El Cliente Habitual

Ryan made it back to Leon with me and he immediately fell into my daily schedule. I think that after a week here he experienced a month worth of Spanish living. We even went to Cafe Misissipi (yes, spelled incorrectly) enough times to make Ryan a regular. In fact, he got waved to on the street by the cafe owner before I did! He also got to eat the best cruasan a la plancha ever: enormous and with peach jelly. I'll miss them like crazy.

More protests all over the place. Here they have been sleeping in tents for about a week now, and they don't seem to be moving out anytime soon. It made the usual view of the Gaudi palace a little less classy and elegant than usual, but it's interesting. Who knows- the Spanish protestors are the ones actually crazy enough to make a difference.

This is a must-have picture in Leon. I tried to convince him to stand on the N, but he refused. Instead, he's got one leg awkwardly on it just to show it's his. This picture would have been much cooler with me on the "L" as well, but traveling with 2 means the pictures are always one sided. I promise Ryan wasn't in Spain all alone. He did have one (wonderful) friend and photographer. He might argue with my chosen adjective.

Another favorite picture. I noticed Ryan's old ear piercings which were not being put to use and I prepared for an argument, but apparently it was unnecessary. We found a little piercing shop and bought him some stellar black studs which really just completed his look. Though I'm not sure he has them on yet in this picture...Then we went to the park to play on my favorite spiderman web. I hope to get credit when this photo makes it on the cover of Ry's album. And apparently some older Spanish peope stopped to watch and laugh, though I'm so used to being blatantly stared at that I didn't even notice.

Here's the "fake rain" which I've only found one other time since I've lived here. It got me mega points as a tour guide because I wasn't positive I'd find it on the first try. It felt really nice since it was super hot this past week. As you can see, he's also taking a picture of me, and he got a REALLY nice one of me making a face when I touched the cold water. I'll keep that one off the blog.

Who knew my city had a rose garden? Ryan did. I think his tattoo works as a tracker, because we found two new gardens in a matter of days.

This is the last random picture from this small park in Leon that I never go to, but loved to see it all in bloom. Around this time a group of teenage boys eyed us as they tried to find a semi- hidden spot to unload their backpacks which were surely filled with beer. Spain. Oh Spain.

Como Caído del Cielo

Just when I thought I was about ready to leave Spain behind and move on with life, this redhead from Buffalo showed up. Having guests has been such a blessing for me, it really forces me to take a second look at this little life I'm leading and to find the very best parts and share them with someone else. It gives me a brand new set of eyes to experience everything with. Ryan waited patiently for me in the Madrid airport, though I arrived late and surely gave him a small heart attack. I also nearly attacked a poor broad-shouldered boy in a yellow polo thinking it was him, but luckily I held off.

Ryan and I met some new friends in Madrid who we spent most of the day with. I took him to Retiro Park which I so love, and we found this rose garden which I'd never seen before. Ry stopped to smell the roses in his very Buffalo outfit. Our trip was different than others I've had. We did so much in one week, but somehow always found time to sit with out feet up, eat gelato, and watch honeybadger on youtube. Most of my traveling involves trips that I say "I know I'll appreciate it all when I get home, but I'm tired and hungry and want my own bed", but this was the kind of trip to enjoy in the moment.

Among our travels throughout Madrid we accidently found Sol which is a big plaza and on this day they happened to be staging a protest against the socialist government. There were TONS of people, signs, tents and lots of chanting. Loosely translated this sign says "Revolution isn't a a drinking party". But still, lots of young kids were out at the square with backpacks filled with alcohol- not the best way to show you're serious about a cause. It was cool to be in the square even though I was totally squished and had to try really hard not to lose Ryan.

This picture is one of my favorites. It's so very Spanish and shows off some of the Plaza Mayor, one of the skinny sidestreets through the arch, the umbrella covered tables, the sun setting over people drinking and eating. And then there's Ryan, soaking it in.

On Sunday we took a day trip to Segovia, so this was a new place for both of us. We stopped to see the impressive aqueduct and wander around. The city was small, but beautiful and so well preserved. We climbed up along the side of the aqueduct to get a better view of it all.

We saw all these names written all over the wall when we climbed up. I'm not one for defacing beautiful architecture, but I happened to have some white chalk in my purse (thank you teaching). All I had to do was write my little name on the wall and Ryan did the rest. I even love the reflection in his sunglasses. We did a repeat shot with his name as well, but his facial expression was less exciting and it doesn't have my name in it, so I choose this one.

