From Thanksgiving to Leaving

Friday, December 16, 2011 2:56 PM Posted by BlakelyTJackson 0 comments
The wait is over, a new post is here. I can’t believe it’s been a month since I last posted. I am trying to recall everything that has been going on but time has flown. I can’t believe I have lived in Spain for THREE months! Sarah and I both agree that we wish our Spanish was better. We have really improved our understanding and comprehension... now if only we could get all those pesky verbs and conjugations together!

In just 5 days I will be home for Christmas. I can’t wait to be back in the city I call home and be with all of the people that I love. Ray is picking me up for the airport and then we are headed to dinner with the family. I know I will be misty-eyed the entire day. I keep welling up thinking about how happy I will be when I turn the corner into baggage claim to see my handsome man… and then to do it all again at dinner with my family is just overwhelming! Over break I can’t wait to see my family, hopefully head down to the lake to fish, go to the Corey Smith concert, celebrate all the good holidays, celebrate my sister and Adam’s engagement, spend Sundays with the boyfriend, catch a movie, eat tons of food, spend some time in the woods, have poker night and oh the list is endless.

Things I will appreciate when I get home most: Central heating, driving a car, using the clothes dryer, long & hot showers, fast food, English, domestic beer & whiskey, a nice mani-pedi, and all the little stuff in-between.

Anyways, to sum up the past month…

Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was so tough because I was completely homesick that morning. I remember getting to school and just breaking down in tears. Sara, the other axillar at my school, came to my rescue and was a complete sweetheart. When I went to class with my coordinator, Maria Jose, she was more than sympathetic and gave me a huge hug. She is definitely my mom away from home. I appreciate her more than she can understand! I taught my 6th graders about Thanksgiving through this awesome presentation I made. I even found a website that teaches you how to speak in Pilgrim. To say, “Congratulations” in Pilgrim you say, “Hoozah!” All my little Spanish kids were yelling, “hoozah!!” How adorable! Then we watched, “It’s America, Charlie Brown!” To learn about the history of the United States. Did you know that Sqanto, the Native American that helped the Pilgrims, was a slave for a while in Spain? Pretty cool. After my class I felt so much better. I felt once again connected to my country and proud to be an American.

After returning home it was time to cook, and drink… and drink some more. The girls and I cooked up a storm and made everything traditional, well, as much as we could. There’s no pumpkin or cranberry sauce here. But I did manage to make 6 pound of garlic mashed potatoes with nothing but a fork. While cooking Sarah and I danced our butts off in the Kitchen to every Christmas song you can think of. It was a blast. I was able to Skype my entire family while they were eating their traditional thanksgiving lunch over at my Aunt and Uncles house. It’s the only time I have seen them since I moved here in September. We had over the girls we work with and their friend Kenny for dinner. We ate till we were stuffed and then ate some more. We had leftovers for at least five days… and I was perfectly okay with that. Thanksgiving was a success and I felt so at home with my Spanish family. That will be a Thanksgiving I will never forget. God truly blessed me with amazing people here.

The Weeks to Follow

One Friday, Sarah and I went down to the beach for the day. It was warm and we were the only ones on the beach. We laid down a blanket and enjoyed the weather. Then of course we managed to find a few bars and the bottom of many beers. Jen joined us for dinner while we ate pizza and continued the party in the empty town. Once we returned, you guessed it, a dance party in the kitchen. We three girls definitely drank wayyy too much but you can never have too much fun! Needless to say the next day was painful and hilarious recapping how silly we were the night before. 

The girls we work with, Sara, Anna, and Lisa introduced us to Cien Chupitos. A bar that serves 100 different shots all for a Euro. Most of them just sounds horrible of course, but it’s neat to try something new. I will always of course pass on the tequila and hot sauce. And I learned my lesson that Absinthe is just going to overpower anything else that you try to mix it with. We went dancing afterwards and though I can tell you I have never been comfortable dancing before, I sure do enjoy it here. I know I dance to the beat of my own drum and am torpe (awkward) but I have a good time with the girls. It’s nice to be able to not worry how silly you look and just do your own thing. Dane Cook comes to mind when he says in his stand-up comedy, “I just wanna dance. Let's just stand in a circle around our shoes and our pocketbooks and let’s just dance.” 

The girls and I have also taken a cooking class. We learned how to make Salmorejo, which is a cold tomato soup that is freaking delicious! You can top toast with Salmorejo and Jamon and it is out of this world good! Slap ya mama good! We also learned how to make pechugas de pollo a la naranja. Basically orange chicken. No, not the Chinese kind. It was so good and I look forward to making it when I get home for the holidays.

I spent one weekend laid up in bed because I was so sick. When I got to school my coordinator called the doctor for me in Cartaya and dropped me off. She was so sweet to go out of her way once again to help me. I was so proud of myself for talking to the doctor in Spanish and being able to convey what's wrong etc. We ended up chatting for a while! He was awesome. I definitely want to go back to him if I get sick again. All in all, the doctor's visit was free and 3 different medicines were 12 euros. 

Over one weekend we went to Sevilla. It was Ale’s friend Yeyo’s birthday so we went to a bar and heard live music. I miss going to hear live music, cover bands, and all that good stuff. We also got to tour the Catedral de Sevilla, the third largest cathedral in the world! Inside there is even Christopher Columbus’ tomb. Pretty awesome! The view from the top of the Giralda Tower was beautiful.
To celebrate Christmas, the girls and I made sugar cookies from scratch. Have you ever seen My Drunk Kitchen on YouTube? Watch one of the episodes and you will know exactly what it was like when we attempted to make our own galletas. We ended up having a flour fight and had a great time. By the end of it we even tried Nutella to the batter, eh… maybe not the best choice. I think it makes a better icing. 

Sarah and I have been running often to get ready for our 10K that we are racing in Madrid next year. I am so excited. 

