Job

So unless you haven't heard I got a job!!!! In BCN!!! :):):) Very happy about it. I went for the interview on Wednesday and asked: When does you school start? Very casual answer: On Monday. Are you kidding me?! I'm trying very hard to suppress 9 years of living in the USA and accepting "last minute way of life here". For the organizing and planning person called Radosveta it takes a lot of trying.....Anyway, that was my third interview this week (talk about the crazy week later) and miraculously it worked. I admit wholeheartedly that a little break will be great but come on -- I'm in BCN. What break?! And who needs it?

The school is in a little town just outside of BCN but it is technically in the metro area. Takes me 20 mins on the train to get there. Since I had no idea about distances and stuff I went for my interview 2.5 hrs earlier....And it was during siesta so all the shops were closed...What do you do in a small town when everything is closed for such a long time?! Well what better than go into a passteseria and buy a yummy pastry?! :) It is even better than the way it looks! Then a bench in the park and some Spanish studying.

The next day called back and said I'm taking it. Went back to the school and met the other teachers (there is an American I can talk to about the US :), got my classes and sorted the books. So here it is. Hold your breath! I teach every day from Monday through Friday 5:30-9:30pm and have 3 classes each day. First class is 6-7 year olds, second -- teens (12-14) and third -- teens (15-17). Deep breath! The kids I can handle (I think); the bigger teens -- kinda scared of them. I remember very clearly what we were in class and it doesn't help much that I barely speak Spanish......Will be asking for ideas how to tame them. Stay tuned.

So this week has been the most intense since I've been here. Started my Spanish (Que tal?) and it is every mornings for 4 hours. I think all kids should learn at least 2 languages when they are still young. So much easier! I mean learning now is great but if you have 100 more things, it gets a little too much. Anyway, so Spanish, then applying for jobs and interviews, getting lost and finding addresses, then my online course about Young Learners (hopefully very useful now) and once I get home I die. Literally!

Tonight we went to a cool Indian restaurant and the food was really good! I actually had something more Pakistani and it was great. After that off to a nice bar that reminded me a bit of 18th St Lounge...

Tomorrow is relaxing, going to this little town 30 mins from BCN by train (Sitges) -- beach, paella and a little sightseeing. So much work to do before Monday but gotta live a little, right?! :) It's again 2am... No wonder I can't keep my eyes open in the morning...

Food and party

Where do I start? Let's go with food. For the past month I've been trying the local bocadillos (sandwiches) which are great but not when you eat them almost every day. For a person who is used to eating out (I realized that here) it is a little hard to either eat only bocadillos or pretty much some home-cooked salads. Most of you are very familiar with my not/cooking skills :).

So last week was a great week to splurge a little bit, eat out and enjoy my fellow TEFL teachers'company as we neared the end of the course. First it was a Nepalese restaurant which turned out great! Food was very similar to Indian which equals yummy!!!!! On Friday it was time for....my favorite Ethiopian!!!! I thought of a very special friend with whom I used to go to an Ethiopian place in Alexandria (remember the plaza with the 7-Eleven?!:). I love Ethiopian food!!!! And what better than digging in the food with your fingers with your fellow teachers/friends?! :)

Saturday was a planned sushi party at the place of one of our colleagues who is a local and can make sushi. Night started great except that when you get about 14-15 just graduated teachers who have been working very hard for a whole month and you give them lots of alcohol, it gets....interesting. Sushi was amazing!!!!

Besides sushi though we had about 13 bottles of wine (3 of which were big 2 or 2.5l) and tons of beer. No need to do the math. I won't go into details here but will just mention that it is very hard to choose some decent pics to post (from the 100 or more taken....). A great night for everyone with tons of dancing and singing and what better way to get to know your new friends than this?!?!

The next day was a recuperate day for everyone. I managed to get down to the beach and it was lovely! It is still very warm in BCN even though today I found out that winters can get pretty pretty cold....And I was thinking I was going to a warmer climate....

Identities

I miss the USA. Don't think about it much but I miss it. Walking in Georgetown, by the river, meeting friends for happy hours, Alexandria and old town and.........It is where home was for the past 9 years and so many things happened there! You name them!

So I'm in Europe and I love it. However I don't even know where I belong...I'm Bulgarian but know more about current USA than BG at this point, feel "at home" with my US colleagues and at the same time get a rejection for a job application because they "only hire native speakers" (I know English and how to teach it better than BG at this point). So I'm not in BG and not in the US -- identity crisis??!?!!

Maybe not there yet but add a third language to the whole mix and it gets interesting. I already think in English and Bulgarian. Now I have to make my mind think in Spanish.....How?! Don't get me wrong -- would love to learn Spanish and am starting from Monday but sometimes I get that weird feeling of being in the middle. It seems that "home" is really somewhere in between everything (it still is BG but that feels very different now).

