cave-diving in the rain and other tales of portugal

Since Spaniards can't go much over a few weeks without taking a vacation, we had a few days off the first week of December. Melania and I found good deals to Portugal and without thinking about it too long, we charged two flights to our beloved plastic rectangles and set off on a great adventure. And let me tell you just what an adventure it was.
Our flight was delayed about 45 minutes due to fog in Lisbon. If this was a sign to prepare us that the weather was going to be horrible our entire trip, we both missed it because everyday we were just as disappointed as the day before that the weather was atrocious. Really. It was freezing (I bought a XXL mans sweater to wear as a dress one day I was that cold. I asked Melania if she was embarrassed to be seen with me and she said, 'who are you kidding? you won't take off your coat all day' and she was right so it was a good purchase!) It was so foggy we couldnt get a sense of the skyline or even see buildings in front of us which was unfortunate. Trying to give Lisbon the benefit of the doubt and blaming the weather on our disappointment in our impressions of the city, we quickly discovered that Porto (with equally poor or arguably worse weather) took our breath away. It rained so hard that the streets were beginning to flood. the next day at the excellent recommendation of weather.com, we didn't pack an umbrella and ended up walking 10 blocks in pouring rain. i didn't even have boots on or a coat so I was drenched rat status and had dripping hair when we finally slopped inside of our destination. If that mental image doesn't make you cringe, it should. it was rough, but we survived. 
     Melanias travel philosophy is a little different than mine, making traveling with her interesting. She likes to "lose yourself" (her way of saying let yourself get lost) and explore the back streets and find the culture of the city buried in its cracks. I suppose this is because she's Italian and there aren't that many monuments, buildings or churches that she's going to find impressive any time soon. I like to hit the brave the tourist packed sites then venture down to find the back doors. We traveled marvelously together doing a little bit of both, waking up early and having jam-packed days. Thursday after landing late, we explored plenty of the city's hilly streets on the hunt for a Portuguese style restaurant off the beaten path. the one we finally found was awesome. recharged after a nice lunch, we eventually wandered in the right direction to our hotel, shopped and wandered around, had a coffee, walked around more and crashed.
Friday, we got breakfast and went to a neighborhood with a tower to see the city and to see the famous bridge, neither of which we could see because of the thick thick fog. we toured the monastery and that's when it hit me just how rich Portugal use to be and just how brave those explorers were. Friday afternoon, we found the greatest art shop ever that was of course closed because it was the afternoon. deciding we really wanted a canvas we had seen in the window, we got lunch nearby so we could go back. the fresh Dorado cooked on the grill a few feet from our nose was delicious. the family-owned hole-in-the-wall asked if we wanted to move to Portugal and teach them all English. The art place was still closed and my theory about how few European businesses are actually concerned about making money was upheld. We mosied onto the church, the castle, more shopping and then more shopping. After stopping by the hotel and getting a quick dinner, we had coffee and desert in the city center and met up with two of Melanias friends for drinks. Interesting intellectuals and intriguing conversation then a midnight stroll to say goodbye to Lisbon and we hopped on the 9:30 train to Porto.

in the neighborhood, Belem

from the tower

bahaha makes me laugh everytime

some of the best fresh fish in the world!

 
The train ride was lovely. armed with coffee, I worked on applications and Melania did stuff for school as we ogled at the sites from our window of countryside, the ocean, adorable homes, dinky train stations and elaborate landscapes. Again, Rick Steve's provided an excellent hotel suggestion for cheap and in an incredible location. Immediately in love with this family owned place, we got our bearings and set off on what was soon to become one of my new favorite corners of the world. Porto is spectacular. Simply a stunning city full of awe, charm, personality and richness. We went across the river to go cave-diving. Not cave diving like you're probably picturing though. this was a port-wine-storage-cave-crawl. Hiking up several streets in the rain (not fun) to get to the first one, we said cheers with our first free tastings. Learning that the best vintage ports are still mashed by barefeet and taking the tour along side Port Wine 101 is a highlight of these last few months. We repeated these last few sentences four times. Free tastings, free tour, protection from the cold rain? We were happy little campers. After Port-cave-crawling, we shopped our way across the river and through the streets of port until we were cozy in bed. Saturday morning the first priority was washing out my lingering Port aftertaste with some strong coffee. unfortunately for Portugal, their coffee is terrible. In our five day trip, I can honestly say out of probably 15 coffees only one was enjoyable. so that's, in a word, pathetic. Saturday we walked and walked through the city and hit two or three tourist must-sees. Then we headed to THE OCEAN. though the chances of me getting pneumonia because I was standing with a coat on, boots in hand and my feet in the Atlantic Ocean, it was definitely worth it. The beach town beside Porto was such a disappointment. Like a little sad ghost town you'd see that was an abandoned movie set or something. Lisbon and Porto both were big in the Christmas spirit with lights and decorations which definitely helped remind me it's Christmas and that I will soon be home! it's so odd this idea to VACATION at HOME but it will pass in no time and I am thrilled! I am not sure who reads the blog and who doesn't but hopefully my ability to post on here will cut down on the amount of updating I have ahead of me and that all you'll have to do is update ME on YOU! More posts to soon follow so look out!

