Christmas in Madrid

I have been incredibly slack about blog posts, so this is my pathetic attempt to revitalize my blog. 

I opted to not go home for Christmas break since I was required to work until December 23rd. I figured if I had tried to get home, I would have ended up stuck in an airport for Christmas, and I certainly didn’t want that. 

In some ways, I’m glad I stayed because the Christmas parties at school were sublime! I had so much fun with the children. December 23rd was a big day at Colegio Antonio Machado. After all, it was the day that the Los Reyes Magos visited the school! In Spain, Santa Claus is a new thing. Most families celebrate Christmas eve with dinner and drinks. However, Santa Claus is more mainstream and doesn’t bring a sack full of toys down the chimney. Most kids might get one present from “Santa” on Christmas day, but the real day they look forward to is January 6th, when the Three Kings come. One of my favorite students raised his hand during class when we were talking about Christmas to share that the Three Kings had visited his house last year, and he was sure of it. The other kids were intrigued, as was I, as he continued with his story. “I knew they had been because I woke up and there was camel hair everywhere! The Three Kings’ camels came right through my living room!” The combination of the statement and his face when he said it nearly sent me into hysterical laughter. I tried to hide my face as to not discredit what he had seen in his living room. I applaud the parents of this child for finding something that resembles camel hair, and then having such Christmas spirit as to scatter it all over their house. Now that’s dedication! Americans must be slacking -- I mean, come on, anyone can take a bite of a Christmas cookie left for Santa and drink a glass of milk. I think when I have kids I’m going to put reindeer tracks in my living room. Or, who knows, maybe I’ll adopt the Three Kings holiday and go rogue with some camel hair. Either way, it will be epic, and my kids will love it. 

On the last day of school before Christmas break, there were hardly any classes. It was probably a good thing, though, because there’s no way the children would have paid attention. I was a tad bit late to class that day, and I was a little worried because I didn’t really know what was in store or if I had any Christmas duties. No one informed me, but my first graders were to put on a Christmas play that morning. I walked into a chaotic classroom full of teachers and...sea creatures? I did a double-take as I looked at my 50 first graders dressed as everything from sharks to starfish to squid. I asked my teacher, Estrella, “This is a Christmas play, right?” To which she replied, “But of course! Christmas under the sea!” Of course! How could I not have seen that? Scanning the room, I had never loved those kids as much as that moment. They were absolutely adorable. Once they were in their places and ready for their big performance, different grades would come in, sit on the floor, and watch the Christmas Under the Sea masterpiece. The plot of the play was something like this: 

All the sea creatures were going about their daily sea creature lives when they spotted two sailors, a boy and a girl. They started asking each other why there would be sailors under the sea, and finally one brave starfish got up the nerve to ask them. The sailors explained that they were on the way to find the baby Jesus and they had gotten a little lost. The sea creatures pleaded to the sailors to let them join the sailors on their quest. The sailors, with the attitude of “the more the merrier”, permitted the sea creatures to join them and they sailed off to find the baby Jesus. 

I managed to get a video of the play...

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/89Vyln42bXgc-7Ocf-s7O-Y1Oxda9blzqvQV0z072Ts?feat=directlink

After being with the first graders for the morning, I headed down to the teacher’s lounge to find special Christmas treats! This is a traditional Christmas bread, which can have nata (cream) in between the layers. One fun fact about this Christmas bread is that there is a little prize baked into the bread. It’s usually a little toy or figurine. Each classroom was provided the bread as well, and the kids were very anxious to find the prize! 

One of the big events of the day was the arrival of the Three Kings, which, in reality, were three willing dads. Their costumes were absolutely grand. Each class had the opportunity to go downstairs, sing the Christmas songs they had been preparing for almost a month, and then give the Kings a letter that they had written indicating what they would like for Christmas. 