I am still enjoying my classes. There is a little first grader who just absolutely loves me. He is this very very chubby little boy named Manuel and he loves giving me kisses and telling me that “I love you” in Spanish is “Te quiero.” He’s adorable. 

My adults are pretty awesome, too. I have taught them things like French fries and Jager bombs. Yes, it is important! Bella has gone out of her way to help me in many ways. She had helped me track down Ray’s package to me that got stuck in Customs (it’s FINALLY being returned!) and she has introduced me to people that will help me intercambio. Intercambio is when you speak in English for half the time and Spanish the other half. One person she introduced me to, Christian, is the guy who does not speak any English. It really helped me improve my Spanish when I met up with him because I couldn’t fall back on English like I am used to when I can’t find a word. It really opened my eyes to how much I really understand and how much I really know. I left the café that night so proud of myself. I need to meet with him again; I think he will really be able to help me a lot! 

Last night Sarah’s friend Carlos made us a traditional Spanish meal. He had his friend David over who barely speaks any English so we could practice language. The five of us had a great time eating, drinking delicious red wine, and finished the night playing the Spanish version of Jenga. Which I have come to find out, I am horrible at that game. I am used to poking bajillion different pieces until one comes loose. In this version, or maybe the right way of both games, the first one you touch is yours. Man I pick the wrong ones every time. Maybe because I kept choosing the middle pieces, but that’s beside the point. 

All in all, this month has been a blast and I have really grown as a person. I have had to deal with some tough situations and I have also had a blast with new experiences. Being away from home has really made me realize how much I love my town and the people in it. I always knew I loved everyone, but my appreciation has grown so much. I can’t wait to get home and spend time with everyone. 5 days, I love yall <3

Lisbon, Portugal... Gibraltar, UK... Morocco, Africa... Sevilla, Spain.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011 3:55 AM Posted by BlakelyTJackson 0 comments
What an amazing ten days!! 2 continents, 4 countries, 10 cities!!

Saturday, November 12

I woke up super early to catch a bus from Huelva to Sevilla to pick up Ray from the airport so we could start our road trip to Lisbon, Portugal. His flights were delayed so I hung out at a cafe and had breakfast while I waited on him. And of course, Knight Rider was on TV, woo! (Spain is completely random... always.)

He finally landed four hours late. I have never been so happy to see someone before in my life. I thought I would have cried when I saw him but I was completely consumed in joy that it didn't even cross my mind. I couldn't stop hugging and kissing him. Wow, I missed him. After saying our long hello for the first time in 7 weeks,we picked up our tiny car, The Clio. The drive was four hours through beautiful mountains and countryside. We arrived to our hostel, The Rossio. The hostel was absolutely beautiful. No wonder it was ranked the number 2 hostel in all of Europe! The hostel is situated in the heart of Lisbon right on the Rossio Square. Our room was at the very top of the buidling with an amazing view. We could look out and see the Rossio Square, houses stacked up the hillside, and even the Castle of São Jorge.

After unpacking, we decided to walk around then have a few beers at our hostel. Happy Hour was 2Euro for all you can drink. WHAT.A.DEAL.

About midnight we decided to walk around and find dinner since both of us hadn't eaten since that morning. When we walked outside we saw that the police had taped and booted our car! When we were looking for parking when we got into Lisbon, there was a man waving in cars at the square. We paid him 5Euros to park overnight. Well come to find out the man just stole our money, along with about 12 other cars. We were illegally parked. An American girl trying to speak Spanish to a police officer that only speaks Portuguese. How frustrating. So 91Euros later we had our car. Oh and did I mention that we had just gotten done with Happy Hour? So anyways, when trying to move the car the door rubbed against the crosswalk sign... our parking space wasn't the greatest if you couldn't tell by now. We found an underground parking garage and called it a night. Boy were we fuming!

Sunday, November 13

We slept in until about lunch time then decided to make our way to Sintra. Sintra is supposed to be a beautiful small city with amazing views. We grabbed a couple of bocadillos, Ray's first ever, and headed to romantic Sintra. 25 minutes later we arrived and our car climbed the treturous hills and tiny winding roads up to see the Moorish Castle and Palacio de Pena. But of course, it was completely foggy so the view was shot and when we got to the gate to enter it started storming. It rained so hard that we decided walking in the cold rain for a view of nothing was pointless. We turned around and were once again disappointed.

Back at the hostel we were invited to have a traditional Portuguese dinner with all you can drink Sangria. Ray and I decided to sign up and we were so glad we did. After the rain let up a little bit we walked around the city and grabbed a beer at a local bar. We headed back to the hostel for dinner and we were very surprised when we got back. Candles were lit around the dark living room with a table set for two. HOW ROMANTIC! The guy told us that we were the only two that signed up for dinner so he decided to go all out for us. We were served baked cod with rice, a salad, and for dessert mango mousse. It was all so delicious! Ray even had seconds. That was by far the best thing I have eaten in Europe. After dinner he and I did this awesome puzzle that was on the wall of the living room and watched True Romance with other guests on the big screen in our hostel.


Monday, November 14

Ray and I woke up and the weather was actually beautiful out! We walked through the city and down to the Ferry station. We took a ferry to Almada to view the Cristo Rei statue. After taking a publuc bus up impossible hills and streets that can barely fit one car let alone a bus, we were there. Cristo Rei is very similar to the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. From the statue you can overlook Lisbon...one of the most breathtaking views I have ever seen. Also, you can see the 25 de Abril Bridge that is the sister bridge to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fransisco. Ray and I were the only two at the site so we were able to completely enjoy it, no rush.

We headed back to our banged up car and headed down through Portugal, and not to mention 294239 more tolls, to Huelva, Spain... my home! Yes, Portugal has a ton of tolls. None of them make any sense. Some are 50 cents, some are 1.50Euros, but just to enter and exit the country it is a whopping 18.95Euros. WTH?!

