Sunday, January 19, 2014

My First Week Back

After being away for nearly three weeks, it took me a few days to adjust to my Spanish life here in Madrid and to get over that jet lag! Since my flight arrived in the morning, I promised myself that I wouldn't sleep all day so I that I could quickly get back on Spain time. I went to bed around 10pm that night and I wasn't smart and didn't set an alarm so I slept until 4pm the next day! So you can imagine how hard it was for me to fall asleep at a decent hour the following night (...5am...) Monday morning was rough to say the least, but receiving hugs from the students at school made it more than worth it!

Some other things that happened this past week:

1). I found out that I won Spain's big lottery that happened while I was in the States!!!! Yes, you read that correctly. The schools pooled some money together and I had put in ten euros before I left for Christmas. On Monday morning, I found out that I won... my ten euros back. So I technically didn't gain anything, but it's still fun to say I won part of the big lottery :)

2). I got a new roommate! Before I left for the US, a girl from Mexico temporarily moved in and apparently she moved out the morning that I got back. About four days ago, I received an email saying we were getting a new roommate. However, I still not have seen him/her but my guess is that it's a him given the fact that every time I go into the bathroom, the toilet seat is up and there are more than a few drops of pee on the seat. Also, in my fridge (that I had had to myself... we have two fridges) there are about 10 packages of hot dogs and two jars of mayonnaise on one of the shelves... and nothing else. Hmmm... boy or girl?

3. This past week I made a few decisions, both big and small, pertaining to my current life in Spain as well as to my future. I've officially decided that I'm not going to renew next year. The month of February is the month to renew and originally, I was going to renew just to keep my options open. But I'm about 95% sure that I want to come back to the US (don't ask me where quite yet) to either have my own classroom and/or start a photography business. Another change is that I put my two weeks in at the English Academy where I'm tutoring and starting in February, I will be starting up some Spanish classes instead of teaching English classes. The downside is that I will be spending money instead of earning it, but I already teach English all day long... the last thing I want to do when I come home from being at school for 7 hours is teach more English! Some days I teach English until 9pm. And if I'm teaching English all day, how is my Spanish improving?

This weekend was definitely a fun one. On Thursday night, I met up with Grace, Alex, and a few other girls for 1 euro tacos at this INCREDIBLE Mexican restaurant. I was so happy to finally find some good Mexican food here! The six of us were having so much fun together that we decided to "tapa bar hop" around the neighborhood of Chueca for a few more hours! On Friday night, I was a true Spaniard. I met up with Alex around 12:30 at her friend's apartment then a big group of us went to a big club called "Rockerz" and danced the night away. We got back around 6am, slept til noon, Alex made French toast for breakfast (maybe I should say lunch), then I had Skype dates all day with friends/family back home. Today is a rainy day here in Spain, full of cleaning, laundry, lesson planning, and figuring out how to watch the big Broncos game in a few hours!






Friday, January 10, 2014

Back in Madrid!

As I'm sitting here on the plane back to Madrid, I can't help but think if I'm ever really meant to take trips to Spain. This is my third flight to Madrid during my lifetime and all three flights have had complications... to the point that I never end up on the plane that I'm originally supposed to be on! My first trip, three years ago, was the absolute worst. I'm not sure if you all remember that story... how I tried getting on three different planes and one of them slammed on the brakes right before takeoff? Then I was stranded in NYC for two days by myself! Then there was a big winter storm when I tried to go to Caceres last spring for student teaching and this time there was a tundra, which postponed my flight by three days. However, every time I go to Spain, I end up making it safely and each experience ends up being  life-changing. So here's to yet another life-changing experience!

Originally, I was going to make a big post about my two weeks (which turned out to be almost three weeks) at home, full of details but 1. too many things happened and 2. every time I think about these past three weeks, I get a little sad because it's already over. So instead of dwelling on the sadness, the endings, and the goodbyes, I'm trying my best to focus on all the good things that happened and look ahead because I really do have a lot to look forward to during the remainder of my time in Spain, including lots of visitors from the US!

A few highlights from my trip:

- being greeted with lots of hugs, kisses, and a big welcome home sign from my family at the Omaha airport on December 21st
- driving for the first time in 6 months (I won't mention all the things I did wrong)
- drinking lots and lots of fresh cold milk
- eating some much-missed American foods - pumpkin pie, La Jua's nachos, Kraft mac and cheese, Twin Bing bars, chips and dip, etc.
- "sister bonding day" with Paige
- spending Christmas at home
- visiting my Godparents in the beautiful state of Colorado
- seeing all of my wonderful friends in the Ames area!
- watching Pitch Perfect about a dozen times
- photographing my first wedding all on my own

And some pictures...

a photoshoot with my friend, Mary

Christmas Eve <3


Cocoa with the Christmas ham...

My dad grew a beard and I got bangs! Don't we look good!?

My incredible Godparents in Evergreen, CO!

"cuatro gatos" Spain reunion night

New Years with Tomas

SB came to visit for New Years!

Missed this girl

McKinzie and me at The Cafe :)

doing a little birthday celebrating
This weekend I plan on unpacking, resting and trying to get on the correct time zone. I start work again on Monday and I'm sure there will be plenty of more stories to come soon. :)


I miss you all already!