Thanksgiving in Spain!

What a great past few days it has been!! Thanksgiving weekend for me here in Spain has just been such a blast, I feel very blessed to have such good friends here!

On Thursday, Krista and I hosted Thanksgiving at our place and our neighbors and friend Haley came over!  I have to say, we pulled it off quite well, and the turkey turned out GREAT even though it was our first one, woop woooooop!

Krista with our 1st turkey!

All done!

From left to right: Mary, Maria Jose, Leo, Dylan, Leo, Nerea, and Krista

Dylan exploring the apartment

We had plenty of leftovers on Thursday to last us for Friday, and did the whole thing over again on Saturday with our friends from Villa!  We had 6 Americans, 1 Bermudian, 1 New Zealander, and 3 Spaniards:).  It was SUCH a fun time.  We had mounds of food and wine, laughed a lot and got our fill!  

Ana and Silvia got to fight over the wishbone--Silvia won!

It was really fun to share our American traditions with our non-American friends.  I think everyone really enjoyed themselves--it was a really fun time!

Italy in 4 days--woohoooooo!

Ciudad Real, Albacete, NIE madness.

Well, it has most certainly been an eventful weekend and week.
I was invited to go to Ciudad Real with some friends.  It is the capital of the province next door to Albacete, also called Ciudad Real.  It is a college town, so I definitely felt right at home, haha :).  I went with Haley, Ashly, and Krista, and we stayed with Haley's friends that she went to school with in 2008 when she studied abroad.
Ciudad Real has some really good shopping--I am quickly becoming a fan of Zara, Bershka, and a lot of stores that are similar :).  We shopped a little, went out for tapas to this place called Isla de Cuba, and went dancing at night.  It was a really fun weekend!

Ashly, Haley, and Krista before going out dancing!

A plaza

It was a really fun and relaxing weekend--I laughed so much and really enjoyed hanging out with my new friends Gordo and Coleta (Angel and Alejandro, haha), and these wonderful girls that I have had the privilege of getting to know here :).  Such wonderful friends!


Onto the NIE.  AHHHHH I am going to explode!! Basically without my NIE card, I can't leave Spain withough being denied re-entrance.  SO I have to go to Albacete (I was just there yesterday and last Tuesday) tomorrow to ask for "autorizacion de regreso"...and then I have to wait ten days, go back to Albacete to get it again, and then go back to Albacete AGAIN when my card FINALLY arrives.  Probably in January or something.  What a ridiculous process!! I wouldn't mind so much if it wasn't costing me so much money though.  Train and bus rides, and then they have all these stupid fees. I don't even get paid that much and I think I am discovering the meaning of living paycheck to paycheck. guuuuh.  le sigh.  Anyway.

Also, today I went back to the restaurant/pension I stayed at the first week I was here and saw Flor, Mirela, Joaquin and Jose--the family that owns the "Tasca". My goodness, it was so good to see them again.  So so so good--I felt like I was seeing family.  I will definitely have to visit them again very very soon--next week!!

Krista and I are SO excited!! We are going to Italy next Thursday--I couldn't be more thrilled :).  I get to see my cousin, Eddie, who is in Seminary in Italy, and I get to see my family friend, Mark Thelen, who is also in Seminary in Rome.  Bring on the tours and gelato!! WOO HOOOO!!!

Toledo: love at first sight!

This past weekend, Krista and I travelled to Toledo, Spain and met up with our Cuenca auxiliar friends Corinna, Helen, Natira and Jaclyn.  Toledo is literally the most beautiful city I think I’ve ever seen—I enjoyed it so much.  You all can laugh at me for saying this, but it was like a feast for my eyes—rolling dark green hills with trees sprouting from them, Castle walls everywhere, Jewish, Arabic and Christian influenced architecture in one city reflecting that at one point in time, all three of the groups lived together peacefully in the city.  I think that is so beautiful. 

