December in La Caro, And Some Things I've Learned About Spain

Considering I've been super-slack in updating my blogs about everyday life around here, it would be good to make a start before I take off to travel around with my parents!

La Carolina is feeling more and more like home!  Work is ticking along, and I somehow fill up my days with playing the piano at the local music school, doing language exchanges, helping people out with English, and plenty of tapas.

I've learned a few things about Spain, too...

• Don't expect to get anything useful done between about 3 and 5pm, especially if you're in a small town.  It's lunch/siesta time.
• Don't expect to get anything useful done before about 9am (possibly even 10).  For example, our nearest supermarket doesn't open until 9.15am, and very few corner stores will be open before then either.
• Don't expect to get anything useful done on Sunday.  The only thing you can do is go out and have tapas, because bars are the only things which are open.  What a shame.
• If you want to go to the bank or the post office, do not leave it until the afternoon.  They shut for siesta and don't re-open until the next morning.  These need to be your priorities when doing morning errands!

That whinge aside, the positives definitely outweigh the inconveniences.

Patatas bravas.

• People here are extremely open and friendly.  Perhaps I just got really, really  lucky with the school I was placed in, but the teachers are always chatting to me, inviting me out for tapas, etc, etc.
• Spanish people know how to party!  All day, and all night, as the song says.
• It doesn't actually cost too much to go out for drinks and tapas with friends.  Andalucia: what can I say?  Sheer brilliance.
• Neither is it too expensive to rent a flat, buy your fresh fruit and veg, or travel by bus.
• Patatas bravas.  They taste great.
• Sure, Spanish people can be direct.  But it means that you'll get told you look 'guapo/a' far more often than you ever would in an anglo-saxon culture.

Another amusing aspect is their obsession with jamón.  I don't think I've ever seen a culture with such a fixation on one of its staple foods. 
I admit, I've tried enough jamón to understand why they're so obsessed, but it's still amusing.  I'll try to prove why...

• I was taken to a ham festival... by a hiking group?  I don't know how many people asked us whether we liked the ham.  Luckily, I did, because I think it may have broken their hearts if I had said 'no.'
• Apparently, students offer jamón to their teachers as a bribe, when they want to pass a test.
• My parents are coming to visit, and about 6 different people have told me that I have to get them to try jamón.
• One Spanish friend joked about using jamón as a method to convince another friend to let him marry her sister.
• And then there's this tv ad for Navidul hams, which shows the consequences of buying a bad ham (apparently, it can follow you for a lifetime).

However, much remains to be learned.  Thankfully, I still have 5 more months here!

When I Came to Spain, and I Saw the People Partying...

I would have done more blog entries, but I was too busy partying... all day, and all night...

(That's a reference to this song, for those who didn't know.  ;p  It's a pretty awful song but the funny thing is that it's actually kinda true.  Spanish people do like to party!  Or, at least, socialise.)

So, a few snippets of life in La Carolina.

El Cerro de la Cruz, with La Carolina behind.

• A couple of days ago, the teacher said something to a student, and he replied 'joder, maestra.'  The teacher (somewhat bravely) said 'In English.  How do you say 'joder, maestra,' in English.  The student's reply: 'F@*k, teacher.'
  I put my head in my hands and told them that they could not say that to a teacher.  Another student said 'why not?'
• Regular tapas sessions.  The teachers at my school are terrible influences in this respect!
• Have started jogging again, because I am eating too many tapas and drinking too much cerveza.  
• On the upside, I have discovered 'clara.'  It  apparently has lemon juice.  Anyway, that means it's less bitter, so I'm happy.
• Doing about four different language exchanges to speak some more Spanish.  Spaniards are really keen to learn English!
• Spending lots of time with the other auxiliares, amusing ourselves with stupid dance moves, playing Headbands or other such party games, dancing it up around town, having dinner parties, watching movies...  Basically, we always find something entertaining to do!
• Spending Sunday nights in a bar, taking free salsa lessons.
• Last night, I was in a bar at about midnight, only to see two of my eleven-year-old students there with their families.  (This seems to be reasonably usual in Spain.)  They came over to say hello, which was sweet of them.  But I'm waiting for Tuesday, when they say 'Teacher, I saw Libby drinking wine in a bar!'  Because they do like to tell their other teachers about how they saw me in the street, etc, etc.
• Checking out the Saturday morning market.  Apparently, most of the vendors are gypsies.  There are cheap shoes, clothes, and sheets galore.  Plus, it's right by the town market, where I can get a big bag full of fruit and veg for only 5E.  Huzzah!
• Recently gained a few 'students': some who want some extra conversation practice, some school kids, and possibly a 3-year-old to follow.  That one could be fun!

Kingi the Kiwi, getting ready to tuck into patatas bravas!