Londres (London!)

El tiempo vuela

I can't believe how fast this semester is moving. It's terrifying. But I'm having such a blast. Last weekend Kiersten and I jetted off to London (!!!) for 6 days. We had Monday and Tuesday off from school so we were able to make it a long weekend. Which was good because London is huge and there's so much to do! I also got to meet up with my friend from high school, Vincent, who is studying in Barcelona this semester, and my future roommate and good friend, Alli, who is studying in London this semester.

To organize this for you all as well as myself, I'm going to break down the trip by days:

El viernes

Tower Bridge

Riding the London Eye with Vincent

Kiersten and I left Alicante at 7:10 Friday morning, got into London at 9:00, bused ourselves to the center of London, took the underground to the place we were staying. We stayed with Louise, my dad's friend from college, and her family which was super fantastic. She and her family were so nice and generous, and it was so comfortable and wonderful being able to stay with a family so close to my own culture.

View from the London Eye

After we dropped our bags, we headed to meet Vincent. Together we took the bus to Big Ben and walked across the River Thames to the London Eye. We bought tickets to ride the Eye which had spectacular views of the city. And of course we took about a thousand ridiculous pictures on the Eye. Afterwards we walked along the river and took more pictures. We crossed the Tower Bridge and then decided to head to Chipotle (we were dying for "Mexican food" and Europe only has Chipotle in two cities: Paris and London). Friday was awesome, we had such a good time. I can't remember the last time I laughed so much in one day.

Chipotle!

London Eye from afar

El sábado

On some bridge...possibly the London Bridge

Hard apple cider at Borough Market

Bagels! I finally had a bagel for breakfast and it was glorious. After breakfast, we headed to Buckingham Palace first, then we went to the Tate Modern. From there we walked to the Borough Market which is known for having incredible food. We all had a Vietnamese curry and hard apple cider. We then walked along the river some more and chilled in a cafe that had nutella mochas because we were all pooped and accustomed to siestas at that hour ;) . We went to Kings Cross where lies the infamous Harry Potter location of Platform 9 3/4. I'm not actually a Harry Potter fan (*gasp*) but I went for my best friend, Sarah, who is a die hard fan. Then we headed to Picadilly Square which has tons of shopping along Oxford Street. Vincent bought some green shoes just in time for St. Patty's Day. Then we went back to Louise's and had dinner with her and her family. She made a lovely chicken and we even skyped my dad which was fun!

El domingo

One of my few pics with Alli! 

Louise made us blueberry pancakes and I just about died (not a typical breakfast in Spain). So good. Finally we met up with Alli and headed to the St. Patty's Day parade in Trafalgar Square. Afterwards we were starving so we headed to Brick Lane in which lies the Indian food capital of London. The Indian food was so good and was possibly the cheapest meal I had in London. Kiersten and Vincent had never tried it before and came out impressed. We then walked around a market, ate brownies, took the underground to Covent Garden, walked around there, and then ended up in Leicester Square (pronounced "Lester Square" of course, because British English makes so much more sense than American English...). We went to a pub and then said goodbye to Vincent, who had to go back to Spain that night. Then Kiersten and I headed back to Louise's and we went out to a pub with her and her family for dinner. There's something truly perfect about scampi and chips (fried prawns and french fries), peas, and a beer. Delish.

St. Patty's Day Parade, Trafalgar Square

El lunes

British Museum

On Monday Kiersten and I got up and headed to the British Museum which is an overwhelming yet fantastic museum. You could spend days there. The Egyptian exhibit was fab, just like everyone said it was. But then the mummies started to freak me out, so we had to head to the Persian exhibit. After the British Museum we accidentally ended up in China Town so we had some of the spiciest chinese food of my life. It was really good but my mouth was on fire. I attribute this to losing all of my spice tolerance in Spain, where spicy food doesn't exist. After lunch we went to Camden Lock Market in Camden Town where we looked around and bought some art, jewelry, and gifts. And THEN...drum roll please...we went to see Wicked which was such an amazing show and such a fun thing to do in London! Afterwards, we went to Alli's flat and hung out with her and her flatmates.

