The adventures continue.....

Wow....ok ok, I know, I know.... I haven't posted in awhile. Sorry! I'm on top of things, I swear!!!

Well, last week, the girls and I made BOMB stuffed peppers....move out of the way grandpa!!! (just kidding....his will kick mine's ass anytime...) But ohhhhh...they were so good. We stuffed them with peppers, onions, garlic, cheese and cous cous...man, oh man!


Last weekend, we finally made the trek up to la Iglesia de San Roque..which is the highest church in the city...and when I say high, I mean high. The trek up there was tough, straight up, but oh, the view! It was awesome. We packed a lunch and just ate on the steps, overlooking the city. It really was spectacular. We could clearly see the mountain and the castle as well as the rest of the city.

View from the bottom of the mountain....
It's really just a tiny little thing....
Different view of the castle for ya....
good thing for automatic timers
goofing around..

Well, last Thursday I was lucky enough to have my good friend Lindsey, from Washington come over to visit me from Mallorca. (She's an auxiliar there). ohhhh, I haven't seen this girl in 2 years, it was sooo awesome! Thursday night, I took her out on the town....well as much of it that we could conquer....of course, we hit up Australian bar, you know, the staple of Calatayud. The hoppin' place where it all goes down... (not really) there were like five people in the bar, but we had fun anyway. It's sad because the bartender is beginning to recongnize us (his name is Francisco) and now he comes over to talk to us when we go in...oh, so sad...

Anyways, on Friday we decided that we would spend the weekend in Pamplona..so off we went! It's only about two hours away by train...and we got a super nice one! (earphones and everything...) We arrived around 6:30 in Pamplona....to the pouring rain...awesome. And on top of that, we had to walk to the hostel. haha....needless to say, we showed up looking a little wet. ha. Well, we stayed at Hostel Hemingway, which was close to the city center...the old part of town, el casco viejo (which literally means old helmet) But it was cozy and we got too meet some people there. Well, friday night we decided to indulge in falafel and Doner kebabs...mmm! It was outrageous because not only was it a kebab place....but oh, they served italian as well! wow, only in Europe will you find that. Needless to say, it was delicious and me and Linds overheard two Australian gals talking and we found out that they were staying in the same hostel! Weirdly, they were also both named Sara(h). ha! They were pretty chill though, we had a good talk.


Well me and Linds definitely did some partying this weekend....some of the people from the hostel went out and invited us along, some of them being native Pamplonians, so we actually got to go to non-touristy places....it soooo rocked! We were out until 5:30 in the morning. wicked good times...One bar was called Garika and the other, Cava....definitely reccomendable! hahaha

Well the next morning, we uh, slept in a little. Like you know, 12:30ish.... haha. We got up and walked around,we got to see the path that the bulls take when the fiestas de San Fermin take place in July....way easier to see without so many people around! The bullring there is the 3rd largest in the world, I can only call it less than impressive! It was giant! (third only to Madrid and Mexico City) It's insane, becuase the streets are sooooo narrow! I have no idea how all those bulls and people fit in them! Insane really.... Also, the city is well-known for Hemingway's novels....so its easy to see a lot of Hemingway stuff everywhere...especially the places where he liked to frequent. (Very cool, especially since The Sun Also Rises is one of my favorite novels) The ambiance of the city is great....Since its so close to France, there is a lot of French influence in the architecture which gives it a different feel. Also, its cool cause even though the city is in the region of Navarra, the majority of the city's signs are also written in Euskera, the language of Pais Vasco, the next province over. It's a really pretty language, however, its the only language in the world where no one can trace it back to anything...its unlike any other language. Yet, it's one of Spain's official languages. (For example, Garaika is a girl's name....and instead of the Spanish name, Ignacio...it becomes Iñaki...they do wicked cool things with k's). Anyhow, the city overall was a beautiful place...

The bullring....
The origin of the Fiesta de San Fermin...
El Encierro, where the bulls enter the ring
This is Sara, in the Encierro.
El Estafeta, the longest straightaway ofthe run, 300 m. See how tiny the streets are???
Again, we went out on Saturday night...this time to the local discoteca...(I'm so glad we made friends!) and again...we didn't get home until 7:00 in the morning...I love Pamplona! It was pretty funny though, cause the next day, Lindsey and I thought that our phones had automatically changed time zones, well, let's just say they didn't. We ended getting to the train station SUPER early... yes, we got to know the Pamplona train station very well....

