Colonias en La Granja - Barcelona

Monday was the start to my third week here at La Granja, the summer camp I've been working at in Catalunya, Spain. I've had my ups and downs, but I prefer focusing on the ups...
Here is an update of the last month or so....

My first week was easier than the second week but still quite an adjustment. I forgot that I would be in Catalunya where the first language spoken is Catalan. It is a mix of French and Spanish so I am able to understand some of it, but I can't speak it. The other monitors were helpful but always speak in Catalan and have had a difficult time getting used to changing the language for us. My first group of kids was very rowdy and fun. They had a natural interest in learning English and each day was full of fun activities. In the past two weeks, we have gone horseback riding, archery, swimming, water fights, red toboggan, English class (of course ;)), animals, volleyball, secret routes, fiestas in the disco, dance show, chocolate with churros...etc...

Let me back up and explain a little about the camp...

I work at a camp about an hour by train outside of Barcelona called La Granja. It has various types of camps throughout the summer but the biggest are Colonias and Esplaii. Colonias is the sleepover camp for a week. Groups of students can come for horseback riding camp or horseback riding with an English component. There are typically 3-6 monitors each week and each monitor gets an assistant. The groups of kids are between 10-18. Esplaii is the day camp, so from 8am-6:30pm, the children are dropped off everyday M-FR for 4 or 5 weeks. There are 28 monitors for this type of camp plus assistants for each. I work in Colonias which entails working from 9am-11pm everyday without any days off. I sleep at the camp and must be available in case anything happens but there is a night monitor that stays with my kids. Each day I am responsible for teaching 1 hr and 1/2 of English. Aside from that, I am supposed to do every activity in English although it is extremely difficult depending on their levels of English.

Working with these kids has been at times stressful, entertaining, crazy, hectic, fun and rewarding. Every Saturday, my weekly group of kids and I say goodbye as their parents come. We prepare a dance and horse show exhibition for the parents. I have to speak to the parents and answer any questions as well as give them a written report on their child. This day is definately my least favorite because it puts my Spanish to the test. I can see the parents are pleased to have their children attend a camp with a native English speaker, therefore they are understanding if my Spanish isn't 100% correct. This day is also rewarding when the parents tell me how pleased their child was because it ensures they are learning a lot.

I've made great friends here and intend to keep in touch with many of them. I hope to head to the beach to relax this Saturday after the kids leave with my friends, Albert and Adriana. After a long week in the hot sun doing many activities, a relaxing afternoon feels awesome :)

Already, in less than a month I will be back in the US and I look forward to seeing my family and friends. I miss them and wish I could share this experience with them other than just a blog. Until then, VIVA EsPaNa...Miss and love you all

XOXO,

Heather

Waka Waka ehhh ahhh ehhh

These past couple of weeks have been absolutely fabulous. I am currently in a pueblo 30 minutes outside of Leon. Despite what our program told us, we are not in Leon but rather in the middle of nowhere. I wake up to the bells around the mountain goats necks. The views are phenomenal and it is difficult to concentrate in class with such pretty views. The past week, we had a busy schedule working with 105 ten-year old kids from Madrid. They had an excellent level of English which made our job easy. They came on Monday afternoon and we played games with them. On Tuesday, we did a triple excursion day which was fun despite the horrible rainy weather. We went splunking in the caves, rock climbing (indoors), and played games in a gym.
One night was Night of Terror and we dressed up and turned the electricity off in the camp. The kids played Clue and had to find clues around camp while the teachers were dressed up, scaring them and giving them challenges and hints. The last night, Thursday, we had a disco party and danced with the kids in the game room. On Friday, we went for a hike to the Refugio and went swimming. They left at 2pm and we had class afterwards. I've found that Spanish children are much different than American children. They are extremely affectionate and in Spain, there is no red tape. The teachers can touch the kids without facing lawsuits. The Spanish kids, although they stay with their families through their 20's, are often very independent. It's hard to explain, but I see so many differences between American and Spanish kids.
On Saturday, Sarah, Valerie, Brittni and I went to Gijon. It took us a little more than 2 hours by train to reach Gijon which is in the north of Spain. We spent the day walking around the city, going to the beach, the boat marina, and stopped in at a Sidreria. Sidra is a famous drink that Asturias is known for. It is a cold cider and served in a special way. The waiter pours the cider from above his head into a glass he holds down by his waist. When he gave me the glass, he told me I had to drink it all right away. I hadn't expected it at all. Later in the evening, we went for churros con chocolate. Overall, we had a great weekend away from camp. I leave for Barcelona on Tuesday morning. The train is 8 hours so I hope to get some lesson plans done in that time. Until then, I am enjoying my last few days with my friends in my program.

