Hi everyone!
Things have been so busy lately, I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted! So there are quite a few things I'd like to update you on...
Quinny's Visit
Way back at the start of February (!), Quinny came out to visit me in Lucena! In a massive stroke of luck, his flight to Malaga coincided with when Alice's flight left, so Bijan, Bridget and I made the journey with Alice to the airport and eagerly awaited him at the Arrivals gate! We then went to a local bar and had some croquetas and a coffee to wake Quinny up (he had already been awake since about 03:50 that morning...!) and then had a lovely stroll along the seafront before hopping back in the car. It was then that I finally had the chance to move my things into my room and get properly unpacked at last! That evening we went out for some delicious tapas at Bar Jardín, where I first tried the local speciality, flamenquines: usually either chicken breast or pork fillet, flattened and stuffed with ham then rolled in breadcrumbs and fried - naughty but delicious! We then called in at La Judería, a local bar that came highly recommended by locals - we weren't disappointed! A huge plate of prawns wrapped in bacon and some tasty pork in a tomato sauce went down very nicely. We'd made it there by around 9pm, but apparently this is too late - we had to settle for a standing table outside! It is a tiny place, but I certainly learned that the trick is to get there early!
We then went back to my flat to get ready for the night's entertainment - a mass birthday party in a storage warehouse...! We met my Spanish friends at their house and made our way to the edge of town, where a friend of a friend had hired a warehouse to serve as a makeshift party venue! I have to say it lacked atmosphere in my opinion, but it was great fun meeting lots of people and having a dance around while looking at funny photos of the birthday girls and boys - Lucena's young people know how to make their own fun! We then wandered back to the flat at a conservative 2am, as Quinny had been awake for nudging 24 hours at that point...!
On Sunday we decided to go and check out the local football team, as they were playing at home. After wandering round most of Lucena trying to find our way to the football ground on foot (I'd driven past it with Bijan and Bridget but had since completely lost my bearings!), we were eventually directed to the other end of town, relatively near where we'd come from! We chose the cheap seats for a bargainous 5€ and ended up being two of only about 7 fans in the stand!! It was good fun though, and the match took place during sunset, so it was set against a lovely backdrop. We then made our way back to my flat, where we rustled up a very tasty paella with a glass of wine for dinner!
On Monday Quinny had to make his way to Malaga relatively early, as the buses here are rather inflexible, so we made the most of our morning by going out for a coffee and tostada for breakfast and doing a bit of sales shopping! I then dropped him off at the bus station and made my way home to eat the remainder of the paella (I'd saved myself a treat - goodbyes are never fun!) and plan my lessons for my first full week of teaching solo! All in all, a lovely weekend :)
The next few weeks flew by in a hazy, steep learning curve - the kids are fantastic and I really enjoy the lessons, but it is amazing how quickly time flies, and when you think you have more than enough time to plan your lessons, somehow it's never quite enough to feel relaxed about it! I think it's the case that you can make it as big or small a task as you like. Now that I'm getting into my stride a bit more, I'm trying to come up with increasingly inventive ideas to ensure that the kids are really engaged and enjoying learning. It's a challenge, but a really fun one!
I also need to update you on my weekend in Cordoba, which hopefully I'll get round to very shortly....I'm off to London this weekend for Quinny's and my anniversary - 6 whole years! I spent most of yesterday planning what we're going to get up to - I'm so excited :) So I'll fill you in on how that goes too!
Love to all, do keep in touch! xxx
lunes, 24 de febrero de 2014
domingo, 9 de febrero de 2014
Skiing in the Sierra Nevada and my handover week at Academia Discover!
Phew, it's been a while since I updated this! So much has been going on! I'm a bit behind now, but here are some ideas of what I've been up to:
Skiing in the Sierra Nevada
After an eventful night in Granada and approximately 3 hours' sleep in the lovely Nest hostel, we took revenge on the guy keeping his phone light on in the hostel room all night by setting our alarms for 7am and sneaking out to hit the road to the ski slopes! Having never gone skiing before, navigating the ski resort was a new experience for our very sleepy foursome...
We arrived in good time for our 10am lesson (or so we thought!), parked and made our way to the resort. This was much bigger than I imagined! A cluster of chalets housing restaurants, ski hire shops and clothing stores sat atop the hillside, buzzing with Spanish families kitted out in full skiwear, stomping around in their clunky boots. We wove our way through them to find our kit hire shop and got dressed in our borrowed gear - we looked hilarious!
