Blakely's Blog

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.

Saturday October 1^st. It’s already October!? Jen and I had a pretty lazy day. We woke up about 9:30 and headed to the Orange Movíl store to get our phones up and running, once again. That lady hates us. I am dreading going back on Monday to see if we can get internet and cable using just our passports. After we got everything squared away and we were connected once again with the rest of the world we decided to have breakfast at the churro café. Fresh homemade churros dipped in hot melted chocolate washed down warm sweetened milk. Oh man, by far the best thing I have eaten here so far!! Jen and I headed back to bed once we got home. It’s Saturday, we do what we want! 

We were woken up by our landlord at 2pm who came with our new dishes and lots of little finishing touches for our apartment. Yayayay! We washed the dishes and put them away. I decided to go ahead and wash my one bath towel I bought so I could shower later. The washing machine needed a good rinse so we ran it once with detergent and hot water to clean it out. Not 10 minutes later and water was leaking everywhere! It was coming out from the bottom of the machine, the top, and it was even leaking into the cabinet next to it. I used my one towel to wipe up the mess and decided that it was broken, shoot. So as of right now I am using a tshirt as a towel. How… miserable. Especially since our brand spankin new water heater maybe holds 5 gallons at most. The winter is gonna suck having cold showers. I can barely stand it now!!

After the washing machine fiasco, Jen and I decided to heat up our leftovers in our new microwave. As you can tell our landlord loves us and bought us pretty things for our piso. Too bad something has gone wrong with everything. Oh Spain. Our microwave set of the breaker. And again. And again. So we ate our food cold for lunch. Over lunch we decided to catch a movie. We landed on the 8:30pm showing of La Piel Que Habito starring Antonio Bandaras, my mother’s favorite actor. We didn’t know where the theater was so we set out on an adventure to find it. Three miles later we were lost in the middle of nowhere next to the ship yard on the river. My google directions on my phone definitely led us away from where we wanted to be. Jen and I started to cut across a park that had no grass and was very empty. Suddenly she says, “Oh, I think this is the park that we’re not supposed to go in at night because it’s unsafe.” Good thinking! We came across two young boys that had just got done playing basketball and I asked them for directions. One boy told us to keep walking and we’d find it. We thanked them and kept walking briskly because it didn’t feel safe. Come to find out we passed by couples making out. Apparently the park is for smooching late at night. Guess what I’m doing when my man comes to visit!? 

We finally made it to this huge mall with the movie theater inside. We had missed the 8:30 showing by 30 mins and stumbled across this awesome new rooftop bar overlooking the river. Cervesa? Sure!! Mas?? Claro que si! By the 10:30 movie we were buzzed and ready to go! We stood in a very very long line for the ticket counter and discovered that there is assigned seating!! Crazy right? The movie was crazy weird and we still can’t understand why it is rated so high on all the websites. I wish I could say we got lost in translation but no, it was just creepy. 

Sunday the 2^nd, we decided to go to Punta Umbria, the beach closest to town. For only 2Euro you can take the bus down to the beach and take it easy. Nothing here in Spain is open on Sunday and the streets are bare. Everyone is at the beach. The weather was perfect. Mid-80s with a nice breeze. The water was cool and there were pretty good waves, I wish I would have had my boogie board! There were tons of beautiful seashells everywhere but they did not feel good to walk on. We caught a late lunch at this tiny place on the beach. It was nice to hang out, eat, drink a coke, and watch all the kids play…. Naked. I can’t wait to go back next Sunday. On the way home the bus was packed so we had to wait another hour for the next bus. But no pasa nada, we grabbed another beer and munched on some snacks.  Tomorrow is my first meeting with my school and the work week begins. I am so anxious to know what it is going to be like. Thank goodness I am in contact with the other auxillar at my school. We are meeting at the bus station in the morning to venture together. I’ll write soon!! Hasta Luego!

What a trip!! 

The day finally came for me to come to Spain on Wednesday, the 28^th. I shared a long tearful good-bye to my sweet boyfriend, Ray, and headed to spend the day with my family. By this point I was already a wreck with mascara all over my face and puffy eyes. 