Tuesday, November 15

We woke up and headed to return the rental car. To make things short, we owed almost $1000 in damage. Apparently basic insurance covers nothing!! After that shot to the wallet, we caught a bus to  my school, Juan Ramon Jimenez, in Cartaya, Spain. Ray sat in on my second grade class while I taught. I really confused them when we were going over animals. Every animal I would have the students imitate the animal. But when I got to Zebra and asked what noise do Zebras make? The kids just sat there so confused. I thought it was a given that zebras sounds like horses but I guess not. After school I introduced Ray to Hipercor and Corte Ingles... basically our version of Super Walmart. We bought some Cruzcampo, Spain's famous version of Natty Light, and made Mac n' Cheese for dinner. We watched Green street Hooligans and called it a night.

Wednesday, November 16

I worked most of the day as Ray explored around Huelva. That night Sarah, Ray, and I went out to the Red Lion for drinks. We had a great time sitting and talking late into the night.


Thursday, November 17

This day we did absolutely nothing. I introduced him to the new show, The New Girl, and we watched the entire trilogy of Ocean's. We packed for Morocco and called it an early night.


Friday, November 18

Ray, Sarah, Jen, and I woke up SUPER early to catch the 7AM bus for Sevilla. We had to almost literally run to make it on time. We are not morning people. We met everyone in our tour group at the Plaza de Cuba in Sevilla at 9, loaded the bus, and headed for Gibraltar.

Once in Gibraltar we crossed through customs and we were in English territory! It was so crazy to see everything written in English! I went with Jen to use the bathroom and it was crazy. The public restroom costs 1 euro to use. You put the euro in the slot and then the door slides open and a British lady's voice gives you instructions. You have 20 minutes and then the door will automatically open. Then, when you're finished, the bathroom cleans itself. Weird... Our tour group loaded smaller buses and made our way to Europa Point and St. Michael's Cave. The views were incredible of the ocean and the cave was fantastic. Here's a fun fact, during the war the Brits prepared the cave as a hospital. It was never used but so cool! And of course when you talk about Gibraltar you have to talk about the monkeys. They were everywhere an not shy at all! One even jumped on someone's back! Too close for comfort. After the tour we headed into town for free time. We decided to have fish and chips, a traditional British meal YAY!! Afterwards, we headed to Algeciras where we loaded a ferry, basically a jet boat the size of a huge ship with the luxury of first class, and headed to AFRICA!!!

An hour later we were in Ceuta, Morocco!! We drove straight to our hotel in M'diq! It was beautiful and right on the Mediterranean! We had dinner in our hotel which wasn't too bad actually! Fried fish, salad, and for dessert hot Moroccan tea and cookies. We had a great time a dinner, we laughed so hard I was in tears!! What a great start to our weekend. Later, we all headed to the beach in front of our hotel and collected seashells and walked around. In the background you could see the outline of the mountains. Beautiful.

Saturday, November 19

Waking up next to the man I love and the sound of waves was perfect. We repacked our things and rode our to Chefchaouen. This small city was situated high in the mountains. I loved it. We took a tour down small walking streets between buildings painted a beautiful blue. They are painted this color to keep the mosquitoes away but it makes the contrast against the mountains and sky really stand out. Our tour guide was a tiny tiny man that was hilarious. All I could make out was, "hello friend" and "how are you?" We learned how the Moroccans made fabrics and then broke away for free time. Seeing so many things in the market that are unlike home and even Europe was so interesting! Seeing a different way of life really impacts you like no other. While in the market, these children bugged us to buy items or even just give them money. They were very persistent. I snapped this picture as they became angry and demanded that I pay for the picture I just took of them. Kids, you're cute, but no. As we were leaving it started pouring rain. We made it to the bus a little wet and started towards Tetouan.

In Tetouan we had a traditional Moroccan lunch with soup, kebab, curry chicken, and tea. The restaurant was amazing and later we learned that it was a place for weddings. It was beautiful. During Lunch we had many entertainers playing music and dancing with fire! So cool. After lunch we walked around the city and even saw the palace in Medina (old town) where the king lives!

That night we headed to Tangier where we checked into our hotel and had dinner. Dinner was salad, chicken, and couscous. Once again we had music and performers. The man who danced with a plate of fire took Ray out of the crowd and had him try to twist his arm full circle with a candle on top of his hand. He did it like a pro! It was awesome! Our dinner table had people from all over the world... USA, England, Scotland, Finland, and somewhere else.. I can't remember.

After dinner the girls, Ray, and I drank back in our rooms before going out to the discoteca! We left about 1am to dance our butts off. I made a fool of myself but who cares? I didn't know anyone! Some dance moves included were walking it out, the sprinkler, MC Hammer, and everything in between.

Sunday, November 20

We woke up early, probably too early, to go out on our last day. We drove out to the beach and rode camels. CAMELS!! How awesome. It was very touristy and short but to be able to say I rode a camel in Africa is freaking amazing. After the camel ride, we went to where the Atlantic and Mediterranean meet and had a cup of coffee. I have never seen the Atlantic look so beautiful. It was an incredible blue as the waves rolled in. After sightseeing, we went to Hercules Cave. This cave was carved out by the crashing waves over many years. It was so cool to see. On our way back to the ferry, we rode through Ceuta for a small tour. The ferry ride home was amazing. Sailing away from the African coast watching the Mountains fade away in the distance. Beautiful.

Once we rode the bus for a couple hours we arrived in Sevilla. Sarah, Ray, and I checked into our hotel and met up with Ale to go to dinner. We tried a Mexican restaurant for the second time since I have been here in Spain. It was close but still nothing compares. The four of us had a great time talking between English and Spanish. It feels so good to have such great friends already and it felt even better to be able to enjoy both company of my best friend in Spain and my best friend from home.