Skiing in the Sierra Nevada
After an eventful night in Granada and approximately 3 hours' sleep in the lovely Nest hostel, we took revenge on the guy keeping his phone light on in the hostel room all night by setting our alarms for 7am and sneaking out to hit the road to the ski slopes! Having never gone skiing before, navigating the ski resort was a new experience for our very sleepy foursome...
We arrived in good time for our 10am lesson (or so we thought!), parked and made our way to the resort. This was much bigger than I imagined! A cluster of chalets housing restaurants, ski hire shops and clothing stores sat atop the hillside, buzzing with Spanish families kitted out in full skiwear, stomping around in their clunky boots. We wove our way through them to find our kit hire shop and got dressed in our borrowed gear - we looked hilarious!
Our group on the slopes - I'm on the far left!
Me enjoying Spanish sun and snow
Unfortunately, once we had all our gear on, it was exhausting to walk around, and we were soon overheating in all our layers! We stomped around looking for our ski school, being directed up and down the slopes by various attendants - they're obviously not used to first-time skiers not knowing their way around! Eventually we established that we had to buy our ski pass in order to ride the cable car up the side of the mountain, so Bijan and I made our way to the ticket machines and off we clomped to join the queue. The view from the cable car was breathtaking, and the sudden hush when we pulled away from the crowds on the ground was startling.
Before long we arrived at the top of the mountain - a whole 45 minutes late for our 2-hour lesson! Oops... After recommending to our ski instructor that they signpost the way to the ski school better for beginners (!), we embarked upon our first foray into skiing, first learning how to "snow plough" (brake - very important!) and then trying it out down a few little slopes. A few hilarious episodes ensued (I didn't fall over at this point, but found it quite difficult to stop a few times!), and before long our lesson was over, leaving us to explore the slopes on our own....
We made our way up one of the ski escalators to try out the second beginner slope - this one was a bit bigger, and really fun! Gaining confidence, we then decided to go down the blue slope, which involved going up on the chair lift. Having never ridden one before, I was a bit uncertain as to how to get on it - this then involved me falling over pretty comically on the moving belt! Luckily I managed to right myself just in time to jump on! The 8 year olds I was sharing the lift with managed it just fine....Oops!
After posing for a picture at the top of the mountain (see above!), we made our way down, agreeing to meet at the bottom in case we (inevitably) got separated. This slope was a LOT bigger than the previous ones.... I gingerly made my way down, then suddenly gained speed and promptly toppled over, leaving my poles behind me! Fortunately I was helped by a Spanish ski instructor making his way down, who advised me to strap them to my wrists - so THAT's why they put those straps on there! So off I went again. Unfortunately, the next time I fell, one of my skis detached itself. Now, I don't know if you've ever tried to reattach a ski to a ski boot on a fairly steep mountainside, covered in fluffy, yielding powder....Hmm! After many failed attempts to reattach it to my boot, I decided to trudge down to a spot with firmer snow. Who should be riding over on the chair lift above me, but the ski instructor from before! What he must have thought of me...I had explained earlier that it was my first day skiing! Even then, I wasn't able to get my ski back on, and decided I'd have to give up and trudge back to solid ground at the bottom. On my way down, I met a Spanish girl doing the same - we decided that we weren't really cut out for this skiing business! Nonetheless, it was a fantastic day out, and was an absolutely bargainous way for me to try out skiing for the first time, in some truly breathtaking surroundings. I don't think I would ever have made it to Sochi 2014 though!
Week 1: Shadowing Alice
My first full week in Lucena was mainly spent observing Alice teaching our classes and taking notes on behaviour, the way she structured the lessons and her advice on how to deal with the 10 different groups of kids I would be teaching. This was an invaluable experience in preparing me for taking on the classes on my own once she had left! I also became very familiar with all the songs and chants that she used in her lessons - yes, I sing in my classes (a lot!)! I also observed the director, Assieh, teaching one of her classes. I was incredibly impressed with the discipline she had instilled in her kids (I think they were around 10-11 years old) - they were all chanting adjectives and the dreaded phrasal verbs (think go in, go out, go away, go off, go on....understandably a nightmare for English learners!) by rote, and were very well behaved. Something to bear in mind with my classes!