I had a very good saying (turned into a joke) with a friend in the USA (if you are reading it, you know who you are): "back home". Some things were better "back home" (mind you he is American born). But it's funny. I actually got back home and it's not the same. Especially when you get back for 20 days.... I knew I wasn't quite in my own waters when somebody had to translate a joke on a TV show for me. In the exactly same way I tried to watch Jay Leno 9 years ago in the USA and couldn't get it....

So as a BG saying goes (direct translation): "not a crab, not a fish" (ни рак, ни риба). Now (hopefully) I will have a third country in my mix -- let's make it even more confusing, why not?! Don't get me wrong -- Spain is great, I do not plan to go back to the US or BG for now. And this is not a desperate help cry (some of you know me pretty well). It is just a post at 1:30am reflecting on mixed identities, "home" and whatever else you want to call it. No pictures here. If I post anything it'd have to be with friends and not sure how people feel about that...

Last week

I know it's been a while. I even got scolded for not writing....It's been a little crazy with the round up of the course but it's almost over so no more excuses! So in a nutshell the past week was studying, end of Gracia fest, more studying (whole weekend like a prisoner), teaching, projects, exam, starting celebrations, and sending CV to many many emails.

I have to start with Gracia. There is no festival like this one! I probably said this a million times and can say it more....It is such an amazing fest!!!! The streets are magical, there are bands playing on every corner, people are enjoying (dancing, drinking, singing), and did I mention the streets?!?

Last Friday we decided to go to Gracia before we imprisoned ourselves for the weekend with big final projects due this last week. It was a great night out -- drinking, dancing, listening to live music and enjoying! It was also the last night of Gracia (at least for me). I have to say that the atmosphere was amazing and the people matter of course. Got a great mohito at a Brazilian Bar (see pics below), some sweets (different baklava pieces) at a local fresh store after I had eaten a very delicious shwarma! :)

The weekend was tough. Basically I went out for 15 mins (Sat and Sunday) and stayed home on Saturday night. I know! Unheard of! But I had a headache (not from studying but that damn cold) and around 9pm got really lazy. So besides studying and trying to finish everything I did not do a single cool thing.....:( That said I do not regret it at all because the week wasn't so hectic and I've had time to focus on some important stuff like redoing my CV (basically from scratch) and sending it out.

The mood at the school has changed tremendously! :) Plans are being made for the coming weekend and the next weeks, people are more relaxed, we had drinks and appetizers on the roof tonight followed by more drinks (and free shots; don't ask) at a local really cool bar where they played Grease, Dirty Dancing and more! :) If you haven't checked the post time of this blog it is around 3am right now and I'm about to go to bed soon. I kinda have an interview/exam tomorrow with the moderator from Trinity but I am not really worried about it...Well, just in case keep your fingers crossed!

Other exciting news?! Hm not really... Besides the fact that I just received my debit card today after I went to the bank on Wednesday to ask where it is and also get some money from my account. The ATM is supposed to have English but I couldn't figure out how it works with the "libreta"(remember the paper thing I got which can also give you money?!)...So as a result I had to wait in line for 20 minutes for the only cashier to be able to get some money from the account...Customer service on a different level. Tomorrow I'm going there again to pick up a new card and probably return the one I just got in the mail because it should be cancelled. At least that's what I think but with banks here you just never know....


I can't finish without saying that on Thursday I spent the best 14 euros so far! We went to a Nepalese restaurant and had a great shared meal with some wine :)! Very, very, very tasty!!! Close to Indian but a little different. Waiting for Jen (my landlady) to take me to a good Ethiopian place that she knows and I also need to find the BG store -- priorities for next week! Can't find in the stores here feta (or BG) cheese at all and they also only have small containers of yogurt! Very disappointing! Not only this but you have to be careful not to buy the one with the sugar...Learned that the hard way.....Spanish is also urgently on the agenda!!!!!

As a last goodnight (or morning) I want to challenge every single person who just read this to leave a comment. Your comment could be your name, good, bad, whatever you can think of. I'm just trying to see and actually convince myself that there are people out there reading it....OK, will write very soon again! Keep fingers crossed for final day tomorrow!!! :)

More teaching

I figured I can start this blog with a pic that has nothing to do with teaching....There will be a lot of posts on teaching. Naturally. I came here for this (besides the 100 other reasons...). I really enjoy it. The more I do it, the more I find true interest in it. And I think I can actually do it. It will take some experience obviously but so far so good. It is soooo much more different than the teaching in BG schools and the English teaching I did back in the days!