The cathedral in Segovia was truly impressive on the outside, though I'm still partial to mine.

This is long about the time when I gave Ryan a chance to be in charge and be the tour guide. I even warned that I'd be filling out an evaluation form at the end of it. As you can tell, we are sitting down...because we were pretty lost. We had been on the search for the Disney palace which he knew I needed to see and so we followed the aqueduct all along the city just to end up on the very opposite end from where the palace was. We did get to see an awesome little spot where the aqueduct got really short, so it was worth it in the end. Though I'll still be ranking "proposed route by the tour guide" fairly low.

And we finally made it! I think that's actually Ryan in the green t-shirt. This is my house in Spain, so you'll all know where to come visit. I call it my pastle. I said it on accident as a mix of palace and castle and wasn't sure Ryan had noticed...but he did. And I won't live it down, but if you ask me it's a great new term and I'm going to keep going with it.

After this we bought Ryan his Spanish bracelet, ate a kebab, and headed back to Madrid. We had a minor bump where I almost lost my privileges as tour guide and we got to our bus to Leon JUST before it left. We were pretty sweaty and he had to run after me with a huge suitcase BUT we made it. I've come to find out that it's not always the buidings and things you saw that are the most memorable- it's the time you spent eating dinner with friends as the sun set, getting stuck in sweaty crowds shouting slurs about the government, getting in fights with the short-haired lady at the bar, and running to the bus that you're sure you're going to miss.

Pito Pito Gorgorito

My 3rd year students (around 15 years old) decided to have a day where we each brought in a recipe. Most of them are attempts at American or English food though I do see somehing that looks like flan on the table. I made buffalo chicken wing dip with a mild sauce (because Spain doesn't own hot sauce). It was definitely not as hot as I would have liked but I decided it would do. Next thing I know my students are running to get drinks of water, insisting it was the hottest thing they'd ever eaten. I told them they need to do some training before they visit me in Buffalo.

I love this class, though I did tell them that this is the first time all year they all brought their homework in. Food is their only motivation.

One boy made chocolate chip cookies, which is a foreign concept for them. The only ones they eat are the chips ahoy ones they get at the store. A girl made cheesecake with blueberry sauce on it, one made donuts, tiramisu, strawberry cake, chicken and potatoes, apple cake... needless to say I didn't eat lunch this day.

After this day we decided that from now on every Tuesday someone will bring in food. This past week a girl made Spanish omlette so that my visiting friend Ryan could try it. Delicious.

Also, my title of this blog is the Spanish rendition of "eeny meeny miny moe", which I learned from my favorite little Spanish babies. They teach me the more exciting things and they are the least shy about correcting me. And. I might lose all my Spanish once I leave but I will certainly not forget this little phrase.

A XiXon Al Tostaderu

We've had some really good weather in the north lately, and have been laying out in the sun near the river. Sam even goes as far as to wear her bathingsuit. I break out shorts and a tank top and we inevitably get stared at. Really stared at. I've decided that the people in Leon don't dress for the weather, they dress for the season. So. Since it's not techically summer yet, they don't dare switch over their wardrobe and put on sandals and show a little leg. We had enough of the stares, so we chose a place where wearing tanktops or even a bathingsuit is considered pretty modest. In fact, we were overdressed at the beach in our bikinis. If you know what I mean. Here's a new sign near the pier in Gijon. We had to stand in line to get photos. Truth.

Here's Sarah collecting shell (fragments) and sand which she will attempt to illegally smuggle back into the US of A. I hope the TSA people aren't fans of my blog, or I just gave her away.

This is the bridge and the bay that turns into a mini river. This spot is called "El Tostaderu" in Asturian, and with good reason. The world means "The Toaster" and no matter the wind on the rest of the beach, this spot is always sun-worshiper worthy. Its mini climate is nearly always conducive to tanners as long as there is sun out. We had braved the regular stretch of beach for a while, but once Sam put her towel on top of her for warmth, we knew it was time.

