It's been a while since my last post because I am finally energetic enough to write something now. My immune system is sure getting a work out while I am here!
One week ago, I was ecstatic because it was the beginning of carnival in Barcelona. One of the other CAs (Katelyn), and I met at Placa Catalunya in Barcelona in search of some carnival festivities. We didn't come across anything other than a few people dressed in costumes, but we had fun just walking the streets of amazing Barca. All day long, though, my throat was giving me trouble. I ignored it because I had been sick the previous week, and I thought that I could not possibly be sick again.
Oh how wrong I was. The very next morning, I woke up with a fever and tonsils the size of golf balls with white spots all over them and a severe pain in my throat... plus muscle aches and fatigue. My host family called my Spanish insurance company, and they cleared me to visit a private hospital in Barcelona (since regular doctors aren't available on Sundays).
When we arrived, they took down my info, we waited for twenty minutes, and then they called me back to the examination room.... alone. Immediately people started asking questions in Spanish, and I told them I didn't understand a word they were saying. So they let me bring Sonia in to translate. After a quick look, a doctor prescribed a very strong dose of an antibiotic because my infection was so severe.
For one week, I have stayed in the house recovering. Yesterday, I went back to the hospital for a check up and to look into some unpleasant side effects I'd been experiencing from the medicine, and I had a completely different experience. Sonia and I waited for more than 2 hours even though there was no one in the waiting room. Then I had the most terrifying doctor in my entire life give me some extremely questionable advice. I'd rather not post the full story here, but if you know me.... ask because it is a pretty good one.
In the end, I learned that experiences with doctors here vary a lot. THere are public and private hospitals. Both are good, but you use one or the other depending on your insurance. Sometimes the wait can be hours long and sometimes you wait a few moments. Sometimes the doctors are incredibly well educated and even better than in the states, and some are total quacks. Of course this can happen anywhere in the world, but these are just my observations and personal experiences.
I am happy to report that I am finally feeling better and my last dose of antibiotics is for tomorrow afternoon. I am ready to get back to school and back to a life of exploring!
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
It's Not the Taste... It's the Consistency!
A few days ago, I experienced my first meal that included snails. I have to say, my host dad can COOK. Everything he makes tastes fantastic. So, when he offered me a snail, shell and all, I said why not? I am in Spain. This time of my life is all about new experiences.
My review: interesting. Again, the man can cook. So the TASTE was pretty decent. It was salty but in a good way. Very light. Not like chicken or beef. I can't really compare the taste to anything. However, there isn't really anything you can do about the texture.
If you have seen Zombieland, you probably remember Woody Harrelson saying, "I hate coconut. Not the taste, the consistency." I feel that way about coconuts too, and I have similar feelings about snails. VERY tough. I chewed on one solitary snail for a good ten minutes. So, I am glad I tried it but I'm not sure I'll be dining on snails too often in the future.
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Another thing I'd like to bring up is olive oil. Here, if a household doesn't store vast quantities of olive oil, the family must not be from Spain. The amount of olive oil consumed here is ASTOUNDING. I am totally for it, and hey.... it's healthier than butter. Every salad, every vegetable, cheese, meat (including chicken nuggets), and every single piece of bread is completely drenched from all of the oil than has been poured on top of it. I am not sure how much olive oil you should ingest every day. All I know is that, here, it's easy to have about half a bottle a day. I'm okay with it. I LOVE olive oil.
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One more food related subject. Spaniards are really talented at peeling fruit with knives. I've always used a peeler. Here, they peel all fruit with knives. Including bananas. I just peel my bananas with my hands. I don't know if it is easier or more polite to peel a banana with a knife, but everyone here does it, and they do it gracefully. At lunch today, I was the only one who peeled mine with my hands, and I felt as clumsy as a monkey. It's just very interesting to me. Not really sure if anyone else thinks about such things as often as I do or if anyone cares how I peel bananas.... but it's just something I noticed!
My review: interesting. Again, the man can cook. So the TASTE was pretty decent. It was salty but in a good way. Very light. Not like chicken or beef. I can't really compare the taste to anything. However, there isn't really anything you can do about the texture.
