I feel so European. Or maybe just Spanish... I'm not sure if the rest of Europe is as obsessed with animals on clothing as Spain is. I finally gave in though. Zara is FULL of tops and pants with animals on them right now. Birds, dogs, cats, horses, foxes.... Something about this top just spoke to me and I had to have it! Anyways, here's a weekly update on my Spanish progress!
new words/phrases
1- chivato/a = tattletale
2- aguantar = to bear, endure. can also be used to say "deal with it!" te aguantas!
3- estar hecho de polvo = to be totally exhausted
4- dar el primer paso = to give the first step, literally but means the same as to make the first move
5- presupuesto = budget
6- tener ganas de... = feel like something. tengo ganas de salir = I feel like going out
mistakes
1- I was pronoucing "chivata" like ciabatta. I don't think a little kid would care if I called him a type of Italian bread.
2- I am really struggling with the irregular verbs. I need to seriously study this.
Y no mas. I haven't been a very good student this week...
We need to talk. This morning was NOT acceptable. The first day of fall, which also means the last day of summer, was only 4 days ago! I do not want to wake up to this news for at least 1 more month:
That is just too.much.rain. It's fine if you want to rain at night, but please be done by 7:30am. Because you really messed up my morning. I didn't know you were planning on raining, so my perfectly timed morning routine was totally thrown off when I had to search for my tights, boots, and umbrella. Because of you I couldn't eat breakfast! And then let's talk about the metro... I was so frazzled from stomping through puddles, trying to not to stab people with my umbrella, and trying not to fall on the slippery floor that I got on the metro going the wrong way! AND I didn't notice for 3 stops. So, I was late for my 10am class, which made me late for my 11:30am class too. Not to mention when I got out of my 11:30am class I was a sweaty mess because you decided to become sunny. All I'm asking for is a month or so of fall, no rain please. I put with you all summer. Yes, I complained about the heat, but this rain just makes me mad! It's so unthoughtful of you. So please, just do me this favor.
In college my mixed drink of choice was vodka soda. And after college if I ever drank mixed drinks, it was also a vodka soda. I tried gin a few times and never liked it, thought it tasted like a pine tree, yada yada. Here in Spain I think it's safe to say that gin and tonic is one of the most, if not the most, popular mixed drink. Gin and tonic bars are very trendy here, and have insanely large selections of different gins and tonic waters. One of my favorite bars here is a little place called Barbaroi. It's a small gin and tonic bar in Malasaña that I have spent many, many nights at. The owner and the bartender are so nice, and they make the most incredible drinks! I honestly never knew gin and tonic could be so good, and on a hot summer day it's the perfect drink to cool off with. If you are ever in Madrid, I highly recommend this place! But maybe not if you're looking to improve your Spanish... it's a popular hangout for the expat crowd.
One of the assignments I like to give my students is to write about their favorite places. It's a good way for me to assess their use of adjectives and descriptive words, as well as writing in the past. Plus it's a way for me to get to know them a little bit more personally. Usually they ask me what my favorite place is too, and it's probably one of the easiest questions to answer. My favorite place on earth is unlike anywhere I've ever been, and it's also full of memories.
mystic lake, montana
Mystic Lake is a place that I spent a lot of time at growing up. To get there you drive about 2 hours southwest of Billings and then hike 3 miles up to the lake (well, it's actually a man-made reservoir but it's still beautiful). Like I said, I spent a lot of time there when I was younger. It's a hike that my dad and I did many times each summer, and I have so many vivid memories of the hike and spending the day fishing and eating turkey sandwiches.
cerca 1995
Unfortunately I hit that awful age where kids are too cool for their parents, and my last hike to Mystic with my dad must have been when I was 13 or so. Last September I was back in Montana for some family stuff, and I decided to do the hike again. It had been 8 years since my dad passed away, and even more since I'd done the hike, and so many feelings and memories came back to me. The best part of the hike is when you finally make it up the last set of switchbacks and you are rewarded with the most breath-taking view of the entire valley and the lake. I think my heart literally stopped, and all I could do was look and take it all in. The power of memory is such an amazing thing. I think it's incredible that you can seeing something as simple as a tree or a sign and feel like you've time-traveled. I felt closer to my dad that day than I had since he passed away, and it's a hike that I hope to make many more times in my life. I want to share it with my kids, and I'm so thankful that my dad shared it with me when I was younger.