The family piled in the car and headed to the Varsity for my “last meal”. Good choice! Like always we all wrote our orders down on a napkin. Its tradition, I can’t really explain it. Lindsay tallied orders when they were more than one. For example, Mama and I both wanted a Chili Steak so Lindsay put two tally marks next to the order. Well when it came time to pay, the cashier had over $80 in food rang in. Mark did a double take and said, “WHAT?!” Low and behold the woman had entered ELEVEN burgers instead of two. Dad said his face was priceless; we all had a good laugh. 

We all arrived at the airport very early and when I went to go check my bag I found out it was ten pounds over. But I need all of this! That’s why I packed it! Okay, maybe I don’t need all of those shoes, or that hot sauce, or that big can of shaving cream. So I let a few things go and made the mark at 70lbs. Mind you I had a fully packed backpack and carry on to boot so I knew this was going to be a struggle. Finally after sweating, clearing out my suitcase, and not to mention having an intimate and yet embarrassing laugh with my sister, we made our way to hang out before I had to go through security. I teared up as I said bye to my family and tried not to bawl as I waited in line for the new body scanner. Just my luck I get pulled aside for a further pat down. The TSA rubbed a piece of paper on my palm, scanned it, then sent me on the way… yeah; I don’t have a clue either. 

The flight was comfortable and the pasta I had for dinner was actually pretty dang good. It put me in a carb coma and I was out. I needed to sleep because my flight left at 6:30pm and I was arriving in Madrid at 3:30am (9:30am Madrid time.) So I got off the plane with no idea what I was doing. I knew I had to take the 6pm train to Huelva but that’s about it. I was already exhausted from no sleep and the HUGE luggage I was towing didn’t help either. I found the ticket office for the train with ease and purchased my ticket. I figured with my 9 hour layover I’d just sleep in the airport after storing my things in a locker. 

The locker storage of course is across the street from the airport. I am greeted by two gentlemen in their 50’s. One is the employee and the other is security. And they don’t speak any English. Multiple hand gestures later, I find my locker and the overweight sweating security guard helps me shove all 90 pounds of luggage into a locker 4ft off the ground, whew! 

I slump down into a chair in one of the two restaurants at the airport and open my computer. I purchased wireless internet for the day since I had so much down time. As I am skimming through the internet I start to wonder about my train route and where it cuts through. I pull the map up and notice; uhh… it’s not connected to the airport like I thought. Dang itttt. So I quickly got to the information desk and had the woman rudely tell me to take the bus. Not which bus, where to find it, how much it is. Nothing. Thanks. So I make my way over to the nice men over at the lockers and ask them in my broken Spanish about the train and figure out it’s a 40min bus ride to the Atocha train station for 2Euros. I decide to go ahead and go to the station just in case. By now it’s 2 and my train leaves at 6.

The bus I climb onto is already 75% full and all of the luggage racks are taken. So here I am, this little white girl with 90lbs of luggage standing in the aisle of the bus. I would hate me, too. Especially the people that got off at the stops before me that couldn’t get out. While riding through Madrid I did get a glimpse of beautiful fountains and squares. I will definitely need to make a trip up there soon.

The train station on the outside was very pretty and ornate. The inside, was boring. Just like the airport. I ordered the bistec y patatas fritas in the restaurant (Steak and fries). I wasn’t even done eating before my eyes were rolling in the back of my head as my chin got closer and closer to the table. I was exhausted. The problem with being tired in a strange and busy place is that you have so many important things in your bag and you don’t want to risk falling asleep and having your valuables taken. So I strategically placed all of my luggage next to me on a seat in the back of the station, curled up on top of it, and slept. I would wake up every 15 mins but man it just felt good to shut my eyes.

Finally it was 6 and I had to get on my train. The train ride was my favorite part. There was barely a soul on board and it was so roomy. With my complimentary headphones I listened to classical music provided and watched as we left the city into the open fields of Spain. But as you can guess, I fell asleep. 

