More Coffee Please!

Today has been one of the most exhausting days that I’ve had in a while. So exhausting, in fact, that once I returned to my piso, I couldn’t even remove my shoes or coat. Even though it was a long day, it was also actually a great day. So I guess that this is a good kind of exhaustion.

Although it was extremely hard to do, I forced myself to wake up 15 minutes early today. Usually, I get up right after 8:00am. Today, however, I really wanted to get up early so that I wouldn’t be forced to down my coffee in less than 3 minutes like I usually do. So, I got out of the bed at around 7:45 and started to get ready.

Normally, after I brush my teeth and put my contacts in, the first thing that I always do is make my coffee. I usually don’t drink the coffee until after I am dressed, however I find that having coffee on my brain as soon as I wake up in the morning really motivates me to get up and get ready quickly. It may sound sad but it’s the thing that I really look forward to seeing in the morning. Because I went to sleep late last night, I knew that it was probably going to be a two-cups-of-coffee kind of day.

Once I showered and got dressed, I had enough time to sit down, drink my coffee and eat a small breakfast. I then threw a banana in my purse for almuerzo and headed to school.

For the first school block I had the 3^rd grade class. They took their English exam today so I didn’t have to do much. I did, however had to answer a lot of questions. I sensed that all of the children were purposely trying to come to me with their questions because they thought that I would be more likely to give them the answers. Next, I had the 5^th grade. In this class we started a new unit and I had prepared a fun way to present it to them. The unit was about foods and we were able to do a lot of fun activities. They were actually very attentive today. I’m proud of them.

After almuerzo, I had both of the infantil classes. We usually go to the 4-year-old class for 30 minutes and the 5-year-old class for the other 30 minutes because they are too young to have English for a whole hour like the other kids.  I normally love going to these classes because, even though most of the children are very mischievous, they are still so cute that it’s hard to really get mad at them; and also because they get so excited about English. The 4-year-olds have been learning their colors, numbers, and certain foods, like chocolate, so we continued with those lessons. The 5-year-olds have been reviewing some of the same things, but they have also been learning a story about a boy who pretends to be sick.

The hour that we spent in the infantil classes was somewhat productive. We just had to deal with a few behavioral problems; one in particular that really got my attention. I told one of our class clowns in the 5-year-old class to return to his seat. We were in the middle of a lesson and he just got up to talk to his classmate. Do you know what he said to me? “Espera, estoy hablando” (wait, I’m talking). He didn’t even look up at me. I wasn’t as surprised, because, these days, children have the smartest mouths, but I couldn’t believe that he thought that he could talk to me like that. He was immediately sent out of the classroom and couldn’t participate in anything else. That seems to be the other English teacher’s way of punishing the children.

When I came home for my lunch break I made a bocadillo and I cooked spaghetti and meatballs for later. Normally, when I am home in the daytime I like to cook my dinner for later because when dinner time comes around, not only am I too lazy to cook, but my roommates also have to cook; And three people cooking separate things in the kitchen isn’t the idea situation. I spent almost my entire siesta cooking and washing dishes from the morning.

When I returned back to school, I had Plástica, with the first grade. Plástica is basically an arts and crafts class. Because I am not able to be with the first graders for their normal English class, we instead have Plástica in English.  I actually like this; it’s a nice break from a regular English class and I get a chance to help the kids with their crafty projects. Today in Plástica, the kids started making fake plants, in preparation for spring. They each got a cup that they were going to fill with dirt, and to make the flowers they used plastilina, or modeling clay, that they had to roll up into the form of a flower.

While I was inside helping the children make their flowers, the other teacher took 4 students at-a-time outside to get dirt for their cups. It must have been hard to find the dirt because she was literally outside for the entire class. Meanwhile, I was being bombarded with a bunch of 1^st graders asking me for more materials and getting frustrated because they claimed that they didn’t know how to roll their clay. It wasn’t a bad class, but I was literally on my feet and doing a ton of things the whole time I was in the class. When the infantil English teacher saw me in the first grade class, she said, “Whoa, you just had the infantil classes and now them? I feel so sorry for you.”  “Yes,” I said, “And I have 2^nd grade next.”

I must say, the first graders are really growing on me. At the beginning of the year I dreaded going to the first grade class. To me, they were the worst of all of the classes I teach, and I only see them once a week. There is something about first graders that sets them apart from all of the other grade levels. Unlike the infantil classes, they aren’t so young to the point that you intimidate them and unlike 2^nd-6^th grade, they aren’t so old to the point where they care about grades and punishments. First graders are fearless creatures, and they will act without worrying about the penalty that they will receive. But I must say, in these last couple of weeks, they have done almost a 360° turn. I don’t know if I am just starting to appreciate each of their different personalities more, or if they are just growing up, but I am really happy with the progress that they’ve made. Whenever they see me they get so excited. They are starting to become one of my favorite classes.