Monday, November 21

The last day we slept in once again and went for lunch at a small cafe. We shared chorizo, carne mechada and, jamon montaditos and huevos a la flemenco. Ray really enjoyed Spanish food, and boy was I happy to eat it too! After lunch Ale took us to the Plaza de Seville. It was huge and just absolutely incredible. Then we stopped at Starbucks. I missed Starbucks! Thank you Sevilla for having sbux, I loved indulging thanks to my amazing roomie, Sarah! Mocha Praline... Yummm. After a coffe break we walked to the Cathedral de Sevilla. It was beautiful. It is the third largest cathedral in the world!! We wanted to tour it but it was too much money. Ale headed to work so Sarah, Ray, and I drank some Sangria and had a few tapas including the Spanish Tortilla. Very traditional. I think we introduced Ray to most the the good stuff! After dinner we headed back to the hotel and stopped at Triana's Bridge. He bought us a lock that we put our initials on and locked to the bridge. We took a lot of time to pick the right spot. It was very thoughtful of him to remember me talking about it from my last visit to Sevilla and to surprise me with our very own lock! I loved it!! We have now left our mark on Spain!! Once he and I returned to our hotel, we spent time reminiscing on our trip, laughing at the good times (and even the bad), and made plans for when I get home for the holidays in 30 days.

I had an absolutely incredible experience. I had the most amazing person by my side through it all. I met some new friends, became closer with my roommates, and made everlasting memories. Thank you everyone who was apart of this trip for contributing to some of the best times of my life!!

"It sure left its mark on us
We sure left our mark on it
We let the world know we were here
With everything we did
We laid a lot of memories down
Like tattoos on this town"

THIRTY DAYS UNTIL I AM HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!

New friends, Halloween, and Hiking

Sunday, November 6, 2011 2:03 PM Posted by BlakelyTJackson 0 comments
So it has been a really long time since my last update and I don't think I can remember everything I have been up to!

I am enjoying my school, Juan Ramon Jimenez. Tomorrow is my first day starting my new schedule aka a now three day work week at JRJ!! WOOHOO!! My kids are starting to love me! Last week one of my 2nd graders gave me his cookie! Then that afternoon, a teacher gave me a cute pen and notepad because I went out of my way to help her make Halloween booklets for her students. My cookie boyfriend has some competition though with this chubby student named Manuel. Every time he sees me he covers me in kisses and leaves my cheek covered with slobber. On Thursday he said if he was 21 he would marry my. Then he said, "I love you! In Spanish, it's te amo!" So cute!

My second job at the Centro Idiomas Covent Garden is going well too! I have three separate classes. All classes are Adults that work for the company called Atlantic Copper.

On Monday and Wednesdays I go out to the plant and teach 5 people that are low intermediate. Mercedes is the most fluent in English but all are so nice. Last week I taught them about the difference between fun and funny and all the little things like that.

On Tuesdays at the Centro Idiomas Covent Garden I teach two adults, Manuel and Christina. Christina is so talkative and I love it! Manuel might be a little difficult to keep interested in the class but hopefully I can come up with some fun and interesting topics for class.

On Wednesdays when I get back from the plant, I teach Bella. She is a wonderful woman who is already fluent in Spanish. She is a young mother but such a delight. She grew up in Germany and is now fluent in English, too. She only wants to learn the colloquial English that comes from America so my job is easy! I have taught her about different sayings, and she had taught me a few things in return.

Last weekend Rosio, one of the teachers at my school, invited me out with some other teachers for dinner and drinks. She is so sweet and I had a blast with everyone. Sarah, my roommate, and I met them for pizza and then we went out to a bar and had a couple of beers. It was quiet at times because of the language barrier but I enjoyed being out and feeling apart of the group at my school!

Monday was Halloween so I showed up to my school, even though I am not scheduled to work Mondays anymore, to celebrate with my kids. We played pin the face on the pumpkin and pass the apple. Both were so cute and I loved seeing all of the ninos in their scary costumes! (In Spain Halloween is still new and everyone only dresses scary... witches, zombies, vampires, etc.) I dressed as a witch and during my 4th grade class the kids tried to sing a Halloween song.. they were so cute. The only thing they really got down was trick or treat!

Monday night Jen and I went to our friends apartment for a party. Anna, Sarah, and Lisa had their piso so cutely decorated. People from out program all joined together to drink and celebrate! There were people from all over the US, England, and Scotland! Pretty neat, huh? Some guy pulled out his guitar and harmonica.. so no matter where you live, there is always that one person that brings the tunes I guess! Jen and I put on our game faces and attempted to play beer pong. I guess we are both rusty! After the game everyone decided to venture out into the town. We ended up at Mombosa, this awesome bar that has a huge rhino in it. We drank, sang, and danced once we had enough to drink, then found out way home late in the night.

This weekend was a blast, too but in a completely different sense. Well first off, let me tell the lovely story of our internet..

So we signed up for internet ONE MONTH ago. Oh man, do you have to wait for everything in Spain or what!? So on Thursday night and all day Friday I was on the phone with Yacom and Telefonica trying to get someone to tell me where my internet was!! Finally on Friday our router came in the mail, but of course it did not work because our line was not installed correctly. I am proud of myself for not only staying on the company's ass to get someone out to fix it, but I am also proud that I was able to speak Spanish to every person over the phone and communicate with them. Yay I am slowly accomplishing my goal to learn Spanish! So eventually I got a hold of the guy from Telefonica who told me he would be at our apartment in an hour. An hour and fifteen minutes later I called him again. He said he would be right there. Fifteen minutes later he shows up, messes around with a few things, then tells me he would be right back. An hour and a half later, I call him asking where are you?! He tells us that he is crossing the street and to open the door for him. Again, fifteen minutes later he returns and our internet was finally working! Thank goodness!