After eating spicy chinese food

Treats for the show!

El martes

On Tuesday Louise drove us out to Richmond which was nice, because we got to get out of the city. We walked along the River Thames sort of out in the country side. We passed an old, large house that reminded me of Pride and Prejudice, and then we went into the little town to have lunch. Afterwards, we went to Portobello market and bought more gifts and souvenirs. I was determined to have afternoon tea with scones, clotted cream, and strawberry jam so we found a place near Louise's house. It was scrumptious. We went back to Louise's house, showered, packed up, watched Friends on the "tele," had a pizza dinner with Louise and her oldest son Augustin and went to bed because we had to get up at 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday to fly back to Alicante.



London was such an amazing city. It broke my bank account, but was totally worth it and I hope to go back someday (preferably when I'm rich). It was definitely one of my favorite trips that I've made while here in Europe.



Mi vida en Alicante

Nachos
(Me, Anya, Maraya, Kiersten)

When I'm not traveling the world and I'm actually in Alicante, I'm a busy bee teaching English in the mornings, and going to class in the evenings. And on the weekends my friends and I have been getting together to make meals such as Nachos and hang out. This weekend we're going to hit up the beach because it's supposed to be a lovely weekend. My friend Vincent is also coming to Alicante to visit for the weekend so I'll be showing him around. And then my parents come next weekend!! So much going on!

As for my host family, they're still great. They crack me up. Last night my host dad stole everybody's bread (instead of cutting himself his own piece) and all I could do was think "man it's good to be back in Alicante."

My host mom continues to point out the fact that I'm a lightweight at any possible moment. Which at first was a tad bit annoying but now I think it's just an overall joke.

Typical quotes from her:

"I would give you a beer with lunch, but you'd probably pass out."
"Take this bottle of sangria to your friend's house but don't drink too much because you'll pass out"
"Oh Zoe can't have more than two drinks, or she'd be on the floor."

But she taught me how to make paella so I think I can forgive her.

Inglés, inglés, inglés!

It's been a while since I've posted, probably because my life is starting to get busy again. Here's my explosion of the last few weeks.

but first, a picture of my daily struggles

Colegio

I have now returned to the colegio and am starting up my internship again. I have two weeks of special classes. Basically I go around to the other grades that I don't regularly have so that they can have a session with me (basically because people were getting jealous). So I give my whole spiel on the U.S. and Sacramento and all that good stuff and they ask me questions. And during question time I feel like I'm defending the U.S. for dear life. Examples:

"Why are people so fat in the U.S.?"
"Does everyone eat a lot of food?"
"Do you prefer McDonald's or Burger King?"
"Is everything like the movies?" (what exactly does that mean?)
"Are the police as aggressive as they are in movies?"

Or the questions that end up breaking the hearts of 13 year old Spanish girls. Example:

Spanish girls: "Were you a cheerleader?"
Me: "Why, do I look like cheerleader?"
Spanish girls: "Yes."
Me: (throws up in mouth a little bit) "No, I was not a cheerleader."
Spanish girls: *gasps*
...if only they knew I was actually a band geek in high school and didn't particularly love cheerleaders.
(not to mention, have you seen the above picture?!)

I also did 3 special classes with 2nd graders about animals and animal noises in English. Pretty adorable I must say, so much enthusiasm to learn at that age! Then of course on my last day over in the primary school building last week, word must have spread who I was because I legitimately got attacked by a swarm of 7 year olds. One kid bear-hugged me three times. And the rest of them just kept essentially chanting "My name is______! My name is______! My name is______! " over and over again until Anabel,  a professor who I usually work with, came over and literally rescued me. I have to say, that was a bit terrifying. :)

This week I teach the older kids (16, 17, 18 year olds). Couldn't tell ya how that's gonna go. But I imagine some more country-defending will commence.