By far the most beautiful building we saw in Pamplona. Not really sure what it is though.
The traditional dances of Navarra, a show we just happened upon while walking along the Casco viejo...
The statue of the encierro....depicting the Running of the Bulls, obviously Lindsey and I thought it could use a few more participants.
I know, I know...we CLEARLY had too much time on our hands....

Overlooking the Pyrenees...

Overall, t'was a very good weekend....Sometime this year I'll make it back up north to get to San Sebastian, which is also a city from Hemingway's book. Met some good people and got to see Lindsey! This weekend mom and dad are visiting.....this should be interesting! (haha, just kidding mom and dad, can't wait!!) So, off to Valencia we go!!

Things have been going well at school, today I got the chance to explain what Halloween was and where it came from....I also told them a few scary stories...(so easy to scare them!!!) You know, a little Mercy Brown never hurt anyone! hehehe. That was just entertaining for my benefit.... It is sometimes fun to mess with them... :)



Adieu!!

Nuestra Senora, la Virgen Pilar, toros, and hot water.....oh my!

So, wow. What a weekend. The gals and I ventured to Zaragoza for the world famous celebration of Aragon's Patron Saint, Pilar. We arrived on Sunday afternoon and crashed with another auxiliar living there, who was nice enough to let us stay the weekend. Well..than the party began!

We cruised around Zaragoza for awhile...figuring out the mean streets, (which turned out to be not so bad) and we eventually found our way to the main plaza where everything was going down. The Basilica de la virgen Pilar is the central item in the plaza, with old Zaragoza surrounding it and the Ebro river crawling behind it. So there was a lot of room for activity. For the festival there were radio crews set up, the news, a concert stage...everything! There were already sooo many people around, it was crazy. One thing we noticed was that tons of kids were wearing white overalls, with writing all over them. Like every teenager imaginable wore them...we finally asked someone and learned that they were called 'petos' and that it was tradition to wear them to events and outings, after having you friends sign them...how crazy! Anyways, that night we met up with Kristin and we grabbed some wine and 'botelloned' (simply put, when you gather in a group and drink outside, in the streets, on a sidewalk, wherever you wish really) on the side of the cathedral! It was excellent fun...I even found Don Simon! woo! But anways, also in the plaza was this giant metal structure that looked like a pyramid. That was the center event on the following day.

Basilica de Nuestra Virgen de Pilar from the Ebro River

From the plaza at night, the pyramid...

The following day we trudged back to the plaza, only this time to find the most people I have ever seen in my life in one spot. It was incredible the amount of people that attended this event. The streets were absolutely mobbed. But it was so neat as to what was going on. People from all over Aragon had come to Zaragoza, dressed in the traditional dress of their ancestors, and brought floral offerings for their patroness. That pyramid thing was actually what the flowers were put into, creating a humongous pyramid of flowers. It was absolutely mesmorizing to see from the young to the old (my age included) have so much pride in their nationality. Thousands of people dressed up and celebrated their aragonese pride. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

Post flower offering....

One of the events going in the month of October in Zaragoza are daily bullfights, something which is a bit of a divided subject in Spain. Well, the girls and I had the lucky experience of being caught in the middle of a protest! We were sitting in this plaza, when all of a sudden we see people starting to congrugate with boards and and flyers, and people dressed up in red and black...it was crazy! All of a sudden, they did like this charge move and they all started yelling and shouting and ranting and raving...protesting the bullfight! Police showed up and everything...it was nuts! We were able to get out of there...but it was kinda cool! haha! Never done that before!

All in all, Zaragoza was a beautiful city...and extremely easy to get too; I can't wait to go back! There is a giant salsa expo there in November...you can bet that I'll be there!

Well, the good news is that we get hot water tomorrow! Yay....a warm shower is gonna be awesome! Can't wait......

Oh....what a night!