in one of the caves

the river by night. breathtaking.

my sad face with my sunglasses on because it was raining and i wanted it so badly to be pretty outside!

totally obsessed with this city. already cant wait to go back!

if there was such a disease as dish-washing disease, i would have it

hello long lost friends. I knew it was time to blog when people were contacting me telling me they missed it. That makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside, so here it is, a new post. i haven't blogged not just because i have barely left room in my schedule to breathe, but also because i don't feel like i have much exciting to say. but here is the full update more or less.
This week has been so ridiculously insanely busy. I am thinking to myself that I have really done it this time. I have this horrible, horrible habit of tasting the slightest hint of free time in my schedule, then seeking something to fill it. Generally what happens is, I find more than one or two things to fill that free time and all the sudden, I no longer have free time and instead of being content and happy, I am slammed into "overwhelmed" mode with all the things I have freshly committed to. Well ladies and gentlemen, old habits die hard and that's precisely what has occurred again. I will give you updates according to whats on my plate, how incredibly stressed, blessed, excited, overwhelmed and ridiculously crazy I am. Did I mention that I am thrilled to have these opportunities? Because I am. I am just at that point where I am wondering, "all this might not have been the best idea you've ever had, Steph..." So here it goes: my plate.
            The meat- SCHOOL/WORK. Working at the two high schools 16 hours a week. I accepted a second job at a private English academy in the same town as the high schools. I will be working there 8 hours a week basically from 3:30-5:30 everyday. This is exciting because its a lot of extra cash and a really cool working environment. I will also be helping the owner do some administrative stuff, getting organized and hopefully further developing the educational program of the school. Opportunities to learn galore and potentially expanding my hours in a few weeks. There are several other teachers that he has recently hired. Three boys my age from California that in the same Auxiliares program as me and two others that I haven't met yet. Anyways, if you factor in the 32 hours a week I am actually working plus time to grade and plan, that alone is most of my day and week.
             The first side- vegetables- because I know they're good for me, but the rewards are unseen and so far away- Law school applications. These puppies are due in two days in theory. Problem with that is, I am still waiting on some recommenders to get in their letters required to submit my applications. This is a double-edged sword, I feel like I can be a little lazy on my side since I can't even submit them without the letters, but at the same time, I should have everything done. I have been working furiously for hours and I've been so pleased with my progress. Like any huge task, anytime I start to feel like I am making substantial progress, I realize how much more I really have to do. Please be praying for energy on my side, speediness on the side of my recommenders and for a miracle on the side of the admissions boards. That would be one stacked prayer, but incredible when answered!
             The second side- fruit- because it tastes sweet and looks pretty- travels. I am headed to Hungary this weekend and I am so excited! I was planning to go to Paris for Thanksgiving to meet Dad, but it seems like he will not be able to come to Europe until December. Regardless, I have a few days off in December that I need to plan asap. I also got the super exciting news that my dear friend Ansley booked her flight to come see me in February and I could not be happier than a clam! I am so excited. In just a few weeks, my friend Susan will be here also. I am totally thrilled that I am going to have visitors. I'm looking forward to nailing down some of these upcoming travel plans so that we can do everything we want to do when they're here. Dad and I also have to figure out what we are doing when and where we are going for the two weeks I will be home. It's looking like my best option is to ask off of work for the second week of January so that I can celebrate his birthday with him and friends in Alabama and also we can do some law school visits. I also need to book my plane ticket from ATL-Madrid in January and decide if I will come home in April or stay here.
            The carbs- what I enjoy the most but shouldn't indulge in- I am attempting to maintain this blog, my other blog, emails, FB, my journal, my photo journal, spend time with friends here and go out. Not to mention, I really want to spend several hours everyday studying Spanish because my night classes and homework isn't enough. November is suppose to be all about working my tail off and improving my Spanish, but I haven't impressed myself just yet. Got to get better about seeking opportunities to practice and I must stop using English. I must. I also made the mistake of starting on Modern Family, which I am madly in love with and want to watch every episode produced to date.
           The icing on the cake- a few of the obnoxious things that are going on that I really wish would figure themselves out or disappear or both. With the prospect of visitors, I finally made the decision to buy a sofa-bed i had been eying from Ikea for 100 euro. I went last week with a friend to Ikea, picked out our items, pushed them to the cashier, paid the ridiculously large sum for everything and then pushed the purchases to the Transporte counter to have it all delivered. On the metro on the way home, I studied the receipt just to realize that I bought the exact same sofa, except it was the regular sofa version and not the sofa-bed version. Long story and four phone calls with friends to speak Spanish for me later, I went back to Ikea on Saturday to get the right couch. They claim they will call me tomorrow for my bank account information to refund the money. We will see if that actually occurs. In the meantime, my room does feel like home and I am really looking forward to the Ikea purchases as new additions to cleanse my zen and make for organization and a more efficient use of the space. I cant wait to have an area to lounge when I don't need to be sitting upright in my plastic desk chair.
           Also in this category, we have my living situation. I made a bold decision last week to stick it out and settle in here (part of that decision was purchasing the sofa and bookshelf to make this room feel even more like home). Well, the two empty rooms in this apartment have been sold to two Panamanians. They move in on Wednesday, so hopefully they will be cool and we will all live in peace and harmony. Also, there has been some hushed chit-chat among the Italian (this is the roommate I don't like, don't trust and realllllly want to move out like he is claiming he will in December) and our landlord about money so maybe he will be evicted or something soon. That would be GREAT.
            Tomorrow, I have a meeting with the Ministry of Education about my temporary residence card. Then I have another meeting on Tuesday with the police. Hopefully after these two meetings, my legal status in this extremely unorganized country with no regard for customer service will be finalized and I will be a legal alien AND more importantly, that this legal alien will be able to return to work here in January. It will be AWESOME to get that finalized for good.
            Thursday night I came down with the flu, but I think I am over the worst of it now. I was basically in bed for three straight days, totally useless and couldnt even lift my head. Terrible. Hope to be fully restored to healthy very soon.