I've also agreed to help the professors at the colegio get ready for their B2 English language exams. Passing a B2 language exam means you're fairly proficient in that particular language. There's a new rule, at least at the colegio I work at, that the teachers now have to have a B2 level in English and will begin to start teaching their respective subjects in English. Holy cow.
So that's where I come in since I'm the living, breathing, and walking native at the school. I'm going to help them practice for the oral part of their exam and give them feedback on how to improve. I'm actually pretty excited to help out and give back, since all the professors have been so sweet to me.

Tutorías

First of all, I have issues saying no. I now have like 8 or 9 students that I tutor weekly. And here I am trying to find jobs for when I get back the US and can't find anything, but in Spain everyone wants to hire an English tutor! Go figure.

I still tutor Clara and Candela (and sometimes little Eduardo who is 7 and Pepa's youngest kiddo). They are all doing so well in English, I'm impressed! A professor at the colegio also asked me to tutor his kids on Mondays and I've worked with them twice so far. The oldest is Julia (6) and Hernán (2). They are so much fun to work with. Julia works really hard and is happy to learn English. Hernán gets cranky with me but enjoys our sessions for the first 15 minutes or so. It's so interesting to teach a 2 year old. He actually seems to understand what I'm saying more than Julia because his brain is at an age where he can absorb more than one language with ease. It's so neat. I'm excited to see how this progresses. One or two of their friends will be joining us on Mondays too since I didn't have any extra afternoons free. So I will be doing a group session with all of them for 1.5 - 2 hours. And if that wasn't enough, another family asked me to tutor on Friday afternoons. I start this Friday with that family. But hey, the money helps pay for trips and I love working with kids, so it's really an awesome opportunity and I've had so much fun with it so far.

So lots and lots of English in my life right now. It's fun but not super helpful in terms of learning Spanish. Although, especially when tutoring the little ones, I do have to speak in Spanish or else nothing happens.


Dia de San Valentin

So Valentine's Day is just as sappy here as it is in the States. I kind of ignored it though. It's not really one of my favorite holidays. But I have to say, one person did make it special this year. That was person was my temporary Japanese host brother (he's literally here for all of 20 days). He gave my host mom and I each a chocolate rose. My host mom flipped out and to me was like, "Isn't he the sweetest?! My own husband forgot it was Valentine's Day!" She was so stoked about her rose. But it's true, it was super sweet. He's really nice. He speaks a teeny bit of English and a little bit of Spanish, but I can see his Spanish already improving after 2 weeks. It's going to be so weird once he leaves, I've gotten so used to having him around!

La vida diaria 

Mexican food!

When I'm not in class or at the colegio I've been trying to get out a lot. I've done a lot of walking along the beach with friends. I've also been taking advantage of all the sales going on through March. All the stores have sales from January through March in Spain and so much good stuff is on sale for super cheap! I'm in love. Good thing I have all these tutoring jobs... I've also been doing some cooking and baking. Rosa and I made an apple pie which was amazing and disastrous at the same time. It was ginormous and we had some issues with the crust but it all worked out in the end and was delicious. I also made some Mexican food with my friend Tonada. It is so hard to be away from Mexican food, or just spicy food in general. We made chicken quesadillas and a ton of guacamole! Next up: nachos.

Kiersten and I in Benidorm!

I also went to Benidorm last weekend (essentially England's equivalent vacation spot as Mexico is to the US). Benidorm is about a half hour up the coast from Alicante. They have a lot of shops and it's very touristy. I went with Kiersten and her host family who were in search of costumes. It was interesting, but too touristy. I don't think I need to go back. And of course, I do try to get out to the bars on the weekends with the ladies.

My adorable friends Anya and Tonada

As you can see, we're in love ;) 

Nuevo viaje!

Kiersten and I planned another trip. We're going to Budapest, Hungary in May. I'm so excited! It looks like such a neat city! So the travel line-up this semester stands as this:

London, England (March 15-20)
Lagos, Portugal; Dublin, Ireland; and Munich Germany (April 1-14)
Amsterdam, Netherlands (April 19-22)
Budapest, Hungary (May 3-6)

Ahhh! So excited!

