Basically all I do here is eat, ride bikes, and buy things.

Oh hello there! That's my opener for you to picture this as a little fireside chat.

Yeah that was weird, forget I said that.

Ummm so this weekend was pretty fabulous. Namely because it involved social interaction. Friday I went for a bike ride (again) OH let me stop there cuz I realized I haven't really explained the whole deal well.

Ok so wha ha happened was, I bought this card for 13 euros that's good for a year that allows me to rent bikes around Sevilla. Every few blocks or so, there is a little station with a bike rack type thing and a computer type thing. So you swipe your card and it unlocks one of the bikes. If you return it at any of the stations (or return it and check it right back out) within 30 minutes, it's free. But I always forget to check the time and, paranoid, get a new one about every 15 minutes.

I'm completely obsessed. So far every day I've used it to get to and from my work pickup/dropoff point in addition to going biking for funsies. My knee appreciates it lots and, thus far, it seems way more enjoyable than running. And yes, Mom, there are special bike lanes aaaaall over the city, so no, my guardian angel is not pulling out his/her angel hair.

MOVING ON. Anyways, after Friday's bike ride, I went to Chani's friend's Rafa's house (I guess it's probably ok to stop saying that and just call him my friend.) so I went to my friend Rafa's house for coffee and muffins. 

Here there's an extra meeeal called "la merienda" (v: merendar) that is if you eat something around 6, which is perfect, cause lunch is circa 2 and dinner circa 9. So there's breakfast whenever you get up, un bocadillo/sandwich around 10:30, el almuerzo/lunch around 2, la merienda/snack whenever you get hungry in the afternoon, and cena/dinner around 9. I'm a huge fan of eating all day, so this is great.

Oh, a side note about midmorning snack. At school, sometimes the kids put their sandwiches (wrapped in tin foil) under the radiator to warm them up before recess. I haven't seen it, but one teacher said that the other day the  kids in one of Andy's classes were listening and whatnot but also chilling by the radiator toasting/flipping their sandwiches. Another teacher said that in another school he was at, they had radiators with slats...and before recess, each slat would have a sandwich stuffed in it. I loved the visual.

OK ACTUALLY MOVING ON. Recap (Sorry, I'm used to doing this with my kids cuz they have the attention spans/memories of gnats): Friday bike, coffee with Rafa, then Jorge invited me out with him and some of his classmates. I had a fabulous time, and they were super super nice. We just went to bars on the main street by our house and eventually moved to one by the river but still in Triana.

Saturday I went to go pick up some boots (yay!) at this shopping area that's a pretty quick metro ride from my house. (Yes, I'm obsessed with the metro too. I guess I'm just really into public transportation in general. [No offense, Betty!]) I tried to get them at a store across the street from my house but they didn't have my size so they sent me elsewhere. 

THEN I learned a rough lesson, as I bought the shoes, put em on right away, walked a like third of a block down the street, realized they were too big, and went back to tell the girl, who was already irritated with me for asking her to get other sizes from the back and just seemed generally bothered by my presence. 

Anyways she got even more irritated and was essentially like YOU CAN'T BRING BACK SHOES AFTER YOU'VE WORN THEM and I was like but-it-wasn't-even-a-block and she was like BUT LOOK AT THE SOLES THEY'RE STAINED and I thought umm-if-you-wiped-it-off-they'd-be-fine and she was like IMA CHANGE THEM FOR YOU BUT YOU CAN'T DO THAT AND DON'T DO IT NEXT TIME AND YOU SHOULD COUNT YOUR LUCKY STARS I'M IN SUCH A GOOD MOOD.

So now I have boots. They fit.

In said new boots, Saturday evening I went tapeando (tapear is the verb "to go tapa eating" whooo did you see what I did there? I just incorporated your Spanish word into mah story) with these 2 American girls I had met at church, then we met up with some other people for a concert. The show itself was aight, pretty chill but something fun to do. 

This is me and Jenna, who is from California and who came here and lives with her friend Julia and who are (shockingly) here doing the same thing as me. OMG and I can't remember if you can see it in the picture, but I had this GLORIOUS drink called a cafe bonbon that is a shot o' espresso which, instead of having milk like a normal cafe con leche, has...wait for it...sweetened condensed milk. This country is so good to me. Oh and the thing in the big white mug is accidentally-ordered chocolate.... But not like hot chocolate (called Cola Cao, the brand name), like thick thick chocolate for churro dipping. Oops.

