New Thing to Add to My Resume: English Teacher

So one of my Vandy friends helped me get a job working as an English teacher for a local family. The mom is a doctor and I don't know what the dad does, but it's probably good decent work (a doctor wouldn't marry a bum right?) They have a 3 year old little girl and a 2 year old little boy. They are both super cute, and are helping to ease my toddler withdrawals (since I'm not with my nephews). Spanish parents are making sure their kids learn English as soon as possible. The mom told me the 2 year old doesn't even talk yet, but she just wants him exposed to English early. The 3 year old speaks Spanish and knows a bit of Catalan, so as far as I'm concerned she's already doing pretty well.

The little girl spoke to me a little bit and I got her to say "pink" and "bicycle" but that's about it. She was being a bit stubborn, but I guess we just need more time to get to know each other. The little boy just wanted to take all the notecards and toss them everywhere, but he was just so cute I didn't care. I'm getting some bilingual books for next time because clearly I need a plan.

So far, things to add to my resume:

1. Movie star
2. Puppy wrangler
3. Salsa dancer
4. Spider monkey
5. Flamenco dancer 
6. Professional back scratcher
7. Chef
8. Archaeologist
9. Art critic
10. English teacher

I should be able to get a job anywhere, right?
.

Day Trip: La Granja

La Granja was built a super long time ago (sorry, I forgot when) by the Moors when they controlled Spain. In 1239, it was given to monks to found a monastery. Then, it passed through the hands of several families and is now owned by Cristòfol Seguí Colom. Throughout all this time, it wasn't anything special. It was really just a family's livelihood, but now it's a part of Mallorcan history. La Granja was definitely my favorite part of the trip. It has been well preserved and I can appreciate the history behind it more.

Cute shop...with free samples : )

Peacock

Curing a whole pig : (

 

Game room

Audience of dolls

The bird flew off and never came back. Poor fella.

Some sort of homage to the Inquisition

 

Day Trip: Ca'n Prunera

Ca'n Prunera is a museum modernist art in Sóller. I had never been to Sóller before, so I was more excited about that. The historic train that goes from Palma to Sóller began running in 1912 and still has the same cars as it did in 1912. But back to the point. Ca'n Prunera was built in 1909 and was originally a private residence. Then, in 2009 it reopened as a modernist art museum. I'm not really a huge art person, but I can appreciate a beautiful piece of artwork when I see one. Some of the things there were just... well, I don't know. I guess I just didn't get it. The top floors were decorated the way they would have been when a family lived there. It also had displays with some of the creepiest dolls I've ever seen in my life. I have no idea why a child would want to be anywhere near those things.

Train + A very excited History professor

Awesome spiral staircase

Why would any child want this?

View from top of staircase

Popsicle stick art. Really?

This is when I just stopped taking pictures.

Day Trip: La Raixa

Today our program took a whole day to visit some historic sites of Mallorca. I wasn't super thrilled to spend a whole day out (especially since Daylight Savings was the night before so we lost an hour), but it turned out to be a pretty good trip. Somehow, CIEE has a way of getting us into places that most Mallorcans haven't been to or can't go to. I have to admit that make me feel kind of special.

Anywho, the first place we went was a historic manor called La Raixa (pronounced rye-sha). It was built in the 13th century by the Arabs and passed hands throughout the centuries several times until it finally ended up in the hands of the Mallorcan government. They bought the property because they declared it a historical landmark and they wanted to conserve it. Unfortunately, when the government said "conserve" somebody heard "restore" and they started to try to make the house look brand new. I know it's supposed to be like 800 years old, but it lost a lot of it's historic value when they decided to plaster the walls and install brand new tiles and doors. Oh well, you can't win 'em all.