The last class of the day was second grade. I see the second graders three times a week, twice for English, and once for Plástica. This was also a Plástica in English class. They were also working on making plants so, instead of taking a couple of children outside one-by-one; we took a class trip outside together to collect dirt. This was much better.

After school I didn’t have anything else planned (I love Tuesday evenings) so I took a much needed two hour nap. Having 4,5,6 and 7-year olds back to back can be so exhausting! This was the first nap that I’d taken in a long time. And it was awesome!

Dia De La Pau

Today we celebrated yet another holiday in school, El Dia de la Pau, or in English, the “School Day for Peace and Non-Violence.”. For almost the entire school day, we did different activities to commemorate Peace Day. I swear these children are never working.

For the last week and a half, the English teacher and I have been teaching the older kids (5^th and 6^th grades) an English song called “Whatever” (featured in the Coca Cola commercials) to sing for Peace Day. Although it is a great song, I wouldn’t necessarily have picked it out for the kids to sing because it contains a lot of lyrics and, even though most of the song is repetitive, it’s still difficult for children, or anyone for that matter, to learn an entire song in a language that they barely know. From the beginning, I didn’t think that it was the best idea to teach them this song, but I stayed optimistic like everyone else.

In order to make sure that the kids were able to get enough practice, we basically stopped teaching the unit in the book and devoted about 4 English classes to learning the song. I thought that it was a horrible idea to have the children skip English lessons for almost an entire two weeks just to learn a song, especially since the English teacher is constantly talking about how “behind” the children are on their lessons. Another reason why I thought that this was a bad idea was because: allowing children to do nothing but sing (in other words, play around) for four classes in a row never results in anything productive.

When we told the children about the song that they were going to sing for Peace Day, they were so excited; and they actually cooperated with us when we went over the meaning and pronunciation of the lyrics. By the time the 3^rd and 4^th class rolled around; however, they started thinking that English class was a time to play around so they talked uncontrollably, played and joked endlessly and they couldn’t sit still. I became so frustrated with their behavior; they were acting worse than the infantil classes. They were learning the song, but they didn’t really get to the point where they could sing without glancing down at the lyrics.

To make matters worse, on Thursday afternoon, two school days before they were set to perform, the other teacher thought that it would be a good idea to add choreography to the song. So the kids can barely sing the song and now they are faced with the daunting task of learning choreography? According to the other teacher, they were going to rehearse the choreography on Friday (which was my day off), so I was hoping that they would have it together by Monday.

When today came around the children showed me the dance and choreography (which none of them could remember) and, well, it was quite interesting. When the other teacher asked me what I thought about it, I said that they were barely singing the words and that they definitely weren’t in sync. But I told her that it was good (to keep from sounding like a total pessimist). She told me that she thought that it was good and that I was probably being critical because I was American and I knew English. “No one will know what they are saying anyway,” she said. Um… ok. We finished practicing and I hoped for the best.

In the middle of the morning, all of the classes gathered around outside for the first activity of the day. Each class had a series of peace-related words or phrases placed on paper flower petals. One at a time, a couple of representatives from each class went up to read the petals and place them around the center of the flower on the wall.  This lasted for about 15 minutes.

Later during the day, right after the siesta time, the presentations were set to begin. First, the children in grades infantil-4^th presented a song together. It was cute. Then, it was the 5^th and 6^th graders’ time to perform the “Whatever” song. To say the least, the performance was very interesting, it wasn’t bad, but the children were just a little confused about the choreography and they weren’t singing very loud. I started to try to videotape them, but I then put the camera down to try to help them with the singing and choreography. At the end of the day, people still enjoyed the performance, not because they were good, but because they are just kids. I’m just glad that it’s over.

After the presentations, two white doves were released into the air by one of the teachers. Following the dove releases, everyone went back inside to prepare for the “marathon.” This was the most interesting part of the day. All of the children and teachers had arrived to school today wearing sweatpants and tennis shoes. It was said that we were all going to participate in a “marathon” to benefit the Save the Children foundation. Each child had to bring in a Euro to participate, and the parents, who were also allowed to participate, had to donate 2 Euros.

We each wore a marathon sticker that we put on the front of our jackets. It was so funny to see the little children, the three and four-year-olds also come out of the classroom to participate. When the whistle blew, everyone started to run. I was running along with the other English teacher, but we did stop and walk along with one of the students who recently had surgery.  

In case you are wondering what kind of marathon this was in which every single student, even the little tiny ones, participated in without even having a significant number of adults present, well it wasn’t really a marathon. It was more of like a 5 minute walk/run that took place in a closed-off section behind the school. When I saw the path that we all were going in, I couldn’t help but laugh. This is why everyone came to school wearing tennis shoes and dressed like they were going to run up a mountain? The “marathon” literally did take about 5 minutes to do, and when everyone finished the scene was so amusing. The children had crossed the finished line and immediately collapsed onto the ground huffing and puffing and begging for water. They were so dramatic, but so hilarious.