Madrid, How I've miss you...

Back again!

So it is currently about 6:45pm in Madrid, Spain and I'm writing from my hostel that I will be staying at for the next 18 days...

This was the first flight internationally that I've ever taken alone so I was a bit nervous. It started with my sister, Melissa, dropping me off at the airport at the wrong terminal...ooops, (no one's fault). I hoped on a tram to take me to the right terminal and was estatic to see two of my besties, Bridget and Christina sending me off on my way to Espana. I got VIP treatment the whole way...went through the quick security for 1st Class and Priority Seating VIP people :) and my luggage was also overweight but they let me through.

Anyways, quick flight to Washington, then a loooong flight to Spain. It seemed like the majority of the people were studying abroad, it definately brought back memories. I realized that I left Spain exactly on this day, one year ago!

So once I got to Spain I was a lost puppy. I successfully made it through the metro to the train....Then I met this German guy that noticed we were both trying to go to the same hostel. He thought he knew where he was going, and I was trying to go the opposite way (I was right, he was wrong...:)) Long story short, we made it to the hostel but couldn't check in because it was 8:30am and check in was at 12. I went for a run and never ended up running because I got lost. Silly me, wore short shorts and forgot how much of a tourist I looked like...kiss noises and whistles only made me walk quicker to finally stumble accross my hostel! So after a shower and getting settled in, I'm ready for some comida. I'm heading out for some food with people in my hostel and then meeting up with some others. Wish me luck :)

A plethora of emotions

The time has come....


For me to bring myself back to reality, my actual life. Each day and night I've advanced forward with my life until it's finally hit me. It is May 13, 2009. I have just spent the last 4 and 1/2 months of my life in Spain, away from my family, friends, home, school and life. But what I've started out here in Spain has been entirely amazing, is it time to end my life in Granada so soon?

"Donde fueres, haz lo que vieres"

My professor taught me this quote today. It means that one eventually adjusts and becomes accustomed to a situation or circumstance. In one way or another, I think this was a message for me...There is no sense in complaining about what you have, especially when people would kill to have this great life. And surely I haven't complained. I couldn't be more thankful to be where I am in my life, but something inside me has made me feel sad to return to the United States. Why? With so many great people and aspirations to tend to, I should be ecstatic to see those who love me and revisit where my life has been for 20 years. I have clearly become accustomed to my life in Spain and most definitely will become re-accustomed to my life in the United States. So back to the origin, why do I feel melancholy when I think about my departure date: one week from today....


I recently had a conversation about this and it was brought to my attention that I seem to live in a world of dreams. Is my study abroad experience just another ingredient to the recipe of life? This past semester spent in Spain has been incredible and I'm about to abandon it. From here, I may transition into another part of my life, possibly the new "dream" in my life....another ingredient to add to the recipe. I am at the point of realization and my life is in my hands. So I must decide where I want to go, regardless of what society tells me. It's likely that the reason I feel sad to leave Spain is the fear of never returning. Am I living up the old saying "The grass is greener on the other side." Maybe 5 months has teased me with a sample of the "other side". Yet, somehow, I think my direction in life will bring me back to Spain. I've found a new level of happiness here and maybe that's a sign.


But for now, I must look ahead with enthusiasm and back with nothing less than pride in who I've become. A lot has changed in five months, who knows what the future could bring.

Bonjour Paris.

On Wednesday night, I met my friend Steff, at 12:30am to catch a taxi to the bus station. We caught our bus at 1:30am to go to Madrid. We took the bus to the airport and arrived at 6:30am and found somewhere to sleep on for a while. It was slightly startling to wake up to a group of Spaniards starring at us....We had a long time to wait since the flight wasn't until 1:50pm!! Que malo, no? We finally made it to the airport located an hour outside of the city of Paris....Thomas met me with arms wide open and we hoped on a bus to find our hostel. We arrived at the city center and grabbed a quick dinner, kebabs (of course!). We eventually arrived at the hostel which was nearly a joke. They were rennovating it and we were unable to use to elevator to climb 7 flights of stairs. We reached our room to find a lovely stench. The people at the desk spoke poor French and no English, which seemed to contradict the French and American flags outside the hostel. None the less, we dropped our bags off and went to Sacre Coeur which was a beautiful overlook of the entire city. A gorgeous cathedral was at the highest point and we could see the Eiffel Tower lit up in a distance. We enjoyed the improvised music people were playing, which complimented the clear night. We took a neat little elevator/metro down the hill and headed back to the hostel for the night.