Our huge jackets make it look super dramatic, but obviously it was still warm enough to eat outside. I'm fairly certain it's colder in my apartment than outside (last night I slept in this same coat). Ah and I've just learned that Sevilla living quarters are designed to be cold...cuz (I just checked) in August, for example, the average temperature is 97 degrees (36 C) and the record is 120 (49). Fun, no? Too bad I won't be here then. HA.

Sunday I trekked to church in the AM and then went for more tapas, surprise surprise. That morning I had gotten a craving for croquetas (a breaded/fried mini cheese stick sized thing....mmm I don't know...they can be filled with meat or cheese or or or) and also for ensaladilla (pretty much potato salad). I had plans to attempt to make them, but then realized another option would be to go have someone make them for me while sitting in the sun and reading. It was an easy choice after that.

I also cleaned and laid around and made crepes and skyped with Suzanne (my crepe muse) and it was fabulous. BUT it was weird having a 2 day weekend like a normal person.

Today rocked; I went to school the whole morning but only went into one class. We're starting the vertebrae lesson in all 3 of my 1st year classes, and I'm finally starting to think of new ways to present material. From little things like having THEM write the vocab on the board and doing games and whatnot.

And I hadn't stopped to think about this until Aurora the Science Teacher pointed this out today... but at the very end of class, the teacher I'm with and I usually exchange a brief "what a nightmare" or "that wasn't so bad" or the extremely rare "woah they were actually good today." But today, she just said, "every time they participate more."

And it's true. The first few weeks it was only the same few kids trying to answer all the questions (the unnecessarily overzealous but well-intentioned Janets of Aznalcollar), but now it's the reverse. There are only a few who have no desire to participate/listen. And some still answer more than others, and I'm not explaining myself very well, but it was a really happy and proud moment. Sometimes they're still monsters, but praise Jesus for these little glimmers of hope.

After school (work?) today I went to El Corte Ingles, the famed "you can find ANYTHING there" store. I was skeptical but...now I'm a believer. I met up with Andy and his friend Pam, who had invited me to an early Thanksgiving celebration tomorrow.

I began to understand the immensity of the store when I called Andy and was like "okkkk I'm by the fruits and veggies" and he was like "uhhhh so are we" and I asked the store lady if there were two fruit and veggie sections and she was like "uhhhh no, but are you sure you're not supposed to meet up with these people in the other building?" That's right, OTHER BUILDING. There are like four. And this is only one location of the store. There are several others in Sevilla, I think.

This was fun Mexico reminder/punctuation fail that I saw there:

Please note that the price conversion means that these tortillas (er, roll's) would be 42 pesos. Fun factoid.

Tomorrow I'm in charge of green bean casserole and corn and bread and wine. Wheeee!

Plus tomorrow afternoon I have English class #2 with Lolo.

Plus plus I just made my first stew (chicken/rice/veggies/etc) just now, and I must say, it was pretty good for a first attempt. I'm gonna go ahead and file this under "winning at life."

Ok time to go drink coffee and read and get in bed!

My Week and Why I Am a Threat to Sevillanos' Health and Safety

Omg. So I've officially had my first 5 day week. (I went today to get some lessons ready but mostly to sign the roll, since there've been a few days I missed.) Now it's the weekend...yay!

Ummm this week, as you might guess, was super thrilling. And by that I mean not at all.

BUT yesterday my city bike service (Sevici...clever, eh? cuz it's like...Sevilla...and -vici which is pronounced like bici which is short for bicicleta which means bicycle. On a side note, thank GOD for cognates. I swear, my kids would never understand anything without them, oh gosh, I'm such a nerd, ok time to finish my sentence) subscription card came.

This might shock you, as punctuality is among my best qualities, but this morning I was running late for my carpool, so instead of leisurely testing out the whole bike thing at some point when I had time, I just sort of had to go for it. There's a little station right by my apartment, and another by where I get picked up. It was kind of awesome. I haven't ridden a bike since I was like 9, so I was scared I was going to crash and kill someone and/or get killed, but after bit it was fine. I get really nervous, though, when people walk too close. I have trouble swerving and stopping so as to not run them over, among other details. But look how cute!

