El Día de Acción de Gracias a la Española

So we’ve been in preparation for Thanksgiving for a few weeks now, knowing it would be hard to find what we needed in León. Thanks to wonderful families we had bags of stuffing, cinnamon, cranberry sauce, and molasses mailed to us. I had to make my own brown sugar mixing molasses and white sugar for the apple crisp, but it was super delish so I won’t complain. With all our little talents and supplies combined we ended up with a more than huge, more than delicious feast.

I DID attempt 4 stores in various parts of León and none of my trips left me with a whole turkey. Therefore, I gave it up and lugged home two chickens for a nice ¾ mile walk. Then I watched a few videos on carving a turkey and had a few phone calls with my mom about how to stuff my little guys etc. Overall, the chickens were beautiful. They cooked in about 2 ½ hours and served us well. And then some. They also left us with some delish stuffing tucked inside and some juice for making gravy. Done.

Chicken

Stuffing

Gravy

Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Broccoli

Salad/Ranch Dressing (!)

Jello

Deviled Eggs

Cranberry Sauce

Pumpkin Pie (s)

Ice Cream

Apple Crisp

We had a fabulous little American (+1 Canadian) crew, none of whom wore their pajamas, who brought treats and good company to our apartment. We spent some time making fun of how Spanish people speak English, though I’m sure our mistakes are JUST as bad when we speak Spanish. We also dedicated some good time to making fun of Canada, and each person’s respective state. Oh wait, I don’t think we ever did say anything bad about NY…because there is nothing bad to say . We even managed to squeeze in some conversation admitting our plan to eat with and then kill the Indians and take their land. Dear Indians, we’re sorry. Thank you for bringing the corn. And for teaching us everything we know about surviving off the land. Perhaps we could have offered you more than just your final meal.

It’s really impressive how a group of people who only met this year can make such a lovely Thanksgiving dinner. It’s about being with family and friends. It’s about being with people who are happy to share with you and be with you. It’s about being with people who are thankful. And we had nearly all of that. I’m thankful that we got to do Thanksgiving in our own little leonés way.

"Muy bien"

Sometimes, the only thing that comes to mind is “muy bien”.

Like when you’ve had a long weekend away from school and speaking very little Spanish and you suddenly walk into school and the teachers that usually speak English to you approach you with their super fast Spanish. I was asked three times (twice by the same professor) how my weekend was and I all I could say was “muy bien”. I think he caught on as he said “Everything is ‘muy bien’ then eh?” (Note: He was not speaking Spanglish…he did in fact say that whole sentence in Spanish). And to this I only nodded. No other word from my entire 10 years of studying Spanish could come to my mind or mouth fast enough to redeem myself.

I then tutored a high school girl who speaks no English, but is attempting to learn. Therefore even when I spell her words etc, it has to be in Spanish. And then we pronounce the word in English and try and make a sentence with it etc. Today I was trying to spell her “do” and I said “d” in Spanish and watched as she jotted down “the” proudly. I looked at her totally confused. And you know what I said? “Muy bien”. Because, she had in fact, written her first English word from listening. And although it’s not at all what I said, I was somewhat impressed that she wracked her brain to think of the recent words she had learned and tried to match the one that sounded most similar. (No worries, I did pronounce “the” correctly for her, after all).

Then I got home from my tutoring session and my concierge stopped me at the desk to tell me he had left me a package up at my apartment. Stellar. And my answer: “Muy bien, gracias”.

It’s only 12:11 pm and I’ve already managed three conversations using one single Spanish phrase. I’m about to see how far I can stretch it.

Odio los Martes

The worst Tuesday I've had in a long time turned out to be average afterall. But it didn't start out that way. I actually remembered my umbrella but as I walked to school, the wind turned my umbrella inside out and it was more of a hassle to use it then not use it, so I opted for getting soaked instead. In class, only 5 of the 15 kids brought their homework with them. They all claimed to have "left it somewhere"...meaning they had better things to do than English homework.

So then I got home to call the mother of the newest boy I'm tutoring and spent 2 euro on trying to figure out where she lived. I then spent 30 minutes on google maps looking for their street "Calle Las Medulas". It looked pretty darn far away, but she insisted it was walking distance and not a problem at all, so off I went. I left all my maps and directions in my apartment but was already too far to turn back. So I scoped out the maps on my Blackberry and went for it. Again, the umbrella turned out to be worthless because unless you hold it like a shield out in front of you, you can't avoid the rain. And I seriously considered the shield option, til I realized it also means getting nearly run over by cars and old women with shopping carts.