I really enjoyed the Dia de la Pau, I was very happy to see that the staff cared enough about celebrating peace to devote an entire school day to it (if that is why they did it). I am also very glad that we participated in a “marathon” for a great cause. It shows that the people here care about helping others, which is something that I’m passionate about. I’m sure that the children also enjoyed themselves.

Why I Probably Just Gained 5 Pounds...

Normally, I don’t get too culinary on the weekends, but since I had no plans and I wanted to relieve some stress, I did a lot of creative cooking. I love that I can count on cooking and baking as a way to relieve my stress or to just put me in a good mood. Lately I’ve been in a kind of funk: I’ve been so exhausted, cold, mentally absent from things and not to mention still sick! So I’m glad that I spent this weekend doing something that I really enjoy.

Before Putting it into the Oven

Today I decided to make Apple Crisp. I haven’t necessarily been craving it, but I thought that it sounded like a delicious thing to make.  I think that I like Apple Crisp better than Apple Pie because it doesn’t have a crust to it but it’s still crispy. Surprisingly though, although I have made an apple pie once, I’ve never made apple crisp.



Apples!



Fortunately, I already had most of the ingredients that I needed to make the dessert. The only thing that I had to buy from the store was a bag of apples (which I never buy because I have an allergic reaction to raw apples). I decided to make the Apple Crisp early this afternoon because I was worried that if I waited until the evening, with the way I’ve been lately, I was going to be way too tired.  So I started preparing the dish right after I ate breakfast.

The Apple Crisp was very easy and quick to prepare. The preparation time was about 20 minutes, with a 35-40 minute cooking time. While it was in the oven, I started to clean up the kitchen a bit. We have two cabinets in our kitchen that are rarely used and are really nasty. They haven’t been cleaned since I’ve been living in this piso. So I decided to clean them today and now they look perfect. When my roommates see them they aren’t going to believe it. Unfortunately, once I start cleaning one thing I see something else that needs to be cleaned (I get it from my mom), so I spent about 2 hours cleaning up the kitchen.



Yummy!

When the Apple Crisp was done it looked tasty, but I waited a little while to eat it. I ended up eating it for lunch (very healthy right?) along with some vanilla ice cream. It was delicious. It could have just been my imagination or the fact that I hadn’t had apple crisp in a very long time (probably years) but I was so happy with the results.  The apples were just the right amount of tender (not too soft and mushy) and the topping was wonderful and crispy.  I  may have some more for dessert!

I spent the rest of the day cleaning up, washing my hair, and preparing for the week. Surprisingly, I still had enough energy to cook dinner. I made some grilled chicken, green beans and skillet-fried diced potatoes.

So with the Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo that I made on Friday night (and the leftovers that I ate on Saturday), the Apple Crisp and vanilla ice cream that I had today, and the delicious diced potatoes that I had for dinner, I’m pretty sure that I gained at least 5 pounds this weekend. I think that I can even see it. I guess I’ll be having salads for the rest of the week!

Creative Cooking Fridays Presents: Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

This week was pretty long and I’m so glad that it’s finally over. Since I wasn’t traveling this weekend (I like to hibernate when it’s cold outside), I decided to follow my usual “Friday night in Boringtown” routine by cooking something special. For a couple weeks now I’ve been craving some Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo but I thought that it would be difficult to make because I haven’t seen any Alfredo sauce anywhere. Then I thought to myself “why don’t I just make my own Alfredo sauce?” Duh!!! And so I browsed a couple of online recipes to see what were some of the key ingredients in making Alfredo sauce and headed to the grocery store this morning to get some items.

Once 9 o’clock hit, I put on my pajamas, played one of my Sex and the City DVDs, poured myself a glass of wine, and started cooking. I didn’t follow any Alfredo recipe exactly, because I wanted mine to be original and there were also some things that I just knew I wanted to put in my Alfredo sauce that weren’t in any others. For the sauce I used butter, cream, parmesan cheese, parsley and garlic. I also added some lemon juice to it because I love the way that it tastes with white sauces. The sauce turned out to be very tasty, but also kind of thick, this could be because I used a thicker cream that I bought from the British supermarket. I combined the sauce with the chicken and cooked the noodles al dente. I couldn’t find fettuccine noodles, but I did find something similar.  



Making the Sauce



After about an hour of prepping and cooking, the meal was finally ready. I sprinkled some extra lemon juice on top of my pasta, I drizzled a little bit of olive oil on top of some toasted bread,  I poured myself a glass of wine (I traded my usual glass of red wine for a glass of white wine) and sat down to enjoy my meal.