So it turns out, I don't really just have a lot on my plate, I actually have the entire food pyramid. but you know what, if it's all stuff I am excited about, then all the stress is good stress, right?! Just gotta get over this flu, keep a steady IV of caffeine and power through!
I am convinced that with the 30 minutes a day or so I have to spend washing my dishes, i could really have a better handle on everything I have going on! It's amazing really how much I miss little things like a dishwasher.

i am beautiful! and other nonsense from school

Sorry its been a while since I posted. I have Monday and Tuesday off from work, so hopefully I will be able to get caught up on blogging, work on law school applications and relax. I have officially completed Season 6 of Criminal Minds and can't wait to get up-to-date onto season 7. I do not remember the last time I stayed in bed all day so I have really relished this.
The last two weeks have been surprisingly stressful. I had spent a significant amount of time working on lesson plans for my week of classes just to be derailed completely in class. My first Monday alone with the students, the white board FELL on me and caused the brand-new AV outlet to fall completely off the wall and sent all the students into an endless laughing spree. one of the punks that is my favorite in that class said, "hey, profe, i won't tell anyone you did it. don't worry." then he paused and thought for a second and came up with this idea, "actually, i'll tell everyone I did if you let me take you out to dinner..." The rest of that week was rough. If the lesson plan was too easy, the kids were bored and hyper and chatty. If the lesson was too hard, they were discouraged and quiet as a mouse, embarrassed to ask questions or to express their confusion. This results in me speaking for 50 minutes straight and is miserable for all of us.
    All of the teachers and my boss at both schools are wonderful. They have asked numerous times, "how are you doing?" or "is there anything about your schedule that you want to change?" and i want to say, "what schedule!?" Either due to the strike, the students having a test, or a holiday I haven't even had a full week of all my classes. Some hours, I rotate between several teacher's classes. Other hours I only have half of the class and then the other half the following week. It's amazing that between the two schools the same level is actually either better or worse English. It's just going to take a lot of time to get use to which class is which, the students in the class, their age, their level of English and what they are currently studying. I don't expect to have that down until Christmas. If my schedule changes in January, I am going to cry for days. On Thursday, a teacher at JF I have barely even spoken to came up to me and said, "you ready for class?" Trying to play it cool, I said, "yeah, definitely." I don't even know her name! I definitely had no clue we have class together. She told me that I will be in her class every 3rd week. OHH, that explains it, okay... How complicated and crazy.
    The high schools I am working out seem deprived of everything I consider to be HIGH SCHOOL. There is no football team, no chorus, no assembly area for school-wide meetings or pep-rallys (or anything to rally for other than the strike). Actually, I sort of take that back. The schools are like labyrinths and every door is locked so for all I know there is an assembly room or gymnasium behind one of those doors. I doubt it though. Even the cafeteria is about the size of a café and serves mainly different types of sandwiches, snacks, fruit and coffee. There isn't any concept of detention or Saturday school. Absolutely no dress code exists. The teachers or staff do not wear name-tags or IDs. The halls aren't lined with lockers because its the teachers that switch classrooms, not the students. There are small lockers in the rooms themselves. The rooms are bare with nothing on the walls, a chalkboard and echo horribly. At LC, Melania and I have our own room for English that has a whiteboard and projection screen (that I almost destroyed but was salvaged thank goodness) and we are working on decorating it. Anyways, I am getting use to how incredibly different it is. When I was walking