…since I’ve updated my blog! Also…disappointed I couldn’t find a funny gif for this godforsaken song. I find it impossible to say the words “It’s been awhile” without singing them like an angsty hotbed of emotion a la Staind. No judgment, please.
Buuuut seriously. It has been awhile since I’ve written. Time to play catch up! Since returning from spring break in France and Italy, a lot has happened. As to not drone on in a highly disorganized manner, I’ll organize everything into neat little sections so you can skip around as you please (all two of you who actually read this blog)–and of course, you can expect some pretty silly pictures and MS Paint edits, too.
DAY TRIP TO RONDA/ “Let it Rain Over Me” brought to real life
Ronda is a small city in the neighboring province of Málaga, about two hours away from Granada. It’s known for having this big bridge and the oldest bull-ring in Spain…and for also being a popular destination for tourists who want to go somewhere a little more off-the-map. Ronda was beautiful, don’t get me wrong…but after walking and standing around in <40 degree F torrential downpour with a cold for hour-long periods of time, I admittedly kind of regretted not staying in my bed all day instead. I’m sure it’s gorgeous in the summer, though. Here’s a few pictures:
Puente Romano and the old city of Ronda
Pretty views, at least!
A slow and painful death
Oldest bullring in Spain!
CLASS / Carmen is a soulless bitch
Decent as usual, except things with Carmen got wayyy worse. I’ll spare the long-winded explanation, but Carmen (my POE/speaking and writing skills teacher I griped about last month) had continued to make me feel like I wasn’t improving in class and that my contributions were silly…and I had finally reached my limit with her after this conversation in class a few weeks ago:
Me: (talking about football) Pues, para ser honesta, apoyo Real Madrid porque (“well to be honest, I support Real Madrid because”) —
Carmen: (translated to English) “Para ser honesta” isn’t a real phrase.
Me: Really? I learned it in a textbook! And I’ve used it many times before and you never corrected me before.
Carmen: (smugly shaking her head) Nope, it is incorrect.
Me: Pues, no voy a arguar, pero (“well, I’m not going to argue, but”) —
Carmen: (still looking smug) That’s not right either. You mean “discutir.”
Me: (seething) Vale. (fine)
So after class, I confronted her and told her since our chat a month earlier, I didn’t feel as comfortable speaking in class. I also explained how I felt she had humiliated me in front of my classmates and how I felt she was a bit condescending. I had looked up the word “condescending” in my dictionary and she actually had the nerve to tell me that in Level 7, we shouldn’t be using dictionaries (and yes, she was still wearing the same smug expression from earlier). My nervousness subsiding and my blood beginning to boil, I shot back in perfect Spanish (using the subjunctive, even!) that one wouldn’t use the word “condescending” in typical day-to-day conversation, and therefore I would hope she could understand why I needed to look it up. Not to mention there are 2 more levels above me and we’re obviously not fluent speakers.
Needless to say, we had a 10-minute discussion where I was basically in tears and Carmen proved herself a cold heartless bitch. I made it clear I was not intending to be disrespectful, but felt that my respect was not reciprocated by her and that the manner in which she gave me so-called “constructive criticism” was highly detrimental. I also felt she made fun of me in class a lot, but in a more malicious manner than to other students. Her response? “It’s not my fault you misinterpreted my advice or jokes.” No “I’m sorry for embarrassing you,” “I guess I should’ve told you you weren’t improving in a nicer way,” or something along those lines. She truly believed she had done nothing wrong. Your student is crying right in front of you and you can’t even muster up one ounce of empathy to think about how harmful your words are. You’re too conceited to even think back on your actions and ponder if you could’ve said something differently. I’ve tried my best to assimilate to the blunt nature of Spanish speech, Carmen, you should at least try your best to assimilate to the more sensitive nature of American students, especially considering that’s the primary demographic you teach.
Luckily, Paula (my director) was behind me 100% and told me she would talk to Carmen. I’m devising a letter to give to Paula to relay to Carmen once my grades are in, just so Paula has this information on file and I can leave POE with my head up high. But enough drama for now!