On Thursday, the three of us woke up and ate our "French" breakfast at the hostel. We headed to the "Arc de Triumph" and "Trocadera". As we walked around the downtown area, we stopped to take pictures at the Louis Vouiton headquarters and walked Steff to the train station. Afterwards, Thomas and I went out for lunch (where I pretended to be French hah). After lunch we went to the Eiffel Tower and climbed the first two stories of stairs, 686 steps to be exact. We had to take the elevator the rest of the way to the top. It was breath-taking. After the Eiffel Tower, we walked to the "Louvre" but we couldn't go in to the museum to see the Mona Lisa so we went shopping and out for a pasta dinner. After dinner we walked around Moulin Rouge and headed back to the hostel where I taught Thomas card games :)

On Friday, Thomas and I had breakfast and went to Saint Michael's Fountain to meet up with a free tour group. We saw Pont Neuf, the Louvre (again!), Concorde, Champs - Elysees, Petit and the Grand Palace....The tour guide was from Australia and told us some interesting stuff about the city, telling quirky jokes here and there. I had to traslate for Thomas because it was dificult to understand her thick accent! haha. After the free tour, we went to Dijon by train and I had to sit next to the cat-lady. Naturally her cat wouldn't stop trying to climb all over me!!!

I enjoyed the rest of the weekend in Dijon with Thomas and his parents, and also Thomas' friends. We went to Le Chat Noir, black cat club, on Friday night, which was the "best" club in Dijon because it was exclusive (I'm still not sure how it was exclusive because I got in...?) Anyways, Saturday afternoon, Thomas showed me around the downtown area of Dijon and I got a haircut, possibly the most uneven haircut of my life?? Afterwards, we returned to Thomas' home and ate dinner with his parents. His mother was absolutely lovely, always intending to make conversation with me, although she spoke not one word of English....After dinner, Thomas and I went to a "gay" club and met up with some other friends, Joaiquina, from Granada! We had fun in the beginning of the night and as it progressed, is seemed to be a little "too gay" for us....We left and went back to Thomas' to sleep for a couple hours before I headed off on a train Sunday morning at 7:45am.

On the return to Granada, I must have been mistaken for a terrorist because every airport tried questioning me or searching me. I got searched in Paris and then in Liverpool for our layover, security questioned me as if I were going to illegally move to Liverpool! After 5 minutes of questions, I passed through until I got searched to enter the gate for our flight. I got pulled aside again for a search and this time, they removed my shoes and frisked me! I have never had someone scan the bottom of my barefeet....Once I reached Malaga, as I passed through Passport Control, the man didn't believe my passport belonged to me! I made a joke in Spanish asking me if he was calling me ugly and he laughed and let me past. Steff and I took the 10pm bus from Malaga back to Granada and finally returned by taxi at 11:30pm. Long travels, but well worth the visit to Paris and Dijon, France. =)

Spring Break in Lisboa, Faro, & Lagos

For my spring break, during Semana Santa, my friend, Ashley and I went to Portugal. We decided to couchsurf for our very first time. We found a woman from the US that lived in Lisboa and a guy in Faro. Couchsurfing is basically sleeping in a stranger’s home- trust me, its way better than it sounds….well sometimes. ;)

We arrived on Friday evening, April 3rd, in Lisbon after a long ride on a superbus from Granada to Sevilla to Lisbon. The woman we were staying with was named Heather, and she picked us up. It was pretty comical (kind of how the entire trip was) because I ran out of money on my phone and couldn’t make or receive calls because I was in another country. So Ashley and I walked around looking for someone that might have been looking for us….Finally a woman powerwalking down the sidewalk calling out “Heather?” caught our eyes. We were greeted with a hug and she brought us to her home about 20 minutes outside of the city. She lived in an apartment with her Portuguese husband, Victor. They were so very nice to us, offering their home as if we were family! We had our own room and unpacked and went to sleep. The next day, Saturday, Heather drove us up the coast to “Casa da Guia” in Cascais and we had our Portuguese 2nd breakfast – pastel da Nata (my favorite!!) and walked around. When we drove in to park, we had to pay a guy on the street that “guided us in the parking spot” 1 EURO….If we didn’t he would have scraped the car with his key. From there, we drove up to Guincho where we might have been in the background of a movie! We watched kite surfers on the beach and then continued driving to the Windmill Restaurant, Don Quixote. We had a very funny waiter who offered to let us wash dishes or pay tomorrow because we thought we didn’t have enough cash.