At first I was a little hesitant to try the pasta (as I am with anything that I make for the first time) but once I tasted it I fell in love.  The sauce was very rich and flavorful and the chicken complimented the sauce very well. The lemon made everything taste so fresh and zesty. And the white wine was also a wonderful compliment to it all.





In a way I can definitely say that my cooking has gotten better since I’ve been to Spain, not only because there are so many fresh and varied ingredients to cook with, but also because I don’t have the option to select the easy, less time-consuming way of cooking things. So I am always faced with the task of cooking everything from scratch, which I love. I definitely don’t think that I’ll ever go back to using store-bought sauces and other pre-prepared mixes.

I wonder what I’ll create next.

Bull Runs, Mountain Climbing and Girly Sleepovers

This weekend was quite action-packed and delightful and, surprisingly, I didn’t even have to leave my town.  My friends in Alicante told me that they were going to visit me in Jávea, and I was so excited. It’s been a while since I’ve been around some Americans and, after the long and semi-stressful week that I had, a weekend with my American girlfriends was exactly what I needed.

One of my friends was coming to visit me on Friday and two of my other friends were coming on Saturday. On Friday morning, I got up early and started to clean my piso. It actually took me a little longer to clean up than I expected it to, but it could be because I wanted everything to look perfect (typical me). I also went to the grocery store to get a couple of food and drink items that morning. By the time I finished cleaning and got dressed, I was running to the bus stop to go greet my first visitor.  

I forgot to mention to my friend that instead of the fancy bus stations that most cities have, Jávea just has a bus stop that basically consists of 3 benches for people to sit on and a bus sign. When my friend arrived, she was so confused so she called me to make sure that she was at the right place. I finally got to the bus stop to meet my friend and we went to my piso to drop her things off and then headed off to do some exploring in Jávea.

First I took her to the historic part of Jávea to see some of the “main attractions” of the town, like the market, the cathedral, and some gothic-style buildings. She pointed out a lot of little things about the town that I never really paid any attention to, that’s why it’s good to see things with other people. While we were in this part of town, we noticed that men were putting up these cage-like structures all over the center. I had no idea what was going on, but I didn’t bother to ask. After leaving the historic part of town, I decided to take her to El Puerto, to see the sea and sit down and have some café con leche. When we got down to the port however, most of the restaurants were closed (stupid Siesta time) so instead we walked along the rocky shore staring at the beautiful sea and waiting for places to start opening back up. As we were waiting, I got a text message from one of the teacher’s at my school telling me that there was a Bull Run in the historic center of town (that’s what the cages were for) and so we decided to skip the café (unfortunately) and go see the bulls.

The Running of the Bulls is a very old Spanish tradition in which bulls are let loose in a sectioned-off part of a town’s streets and a group of people run in front of and tantalize the bulls while the bulls try to conquer them. This was the first Bull Run that I’ve seen since I’ve been to Spain, and I must say that it was quite amusing. To me, it was very interesting to see the young guys and older men run in front of the bull, not only for leisure but also because it’s just a cultural norm. While watching the Bull Run, I wondered if participating in this custom was a way that Spanish men define their manhood.  I honestly feel that in Spain, if you’re a male and you’ve never participated in a Bull Run, you’re not a "real man." It’s an interesting concept and one that I plan to explore further. (Check out the video)

The Bull Run was very interesting, but at that time my friend and I were very hungry, so we said goodbye to my teacher friends and looked for a place to eat. We decided to try out this winery restaurant and the food and wine were very good. While waiting, the waitress brought out some green olives and although I’ve never liked olives, I tried these, and they were actually not bad at all.

After dinner, we went back to the piso and talked, watched TV, and had wine and chocolate until we grew tired.

On Saturday morning, we woke up early because the teachers invited us to have breakfast in the port with them the previous night. We got to the port and had a wonderful breakfast with about 4 of the other teachers from my school at a restaurant facing the sea. We talked about the educational systems in Spain and the U.S. and the economic crisis that we are both facing. The weather that day was so wonderful and the sea was beautiful. After breakfast, two of the teachers took us to a part of town that’s only easily accessible by car. We went to where you can get a magnificent view of the sea and of a small island. This part of Jávea had to be one of the most beautiful parts that I’ve seen. I was very happy that the teachers took us to see this, especially since we weren’t on the best terms earlier during the week.

Afterwards, my friend had to leave; she wanted to get back for “La Manifestacion” in Alicante (future blog topic). We walked to the bus station together and as she was getting ready to board the bus, my other friends from Alicante had just arrived. I was excited to have more visitors.

Once we saw my other friend off, we made a quick stop to my piso and then headed off to the port to get something to eat. We went to a nice restaurant, also facing the sea, and we each ordered from the menú del dia. The food was very delicious. After eating and chatting for a while, we finally left the port area and decided to head back to the pueblo. I told my friends a while ago that there was a British supermarket in Jávea that sold bagels and lots of other American things that are hard to find in Spain so they were dying to go there. We stopped at the British supermarket, and while we were there, we bought some very good, but unhealthy things to eat for dinner. We decided that for the night (since it was cold) we were going to some eat some yummy foods, watch some girly movies, and sit under the very warm table that I have in my living room ( the table really is warm, it has a radiator at the bottom of it).