 Mi brazo

Back when I still had my sling and was assisted down stairs to avoid re-falling...

And lastly, my stupid arm. It's getting a lot better. But it pops a lot (the latest issue with it). And that hurts. A lot. But when it's not popping, it's getting better, I'm gaining strength, and I have a better range of motion.

On a [semi] funny side note. My host mom came home the other day and had smashed her elbow in a heavy door at work. She then says to me, "I can't lift my arm up to my head, now I know what it feels like to be you!"

Yay for being injured.

And that is all, thanks for reading! :)

Carnaval, España 2013

Mi vida social

French boys making crepes

Despite having been stuck in a sling, I've actually done a pretty good job of staying active.  Last weekend I went to a Medeival Fair with Kiersten and her host family on Saturday,  that night we were invited over to my friend Vincent's house for dinner and dessert crepes (he's French), and on Sunday she and I went to the colegio for a party to celebrate Don Bosco. We went through "el túnel de miedo" (tunnel of fear) and ate paella from the biggest paella pan I've ever seen. I got to see some of my students which was fun. It made me excited for starting up my internship again in the next week or so! I've also just been hanging out with friends a lot, shopping, and getting out and about. And the weather has been great so it makes getting out way more enjoyable! (I'm talking like 60s and 70s!!)

Kiersten being Kiersten

A view from my walk down the castle 

Paella feast at the colegio!

Ginormous paella!

Mi brazo

So I just came out of my sling yesterday after keeping it immobile for 3 weeks. I now begin rehab. It hurts and still looks a little green but it's definitely doing a lot better. But life in a sling for 3 weeks really has made realize how much we take 2 functional arms for granted.

Clases

My grammar class and university classes have started. I finally picked two that I'm interested in. One is another Psychology class from the same professor I had last semester (who I really liked) called "Fundamentels of Personality" and another class that's called "Social Anthropology of Spanish Cities." The professor of the Anthro class seems really sweet and adaptive to the fact that a bunch of us are American. The class seems really interesting. I will keep you posted. AND I only have class on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Win.

Tutorías

I'm still tutoring my program director's daughter and niece, but now I tutor her 7 year old son, Edu, who is too stinking adorable! He's very eager to learn and I can tell he's very smart, but he's also a 7 year old boy with a short attention span. So I'm trying to mix in games as well as learning into the sessions. He also has an amazing lego collection, I might add. I need to figure out how to incorporate an English lesson into lego playing because I really want to play legos!

My two lovely other students, Clara and Candela, are fabulous. Clara is getting A's now which thrills me and Candela is doing incredibly well and her memory for vocabulary is so much better! I'm so proud of both of them.

Carnaval

The Spice Girls

Baby, Scary, and Ginger

Carnaval was yesterday.  So my group of friends and I decided to dress up as the Spice Girls (always has been a dream of mine). Tonada was Baby Spice, Anya was Scary Spice, Maraya was Ginger Spice, Kiersten was Sporty Spice, and I was Posh Spice. Apparently that was a no-brainer...even when I told my host mom we were going to be the Spice Girls she said, "you're definitely going to be Posh, aren't you?" I don't know how I feel about that, ha. It was a good day, though. We spent most of it getting our costumes together, then we got ready at Tonada's house and met up with some other friends at around 1:30 a.m. (crazy, I know). There was a DJ out on the street in the main part of town so we danced in a big mob of people as well as in a bar. It was quite the scene last night, I've never quite seen anything like it.

Taking a sitting break on Baby (get it?)

Baby and Posh Spice

Viajes
I'm pleased to announce that I have finally booked some trips! In the middle of March I'm going to London with Kiersten and my friend Vincent (from high school, who is studying abroad in Barcelona this semester). We are all super stoked! My parents come at the end of March and I believe we are driving along the south of Spain to Portugal. After that, my mom and I fly to Dublin, Ireland and Munich, Germany for my Spring Break! And then the weekend after my mom leaves, Tonada, Kiersten, and I head to Amsterdam! I'm super excited!!