On Friday, Alice handed over all the classes to me, meaning that Friday afternoon was my first time teaching 4 hours of classes back to back - pretty daunting! It was exhausting but thoroughly enjoyable - the kids are great, and were very excited at the prospect of a new teacher!
On Friday night, we had a lovely farewell dinner for Alice, prepared by Assieh herself - she doesn't come to the school on Fridays, and had spent the whole day cooking! She brought an array of foods to the school for when we finished teaching, including a lovely traybaked Valencian coca - a sort of crispy flatbread made with olive oil, topped with roasted red peppers and tomatoes - absolutely delicious! There were also slices of delicious local Manchego cheese, pepper, olive and feta skewers and slices of baguette topped with blue Brie and Assieh's incredible home-made quince jelly - a feast! We toasted with glasses of wine and Cava, then invited Assieh and Miguel Angel to come out for a drink at a local bar with us. Understandably, they rarely socialise in Lucena, as they can hardly step outside without seeing a parent of a child at the school, or one of their students, who wants to talk shop - so they were a little reluctant, but we managed to coerce them!
We made our way to the Hacienda, a local bar where one of our friends works. When Bridget asked Assieh whether she felt like drinking beer or wine, Assieh responded with, "Hmm....tequila?!" So soon we found ourself knocking back a round of tequila slammers.....that escalated quickly! We stood chatting and getting to know each other for a while, until some salsa music came on, and Bridget and Bijan took to the floor to show us some salsa moves. Naturally I wanted in on this, so I had a crash-course lesson with them! Assieh then revealed that she and Miguel Angel used to dance, and promptly wowed us with their moves! I then mentioned that I loved flamenco and wanted to continue learning here in Lucena, so myself and Miguel Angel ended up dancing some sevillanas under the scrutiny of the Spaniards in the bar - oh dear! It was a fantastic night, and one which ended up being rather more raucous than I think any of us were anticipating! Great fun :)
That'll do for now - I've still got to write about what happened when Quinny came to visit and my first full week of teaching! We've also just met the other new teacher who's just joined, so there's that to update you on as well....so much going on!
Love to everyone xxx
domingo, 26 de enero de 2014
A weekend in Granada, part 1
Hello again!
Thursday night
It's been a hectic few days - I'll sum up what happened before the weekend:
Thursday night
- I met with Assieh, the director of the school where I'll be working. She is so lovely! A really energetic and bubbly character, I was greeted with a big hug when she first saw me! She briefly talked me through the teaching style of the school and how it works, and introduced me to the school's secretary, Araceli - a lovely Spanish lady, who was ecstatic to have a Spanish-speaking teacher join the team! She works closely with the teachers to ensure the students' well-being, so I'm sure my language skills can only be a positive addition :) I also met Assieh's husband, Miguel Angel, who teaches Maths and Science at the school (in Spanish), who seems lovely too. All bodes well so far!
- After I had met Assieh, the other teachers and I then went out to play bingo at a local bar. Assieh and Miguel Angel had very kindly given us some money for some drinks to enjoy our first night out together, so we put this to good use! On bingo night, buying a small beer gets you a bingo card, which you then use to play for prizes such as drinks, sandwiches and the kitty, which gets rolled over every time there isn't a winner. The night attracts quite a crowd of locals, and the atmosphere was certainly animated! Bridget won vouchers for three sandwiches and a few free drinks - more than she's ever won there before! It was decided that I was a lucky talisman... Once the game had finished, we were joined by a group of Spanish friends the other teachers have met during their time in Lucena so far - all really nice guys, and it was great to be able to speak to them and help translate for the others! We then moved on to another bar, and Bridget, Hazel and I went to a different bar where the free drinks tokens can be redeemed. The bar was empty when we walked in, so the rather bored-looking barman had quite a surprise when we turned up, brandishing bingo tickets and demanding free drinks! He seemed quite amused though, and happily obliged us, along with taking a few triumphant photos of us with our prizes! We were about to leave when a group of Spanish women from the bingo night appeared, also requesting their free drinks. This then resulted in loud conversations about how we are English teachers - this tends to go down very well, and is swiftly followed by a reel of English phrases known by the people you are speaking to! We ended up exchanging contact details with one Spanish lady who teaches English at a local school, who invited us to her regular bingo nights at her house with the other ladies!
- I was then shown another bar in Lucena, where one of our Spanish friends works. It was here that I first tried 'ron miel' (honey rum) for 50 cents a shot - absolutely delicious! It tastes something like mead, if I were to compare it to anything. Not bad for my first night!