View of entire house

Original main entrance

Very excited History professor and statue of one of the previous owners

Does NOT look 800 years old : (

The sink is the only original thing left in the kitchen

I just thought this was a really cool picture

Ses Illetes

Ses Illetes is this super beautiful beach that my Vandy friends managed to find one day. It's this cute little cove-like beach that really only the locals know about. I felt like a legitimate Spaniard just being there. I just wanted to mention it so I'd have a reason to put up the amazing pictures : )

Update: April 1 The water was even prettier today. And, my friend and I met the cutest little mischievous boy at the beach today. He saw me with my feet buried in the sand and he shouts out "Donde están tus pies?!?!?" (Where are your feet?) Then, he proceeds to try to catch fish with his tiny net and splash us with water. Later, he came back to apologize (his mom made him) and we helped him find fish to try to catch. Little Spanish kids are so cute!

Donde están tus pies?!?!?

Shot from top of the hill

My archaeological find

Clase de Cocina

Paella y gató

Today, we had a cooking class with a super awesome chef named Cati. Honestly, we didn't do much cooking. We were really there for the things like stirring and cracking eggs. I didn't really mind though because we didn't have to do much work and we still got to eat some amazing Spanish food. First, we made flan, which I didn't really like that much. I think if I didn't like it when she made it, then I probably just don't like it. The flavor was good, but the texture was just too weird. Next, we made gató, which is like this Mallorquin cake-like thing. It was pretty delicious (although I was initially thrown off by the name because in Spanish gato means cat) and I was definitely looking forward to the recipe. Last but definitely not least, we made a paella (or watched Cati make a paella). Of course, it was stupendous as I had already expected. Not only that, but she decorated her dining room table in this gorgeous purple tablecloth (I noticed because purple is my favorite color) with beautiful place settings and an amazing view from her apartment window. I felt really high class being there. I enjoyed it because the "class" was short and sweet with delicious rewards at the end.

My plate with the awesome tablecloth in the background

Cati inspired me to get a paellera which is the pan you make paella in. I was going to wait until I got back to the US, but they are expensive at home. Cati told me I could go to any decent store and find a good one made of iron with the green handles (why green I don't know, but she's the expert) for like 7 euros. This afternoon I went and bought my paellera for 6 euros. I felt so Spanish, but I felt pretty awkward taking it home on the bus. I've seen people bring stranger things on the bus, so I tried not to feel too weird. Now I just have to figure out how to get this giant pan home.

Awkward Times at the Bus Stop

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent : )

Throughout my life I have been told that I am a pretty weird girl. Well then that whole Birds of a feather flock together thing is completely true. I just realized that I have made some pretty interesting friends during my short time here in Spain. First, there's the fiery Bridget who I shared a room with the first night I arrived in Spain. Then, there's the lovely Heather who I met in the metro station on my way back from the university. Finally, there's the witty Amari who I met through Heather (they are in the same program). 

Side note: I'm only focusing on these three because spending time with them at the bus stop is what inspired this post. There are many more lovely friends I have made here who might get their name changed at some point in a post or two : )

In Palma, there is a street called Paseo Maritimo where there are a lot of  bars and discotecas. Due to the fact that it was St. Patrick's Day, we thought it would be completely fitting to go to an Irish pub on Paseo. We went there it was cool, but the interesting things happened once we got to the bus stop. My entire time in Palma has pretty much been a transportation fail (that's a whole other post), so waiting at a bus stop has been a chance for many of my friends and I to really bond. This night was no different as we waited (for over an hour) for the bus.

Transportation Fail

Somehow, my friend Heather got me to scratch her back and she wouldn't let me stop. Then, Bridget is like "Well can you scratch my head too?". So I end up using one hand to scratch Heather's back while the other scratches Bridget's head. I'm feeling super used at this point, so I tell Heather to get Amari to scratch her back. Amari's reply is, "Only if you purr like a cat". We're like WTF?!? What kind of weird fantasy are you trying to reenact right now? Of course Heather doesn't agree to purr, but Bridget (being the feisty girl that she is) says she'll do it. The purring only lasts for a minute then Amari stops scratching Heather's back. Of course, she runs straight over to me trying to give me puppy dog eyes to get me to scratch her back again. Finally, she resorts to force/wearing me down and once again I'm being used as a human back scratcher. Apparently, people enjoy having their backs scratched even when they're not itchy, but to me this is just weird.