Yesterday I went running and discovered this park called Parque Maria Luisa...I'd seen a little piece of it before, but it was kind of ugly and I couldn't figure out why they call it a park. Turns out it's huge, though, and really nice. I can imagine it's GORGEOUS in Spring. I'm stealing another picture from the interwebs so you can get an idea:

AND there are different pabellones (pavilions) from I think the '92 Expo maybe?? So scattered though this park are buildings in the styles of the countries they represented. I accidentally ran into Mexico's the other day...it's pretty awful. It's like a 70's adaptation of a Mayan pyramid. This one was cool though (Pabellon del Mudejar...a word that sounds vaguely familiar and I remember was important. So much for that Spanish degree):

Ok now that I'm done trying to prove that I live in a beautiful city, I'll move on.

Yesterday I bought a ticket to Rome! For Feb 9-14. I'm gonna skip two days of school for it, but I've mapped out when I'll make up the hours. Not that my boss or even the teachers I work with care, but so the kidlets don't get too far behind.

Speaking of whom, this week I attempted my first game with them. I'm desperately trying to come up with activities that will hold their interest for more than three minutes, but the actual ideas and execution have yet to happen. If you know any really fun vertebrae games, lemme know.

Oh! Also I had my first English "class" with Chani's friend Lolo. The plan is to do speaking practice a couple times a week. And it turns out "speaking practice" means hanging out and talking about whatever. And drinking beer. I think I can like this.

HOKAY time for random junk!

I don’t really know how you’re supposed to say “excuse me, can I pass by,” but I have learned that “Me das chance"? just gets you stared at.

And "no manches" gets you laughed at. I specifically remember this because that was my response when Jorge told me he was studying in the living room the other morning and could SEE HIS BREATH. Bahhhh.

The whole everything-shuts-down-from-2-to-6 is still a huge pain because, on days off, no matter how early I get up, I just can’t manage to be ready to go out the door till 1. Never fails.

The other day Andy and I had the following conversation…Me: “How do you say ‘pea’ here? Guisante?” Andy: “Yeah, what is it in Mexico?” “ Chícharo” “Ohh like Chicharito.” “Yep [grin]” “I hate him.” It was like my heart was ripped out of my chest. Though it made more sense when Andy explained himself: “Cuz he’s GOOD.” But the moral of this story is: I miss Mexican soccer. And I miss Chicharito. One of my students looks just like him. Throws me off, man.

One night in Barbate when we were there like a month ago, Chani and I were hanging out in the living room and her mom was watching her daily show called “Se llaman coplas” (They’re Called Coplas [a kind of music]) which is essentially American Idol but Spanish, with people singing this odd kind of music that I wouldn’t necessarily jam out to in my car, and in flamenco dresses. 

I just realized that by the end of the year, I’ll have celebrated the 4^th of July, my birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s out of the US. Woah.

Andd that's all. I have no good way to sum this up into something clever and/or meaningful.

Time for another bike ride! I'm hooked!

Loveeee!

My Weekend and Why Mexico Is More Efficient Than Spain

Wheee another week. Hmm let's see... the boring part of the week included yet ANOTHER day off. :D Since all my kids were taking tests Wednesday I just...didn't go. I meant to, I really did. But 6 AM Janet did not consider this move logical or beneficial. 

Thursday involved going to the 'brary and attempting to get Como agua para chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate), but I'd after I'd walked 45 minutes to get there, they decided to close up shop early...JUST as I was walking up to the circulation desk with my hard-earned find in hand (they don't use the Dewey decimal system here). Neither my pitiful pleas nor my snark did any good in convincing them to crank the computers back up, so I gave up and went back the next morning. The book is really good though, pretty easy to read in Spanish, and surely just as fun in English. I highly recommend.

Friday I went to a mall in this part of the city I'd never really been to and was there for hours upon hours. I finally came home with a cardigan (called "rebecas" here...I have no idea why...also PUM your Spain word for the post), earrings, a shirt and...drumroll...a big poofy winter coat! And it's super cute, in my humble opinion, and was pretty cheap. Wins all around! Now I just need boots...bahhhh last time was a huge fail...I'm way too picky.