So I already had my first lesson with the advanced group and that was a success. Minus the time management which I'm still working on. They had fun, I explained my grammar point well and I'm getting ready for a new one tomorrow. Very different experience from my elementary level though. Very nice -- the students can actually communicate and that makes the lesson more interesting. The elementary on the other hand can be quite entertaining too -- the students try really hard and they can teach you some Spanish :). So far I don't have a favorite level.

I also did my one to one 1-hour lesson with my learner (from my elementary class; doing a learner profile) today. Besides the fact that I've been feeling like crap due to something I caught (nose, ears, head :( ) it went really well! :) He got what I tried to accomplish in 1 hour and was very happy with everything. Made my day!!!! Here is a pic of the board I took while explaining stuff.

So teaching so far is good and rewarding. Especially when you spent hours and hours preparing one lesson and then it goes so quickly...But patience is the key I guess. OK, going to bed now and hopefully tomorrow my cold will be better if not gone!

Banking

I have a bank account! Yupeeeee!!!! :) You might be wondering why the joy and the excitement, right?! Well here we go. I went with Ivka the first week to open an account (or I should say to attempt to open) and the result was negative -- you need a Spanish ID otherwise you might get a tourist account which is no good. So patience became my best friend.

You know that I got that cherished ID last week so, on Monday, I decided to try the bank account again. We switched shifts at school this week so I have the mornings to do stuff. Of course after Gracia on Sunday I couldn't get up early on Monday and decided to leave a little earlier before school and see what happens. I know many people don't speak ENG but I have some little hope that I will be able to somehow get the job done. I go to the closest branch home on my way to school. After a little wait it's my turn. Me: Ingles? The guy: (shaking his head) Catalan, Castellano (as you may know, people here speak Catalan and Spanish (Castellano). Me: Open an account? The guy: Just shaking his head. I gave up at this point and just exchanged some $$.

After a few blocks I see another branch of the same bank, so I figure I can give it another try. I see a young girl at the desk so my hopes are high. Ingles? A little. Yeeeee!!!!!!! After a short wait I sit across from her. And then it starts. Documents, papers, printing, signing.... She is using google translator to explain some things to me, apologizes for her ENG (or lack of) and after 45 minutes I walk out. I'm late for school but have a bank account! Not only a bank account but also a life insurance policy! Apparently if you want a debit card, you have to buy a life insurance...Ugh?! Waiting for Ivka to come back and do some translating for me. I also walked out with something that looks like the old BG savings books or a check book.

That book is very important! If you want to withdraw money from your account (in the bank), your debit card or ID might not be enough. You need that book. You can also use the ATMs to deposit money with that same book (no desire to attempt that soon..) or just give the cashier the book and they print everything on it -- how much is going in, withdrawals, balance. I also walked out with 2 pin numbers -- 1 for the book and 1 for the internet access (which is free :). I will get a third pin once I get my debit card (I have to go and get it in three days). I was also given a plastic card with a bunch of codes on the back which I need if I have to transfer money online --at least that's what I understood. And I have a bunch of stapled papers. Not bad, a?! :)

Festival

I have been to some festivals -- bigger and smaller, especially neighborhood ones (DC people think Adams Morgan). So I thought I was prepared for Gracia -- everyone has been talking about it (it's great, amazing, how wonderful you will catch it, and so on). My reaction?! OK, I will see it, it must be really nice but come on, enough praises.....Until yesterday when it started and I actually got to see it. The first thing I will tell you is that I left my apartment around 4:30pm and didn't get back until 2:30am.... During that time I was at the neighborhood for all but half an hour and basically walking, dancing, jumping or standing...Non-stop. I thanked my flats a lot! :)

It is a "regular"neighborhood fest except that I've never seen anything like it before! It takes BCN to a new level (even though I'm not sure what more you can add to the list of great things about the city). Such an amazing event!!! And I was there only for 1 day (night). It goes on for a week and I'm definitely going again this week (today doesn't count -- Monday and school work....). A lot of the streets are decorated in the most amazing way and pretty much all the stuff is recyclables -- plastic bottles, toothpicks, cans, etc. I will try to give you as many pics as possible so that you can get some idea (firsthand experience is best though so plan to be here next year around August 15th).

We started walking through the different little streets, trying to make our way through the hundreds of people -- it is amazing! Seriously! :) The atmosphere is great; people are having fun; drinking on the streets; everyone is enjoying to the fullest. There were different stages on different corners and we found the band that was playing rock. Sooooo much fun!!!! From Beatles, to Fink Floyd, U2, Kings of Leon, Nirvana and many many more covers! The show continued for 2.5hrs straight and it was really exciting (I'm running out of adjectives here...).


OK, hopefully I will post some pics on facebook -- there are so many great pics but not enough room here...Stay tuned :) (and follow me if you haven't done so already).