It's Beginning to Look a lot like... Trash.

In case you weren't aware (though I've been talking about it a lot) there is a trash strike going on in Madrid now. So for the last week or two, trash has slowly been piling up on the streets and in the dumpters (and around the dumpsters once they were full). It finally FINALLY ended on Sunday (12 days long) but that just means it's going back to the normal schedule, and our trash doesn't get picked up until Thursdays (I think). The point of all this is that everything smells. 

So, over the last couple of weeks, life has been pretty normal. I have settled into a decent routine here, and particularly since I'm doing National Novel Writing Month, I find I have less time to just sit and be bored. I go to open mic nights, I watch movies with friends and roommates, I write and write and write. 

Exactly two weeks ago (I know because it was the night I was writing my blog) my phone was stolen at a bar, so I've been trying to get used to my crappy new Spanish smart phone. It is sufficient for my purposes, I guess. 

Sunday, I went to see Ender's Game in the cinema! And I saw it in the original version, not dubbed! (There were Spanish subtitles on the screen, but I could ignore them for the most part). It was SO GOOD. I really want to read the books again, now. 

Every other Sunday is Open Mic Night at Cafe de la Palma, and Steve and Melanie played this Sunday. They really rock my world on a regular basis; both are so talented and so gracious. Very good musicians and even better friends! 

And today, my class went to a theatre in the area to watch Alice in Wonderland, in both Spanish and (bad) English. It was so boring. Like, I have not been that bored in a long time. The kids around me were talking or falling asleep and I did not even care. I wanted to sleep, too! I would rather have taught them stuff they did not already know in science (but of course, they would always prefer field trips to science class). 

The weather here is basically the same as in Missouri, high of 45 and lows of a little below freezing, with rain. But while Missouri will get a lot colder, we're pretty much where we're going to be for the rest of the winter. At least that's what I've been lead to believe. 

Friday, I went to the mall and spent two hours searching for some knee high black boots. I tried on every pair I could find, just because I have really wanted some for a while. Finally got them! And they are beautiful, believe me. Now I just need to get some more actual fall/winter clothes, since I've just been layoring to deal with the cold.

I'm also getting really excited for Thanksgiving, since some friends and I will be celebrating together (including two Brits, I know...) So, sorry if this week is boring, but I guess that's my life now! Maybe I'll go somewhere crazy this weekend... 

Ciao! 

Obligatory

The last time that I went two weeks without blogging, everyone freaked out. So even though nothing has happened this week except me recovering from being sick and having my phone stolen, I'm posting a bloggg. 

So I guess obviously the phone stolen thing happened. Immediately after I posted my last blog post. I was in the bar using wifi and a futbol game came on and the bar filled up, and then when I got home I realized my phone was gone. That's it; whole story. I have a new phone now. 

On more positive notes, my teacher Rebeca told me yesterday that I should consider becoming a teacher for real, because I'm so good with the kids (blush!) which was obviously really nice to hear. 

And finally. Today I saw a train wash. Like a car wash, but bigger and for trains. And I thought that was pretty cool. 

So, now you all know I'm not dead. I promise, I'll have a real post next week.

Halloween, November Writing, and Toledo

Halloween! So Halloween day was ridiculously crazy for the kids; some moms from the parent teacher alliance equivalent here came in and had mask making activities to do in science class, which meant we also just watched videos on youtube. You would think Halloween themed videos, and certainly, Thriller is very Halloweeny, but after Thriller we then watched... every other Michael Jackson video out there. I never would have expected kids under 10 in Spain to be as in love with Michael Jackson as these kids are. It's really kind of amazing, but also weird. I dressed as a black cat because it was something I could use my own wardrobe for. The kids understood what I was but Halloween is so much more of a scary holiday here than in the US that they did not get why I wouldn't want to come as something scarier. There were no princesses here; Batman was the least scary costume I saw. The girls were all witches, or vampires and the boys were all vampires, batman, devils, or skeletons. Basically your standard scary stuff. That night was the open mic and Steve and Melanie played together for the first time in public, and it was really wonderful. They are both very talented and it is awesome hearing them play individually, let alone as a group. Steve and I watched Zombieland, in true Halloween fashion, but no parties for me. I was exhausted! 

Friday... I did... something... I'm sure... 

Saturday, Sam, Melanie, Hannah, Steve, and I all went to Toledo for the day! First of all: I could get used to the mild weather here. It is November and I hardly even need a coat most days! I think this week has been more mild than normal, but still. People are still eating outside at the restaurant and wearing light jackets. We got to the bus station at Plaza Eliptica at 10:20, as planned, to leave on the 10:30 bus. At least... most of us did. Sam and Jill were late, and Jill ended up not going because she had just gotten out of bed by the time we were supposed to meet there... oops! Sam and I were both starting to be sick (I was more than starting, and really I should have stayed home) but we really wanted to see Toledo. It took about an hour to get there and then we walked up the beautiful hills to the top of the city, and believe, there is quite a view there! 

Talk about a gorgeous countryside! We really just wandered around for a while, and because of that, and since we got there later than we had planned, we didn't end up getting to do everything we wanted to. But it was still really fun and a good day. We saw the cathedral, which is HUGE and seems bigger because of how small everything else in the city is. 

And Hannah, Melanie, and I went into a museum with an exhibit on Leonardo Da Vinci; it was of all his drawings and inventions, which they had recreated. 

Hannah and my favorite was definitely the "Worm Hoister." We know the "worm" part is about the kind of machine it is or something... but the idea of hoisting worms was just too funny. "Gotta hoist those worms somehow!" 

There was also a dungeon in the museum, which was the cause of great amusement to Melanie, who, having come from England, knows what real dungeons are. 

These dungeons! Pah! Too well lit, not damp or musty enough, too big, too comfy. Even their torture instruments are tame! Look, that one looks like a kitty! 

So we had fun in there while the boys, I dunno, got a beer or something lame like that. 

One site we could not pass up was the El Greco museum, especially because it was free when we got there since it was after 2pm. It was really beautiful and fun to look around; I felt like the grounds of the museum were more interesting than the paintings, but that might have just been my opinion... 

The cellars under the museum. 

The view from the 2nd story balcony. Beautiful! 

My favorite painting was definitely the one with the lion wearing the red hat. (Okay, that's not what it was... but it looks like it!)

We got a decent group photo in the gardens and moved on. 

Our plan was to get food and go see the Jewish Synagogue that was built in the 1300s, but Spain has a way of making you take your time sometimes. We sat down at a restaurant and spent the next hour waiting for the waitress to even come up and take our orders, so that by the time we left the restaurant, the synagogue was closing. Guess that just means we'll have to go back! We took our time wandering back to the bus station, wanting to see some of the nighttime happenings. 

Beautiful river with what seems to be the remains of a base for a bridge. 

Loving the weird sun spot on Hannah... haha. 

The cathedral with Sam and a random couple in the background... 

The rest of this week has just been me being very sick, not leaving the apartment Sunday or Monday and sleeping most of the time, and working on my National Novel Writing Month novel for November. I am currently at 8000 words (just about on target). My roommate Laura is also sick and at first we thought we had the same thing, but I have a sinus infection and it turns out she has pnemonia! Yikes! Hopefully she will get better soon. Begoña also went home again and brought back a bunch of fruit from her family; tangerines and pomagranates. I forgot the word for pomagranates is granada in Spanish, so when she first told me I thought she was saying she had gone to Granada. We cleared that up quickly enough, though. After this week of highs and lows, I'm hoping for some calm. 

Ciao!