After “classes” were over, all of the teachers gathered in the teacher’s lounge for a Christmas lunch. There was such a spread, and enough wine to get all of us pretty tipsy. Viva España! All of the teachers had been participating in “Amigos Invisibles”, which is much like the American version of secret santa, but with a twist. The teachers would put little gifts into their “invisible friend’s” mailbox every couple of days. Sometimes the gifts would require that teacher to do something in order to get their big gift on the 23rd. For example, my first grade teacher, Estrella, received a gift that told her that if she wanted her gift, she had to sing and dance in front of all the teachers. It caught us off guard when she broke out into an extravagant flamenco number in the middle of the break room. It’s a shame she terrified of that kind of public display because she was wonderful! Another twist to the “amigos invisibles” is that when you give the big gift on the 23rd, you put a picture of yourself as a baby or toddler, and the person has to guess who it’s from before they can open it. It was great fun seeing all of the teachers, most of whom are old enough to be my grandparents, as little “youngins”. So, as we ate our Christmas lunch and drank our Christmas wine, we were entertained to the fullest. It was a lot of fun, and I’m glad that I stayed to witness the Spanish Christmas traditions at school. I certainly had a greater appreciation for Christmas celebrations in a different culture after spending that day at school.



 

The next day, Christmas Eve day, my friend Jamie and I spent the evening with some friends. We ended up cooking cochinillo, which is a Spanish delicacy at Christmas time. Cochinillo is a baby pig. The process of buying, cooking, and eating cochinillo is something I will definitely never forget. Surprisingly, it was rather tough, and had a not-so-pleasant taste. Personally, I don’t think we cooked it long enough. Guess we’ll never know!

Gracias a los Pavos!

I guess it was about mid-November when it really hit me that I wouldn’t be spending the holidays with my family. Especially with Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, it really began to sink in. 

On Thanksgiving day, it was just a normal day like any other. It was kind of weird having to go to work on such a holiday, instead of smelling turkey all day long, enjoying the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, stuffing my face, watching football, and enjoying my family. Since Spain is in Europe, most Spaniards, including the English teachers at my school, are for the most part oblivious to American holidays. It took me a while to accept this. I guess that’s the stereotypical American in me -- “Everyone should know everything about the United States!” So, when I arrived at school on Thanksgiving the other American girls and I started reminiscing about all the joys of good ol’ Turkey Day. Kiran, a quite lovely girl from Wolverhampton, England, was kind of clueless about the holiday too, so we filled her in on the highlights. Then, school started like any other day. During recess, my teacher, Marta, asked me if I wanted to put up some Thanksgiving posters that were left in the English room. Excited to do anything Thanksgiving-related, I rushed to the English room to find them. After a successful rummage through the mounds of posters, I finally found four different posters! I looked at the first one, then the second, then the third, and finally the fourth. Then I noticed...there was no mention of Native Americans anywhere on any of the posters! I turned them over, and on the back of all four posters was printed “Made in England”. These posters were made from the British perspective of our American holiday. There was also a poem on one of the posters. In essence, it simply said that the pilgrims came to America on a ship, found a nice patch of land, created a new world, decided to give thanks, and lived happily every after. Despite the incorrect interpretation of the holiday, I decided to put them up in the corridor anyway. After recess, I had English class with one of my favorite classes, 2B. We finished a little early, so Marta asked if I wanted to read the poem from one of the posters, and tell them a little about the Thanksgiving traditions of the United States. The poem was a little difficult for second graders to understand, and I knew they wouldn’t comprehend it, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone. Instead of reading the poem as it was, I decided to quench my thirst for a correct Thanksgiving interpretation while simultaneously making the poem more fun for the kids. I told the kids that every time I said “Indians”, they would make Native American calls. So, essentially, they became aware of the Native American side of the story as I added parts to the poem, and they got to howl as loud as they could. After I explained the story of Thanksgiving, they kind of looked confused, so I asked Marta if she would mind just telling them a quick version in Spanish. She replied, “Would you like to do it? Explain it in Spanish?” I’m sure all the color drained from my face, but I seized the opportunity. I told the kids not to laugh at me because my Spanish isn’t perfect. You should have seen their faces -- the were quiet as mice, and were all staring at me with wide eyes and interest. Since this was the first time they had ever heard me speak Spanish, they were completely impressed, even if every sentence wasn’t perfect. 