What was the first thing I did after getting internet you ask? Well, after calling Ray jumping for joy, I watched Jersey Shore. Man I missed that show! Don't judge me. Saturday night Jen and I made homemade chili and watched the rest of the season of Jersey Shore. Now I no longer have to wonder...

During the day on Saturday though, the girls and I woke up early to meet Sarah's PE teacher and bilingual coordinator to go hiking in Galaroz, Spain. There was about 10 of us as we drove an hour and a half north of Huelva to the tiny city of Galaroz. We started hiking at 11:30 and we were supposed to hike to another town, have some coffee, and hike back. We got incredible lost so we ended up turning around about 3pm and heading back. But the walk was still amazing. There were Chestnuts everywhere. We would just pick them up and start munching away. Also, there were madroño trees everywhere, too. They are berries that are kinda sour but very good. If you look at the flag of Madrid, you can see the tree of which the bear is climbing. The fall leaves, which are not found in huelva, were beautiful. It finally felt like Fall for the first time since I have been here. The mountains in the background were amazing and it really made me miss my Georgia Landscape. I had an absolute blast just enjoying the outdoors and taking things slow. I hope we go back again before it gets too cold and rainy.

That about sums up my past two weeks. On Saturday my handsome boyfriend will finally be here to start our mini vacation! We are going to Portugal, Gibraltar, Morocco, and Sevilla together. 2 continents, 4 countries, 8 cities, in 10 days. I am so excited. I've missed him so much and we always have fun together so I know this will be a blast!!

This post is mainly about food.

Monday, October 24, 2011 8:05 AM Posted by BlakelyTJackson 0 comments
Wednesday night went really well with Bella, the woman I am tutoring at the Centro. She is fluent and speaks English so well. She just wants practice with American English because she deals with a lot of Americans at her job. So basically I get paid to hang out with her, talk, and teach her American slang. Awesome!

Thursday I had to reprimand my students for the first time. There is only so much whispering, giggling, and staring at your expense before you take it as disrespectful. Mom told me to be a little hard at the beginning so you can have fun the rest of the year. Hopefully I got my point across!

Friday night the girls and I went out for dinner! We had squid meatballs, pizza, spaghetti bolognese, a cheese plate, and Lemoncello. It was delishhhh!! We didn't even start dinner until close to midnight. That is insane, and only in SPAIN!!

Saturday we did a lot of bebopping around town looking at different shops. We found the farmers market where families buy fresh meat, seafood, produce, and eggs. Later we went grocery shopping and our arms were sooo full!! We had so many things in our hands and were almost a Kilometer away from home. It was a full on race that left our arms sore the next day.

Saturday night Alejandro came into town and we made him an American feast. I fried chicken, and we all made baked mac n cheese with Apple Crisp for dessert. All homemade, all soo freakin good. We inhaled it and began the game Edward 40 Hands. Basically you tape a 40oz beer to each hand and can't take them off until you finish. It's more of a game to beat your bladder. I won!! Then we went out to a bar to watch a soccer game, went to another to play darts, and ended the night dancing. I found an old gordo to dance Salsa with because they aren't creepy, actually dance, and are good at it! Yay!

Sunday was our day of rest and we caught the movie Paranormal Activity 3. Scary movies definitely translate well because I was squirming and squealing!!

Sunday night it rained for the first time since I have been here. Yes, one month later and the weather finally changed from hot and sunny.

Monday I had my presentation for Halloween at my school. I dressed up like Little Red Riding Hood! My kids loved the presentation, especially the little movie at the end. I had them singing Jeepers Creepers though probably none of them knew what the hell they were saying. Cute anyways! Here is my presentation:



My work schedule got changed so now I only work Tues-Thurs. I am one lucky girl!!

The Work Week

Itś Wednesday and I am one day away from the weekend! But, the weather is starting to cool down (finally) so I think we might have had our last beach trip...

On Monday, I got to present my powerpoint to my 6th graders about me. They were so interested in Atlanta. Especially the fact that Coca Cola was invented there, it snows, and that we swim in the same ocean, the Atlantic. They could not comprehend baseball though, they kept saying random stuff like tennis and American football. Oh well! Some things just dont translate!



I got a job teaching Mondays and Wednesdays at the Centro de Idiomas Convent Garden instructing adults that work for a company called Atlantic Copper. I am nervous about teaching adults, kids are easier to entertain.

On Tuesday Sarah and I went to our first intercambio. Basically international students meet at a cafe and take turns having conversation in Spanish and English. It always takes me a few minutes to get in the groove of listening, but before long I am asking myself, Ẅait, did he say that in English or Spainsh because I understood all of it witout hesitation!" I am still very bad at speaking Spanish, but like learning any language, even your own as a child, that comes last in the process. I still have a ton of time for practice and I am so glad Sarah and I put ourselves out there because it will be a great tool to learn.

Today is Wednesday and I have my first lesson tonight with a woman from American Copper. We are just going to spend the class time getting to know one another. I will check her English proficiency and see what her goals are for the year with me. My boss told me that she doesnt want to work from a book but would rather practice conversation and current affairs. I think my second job may be more difficult than my first!

I just talked with the headmaster of my school and i recieved my health card, and I asked him once again about being paid. He basically said, weĺl see. If we have the money at the end of the month well pay you. Uhh.. soo.. I am hoping for the best and expecting the worst. I have bills to pay and I dont know how I am going to pay them if I dont get paid. Only Spain would hire 2,000 students to move over here and then delay paying them for months. Itś out of my hands so I am trying to adopt the Spanish lifestlye of No Pasa Nada, no worries.