Saturday was pretty chill but I went for tapas (how very Spanish, no?) with Chani's friend's roommate..hehe how's that for a connection? It was then that I realized that I'm still just as clueless when I look at menus as I was that very first day I ate out and ended up being like "bring me something yummy." I need to just sit down one day and learn what all the foods are. Also I am dying for a taco al pastor at this point. Just throwing that out there.

Anddd today was amazing. I woke up early and trekked across town (via metro and bus) to try out a church. It was kind of Midtown-esque, in theory, but way smaller. Like one little room small. Afterwards the lady sitting next to me just introduced herself out of nowhere and also invited me to the Sevillanas classes she teaches on Wednesdays (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sevillanas). I will not be going, as I have three left feet, but it was a nice invite. Then the pastor's (or whatever they're called) wife introduced herself and sort of pushed me over to a group of 2 American girls, a Finnish girl, and her daughter, who were all super friendly. The American girls are here doing the same thing as me and we talked for a bit on the way to the bus stop. Whee!

I successfully navigated my way back home, which is a big feat for me, since 98% of the time I freak out and think I've passed my stop and get off and then it turns out that in reality I'm at least a few stops too early and have to walk a bunch. Anyways, on the way home, I popped in a florist's because, well, why not? So now I have a...crap, I don't know what this plant is called. I have a lovely plant, which I am considering to be an essential component of my grownup apartment/life.

Also during the walking stretch of this morning's trip, it started to rain, which is really pretty unusual in Andalucia. I think it's rained like twice in the month and a half I've been here. But today there was a nice light rain that was perfect for getting back in my jammies and making coffee and getting in bed and borrowing Jorge's external hard drive and watching The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (and consequently crying for an hour) and then Invictus...so that is exactly what I did.

RANDOM GDL/SEVILLA COMPARISON TIME

Ok so my mentioning the bus ride reminded me of this: buses are WAY different here than in Guadalajara. The good thing about Sevilla buses is that they're really new and nice and neat and clean and have little "please stop" buttons in front of every seat (Oh no! My tangents now have tangents! "Please stop" reminded me of this: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/02/please-stop.html) .

Sometimes there are little TVs that alternate between things like weather, news, trivia, mini English lessons, the map of the route you're on, etc. This month there are even Antonio Machado poems stickered onto the doors. How very cultured, Sevilla.

But this is the issue (which will probably only make sense and/or be amusing if you've been on GDL buses): in GDL everyone gets and/or crams onto the bus and is shut inside it as fast as possible to get on the road already. Then people fish out their pesos and work out the money part while the driver moves on. All about efficiency, man. 

Here, the bus stays completely stopped while people get on, one by one, swipe their card, and take a seat. The bus doesn't move till everyone is on and paid for. And if you're fishing out your little prepaid card, called a bonobus (but pronounced bo-no boo) the driver will sit there, stopped, doors opened, and wait till you find it. Like they don't trust you or something and might have to make you get back off if it turns out your card is not, in fact, in the depths of your purse. Also when I'm towards the end of the line to get on I feel antsy, like people need to move faster because the doors are gonna get shut and the driver's gonna drive off without me. But that would never happen.

ALSO the stops here are set in stone. In GDL it's more of a guessing game, and sometimes the driver just randomly doesn't stop if he wants to like, get home faster or something, but on the plus side of this, if you smile and ask sweetly enough, they'll generally let you off at a place that's not actually a stop. So maybe that's not exactly fair, but I file that under efficient (for me..heh).

And Sevilla is such a small city that I suspect that walking would often be a quicker option than the whole bus ordeal. Or...maybe one of these days my bike card will come....

Anyways, that is the end of that comparison. I could analyze what this means about each culture, but I'm not going to. 

But I will give you these random pictures from around Sevilla:

This graffiti's from right by my apartment. It says something like, "Yesterday was a very curious day. Love without fear is a very brave attitude."

This street is called Venta de Los Gatos, which I'm pretty sure means "Cat Sale."

And this one just made me lol:

My weekend, dumb things I've done lately, and linguistic musings

Heyyy update time!

Let's dive right in, shall we?

