Hay Que Vivir La Vida

So we haven’t gone to another city for a weekend break but stuff has happened, so here’s a quick life update:

> Went to go and see Skyfall. I’m not the biggest James Bond fan in the world, but it was important to us to support the British film industry and see what all the fuss was about with 007’s latest, record-breaking outing. Dubbed in Spanish, of course, it was quite an experience to follow exactly what was going on…our discussions after made me realise how strong the plot really was! The acting was top-notch, the special effects were immense and the villain was even played by Spanish bad-boy Javier Bardem.  Not much to complain about really. Oh, and Adele sings the theme song which is incredible. Thankfully not dubbed.

> Went to go and see a enactment of ‘Experimento Marcos’ (Gospel of Mark). It was simple but effective, fairly easy-to-follow: a pretty cool way to spend a Monday night. Members of the audience decided to thank me on the way out: I’d like to think I had a small hand in the overall success of the production ;). Accepted (after much persuasion) an invite back to the Church for dinner  – a friendly bunch of people and met a whole new community of Spanish speakers. (Well, I say ‘Spanish speakers’ but they all had some knowledge of English. Boo!)

> Diwali came to Soria for probably the first time ever (this has actually been verified for me by a few resident Sorians!) I swear I get more cultural when I’m away from home, but everyone seemed keen to celebrate the Indian festival with me so (now armed with my drawer of spices courtesy of the padres) I did the seemingly impossible task of cooking an Indian meal for 10 people. We lit so many candles it was a potential fire hazard (and Spanish homes don’t have smoke alarms, you know) but we survived and had a great night.

> Had my first Thanksgiving too! It was like Christmas American-style! Us Brits had trouble writing what we were thankful for on the hand-turkeys – we never have to think about it so it was difficult! The food was mind-blowingly fantastic; eating as much as our puny stomachs could handle in the afternoon meant we didn’t have to eat for the rest of the day. We sat around drinking wine and playing board games, the rules of which had to be dictated to me several times… Quick (soppy) shout-out: I’m thankful for having Jillian, Blakely, Lisa and Harmony as friends here in Soria, thank y’all for Thanksgiving!

> Becoming immune to the ol’ ‘caña con limón’ (quarter pint of beer with lemonade). At first, I couldn’t understand how people could drink alcohol everyday for lunch/dinner  but after hearing the whole ‘Mediterranean diet’ argument and being invited out most nights to ‘tomar unas copas’, I now get why Spanish people are seen as the happiest and most relaxed people in the world. All I’m going to say is…yo no quiero agua, yo quiero bebida! To my family members that follow my blog, that means ‘I’m going on an alcohol detox indefinitely’.

> Recently got back in touch with my old secondary school to see if the Spanish department would be interested in setting up a penpal letter exchange thing with the students here. Gotta keep the art of hand/letter-writing alive somehow! (and yes, QM, you’ll never get rid of me). Through organising this, you really notice how overly-cautious British people are: where we don’t even need to tell the Head of English about the venture at my school in Spain, the teacher I’m in contact with back at my old school has to ask permission from the Head and get consent from parents…crazy! Here’s hoping it’ll be all systems go for the new year.

> The weather here in Soria has declined dramatically. It’s FREE-ZINGG (intentional typo, spelling freaks). The good thing is it’s hardly ever raining but I hear the UK is bearing the brunt of Europe’s weather system so sad times. The days are blue and sunny here but there’s a bitter cold in the air – teachers at school said days like that are typical of Soria: beautiful but ‘enganchados’ [deceptive]. (It’s pretty odd seeing the glamorous Spanish women walking along the High St with sunglasses and a scarf. Weird combo!) But considering Soria is quite small and the weather hasn’t been great for excursions, there always seems to be something going on where each week is dedicated to something cultural. Be it about Women’s Rights, Health or mushrooms, there are always new activities, exhibitions and conferences on to keep us entertained. Even if the subject matter doesn’t wholly interest me, an hour or so of intense Spanish being spoken at me is bound to be effectual somehow!

> Flirting with the Spanish teacher at the Language School has cranked up several carefully-placed notches and I don’t seem to be showing any signs of stopping! Growing confidence in Spanish is having it’s downsides though as sometimes I’m unwittingly saying bad things. Oops! To make up for things, I’ll soon be recording a reworked version of an LMFAO hit entitled ‘Foreign & I Know It’.

