Por fin, el finde!! (Finally, the weekend!)

So a little bout of frustration these past couple days.  Thankful it's the weekend (I don't have to work on Fridays!)  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE teaching out here.  I love how appreciative everyone is of my time when I give private lessons (and even my students in the high school).  I love how everyone tries so hard.  But my days are pure English it seems.  I've been so super busy with private lessons and work that I haven't had much time to practice Spanish.  This weekend will be great practice because I am going to a little town called Valdepenas that is about an hour away by car.  My friends Armando and Esther (the ones who took me skiing in Granada) invited me to go with them to visit some friends of theirs who live in Valdepenas and to go to a wine/tapas festival.  The weather has been fantastic this week---low to mid 50s!  So I hope it continues for the festival tomorrow.  Pure good food and Spanish practice with good friends!!!

Yesterday was the main reason for my frustration.  So I go into a little store near my apartment and I go to the cash register to pay for a few shirts I found.  The total was 16.85 Euros, but I don't know, in my tired state, I thought I heard the woman say 26.85.  So I gave her a 20 bill, a 5 bill, and a coin of 2 euros, for a total of 27 euros.  After I handed it to the woman, it clicked in my head that she had only said 16.85.  But she had already put the money in the register, and I thought, Oh well, she will just give me back a 10 bill and some change.  She hands me only 15 cents, and I said to her, "I need 10 Euros more, I gave you a 20 bill".  She looked confused and then down at the drawer of money and said, "oh no!  I don't remember what you gave me!  I thought you gave me a 10."  I explained to her that I was absolutely positive because I had realized my dumb self misunderstood and thought she had said 26, so I purposely handed her a 20 bill.  She then takes forEVER to get her manager and count the entire drawer of money because she hadn't paid attention to what I had given her.  Buhhhhhh!  So after holding up the line and counting forever, they say "sorry!  The amount of money in the drawer is correct, maybe you have mistaken."  I was super frustrated because this wouldn't have happened if I were better with the language.  I made a stupid listening mistake and for it, I was arguing with two cashiers to give me money that they owed ME in the first place!  At first, they apologized and said all they could do was take my phone number and call me at the end of the night if they counted again and realized they had 10 extra euros.  It wasn't the money, I was just super frustrated that they wouldn't believe me that I gave her a 20 in the first place!!  Almost in tears, I walked back into the store and asked them to please count the money again.  They did, and sure enough, they had miscounted and realized they did in fact owe me the 10 Euros.  They were very nice and apologetic.  I wasn't angry and frustrated with them.  I was frustrated with myself for making the mistake in the first place.  Oh well.

Ok so that was a lame and rambly story---my bad!  Here is something that is sure to liven things up and make you laugh.  I swear, only stupid things like this happen to me....So I was walking to a lesson today and as I was crossing the street, WHOOPS! My shoe (that is just a slip on heel-less flat style) flings off my foot and lands out to the side in front of me because it's a little too big apparently.  In front of a car who had stopped for the cross walk mind you (ps cars actually stop for pedestrians in this country ha).  Due to my surprise, I uncontrollable made this little "ahhh!!" scream noise and like, scurried over to get my shoe.  Que tonta soy!!!! (How stupid/silly I am!!) 

Oh and hey, did you almost walk out of the gym after spin class with your pullover fleece on backwards?  Ohhhh wait no, that was me too.  Who does these things!? lol

Alright peace out everyone.

Oh and many of my students are on this choreography dance team of the high school.  They had a competition today and here is a link to their performance  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f3w92I9WFc----it's really cool!  The sound isn't that great, but you can see the students dancing. They worked really hard on the choreography and practicing many days after school.   I love the mimes.  The one that acts like he's playing the violin to the Lady Gaga Alejandro song is one of my favorite students, Ivan! :)

"Do you have a tail?"

GeoTagged, [N38.69228, E4.10878]

So this is one of my students that I give private lessons to and he is 5 yrs old (normally I have older students, but his brothers get lessons so naturally he wants some too!) He's my buddy, we have fun.
First of all, he told me that in this picture, this is " best face". He's right, I think he's onto something with that smile.