So that night we had a very successful and girly sleepover!

In the morning, we ate a good breakfast of bagels and fruit and we decided to walk up a mountain trail in Jávea. One of my friends had been to Jávea and walked up the trail before so she knew how to get to it. While we were walking up the mountain, we had the most breathtaking views of the sea and of all of Jávea, so we occasionally took a break to sit and stare at the beautiful sight. When we finally got to the top of the mountain, we stared at the beauty of the town and pondered even more. It’s still sometimes hard for me to realize that I live in such a beautiful place, it’s like I’m dreaming.

When we finally got back down to the bottom of the mountain we were famished, so we went to the first restaurant that was open and ate there. The food was great! After eating, we decided to go back to my piso and relax for a couple of hours before my friends were set to leave. After they left later that evening, I started trying to prepare for my week ahead and I also called my mother wish her a happy birthday. I went to sleep early.

I was so happy that my friends came to visit me this weekend. After the week that I had, I was a bit discouraged and still a little sad and angry. But it turns out that all I needed was to be around some people like me. I hope that I get a lot more visitors before my time in Spain ends and I definitely should, I mean… who wouldn’t want to come to Jávea?

P.S. I would like to wish a Happy Birthday to the best mother in the world, I love you!

If There Was Ever a Time to "Vinar"

Every once in a while I feel the need to create my own Spanish word. Spanish is known for having single verbs that, when said in English, are actually phrases. Take the words "desayunar," "almorzar" and "cenar" for example, which mean "to eat breakfast," "to eat lunch" and "to eat dinner," respectively. Yesterday I invented a new word, "Vinar", meaning beber vino or "to drink wine." This word was created as a reaction to the horrible day that I had; in which I decided that in order to feel better, I would have to vinar muchisimo.

Yesterday morning, I met with my supervisor and she said some things that really rubbed me the wrong way. I was very frustrated after the conversation that we had; not only because I felt like she had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, but also because I was trying so hard to hide my anger that I didn't get to tell her how I felt about the work that I was doing in the school and the things that sometimes frustrate me. And so for the rest of the day I was in quite a somber mood. I couldn't wait to leave school.

As soon as 4:30 hit, I immediately left school, having already decided that, in order to calm myself down, I would need to have some wine and chocolate. Unfortunately though, I did have some other stuff to do that day so I decided to wait until I finished my Valenciano class. So later that night, I went to the store to buy my goodies and returned to my piso, ready to put myself in a good mood.

When my roommate walked into the piso that evening, she saw me in the kitchen pouring myself a glass of red wine and fixing dinner. "Vino?" she asked, "Si, yo he tenido un dia horrible," (I had a horrible day) I responded. When she asked me why, I refrained from telling her about it, I was way too sensitive at the time. I sat in the living room drinking my wine and eating my chocolate along with my roommate, who was also nibbling on some of my chocolate. We watched T.V. together and laughed and talked. Although she didn't know what was wrong with me, I was grateful that she kept me company.

Afterwards, I decided to Skype my mom and my sisters before going to bed. I knew that speaking to them would make me feel much better, and it did.  

I went to sleep assured that I would have a better day on Tuesday, but also knowing that there was still a conflict that needed to be resolved.

Dinar…Sopar… Esmorzar

"A la taula i al llit, al primer crit"

(My roomates taught me this Valencian proverb which means sleeping and eating is always the first priority)

On Thursday I had a conversation with one of the teachers about the differences between eating systems in Spain, the U.S. and England. She was telling me that she couldn’t understand the eating system when she studied abroad in England because the timing was way off and because they ate different portion sizes depending on the time of day. English breakfasts are fairly large according to what most Spaniards usually eat for breakfast. She told me that the family she lived with in England usually had bacon, sausages, eggs, beans, bread, milk and orange juice for breakfast. “I just didn’t understand how they could eat all of that so early in the morning,” she said. I told her that the typical “American Breakfast” is more similar to an English breakfast than it is to a Spanish breakfast and that I myself find it difficult to adjust to the Spanish eating schedule, especially when it comes to breakfast.

A Spanish breakfast usually consists of a small pastry and a coffee or orange juice. Most of the time when I am travelling within Spain and stop at a restaurant for “breakfast,” I usually have the option of choosing between a croissant, toast, a donut, or some other type of bread item and a coffee or juice. According to the teacher that I talked to, she usually has a slice of toast and a glass of milk for breakfast. Many Americans living in Spain that I have spoken to actually prefer the Spanish breakfast over something that they would normally eat in America. I, on the other hand, don’t like it as much.