This is how the night ended

I know this doesn't seem very interesting, but it's one of those you had to be there sort of things. Lots of awkward things got mentioned including kitty fetishes, cheap whores/volunteer whoring, use of the phrase "You're a kitty, climb on under there!", mention of being Bridget's hip warmer, and more tom-foolery that I can't even remember right now. The night ended with us waiting at the bus stop for over an hour until we eventually just decided to take a cab home. All in all, I thought it was a pretty good time. And I found out a LOT of things about my friends that I never knew before. Bus stop bonding time is the best bonding time : )

 

El Faro de Porto Pi

My program took us to the lighthouse in Porto Pi (el faro de Porto Pi). This is the third oldest still functioning lighthouse in the world. The base was originally built in 1290 as a watch tower, but then in 1613 the height was raised and it began it's life as a lighthouse. El faro isn't usually isn't open to the public, but my teacher knows the lighthouse keeper (I have no idea what the proper term is for this person...at least not in English) personally so we got the "hook up". I'm not really a lighthouse person, but I can appreciate the historical value of pretty much anywhere. Honestly, the best part for me was the view. The stairs were a beast, but vale la pena (it was worth it). 

View from the top

Me trying to be "artsy" with the moon in the corner

Zoomed in view from the top with the Cathedral in the background

Nightlife in Granada

Not only is Granada great for daytime excursions and sightseeing, but the nightlife is pretty sweet as well. A friend of one of the girls in my program visited Granada before and sent her a list of really cool places to go. Seeing as how we only had one free night in Granada, of course we wanted to make the most of it. One of the places on the list of places to visit was the chupiteria (shot bar). This place was literally described as as "arcade for alcoholics". Every shot costs one euro and for every shot you buy you get a point. The more points you have, the bigger your prize can be. Of course, this is the place we decided would be the best to go. But honestly, just getting there was half the fun.

Inspired by the costumes of the people in the Spanish style Amazing Race, we decided we all had to go out as a team with a unifying costume. After intensive searching by two CIEE-ers we decided to all buy sombreros. I'm not quite sure how this was the only thing we could find, but we just went with it.  Before going to the chupiteria,  a friend of one of the guys in my program who happened to be studying in Granada met us at our hotel. And this is where the fun began.

We all put on our sombreros and walked down the street as we blasted music from speakers. I thought it was especially hilarious because some people don't know the differences between Hispanic cultures, so we sort of looked like the "ignorant Americans" who think Spaniards wear sombreros. Although this is something I would never think to do in the US, we only had one free night and we were there to have fun.

Once we arrived at his friend's apartment, we chatted, etc. until the idea for Sharpie mustaches came about. The two guys from my program had a friend draw on full curly tipped Sharpie mustaches on their faces ... I would like to take credit for supplying the Sharpie : ) The rest of us just got mustaches on our fingers so we could hold them up periodically for picture time. Then it was chupiteria time!

DISCLAIMER: Due to my battery dying I didn't bring my camera with me, so I have no actual pictures of that night. I suppose it's better that way : )

Example of shots menu

There's not much I can say about the chupiteria. I don't drink at all, so I guess the better way to phrase that is "there's not much I should say about the chupiteria". Nothing dramatic, just not my stories to tell, you know? Leaving the chupiteria was as much fun as getting there. Directly down the street from the bar was a pizza restaurant, and my friends headed straight there. One friend, who gets a bit feisty when she's been drinking, asks the worker how much a calzone costs. He says five euro and her response was Que ladrón tu eres! (What a thief you are!). Then, she manages to drop the money over the counter landing in a pizza. That didn't have a point, I just thought it was really funny.

Somehow, our group manages to get separated and we end up with the friend we just met that night and his two Canadian roomies. As we're walking, we see this lemon tree and one of us decided that we really needed some of these lemons. The only problem is the tree is planted behind a 12 foot wall. A plan was soon hatched to hoist our new Canadian friend up so she could grab a few lemons and throw them down to us. In the end, the lemons were beyond sour and we eventually began to use the pieces as objects to hurl at each other.