Afterwards, we drove to Cabo da Roca – the most western point of Europe. We bought souvenirs and drove back stopping to admire the kite surfers again. We drove home to Carcavelas and went shopping for dinner and bought green wine, the only place in the world you can find green wine! We came home and Heather made us brie with fig jam. We took a walk to buy cheese, witnessed an accident, and gave a rubber chicken to a dog.  We walked back home and Heather cooked us bacalhaou, codfish. We also had magic salad….yummy! Heather was a cook on cruise ships for quite some years, so Ashley and I were delighted to have such a great meal cooked for us! Later that evening, after two days in Portugal, we found out that we were an hour behind! Hah

On Sunday morning, Ashley and I went to the beach early in the morning before church to watch the surfers. We joined Heather and Victor at Riverside International Church and went for lunch after mass at Capriciossa. We enjoyed eating pizza on the beach, tried anchovies for the FIRST time (!), and had white sangria. We also enjoyed observing how slow Portuguese people were. The restaurant was so busy and they slowly walked around without a care in the world. After lunch, we stopped by Victor’s daughter’s apartment and met the family. It was fun to see a “traditional” Portuguese family eating together. Afterwards, we drove to Lisboa and saw where Heather works at the American School of Languages. We walked to the downtown area to buy tickets for the hop-on, hop-off tour bus. The bus driver, rather unaccommodating, although a typical Portuguese Heather said, wouldn’t let us on the bus and made us chase him. Anyways, while on the bus, we got to see Belem, torre, a cool monastery, and a bridge that was built by the same architecture of the bridge in San Francisco. We saw the Plaza de Toros which had an interesting Arabic influence. After we got off the bus, we drove to Sintra and wow, it was a gorgeous drive. We shopped and went to Piriquita to eat travesseiros (good pastries) and somehow, Heather managed to confuse bug spray and lotion. When she reeked of bug spray, we couldn’t stop laughing….No wonder why the store owner was staring at us! Haha. We bought roasted chestnuts on the street and drove up to the palace, picked some calalilies on the way home before we managed to get lost.

On Monday morning, we woke up and went to the beach again to watch the surfers for the last time. We took the Metro with Victor and said our goodbyes. We took a train to beautiful Faro…NOT. Faro was a very small, unattractive town and when we got there, we took a bus to Jumbo to buy groceries. We missed the last bus to take us to the island of Faro because we didn’t know that you have to flag down the bus if you want it to stop….It drove right past us. After we realized we couldn’t take the bus, I attempted to hitchhike, however, that got us nowhere. Finally, we got a taxi to meet the famous, Bruno, the guy we were couchsurfing with. He picked us up wearing no shoes, cigarette in his mouth, in a hurry to get back to his flat. In the car Bruno said, "I hope you don't mind, I've got a couple of friends over. I don't know where you will sleep, but we can find something." We tried to be optimistic as we entered his house with over 30 wild people. Many of them had dredlocks (not to stereotype or generalize) and they all stared at us. We didn't quite fit it but tried talking to some of them. They were nice but we were exhausted from traveling and Bruno had left us and told us to mingle. His flat was rather small and filthy. We went to the bathroom and when we washed our hands, there was a tube from the sink to drain into the shower. There were no doors in the house, just draperies hanging to block off the “room”. We tried dancing with them, but were kind of freaked out when they were interrogating us about if we thought they were pirates. They insisted they were good people and we had nothing to worry about (which just made us worry more.) Finally, Bruno saw we were tired and offered for us to sleep in his friend’s house since he had no idea when his friends would leave. We agreed to sleep in his neighbors but we hadn’t brought sheets or blankets. We slept with our beach towels and were shivering! In the morning we woke up and knew we had to get out of Faro. With only 3 hours of sleep, our bodies aching from shivering, and feeling filthy from the flats, I rolled over to see Ashley, thinking the exact same thing. We quickly got up, packed our things, and ran out of the neighbor’s house to go get our groceries we had kept in Bruno’s flat. I agreed to run into Bruno’s room and get the bags while Ashley scribbled a quick note to let him know we were leaving. As Bruno was rolling over, we RAN out, only to find his friend’s had the munchies and helped themselves to our food…those dang pirates!