School, Columbus Day, Punta Umbria, & Seville

Tuesday, October 18, 2011 7:00 AM Posted by BlakelyTJackson 0 comments

What a week it has been!! I really enjoy teaching all of my classes. I am teaching 1st through 6th grade at Juan Ramon Jimenez in Cartaya, Spain. I love all of my classes, but I think I especially love my Science class in 6th grade and my English class in 2nd grade. These two classes are in love with me and are interested in learning. I even got my 2nd graders to flex their muscles for me, adorable!! Some classes seem a little unorganized. Think of the movie Mean Girls, when all of the students are in the hall ways acting like wild animals. That is what recess is at my school. The students are allowed to do whatever they want, except kill each other… I think. I find my solitude, like a lot of teachers, in the air conditioned teacher’s lounge. My school is pretty up to date with new computers, and I think I saw some students with school issued lap tops. We even have interactive projection screens in the higher grade classes.

On Wednesday, the 12th, it was a federal holiday and there was a huge festival right outside our apartment. Fun fact, Huelva is where Christopher Columbus set sail when he discovered the Americas. So there is a huge statue, house, and festival in his honor. That morning while walking into town, we passed by marathon runners. Then there was a parade of horses and their buggies ornately decorated. There were several tents and stands set up selling different crafts and food. Huge wheels of cheese,  legs ham, and tables filled with all kinds of spices lured me in. Since Morocco is so close, there were so many African influences. It was really neat to see all of the different incense, spices, dried fruit, and Buddha symbols everywhere. The girls and I made our way around and then relaxed on our day off.

On Friday we made a trip to the beach, this has become tradition! We went down to Punta Umbria and soaked up the sun. The weather was perfect, not too hot. The water was pretty chilly but it couldn’t keep me away from a quick dip.

On Saturday, we left early for Sevilla! We had been looking forward to this trip all week! It’s an hour bus ride into the city, which is not bad at all. We got there and started our search for a hostel. Sarah was staying in a hotel that Jen and I didn’t want to dish out money for so we decided to look for something a little more basic. We wandered down some streets until we found the first hostel, La Casa del Sol. We checked into our room which consisted of 3 bunk beds, one bathroom, and a wall of lockers for your valuables. It was very clean and I actually wasn’t nervous about my first stay in a hostel! After that, the girls and I met with Sarah’s friend Alejandro. We went shopping because it was his friend’s birthday that night and we were all invited.

In the afternoon, we walked across town and met up with Ale’s friend so we could all go to the Festival of Nations. Within the month, the festival circulates 50 countries in 5 continents with over 100 bands. We walked around the different shops and then took a very long time to decided which country’s food we were going to have for lunch. We settled on Greece and I ate one of the best Gyros I have ever eaten. Yumm!! Jen found her Argentinian beer, and we all stumbled across the United States/Canada tent. Good grief. It served chicken nuggets, ribs, and Duff beer. Yes Duff beer, like the kind on The Simpson’s cartoon show. We had to try it and it turns out, it’s pretty good. Thank you Spain for stereotyping us, but at least the beer is good.

One more friend of Ale showed up and we found our way to the Cuban bar. The girls all ordered beer and the boys ordered ridiculous girly drinks. If we were in the states, the jokes would never cease. And I don’t think they did here, either. I dragged some hair across my upper lip to make a moustache to reinforce the perspective that us girls were more manly. (The guys barely speak English.. except for Ale, he’s pretty good!) We moved on to our second round and finally settled in on Mojitos. They were soo good. We even got free hats from the bartender at one point. The girls and I had a blast, and I am sure the boys were amused at our antics of joking around with one another.  We enjoyed a Flamenco presentation and called it a night.

Jen and I went back to our hostel to get ready to go out and ended up chatting with our roommates, who turned out to be two traveling girls from Costa Rica! Jen and I both laid out on our bunk bed and soon were fast asleep. Needless to say we did not make it out for the birthday party!! Seville-1, Us-0! The next morning we went to free breakfast which was basically a pitcher of OJ and a bag of sliced bread with which you had to make your own toast. We slathered it with Margarine and headed out.

I have to say, Seville is absolutely beautiful. People always told us that Huelva was ugly and we never understood until we got to Seville. I can’t wait to go back with Ray and venture out with him to make new memories and have a blast. Over river on this beautiful bridge, there are tons of locks with couple’s names and the date they put their lock on the bridge. I hope I can talk him into doing it with me! How cute!  Only 3 and a half weeks until he visits! I am soo excited!!

Good company, fine wine, delicious food, and a bullfight

Monday, October 10, 2011 1:33 PM Posted by BlakelyTJackson 0 comments

What a long and wonderful weekend!! 

Thursday I finally went and visited my school and got to meet all of the students and faculty. There are 800 students in my school with almost 30 to a class. What is interesting is that the teachers rotate classrooms instead of students. There are 3 one hour classes in the morning, 30 mins for recess, and then 2 fourty-five min classes in the afternoon. School flies by! The only place that has A/C in the school is the teacher’s lounge, hell yeah. Also when we opened the fridge, there were sooo many six packs of beer. Yes I said it, teachers drink beer on their planning hour in Spain. I wonder how long it will take me to grow the balls to bring in my own. Abita Andygator anyone??

Thursday night my roomies and I got wind of a party that was being thrown for international students and a bar called Saxo in the center of Huelva. The girls and I decided to have Taco Night and drink drink drink. The tacos turned out to be delicious. After all they do carry the Old Paso taco kits like they do in the states. We downed beer after beer and threw in a few glasses of Sangria. We sat and talked for hours, listened to music, and had a great time… a real roommate bonding experience.