Eventually, we made our way to a discoteca (nightclub), but the bouncers were super rude. They wouldn't let my friend in because they said he was wearing tennis shoes. Honestly, I thought the sombrero and drawn on Sharpie mustache would be the bigger problem, but apparently not. Also, seeing as how the fee to get in was ten euro and the bouncer was rude, I really didn't feel much up to going in. Not to mention, at this point it's probably 3AM and we have to be at breakfast that morning by 9 or 9:30. For Spain, 3AM is pretty early to go home, but I was super tired and we had an early day the next/same day. So, three of us walked back to the hotel and the rest stayed at the discoteca, and my one night of fun in Granada was over.

A Weekend in Granada

My program took us to Granada this weekend. I honestly think this was the best weekend I've had since I've been in Palma. When we arrived Friday night, none of the "touristy' places were still open so we just walked around a bit. We stopped somewhere and had this super amazing view of the city.

After walking around for a while we took a guided tour through some of the city. One of the stops was a flamenco bar. The bar was actually built into the side of a mountain, so it was like a cave. As I expected the dancers were amazing, but I think I was expecting something different. I always thought flamenco was a partnered dance, but apparently the authentic flamenco is one person at a time. At the end, I was pulled up to dance with one of the dancers. I got some pretty awesome videos of two of the ladies... before the old grouchy one told us "no video". Sad face : (

 

 

Saturday morning we woke up, ate breakfast, then went straight to the Alhambra. I felt so cultured just being there. We came during a really nice time of the year when there aren't too many tourists and the weather was still pretty cool. The only thing I felt like we missed out on was the flowers. A large part of the visit is walking through gardens and I noticed a lot of them hadn't bloomed yet. I really only noticed this because my mom loves flowers and she wanted me to take pictures of all the flowers. 

View from one of the towers

We also happened to be there during an Amazing Race (Spanish style) so there were quite a few of costumed people running through the streets while we were there. Also, the men who carry the statue of their saint during their patron saint's holiday were out training. They were huddled together under a giant piece of wood covered by a cloth all working on moving as one. It looked super intense and it made me realize the hard work that many of the citizens put in for the celebrations of their patron saints. Overall, it was a pretty great time and I definitely would love to go back.

The Dog

My Spanish mom bought a puppy for her granddaughters for Christmas. His name is Joc (I'm not sure how it's spelled because it's in Catalan, but it's pronounced like jock). I was super excited because on the form I filled out for my homestay I said I wanted a family with a dog. He was cute for the first few days... and then I saw his true colors. The silly little thing likes to pee and poo in front of my door. My Spanish mom says he's marking his territory, but it's MY territory right now. He's only four months old so I guess he's still being potty trained. I think he may have a problem with short term memory also. One day he wants to be my friend and nibble on my fingers. The next day he's barking at me like I'm an intruder. Then, he'll just sit and stare at me like he's never seen be before in his life. But it's so hard to stay mad at him. He's just so super cute.

This is how he just sits and stares at me.

I'm Officially a Movie Star...

well sorta kinda. My Spanish mommy is a clothing designer/actress and she is designing the wardrobe for a movie. I can’t remember the name in Spanish, but it translates to Creepy Lives. One day she tells me her movie needs a few extras to fill in the background of the movie. All I need to do is wear a white shirt, black shoes, and a belt. Simple, right? Not quite. Somehow, I managed to not have a nice white shirt or a belt. But never fear, Spanish mommy is here! She has a shirt and a belt for me to wear (of course she does, that’s her job!).

I was expecting to have to show up around 2 PM, but my Spanish mommy comes home around 11 AM and tells me they need me now. The director decided to change the order he wanted to shoot some scenes. She didn’t have the right wardrobe with her and of course she didn’t have me, the star : ) Anywho, I get to the “set” which is actually an old prison and yes it was indeed creepy.