Making an "American Breakfast" in Spain is tricky
because you can never find the right ingredients.

Breakfast has always been my favorite meal, and a well-balanced breakfast serves many purposes: It provides you with energy; it keeps you from snacking throughout the day on unhealthy foods and has been shown to help you stay fit and enhance your brain activity. When I say an “American Breakfast” I’m not talking about having bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes and grits (which is what I have at my home on some weekends) but simply something that will get me full and give me energy for the day. My idea of a good breakfast would be oatmeal with raisins, a cinnamon raisin bagel with fruit or an omelet with vegetables (and coffee of course), but it’s very difficult to get up early enough in the morning to cook myself breakfast, not to mention that there is also a lack of resources (Bagels are not popular here). Whenever I am forced to eat a “Spanish Breakfast” I am usually still hungry afterwards. Besides, the ton of sugar that they load onto Spanish croissants and donuts barely prepares you for the day ahead.

 

Although breakfast is definitely not one of the things that I can say that I admire about the Spanish system of eating, there are several things that I would consider adapting to. In contrary to most Americans’ “three meals a day” eating schedule, most Spaniards follow a different plan of six-seven meals a day. The eating system didn’t really come to my attention until we talked about it in my Valenciano class in the fall. We learned the Valenciano terms for the different meals and the times of the day:

1.      El desdejuni: This is the Valenciano term for breakfast, it’s eaten de matí (in the morning) and usually consists of a coffee, or type of juice, and bread.

2.      L’esmorzar: In Castellano, this term is “almuerzo” and it’s eaten a mitjan mati (in the middle of the morning). In America, we would refer to this as lunch, but in Spain it’s more of a mid-morning snack. At most schools, the kids have a 30-min break to esmorzar and to play outside. They usually eat sandwiches, fruit or yogurt.

3.      El dinar: This is the most important meal of the day in Spain and its eaten al migdia (in the middle of the day). The Spanish lunch time is usually much later than an American lunch time and the permitted time to eat is certainly much longer. In Spain, around “migdia” most businesses close for a couple of hours and most families return home to eat together. In my school, for example, the lunch time is from 12:30 to 3:00 pm and during this time the children can go home and eat and rest with their parents. Most shops close at around 1:00 and 2:00 in the afternoon and don’t open back up until 5:00 or 6:00 that evening. Most government-owned places, however, close at around 2:00pm and don’t re-open until the next morning. As an American, this schedule was very frustrating to me at first because whenever I needed to get something done, everything was always closed.

4.      L’aperitiu: This is a small snack that some people have before el dinar; it’s similar to an appetizer.

5.      El berenar: This is another small snack that is eaten a mitjan vesprada (in the middle of the evening) before dinner time.

6.      El sopar: This is the meal eaten a la nit (at night) and what I would refer to as dinner. Because the Spanish lunch is more important than dinner, most people eat a very large lunch, and something small for dinner, such as a bocadillo (a Spanish sandwich) or a salad. Spanish dinner time is also very different because it is eaten much later than an American dinner, like at around 9:00 or 10:00 at night. My roommates, for example, eat dinner at around 10:30/11:00 pm and they usually eat grilled meats, vegetables, soups and salads. According to the teacher that I spoke to, she didn’t like eating dinner so early in England (7:00pm) because by the time she went to sleep at night, she would be hungry again.

7.      El ressopó: This is what we would refer to as dessert and it’s eaten a la matinada, which is usually after midnight. Són els dolços de la nit: they are the sweets that parents usually eat when the children are sleeping. And yes, Spanish people normally stay up very late.

At first, I didn’t really think that the people in Spain ate all of these meals during the day; but after talking to my Valenciano teacher, who assured me that she never skipped any of the meals, and observing the Spaniards that I work and live with, I have come to realize that they really do follow this schedule exactly.

 

Friday Night Ritual

Since living in Jávea, I have developed some kind of a “Friday night in Boringtown” ritual. This is especially for wintertime here, when there is literally nothing to do and over half of the population is gone. My roommates are never here on the weekends. They usually leave the town right after work on Friday and don’t come back until early Monday morning. I guess they, as well as all of the teachers that I work with, feel that they have to get the heck out of this town and go back to where their friends and family are. But I actually live here… even on the weekends.



Jerk Chicken, Asparagus and Mashed Potatoes



Typical Weekday Meal



So when I’m not travelling on the weekends I love to take advantage of the time that I have alone and have fun in the kitchen. On Friday nights I like to put on my pajamas, pour myself a glass of red wine, play a really girly movie or girly music on my computer, and spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking a delicious meal.



Chicken Fajitas



In reality, I don’t wait until Fridays to cook. I cook myself breakfast, lunch and dinner almost every day. But during the week my meals are usually boring and quick. I eat lots of salads, chicken, rice, turkey burgers, and other simple things; but Friday is usually my day to experiment with different foods and have fun while cooking.