This is about when I saw two lovely, well-dressed men walking towards Sarah and I from the other end of the beach. It was my very favorite Spanish man, Jaime, and his lovely boyfriend. I would have run towards them in slow motion movie-style, but if you've ever attempted to run on dry sand, you know it's no easy feat. So instead I jumped up and down waving as if they couldn't spot the American from a mile away. For some reason, I didn't think to get a picture with them, but I swear they were there, visiting from Finland (where Jaime is studying for the year). It was so wonderful to talk to them while we walked along the boardwalk. As always, the visit was way too short but so very worth it. The two are planning a big trip to the states this summer and I'm hoping to be their very knowledgable native speaker and one who understands what is the complex American culture. Hopefully my tour will be better than the half-remembered one in Paris... Overall a successful visit to Asturias, though I didn't get to see my Spanish family. I called my mother who yelled "Why haven't you been calling- you need to give me advance notice- now I'm going somewhere and I can't even see you! Que pena me da, que PENA me da!" And then my uncle called me later and drunkenly told me "HERMOSA, You need to call me, I'm the boss. If you call my mother, you'll never get a real answer. I want to see you and we need to cut out the middleman!"

I love Asturias. And AsturiaNs.

Ocho Meses Son Pocos

After 8 months in a city, it's possible to still see and do new things. Maybe that's why I've chosen to live abroad twice instead of just visiting. I wanted to really get to know the cities I'm living in. This is the San Isidoro Basilica and from now on, every Saturday they will be doing a light show like this one on the facade of the building.

This section of the video shows the construction of some of the old towers in Leon and then it shows two lions walking in from either side. The light show gave the history of the city of Leon in just a short 15 minutes. I'm going to study up more on what all the different scenes mean and every Saturday from here on out, you can find me in this plaza.

We've been talking about going to the MUSAC (Museum of Contemporary Art in Leon) for lunch for months, but never got there. We had heard from various sources that they had great food. Finally, here we are. Behind Sarah you can see the famous colored windows that cover the outside of the building. It was a great little spot and we were excited to try the food.

We had originally gone upstairs and realized we were in the restaurant and not the cafe. The prices and food selection were not appealing at all. I turned to the man and said something like "We heard there were lots of salads and things like that, I think we meant to be downstairs." He definitely laughed at us, but seemed to understand. I think he was confused about why we were heading to the classy tablecloth restaurant anyways. Here we are, much more at home, but still classy enough to drink water out of wine glasses. Between cheese salads and monster-sized burgers, we left happy.

This is another new spot for me in my city. I went into this free museum called the Museo de Leon which I walk by at least 4 times a week but had never gone into. There were old coins, tools, pottery, paintings, tombstones, clothes, etc. And then at the very top on the last floor there was this little view of some of the most important places in the city. From here you can see rooftops and just the topmost towers of the Cathedral. Looks pretty magestic even when you can only see half of it.

Here is the Palacio de los Guzmanes right next to the Gaudi Casa de Botines. From ground level you never get to see their two towers next to each other.

And...my last new spot for the week. We were walking to a Cuban food restaurant (banana chips are heavenly), and I'd never gone far enough past the old city walls to see them from this spot. The lighting was perfect and it makes that building look phenomenal, though I couldn't tell you what it actually is. I suppose that means I still have some more exploring to do and I surely still have some more food to eat.

El Amor No Envejece

My lovely teacher Amor, who I work with at the high school, invited me and my roomates to her birthday party. How could we say no?

Samantha and I tend to accidently coordinate outfits, and I think it means we've been living together too long, Or perhaps for just the right amount of time. In case you can't tell, my shirt and her dress are the same print- different color. This is us on the Leon city bus for the very first time since we have lived here. That's 8 months with no bus which leads to the exictement shown by Julie in this next photo:

That kind of excitement can't be faked. Also, we were going to MonteLeon which is like a little mountain on the outskirts of the city. There was an awesome view from the bus that I didn't manage to get a picture of. We were the very last ones to get off so we didn't even get to push the STOP buttons, which indeed say STOP even though we are in Leon, Spain and most people don't speak English. However, Sam was standing in preparation to get off and with one turn she swung around the pole and nearly fell, accidently pushing the STOP button. So we did get to use it after all.

One of the things we were most excited for was to hear our other teacher, Antonio, sing some love songs for Amor's birthday. He beautifully prefaced every song with some very poetic thoughts. For example, before this one he said "There are very few things that are fundamental to our lives, things that really count. And I don’t know if we always realize that they count." He practiced his English pronunciation to prepare this song, which I loved. Excuse the fact that the video is sideways- I tried for 20 minutes to turn it and then decided to make better use of my time.