I've got my first week back on the grind under my belt and it feels great! Today I woke up around 9, did laundry, cleaned my room, caught up on blogs, and now I'm ready to get of the house and start my weekend. I think this might be one of our last nice weekends in Madrid too, so I plan on taking advantage of every single second!
plaza espana
My students are all so cool this fall too. In the spring I made the mistake of googling one of my students who worked at El Pais (one of the national newspaper) and found out that he was the deputy director. Ummm talk about intimidation. I knew he was high up in the company but I had no idea how high. He was such a down to earth guy though and our classes were mostly conversation, talking about his trips to the States and his kids and Spain in general. It was like getting free history lessons! Well I made the same mistake last night. Right now I have five classes at the same company, and to be honest I don't really understand what the company does, but it's affiliated with the Ministry of Industry, Energy, and Tourism and they focus on information and communication technology. Anyways, I was on the company's website last night and stumbled across the Board of Directors page....4 of 8 are my students. And one of them is the Director General. OMG! How am I qualified to teach people this important?! But again, you'd never know how high up they are. They don't like talking about what they do at work, but want to talk about me and what I think about Spain and yada yada. All of my students have really good levels of English, so our classes are about 80% conversation/discussion based on an article I bring in or current events, and the other 20% is a mixture of grammar refreshers, phrasal verbs (my favorite!), and idioms/expressions. I can't believe I get paid to spend an hour talking with these funny, intelligent people. I love it!
Last night my student was asking me about my future career goals and whatnot, and he asked if I'd seen the graduation speech Steve Jobs gave at Stanford. I hadn't, so we watched it online and I wanted to share it here today because it's such a powerful message. He says that ""When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."" I think this is such a good message. Obviously it's a decision that I made back in August, and not for one second have I regretted quitting my job.
I thought it might be fun to start doing a weekly or bi-weekly post about how my Spanish is coming along and all the dumb mistakes I make (there are plenty to choose from...) and I thought today would be a good day to start! One of my Spanish friends told me that when he was learning Catalan he downloaded a bunch of Catalan songs and then downloaded and saved the lyrics so he could listen to and memorize the songs during his commute. Soooo I decided to try it, and I've been listening to A LOT of Juanes lately. I really like him, and his songs are slower than say Pitbull, so it's much easier to keep up and hear the pronunciation. Here is a list of some of the words/phrases I've learned lately, favorite words/sayings, and mistakes.
new words/phrases
1- cachas = muscular; el esta cachas
2- horquilla = bobby pin
3- poner los cuernos = to put the horns (literal), and is used when a boyfriend or girlfriend is unfaithful; no me pongas los cuernos = don't cheat on me
4- envidioso/a = envious; estas envidiosa!
5- maja = nice, pleasant
favorite words/phrases
1- por supuesto = of course
2- todavia = yet
3- me caes bien = you fall well with me (literal), you would say this to someone you just met and they seem nice to you, you like them
4- que/vaya cara! or que cara tienes! = the nerve!
5- si... = obviously means yes but also means if. for some reason I love using it; si quieres = if you want
mistakes
1- on Tuesday I couldn't remember how to say the number 9 (nueve). Are you kidding me?!
2- llena. this means full, so after a big meal I want to say estoy llena, but I can't get the pronunciation right so it sounds like I'm saying estoy hiena, which means hyena. The pronunciation is a bitch!
This is by far one of my favorite Juanes songs, mostly because I actually understand everything he's singing AND I understand it. But I think my roommates are getting sick of hearing it.
This is a busy week in my family. We have two birthdays and an anniversary. G-ma's birthday was on Monday, G-Pa's birthday is on Sunday, and their anniversary is conveniently in the middle, today! I feel so so so lucky and blessed that I have the both of them. I have a lot of friends who never had the chance to get to know their grandparents, and I honestly can't even imagine what my life would have been like without having such an amazing relationship with them growing up (and now!). They have always been supportive of everything I've done, even if it meant moving far away from them, which it almost always did. When I was in college my grandma sent me the most amazing care packages EVER. I'm talking a big box, with tins of homemade cookies, magazines, Costco sized containers of trail mix, nail polish and other goodies from the spa, household decorations and really anything you can imagine anyone ever putting in a care package. My sweet grandpa drove a uhaul from Colorado to California one December to help me move, taught me to drive, tried to teach me how to golf, and is always there to help me with anything whether it's a question about taxes or insurance or sports. I'd like to think that I've inherited the best things from both of them. My grandma's warmness and hospitality, love of life, and contagious laugh, and my grandpa's level headedness, work ethic, and values.
charleston, sc november 2009
csu graduation june 2009
christmas 2008
christmas 2008
And let's talk about that anniversary. 61 freaking years! I sincerely hope I can find someone that will put up with me for 61 years. I wish I was at home celebrating with them this week, but thankfully I was able to teach them how to use Skype before I moved to Madrid. Love you both!!
I have to admit something. I love Britney Spears. Love her music, love her craziness, just love her. I watched the X Factor premier over the weekend and sweetie makes the most redic faces!! I freaking love it. Here's a few faves, these are sure to make anyone's Tuesday better. And I'll probably watch the entire season of X Factor just to watch her.
