I'm well aware that negligence of travel blogs is a serious crime that can't be mitigated by even the best of excuses. However, I'll nonetheless provide you with a few explanations in the desperate hope that they will, perhaps, instill in you an inkling of understanding:
1. Winter break happened. The first half was filled with Madrid-Toledo-Segovia-Barcelona fun with my mum and the rest was filled with a whirlwind of family and friend reunions back in good old Northampton. There wasn't much time to sleep and feed myself, let alone feed words to this here blog. But yeah, I had a truly terrific time with Mother, getting to know Madrid and realizing it has much more character than I'd thought last time I was there, oggling at the fairytale cities of Toledo and Segovia (especially Segovia's Alcázar, which is so utterly stunning that even Walt Disney himself based his classic palace on it), and walking through the dreamy bizarreness of Gaudí´s creations in Barcelona (most notably, for me, the roof of la Pedrera, which is an otherwordly land of melting marshmallow men). And going home was just so excellent. I love Spain, but I must say, I wouldn't have minded being home a tad longer. Seeing my friends and family so briefly was like eating a bite of an apple pie and then having the rest of the piece snatched right out of my hands. (But luckily I did, at least, get to have Mum's delish apple pie on numerous occasions...and was able to eat entire pieces.)
2. Once I got back to Spain I had to deal with a) suitcase loss at airport (but it finally turned up) b) lack of hot water and heat in apartment and c) The Big Move #2 a week after I got back. (Yes, I moved. Yet again. I felt awkward in apartment #2 because my roommates only seemed to want to talk to me in order to tell me what to do. Luckily, new apartment is beautiful, I have a shower with water that comes out of the ceiling and walls, and, most importantly, my flatmate, Luisa, is an absolute delight.) But yeah, going through that whole process didn't leave me much blog time. And the one con to the new flat is it's super far from everything. I spend 3-4 hours a day walking, I eat my meals in a less-than-leisurely-fashion, and I'm basically always on the go...so again, not much blog time. But overall, life is much preferable these days, and I get exercise built right into my day! (Thank God for podcasts...the info in my ears keeps my walks a good deal more interesting than they would be otherwise...NPR's "Snap Judgements," "The Moth," and "Stuff You Should Know" are among my favorites, but the list is quite long.)
3. The writing that I do spend some time on these days involves a story about a girl who goes to Spain (who knows where I got that idea from...) and cover letters for writing programs this summer. The dear blog has thus been overshadowed by other narratives. (Sorry baby blog! No offense intended!)
So yeah, those are my (less than satisfactory, perhaps) excuses. Moving on to the highlights of my recent Spanish experiences:
1. Two recent trips with Caroline, one to visit Mérida again (but unfortunately on our last visit we'd seen all the famous tourist attractions, and this time we were kind of left scavenging for somewhat decent sights) and to Badajóz, where we had a rainy but fun night with our assortment of pals. Some of such pals also visited us these past few weekends, which was delightful. One night we went to a club without a clue that it was salsa night...we kinda just stood on the side, gaping at the super gifted dancers gallop gracefully across the floor until some people who worked at the club forced us to dance. My skills were, to put it gently...sub-par.
2. Seeing Olivenza, an Extremaduran-Portuguese band whose CD I bought after the show (I let Caroline do the talking during the CD-purchase, as being near the band members made me rather bashful) and I've now memorized all the songs...soo gooooood.
3. Seeing "The Book Thief." It was so entrancing and beautiful I didn't even fixate, as I normally do, on the strangeness of Spanish dubbing, or even really notice the absurdity of blond kids speaking Spanish in Holocaust-stricken Germany. (But you should read the book first--it's wonderful, as well.)
4. Teaching poetry to a pair of remarkably intelligent brothers. I have to say, I find this much more engaging than attempting to silence classrooms of perpetually-boisterous youth. In general, my private classes are much more my style. As much as I want to stay in Spain longer, I, unlike many of my peers, am not going to renew my position here since the experience has confirmed my lack of passion for classroom teaching. However, I'm continuing to ponder fields in which I can help people one-on-one.
