Another Day in Jávea

Today was a very interesting and quite busy day. Fortunately today, I had the 5^th and 6^th graders and the second graders at the beginning of the day. I am convinced that the whole second grade class belongs in an asylum or something. These kids are crazy. Most of the time, I am yelling at them either to turn their books to the right page, to sit down, to be quiet or to stop hitting their classmates. Whenever I look at the English teacher she just shakes her head and looks at me like there’s nothing that can be done. If it was my classroom it would be a totally different atmosphere, but since I’m technically just an assistant, sometimes I just have to hold my tongue.

 I don’t know if I will ever become accustomed to how casual it is to drink alcohol here. Today at school during almuerzo (this is the 30min break that we have in school when the kids eat their snack and play outside) we celebrated 3 of the teachers’ birthdays with tons of food and a huge supply of beer and wine. Let me remind you that this was at 11:00am… in the middle of the school day. That is definitely something that would never happen in America. Oh how I love Spain!

Since it is Monday, I followed my weekly routine of giving private English Lessons to my usual student after school. During the lesson, she seemed to be a little bit bored so we played a game which definitely cheered her up. Right after that lesson I had to run to the Adult School for my first day of Valenciano Class. The first lesson went very well, we introduced ourselves and then we went over vocabulary of classroom objects. The teacher spoke Valenciano during the entire time that we were in class and I was amazed at how easily I could understand what she was saying. I am hoping that by the end of the term I will have a great grasp on the language.

Apart from my first day studying Valenciano, I also took an aerobics class for the first time with my roommate. Before going into the class, I was a little worried about whether the class was going to be given in Castellano, regular Spanish, or Valenciano, and also about whether or not I would be able to walk afterwards because of my history of foot problems. Surprisingly, the class was a success. Both my roommate and I loved it and want to go back. I also learned a new word after class after hearing my roommate say that she had “agujetas” which in English means “to be stiff.” Now I have been walking around the piso saying that I have agujetas and she has been saying that she is stiff.

La Cucaracha, La Cucaracha…

On Thursday Afternoon I had drinks in the port area with a girl from Great Britain also living in Jávea as an Auxiliar de Conversacion in the Spanish equivalent of a high school here. I was so excited and relieved to find out that there was another person around my age living here. As strange as it seems, I have not seen very many people in Jávea who look to be about my age. The majority of the population in Jávea consists of women and gentlemen in their latter years and there are also a decent number of smaller children. My roommates as well as some of the teachers in the colegio are somewhat young (in their late 20’s and early 30’s) but I wouldn’t really include them in the Jávea population, especially since, at the end of their days on Friday, they head back to the town or city that they are from. Anyway, it was nice to chat with her, we had a nice conversation about the educational system in Spain, our lives back home, and what we expect to get from our journey. I hope that we have many more outings to come.



Another Sunny Day in Alicante

On Friday Morning (at 7:00am to be exact) I took a bus and headed to Alicante to apply for my NIE and Tarjeta de Identidad, for the second time around. This time I was sure that I had everything that I needed, including my Certificado de Empadronamiento. Besides the hour that I had to wait to see a representative, everything went great.  I am so happy that I finally got that out of the way. Now, I can relax and wait for it to be ready. While in Alicante I finally went to the Pharmacy to buy vitamins and Ibuprofen, which I so badly needed.

On Friday night, I, along with my American friends living in Alicante, headed out for tapas. We went to this small bar where the owner was very nice, talking to us about our adventures in Spain. We each had 3 tinto de veranos which went along with the 3 servings of tapas that we had. I have to admit, the tapas were pretty good. I got croquetas, of course for my first and for my second and third I had chorizo, which is Spanish sausage, served on top of bread. It was delicious. Later that night we went out for Mexican Food with one of the American’s co-workers. The food was good and for the first time since coming to Spain, I actually had a margarita (my favorite drink). They’re not very popular here but I should have known that I would find one at a Mexican restaurant. Anyway, the best part of the dinner was the huge group of people sitting at the table right next to us. One of the guys was celebrating his birthday and the whole scene was very entertaining. Every gift that he received from his friends was a gag gift, the first one was a sock, the second was something for women, the third was a pair of underwear, and the gifts kept coming. To add to the entertainment, a Mariachi band came and played a couple of songs for our tables. One of the guys from the other table kept getting up and dancing down the row, which added to our amusement. The Mariachi band then asked if we had any requests for which one of us replied that we wanted to hear the famous Mexican song, “La Cucaracha.” We all laughed and sang along while the coworker taught us the words to the song (the dirty version):

La cucaracha, la cucaracha,
ya no puede caminar
porque no tiene, porque le falta
marihuana pa' fumar.