Wow....today was pretttttyy packed!

Actually, I should rewind a bit back to Thursday, when Emily and I decided to go for a walk....which ended up in us climbing up to the castle of Calatayud....the big one, the mamacita, the head honcho of all the castillos around. Yea. Smart idea. Well, we climbed it, and it was gorgeous, but off in the distance, we definitely saw these giant rain clouds....haha. You bet, it happened. Halfway down the mountain, it started to pour...Emily and I were drowned rats by the time we got back to the apartment....Karli thought it was hysterical. (It was pretty funny). Well, that was experience number one with the mountain.

As for today...which we slept in, after a night of Rummy and wine....and yes, grandpa DID hang up on me. hahaha. The internet guy showed up at our door at 9:30, of all things in Spain to be on time, it had to be him. Oh well, we know have internet in the apartment...(which means I finally get to write this from my room!) After that I kinda hung around the apartment, until we decided to go to the Castle, again! This time with intentions of climbing inside. From reading a pamphlet, I found out the the reason the city has this name, is for the castle itself, which was originally a Muslim stronghold in 716. The castle, which was named 'Qal'at Ayyub"....haha, get it? Calatayud! Anyways, to get to the castle, you have to walk straight up the main street in the city, up into gypsy land, and then finally, you are at the top. Nothing but mountains surrounds you, and you can see for miles and miles....
It is incredible...unlike anything I've ever seen. Once climbing inside the castle, things got even cooler. Just imagining what used to go on in it....It's hard to believe that its still standing after all these years!
We climbed around inside, looking at all the neat alcoves and such...the stone just disintegrated in your hand, it was so old and worn.

After we got back, I made an AWESOME minestrone soup....I was throughly impressed that I actually did it. It was absolutely loaded with good stuff..now we're talking, pastine, carrots, green beans, broccoli, lentils, red beans, black beans, zucchini, onions...and probably some other stuff...but it was sooooo good! Success!
Thanks grandma!!!

And, the last part to the evening was the wedding reception that took place right outside of our balcony! It was so pretty, and really cool to see the way a Spanish wedding took place. There was even fireworks! People get really dressed up, and they had a beautiful night....the music is still going on. Weirdly, the reception didn't start until about 9! uff!

Anyways, tomorrow we are Zaragoza bound for the Festival of la virgen Pilar....Spain's patron saint. This should be fun! Back on Tuesday......

Sara, are you feeding yourself??

Yes mom....I'm eating a plenty. With a full kitchen and a grocery store on the way to work....its hard to say I've done anything but. Last night I made farfalle pasta with lemon chicken and basil with pine nuts and tomatoes.....definitely a success!
yummmm. I also made a new friend last night...his name is Don Simon, and he's 99 cents. You know, plain ol' white table wine....but oh, so delicious. So delicious, that I took a picture of him....
This is definitely the start of a beautiful friendship.

Anyways, on Tuesday, I started at the other school, Augusta Bilibilis...the biggest in the city, and my favorite of the two. The teachers are a lot of fun, and the kids are well-behaved and actually know some English, so it makes my job a little more meaningful. ha. I have one professor, who I will be with three days a week, asked me to make a slide show on American football....of all things! I definitely called in the help of my bro, and he somehow made it into the show. way to go there tiger...bringing back your glory days of '07. I also made one on Rhode Island and of the types of houses we have in America....it will definitely be interesting to teach that. I really like teaching...but I think I like it so much because I don't really have to do anything...I talk about things that I know about, and I speak my maternal language! ah....its still only the first week though....

Other than that, we figured out our washing machine, which is helpful, and we bought our internet, so that should be up and running by next week. Next Monday and Tuesday are holidays here in Zaragoza, so we are actually going to Zaragoza for the Fiesta del Pilar, who is the parton saint of Spain. Apparently, its huge....so we shall see.... That should be fun though.

Well, good news...I'm coming home for Christmas break! I'll be home from th 23 to January 6....woo! Long vacation! I bought my tickets yesterday....

Well time for class...adieu!

...Do you know Michael Jackson?