So I continued forever and ever but my Blackberry insisted I was going the right way and I am blindly faithful to maps because there's really not much room for error. Or so I thought. I passed three roundabouts and knew I was well on my way. 20 minutes...30 minutes...40...50. HIGHWAY. Yes. No sidewalk, hardly a shoulder at all. But at this point I was so close, I couldn't turn back. I literally had to walk 10 feet and duck into a driveway or the grass if I heard a big car coming. 10 feet. Bushes. 20 feet. Driveway. 30 feet. Ditch. Oops. Sore ankle.

My thought process "When I get there I'm going to insist they drive me home, and compensate me for my troubles, and give me hot chocolate." Another thought "I will NEVER walk the Camino de Santiago...no matter how much peer pressure." Third thought "Who do I know in Spain that has a car? How much would I have to cry to get my director to come pick me up on the side of the road and take me home?" Fourth thought "Horses!? Farm? I'm in the middle of nowhere. Maybe I can borrow a horse and ride it home." Last thought "Well if I can't find their house, these signs are all pointing to Oviedo, and I must be at least 1/100 of the way there. Should keep going."

After 1 full hour...arriving at 5 ON THE DOT...Calle Las Medulas. Imagine my happiness until I took a peek down said street and saw one single house. Yes, one. Here is when I decided using my cell would be a good idea. I called the house and talked to the dad for about 12 minutes (costing me another 9 or so euro) who I frustrated to the point of using mild swear words. Also, this happened in Spanish, therefore it was much more entertaining.
Me: "I see a yellow house and a big grey building made of bricks and it says Calle Las Medulas".
Hombre: "Yes, it's yellow but with some other colors, some orange and green and tan"
Me: "Umm yea, but it's pretty big. That's your house?"
Hombre: "Yes yes the big house."
Me: "It's the only one on the whole street"
Hombre: "Yes! That's it!"
Me: "No, but it says number 1, and you're number 11. And there is an abandoned building in front."
Hombre: "No, there is an Alimerka (grocery store) and a bar."
Me: "I haven't seen an Alimerka in 3 miles."
Hombre: "Ask for help"
Me: "I haven't seen people in about 2 miles."
Hombre: "Where are you?"
Me: "I am on Calle las Medulas, but this can't be it. There must be two streets with the same name"
Hombre: "Impossible. Did you pass a roundabout?"
Me: "This is Leon, I passed three roundabouts"

And that's when I gave up and told him I was going home. However, on my wayyy home I started recognizing things they had mentioned to me before. And I stumbled upon yet ANOTHER Calle Las Medulas. Which is exactly 4 minutes walking from the highschool that I work at every single day. Also, it was not a house. It was not yellow. It was a HUGE apartment complex with one yellow stripe on an otherwise tan building. JOBAR TIO. Thank you 2 hours of walking for what should have been 25 minutes, max. I have surely lost some credibility now, yet the parents still left me alone in the flat with their child. And I earned exactly 3 euro more than I spent on calling them all afternoon trying to find their house. 2 hours walking in the rain and on highways to tutor for one hour and make 3 euro. Don't ask me if I thought it was worth it. Also, don't tell me "Now you know the city really well". Tell me you'll send me love and sympathies in the form of euros and chocolates, stirdy umbrellas and rainjackets.

The family was really nice. I got a new Spanish roommate who is not completely crazy like the other. I got to eat the bottom half of a dino cookie. I learned the word for a "slide", and I didn't have to do pilates today. Turned out it wasn't the worst day ever...

El Otoño

Fall in Spain was disappointing up until this last week. The leaves finally changed yellow and some even red. But I can still count on one hand the number of pumpkins I've seen. Also, no cider. But it's 65 degrees and sunny today, compared to low 40s with rain at home...so I won't complain.

I have never been so bored at school as I was today. And I was teaching! The kids were so boring and the day was draging and I only enjoyed one of the classes all day. I was literally daydreaming. It makes me wonder about the teachers I had when I was younger...they were probably planning their post school day life while writing on the board or listening to us read. I miss my elementary kids who adore me and are almost always excited by new things. They are so much more my speed. Mostly because they adore me. And I love being adored. :)

I taught the kids the words "awesome, super, cool..." today and they loved it. That's all they said the rest of class. I also told them that if I hear them say "I don't mind" one more time, I'm going to go crazy. Tell me you don't care. Or that it makes no difference to you. I HATE the phrase "I don't mind." We should push it out of the English language.