Bailey's Shots

 Dinner was great, and as if the margarita wasn’t enough the waiter gave us a free round of tequila shots, which seems to happen quite often here.  Afterwards we met up with some other people and went to a couple of bars. At the beginning of the night we kept telling each other that we were going to “party like a Spaniard” (Spaniards are known for their very late partying habits) and that night we did. Well, we partied until about 3 a.m. instead of 6 or 7 a.m. but we will have to work our way up. When we left the bars, we went to the beach. I honestly do not remember what provoked us to go to the beach but we were there, walking along the shore and carving words in the sand. One of the most memorable experiences of that night was me trying to spell out the word borracha in the sand with an “A” instead of an “O”. No one could figure out what I was trying to spell because I was spelling it wrong.

 

View from Castle

 On Saturday Morning, one of the Fulbrighters from Valencia came to visit Alicante. We decided to go to the Castillo de Santa Bárbara, a famous castle that overlooks most of the city. It was beautiful. While at the castle we were followed by a group of little kids, in elementary school I’m sure. Once they heard us speaking English they preceded to bother us shouting the only English phrases that they know: “My name’s Sergio,” “My name’s Alvaro.” After seeing the castle we were famished, so we went to an Italian Restaurant for lunch and had gelato afterwards. I absolutely love going to the gelato shops here, the gelato tastes so good and fresh and it looks so pretty inside of the glass case. Later that evening I boarded the bus back to Jávea. I wanted to get back on Saturday so that I could have Sunday to rest and prepare for the week. I was so surprised to find out that there were only two people taking the bus back to Jávea, myself and one other girl. It just goes to show how empty my little town is. I couldn’t wait for the 2.5 hour bus ride to be over, I was already feeling ill from all of the drinking that I did the night before, and the bumpy bus ride definitely didn’t help anything.

Alicante: La Ciudad de las Palmeras



Park in Alicante

This weekend was quite long and eventful. Technically my weekend started early. On Thursday morning, I had to go to Alicante for a mandatory meeting. I figured that since I had to be in Alicante, I might as well make the most of it and spend some time with two of the Fulbrighters there. It was also my intent to finally apply for my Tarjeta de Identidad, or my Spanish identity card. Fortunately, Olivia, the director of studies at my school also had to go to the meeting, so I rode with her. We got lost on the way there, so we were about 45 minutes late to the meeting but I don’t think that we missed much. Honestly, I really didn’t understand the purpose of the meeting, I felt like what was said could have been written in an email but the meeting was a good opportunity to meet some of the other Auxiliares de Conversacion, the other people teaching in Spain through the Spanish ministry of Education. While in the meeting, I found out that there was another person living in Jávea teaching through the other program. As soon as the meeting was over I searched for her. We met and exchanged numbers. I was definitely very happy.



Taking a Break

After the meeting, I grabbed my book bag from Olivia’s car and said goodbye to her. I then headed out with the other Americans. Two of the girls are current Fulbright ETAs living in Alicante. Another one was a Fulbright ETA last year and she has come back to Spain to teach through the other teaching program; so she definitely knows all of the ins and outs of Spain. After the meeting, we went to this very beautiful park. It was so serene and colorful. That seems to be how most things are here, especially in the areas along the coast. After walking through the park, we went to a restaurant for lunch and spent the rest of the day running errands and things. On Thursday night we went to the movie theater to see Los Tres Mosqueteros, or The Three Musketeers. That’s when we realized that movies are so much more entertaining when they are dubbed in Spanish.

On Friday morning I attempted to apply for my NIE. One of the most important things that I needed for the NIE was a “Certificado de Empadronamiento” which is a letter verifying that you live at the address in which you have stated. In order to get the Certificado you must have proof from your landlord that you stay at your address. You then bring that proof (a letter, copy of a bill and a copy of his identification) to an office that issues you the Certificado. After stressing out for a while, my landlord sent me everything I needed on Thursday night. On Friday morning, I planned to go to the office in Alicante that issues the Certificados and then to the NIE office afterwards to apply for my Tarjeta. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way.