Second, funny story. So since he's only 5, we were practicing animal vocab and he would color the pics. He was coloring a cat and asked how to say tail in English. Just being goofy, I asked him if he had a tail. He giggled, thought for a sec, then said "I don't have a tail back there, but I have un colita (little tail) right here!!!" and pointed to his...area...haha. Caught me off guard because I wasn't expecting him to go that way. I had to laugh, so funny....ohhh kids.

Chuches = injured tongue

GeoTagged, [N38.69245, E4.10998]

Ok so these chuches (chewy candies) were so sour and delicious, like always with sour candy, I couldn't stop... My tongue is killing me now. It was worth it though.

And uhhh Interesting shape, huh?!! I looked closer, and I think they are wrenches. But whoever made this shape has a great sense of humor. And why those colors? Ohhhh Spanish chuches, how silly and sour you are...

Los mejores padres del mundo...

GeoTagged, [N38.69244, E4.11001]

(the best parents in the world...)....I have them. On a day when I was feeling kinda homesick, I received an awesome package from my mom and dad. Out of the various things in the box, these peanut butter and chocolate buckeyes (symbol of Ohio!!!!) made me feel less homesick, and they sent enough to share with friends here. I'm spreading Ohio buckeye pride in Spain!! And Valentine's day will feel more like home because they sent candy hearts, even some boxes in Spanish!!! And they sent enough to share with my students. My estudiantes had never heard of them, so now they'll get to try them!!!

Thanks, Mom and Dad... You're the best... It made my day! :)

Awesome Ski Trip in Granada

Successful and super divertido (super fun) weekend excursion #2....check.

Last week, my super majo (nice) friend, Armando, asked me if I would be interested in going with him and his wife to Granada for a quick one-day ski trip on Saturday.  After having to think for less than a second, I said ummmm CLARO QUE SI!! ME ENCANTARIA IR!  (Of course!  I would love to go!)  I work with Armando at the high school, and I also give private English conversation lessons to his awesome wife, Esther, who is also extremely dulce y simpatica (sweet and nice).  Anyway, we went, and it was so amazing.  It had been a few years since I had been skiing---what an incredible place to remember how much fun it is.

So first off, Armando was prepping me with how much money it would be.  He was warning me that the Sierra Nevada, the ski resort in Granada (Andalucia, southern Spain), is kind of expensive considering it is the only ski resort in southern Spain that is easy to get to (it only took us about 2 hours in car).  When he told me the breakdown of the prices, I couldn't help but smile because it is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than a ski resort in the U.S.  In total (ski, pole, boot rentals, and lift ticket), it cost me 59 Euros, which is $79.84, to ski in Spain.  Just out of curiosity, I looked up the current prices at Heavenly Valley Ski resort in Lake Tahoe in the U.S.  If I were to have gone to this ski resort in California/Nevada (some slopes are on the California border and some are on the Nevada border), it would have cost me a total of $122.99, which converts to 90.93 Euros.  

Ok so anyway...I took some amazing pictures! 

First, some good pics of the mountains from the car.  I think Armando and his wife were probably thinking, um they're just mountains.  Yeah...they haven't seen the plentiful plains of Columbus, Ohio...

Some pictures from the telesilla (chair lift)... check out the clear, blue sky....

Esther, Armando and Sara---Sara is a friend of theirs and her mom was on the other telesilla.  Sara is 22 and studies in Granada.  She is real cool and it was fun getting to know her as we skiied the slopes.  I told her I'm definitely coming back to Granada to visit!  Oh and ps, she was awesome and let me borrow ski pants!!  :)

AHHHH!!! I'M ESQUIANDO (SKIING) IN SPAIN!!!!!! WOOOOOO!!!