This will be my first weekend in Leon in over a month. I plan to actually go to the grocery store before it closes all day Sunday and to cook something Spanish and maybe even bake! It took 1 1/2 months but I figured out my oven. About two weeks ago, I yelled at my Spanish friend "Spanish people and their ovens...they don't even know how to use them! They don't even know what ovens are for, I don't know why they even bother having them." Apparently I've been harboring some anger towards Spanish ovens...who knew.

Off to tutor and play with little Spanish babies. Every day Diego says "Hi Leigh! How old are you?" ...instead of "How are you?" and Marta asked me how long the plane ride is from my house to her house every day. She thinks I commute from Buffalo/Rochester daily. Love.

Pintxos=Pinchos=Tapas

Sarah and I taking over Bilbao. Took the elevator up to here.

Chris and I at the beach in San Sebastian.

Me on top of the hill we climbed in San Sebastian

Andrew (lovely tour guide) and I at the Guggenheim ("The Gugg") in Bilbao

The puppy in Bilbao!

Chris and Sarah and turtle island (Santa Clara) in San Sebastian

I got to teach some Halloween lessons in my classes last week and I had a lot of fun. We learned some idiomatic phrases and had fun with some Halloween cartoons. The kids could not understand "you mean you carry around a PILLOWSACK and fill it with candy at people's houses?" You don't realize how strange your traditions are until someone from the outside points it out. The two little kids that I tutor played some Halloween games with me. I taught them words like "Jack O Lanters, vampire, mummy, bat, etc. Then they came and knocked on my door and they had to say "Trick or Treat" and tell me about their costume before I would give them a treat. I adore them. I am so lucky to spend time with them so frequently. I'd be missing little ones like crazy if it weren't for them. I've definitely realized by being here that Elementary Ed is my favorite place to be. And I also don't want to teach ESL. Did you know that in the past you can say "used to" before an action or state of being, but you can only use "would" before an action. For example: He would/used to stand outside and wait every day. BUT. He used to be a happier person. I never would have thought that was a rule, it either "sounds right" or it doesn't.


So this last weekend I took my fifth trip in a row. Five weekends, and now I'm taking a break. Traveling can be more exhausting than working, go figure. Six of us took a train out to San Sebastian (Donostia) on the northern coast of Spain on the Bay of Biscay. It was a beautiful beach town. We went up the two big hills on either side of the beach to get two different views. It really felt like fall and Halloween taking the hike up the hill through all the trees.

The second day we went to Bilbao to visit a friend of mine and to see the city. The puppy at the Guggenheim was beautiful, though the outside of the building was the most impressive part of it. We spent about 30 minutes inside. The rest of the day was spent seeing the river, the bridges, the old part of town, took an elevator up the hill to get a stellar view, etc. It was a fabulous little city that has really cleaned up and is looking quite impressive. People go just for the Guggenheim, and have no idea that there's anything else to Bilbao.

I nearly forgot it was Halloween because of how little they acknowledge it here. This week I really miss upstate new york and fall, pumpkins, cider, the impressive changing landscape, trick or treaters, hot chocolate...Fall is definitely the season I'll miss most at home.

We had our Fall Behind one our this weekend which was super convenient as we were out and about in San Sebastian. We had Pintxos (pronounced pinchos) which are commonly known in Spain as tapas, which are appetizers. They were beautiful but sadly most were seafood.

Towards the end of the trip I was running low on cash and thought I'd see if I could get by without going to the ATM. I came home with about 1,30 euros in my wallet. Impressive, I must say. With 20 euro I saw all the sights in Bilbao, ate three meals, and even squeezed in some gelato. Also, I walked the whole of San Sebastian and didn't see a SINGLE grocery store. We finally had to ask and found one on the underground floor of a mall. I need to find a native and ask how they shop. I'm really very curious.

Also they speak Basque in the two cities we visited, which was pretty interesting. I listened in on some conversations, but it's such an ancient language and has no connection to any other language...therefore I was clueless. Ah well. One language at a time...

I feel lost without another trip planned! I suppose I'll start looking things up to see my friend Nate (maybe in southern France). And then my Christmas plans to see Jaime, my favorite Spanish friend, Megan who's coming from the states, and my lovely Mike and Amy. Hurry to Spain, my loves! I miss you.