welcome back

Somebody posted this video on facebook the other day. It's so great. The last 30 seconds are my favorite!

Also, I now have some pretty high expectations for my own stateside reception. ;)

rubbing elbows with the rich and famous

As you probably already know by now, I'm famous.
(Well, let's pretend, ok?)

The movie that I starred in is coming out this Friday! But I won't be able to see it!
Just for kicks and giggles, I'm going to post the trailer. It looks AWESOME!
The movie is called The Next Three Days, and if you are reading this, I am personally giving you the responsibility to go see this movie this weekend! Admire the beautiful city of Pittsburgh, and think about the fact that I hung out with Russell Crowe all day. (Or, at least, I saw him in the flesh a few times.) Try to find my car as I drive through Russell's scene! And think about the fact that I worked in the building where this movie takes place! Pretty awesome, right?
IT'S KILLING ME THAT I HAVE TO WAIT TO SEE IT! I mean, considering that my plans to rent a theater and have my own red-carpet premier were foiled by my moving to Spain.

Enjoy!


As for my other Hollywood connection:
I am not sure if many, any, or all of you know this, but when I was studying in Sevilla, I had a chance encounter with an actress. On my flight back to Sevilla from London, my friend and I were just chatting away on the plane, when the girl sitting next to us interrupted. She explained that she was an actress, and that she was studying for an American role, and she asked if she could tape record us talking so she could practice her accent. We agreed, and we chatted the whole way home. She told us that she was flying to Sevilla for a film fest, where they were showing the last movie that she was in. So we went to the film fest later that week. Too bad we got lost on the bus, and missed the movie! We ended up seeing her anyway, so we got a picture with her. Here is it:

Ok, second part of the story.
Here in Toledo, they have a thing called CineClub. Every week, they show a new movie, and most weeks I go. Two weeks ago, they showed a movie called Fish Tank, which, unfortunately, was one of the ones that I missed. This weekend, I decided to read the short description in the booklet, and what did I see?! Her name! Kierston Wareing! I couldn't believe it! I MISSED IT! I have missed both of my chances to see both of her movies! (And yeah, she has an IMDB page ... legit!)

To try to make up for missing the movie, I watched the trailer on youtube. And, of course, I will share that with you as well. She is playing the mother in this movie.


So, yeah, I am pretty much rubbing elbows with Hollywood elite on a regular basis now. Does anyone want my autograph?

rites of passage

Well, my friends, I believe that I have reached a milestone in my life here in Spain.

I have become acostumbrada to the night life. For the first time ever, I stayed out until after 6am, until the night club closed. I am pretty sure that until yesterday, I was the only person currently in the country of Spain who had not done so. And you know, even at 6am, (when I was definitely ready to go), others were still thinking about where they'd like to go next. How do they do it?!

I only woke up at 3pm today-- just in time for siesta. (Though no, I didn't take one. I just lazed around all day.) I don't know if I can make this a habit! Maybe I'm still just an aguafiestas!

In other news, I bought my first pair of house shoes today. I am pretty sure this is yet another rite of passage.
Seems that I'm assimilating, no?

nectar of the gods

(At the risk of sounding smug, I am going to post this anyway.)

The United States is the land of opportunity. If you want something, you can have it. I can't help but feel at times that anything you can get in Spain, you can get in the US, too. But not vice-versa. (I know this isn't entirely true, but it's my blog, and I'll cry if I want to!)
Despite this "truth", there is one important product that I have come across here in Spain that is 1. amazing and 2. still unknown to the good ol' US of A.

It is called BiFrutas! In other words, the perfect combination of milk and fruit juice. It's so smooth and delicious! And it's a great source of vitamins A, C, and E! What more could you ask for?!

Really, this stuff is delish. I have looked for it in the United States, but I have never come across anything like it.
In the event that the head of some juice corporation is reading this, I beg you: Sell this stuff in the US! I promise it will make you rich. It's like drinking heaven on earth!

I probably drink a bottle of this stuff every 2 days.
This, my friends, has potential to be Spain's greatest export.

PS. I'm loving my brand new mug! I had to include it in the picture!

choques culturales

Just in case you were beginning to think that it's all fun and games here in Spain, I'd like to offer a few short anecdotes to give you a glimpse into my latest cultural frustration. (While these are true stories, this post is mostly in jest).

Today, I had a few things to mail, so I went to the post office. Simple enough, right? I got into the building circa 2:10. I left around 2:40. Does this seem ridiculous to anybody else? I mailed 3 post cards. Three. Once it was my turn, it took all of 30 seconds to get those suckers on their way, and yet, I definitely waited for 30 minutes while all three of the correos employees went about their other office chores. It had to be bad... even the Spaniards waiting were frustrated with how long things were taking! (Serving 6 people in 30 minutes is not very efficient. McDonald's drive-thru would be so disappointed!)