Wednesday: School. Late, missed a class. The lady who was supposed to pick me up just didn't, so then I took a Sevilla (capital) bus up to the bus stop of the Sevilla (provincia) buses. And made it just in time. And then that bus didn't stop. And the next one doesn't leave for 2 more hours. So I called bossman and told him I wasn't gonna make it to my first class, which was, as you might be able to guess by this point, fine. So I sat by the river and watched the sun rise and then went for a leisurely breakfast:

(the thingies sticking up in the silhouette are the two towers of the Plaza de Espana [where I get visa stuff done; its pictures made an appearance or two in the last post] and the one in the middle is the Torre de Oro, which is right on the river, and where I think I'm going on Tuesday because it has a museum with free entrance then.)

Thursday: School. More of the same. I just erased a bunch of rambling about how some of the teachers don't know how to use me (though some do a just fine job.) You're welcome.

Friday: Chani moved! Jorge’s going up to Madrid I think the last weekend of this month to see friends or something, and today she invited me to go up with him (provided that he’s ok with driving me, of course) and stay with her. So that’s something fun to look forward to!

Saturday: Jorge and I went to Ikea and I got sheets and a comforter cuz the ones I had were Chani’s. It was pretty exciting, especially because I’d only been to an Ikea once. The Saga of the Sheets, which is part of the reason for the title of this post, is below...keep reading.

I also did some googling re: volunteer possibilities, so we’ll see if anything happens there. Maybe an after school thing with immigrant kidlets?

Then at night I went to Andy’s for his birthday celebration, where we had a “mustache party” AKA wore fake mustaches they found at the chino (definition below in the random crap section, for now the important thing to know is that you can buy fake mustaches there.) Then we went to a bar on Calle Betis. All of the above was super fun. I don't have any pictures of myself, though I think Andy has some on his camera. So this will have to do:

Today (Sunday): Slept in, was gonna go to the cathedral to be touristy but realized I didn’t have enough time, so I just went to mass there. It was a little one in a side chapel and was sans music and very git r done. I liked it because hearing everything I used to hear every single week in a different language really made it seem fresh. And another cool thing is that they ring the big bells in the Giralda during communion. Like “Oh hey, City, you’re not in church right now but in case you were wondering, it's communion time!!"

Oh and like five feet from where I was sitting was the coffin (or whatever the less creepy name is for the super decorated boxes that contain very important and very dead people) of Alfonso X AKA Alfonso el Sabio AKA Alfonso the Wise AKA a Spanish king of old whose contributions I can't quite recall but who was a big deal.

I stuck around after the fact and took some pictures:

Then when I got back, Maria the mystery roommate was here. Turns out she exists! We’d talked on Facebook so I had already determined that she seems nice. The surprise, which I guess it shouldn't have been, is that she has a really thick accent (because she’s from Aznalcollar [but has lived in Huelva, the province to the west of Sevilla, most of her life]) and is incredibly hard to understand. So this will certainly hone my skills.

Whoooooooo random story/observation time!

So blinds are different here. Really different. (I promise this is a good story. Bear with me.) They’re called “persianas,” and instead of trying to describe it, I'll give you a picture:

You use the little pulley thing to get the shade to go up and down and to close the little slits to block out the light (and cold!) even more. I didn’t realize one could be dumb enough to misuse a pulley but, well, you can probably imagine where this is going. I thought it was stuck so I’ve been sleeping with them open this whole time, and then I told Jorge my blinds were screwed up and asked him to help me pull it down with force. He came and checked it out, and then informed me that you have to pull the cord towards you while pulling up or down, which had not occurred to me. 

So he put the blinds down in approximately one second. I slept like a baby that night. And then the next morning I woke up at 10 and was all confused because it was so dark…like, “Silly Janet! Today is Friday! There is no need to wake up at 6!”


In conclusion, my quality of life has drastically improved.

As you can see, I am glad to have a handyman (i.e. someone who can teach me about the functions of basic Spanish household items) living here. Jorge also happens to be super nice. Can’t remember if I’d come to that conclusion yet when I last updated.

AND I understand almost everything he says, which is always nice. Being the nerd that I am, the following is fascinating to me: he says he has a Galician accent, but not much because he’s been living in Madrid for a couple years. But he also says he’ll say “hola” and people will be like… “You’re gallego, aren’t you?” It’s a whole different dialect (variation? I don’t know!) that I've since looked up, and it looks a lot like Portuguese, but sounds just about like castillian Spanish, which he calls "espanol" (plus a tilde) and not "castellano."