Friday
On Friday I had a lovely long lie-in (albeit on the sofa - although pretty comfortable, I must say!) to make up for the hecticness of Thursday. Alice and I then went to Bridget and Bijan's flat to arrange things for skiing in Granada at the weekend. A few amusing phone calls to the Spanish ski school ensued - Bridget did very well using her Spanish over the phone, with me standing guard as translator for some tricky questions! We discovered that they didn't have any more classes on Saturday with equipment thrown in, so opted for skiing lessons on Sunday morning instead.
Alice and I realised that we could do with some thick socks and gloves, so we decided to drive over to the local Carrefour hypermarket to pick some up. We went outside and I was introduced to Bridget's beloved Spanish car - a 25-year-old Seat Ronda that used to be the prize in '80s Spanish game shows! We got inside and tried the engine, but disaster - the battery had gone flat! A ridiculous slapstick sketch then ensued in the middle of a street in central Lucena - three English girls pushing this poor old Ronda backwards and forwards down a one-way street, vainly trying to kick-start her! After causing a minor traffic jam and frustrating some locals, we asked a passing driver if he had some jump leads. Miraculously he did, and agreed to help us! He drove around the block to enable us to move the car back for him to park opposite. A fleeting panic over finding the bonnet lever occurred in his absence (thankfully I found it camouflaged behind the driver door!), then he pulled up his car and set to work. Bijan pumped the accelerator, but nothing was happening. Cue Helpful Spaniard no.2, who was passing in the street and advised that pumping the gas in such a way would drown the engine. He ushered Bijan out of the driver's seat and sat down himself. A few determined depressions of the pedal, and she was alive! Both men then nodded cheekily and were gone as quickly as they had appeared. What a drama!
Following our shopping tripI then read over some notes that Alice had written for me on all the classes I'll be taking over when she leaves, before I went to meet her at the school to observe her four classes that afternoon! This was a brilliant experience, as I got to meet the kids and see Alice in action, i.e. what I will need to live up to!
The afternoon was fantastic but exhausting - even sitting and quietly observing can be tiring when you're in a room full of 5 and 6 year olds! The kids are all adorable though, and I was very impressed with the amount of English some of them knew - the sentences they were forming were on a par with the responses I would have expected from the adult class I was teaching in England before I moved here! I do think that the teaching here will be challenging, but I'm excited to push myself in a new direction and have a feeling that it will bring interests out of me that I never realised I had. A great afternoon!
We then caught up with Bridget and Bijan on their afternoon's lessons for a bit, before being invited to their lovely flat for dinner. We discussed who we were borrowing ski gear from - fortunately a lot of the Spanish guys here have their own jackets and salopettes, and had kindly offered to lend us some! Antonio had already given us one pair of salopettes, which Bijan tried on - much hilarity ensued, as they were for someone about twice his size! Alice and I then rolled home to bed at around midnight - we had an early start ahead of us to get to Granada the next day!
Saturday
I hurled myself out of bed at 8:00 on Saturday morning (a bit of a shock to the system after the very Spanish timetable of the day before!) and Alice and I packed up our things and headed to Bridget and Bijan's flat to pack up the car and go on our road trip! Eternally grateful to the kind strangers of the day before for ensuring that the car would start on the big day, we trundled off to Granada - around 1.5 hours' drive from Lucena. We parked near the bus station and caught a bus into the centre to find our hostel. It was strange (and lovely) being back in Granada after visiting there for the first time just three months earlier! We wandered across Plaza Nueva near the Albaicín, passing the street I had stayed on in October, and found that our hostel was just a stone's throw away! The White Nest hostel proved a very good choice indeed - lovely and clean and well-decorated, with a beautiful Moorish interior courtyard and free tea and coffee - just what we needed! We put our stuff in our room and set off in search of free tapas!
We began our tapas crawl at Los Diamantes on Plaza Nueva - a discovery I made back in October. Ask for a caña (small beer) of Alhambra Gold (the delicious local brew) for a mere 2€ and receive a free tapa of whatever they're currently serving! Today it was meat and seafood paella rice - a nice, filling dish to give us some energy for exploring!