If you have seen Zombieland, you probably remember Woody Harrelson saying, "I hate coconut. Not the taste, the consistency." I feel that way about coconuts too, and I have similar feelings about snails. VERY tough. I chewed on one solitary snail for a good ten minutes. So, I am glad I tried it but I'm not sure I'll be dining on snails too often in the future.
_____________________________________________
Another thing I'd like to bring up is olive oil. Here, if a household doesn't store vast quantities of olive oil, the family must not be from Spain. The amount of olive oil consumed here is ASTOUNDING. I am totally for it, and hey.... it's healthier than butter. Every salad, every vegetable, cheese, meat (including chicken nuggets), and every single piece of bread is completely drenched from all of the oil than has been poured on top of it. I am not sure how much olive oil you should ingest every day. All I know is that, here, it's easy to have about half a bottle a day. I'm okay with it. I LOVE olive oil.
____________________________________________
One more food related subject. Spaniards are really talented at peeling fruit with knives. I've always used a peeler. Here, they peel all fruit with knives. Including bananas. I just peel my bananas with my hands. I don't know if it is easier or more polite to peel a banana with a knife, but everyone here does it, and they do it gracefully. At lunch today, I was the only one who peeled mine with my hands, and I felt as clumsy as a monkey. It's just very interesting to me. Not really sure if anyone else thinks about such things as often as I do or if anyone cares how I peel bananas.... but it's just something I noticed!
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Padel, etc.
This week, I'm finally starting to feel settled in. The family had a busy work week so we didn't do much after school, but that gave me time to rest and catch up on lesson plans.
Now I'm sick, so the weekend has been pretty low key as well. When you work with kids, I suppose it is inevitable. In the three weeks that I have been at the school, I have been poked in the eye, sneezed on, coughed at, etc every single day in every single class. I'm actually quite proud that I have been able to put up with it because I honestly have a bit of a phobia when it comes to germs and getting sick. It's a small price to pay though for the amazing experience I have had so far!
New cultural experience this week:
Padel: I was supposed to play, but since I am sick, I just watched. It is a very popular sport here. It is kind of like a mixture of tennis and raquetball. It is played on a condensed tennis court that is surrounded by plexiglass walls. The rackets are different but the rules are more or less the same, with a few differences involving where the ball can go (the wall, the ground, how many times it can bounce, etc). I honestly don't have a full grasp on it yet but I hope to play soon and understand it fully. It's a really big thing here. All of the families seem to play.
Not much else is happening this week, but next week is Carnival so that will be fun!
Now I'm sick, so the weekend has been pretty low key as well. When you work with kids, I suppose it is inevitable. In the three weeks that I have been at the school, I have been poked in the eye, sneezed on, coughed at, etc every single day in every single class. I'm actually quite proud that I have been able to put up with it because I honestly have a bit of a phobia when it comes to germs and getting sick. It's a small price to pay though for the amazing experience I have had so far!
New cultural experience this week:
Padel: I was supposed to play, but since I am sick, I just watched. It is a very popular sport here. It is kind of like a mixture of tennis and raquetball. It is played on a condensed tennis court that is surrounded by plexiglass walls. The rackets are different but the rules are more or less the same, with a few differences involving where the ball can go (the wall, the ground, how many times it can bounce, etc). I honestly don't have a full grasp on it yet but I hope to play soon and understand it fully. It's a really big thing here. All of the families seem to play.
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| padel racket |
Not much else is happening this week, but next week is Carnival so that will be fun!
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
It's Finally Hitting Me: I LIVE IN BARCELONA!
Little things like buying stamps, setting up a bank account, and getting a SIM card are more thrilling than they should be because they all mean one thing: I LIVE HERE! Maybe not forever, maybe not even for very long, but for about half a year, I'll call Barcelona home. It is a strange feeling... terrifying and wonderful at the same time.
It's been over a week since the last blog post due to general craziness. School is from 10-5 every day, followed by errands with the host family or possibly hanging out with their friends and speaking Spengalan (my new name for a combination of English, Spanish, and Catalan) while chilling (literally, as it's quite cold here) at a cafe.
