Odds and Ends

Wow, there is so much to tell. I'm not going to write out every single detail of the last few weeks otherwise we would both be here for hours and my fingers would fall off from typing so much. Suffice it to say that the last few weeks have been great. I got to spend some time with Steve in Madrid, and Granada where we met up with his friend Baxter (from whom I inherited the absolute best pair of warm pants to wear when the heating goes out at my apartment). I introduced him to Doner Kebab, a delicious turkish wrap thing that just oozes goodness when you bite into it. After Steve left, I met my roommate Ellen and her brother at the airport in Madrid and we drove to Sevilla for a few days of sightseeing and New Year's Eve. (sidenote: it is virtually impossible to find parking in these Spanish cities.) Sevilla is one of my favorite cities in Spain so far. It is a big city but it doesn't feel like it is. We visited the Arab palace there, saw the Cathedral (where we climbed 35 flights of ramps up the tower at a brisk pace to look out over the city), and rang in the New Year eating 12 grapes in a plaza with all the other foreigners in Sevilla. All the Spaniards were at home with their families and hundreds of tourists gathered together in front of the clock tower to count down to midnight. It didn't really work that well because there was no way to actually tell when it was midnight because the clock wasn't digital, but we ate our grapes anyway (and did a countdown about 3 times for good measure).

Then Ellen and I went back to Baeza about a week before everyone else got back and just bummed around the city. We went out on the town that weekend and it was so much fun. There was an entirely different crowd out and about because everyone is home for the holidays. We met a huge group of people around our age who are currently going to university in other cities. They wanted to practice their English so we had a great time that night, but I was sad to discover that none of them actually live in Baeza anymore. I was kind of hoping we could hang out with them some more in the months to come. That same night, as the bar was closing, the bartender (whom i don't know) walked up to me and asked me if I lived on Calle Rojo, which I do. He proceeded to tell me exactly which building i live in on Calle Rojo. Just goes to show that in a small town it's kind of hard to fly under the radar when you're a foreigner.

That same night, I received a kind of back handed compliment. I was talking to someone and out of the blue they just came out and started talking about how I speak Spanish. It was really interesting to hear from a native speaker what they thought of my accent, pronunciation, etc. Apparently I'm pretty good at pronunciation, but could do with a little brush up on vocabulary. This I already knew. But at least i can get my point across when I need to. So my New Year's resolution is to study more Spanish vocab.

Anyway, the other English teachers have slowly trickled back into Baeza and it's been great to hear all about their trips and visits home and good to hang out with them again. Over break I was feeling very homesick, especially after Steve left, since holidays are meant to be spent with family. But I can honestly say, that right now, in this instant, I feel at peace with it all. I like where I am and I feel like Baeza is becoming a home. Took me three months, but better late than never right?

I got my hair cut yesterday. It's short, and definitely a Spanish style, but I like it. And I needed a cut. The hairdresser literally told me that I had a mountain of hair on my head.

oh, at the link below are pictures from break and my vacations with Steve, Baxter, Ellen, and her brother. We had some good times!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2047751&l=10bbe&id=11400089