So, to begin the trip, Krista and I left Villa early in the morning.  7:07 am to be exact. So early, but so worth it too! We took the train to Madrid, and then took another train to Toledo and arrived around 11.  We hopped on a bus that took us to Plaza Zocodover, the main plaza area with a lot of restaurants, bars, and Mazapan shops that Toledo is famous for.  I had mazapan for the first time in Toledo and really liked it!  For those of you who are Homestar Runner fans, I couldn't stop saying "MARZAPAAAAN!" in the homestar voice...haha.  Sometimes I just amuse myself.  Anyway, mazapan is delicious!  We got to Plaza Zocodover and then walked the rest of the way to our hotel.  It seemed longer than it really was, just because it was a new place and we kept venturing down different alleys with tall walls and cobblestone and brick paths.  Example A:

So cool!! I loved seeing this pretty much everywhere we went. 

We got to the hotel earlier than expected, so we left our bags there and wandered around, mostly down by the Tajo River.  We found some cool fort-like structures and climbed around, enjoying a bag of snacks that I purchased at the train station to tide us over until it was time to eat. 

here is Krista steering the fort :)

Anyway, after checking into our hotel, we wandered around again to get some lunch and cafe.  We had a delicious Cocido menu del dia, complete with Morcilla (blood sausage), that Krista was brave enough to try, but I still haven't been able to stomach the idea of eating!! It's literally fried blood. eeeckkkk

Me enjoying my sopa cocido con fideos :) yummy!

We walked around a lot more after that, and saw a lot of Toledo, actually.  I'll put up a few pictures here, but more of them will be posted later to my facebook and I'll enter a link as well.  We walked across some castley walls and just walked around the city, enjoying every view!

Krista and I with Miguel Cervantes :)

I seriously have no idea how this happened...but this is a PICTURE!! and it looks so much more like and oil painting or something!! how cool! :)  I didn't edit it at all!

Anywa, Helen, Jaclyn, Natira and Corinna joined us later that night, and we had quite the hilarious and memorable night!  Jaclyn lived in Toledo a few years ago for a study abroad term, so she showed us around, and at the end of the night, we went to a dance club that is a museum during the day and used to be a church! I thought that was kind of funny, but it was a really good time! 

The next day we toured around Toledo again.  We saw Cathedrals, the Mosque, and more Mazapan shops with Mazapan castles in the windows :).  

Here are some of my favorite views!

This is all six of us.  I am not looking...haha, but I think it's a nice picture of everyone else!

So, there we are!  I hope you enjoyed the plethora of photos from Toledo.  I loved it there so much and I am looking forward to going back :).

ALSO, Krista and I just booked tickets to Italy for Dec 2nd.  We have a break between the 2nd-12th, so we'll be going to 4 or 5 different cities in Italy!! I am so excited, especially because I get to visit my cousin, Eddie, who lives outside of Florence. WOO HOO!! I love Europe!!

Love,

Mary

I think I'm finally settled...

I realized recently that I am basically settled here in Spain.  How do I know that?  Because I am currently making plans to travel elsewhere--that is usually my style.  Once I get settled in a place, I am free to explore the outside world--or in this case, the entire European Union.  I have a break from Dec 2nd-12th, and I am contemplating a country tour of Italy--ahhhhhh!!  I am thinking of going to places such as: Rome (duh!), Venice, Verona, Torino, Florence, Pisa, Milan, some small towns along the way....I could go on and on, but the thought of taking this trip makes me so happy! I am trying to be fruegal and save up money...although this weekend my friends and I are going to Toledo :).  

I'm super excited for Toledo though! I had so much fun hanging out with my Cuenca friends a few weekends ago, and I just know that this weekend is going to be a blast.  I am really looking forward to seeing the landscape that El Greco painted (and seeing his museum!), and being immersed in Toledo's history.  I have heard that it is beautiful and one of the best places to go in Spain.  Barcelona is next on my list!

Oh, for a tortilla de patata update, our neighbor showed us how to make a proper one, and I'm really looking forward to making one the right way next time :).  