Next, Bridget led us to Plaza Isabel la Católica, where Calle Navas can be found - a narrow street packed with tapas bars and revelling locals and tourists alike. We sampled some delicious manchego cheese and a platter of tortilla and barbecued meat in a rustic bar, before moving on to what probably became our favourite bar of the trip - a tiny little place with a silver-haired bartender, who served us up some more Manchego and calamares before turning the classic Spanish pop ballads on his radio up to 11, much to the delight of the somewhat merry Spanish ladies drinking at the bar! They soon started singing along at the top of their lungs, firing requests at the cheeky-eyed barman, who occasionally startled us with his smooth dance moves! On our way out of the bar we were cornered by the ladies, who applauded our English teaching and one even gave us her contact details and offered to show us around Almería! Dizzy and delighted by this experience, we flung ourselves back amid Granada's streets to hit the Spanish January sales - some of which go on until March! I acquired some warmer pyjamas (Andalucía has taken me by surprise by being cold at this time of year - something I could never imagine describing the region as!) and a jumper to serve me during skiing and the rest of the cold weather, as well as some bargainous patterned trousers (I was coerced! The price was too good to resist!). We then made our way back to the hostel for a brief respite before the evening's activities.
Back at the hostel, we refuelled on a cup of tea and bumped into a group of American girls in the communal kitchen, most of whom were studying just outside of Madrid. We also met Adrienne, a Canadian girl who was travelling solo around Europe and who would be sharing our room for the night, and who had just spent three weeks volunteering on an olive farm! We invited her to join us for dinner once we had spruced ourselves up for the night's activities. Once again, we set upon Calle Navas, finding a large and popular bar and choosing a selection of tapas, ensalada mixta and a big plate of chipirones (fried baby squid - delicious, honestly!) to share. Once we had eaten, Adrienne retired to the hostel for some sleep and we continued on to meet our friends in the student quarter of the city, an area I had not been to before. Walking amid the streets, it was clear why it was so popular with students - row upon row of takeaways, rock bars and alternative music shops - how had I not found this before?! We began the night at our friend's flat, enjoying the blissfully reasonably-priced Spanish red wine and learning to sing along to Spanish songs played on the guitar before venturing out to a local bar. We were pleased to hear some classic English pop songs to dance and sing along to, and when our exuberance resulted in a broken glass, I was surprised to find that the barman, upon hearing that I was from Bristol, invited us to the bar for some free shots of ron miel instead of removing us from his bar! Unfortunately, the revelry meant that we had much less than the desired amount of sleep the night before a morning skiing lesson an hour's drive away, but I wouldn't have had it any other way!
Well, time has run away with me and I think I'm going to have to call it a night at that, but I'll certainly write about my experience of the snowy Sierra Nevada as soon as possible! Love to everyone :) Nikki xxx
- I was then shown another bar in Lucena, where one of our Spanish friends works. It was here that I first tried 'ron miel' (honey rum) for 50 cents a shot - absolutely delicious! It tastes something like mead, if I were to compare it to anything. Not bad for my first night!
Friday
On Friday I had a lovely long lie-in (albeit on the sofa - although pretty comfortable, I must say!) to make up for the hecticness of Thursday. Alice and I then went to Bridget and Bijan's flat to arrange things for skiing in Granada at the weekend. A few amusing phone calls to the Spanish ski school ensued - Bridget did very well using her Spanish over the phone, with me standing guard as translator for some tricky questions! We discovered that they didn't have any more classes on Saturday with equipment thrown in, so opted for skiing lessons on Sunday morning instead.
Alice and I realised that we could do with some thick socks and gloves, so we decided to drive over to the local Carrefour hypermarket to pick some up. We went outside and I was introduced to Bridget's beloved Spanish car - a 25-year-old Seat Ronda that used to be the prize in '80s Spanish game shows! We got inside and tried the engine, but disaster - the battery had gone flat! A ridiculous slapstick sketch then ensued in the middle of a street in central Lucena - three English girls pushing this poor old Ronda backwards and forwards down a one-way street, vainly trying to kick-start her! After causing a minor traffic jam and frustrating some locals, we asked a passing driver if he had some jump leads. Miraculously he did, and agreed to help us! He drove around the block to enable us to move the car back for him to park opposite. A fleeting panic over finding the bonnet lever occurred in his absence (thankfully I found it camouflaged behind the driver door!), then he pulled up his car and set to work. Bijan pumped the accelerator, but nothing was happening. Cue Helpful Spaniard no.2, who was passing in the street and advised that pumping the gas in such a way would drown the engine. He ushered Bijan out of the driver's seat and sat down himself. A few determined depressions of the pedal, and she was alive! Both men then nodded cheekily and were gone as quickly as they had appeared. What a drama!