The party didn’t start until midnight so we were well on our way to drunk by the time we started walking downtown. We got so lost and didn’t arrive until 1:30AM! There were still plenty of people there. Many people had their face painted with the flag from their country… because one, it was an international party and two, from 12-1 it was happy hour and you got a free shot if you had your face painted. The girls and I didn’t have our faces painted and even if we did, we wouldn’t have made it in time. We met a few people from Italy, London, etc. But mostly we were the Americans in the corner drinking beer and deciding that though we might be drunk we were not drunk enough to join the seven people on the dance floor. After Jen made a comment about us being awkward I jumped out in the middle of the bar and busted a move… poorly, but what the heck? I don’t know any of you people anyways. Like good friends the girls were right behind me and we danced for a song or two. Spice Girls inevitably came on and we sang our hearts out. By 3AM we were ready to call it a night… and look for the McDonald’s by our apartment. After stumbling back towards our edge of town we decided Mickey D’s was too far and that leftover tacos were a better choice.

Friday morning came and went until we all started stirring around two in the afternoon. We don’t work on Fridays so what the heck?! Friday we spent laying around went to our usual café for a little while. We even went and bought a DVD player! It took forever to set up but like the genius I am I got it working. The player came with a movie that was absolutely terrible. It was in black and white, the sounds effects and voices didn’t even match up with the actions. Buutt the girls and I took it easy and called it a night early.

On Saturday we got up bright and early to head to the beach. We wanted to go somewhere different and the first bus out of the station was for Isla Christina. It was very beautiful. There were tons of pine trees, which look a lot different from the ones at home, sand dunes, and blue water. The water was too cold to swim in but I enjoyed wading in it after being out in the sun. Sarah and I collected seashells that were scattered across the sand and adventured out into the dunes to check it out. We had to take a taxi to and from the station because it was too far to walk. So while waiting for the taxi to come pick us up, I got stung by a yellow jacket! All weekend it has been incredibly swollen and itchy. How annoying!

Saturday night Sarah’s friend Alejandro from Seville came into town and we decided to take him out for drinks and dinner. Ale is originally from Argentina but grew up in Seville so he doesn’t speak very much English at all and his accent is terrible! We enjoyed talking with him and it actually shocked me how much I understood and was able to communicate back to him. We first went to Buddha Bar which is a rooftop bar by the movie theater. We learned how to order mixed drinks from Ale and whoa, they make their drinks strong here. One part mixer to three parts liquor…Holy! Needless to say our Spanish was flowing good, or so we thought, by the time we were done drinking. By 11 we decided to head to dinner because we all hadn’t eaten since lunch. We chose La Mirta which was the second best restaurant in Huelva according to Trip Advisor. We got a few glasses of wine as the place was packed! At midnight the place was busy!! For dinner! I am still getting used to this. We finally got a table and ordered two cheese plates, a fish plate, lasagna, and chicken with fries. In Spain you order small dishes and share amongst the table. The small dishes are called Tapas. We ate until we got our fill and our jaws were sore from laughing and speaking in Spanglish. We turned in about 1.
Sunday was a lazy day but that is always the case in Southern Spain. All the shops are closed and everyone is spending time with family and taking strolls around town. Sarah heard of a mock bullfight that was going on in the town she teaches in, Palos. We decided to pack up and head that way to check it out. We bought our tickets and squeezed in this small arena to watch the men take on the bulls for this festival. I think we were about 10 mins into the bullfight when we realized this was the real deal. They were stabbing the bull and it was gushing blood. People were cheering and us three American girls were sitting there in shock. What did we get ourselves into!? Ale told us that there were going to be 6 bulls killed and we were almost sick. I tried to look past the animal cruelty part and acknowledge the tradition and how the men were so good at their craft. I could tell the men had trained for years in what they were doing and I respected them for that.  

Spanish-style bullfighting is called corrida de toros (literally "running of bulls") or la fiesta ("the festival"). In a traditional corrida, three matadores, each fight two bulls, each of which is between four and six years old and weighs no less than 460 kg (1,014 lb) [8] Each matador has six assistants—two picadores ("lancers on horseback") mounted on horseback, three banderilleros – who along with the matadors are collectively known as toreros ("bullfighters") – and a mozo de espadas ("sword page"). Collectively they comprise a cuadrilla ("entourage"). The word "matador" is only used in English whereas in Spanish the more general "torero" is used and only when needed to distinguish the full title "matador de toros" is used.

The modern corrida is highly ritualized, with three distinct stages or tercios ("thirds"), the start of each being announced by a bugle sound. The participants first enter the arena in a parade, called the paseíllo, to salute the presiding dignitary, accompanied by band music. Torero costumes are inspired by 17th century Andalusian clothing, and matadores are easily distinguished by the gold of their traje de luces ("suit of lights") as opposed to the lesser banderilleros who are also called toreros de plata ("bullfighters of silver"). Next, the bull enters the ring to be tested for ferocity by the matador and banderilleros with the magenta and gold capote ("cape"). This is the first stage, the tercio de varas ("the lancing third"), and the matador first confronts the bull with the capote, performing a series of passes and observing the behavior and quirks of the bull.

Next, a picador enters the arena on horseback armed with a vara ("lance"). To protect the horse from the bull's horns, the horse is surrounded by a protective, padded covering called "peto". Prior to 1930, the horse did not wear any protection, and the bull would usually disembowel the horse during this stage. Until this change was instituted, the number of horses killed during a fight was higher than the number of bulls killed.[9]

At this point, the picador stabs just behind the morrillo, a mound of muscle on the fighting bull's neck, weakening the neck muscles and leading to the animal's first loss of blood. The manner in which the bull charges the horse provides important clues to the matador about which side the bull favors. If the picador is successful, the bull will hold its head and horns slightly lower during the following stages of the fight. This ultimately enables the matador to perform the killing thrust later in the performance. The encounter with the picador often fundamentally changes the behaviour of a bull, distracted and unengaging bulls will become more focused and stay on a single target instead of charging at everything that moves.