And lastly,  a shout out to my baby brother Sean! He turns 17 today! Feliz cumpleaños hermanito! I love youuuu!

La vez que Zoe fue al hospital en España

Well after my very exciting birthday week, things began to slow down. That is until I slipped on marble and had to go to the hospital last weekend...

Birthday Twins!

But let's back it up to my birthday...

Mi cumple de 21 años

Bear cake from my host mommy!

Tonada, Rosa y Shauna <3

Clara y Candela :)

I'm 21 now! And even though I technically am already legal here, I still had a blast turning 21
in Spain. I went to school for the first part and people sang happy birthday to me. Later in the afternoon, I met Pepa (my program director), her daughter Clara (my tutee), Rosa (Pepa's sister-in-law, also the one who made me the scrumptious pink cake featured in my last blog), her daughter Candela (my other tutee), and four friends at Las Manolitas, the most adorable cupcake shop I've ever been to in my life. There we ate cupcakes, drank cappuccinos, and gossiped. Afterwards, I went home for dinner. My mom made me a special dinner and even got me a chocolate bear cake. As I'm writing this, I'm realizing I sound like I turned 12, not 21. But...drum roll please...after dinner I did go out for my official 21 year old alcoholic beverage with some friends. My french friend Vincent bought me a glass of sangria which was superb, and then we all hung out at the beach playing silly games. Mind you, it was a school night and I had to get up for class the next morning at 7:30, so I didn't go too crazy. I planned to save that for the following weekend...

Vincent, Me,  Anya y Sangria!

La caída tonta

But the partying didn't happen. Instead I partied it up in the hospital getting x-rays and a sling.

My right elbow (the one that's not in the sling)

The story: My friends Anya and Maraya (from  Lewis & Clark) wanted me to show them this open-air market that is open on Saturdays. But on our way back it started to downpour without warning. It hadn't rained in a while and when the streets are wet in Alicante they get really slippery. So as we were running for cover, I slipped on basically marble (yes, we have marble sidewalks here). I managed to flip over mid-fall doing a 180 turn so that I didn't land on my back and crack my head open (gotta love those adrenaline-influenced instincts) and thus landed on my hip first and lastly straight down on both elbows and wrists. Luckily my friends were there to help me up, because I couldn't move. We walked 4   feet to my apartment (I was that close to making it), where coincidentally I ran into my host mom in the entrance and we all headed straight to the hospital. I have to say, Anya, Maraya, and my host mom did a fantastic job distracting me, keeping me calm, carrying things, telling jokes, etc. I couldn't have asked for a better team.

Maraya helping me put pain-reducing cream on my arm

 So my left arm isn't broken but is, and has been, in a sling for 10 days. I hurt a ligament and I've lost movement in my arm. I essentially can't do the motion of a bicep curl or rotate my arm. So I have to keep it immobilized 24/7 and gradually start rehabilitation soon to obtain movement again. My right elbow is all bruised but in better shape than the left and my body as a whole is a bit beaten up. But luckily it's week two and things are starting to heal. I'm okay, I promise!

But me and hospitals just seem to find each other, no matter where I am in the world.

Mi madre la enfermera 

Fortunately for me my host mom is a nurse so she's been super helpful with everything. I think she secretly enjoys doting on me, cutting my food, and helping me put pain cream (weird Spanish medicine) on my arms. It's been a really nice bonding experience actually. She and I have gotten a lot closer because of it. I feel useless, but it makes her feel useful, which brings the biggest smile to her face so I don't mind :)

My favorite quotes from her recently:

"If you like to swim you should join the local pool and swim laps. And I would go when the firefighters are practicing so you can see their bodies, I have a friend who does that."

"Girl, you need to get over embarrassment, if you need help getting naked, I'm here for you."

- In response to me commenting on my difficulty when undressing for showers...