We couldn’t have been happier to get out of there but then realized we needed to find somewhere to stay for the next two nights. We ended up checking into our hostel 2 days early in Lagos and thank goodness they made room for us, because they were actually full. The first night, Ashley and I shared a twin size bed. Lagos was really great, the weather was beautiful, and we were excited to meet our Spanish girlfriends who came on Thursday. Once they arrived, we also decided to stay 2 days longer with them, so we didn't leave Lagos until Sunday afternoon. We went to the beach almost every day and made a day trip to Cabo de San Vicente. It was a lookout point with beautiful cliffs, overlooking the ocean. Ashley and I also enjoyed kayaking through the caves. We mingled with people from all over the world in our hostel and while we were out at night. We met many people from Australia, and lots of Americans on holiday that are studying in various parts of Spain. Ashley and I had so many laughs and learning experiences on this trip to Portugal and really had a great time, despite our not-so-best friend, Bruno. On the way home, we were finally able to laugh about our encounter in Faro with Bruno…A spring break I will never forget…

What I Will Miss Most....

So I was talking to my sister yesterday, and she asked me, "So what are you going to miss most about Spain?"

She raised a great question and I pondered my last 4 months in Spain....Had it really already been 4 months? Am I leaving Spain in just 5 weeks?

But at the same time, it seems like years ago since I've been in Chicago, back at school...so here are some of the things I thought about as I really analyzed my sister's question:

My life here.

I have a different way of life now, I’ve changed a lot. I am so independent and able to do whatever I want without consulting anyone or thinking about it too much. Life is simple here. I hardly look at the clock, I’m much more laid back, and I don’t even always wear makeup like I used to….

My family here.

I love my Senora and Roberto because they are so kind and open to have me in their house. Of course, I miss my real family at home, but here is different. I have a brother I’ve never had….We go out together and he lets me hang out with him and his friends. My Senora smothers me with kisses on the check telling me “Que guapaaaaa” nearly every day.

My classes here.

I love my classes because every class is relaxed and taughy by Spaniards who have a lot of passion for what they teach. They aren’t just teaching for the money, but to educate us. I find the teaching to be much different than the U.S.

My travels here.

I am literally able to pack up and leave any moment, Thursday thru Sunday. I can hop on a bus to the beach and either find a hostel or take a late bus back. I am so lucky to say that I’ve been to Italy and Portugal (and Spain)….and going to France. I’ve done my share of traveling within Spain as well. I have learned so much about global perspectives on life and can understand and have a more intelligent conversation with someone from another country.

My new friends here.

I have made friends from Barcelona, Granada, Canada, Australia, other parts of the U.S., Denmark, Norway, France, Portugal, etc…We all come from different walks of life but somehow manage to blend well. We all exchange info in hopes that maybe we can meet again. I hope this isn’t the end of my travels in life. It’s hard to make such strong ties with people and know that I may never see them again. Although my Spanish friend, Pilar, is coming to Chicago in June! :)

My eating habits here.

Okay, so picky Heather is no longer picky. I know that seems odd, but its true. On my holiday in Portugal, I tried bacalhaou, a type of fish, anchovies, salmon, and hummus. I usually eat everything my Senora gives me with the exception of a couple things. If something has onions on it, I no longer cringe and push it away immediately. In addition, I LOVE tapas, when you get food with a drink, the Spanish tortilla, jamon York, postre de nata, sangria, café con leche….

My nightlife here.

In Spain, they have a saying about how they don’t wait until the weekend to go out and have fun. Now, Spaniards, they really know how to enjoy themselves while still acting classy. Going out for tapas on a weekday is the norm. One night, I was out with friends and going to come home because I had class the next morning at 8:30AM. My friend, Victor, said, “Heather, you’re in Spain,yes? Maybe you are here for the only time in your life so enjoy it and make the most of it. It’s only class on the morning.” Victor has literally the mentality of any Spaniard I have encountered.

My Spanish of course.

I will miss learning about the language and culture of Spain. I find it so intriguing and feel like I have really bettered my Spanish. I came here and was a Spanish speaker of very few words. I have learned to communicate better and hope to use Spanish in my life once I return to the States. Spanish is something that is important to me now, and I like knowing that I can communicate with people in two languages. When my parents came to visit, I enjoyed playing translator when they didn’t understand something.

I don’t say this to offend anyone, but I think my thoughts and perspectives have changed a lot. I’m like a hippie, I love life and making the best of it. I feel like people in the US are so much more close-minded now that I’ve seen the US from outside-in. This is absolutely an experience I will never forget.

Miss and love you all.