After telling them the story, I explained that in America we eat turkey, watching American Football, and spend the whole day with our family. I told them that I was a little bit sad because I wouldn’t be with my family this year. Then, 25 seven year olds got up out of their seats, and gave me a group hug to make me feel better! They all cried “Don’t be sad, Estefanieee!” Hugs from seven year olds sure are a good cure for homesickness. 

Since most of my friends in Spain are Americans, and most of us don’t work on Fridays, we decided to have a big Thanksgiving dinner together at Jenae’s apartment. There were probably about 20 of us all together for Thanksgiving, and we even had some Spaniards mixed into the crowd! We all brought something to dinner, and Jenae and Jamie cooked a turkey. Even though I was away from my family, it was such a great Thanksgiving. It was Jenae’s roommate’s birthday as well, so at about 11pm, more people showed up to the apartment. It was crazy -- easily 60 people crammed into a little apartment. We should have known the cops would get called. The doorman at the apartment building already felt uneasy when every 5 minutes non-Spaniards were going up to the 5th floor. So after the landlord gave us a piece of his mind, we were forced to vacate the apartment. We continued our Thanksgiving night at a bar, dancing the night away. It wasn’t exactly a traditional Thanksgiving, but it is certainly one that I will never forget. 

My favorite Spaniard

Upon arrival at our new apartment about two months ago, we all began to settle into our respective rooms. One afternoon when I was alone in the apartment, the door bell rang. At first, I thought it was rather strange because I wasn’t expecting anyone, and after all, we had only been here for a couple of days. Then, I thought to myself, “Wait a minute. That’s the actual bell to the door to our apartment, and not the door on the street.” I then realized that this was either our landlord or someone from within the apartment building. Little did I know the person on the other side of the door would become one of my most cherished and beloved Spaniards of all time. 

As I slowly approached the front door of our apartment, the ringing continued. The bell would ring once. Then twice. Then pause. Then, ring, ring, ring! My interpretation of the ringing pattern was that whatever the person needed was urgent. I looked through the peep hole of the door, and on the other side was a small, elderly woman who appeared to be holding a few grocery bags. I slowly opened the door, and answered, “Sí?” She looked me up and down and replied, (in Spanish, but for the sake of the story, I’ll translate) “And who are you?” A little taken aback, I stated that we had just moved in a couple of days prior, and then I proceeded to stick out my hand for an introduction. She kind of glanced at it as if I was holding a dead animal. I quickly recalled that the proper introduction would follow with a kiss on both of her cheeks. So, as if the reconcile for my rudeness of a handshake, I moved in for the kisses. I told her my name, and stepped back, waiting for her next move. With her beady eyes, she looked me up and down again and said, “Where’d you come from?” I told her that we were four Americans and we were teaching English in Madrid. She nodded, and then said, “Okay. Well. I’m going up to my apartment now.” She pointed up to the next flight of stairs and said, “I’m up there, on the right.” I asked her if she needed help with her bags, which she promptly told me that she could handle, and she turned to walk away. I told her that it was nice to meet her, and she proceeded up the stairs and out of sight. I watched her go up the stairs for a couple of seconds, then went back into the apartment, and closed the door behind me. I stood there, trying to decide if that encounter had actually taken place. It had, in fact, and she would become a regular visitor to our door on almost a weekly basis. With each visit, she warmed up a little more, sometimes even touching my face and saying “Vale, guapa. Hasta luego!”

I told my roommates about meeting our new neighbor, and it wasn’t long before they had the privilege of meeting her as well. I had probably seen her about 3 or 4 times before Devon and Nicole were the lucky ones to answer the door. The story goes that she was stopping by on her way up to her apartment. She met Nicole, chatted for a minute, then headed up the stairs. A few minutes later, the doorbell rang again. Guess who? Evidently she had gone up to her apartment, spotted a single doughnut, wrapped in plastic, and thought “Those nice American girls downstairs would probably like this doughnut.” Well, whatever her thought process, that’s what happened. She came back down just to give Nicole and Devon a plastic wrapped doughnut, then turned and went back upstairs. 