Following our shopping tripI then read over some notes that Alice had written for me on all the classes I'll be taking over when she leaves, before I went to meet her at the school to observe her four classes that afternoon! This was a brilliant experience, as I got to meet the kids and see Alice in action, i.e. what I will need to live up to!
The afternoon was fantastic but exhausting - even sitting and quietly observing can be tiring when you're in a room full of 5 and 6 year olds! The kids are all adorable though, and I was very impressed with the amount of English some of them knew - the sentences they were forming were on a par with the responses I would have expected from the adult class I was teaching in England before I moved here! I do think that the teaching here will be challenging, but I'm excited to push myself in a new direction and have a feeling that it will bring interests out of me that I never realised I had. A great afternoon!
We then caught up with Bridget and Bijan on their afternoon's lessons for a bit, before being invited to their lovely flat for dinner. We discussed who we were borrowing ski gear from - fortunately a lot of the Spanish guys here have their own jackets and salopettes, and had kindly offered to lend us some! Antonio had already given us one pair of salopettes, which Bijan tried on - much hilarity ensued, as they were for someone about twice his size! Alice and I then rolled home to bed at around midnight - we had an early start ahead of us to get to Granada the next day!
Saturday
I hurled myself out of bed at 8:00 on Saturday morning (a bit of a shock to the system after the very Spanish timetable of the day before!) and Alice and I packed up our things and headed to Bridget and Bijan's flat to pack up the car and go on our road trip! Eternally grateful to the kind strangers of the day before for ensuring that the car would start on the big day, we trundled off to Granada - around 1.5 hours' drive from Lucena. We parked near the bus station and caught a bus into the centre to find our hostel. It was strange (and lovely) being back in Granada after visiting there for the first time just three months earlier! We wandered across Plaza Nueva near the Albaicín, passing the street I had stayed on in October, and found that our hostel was just a stone's throw away! The White Nest hostel proved a very good choice indeed - lovely and clean and well-decorated, with a beautiful Moorish interior courtyard and free tea and coffee - just what we needed! We put our stuff in our room and set off in search of free tapas!
We began our tapas crawl at Los Diamantes on Plaza Nueva - a discovery I made back in October. Ask for a caña (small beer) of Alhambra Gold (the delicious local brew) for a mere 2€ and receive a free tapa of whatever they're currently serving! Today it was meat and seafood paella rice - a nice, filling dish to give us some energy for exploring!
Next, Bridget led us to Plaza Isabel la Católica, where Calle Navas can be found - a narrow street packed with tapas bars and revelling locals and tourists alike. We sampled some delicious manchego cheese and a platter of tortilla and barbecued meat in a rustic bar, before moving on to what probably became our favourite bar of the trip - a tiny little place with a silver-haired bartender, who served us up some more Manchego and calamares before turning the classic Spanish pop ballads on his radio up to 11, much to the delight of the somewhat merry Spanish ladies drinking at the bar! They soon started singing along at the top of their lungs, firing requests at the cheeky-eyed barman, who occasionally startled us with his smooth dance moves! On our way out of the bar we were cornered by the ladies, who applauded our English teaching and one even gave us her contact details and offered to show us around Almería! Dizzy and delighted by this experience, we flung ourselves back amid Granada's streets to hit the Spanish January sales - some of which go on until March! I acquired some warmer pyjamas (Andalucía has taken me by surprise by being cold at this time of year - something I could never imagine describing the region as!) and a jumper to serve me during skiing and the rest of the cold weather, as well as some bargainous patterned trousers (I was coerced! The price was too good to resist!). We then made our way back to the hostel for a brief respite before the evening's activities.