After 26 hours of traveling non-stop I finally arrived to Huelva. Jen and Sarah, my new roommates, said that they would meet me at the station to pick me up. As the station clears and I am left standing almost alone, I look up and see them exhaustingly hurrying to meet me. They went the wrong way when trying to find the station. Sounds about what I would do… and probably will do in the near future. We hugged hello and went straight to our new apartment! They picked an absolutely beautiful one, I love it! New floors, fixtures, and appliances! Two bedrooms and two baths! 550Euros a month, what a steal! Unfortunately we didn’t have hot water yet, and I hadn’t purchased sheets so we headed to the hotel for the night. 

Just outside the hotel was an Italian restaurant that the girls had eaten at the night before. They said the sangria was delicious and if you know me, I was itching to try it. We chatted through dinner and drinks until we were ready to head back. I contacted everyone from home and got to talk to my handsome man for a good while until my eyes were heavy. I swear I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. 

This morning, Friday the 30^th, we woke up and headed to the leasing office for me to sign and get everything squared away. The realtor was so nice though he got so frustrated when we didn’t understand him. Yes, we know what electricidad is. It is almost exactly like the word in English. What we don’t understand is who, where, and when we pay the bill for the electricity. And what should have taken a few mins took a few hours and we were starving by the time it was over. Sarah and Jen took me to this restaurant where they serve small sandwiches called montaditos. I tried the ham one because I have heard their ham was the best. I also tried beef with tomato. Both were pretty good, I think I’ll keep trying all of the different ones; there 100 of them! But for a 3euro meal that included potato chips and a beer, I think I’ll be eating there often! Especially on Wednesdays when all of the Montaditos are 1Euro!  On the way home we took a different route that took us to the top of a hill where you can overlook the city and see the water, so beautiful! We dropped into Cortez Ingles to pick up a few things. It is basically a Walmart/Mall with a grocery store, home good store, and clothing store all on different levels. Who woulda thunk? 

This afternoon Sarah left for Seville to run a race with friends and Jen and I ventured out into the town to find a phone plan, hangers and fans. We don’t have a/c or heat so this will be a first for me! We walked all over the place with no success. Though we did find a cheap grocery store called El jamón that even sold Tabasco, woo!! Finally after asked the woman in the phone store, Jen and I went to the very end of the street to find them. This reminds me, there is an awesome churro café that I need to go to tomorrow. Mmm… café, churros, and chocolate! For dinner we didn’t feel like walking all the way back downtown to find something so we went into an empty Chinese restaurant we saw. I had my first beer and my spring roll was the size of a friggin burrito. Holy. Our waiter also brought out rice… patties? Think of a big Rice Krispy flake, the size of a saucer. Eh. The food was actually pretty close to home, but instead of a fortune cookie, you get a shot of sake. How’s that for a fortune? Then, on a happenin’ Friday night, we took our computers down to a café outside the hotel we were staying at and mooched off their wifi as we hung out with probably most of the population of Huelva. Of course, our phones stopped working because we didn’t register our sim cards, though we couldn’t figure it out online and I don’t understand a word that is coming thorough the phone when I call. So tomorrow morning we plan on going to the store to raise some hell… and then beg for contact to the outside world. Then maybe a trip up to Seville or down to the beach.

So now I am sitting here in my new apartment, tucked into my new sheets, jet lagged (it’s 3AM!) without internet, phone, or cable. What else is a girl to do than write a 2,000 word blog post? I feel so relieved to have a roof over my head and great people to live with. I’m worried that I will not be able to learn the language as easily as I thought I would. Hopefully I will find someone who will do an intercambio which is basically where you just sit and chat and learn from one another. Also I hope that I will be able to find things to keep me busy, all of this down time in this small town might drive me crazy during the week. I’m looking forward to the year ahead of me. Gonna turn in for the night, say my prayers, and cuddle up to Scoop and this Georiga sweatshirt that smells like mah man. Buenos noches España, take good care of me!