School is a challenge, but a good one. I find all of the other teachers to be very nice but sometimes I struggle a little bit with the language barrier. Lunches here are two hours long, and I usually sit there trying to listen the whole time.... but I'm impatient. I want to know what hilarious jokes they are telling and I want to participate in meetings. The language barrier makes that impossible at the moment, but we are all learning and the important thing is that everyone is friendly. I think I am very slowly making progress and will be able to communicate more as time goes on.
The kids are adorable. Of course there's a handful of troublemakers, but most of them will melt your heart. A three year old named Paula came up to me today and said, quite enthusiastically, "HELLO,
INGLES!" Haha... I like my new nickname. I am starting to remember some of the students' names, finally. I've never been good with names, but now that I am seeing them consistently every day on a set schedule, things are starting to click. I'm starting to feel a bit more settled in.
The weekend was really lovely. I spent Saturday exploring my town a little more with Anna, another Conversation Assistant, and then we took a train into Barcelona (after I lead us in the wrong direction and wasted a ticket, but hey you live and you learn) and saw the spectacular Plaza de Espana. It was bitterly cold and windy, so we spent most of the evening at the Centro Comercial Arenas, a.k.a. a nice mall filled with clothing stores, churros/crepes/ice cream/sweets, a museum, a cinema, and restaurants. At the top level is a fantastic view of Barcelona, and I plan to go back there during the day because I imagine it's even better then.
Sunday was relaxing. The host family and I went into the city center and saw one of many impressive cathedrals. It's called Santa Maria del Mar. Then we
strolled through the Parc de la Ciutadella, which I really enjoyed. It was beautiful; I think my favorite part was the Cascada fountains, pictured below.
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In other news, my host sister (Claudia), has taken it upon herself to help me learn Spanish. She is only 10 but she's so focused and dedicated (I've had several exams already). I'm enjoying it a lot, and I have learned useful words such as goma, lapiz, and pez.
That's all for now. Just finished la cena and now it's time to plan some lessons and get to bed.
It's been over a week since the last blog post due to general craziness. School is from 10-5 every day, followed by errands with the host family or possibly hanging out with their friends and speaking Spengalan (my new name for a combination of English, Spanish, and Catalan) while chilling (literally, as it's quite cold here) at a cafe.
School is a challenge, but a good one. I find all of the other teachers to be very nice but sometimes I struggle a little bit with the language barrier. Lunches here are two hours long, and I usually sit there trying to listen the whole time.... but I'm impatient. I want to know what hilarious jokes they are telling and I want to participate in meetings. The language barrier makes that impossible at the moment, but we are all learning and the important thing is that everyone is friendly. I think I am very slowly making progress and will be able to communicate more as time goes on.
The kids are adorable. Of course there's a handful of troublemakers, but most of them will melt your heart. A three year old named Paula came up to me today and said, quite enthusiastically, "HELLO,
INGLES!" Haha... I like my new nickname. I am starting to remember some of the students' names, finally. I've never been good with names, but now that I am seeing them consistently every day on a set schedule, things are starting to click. I'm starting to feel a bit more settled in.
The weekend was really lovely. I spent Saturday exploring my town a little more with Anna, another Conversation Assistant, and then we took a train into Barcelona (after I lead us in the wrong direction and wasted a ticket, but hey you live and you learn) and saw the spectacular Plaza de Espana. It was bitterly cold and windy, so we spent most of the evening at the Centro Comercial Arenas, a.k.a. a nice mall filled with clothing stores, churros/crepes/ice cream/sweets, a museum, a cinema, and restaurants. At the top level is a fantastic view of Barcelona, and I plan to go back there during the day because I imagine it's even better then.
Sunday was relaxing. The host family and I went into the city center and saw one of many impressive cathedrals. It's called Santa Maria del Mar. Then we
strolled through the Parc de la Ciutadella, which I really enjoyed. It was beautiful; I think my favorite part was the Cascada fountains, pictured below.
That's all for now. Just finished la cena and now it's time to plan some lessons and get to bed.
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