Now, in my room there is a window that opens to a small hole in the middle of the building. One morning, I was abruptly awaken by a noise seeming to come from my window. “Niña! ... Niña!” I stumbled to the window, opened it, and looked around puzzled. “Up here!” I looked up and saw, but who else, my favorite elderly neighbor. She wasn’t smiling, because in all honesty, she doesn’t have that many teeth. But in a very matter-of-fact sort of way she said, “It’s time to wake up...Okay, I’ll see you later!” I looked at the clock - 6:55am. I guess she was right. Suddenly, I realized that I would have a real live human alarm clock each morning.

From Blogger Pictures

My window.

From Blogger Pictures

My neighbor's window.
  

I’m guessing that the window diagonally upwards from mine is her kitchen. This speculation is only because of the occasional banging of pots and pans that I hear and aromas of Spanish food that I smell. My dear Spanish neighbor has a very distinct voice. It’s rather raspy and her words cut the air as they leave her lips. Often I hear her when I’m sitting in my room, and I know exactly who is speaking. I learned that she had an elderly man living with her, who I assume is her husband. I’ve met him a couple of times in the stairwell, and he’s always quite polite. However, I learned of him on a quiet Saturday afternoon. Or, so I thought it was. I was sitting at my desk on my computer, when all of sudden I hear shouting coming from my window. Worried, I stood up and opened the window. I could hear my elderly lady friend’s voice and I looked up to see her window open. As I listened, I heard a man’s voice shouting as well. Concentrating, I tried to figure out what they were saying, but to my surprise, it was nothing vulgar, alarming, or even angry. It went a little something like, 

Man: “DID YOU GO TO THE STORE TODAY?!”

Woman: “WHY YES I DID. I GOT SOME MILK!!” 

Man: “OH OK. GREAT!”...”WHAT’S FOR DINNER?!”

Woman: “I’M NOT SURE YET!! WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE?!”

Confused, I tried to figure out if they were being sarcastic, if they were angry, something to explain the shouting. Coming up with no answers, I shut my window and went back to my desk. Over the course of the next few days, I realized that’s just the way the Spanish communicate. At times, Spanish conversations sound like argument, but in reality, it’s just the way they do things here. I’ve become quite accustomed to the daily conversations of the elderly neighbors, and I’m not alarmed any more when I hear them shout. 

One morning, I woke up to the sounds of mens voices coming from my window. I opened my window, looked down, and found 4 men huddled at the bottom of the corridor studying something on the ground. Maintenance, I presumed. I didn’t really think about it any more, and proceeded to take a shower and get ready for the day. When I came back to my room, I continued with my routine. As I was putting on my bra, I realized something wasn’t quite right. It was then that I realized I had left my window open. At that same moment, I noticed the elderly neighbor man leaning out of his window, looking at me with his jaw dropped. I guess there’s not much else to say than, “Hide-y-Ho, Neighbor!”

Most of the time, seeing my Spanish neighbors isn’t that big of a fiasco, but it happens. For instance, from about 5 to 6pm, our elderly lady neighbor goes to the plaza nearest our apartment with her elderly lady friends and they sit and people watch. I learned of her afternoon outings as I was coming home from the grocery store one day. We recognized each other at the same time, and I walked over to the bench where she was sitting with her friends. I gave her a kiss on each cheek, and as she patted my face she told her friends about me. “This is my American neighbor! Isn’t she pretty?” I’ve seen her at this same spot a few times, and each time it’s the same routine. A quick wave, I’ll wander over to her, kiss, kiss, “This is my American neighbor...” It’s so endearing. 

The combination of all of our awkward encounters, and the plethora that most likely awaits us, makes my elderly upstairs neighbor one of my most favorite Spaniards of all time. 

Picture update!

Finally figured out how to post a picture slideshow, with the help of Devon and Youtube! More to come soon!

Vampiros, brujas y esqueletons...oh my!

My roommate, Devon, had a very nice slideshow of pictures on her blog, so I decided to make one too. For some reason, however, mine doesn't want to post to my blog. :/ Once I figure it out, it should be quite lovely! Stayed tuned...

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Halloween recap:

Halloween was AMAZING. Almost every single kid had a costume. I can honestly say they were by far the cutest vampires, witches, and skeletons that I have ever seen. These kids went all out. I'm talking face paint, homemade costumes, the works. I started my day in infantil, which is ages 3 and 4. I usually don't work with children that young, but they were having their parties during the day, so we helped the infantil teachers with the planned events. It was a lot of fun, but after being with 3 and 4 year olds for a couple of hours, I was ready to get back to my 1st and 2nd graders.