Back at the hostel, we refuelled on a cup of tea and bumped into a group of American girls in the communal kitchen, most of whom were studying just outside of Madrid. We also met Adrienne, a Canadian girl who was travelling solo around Europe and who would be sharing our room for the night, and who had just spent three weeks volunteering on an olive farm! We invited her to join us for dinner once we had spruced ourselves up for the night's activities. Once again, we set upon Calle Navas, finding a large and popular bar and choosing a selection of tapas, ensalada mixta and a big plate of chipirones (fried baby squid - delicious, honestly!) to share. Once we had eaten, Adrienne retired to the hostel for some sleep and we continued on to meet our friends in the student quarter of the city, an area I had not been to before. Walking amid the streets, it was clear why it was so popular with students - row upon row of takeaways, rock bars and alternative music shops - how had I not found this before?! We began the night at our friend's flat, enjoying the blissfully reasonably-priced Spanish red wine and learning to sing along to Spanish songs played on the guitar before venturing out to a local bar. We were pleased to hear some classic English pop songs to dance and sing along to, and when our exuberance resulted in a broken glass, I was surprised to find that the barman, upon hearing that I was from Bristol, invited us to the bar for some free shots of ron miel instead of removing us from his bar! Unfortunately, the revelry meant that we had much less than the desired amount of sleep the night before a morning skiing lesson an hour's drive away, but I wouldn't have had it any other way!
Well, time has run away with me and I think I'm going to have to call it a night at that, but I'll certainly write about my experience of the snowy Sierra Nevada as soon as possible! Love to everyone :) Nikki xxx
jueves, 23 de enero de 2014
Day 1: Arrival in Spain!
Well, I made it!
Yes, after setting my alarm for a rather nightmarish 3:50am this morning (!), catching a ride with my bleary-eyed beloved to Luton airport, a 2.5hour flight to Malaga and a bus ride, I made it to Lucena!
I arrived to a pristine blue sky and pleasantly warm January sun at 12:45 local time. I was met at the bus station by Alice and Hazel, two teachers from the school, whose flat I'm staying in and I'll be taking Alice's room (and teaching duties!) when she leaves next week. We wandered back to the flat (under 10 minutes' walk from the bus station - Lucena seems pleasantly compact!) and Alice showed me around. It's a typically Spanish flat - marble floors, juliet balcony and a little private terrace in the back - but is perfect for two of us, and I can't believe how cheap the rent is considering the great condition the place is in! Alice showed me my future bedroom - a lovely-sized double, with a door onto the roof terrace and its own en-suite bathroom! The highlight of the flat for me so far has to be the waterfall shower that my bathroom comes with - just what I needed to wash away the day's travelling! Photos to follow!
We then chilled out in the living room and got to know each other a bit. Alice loves her job here but has decided to leave to go travelling around South America with a friend - I'm not jealous at all! It was reassuring to hear that she had great things to say about the kids I'll be teaching. Apparently some of the 7-year-olds can be challenging (the range of ages I'll be teaching is apparently 5-11 years - more of a spectrum than I was expecting!), but she says that the lessons are always great fun and very enjoyable. Hazel (my flatmate-to-be) teaches very young kids - 4 to 5 years old - as well as an adult class, and says she enjoys teaching the children much more than the adults, as you don't have to explain grammar! I admitted that I am a bit of a grammar geek, so that shouldn't be too much of an issue for me!
Alice was heading to the school to plan her afternoon's lessons, so I walked with her to get my bearings and check out the school. It's under a 10-minute walk away - there seems to be a theme emerging here! - and is on the first floor of a building in the middle of a central street, just opposite one of the town's main squares. I was greeted by Bridget and Bijan, two of the other teachers from the school - everyone is really nice! We chatted for a bit and got to know each other, and Alice showed me what will be my very own classroom (with the children's work on the walls and everything!) before I left Alice and the others to plan their lessons for this afternoon. Alice gave me a map and her keys to the flat and off I went!
....It was then that I realised that I hadn't actually checked the street number of the flat with Alice, and I don't yet have anyone's mobile numbers! Undeterred, I wandered back to the area she'd marked on the map, and casually walked up and down the street a few times, trying to spot a door I recognised...! I was about to head back to the school to sheepishly ask which number the flat was, when I checked the map again and realised that the 'X' was actually pointing to a side street, not the main road. So I tried the first door and, lo and behold, it was the one! Phew!!
I then went and found the local supermarket (Mercadona - I remember it fondly from my days in Barcelona!) and enjoyed browsing the Spanish toiletries and impressive selections of fruit, veg and chorizo! By this point I was ravenous, however, so I grabbed a few ingredients for a chorizo baguette and headed back to the flat. After scoffing my very late lunch, I treated myself to a glorious shower in an attempt to wake up! (I'm still avoiding taking a siesta as I'm not sure I'd wake up until the morning if I went to sleep now! Although the shops are all closed between 2 and 5pm, even at this time of year...) I then managed to connect my laptop to the flat's WiFi and here I am!