1. Winter break happened. The first half was filled with Madrid-Toledo-Segovia-Barcelona fun with my mum and the rest was filled with a whirlwind of family and friend reunions back in good old Northampton. There wasn't much time to sleep and feed myself, let alone feed words to this here blog. But yeah, I had a truly terrific time with Mother, getting to know Madrid and realizing it has much more character than I'd thought last time I was there, oggling at the fairytale cities of Toledo and Segovia (especially Segovia's Alcázar, which is so utterly stunning that even Walt Disney himself based his classic palace on it), and walking through the dreamy bizarreness of Gaudí´s creations in Barcelona (most notably, for me, the roof of la Pedrera, which is an otherwordly land of melting marshmallow men). And going home was just so excellent. I love Spain, but I must say, I wouldn't have minded being home a tad longer. Seeing my friends and family so briefly was like eating a bite of an apple pie and then having the rest of the piece snatched right out of my hands. (But luckily I did, at least, get to have Mum's delish apple pie on numerous occasions...and was able to eat entire pieces.)
 |
| Marshmallow Men at La Pedrera |
2. Once I got back to Spain I had to deal with a) suitcase loss at airport (but it finally turned up) b) lack of hot water and heat in apartment and c) The Big Move #2 a week after I got back. (Yes, I moved. Yet again. I felt awkward in apartment #2 because my roommates only seemed to want to talk to me in order to tell me what to do. Luckily, new apartment is beautiful, I have a shower with water that comes out of the ceiling and walls, and, most importantly, my flatmate, Luisa, is an absolute delight.) But yeah, going through that whole process didn't leave me much blog time. And the one con to the new flat is it's super far from everything. I spend 3-4 hours a day walking, I eat my meals in a less-than-leisurely-fashion, and I'm basically always on the go...so again, not much blog time. But overall, life is much preferable these days, and I get exercise built right into my day! (Thank God for podcasts...the info in my ears keeps my walks a good deal more interesting than they would be otherwise...NPR's "Snap Judgements," "The Moth," and "Stuff You Should Know" are among my favorites, but the list is quite long.)
3. The writing that I do spend some time on these days involves a story about a girl who goes to Spain (who knows where I got that idea from...) and cover letters for writing programs this summer. The dear blog has thus been overshadowed by other narratives. (Sorry baby blog! No offense intended!)
So yeah, those are my (less than satisfactory, perhaps) excuses. Moving on to the highlights of my recent Spanish experiences:
1. Two recent trips with Caroline, one to visit Mérida again (but unfortunately on our last visit we'd seen all the famous tourist attractions, and this time we were kind of left scavenging for somewhat decent sights) and to Badajóz, where we had a rainy but fun night with our assortment of pals. Some of such pals also visited us these past few weekends, which was delightful. One night we went to a club without a clue that it was salsa night...we kinda just stood on the side, gaping at the super gifted dancers gallop gracefully across the floor until some people who worked at the club forced us to dance. My skills were, to put it gently...sub-par.
2. Seeing Olivenza, an Extremaduran-Portuguese band whose CD I bought after the show (I let Caroline do the talking during the CD-purchase, as being near the band members made me rather bashful) and I've now memorized all the songs...soo gooooood.
 |
| Olivenza |
3. Seeing "The Book Thief." It was so entrancing and beautiful I didn't even fixate, as I normally do, on the strangeness of Spanish dubbing, or even really notice the absurdity of blond kids speaking Spanish in Holocaust-stricken Germany. (But you should read the book first--it's wonderful, as well.)
4. Teaching poetry to a pair of remarkably intelligent brothers. I have to say, I find this much more engaging than attempting to silence classrooms of perpetually-boisterous youth. In general, my private classes are much more my style. As much as I want to stay in Spain longer, I, unlike many of my peers, am not going to renew my position here since the experience has confirmed my lack of passion for classroom teaching. However, I'm continuing to ponder fields in which I can help people one-on-one.
