A Week On the Sidelines

I injured my ankle while running last week, so this week has been kind of uneventful [Apparently running shoes are very important...]. Despite the fact that I feel really dumb for messing up my ankle and having to miss out on my evening runs, the lack of putting unnecessary strain on my ankle has given me the opportunity to pinch pennies in preparation for my week-long trip to Lisbon and Madrid.


Although nothing really eventful happened on the grand scheme of things, I did manage to make it out for the birthday celebration of my Belgian friend, Pandora. I had a really good time with my new gang of international buddies that night, and made new Spanish-speaking, guitar playing friends along the way.

My New Job

Now, we all have heard tid-bits about my lack of money coming in, but what I haven't shared is how completely and totally miserable I have been without work or income whilst I've been in Spain. After a month without money, and a phantom 300€/month job through UMA's International Relations Department [from whom I still haven't received a response], it's safe to say that I was going a few steps away from a full flight. I'm not very good at not working. :~] I have been working since I was 15, and I've held at least two jobs since I turned 18, so having no control over my finances wasn't sitting well with me.

This, my dear friends, is why I began jumping up and down [squealing like a little girl] when Tessa (my friend from Australia) told me that there was a postion available at the English school where she teaches. And just like that, after weeks of posting ads on and offline, a job fell into my lap.

Miss Mendez is my new boss. She moved to England when she was in college, and lived there [working as a teacher] for 15 years before moving back to Spain. She's absolutely wonderful, patient, and understanding of my school schedule, and she REALLY knows what she's doing with these kids! Also, she knows English grammar better than I do...

I teach an adult class on Monday nights, a group of teens on Thursday nights, and children between the ages of 6 and 10 on Friday nights and Saturday mornings. Starting off was a little bumpy, considering that I didn't know the first thing about teaching English [let alone managing a classroom full of children]. I thoroughly enjoy my time with the teenagers and adults, but entertaining and educating kids left me having to remind myself that I still want them one day. Luckily enough, however, Tessa has been there to help me control the masses, and Miss Mendez is always willing to pick up the slack, in terms of grammar, when I need it.

The funniest experiences that I've had so far have stemmed mostly from having to alter my English in order to better prepare the kids for their Cambridge exams. Examples include learning that the English refer to pencil erasers as "rubbers." My biggest task of that lecture was holding back violent laughter while asking each of the children whether or not they "have got a rubber" and, if so, "what colour is said rubber?"

V.S.

I think this job is going to be "lovely". I'm really excited about it!

Halloween 2010

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays, and I typically go all out, however with the lack of funds coming my way, it's safe to say that I was a little worried about how this year was going to turn out. Last year's Halloween was kind of a flop. Considering that it coincided with Pride (which is a mandatory work day at Caribou 10th and Piedmont), I spend the majority of my night behind a counter, in an angel costume, catering to wave upon wave of Midtown's finest. Needless to say, I wasn't going to let this year's monetary dilemma hold me back from enjoying my first Spanish Halloween.


I decided to go with a demon as my costume this year (partially because it would be the virtual "yin" to last year's "yang" and because I got a free pair of devil horns from an "Angels and Demons Party" at Sala Gold back in September. Paired with red leggings that were left behind by the former inhabitants of my current flat, a pair of Jana's black booty-shorts, a stick on mustache, black-eyeliner, and a 2€ trident that I had purchased at a chino, I succeeded in constructing the cheapest [and probably best] Halloween costume that I had ever worn!



Considering that Halloween isn't celebrated in Slovakia, Jana had an especially good time. I helped her throw a pirate costume together using stuff that we found lying around the flat. The costume turned out rather well [even though she lost the majority of it throughout the night].


















The winners of the "BEST HALLOWEEN COSTUME EVER" award, however, were our two Irish friends Hilary and Hannah. They went as a matador and bull combo [and, yes, Hilary made that classic "angry bull face" in EVERY photo that evening].



We all met up for an All-Hallow's Eve pre-game in my living room before hitting Orisha's (one of my favorite bars in the centre). I was surprised to learn that Halloween was relatively new in Spain. Everyone was going all out! The costumes were original, ornate, and well planned (the natives even REALLY got into character)! Orisha's was filled to the brim, and although we could barely move, the celebration was definitely a memorable one.