The girls are both teaching until 9pm tonight, so I've been catching up with Quinny on Skype and relaxing a bit. I'm now going to meet Assieh, the director of the school (we haven't met yet - the closest we've got is a Skype video call so far!), and then the other teachers and I are going out to play bingo - apparently it's their standard Thursday night activity! Tomorrow I'll have some time to relax in the morning before observing Alice's classes in the afternoon/evening and possibly joining in!
Lots of love to everyone - don't forget, my Skype username is nikkibix - feel free to give me a call on there or drop me an email! xxx
Yes, after setting my alarm for a rather nightmarish 3:50am this morning (!), catching a ride with my bleary-eyed beloved to Luton airport, a 2.5hour flight to Malaga and a bus ride, I made it to Lucena!
I arrived to a pristine blue sky and pleasantly warm January sun at 12:45 local time. I was met at the bus station by Alice and Hazel, two teachers from the school, whose flat I'm staying in and I'll be taking Alice's room (and teaching duties!) when she leaves next week. We wandered back to the flat (under 10 minutes' walk from the bus station - Lucena seems pleasantly compact!) and Alice showed me around. It's a typically Spanish flat - marble floors, juliet balcony and a little private terrace in the back - but is perfect for two of us, and I can't believe how cheap the rent is considering the great condition the place is in! Alice showed me my future bedroom - a lovely-sized double, with a door onto the roof terrace and its own en-suite bathroom! The highlight of the flat for me so far has to be the waterfall shower that my bathroom comes with - just what I needed to wash away the day's travelling! Photos to follow!
We then chilled out in the living room and got to know each other a bit. Alice loves her job here but has decided to leave to go travelling around South America with a friend - I'm not jealous at all! It was reassuring to hear that she had great things to say about the kids I'll be teaching. Apparently some of the 7-year-olds can be challenging (the range of ages I'll be teaching is apparently 5-11 years - more of a spectrum than I was expecting!), but she says that the lessons are always great fun and very enjoyable. Hazel (my flatmate-to-be) teaches very young kids - 4 to 5 years old - as well as an adult class, and says she enjoys teaching the children much more than the adults, as you don't have to explain grammar! I admitted that I am a bit of a grammar geek, so that shouldn't be too much of an issue for me!
Alice was heading to the school to plan her afternoon's lessons, so I walked with her to get my bearings and check out the school. It's under a 10-minute walk away - there seems to be a theme emerging here! - and is on the first floor of a building in the middle of a central street, just opposite one of the town's main squares. I was greeted by Bridget and Bijan, two of the other teachers from the school - everyone is really nice! We chatted for a bit and got to know each other, and Alice showed me what will be my very own classroom (with the children's work on the walls and everything!) before I left Alice and the others to plan their lessons for this afternoon. Alice gave me a map and her keys to the flat and off I went!
....It was then that I realised that I hadn't actually checked the street number of the flat with Alice, and I don't yet have anyone's mobile numbers! Undeterred, I wandered back to the area she'd marked on the map, and casually walked up and down the street a few times, trying to spot a door I recognised...! I was about to head back to the school to sheepishly ask which number the flat was, when I checked the map again and realised that the 'X' was actually pointing to a side street, not the main road. So I tried the first door and, lo and behold, it was the one! Phew!!
I then went and found the local supermarket (Mercadona - I remember it fondly from my days in Barcelona!) and enjoyed browsing the Spanish toiletries and impressive selections of fruit, veg and chorizo! By this point I was ravenous, however, so I grabbed a few ingredients for a chorizo baguette and headed back to the flat. After scoffing my very late lunch, I treated myself to a glorious shower in an attempt to wake up! (I'm still avoiding taking a siesta as I'm not sure I'd wake up until the morning if I went to sleep now! Although the shops are all closed between 2 and 5pm, even at this time of year...) I then managed to connect my laptop to the flat's WiFi and here I am!
The girls are both teaching until 9pm tonight, so I've been catching up with Quinny on Skype and relaxing a bit. I'm now going to meet Assieh, the director of the school (we haven't met yet - the closest we've got is a Skype video call so far!), and then the other teachers and I are going out to play bingo - apparently it's their standard Thursday night activity! Tomorrow I'll have some time to relax in the morning before observing Alice's classes in the afternoon/evening and possibly joining in!
Lots of love to everyone - don't forget, my Skype username is nikkibix - feel free to give me a call on there or drop me an email! xxx
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