Alcoholic Cider

The lady at the Certificado office would not issue me the certificate because I apparently had to get it done in Jávea. I really didn’t understand that, especially since Jávea is located in the providence of Alicante, but she was not really listening to my excuses. Although I knew that I needed to have the Certifcado in order to apply for my NIE, I figured that I was already in Alicante, so why not see if they would accept what I had? Well to make a long story short, they didn’t. The people at the office told me not to worry and to come back once I got what I needed, so I really wasn’t that worried. I decided to enjoy the rest of my trip and hang out with the girls.

Dinner

On Friday, we went to the mall. I bought a couple of winter items from H&M. That night, we walked around town and went to this really nice restaurant that serves some kind of alcoholic cider. The cider was really fun to try (we had two bottles) and the food was really good. Afterwards, we went to a gelato shop (my first time eating gelato) and sat outside someone’s doorstep eating gelato (because it’s a very Spanish thing to do).



Oh Benidorm…



Benidorm (La Costa Blanca)

On Saturday morning, we took the train to Benidorm. Benidorm is another city in the Costa Blanca that is often called “The Las Vegas of the Costa Blanca.” To get there from Alicante, you can take a 35-40 minute train ride and it only costs about 6 euros for a round trip. We went earlier that morning so that we could enjoy a day there. Once we arrived, we had a small breakfast (café con leche and a croissant for me) and waited for another one of the girls to get there. She had been to Benidorm several times last year so she was basically our tour guide. We went to several little shops (I think that we were all looking to find some shoes) and enjoyed the scenery. Benidorm is very beautiful. The water is so gorgeous, but then again that is one of the reasons why Benidorm, as well as Jávea, Altea and many other towns form the Costa Blanca, or “white coast” in English. While looking for shoes, we came across a store called lefties that had a lot of cute clothes. I think that all of us except for one person bought something. I bought a really pretty one-shoulder dress. We ate a really good lunch in Benidorm. Each of us had Paella (it was very good), as well as another dish, and we shared a bottle of tinto (red wine).

After dinner, we walked along the beach intending to go British part of town. While walking along the beach, we came across an American bar that was crowded with British people eating, drinking, and singing very loudly to a rock song that was being sung by a guy with a microphone. When the people saw us staring at them from the beach they started shouting for us to join them. I guess you can say that it was a warning for what was to come.

It was very obvious to realize that we had made it to the British part of town because we started seeing pubs with lunch specials of “fish and chips,” British flags hanging up, and British street names, such as the “Calle de Londres.” As we walked, we came across lots of gift shops and pubs, and passed by many people speaking English. The gift shops were filled with lots of inappropriate things, but that didn’t shock us. What did shock us however was the woman who decided she wanted to lift up her shirt and flash everyone who was walking along the streets from her balcony. Seconds later, we were shocked once again as we came across a bar that was advertising a live sex show. Next to the advertisement was a very graphic picture of a lady and a man having sex. This was a pretty busy street, where men and women walk by with their children, so we were a little surprised by that. After the day that we spent In Benidorm and the things that we saw, we were pretty worn out by the time we got back to Alicante.

Churros con Chocolate

Ever Since I’d been to Spain people had been talking about how much they loved Chocolate con Churros, a much-loved Spanish treat. Unfortunately, in most places it is only served on weekend mornings, so the girls thought that Sunday morning would be the perfect time to introduce me to it. And perfect it was. We went to Valor, one of the most well-known chocolate factories in Spain, so I knew that their churros con chocolate were going to be very authentic. The churros con chocolate were so great. The churros were hot and fresh. They were crunchy and soft at the same time, and also sweet. The chocolate was so intense; it’s nothing like the Swiss Miss hot chocolate they sell in America. It was the real deal. I couldn’t even drink half of it because I just wasn’t accustomed to drinking that much rich chocolate. But it was very good and I was definitely very satisfied.

Lucentum: Roman Ruins



After breakfast, we headed to see the Roman Ruins in Alicante. One of the girls had heard many times that the ruins were right behind her school, but she didn’t realize that they were indeed directly behind her school until we got there. The ruins were very interesting. I love looking at very old things so that I can try to picture what life must have been like during those times. Seeing the Roman Ruins was a great end to my wonderful and busy weekend in Alicante.