to school the other morning, there was a group of kids sitting around a hookah in a circle on the sidewalk smoking it. I was like, "did that just happen?!" Apparently, one of the English teachers told Ryan (the other tutor at JF), "well, we are a public school and we don't really have any power over our students. We can't make them come to class." this was the explanation he provided when Ryan asked why so many kids just linger around outside or outside the gates of the school on the street. Can you imagine if you could have gotten away with that in high school?! The teachers even have this lackadaisical attitude. On Thursday, a teacher came by Ryan and I to tell us that she was feeling sick and planned to go home. She told Ryan, "if I'm not here tomorrow, you can just take the afternoon off early." Ryan and I were speculating, if she's not there and he's not there, what are the students going to do during that time?! It's a little crazy, that's for sure.
The students that I have that are great are REALLY great. Some of these 12-13 year olds are the cutest things you've ever seen and are so willing and eager to learn. I love it. I can see myself in some of these girls that sit on the front row wide-eyed, furiously writing down everything I say and raising their hand inquisitively the entire 50 minutes. One boy walked in class and instinctively sat down in his chair in the back. Then, he thought about it for a second, took his bookbag and sat down proudly on the front row with a huge grin on his face. as other students started trickling in, he exclaimed, "I AM BEAUTIFUL!" as I was saying, "wow, yes you are!" this girl next to him hit him on the arm and said, "you meant to say YOU'RE beautiful, STUPID!" the little boy's face turned as red as a tomato and he shrank down in his seat with embarrassment. All I could think was, "you are the most adorable thing I've ever seen and I love you." One of the other boys in this same class was chatting back and forth with some of the girls in the back. They had their English-Spanish dictionary out and after almost 10 minutes finally crafted a question for the boy to ask. This boy has long blonde hair and he read the paper the girls had given him and asked, "do you like boys with bangs?" as the girls started snickering he realized what he had asked and was mortified. It was hilarious. He had already asked if I had a boyfriend and anytime I answered something that pleased him or that he agreed with, he would shout "YES!" as if he was checking off points on our compatibility report. Oh, 13 year olds...
     The 16-17 year olds are a whole different story. The first week, they were relentless on the things they were saying. They've calmed down for the most part. It's really funny how old, decrepit and stupid they think I am. I had passed around a roll for each student to write their name down.I was passing back their homework from the week before and I called out, "Paula." The girls told me she would be there in a minute, so I left Paula's paper on the desk she usually sits in. At the end of class, she came up to me and told me she needed to sign the roll. I watched her write, "Eva..." and thought to myself, "yeah, I remember when I thought I invented the write-your-friends-name-on-the-roll-trick. yeah right." So amusing.
    Last week, as I was passing out worksheets, I had a moment when I thought, "is this seriously what I am doing?! teaching english. in spain." When I was a little girl I always thought I would be a teacher. Actually, I was registered at Bama Bound as secondary education. I wanted to be a Spanish teacher. It's crazy to think that for the last five years i have rarely thought about that dream because I've been so thrilled about chasing new dreams that I thought were better or more important. Yet, somehow, here i am passing out papers, a stack of copies, a stack of things to grade, note cards with names on each, a lesson book and lessons to plan. I sit in the teacher's lounge during break and have coffee with milk brought to me by the lady who has all the teacher's orders memorized. Between classes, I hang out in the English department and order copies to be made in the front office. It's so strange. I am not old enough to be doing this! But that doesn't mean I am not loving it!