought some to her class to sample – they loved it!), I covered the mashed, friends brought stuffing, salad, pasta, bread, apple pies (delicious!) and drinks.











































































Jell–O substituted for cranberry sauce, and we had minor electrical problems a few hours before the food was to be served. Apparently you can’t use the stove AND the oven at the same time in our apartment. (Sidenote: Lauren and I have come up with a response to anything here that we believe works in an inefficient or nonsensical manner – raise your right fist in the air, shake it, and shout “Spain!”)

The nice Spanish couple in the apartment below us helped us figure it out (“Wait for the oven to cool down for ½ an hour, turn everything off, then try the circuit breaker again.”), for which we will be forever thankful and will also bring them a bottle of wine, which we are currently not lacking in. In Spain, whenever a guest doesn’t know what to bring, wine is always a good fallback.

Our apartment isn’t huge, but we wanted to share Thanksgiving with friends we had met in Spain, so we told everyone to invite a guest. We had a range of people come, from roommates of friends to the random guy from Iceland that we met on the train on the way back from Granada who seemed in need of some friends, to Lauren’s tutoring student. It ended up being one of the most international Thanksgivings I’ve ever been at. Total guests numbered at least 20, with representation from the USA, Spain, France, Iceland, Sweden, Czech Republic, and the Dominican Republic. Here’s a Happy Thanksgiving from all of us in Spain:


Happy Thanksgiving from Spain! from Catherine Steiner on Vimeo.

P.S. Being a history major, I wanted to emphasize the history and culture of Thanksgiving when I taught about it to my classes this week (how it started in 1621, but wasn’t declared a national holiday until 1863 by Abe Lincoln, how the Native Americans helped the pilgrims get food). It turns out that history is history, however, and it didn’t really get too interesting for them until I started emphasizing points such as “half the pilgrims DIED that winter”, or told them that the Macy’s Parade floats were taller than their school building and showed pictures as evidence. I wish I had video-taped their reactions to the float pictures…I think they were even more excited than when I had given them candy for Halloween.

Dear Spain

Dear Spain,

I think you and I are going to get along just fine. Despite your 8:30 – 2pm banking hours (hours during which I am traveling your trains and teaching your children, or hoping to be doing anything other than standing in line at the bank).

Yes, despite those hours between 2 and 5 when I come back from school AND HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD to do stuff like buy groceries, visit museums, get my residency card and you choose instead to close your business doors and promise that you’ll be back open around 5pm…despite those, I like you. You know what? I think it’s beginning to grow on me. I’ve never had time like that before where I am forced to not “get anything done”.

Yes, Spain, I think we’ll be just fine. Even though the teachers at school told me it only would rain for about 20 days out of the year here, and about 15 of those have already happened, I still think I like you. Rainy days can be ok (unless you need dry clothes).

Spain, even though your dog-owners often don’t pick up after their pets, leaving me to dodge street doo-doo on my way to the train station in the mornings, even then, I think we’re gonna be ok. I’ll get some boots.

And even though your pigeons leave their own gifts almost everywhere, I’ve learned, Spain, that it’s best to walk down the middle of the street and not the sides so as to avoid the-gift-of-the-pigeon. Also, I’ve learned that a 2-euro investment in some baby wipes to carry around with me everywhere is one that gives a good return.

Yes, Spain, although you don’t believe in central heating and Lauren and I have fought turning on the space heater because it might shatter our dreams of what you were supposed to be (sunny 70s! beach every day!), I do like the fact that you’re helping me to use less energy. Even if it means that heating up the shower-water involves a minor combustion reaction every morning.

Spain, you have a lot going for you. You have these amazing little towns like Arcos de la Frontera, probably put up on a cliff for some defensive reason back in the day, and which now might make even the most determined traveler think twice about how much walking they’re really up for. You also have these amazingly sweet people, including the old sculpture artist, Fernando, down the street who enjoys talking with Lauren and me every time we pass by. He’s so kind. Also, you have the eager flamenco teacher, Maria Jesús, who can still smile at the end of the night after teaching 4 American and 2 French girls how to dance flamenco, even when they make the same mistakes over and over again (one American in particular). And have I mentioned your children? Spain, your children are so cute!

España, I really LOVE your pastries too – napolitanas and cañones are hard to resist. Also, I love the fact that I can buy Nutella really, really cheap here. A confession, Spain: Lauren and I have a shelf that we’ve designated as the “chocolate” shelf. Don’t tell anyone!

Spain – you are pretty amazing. Sorry for the times I get upset with you. I’m still adjusting, but I think really, you and I will be just fine.

Besos,

Cat

Thuesday

So I said my next post would be about school. So far, it's been pretty great (read: kids = awesome, school organization = meh). It's interesting seeing what English words are challenging for the kids to say correctly...Tuesday and Thursday sound so much alike that I've seen a few invent a new day, "Thuesday".

I think I'm going to carve a pumpkin this week to initiate a little bit of cultural sharing with the kids in the classroom. Unfortunately, it looks like a version of Halloween has made it's way over here already, so I'm not sure how much of this will be new for them. But...

One of the best things a teacher can do is learn student's names as quickly as possible. I mean, I think we all attach a good amount of our personal identity (whether we know it or not) to our names. Unfortunately, I only see each classroom (3rd - 7th grades) once a week, which means I would probably be getting comfortable with their names by April. Fortunately Spain is flexible, and by flexible I mean you don't have to go through annoyances like asking permission to take photos of the kids in school (though I asked their teacher).

I asked the kids to each write their name in big letters ("MUY grande por favor!"), hold the name up near their face, and give me a big "sonrisa". Here are some of the cuties I get to work with (names have been changed to protect their identities...kind of):

7 things I wish I'd known/brought with me/are interesting

1. Everything is closed on Sunday. It's interesting getting used to at first (no Sunday late-night runs to get milk before Monday's breakfast), but overall I really like the fact that it encourages sabbath rest.

2. Perambulators/Prams are back (thanks Lauren for the addition to my vocabulary)! If you have a kid under the age of 2 here, the bigger the better. These things are like the Hummers of baby strollers. The best one yet looked like this:
















When I was that age, what we got was this:













3. Banks are open from 9am - 2pm, Monday through Saturday. How a working person gets banking business done is beyond me, but I'm figuring it out.

4. A plastic keyboard cover. Though it's really nice to have wireless outside, pigeon poop in between computer keys is a stinker. And yes, that's right, Mr. Sitting-across-the-plaza-throwing-breadcrumbs-to-the-pigeons man, this evil eye is for you.

5. Hot water is made most quickly with hot fire. Fire that often goes "whuuump" when it lights.

6. Cádiz has become a recent port stop for cruise ships. If I see 80 people in one day wandering as (one) group around the city, Nikon cameras strapped to their necks, one has recently docked.

7. More pictures of family, friends & familiar places. You all are missed.

More soon, especially about school experiences!

tour of our piso in Cádiz

Before we started this video, I told Lauren I wanted it to be less than 90 seconds long. Ha. Be prepared for 4 minutes, 32 seconds of the corniest video you will probably ever see. My apologies. Also, Lauren requested that I include a disclaimer/apology – roomie, I’m sorry I didn’t zoom out at the end. The dishes are mine this week :)

And now, the reason we will never, ever, make it to Hollywood:

tour of our apartment in Cadiz from Catherine Steiner on Vimeo.