I didn't want to dress up for the morning, because I knew I would be with my kids after lunch. I didn't want to spoil the surprise by letting them see me around the school during the earlier part of the day. So, during our lunch period, I went to the bathroom to put on my costume. I had gotten some fake blood (that looked almost entirely too real), some white face paint, and some vampire teeth at a Halloween store. I put some of the blood on my neck and let it run down to where it really did look like a vampire just took a bite out of me! I patted some of the white paint on my face, then rubbed a little black eyeliner under my eyes. I have to say, the costume came together quite well. When I came out of the bathroom, I even gave some of the teachers a good scare. Once the bell rang, I went to stand by the door and wait for the kids to come inside. Let me tell you, their little jaws dropped  when they saw me. Some of them even ran away! Now that's what I call a successful Halloween costume! We had a party in our hallway for the 1st and 2nd graders and all of the kids were just circled around me asking, "Estephanie?! Es sangre de verdad?!" It actually worked out perfect because one of the male teachers was dressed as a vampire, and some of the kids were asking if he had bitten me. I played along until about 5 minutes before school got out, then I broke down and told them that it was fake blood. During our party, we read Halloween stories and made a special witch's brew. We put fake spiders, lizards, and frogs in the couldron, then fed them candy fingers and orange juice. The kids really enjoyed it. All in all, it was probably one of the most fun Halloween parties I have ever attended! I think my favorite part of the whole ordeal was when I came to school the following week. The kids looked so surprised to see me. Finally one came up to me and said, "Pensábamos que estabas muerto!" (We thought you were dead!) Priceless.




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Not too much else has happened since the last update. I've been exploring different parts of Madrid with friends, and enjoying the cooler weather. My parents mailed me a box full of things from home this past Friday, so it should be here in about a week. I'm so excited to get it! It's been making me a bit homesick to realize that when I open that box, my parents will have touched those items, and will have actually put those items in that box. Corny, I know. It's amazing the things you appreciate when you're so far from family.

During the first week of December we have a holiday where we are off from school from December 3rd to December 12th! A group of friends here in Madrid have been trying to decide what we should do. I think we've finally decided to rent a car and drive around Spain. I'm really excited to see the countryside, as well as other cities throughout Spain. We're supposed to meet to discuss the details sometime this week. While I love Madrid, I think it would do me good to get out of the city soon. Ha, saying that reminds me of the story "The City Mouse and the Country Mouse" (http://www.storyit.com/Classics/Stories/citycountrymouse.htm). Citylife is fun and bustling, but sometimes I need a bit of fresh air and tranquility.

Becoming Madrileña

¹

madrileño, madrileña (adj.) - of or from Madrid.   ...Compliments of www.merriam-webster.com

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It's been a while since my last post, and a lot has happened. I'm over my sickness, for the most part, and finding my footing in Madrid. It was a rocky start, but from what I hear, that's just how it is when you move to a new country. I've made it past the first month abroad marker, so I think the worst is over! Madrid is becoming more comfortable and I feel like I'm finally beginning to become "madrileña"! 

Our apartment is starting to feel like home. It took a little sprucing up and a couple of lamps, but my room feels cozy now. We live in such a lively area. We are only a couple of blocks from Calle Gran Vía, which is the upscale, commercial area of the city. We live between Plaza de España and Plaza del Callao, two of the most busy plazas on the street. Plaza del Callao is also the main cinema area. A couple of weeks ago there was a big premiere, with supposedly famous people, a few blocks away from our apartment. It's still kind of surreal to think that this is our home until July. We are also located only a few blocks away from El Palacio Real, the official residence of the King of Spain, Juan Carlos I. However, the palace is only used for state ceremonies and the king doesn't actually live there. It's quite a lovely place, though! 