The party started out with some 80s Spanish music and finally turned into some more recognizable tunes. This in particular was a slow song, and I haven't danced like this since Junior year in high school, I think, so we were a bit awkward.

The Spaniards could always win in any dancing, drinking, staying up late competition. Here we are sitting around the dance floor taking a break because 2 in the morning is really early in Spain and it is definitely not time for them to stop dancing.

Here we have the birthday girl all in black looking younger than ever. They were working a Conga line during one of the last songs. We had been planning to catch the bus home so we went to kiss everyone at 1 to get the last bus leaving the town. They insisted "No- we are all leaving right now to go down into the city, so don't bother with the bus." We responded skeptically "You're leaving now?" And in the midst of dancing and changing the music they turned to us "Yes yes, right now." An hour and a half later we cleaned up the dance room and headed home.

Cayendo Chuzos de Punta: Literalmente

My youngest students at the high school are also the ones Sam and I got to go on a 13 hour fieldtrip with. We spent our day off with these little ones going to see the cave paintings in Altamira, an adorable village with buildings and streets alike made from small bricks and stones, and finally the remains of an ancient Roman city.

The crew at Altamira was really unorganized and they had us waiting around for nearly an hour with nothing to do because one of their guides had been injured by a student during hunting the previous day. Apparently 24 hours is not enough for them to find a replacement or come up with a different schedule, so they forced our group of 12 year olds to learn a bit of patience. The injured guide finally showed up and is showing the boys here how to launch that long arrow and hit the deer out on the field. It was rather entertaining to watch. Until...they started shouting "Leigh, Leigh- your turn!" I couldn't say no. Let it be known that of all of the girls in my group I was the only one who killed us some dinner- they even cheered for me. Now all I need is a prehistoric mate who can make fire and I'll be good to go.

When we came over here, I thought we were going to learn to make fire and I was SO excited. Until the man said "My wrist is hurt so I won't be teaching you fire today" and he showed us some tools instead. I think I might have been more disappointed than the kids. Especially since I'd proven myself in hunting, I was feeling fairly confident and wanted to show off my other paleolithic talents.

Here is Esther, the geography and history teacher I work with. We are in Santillana del Mar and are nearly running behind her to try and find the place that sells the best "Sobaos" in the city. Unfortunately, it was closed when we found it, but we did buy others. They are small spongey yellow cakes that taste buttery and are popular throughout Spain, but this is where they are famous. We also bought some jelly to put on top, though when we told our students about this they said "Um...no. Jelly is for toast", only in Spanish, and with more attitude. Little do they know how delicious sobao+jelly really is.

If I lived in Santillana del Mar, this would be my house. You can't have such a beautiful, ancient stone house without hanging obnoxious amounts of flowers off of your balcony.

The cathedral with its tiny bell tower. This plaza was beautiful because, like most of the rest of the town, the cobblestone streets seemed endless as they effortlessly climbed vertically creating a surrounding of buildings made of the same materials.

At our last stop, Juliobriga. The countryside was incredible for most of the bus ride. So many people travel to Ireland thinking that is the place where you can find views, well, like this. For those of you who have never considered a trip to Northern Spain: this is what it looks like. Rolling green hills flow into small rivers and lakes. Small orange-roofed houses dot the countryside as do horses and cows wearing bells.  

Looking like a Kansas farmgirl out in the Spanish countryside. We were sitting here waiting for our kids who had each been prepared with 2 sandwhiches to get them through their long day. So about this time they all pulled out number 2. Wrapped in foil, on fresh baguette bread, with chicken, chorizo, and ham. There was not a pb&j in sight.

This leg was a little hard because we were so tired. Then we were made to watch a little movie, and listen to a very long tour about what life was like in ancient Roman cities. The guide was very knowledgable but she definitely loved to chat, even when she realized she had lost more than half of the group (including me). The students began coming up to me. "Leigh, it's just that she talks SO much." They started to fade and many leaned against walls, finally sitting down on the floor during her talk but I didn't even stop them. I would have done the same.

Our students were truly lovely. The bus rides were less than fun, but other than that I can't complain about them. They spoke a lot of English (though they did get to hear me in Spanish a bit), were well behaved during our tours, and showed up on time at every meeting point. We met some students from England doing a similar trip and the English kids kept shouting at mine in terrible Spanish. "No hable ingles!" one said. I turned to him and said "Well you don't speak Spanish either, because that makes no sense." That's when he used an expletive and said "Oh --- they speak English!"