My Spanish mommy led me inside and I met the director and some of the actors. For my scene, I have to wear this blue blazer, but blast it all the stupid thing doesn’t fit. The director ordered blazers that were all the same size (too small). The other two ladies who were already in the jackets had to pin them shut just to keep the tiny things from popping off. I think this could possibly be the first time that having giant boobs has actually hindered someone’s acting career. So frustrated and disappointed, I sit down in the room and watch people come in and out as they film their scenes. 

Cool side note: I watched the make-up artist turn a handsome older gentleman into a scruffy looking drunk with a black eye, busted lip, bruised forehead, and pock marks. She used a toothbrush dipped in a make-up alcohol mixture as a sort of low budget air brushing machine.

But back to the good part. Eventually, I go outside to where some of the actors are waiting. It was super freakin cold inside, so they went outside to stand in the sun. As I’m sitting outside, one of the women working came up and told me they needed me now. I thought I had missed my chance, but apparently not. I go inside and they tell me they need me to sit at this desk and read a newspaper. I’m like sure I can do that. But for some reason, there was a little table top fan just blowing away…did I mention it was freakin freezing inside. Then the director asks me what kind of pants I’m wearing. I guess he really liked my dark pants, because he gave me a bigger role in the movie. But apparently he didn’t like my jacket, so I have to take it off…once again, I find it fitting to remind you that it was super freakin COLD!!! Anywho, now my role was to open the cell door, look at the main actress as she walks through, then close the door. I can totally do that.

The director yells ACTION!  and I give the performance of my life. Then, he yells CUT! My feedback was “Muy serious. No smile.” (I thought this was a super cute example of Spanglish) So we shoot the scene two more times and that was it. They thanked me and I went back outside to wait for my Spanish mommy. I took a few pictures with one of the other actresses and all was said and done. So, it's official. I can now add movie star to my resume.

A picture I took of the prison that day. Creepy, right?

Riddle: Why Did the Donkey Cross the Train Tracks? PART 2

So we were stuck in a little town that I now know is called Sineu. The bus arrived, but he said he wasn't leaving until 2 and we had about 35 minutes to spare. We stop in this really cute little restaurant to wait. The owner seemed really nice, until he charged us for three baskets of bread when we only had one. He said it was enough to feed three people, so he charged us for three baskets. It still doesn't make sense because there were five of us. But oh well, life goes on.

Finally, we are on the bus to Manacor. Just my luck, the emergency hatch at the top of the bus is open, so I have wind and rain blowing in my face. So I was wet and cold. UGH! But whatever. I was just happy to be on our way again. 

Once we arrived in Manacor we had no idea what was open, so we randomly wandered through the tiny streets until we came to the main city center. We found this restaurant that had an amazing lunch menu deal. You could get an appetizer, second plate, dessert, water, and wine all for 8 euros. So of course we all jumped on that deal. First, we had some pretty awesome paella. It was a little weird because there were whole legs and shells still in the paella. I guess we had just gotten used to ordering paella ciega (paella that you don't need to pick shells out of and no whole fish, including heads).

We ate and drank to our hearts content, while also watching Batman dubbed in Spanish. There was this sparkling water drink called suc frut (which I like to pronounce like suck fruit) that was intended to be added to the wine to make it sweeter. But seeing as how I despise the taste of alcohol, I drank it by itself. It has to be the best drink I've had since I've been in Spain, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. I am definitely going to have to make a special trip to Carrefour to find it. I can't even find it online.

By the time we were done eating, it was sort of late. We didn't want to miss our train and be stuck in Manacor, so we hustled back to the train station. As we're driving back it's quite possible that I drifted off to sleep a few times. Just my luck I happened to be sitting next to a hitter. My friend would randomly smack me to tell me to look out the window at the view. Yes, I know it's pretty outside. I saw it on the way here : )

All in all, it was a decent trip. I got a really good story out of it too I guess. How many times in your life can you say your trip was delayed because a train hit a donkey? I don't know if I would ever go back, but I think it's hard to really get a feel for a city on a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon. If I ever do go back, I'm going back to that restaurant to see where I can buy some suc frut!