Well, today was the first day on the job….let me tell you, Spanish kids are extremely interesting. They yell, there hilarious, and they don’t stop talking….ever. I could not get over the amount of questions I received today….some were extremely funny. The best one was, when I was talking about how long it takes to drive from Northern RI to the south, they asked how long it took to walk it….uhhhh? I don’t know, a day? Haha. Things like that….also if I knew any movie stars, especially if I knew Michael Jackson. Yes, he’s a personal friend. Oyyyyeee. This is going to be a good year.

Well, the teachers are excellent. Today I worked mainly with a woman named Beatriz, and she happens to live in the apartment building across from me. Today we worked with the two 4th grade classes, and the two 6th. I got to explain where I lived, the capital of the U.S. and how many states there were. It is kind of hard because here they don’t really have any English immersion, so they never get to practice what they learn. Unfortunately I had to teach a little bit in Spanish, which defeats the whole purpose of me being there! We’ll work towards it. However, it was still a lot of fun. The school is very small but well-equipped. Tomorrow I get to go to the other school, Augusta Bilibilis, the largest in the city.

Score! Tonight we hiked over to the Spanish equivalent of Walmart and bought sheets and towels! Yayyyyy. Now all we need is some hot water and we’ll be good to go….

Oh the little things in life that makes us happy.

Buenas Noches!

Gloria Fuertes...and who was she??

Ok ok, so the near impossible has been completed! With being in Calatayud for almost four hours, the chicas and I found an apartment! (We also got our telephones too.) We have a landlord named Jesus, and we live next to a hotel. Very monopoly like if you ask me. Anyways, we are up on the sixth floor and the view from our balcony is awesome! We can see the big castle and also some mountains off in the distance. We also have a birds eye view of the people below. gahh. Now with that done, we can sit back and relax and wait for the teaching to begin (tomorrow....)

Anways, my address here is:

Calle Gloria Fuertes 3 6B
Calatayud, Zaragoza, 50300

Packages and cards are greatly appreciated! Want to be my pen pal? hehe

Anyways, here's the apartment...

This is my bedroom...complete with yes, pink lights.

The dining area....
The living room, complete with Karli.
The kitchen! Where I'm going to attempt to make pasta sauce.....
Our balcony!!
And the incredible view from our balcony! (Yes, that is a fourth century castle standing up there.) The balcony is also where I am currently writing this post....

Well, it has been a truly splendid sunday....now we must find something to do....

Tomorrow I start teaching! Could be interesting.....

Until then....

xx

beds? landord named jesus? washing machine? ....i think we got it!

Ahhhhh! So today was D-day, las chicas and I have entered the wonderful city of Calatayud. Complete with 6 castles, roman ruins, and an abundance of Spanish english teachers that want to help us. Yes, of course, picture it, the three of us, loaded like pack mules with luggage, pretty much climbing our way up an escalotor, attacked by a crowd of 5 spanish woman, all talking like clucking hens at one.....(that one's for you Dan!) Yep, it was pretty intense, however, these women were INCREDIBLY nice, I met Rosa and Anamarie, the two women I will be working with, today and they are awesome. They are extremely excited that we are here to work with them. I guess it's been like 2 years since they had an auxiliar and now they have three. uff! Anyways, we arrived at our hotel, which is so cute! (complete with uneven steps, tempremental wifi, and antique furniture. After we dumped our stuff, we definitely set off and scoured the city. It is adorable!

We also began our search of apartments, and after four of them, we definitely found one we loved!! 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a gorgeous terraza with kitchen and dining room. All newly furnished and awesome views. I can't believe it. Here's the kicker.....i'm paying 120 euros for the room....what whaattttt! hell yea! pictures soon to come.....

After our trek through apartment ville, we definitely found some falafel and chowed down, then scoping out the bar scene. not bad, not bad. We found this place called Buddha bar and it was hilarious because we were in Spain, in a place called Buddha bar, drinking German beer (well, I wasn't), and listening to American music; only in Spain! haha. After that we went to this other crazy bar that played wicked loud techno music. Also pretty cool. hmm. It is definitely going to be an interesting year......

Oh! and I finally got a Spanish cell phone! waca waca! More details to come!!!!


until next time.....ciao!