For some reason, I was so very annoyed by the bratty English children who spoke loudly in English about my kids and then yelled at mine in terrible Spanish. Even the English teachers were saying rude things in front of us because they thought we couldn't understand. Just as that would happen, I'd turn and address my group in English. I hope that scared them enough to keep them from being terribly rude.  

So a bit of advice for our English speaking friends. It is really unsafe to assume that no one around you can understand your derogatory comments. It is even more ignorant to then go up to the register and speak English, assuming that the people you need help from are the only ones that understand you. Ah. Needless to say, they made me love and appreciate my little Spanish loves who were excited to hear English and just wanted to go make friends with them.

Recuerdos Dorados

I posted out of order! Bear with me, but I have to backtrack to the end of my Semana Santa trip with the parents. I am pretty sure there is now way to insert this in an earlier spot on my blog, but if there are any Bloggers out there who know a way, I'd love to hear.

Our last days in Rome proved to be pretty filled with seeing monuments, eating well, and of course, gladiators on cell phones.

For as incredible as the Colosseum is, it has become my least favorite spot in all of Rome. It put me immediately in a bad mood. You can't enjoy the massiveness of the architecture for 20 seconds without getting asked if you want a tour, getting followed around by people selling things, etc. I was literally furious. "I just pretend I don't speak English and I don't see them talking to me." I told my dad. He responded "I try to be polite." I, however, am so far past the polite stage. We took a break and sat up here at this cafe. It was perfect for a view of the forum without all the tourist-trap atmosphere.

We got to do this new "Underground the Colosseum" tour and here we are in the basement. This is where the makeshift elevators are, through which the slaves would lift up wild beasts and props through trap doors and onto the stage. A little overgrown, but very cool. This is where all the work behind the scenes went on for every show.

Here's the parents overlooking the stage. Apparently for Easter the Pope comes here so we were trying to find his spot in the stands.

We also met this lovely young couple in Rome for their honeymoon. The girl pulled me aside to say "It's been a great trip, but the other night we were lost and tired and we had our honeymoon fight. I hope that's normal!" It was precious, and I reassured her that it's nearly impossible to do tourist-style traveling without having at least one argument. Ask my parents. They'll tell you I argue a lot.

We got stopped by a group of 6 young girls from Syracuse, NY who asked if we would take their picture. They were very sweet, and all dressed almost identically. Turns out, they were all studying in Spain and said "Oh wow- you're teaching there?! How cool? Can you tell us about it, do you just love it?" It made me feel really old. I remember being just the same way when I found out that I could come BACK after studying abroad. Who would've thought? I think my parents are still a bit surprised that I voluntarily left home for so long. But honestly, I can't imagine having spent this year anywhere else.

Here on Palatine Hill over-looking the Colosseum. Since we had to pay to get inside here there are no people trying to force us into tours or plastic sunglasses or pictures of the Pope with a photo-shopped dove on his shoulder.

Dad and I on one of the bridges heading across to Trastevere. The best place to eat in Rome (according to us). I had my favorite gelato here one night and was convinced I'd find it again the next night. Mom didn't believe me. She thought I was leading us to the retaurant since I had my map out and was navigating. Little did she know, I was leading us right to my gelato shop. They even put mini cones on top of the ice cream which is kind of perfect for a spoon. Dad and I had been enviously eyeing icecream-eaters all over Rome with their mini cones and felt very accomplished to have finally found our own.

Nope, not in Spain. But we are, indeed, at the Spanish steps. I love this picture of my parents. On this trip they were full of energy, wanted to see and do everything. I was the one ready for bed every night. I feel lucky to be one of six kids and to have gotten my parents to myself for an entire week in Italy. Never would have pictured this happening. As with all great things, we don't take as much advantage of them at the time. Mom and Dad had to keep feeding me gelato to keep me in a good mood. I guess I get tired walking around all day, posing for pictures, trying to choose restaurants and speak to people who have terrible English. Luckily, as time goes by, we forget the sore feet, the long days, the bad moods, and remember all the awesome things we saw and the people we saw them with. We remember sitting on a ledge overlooking the city. We remember that one restaurant where we ate for three hours. We remember that we were in Italy together, and it was awesome.