In the next stage, the tercio de banderillas ("the third of banderillas"), the three banderilleros each attempt to plant two banderillas, sharp barbed sticks into the bull's shoulders. These anger and invigorate, but further weaken, the bull who has been tired by his attacks on the horse and the damage he has taken from the lance. Sometimes a matador will place his own banderillas. If they do so they usually embellish this part of their performance and employ more varied manoeuvres than the standard "al cuarteo" method usually used by Banderilleros that are part of a Matador's cuadrilla.


In the final stage, the tercio de muerte ("the third of death"), the matador re-enters the ring alone with a small red cape, or muleta, and a sword. It is a common misconception that the color red is supposed to anger the bull, because bulls, in fact, are colorblind.[10][11] The cape is thought to be red to mask the bull's blood, although this is now also a matter of tradition. The matador uses his cape to attract the bull in a series of passes which serve the dual purpose of wearing the animal down for the kill and producing a beautiful display or faena. He may also demonstrate his domination over the bull by caping it especially close to his body. The faena is the entire performance with the muleta and it is usually broken down into tandas, "series", of passes. The faena ends with a final series of passes in which the matador with a muleta attempts to maneuver the bull into a position to stab it between the shoulder blades and through the aorta or heart. The sword is called "estoque" and the act of thrusting the sword is called an estocada. The estoque used by the matador during the faena is called estoque simulado. This estoque simulado is made out of wood or aluminum. In contrast to the estoque de verdad (real sword) which is made out of steel and is used for the estocada the estoque simulado is lighter and therefore much easier to handle. However, at the end of the tercio de muerte at the time when the matador has finished his faena the matador will change his estoque simolado for the estoque de verdad to perform the estocada.

If the matador has performed particularly well, the crowd may petition the president to award the matador an ear of the bull by waving white handkerchiefs. If his performance was exceptional, he will award two, and in certain more rural rings a tail can still be awarded.

So there it is, what happened. Thanks Wikipedia... and there's your source.

I am about to Skype my man for the first time! I feel like it's our first date or seomthing, I am so anxious and nervous!!! :)


Everything is coming together


The work week is almost over with, it is Wednesday!

Monday I was supposed to meet the girl that is teaching with me at my school in Cartaya. I was running behind with my roommate Jen to the bus station and arrived just in time for the 12 o’clock bus… as it pulled away. Next to the empty space of where the bus used to be was another with a sign that said Cartaya, too. The driver told us that the other bus was going straight there and that his had a lot of stops before getting to Cartaya. We of course, didn’t really understand what he said until we were on the bus and realizing we were headed for the beach. Instead of a 25 min bus ride it took us almost an hour to get to our town. I called the girl was I supposed to meet, Sara, and she said she was still stuck in the office trying to get her NIE, the ID that allows you to get a bank account to get paid over here. That was terrible news because she had been there since 7:30AM and it was now past 12PM. I was dreading going to get mine the next day.

Anywho, the bus driver hollered back to us to get off the bus after over 50 mins of the stop and go. We walked on to the sidewalk of a very small, one street town. Welcome to the pueblo. We quickly realized after pulling up Google maps, thank goodness for iPhones, that our schools were in opposite directions. Instead of breaking off we decided to venture together for our first days. After getting a little lost we found my school.

 The 800 students of my school were out for a fiesta, of course, so it was basically a teacher work day. I met with my coordinator who turned out to be one of the nicest people I have ever met. I am just blown away by her generosity and kindness. She taught at Michigan State for a year and knew what it was like to be displaced and far from home. She said living with other Americans was good for the heart, but not good for learning Spanish. I completely agreed, happily. We discussed what I would like to teach and what I feel comfortable with, and we chose for me to teach older students in the elementary school. I met the headmaster who was a funny guy that could not for the life of him pronounce my name! Oh here we go, no one will be able to. After our brief meeting, Maria, my coordinator, volunteered to drive us to Jen’s school and introduce her to the faculty. How nice! After hanging out at her school for a while Maria even drove us to the bus station. Jen and I waited an hour for the bus and finally made our way home.

On Tuesday Sarah, Jen, and I woke up super early and went to the office in town to get our NIE’s. at 7:30 we were at the door waiting and by 10 we were done. It was such a quick an easy process. Nothing like all the horror stories we had heard. The man who processed my paperwork was so funny and friendly. When he saw the horrible and silly face I had made for my identification card, he had a good laugh. Thank goodness I got someone with a sense of humor or else I might have been forced to go take another picture.

When we finished getting our temporary cards we tried to go get a bank account. Two banks told us that we couldn’t get an account without having the official card, which would take 45 days to get. So you are telling me that I can’t get paid for another 45 days? I can’t afford that! We were hoping that the orientation that night would have answers.

They did. Execpt all of their answers were in Spanish. The whole thing was in Spanish. For 4 hours we sat through an entire discussion that I could not catch half of. We got the necessary papers and bolted to go grab some Cruzcampo, the local beer, and dinner. We went to our usual café right next to the hotel we stayed at so we could once again mooch off their wifi. We have become regulars. We stayed out pretty late and headed home for our official first day of school in the morning.

And today, Wednesday, was a transportation nightmare. Sarah had to take a taxi out to her school because no buses were scheduled to leave Huelva at the time she needed to. I arrived at the bus station to take the 12 o’clock bus but behold, there was no bus. The screen did not show a bus going to Cartaya until 2! I went to the window and asked the woman for the bus schedule for Cartaya. And there in print it said 12…. So where is it? I called my coordinator in a panic and of course the sweet woman said that hard times will be like this in the beginning but it will work itself out. Looks like I got the day off, bummer.


I did end up getting a bank account today which allows me to get paid on time at the beginning of next month!! We also go out washer officially fixed, and we ordered internet which we should have in the next seven to ten days! WOO!! So excited, but I think the cafe we frequent will miss us. We don't even pay for half of what we order we're that awesome. Tomorrow I am touring the school and meeting my teachers. Looking forward to it!! 

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