Concierto de los "Mailers"

I did get out and do something fun this last weekend. I went to a local concert with some friends and Marisa (my assistant program director) for this up-and-coming band called the "Mailers." I really like them, they're quite catchy and really good. I also know the lead singer because she's a math teacher at the school where I teach English. She lives a super cool double life: catholic school math teacher by day, rock star by night.

Check them out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmPkb2Is6-Y

Picture with some of the band members

Maraya and Anya!

Anabel, lead singer

Tonada, Marisa, me, Maraya

All the girls

P.S. I typed this entry with one hand. Skillzz.

¡He vuelto a España!

I'm back in Spain! Which thrills me, of course. I had a wonderful time at home, and I'll admit, I missed everyone a lot once I got back to Spain. But now that I'm back into the swing of things and enjoying every moment of my life here like always :)

La Cabalgata de los Reyes Magos

The same day that I arrived back in Spain, Anabel ( a teacher I work with at the colegio and adore immensely) had invited me out to her house in Alcoy (a small town outside of Alicante, kind of in the mountains). So I literally got back to my house, hopped in the shower, and she picked me up and took me to her house! I met her husband, her husband's family, and her family. Alcoy is very famous for it's celebration of the The Three Kings or Wise-men (a very important holiday for Spanish children, the three kings are like Santa Clause and leave presents). So we went to the center of town and watched the festivities from a balcony, drank champagne, and ate treats. I can't even begin to describe the celebration/parade! It's something you just have to see in person. There's nothing quite like it in the States. I'll let you all look at the pictures (which don't even begin to describe it).

The Three Kings brought me a scarf and perfume!

Las Personas Nuevas

We have a whole new group of students this semester! Kiersten, Shauna (another friend), and I are the only ones that have remained from the last semester and are here for the year. There are about 60 people in the program so I have yet to get to know everyone. But I really like other people who have come from Lewis & Clark, and I really like the people in my grammar class.

Las Clases

Right now I'm in another grammar class. This time in a superior level. I have such a blast in this class. My classmates are fantastic and my professor is a doll. No complaints. And my Spanish always improves and sounds better when I'm taking a grammar class. But of course it's intense, it's 3 hours a day 5 days a week. But I only have 2 and a half more weeks of it, at which time I get to start taking university classes and return to my internship (so excited!!).

Mi Familia

My host mommy and I :)

My family is happy to have me back. All of us are on a diet though. Despite this, my host parents are, as usual, worrying that I'm not eating enough. So one day for breakfast they put out chocolate granola, chocolate croissants, and a whole tub of nutella just for me. They know I like chocolate so I figured this was an attempt to get me to eat more. It was clever but didn't work so well. I haven't been able to eat many sweet things since Christmas, especially not for breakfast. It's just too much. But I've started running and I want to get in shape. My host mom jokes and says she'll come run with me. ;)

Los Cumpleaños

My awesome cake, made by Rosa 

Last week was Kiersten's birthday, on Sunday was my host mom's and tomorrow is mine! So we've had lots of celebrations. On Saturday Rosa (Pepa's sister-in-law; I teach her daughter English) baked me the most adorable and delicious cake ever! (see pictures). And that night a bunch of my friends and I went out to the bars and clubs to celebrate Kiersten and my 21st birthdays! On Sunday my host mom made paella for her special birthday lunch and we ate more cake. And tomorrow Pepa has invited me to a cupcake shop to celebrate my birthday with her, her daughter Clara, Rosa, Rosa's daughter Candela, Kiersten, Shauna, and my new friend from Lewis & Clark, Tonada! We're going to eat cupcakes and drink tea and later go shopping because in January in Spain there are TONS of sales. I'm looking forward to it. But everyone keeps giving me a hard time calling me an "abuelita" (little grandma) or "viejicita" (little old person), especially Pepa. Apparently 21 is so old ;)

girlies :)

Shauna!

My awesome friends!

A night on the town!

Soon to be more posts! ¡Feliz Año! Happy New Year :)