Every Thursday in Jávea, we have a big outdoor market, full of vendors selling lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. So I try to go to the market during my lunch break on Thursdays to buy lots of fresh vegetables to cook with. Last weekend I made grilled jerk chicken with pan-seared asparagus and mashed potatoes. It was my first time making both asparagus and real mashed potatoes. This Friday I made grilled pork chops with caramelized onions, steamed broccoli, and more mashed potatoes. My favorite Friday night meal is Chicken fajitas and I also love to make pasta.  I wonder what I will make next week…

Back to Life, Back to Reality (Well, Not Really)

This week was the first week back to school after Christmas break. Monday was filled with a lot of Spanish kisses and questions about how everyone’s vacation was. When everyone asked me about my trip to America, I responded the same way each time, “No quería volver” (I didn’t want to come back), for which they all responded, “Nosotros tampoco” (Us neither).

 When I walked into my infantil (4 year old) class on Tuesday, I couldn’t help but to smile, the kids were so happy when they saw my face and realized that they were having English class. They ran up to me and the other teacher and hugged us very tightly. I didn’t realize how much I missed them until I saw them.  That definitely made my day.  Besides that, the rest of the week was the same as usual. I followed my normal routine.

This week, I’ve realized that my Valencian has come a long way. I didn’t really realize it until I was speaking Spanish to some people and I kept accidently saying Valencian words. It’s amazing to think about the amount of Valencian that I have already learned. There are some words that I know in Valencian that I don’t even know in Castilian (normal Spanish). When I went to class on Monday, the teacher asked each of us what we did over the break and we each responded in Valencian.  This week, my roommate told a story to us, in Valencian, and I understood everything. And to this day, whenever I’m telling time, counting and talking about things in my apartment, I can’t help but to say them in Valencian.  This is worse than Spanglish.

Jávea/Xàbia: My Little Paradise

Most people that aren’t very familiar with Spain get really confused when I tell them where I live, so I’ve decided to explain my town a little bit…

My town goes by two names: Jávea, its Castellano name, and Xàbia, its Valenciano name. People use the names interchangeably, but if you don’t speak Valenciano, then you would most likely say Jávea. Jávea is a small resort town that forms part of La Costa Blanca (which literally means “the white coast”) in Spain. The Costa Blanca is a region on the eastern coast of Spain (the Mediterranean coast) well-known for its blue waters and white sandy beaches. The entire region is located in the providence of Alicante. Other popular cities in the Costa Blanca are Dénia, Benidorm, Altea, Elche and Torrevieja.  The Costa Blanca is a very popular tourist destination for people wanting to bask in the sun and experience excellent weather.

Jávea is located in the providence of Alicante, in the region of Valencia. This may sound a little confusing at first; I know I was really confused when I first found out where I was going to be living. The Valencian community is made up of three different providences, Alicante to the south, Valencia in the center, and Castellon de la Plana to the north. Technically, I’m located in the providence of Alicante, but I am about the same distance away from both the cities of Alicante and Valencia. I’m about an hour’s drive and about a two-and-a-half hour bus ride away from both cities. I like the fact that I am right in the middle of the two cities because, when I am traveling, I can easily book a flight or a bus ride from either place.

Jávea is divided into three areas, el pueblo (the town), el puerto (the port), and el arenal (the beach area). Although each area is very close to the next, each has its own distinct ambience that really separates itself from the other.

El Pueblo is the most important area of Jávea. It’s also called el pueblo viejo (the old town). It is where the majority of the authentic Spanish families in Jávea live. El centro historico (the historic center), located in the pueblo is also where the most important town buildings are such as: the town hall, the museum, the banks in the town, the town market, the library and other governmental offices. Inside the historical part of Jávea, there are many small shops and quiet restaurants and cafés. There are also fascinating places to visit, like the Iglesia Sant Bertomeu, a gothic-style cathedral and national monument. I live in the pueblo of Jávea and I love living in this part of town because I feel like I’m in the more authentic and less touristy part. Also, almost every place that I go to is in this part of the town: the market, the bank, my valenciano class, and the school that I teach at. I love walking in the historic part of the town in the evening because I always see lots of people spending time with their families and sitting outside drinking and chatting. The historic part of Jávea is very quiet and relaxing.

El Puerto, or the port, is obviously the harbor area of Jávea. People go fishing here, store their boats here, and also swim at the rocky beach. Whenever I’m in the mood for a walk around town, I usually go to the port because I like to sit down and stare at the beautiful sea. Around the port area there are many clothing stores and boutiques, shoe stores, home good stores, and lots of restaurants. Some of my favorite restaurants are in this area and it’s also where I take my aerobics classes. You will also see a lot of British people here. They are very easy to spot because they are usually blond-haired, they speak English and they are eating at a restaurant at a time of day when most people are working. I’m about a 15 minute walk to the port.