Probably my largest post yet so to finish off, here’s a heart-warming video I stumbled across about how, contrary to popular belief, things don’t suck in Spain…Enjoy!

Marcha a Madrid

Lessons continued this week. I’m slowly starting to get into the whole Science thing and bits and pieces from my studies at GCSE are coming back to me! I can tell the teachers are desperate for me to do something other than just read passages from the textbook; one has even asked me to prepare an activity on eclipses for next week. A step that I hope the other teachers will take too!

Other than that the only other thing of note that happened in the classroom this week was when a pupil stayed behind after class to explain to me why the Welsh dragon isn’t included in the Union Jack (as I couldn’t explain why during my introductory presentation the week before). He even brought in a book in English and pointed to a passage as he tried to explain. These are the reasons people teach: to stimulate and inspire thought and knowledge. Hopefully there will be more moments like this throughout the year. (For those, like me, that don’t know: Wales is a principality, not a kingdom so they are excluded from the UK flag)

The main source of excitement this week, however, came from our trip to Madrid, mainly in aid of the British Council Orientation that had been arranged for us on the Friday morning but we decided to make a weekend of it. We set off on Thursday afternoon; we were quite tolerant of the 3 hour bus ride thanks to our tiredness and a rather provocative George Clooney film.

I genuinely love underground Metro systems. Having visited Barcelona last Christmas and experienced London’s Tube for the first time over the summer, I really can appreciate the engineering of such networks.  Madrid’s underground system is, according to my well-travelled friends, one of the best in the world and it’s easy to see why. Spacious platforms, beautifully air-conditioned carriages…I do crave a busier, more stressful lifestyle so I can use them on a daily basis!

We arrived at our shockingly-good-value-for-money hostel after some shoddy direction and quickly became acquainted with the local bars and cuisine.

The next day was the day of the conference which was useful…in places. The thing is, being in Castilla y Leon meant we had started ‘teaching’ a lot earlier than everyone else. So we already had obtained our NIE’s, opened our bank accounts and settled into Spanish life. Hearing people worry and ask about every single detail was a bit frustrating but all in all, the day was a good opportunity to meet other assistants and find out more about our role.

…and then it was sightseeing time! Unfortunately the weather was typically British for our arrival and I was not prepared for the rain and cold that accompanied our excursions to tourist attractions. The architecture in Madrid is truly beautiful; from the compulsory Plaza Mayor to the exquisite surrounding Palacios, it definitely has something for everyone.

Plaza Mayor, quite grand and special

The Reina Sofía Art Gallery was also a stand-out moment from the weekend. Seeing Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ was definitely an experience. Having heard so much about the history of the painting and the symbolism, to see it in its enormity (11ft by 26ft) was quite breath-taking. I always feel like I want to learn more about art and artists after visiting art galleries and it was definitely the case after this visit. Now seems as good a time as any to pursue my interest in Spanish art; Picasso, Goya and Velazquez are just some artists that I would love to find out more about.

Reina Sofía from afar, home to Picasso’s ‘Guernica’

We decided the Retiro park was a good thing to do on the last day to nurse our hangovers and it turned out it was the best day to do so. The sun was shining on our pale faces as we wandered through the beautiful park, 50 million times bigger than Soria’s equivalent, La Dehesa. There was a nice pillar feature near the lagoon which was an ideal spot for group photos and to sit, chill and chat. I don’t think we got to see the whole park as our trip was slightly rushed towards the end; it being the last day we had to make sure we caught our coach back to Soria in time, but still it was a short but sweet encounter with the famous landscapes.

Well-pruned trees in the Retiro

Alas, I can finally say I’ve visited the capital of Spain. The constant hustle and bustle, abundance of English speakers and high cost of living does make me partially glad to be in a much, smaller city like Soria but I can’t help wonder what my life could’ve been like if I had been placed there. In a short space of time, we joined a random street party (literally on the street!), helped an American with her bags across the city, came up with an exciting, plausible business concept, bought (and lost) some fake Ray-Bans and found ourselves in the middle of the riots! 29-S, we were there! I definitely intend on visiting Madrid again multiple times; I think the next visit will be in Winter when Spain’s preparations for Christmas begin! Hasta Diciembre!