So Sierra Nevada and skiing was incredible, but the line system to get on the chair lift (or lack there of, I should say) was a JOKE.  This picture, a cluster*beep* of people, is the "system" haha.  That is definitely one thing that the U.S. resorts have over this one: a worker directing people into the organized line for the chair lift.  It was funny though because people are sliding over everyone else's skis, snowboards, bumping into people, squeezing into spaces in between people everywhere, and everyone was absolutely fine with it!  I was laughing and telling Armando that if that were in the U.S., people would be fighting, screaming, swearing lol.  I even caught myself feeling really annoyed with the lack of organization, but then I reminded myself to be like everyone else: no worries!!  It was very difficult, I have to admit lol.

Another difference between Spain and the U.S.----the size of the coffee cups!  There isn't even an option for a larger size, this is what I got!

Look at all the little ant-like people at the lodge down behind me.  There were so many people skiing and enjoying the perfect day.

So once people barged their way through the crowd of people to get to the chair lift, everyone goes through this turnstyle.  It was cool because instead of having a ticket hanging off of a zipper and having a worker scan by hand, you would keep the forfait (the ski pass card) in a pocket on the left side of your jacket or pants and you would literally lean up against this sign and it would scan it so you could go through the bar.  Very easy.  (But then again, I haven't been skiing in the U.S. in a few years, maybe we have this system too now?)

Armando and me on the slopes.

Esther and me.  She and Armando have become really great friends...muy buena gente (great people).

All the girls!!  Esther, me, Remme (Sara's mom) and Sara

As always, the Spanish people know how to kick back and relax.  This is on top of the ski lodge, where we had lunch and relaxed in the sun.

So I decided to do like the Spanish....ahhhh so relaxing...

While I was holding down our mesa (table) while Esther and Armando were in the food line, I made a friend.  This little chica was the cutest thing ever.  She had so much trouble walking in her botas chiquitas (little boots), and she was so precious just waddling around in her little snow suit.  I smiled at her, she smiled, and then she was being goofy and sticking her tongue out at me.  Of course, I did the same.  Then she came over, I gave her a high five, and with her big mittens, we played patty-cake hand games for a good 5 minutes.  No talking.  Just patty-cake and giggling.  Then she just walked away. Welp, cya later little snow bunny!

This was SO funny....Esther couldn't get her boot off and Armando was literally tugging with all his strength for a good while.  lol maybe you had to be there...

The next pictures are after skiing when we went walking around Granada.  These are from the newer, more modern part of the city.

I am absolutely IN LOVE with these open plazas that are very common in Spanish cities. I especially loved this one with all the colorful buildings.

This was a cute little carousel that was powered by a guy riding a bike. 

 This palace below is La Alhambra.  Here is my little history lesson for you!!  This palace has so much history because it originally was built by Arabians before Granada was conquered by the Catholic Monarchs in 1492 (thank you, alhambra.org lol).  It was built with the intention of miliary use, but then became the home to royalty of the Nasrid kingdom. The founder was King Mohammed ibn Yusuf ben Nasr, who was more commonly known as Alhamar.  The pictures can't even show you the beauty in person.  It is really amazing...

This picture was taken at a touristy spot called El Mirador de San Nicolas with an amazing view of La Alhambra.  There were many people sitting on the ledge, visiting, talking, drinking, admiring the view.  Not to sound cheesy, but it is a very romantic place.  I was super envidiosa (jealous) of the couples that were sitting together at this beautiful place! 

These pictures are taken in the older part of Granada.  The Arabian style of buildings and artistic details of the narrow streets and homes are really cool.

 Pictures from more teterias (Arabian tea cafes) like in Cordoba.  I really, really want to open one of these back home....

Finally, we went bar hopping at different bars...Had amazing wine and tapas (free appetizers).  This pic below is at one of the most popular bars in Granada....don't you love the decorations??  Why don't bars in the U.S. have hanging pig legs with hooves??

It was a quick trip and a long day, considering I woke up to leave for Granada at 5am and got home around 2:30am on Sunday morning, but it was worth it.  Such a great day.  Fantastic weather.  Very enjoyable time spent with wonderful people.  Great skiing.  An awesome evening spent exploring the beautiful streets and lively tapa bars in Granada. 

Can't wait to go back.