In English, “arena” means “sand.” So El arenal is obviously the beach part of town. This is one of the liveliest parts of town and where most of the tourists hang out at. There are several really good restaurants and bars along the boardwalk of the beach. When I hang out with the other teachers, we usually go to the arenal because there is a great selection of places to choose from. Also, there are many shops in this area, especially touristy shops, and a couple of hotels. I don’t go to this area of town that often because it’s farther away from me, but when summertime comes around I will definitely go to the beach a lot.

The total population of Jávea is estimated to be around 30,000 people (which is very different from the 4/5 million population of Atlanta) and of these inhabitants there is a very decent number of British, German and Dutch families who have come to Jávea to escape the sometimes harsh climates of their own countries and are now a part of the active population of Jávea. I can say that some have blended in well; they have integrated into the society, their kids attend the public schools along with the Spanish children and some of them speak fluent Spanish and some Valencian. Unfortunately though, there are some people from those countries living in Jávea who expect the Spaniards to accommodate to them and so they don’t try to learn Spanish or integrate themselves into the Spanish society. Overall, I am very pleased with the population of Jávea because it is somewhat culturally diverse; I just wish that I saw more people of African descent.

Sometimes I am very frustrated with Jávea because it is such a small town and I am used to living in a bigger city. Jávea is so different from other cities: there isn’t a shopping center, a movie theater, clubs or chained stores or restaurants. And it’s sometimes hard to get around town because there isn’t a metro system or even a bus system. But as much as I talk about how boring this town is, the truth is that I actually enjoy it. Every night I sleep very well and I don’t have to be bothered by noise outside of my window. Every morning I wake up and drink my coffee while looking at the town and the beautiful sea from my balcony. And every time that I go somewhere, I see at least one familiar face. I feel very safe here and very at ease. Maybe living in this town will really teach me something about being patient and more relaxed. How can I complain about living in such a beautiful and tranquil place?

Home for the Holidays

My Sister's Way of Welcoming Me Home

For Christmas break I went home. Originally, I planned to stay in Europe during the break and travel to Belgium and some other cities within Spain; However, a couple of weeks before the break, I got really sick and I knew that it wasn’t best for me to do a lot of travelling. I really wanted to be home with my family for the holidays where I could get better physically and mentally; so I decided to book my plane ticket to the U.S.

My trip to the U.S. took about 16 hours. I had to take a bus from Jávea to the Valencian airport and then from Valencia I went to Paris and from Paris to Atlanta. Words cannot describe how I felt once I got on the Delta plane in Paris. Although I was still far away from home, once I got on the plane I heard people speaking English with such warm faces and genuine smiles, and I also saw several African Americans. I saw a southern man wearing a sports jersey and talking about how he hoped he got back in time to watch the game and I couldn’t help but smile. It was such a beautiful feeling knowing that I was going to mi pais… my country.

Oh Atlanta, How I've Missed Thee

The flight from Paris to Atlanta was over 9 hours. To make matters worse, I could not sleep at all during the flight; I’m sure it was a combination of nerves, of being sick, and of the sleeping that I’d done on the flight before. Once the plane landed in Atlanta, I was so anxious to get out and see my city. When I got off of the plane, I was surrounded by Atlanta airport workers welcoming me and telling me Merry Christmas. I had never been so happy to hear a country accent. I wanted to run up to each one of them and give them a hug and a kiss. As soon as I landed, I turned on my iPhone to call my mom and see if she was there. I wasn’t sure if my phone would work, but it did. As soon as I heard my mom’s sweet voice I became even more anxious. I tried as quickly as I could to go through customs and pick up my luggage, which isn’t so easy to do at the world’s busiest airport.



This is Called "Soul Food"



When I finally walked out of the doors of the airport, I saw my mom waiting for me, in my car. I ran up to her and gave her a big hug and lots of kisses. I also kissed my car, I missed it. I put my luggage in the car and we headed home. As soon as I got home, I took the longest, hottest, most wasteful American shower.



Mom's Sweet Potato Pie



My entire Christmas break was wonderful, I only stayed in Atlanta for a week, but I wish I had been there longer. I ate a lot of my favorite Southern American foods. I told my mom I wanted some macaroni and cheese, collard greens and roast and rice, and she cooked it all, along with corn bread and a sweet potato pie. And I had some sweet tea, grits, fried chicken, and everything else that’s really Southern.

I also got a lot accomplished when I went home. I finally went to see my doctor, who gave me the strongest antibiotics that he had and I got my hair done by someone who knows how to do African American hair!  

While at home, I spent a lot of time with my closest friends and family members. That was the most important part of the trip.

A trip to Atlanta was definitely what I needed to lift my spirits up; not that I was sad, but I did miss my love ones. I am so happy that I was able to reunite with my friends, my family, my city and my country.