But let's not even kid ourselves, she's hot. Always will be. And she's real. I make faces like that all the time, there just aren't cameras to catch it.
And in other news there was a metro strike yesterday, which meant I had to add about 45 minutes onto my 20 minutes commute. And then I had to wait through two trains because they were so full no one else could get on. And when I finally arrived to my 8am class the student never showed up. BUT, I got to see this beautiful sunrise, so I really can't complain.
This weekend was offically the last weekend of summer. And my roommate and I celebrated with multiple bottles of wine and spending all of Saturday on the couch. The past two weeks I've had a few classes, but today all of my business classes start up. And I have to start at 8am! Gasp!! It's going to be rough considering I think I've only been out of bed before 9am about five times since June. I am really looking forward to that paycheck at the end of the month though, and I desperately need it. Mostly so I can buy some these amazing fall items I saw last week while window shopping. I reallllly want some booties.
Like I mentioned yesterday, my number one priority this fall is improving my Spanish. And let me tell you, it is hard! Everyone always says kids have the easiest time learning a language, and it's true, I've seen it happening, they are little sponges, and they pick up the accent so easily too! I took Spanish all 4 years in high school and my first year at college but then stopped taking classes since I wasn't planning on minoring or majoring in it. After that I'm pretty sure the only time I used or needed to use Spanish was spring break 2006, in Acapulco. I remember a pretty great conversation with the hotel staff when our bathtub was flooding and then some wonderful heart-to-hearts with the cab drivers at 5am. But you know what they say, if you don't use it you lost it. And I lost it, most of it. I'm happy to report that 8 months in I can have successful conversations at restaurants, bars, shops, the bank, and with directions. I still have a loooooong way to go though. I want to flirt with cute Spanish guys, hang out with a group of Spanish people and participate in the convo, talk to the sweet 87 year old woman who lives below us, eavesdrop on the metro, and of course, put fluency on my resume!
It's that time of year. The temperature is dropping (well, supposed to be dropping, I'm still waiting...) and the days are getting shorter. All I can think about is wearing jeans and boots and I'm getting some crazy cravings for pumpkin anything. Football season is in full swing and the leaves should start changing any day. I struggled over the summer with my plans for the next few months. I went through a few weeks where I was pretty sure I'd be coming home in late fall, but after reassessing everything I still want to accomplish in Spain, I've committed to expat life until at least January. To come home before January would almost feel like giving up, and I just can't do that. And also I'm not done living the life of a madrileña :) There's so much more I want to do and so much more I want to see. In no particular order, here are some of my fall resolutions!
learn how to cook tortilla (Spanish omelet)
travel to the north of Spain
walk the Camino de Santiago
see more of Europe
start flossing every day again
do more yoga
work every single day to improve my Spanish (fluency... maybe possible, maybe not)
keep in touch with friends from home better
live in the present and stop worrying
Learning, or should I say re-learning/improving, Spanish is one of the biggest reasons I chose Spain as my home overseas. And if I'm being honest, I didn't focus enough on that in the spring and now it's crunch time. So, in order to reach my goal of Spanish competency I'm focusing on watching more Spanish films and tv shows (with Spanish subtitles), reading at least one book a month in Spanish, and finding a good intercambio partner. An intercambio is a language exchange, so essentially I get Spanish lessons for the price of giving an English lesson. Usually people meet for two hours and speak in English for one hour and Spanish for one hour. It's also a really great way to meet new Spanish friends! I'm meeting up with a few people this week and hopefully I'll be able to find someone that I feel comfortable speaking with and who has an English level that is similar to my Spanish level. Wish me luck!
I know I mentioned it yesterday, but Lisbon really did feel like San Francisco to me. First of all, there's the bridge that looks very similar to the Golden Gate Bridge. Then there's the steep steep hills and cable cars (um... definitely SF). It's right on the water (city by the bay?). And there's tons of cool street art and little coffee shops that just felt like SF to me.
I spent 4 wonderful days in Lisbon, but I think the highlight was the Friday night I was there. My friend and I went out with a bunch of people from his hostel and after a few hours of drinks and dancing this song came on and everyone started singing along. Music really does connect us all :)
One afternoon we took the tram about 20 minutes up the coast to visit two UNESCO World Heritage sites; the
Mosteiro dos Jerónimos and the Torre de Belém . The Monastery was so beautiful and houses the tombs of some very important Portuguese figures, including Vasco da Gama, a famous explorer and navigator who was the first European to reach India by sea which in turn helped Portugal create it's empire on the spice trade. The Tower of Belém is about a 15 minutes minute walk from the Monastery and is right on the coast. It was used as a part of the defense system and a gateway to Lisbon. Personally, I think it just looks like a huge chess piece. We ended our little trip down the coast by listening to a free concert in the park and eating some delicious pastries from a famous bakery (Gwyneth Paltrow recommended!).
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
