Blogs from Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, Europe - page 24

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving. Our week has been busy with celebrations, but we saved the best for last. Yesterday Sage and I threw a dinner party for 7, finally giving us reason to use the gi-normous dining room table. I hesitate to refer to our dinner as a celebration of "Turkey Day" because there was no turkey present. (Spanish turkeys must be made of gold or some other precious metal to merit the 30 euro/kilo price.) But...with a few subsitutions here and there, we managed a pretty traditional eat-until-you-might-explode American feast. Desperate to impress our guests with the typical Thanksgiving foods, Sage and I slaved away making pumpkin tarts (no room for pies in our makeshift oven), green bean casserole (fried the onions by hand), corn and oyster casserole (with clams ... read more

Hello loved ones! Hope you all enjoyed Halloween. For days we've been preparing ourselves to celebrate a non-holiday in Spain, but much to our surprise Halloween is definitely catching on in Andalusia. As part of my job is to impart cultural tidbits from the US, Jason (the other American at my school) and I decided to don some traditional Halloween costumes and show the students how it's done. We tried to stick with ordinary ideas, a witch and a knight, because although young people here know of Halloween, they couldn't seem to understand that costumes don't have to be scary or of famous people. Everyone loved it. We got out of teaching our classes so we could walk from one classroom to the next explaining the history of Halloween and trick-or-treating. The school photographer followed us ... read more

Wow...when I told you all that life in Spain is a bit more laid back, I had no idea to what extent that is true. I thought, surely when they say I'll be working 12 hours a week, they really mean I'll be in the classroom for 12 hours and then I'll have other informal job assignments. Nope. In fact, I looked like a total fool yesterday when I asked if a there was a refrigerator to put my lunch in. I couldn't figure out why they looked so puzzled when I asked, but eventually I realized that I get off work at 1:50 at the latest, so I won't even need to bring lunch. I'll be home long before the 3 o'clock dining hour!! Let me create a little analogy for you all regarding the ... read more

Yipee!! Yahoo!!! It looks like we won't have to be homeless after all. :) On our third day in this fine city of Málaga we have found ourselves our dream apartment. It’s a 10-minute walk from the school where I’ll be teaching, 10-minute walk from the beach and a 20-minute bus ride to the city center. And for all you New Yorkers, here’s the real estate rundown: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a big kitchen that is separate from the dining room that is separate from the living room (remember when those 3 rooms were separate places?), a terrace, TONS of closets and drawers and cabinets for storage and an elevator. Now what does all that mumbo-jumbo really amount to? Well, Sage is happy. I’m happy. And we have enough space that you can all come visit ... read more

Malaga: Birthplace of Picasso and Antonio Banderas, and summer play-place of Enrique Iglesias. So far, so good. I arrived at the Malaga airport 3 days ago, where Juan Antonio picked me up. He is very calm and completely opposite to me! Makes things interesting, but we are getting along well. We took the tram back to the flat that I am now staying in, and he showed me around. The flat is very nice, and his family is very warm. I feel safe, and totally freakin´scared all at the same time! The way that people speak here has an accent and speed that I have never experienced before! 5 words a day-that is my goal. From what I have seen, Malaga seems like a nice place to live- the sea is calm and warm, and the ... read more