TEACHING / I want to take the conservatory home with me
I just finished teaching at the music conservatory…I was so sad to leave! Teaching there really made my experience abroad extra-special. 45 hours later, I taught over 10 different lesson plans and got to know over 50 different students while teaching with Pilar, Hernan, and Jeronimo. The three of them and all of my students are just such great people and I feel very privileged to have gotten the chance to work with them. And while I still have no clue what I want to do after college, this experience has made me realize how much I love working with the college-age demographic– some worthy insight, since I always thought I’d only ever want to work with elementary-age kids.
I’m gonna miss this
MY PARENTS’ VISIT /Harold and the Purple…wife?
In case you were wondering, Harold is my dad, but never once did my mother turn purple on this trip. I just like Harold and the Purple Crayon a lot, that’s all.
About two weeks ago, my mom and dad came to Granada to visit me for the week! Despite the shitty weather, we managed to cover a lot of ground and overall had a fabulous time. They stayed in an apartment in the Albaicin (with a view of the Alhambra!), so I stayed with them for a couple of nights for a mini-vacation. We went up to the Mirador (for the view of the Alhambra, Sierra Nevadas, and the rest of Granada), walked through Sacromonte (the gypsy barrio), went to a Moroccan tea house, went to Nerja for a day at the beach, walked around during Dia de las Cruces (an Andalusian holiday where they mount numerous flower-covered crosses around the city and all the women dress up in Flamenco dresses–very cool!), and even went out for a cafe con leche with my music teacher, Pilar! And of course they did the Alhambra and other touristy things I’d already done while I was in class. Everything we did was fun, but the highlight for me was meeting with Pilar– she and my parents really hit it off and we just had a wonderful time together. We also went out for some great meals at restaurants I don’t normally frequent (three cheers for being a broke college student), my favorite being a traditional Moroccan restaurant in the Albaicin. Couscous, why are you so GOOD? They also took Gina and me out for a Mexican dinner, which was fun, even though we were the only ones there.
It was great to see my parents again! But simultaneously very surreal to be in Granada with them and speaking lots of Spanish (and watching my dad try to speak Spanish– keep workin’ on it, pops). Too bad they couldn’t bring my dog Jasper with them, though. I miss him. Everything was fun though, especially cruising around in the new BMW the car rental place gave them (at no extra cost)– no keys, just a button you push to start! I felt like Wiz Khalifa in his Black and Yellow music video (Fun fact: every time I go to Target at the Waterfront in Pittsburgh, I pass where Wiz was dancing in front of those smoke stacks. Holla to that.). I’m not normally the super homesick type, but it’ll be nice to see them in less than a month again.
The rents and me at Mirador San Nicolas
The view from their apartment– yes, that’s a rainbow behind the Alhambra!
Nerja: mountains and beach in one place, finally!
Flamenco dancers on Dia de las Cruces
GENERAL TOMFOOLERY /When words fail, poorly edited pictures with MS Paint speak volume 3
Declared my support for Real Madrid (because I arbitrarily rooted for them in the Madrid-Barça match a few weeks ago and they won– so now I guess I’m a fan?)
Read The Hunger Games and then saw the movie…in Spanish! Reading the book beforehand definitely helped, but I was proud of myself for understanding 70% of the dialogue (no subtitles, except in the scenes where Katniss sings in English)
Lost internet in the residencia for over a week
Got an intercambio, Rosa…she’s awesome! I don’t have a real picture of her, unfortunately. Sorry in advance for the weirdness of this picture. We meet up once a week and spend half the time talking in Spanish and the other half in English. I wish I had done this earlier in the semester!
Drank lots of sangria and ate lots of tapas– everything from Chinese vegetable lo mein to grilled cheese sandwiches and more!
Spent lots of time aprovechando (taking advantage of) these last two weeks I have here
I also went to Lagos, Portugal last weekend, which was a blast, but I’ll cover it in my next entry. Tomorrow I go to Costa del Sol for a day at the beach with my program, and after that, I have one last week of classes before finals week. Ahead of me is a 1500 word paper (todo en Español, claro) with a presentation for my internship at the conservatory, a final on Franco, and essays in POE and Civilization & Culture. In exactly 2 weeks from today, I will be on a plane somewhere near the Canada-Maine border on my way home (provided a. my flight isn’t delayed, and b. I actually have a flight with possible Iberia Air strikes that day). It’s totally crazy how fast time has flown by. But more on final Granada thoughts later…it’s time to get out and live la vida loca! Ricky Martin would be so proud. Hasta luego, amores!
Gracie, Global 