I absolutely love my job here in Spain. I'm teaching 1st and 2nd graders, and they are absolutely adorable. Since it's a bilingual school, some subjects are taught in English. For example, the 2nd graders learn science in English. So it is absolutely imperative that they learn and understand English in order to comprehend the science material. It's kind of intense, but the kids are so smart. I have about 100 students all together. There are two 1st grade classes with about 25 students in each, and then the same for 2nd grade. At first, I didn't really like teaching the first graders because this is the first year that they've been taught in English. I felt like I was speaking to a brick wall. However, just over the last month, I can tell a difference in their ability to comprehend what I say. The best part about teaching 1st graders is that after class, I usually get 25 hugs. One will come up and hug me, and then everyone will come. It's the greatest feeling. The 2nd graders I teach are a little more advanced and are able to understand more of what I say. Just as with the 1st graders, I can already tell that they are improving with their English. All of them are so eager to talk with me and ask me questions. They are always asking "Teacher! Teacher! How do you say  this in English?" 

The English teachers have big plans for Halloween. The teacher that I work with the most, Marta, has been planning for a couple of weeks. The whole school is decorated with spider webs, pumpkins, and frankenstein pictures that the kids have been drawing. Tomorrow we are going to have a big Halloween party all day. It should be really fun! All the kids want me to dress up, but getting on the metro as a witch or something of the liking will be kind of strange. Everyone stares at me already, so I'm not sure about drawing more attention to myself! But it's all in good fun, so I'll probably just suck it up and do it. :)

This is a picture of Marta and me with the spider web that we made out of yarn! The kids were at recess when we decided to put it up on the ceiling by the school's entrance, but it didn't stay a secret for long. They were all so excited! Tomorrow I'm going to take my camera to school to capture all of the Halloween festivities. 

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I'm going to try to post again this weekend with pictures of the Halloween party at school and pictures of our apartment! Stay tuned!

I could say that everything has been like a bed of roses here in Madrid, but I would be lying.

I haven't been updating my blog because I have been incredibly sick. About a week and a half ago, everyone in the hostel started getting sick. Mostly coughing and such, but since my immune system hates me, I have been coughing nonstop, feverish, aching, and haven't had a voice for 4 days. Almost everyone I met in the hostel is sick, which isn't the most convenient way to be starting out a new job. While I knew I would miss home, being under the weather has taken it to new heights. I can honestly say I have never missed my parents and my family as much as I have the past few days. Just seeing their faces on Skype makes me break down every single time. Of the last week, today has been my best day. My cough is finally breaking and I'm starting to feel like myself again. 

Friday, October 1st, was my first day at el Colegio Antonio Machado. I must say, from the minute I walked into the school I felt welcomed. Walking through the hallway, I noticed there were posters that the assistants before me had made. Each previous assistant had been asked to make a poster about their life back in their home country, and it was really cool to see them as soon as I walked through the doors. I was welcomed by the headmistress, Margarita, and the secretary, Josephina. They took me under their wing and went over logistics involving health insurance, my contact information in Spain, etc. After that, I met Marta, who will be overseer. Marta is the head English teacher for the entire school. She took me on a tour of the school, and we chatted for a while. These three ladies are so welcoming and gracious, it was hard not to fall in love with them on the first day. 

Once the tour of the school was over, it was almost recess. The teachers gather in the staff room everyday and a cart of snacks is brought in from the cafeteria. I couldn't believe the spread! There were all kinds of muffins, fruit, candies, croissants, coffee, tea, juice, you name it! While the teachers were gathering, I met one of the other assistants that is working at the school with me named Kiran, who is from the United Kingdom. We chatted over juice and muffins about our experiences since we had arrived in Madrid, and I'm really looking forward to working with her. 

After recess, the teachers resumed their classes, and Kiran and I were invited to join Marta to her 2nd grade science class, which is taught in English. The children were certainly curious about us from the moment of our arrival. Every now and again, a group of students would go by in the hallway and they would all point and say "Oh my gosh, it's them!!" It was really heartwarming to see their excitement. While we sat in the class, we could obviously tell they were very interested in us. The teacher allowed them to ask us a few questions about ourselves, which satisfied their curiosity enough to continue on with the scheduled lesson. The students were learning about the bones and the different parts of the body. I was amazed to see how much the children understood, since the whole lesson was in English. Mind you, these are 7 year olds! Most of them were able to answer the questions that they were asked in complete sentences, but it took a little prying. It's been a while since I was around kids this young, and I forgot how squirmish they can be. I looked around the room towards the end of the lesson and they all had ants in their pants. Once class was over, they headed off to lunch, and Kiran and I left for the day. I loved everything about the school, the teachers, and the kids, which only made me more eager to start teaching!