On Friday, I had to go to the bank to cash my paycheck. Yes! I finally got paid. The only catch was that I had to cash it at the bank that my school uses. And I get the impression that nobody in the history of Spain has ever written or cashed a check before, because the guy who gave it to me didn't know where to sign it, and the guy who cashed it took 40 minutes to give me my money!  If I were by myself, this wouldn't have been so bad. The worst part was that it was Friday afternoon, and we were on our way home from school, and I had to inconvenience the girl who was giving me a ride home! I felt bad. And really, it was so unnecessary! The guy honestly asked me to repeat my address more than 3 times. I had to give him my address in Spain, and my address in the US. And then my phone numbers, and email, etc. Multiples times for each piece of information! Why?? I don't even have an account there (yet)! Finally, I asked, "is there a reason that we have to enter this data so many times?" ... "to keep the information updated" was the answer. I can assure you that in the 30 minutes that I had been standing there, I had not changed pisos or gotten a new telephone number; that the first set of information was indeed as updated as it possibly could have been. Once I finally asked though, things seemed to move along rather quickly as he wrapped things up, and I was good to go, money in hand. The girl I was with said he must have been ligando*, but if you ask me, that's the absolute worst way to go about it.
As a result of this time-costly trip to the bank, the rest of my day was put off-schedule and I missed my train to Salamanca. I had to buy a whole other train ticket. That slowpoke cost me €15,50!

The third story takes place in Salamanca. My friends and I went to lunch at a place with a relatively cheap menú del día . When we got there, there was no seating immediately available, but we agreed to wait. We ended up sitting in the back garden with a few other tables. Things started off decently enough. Until it took us over 20 minutes to get waited on. No water, no bread, nothing. After we finally gave our orders (trust me, we had plenty of time to think about it!), it took another 15 minutes to get our water, wine, and bread. The waitress gave us a bottle of aceite, but when a neighboring table of Spaniards needed one, she simply turned to our table, took ours and gave it away! I think we were being discriminated against! Tables that had come after us were served before us and left before we had even finished eating. We waited forever for our plates, and when we got them they were cold! Our lunch experience took over 2 hours! 2 HOURS! ...But I'm sure it was just because we weren't wearing our hater blockers.

I know that it's so typical for Americans to think that the rest of the world runs too slowly or inefficiently. I mean, I know there's a distinct difference in pace of life, and usually I enjoy it. But this week, all of Spain must be in the same super-slow mode. I would blame it on Daylight Savings Time (which we celebrated last weekend), but it still doesn't even out. My "extra" hour has now been spent, three times over, doing menial tasks that should have only taken minutes each. (Well, lunch could have taken more than a few minutes, but a few hours is pushing it.)
Or, who knows.. maybe I should just chill out a little more.


Really though, Spain is still pretty much just fun and games.


*I realize that if you try to google-translate this word, it will probably tell you a lot of words that it doesn't mean in this case. What it means in this case is flirting -- not binding or tying or whipping or making out or whatever else it might tell you. Just to clear things up.

good days

Today was a pretty good day.

What constitutes a good day? A lot of conversation, I think. I always feel good after a chatty day.

I read something recently that said, in more words or less, that to learn a second language you cannot be shy and you cannot be afraid to make a mistake. That's interesting to think about, because in my first language, I would define myself as a somewhat shy and cautious person. So it's funny to think that, in order to learn this second language, the most important thing is that I get over myself.
And I think that's true. When I stop being guarded and just start talking, I always feel better. When I attempt to say what I actually think, even if I don't know a word or two, my point always gets across.
I feel like so much effort is spent listening to others and trying to make sure that I'm understanding their conversations, that I don't even have time to think about what I can add to the conversation. I've been feeling lately like my coworkers don't really even know me. I mean, they know that I'm American and what not, but they don't really know me. I feel like I need to be better about sharing stories and letting people know who I am. I guess that's just something that will take time though.

The other day I was just sitting in the teacher's lounge, doing nothing, when one of the teachers said:
"Are you boring?"
"Am I boring? Well, I don't think so. But I am bored," I replied.
He was a little embarrassed as I clarified the difference between what he actually asked and what he meant to ask. But I couldn't help but wonder if, in reality, they really do think I'm boring.
Let's face it, I'm just not good at small talk. Not in English, not in Spanish.... but especially not in Spanish.

So, anyway, it's a good day when I can be a little chatty. It's a good day when I can start a conversation. It's a good day when I can join into a conversation between others.

Also, it's a good day when people bring in delicious treats to celebrate their birthdays. And it's a good day when I FINALLY GET PAID! And it's a good day when I finally get my medical insurance card.

In other, unrelated news, I have a new roommate. She is American. Now it's 4 against 2.
I got an email asking if any of us auxiliares knew of a place to live in el casco, and coincidentally, one of my roommates moved out the same week. I feel like it was the least I could do to help another auxiliar out. I know how stressed I felt when I first got here, trying to find housing and figure out how to live here. So I'm trying to be the help that I wish I would have had! In some ways, it's comforting to have another American here. It's like I'm no longer the only one being swallowed up in a sea of Spanish... I'm no longer a novelty. The only problem is that I am now speaking English in the one place that I couldn't speak English before, my piso. I really need to work on speaking Spanish more.

But hopefully I'll be able to continue being a chatty Cathy at school.

Realizing Dreams

One by one, I am realizing my dreams here in Spain.
Latest dream fulfilled: To dress up as an Oompa Loompa for Halloween.
Success! .....& of course, good times!