Today was the first Monday that I had been to school in a few weeks, due to Dia de los Santos last Monday, and my attempt to get my NIE the Monday before.  It was good to be back and to hang out with the classes that I haven't been with in the past couple of weeks.  The job is getting a little bit more comfortable for me, which is really nice.  I think most of the kids enjoy having me there, I get lots of hugs, and they usually shout "MEHWEE" when I enter the room.  No, my name is not Mawee in Spanish, but it's how they pronounce it.  So funny.  Either that or "Mehreee".  It's pretty cute :).  Anyway, as I was saying, I love hanging out with the kids, but sometimes I feel like I don't really know how to do my job the right way...if there even is a right way?  Basically my job is to speak in English to them, and to teach the topics of their science books.   Science is def. not my favorite subject, but it's all pretty easy stuff.  No chemistry or anything...yet. ;)

On Mondays all of the teachers go out to lunch to El Quixote, a nearby restaurant where, like many Spanish restaurants, they serve a Menu Del Dia for 10 Euros.  It comes with 2 courses, wine, dessert, and any type of coffee you want afterwards (I usually get cafe con leche :D).  Today I was the first one to arrive at the restaurant and I knew that everyone else would be a few minutes, so I grabbed my camera and took some pictures of the Rio Zancara that runs through El Provencio.  It looks kind of dirty, but when you walk by it you can't help but breathe better--water just has that effect, as you all probably know.  Here are some of the pictures I took:

There’s also a multicultural Mercado going on this week in the Plaza right outside of the Church I go to (Iglesia de San Blas), and Krista and I stopped by there with some friends.  I am definitely going back to check out some of the great scarves that they had there J.  Hopefully we'll be going back later for some good deals on scarves!

Well, that's about it for now!  I'm continuing to look for good deals on flights to different places in Europe.  

Any suggestions?  Feedback appreciated :)

Love,

Mary

Halloween in Spain!

As all of you know, this past weekend was none other than Halloween weekend. WOOP WOOP!  Here in Spain, they don't officially celebrate it, but they teach about it in schools and it appears to be spreading amongst the younger generation.  They will celebrate Halloween in schools here, and I even saw some groups of kids trick or treating in Villarrobledo last night.  I was walking up to the door of my apartment complex and they came up to me and says "TRICK OR TREAT!" in Spanish, and I said to them "Lo siento, no tengo dulces" (sorry, I don't have candy), and then I said "Happy Halloween!" and this boy looks at me like I'm crazy and turns to his friends and asks them if anyone else knows English, haha :).  So I said "No entiendes "Happy Halloween?", and one of his friends goes "SI! FELIZ HALLOWEEN!!" with a very strong, flegmy H :).  It made me smile, the kids here are so funny. 

Anyway,  I don't usually go to school on Fridays, but I went in this past Friday to celebrate Halloween with the kids and teachers.  They split everyone up into groups at the beginning of the day and had 6 stations (talleres) for the kids to travel around to and do fun halloween activities.  I showed "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown", which a lot of the kids didn't understand (I could only find it in English!), however we chatted about it so they would get the gist of it, and it's just a Halloween classic.  I couldn't not share it :).  

Like I said before, the kids (and some of the teachers) will call me Mary Poppins, so I dressed as Mary Poppins for Halloween.  It was really funny--some kids knew who I was immediately too.  Awesome.  Here is a pic!

Halloween weekend here was REALLY fun.  Krista, our friend Haley, and I dressed up Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (for a little bit) and shared the Halloween culture with Spain.  It was SO funny to see people's facial expressions when we walked in to bars and discoteques.  We made a lot of friends though! It was a really fun and hilarious weekend.  Here are some pics of our costumes:

Milton from Office Space, a black halloween cat, and Colonel Sanders (my fav, hahaha)

Ursula from the Littler Mermaid :)

Ursula, Cruella DeVille, and The Evil Queen from Snow White

Oh! Also, the other day we tried to make Tortilla de Patata, which is a traditional Spanish dish.  Krista and I thought it turned out pretty well, but then we took it to show our neighbor and she laughed at us :).  I said "Maria Jose, this is our tortilla!" and she took a look at it and immediately said "NO!" hahaha :).  Today she showed us how to make a real tortilla, and I am hoping to perfect it by the time I leave Spain.  

Here is our tortilla americana :):

Welp, that's all for now!  I've got some lesson planning to do for tomorrow.  

Hope you all are well!