Over the weekend, the sickness kicked it to high gear. I didn't get out of bed most of the weekend, which was a problem in and of itself since I apparently contracted bed bugs from the hostel. Saturday, I woke up and my voice was completely gone. Most of Saturday and all of Sunday I was confined to my bed, sick as a dog, and being eaten alive. I was absolutely miserable. Since I'm in a new country, I had no idea how to find a doctor, and what my insurance would cover. I emailed a few people from the Education Program and from my school to see if they could help me, but I knew it would probably be Monday or Tuesday when they got back to me. So, yesterday, I bit the bullet and woke up early to go to school. When I got off the metro at the stop, I saw Kiran and the other assistant also working at our school, Cassy. We ended up walking to school together, and they could clearly tell that I wasn't feeling well. I started breaking down about how miserable I was, and right there in the middle of the walk to the school, I started bawling in front of two people I had just met. I felt so vulnerable, but I couldn't hold it in. When we got to the school, I had calmed down a bit. We sat in the staff room while Margarita, Josephina, and Marta were trying to make our schedules. When they came into the room, they could tell something was wrong. I told them that I had tried to find a doctor, but I couldn't speak because I didn't have a voice, and that I felt horrible. That's all it took. Those three women went at the issue like a swat team. It was literally like "OKAY! Josephina, get the phone! Marta, get the phonebook! All systems on go!!" We arrived at the school at 10am, and these three women had me an appointment at the local doctor's office by 10:15am. They arranged everything, printed me a map, and wrote down exactly what I should say when I got there. With tears in my eyes, I graciously thanked each of them. Marta walked me out, and when we got to the door, she gave me a big hug, kissed me on the forehead, and said "You're far away from your Mommy, and sometimes you just need a kiss on the forehead. Get well. Don't worry about school. Everything will be fine." 

The doctor gave me a three types of medicine, and today I'm feeling a lot better. I'm still hoarse, but I'm hoping my voice will be back to normal tomorrow. I'm going to go to school in the morning and see how it goes. I'm so anxious to work with the kids! 

Yesterday was also my friend Jamie's birthday, so Kayliegh, Jenae and I went out to dinner with her to celebrate. It was kind of funny because we're all kind of sick and miserable. We went out for Indian food, which I'm not very familiar with, and we had a great time. Since we moved out of the hostel, we have all been scattered across the city in our respective apartments and neighborhoods. I miss those girls so much. Just seeing them last night made me feel tons better. We swapped homesick stories and such, which definitely comforted me, knowing that I'm not the only one that goes through this. Hopefully, everything will get back to normal once we're all over this sickness. 

So, in a nutshell, that's why I haven't updated this blog lately. I've been so ill and sickly. But, I'll quickly recap a few things that happened before I came down with the plague...

 

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Jamie, Jenae, Nicole, Devon and I went to visit the Palacio Real last week. The palace is supposedly where the king lives, but he doesn't really live there. It's more of a historical landmark of sorts. It was so majestic and romantic. We had a really fun time that day exploring the palace, the gardens of the palace, and another side of the city we hadn't seen before. 

Another thing that was interesting last week was a nation-wide strike that took place. Workers throughout the country were protesting the minimum wage, safety laws, and general working conditions.  Since we were still staying in the hostel, we were right in the middle of the city. There were parades with hundreds of people all throughout the streets, almost all of the stores and businesses were closed for the whole day. I was lucky enough to get a video of one of the parades that came right by our hostel. 

Before everyone started feeling so poorly, we did take advantage of the nightlife of Madrid. The whole group at the hostel went out for a few nights, and it was great fun. I never thought I'd say it, but I miss the hostel...even though they gave me bed bugs. 

Will post again soon with updates from my first real day of school and more pictures!