In a similar vein, people here think I talk like on soap operas because that’s pretty much their only contact with Mexicans. But then again, whenever I hear standard Spain Spanish I’m like, “Teehee it’s like the movies!”

Another dumb thing I've done: being the budget-conscious (read: cheap) shopper that I am, and buying a bunch of stuff at the “chino” (Wilson’s/Rose's type store, oh and that's your Spanish word for this post) the other day, I now have three more things to add to my list of things you really should shell out good money for: 

1) Sheets. They were 10 euros and cute, but I think they were actually made of burlap. Thankfully, I was able to return them and go to Ikea and get some actual sheets fit for human use. I thought about toughing it out and calling it Peace Corps practice, but decided against that.

2) Floss. I had issues finding good floss in Mexico, too. I never realized how great the quality, price, variety, and availability of US floss is. Now that’s something I can get patriotic about.

3) Nail polish. It seemed like a good idea at the time (story of my life) and I instantly feel a thousand times cooler with black nails, but I’m gonna regret purchase #3 when I try to take off this heartless finger dye in a couple weeks.

Nowwww, I leave you with this (from my early morning pick-up site the other day):

That is all. Peace out!

Fewer words, more pictures GUARANTEED!!!!

This is the part about my weekend. I am not going to ramble. Or use complete sentences. Friday: Halloween celebration. Fun. Ballerina. One of three people in school dressed up. Desserts. Many. Yummy. Left for Barbate. Saturday-Monday: Barbate (Cadiz), Chani, family, cookout (paella, fried fish, yummy), accent even harder to understand than Sevilla's, zen approach, good time. Monday: roommate moved in. Nice. Puts toilet seat down. Today: payday, whoo, Glee, run.

Random thoughts:

Did I mention my package came? I've never been more appreciative of unscented deodorant.

Wedding rings go on right hands here.

Today when I went to the bank in Aznalcollar, I also went to the post office and decided I want to start doing more stuff there, even if it's just little errands. I do work there, after all. Next step is fruit/veggie shopping. But first I need an awesome shopping bag.

OH! Did I already mention you can't get your own fruit at the stores here? You go wait in the (super cute) fruteria, then tell the person what you want and they weigh it and add it to the bag as you go. It's really weird because I feel out of control and I also feel dumb because it goes something like this: "Whatcha want?" "An eggplant" [Fruit man gets eggplant, weighs it, and puts it in the bag] "What else?" "Three carrots" [gets, weighs, bags] "What else?" "A zucchini" [gets, weighs, bags] "What else?" "A tomato" [gets, weighs bags]...and this goes on for several minutes, plus with a number of misunderstandings because (I'm fairly certain this is how it happened, anyways) on the boat from Spain to the New World, the monks and/or conquerors got bored and thought it would be hilarious to change like all the names of the fruits and vegetables.

I will be hanging out with Julie this time next month.

Halloween is not a big deal here. Still kind of fresh from the US. Also the costumes are only for little kids and are scary. Apparently they save the funny and creative outfits for Carnival.

Doorknobs are in the middle of the door here. They didn't get the torque memo.

Random New Spanish Word: "salud" is for toasts only. "Jesus" is what you say when someone sneezes.

Ok, picture timeeee!

A tower at the Plaza de Espana, where I've been going to get visa-esque stuff. You probably don't care, but the flag on the left is the Andalucia one. I've been surprised how much it shows up. Like how people have South Carolina flag bumper stickers. But thank God I haven't seen Andalucia flag belts and flip flops and koozies.

Same plaza:

The Cathedral and La Giralda (used to be the mosque tower, whatever those are called, and now it's a belltower. Oops.)

The Cutest Thing In the World I promised a few posts ago. This one bridge has tons of locks like this that couples put on and throw the keys in the river. Horrible for the marine life, I'm sure, but whatever.

Same river. My side, Triana. It used to be a separate town but now it's just part of Sevilla. Bustling, with about everything you could need, fewer tourists (excepts there's lots on this bridge because on the other end it's right by the bus station and it's tragedy pants galore.)

Some of my kidlets! Feliz Halloween indeed!

Some more of my kidlets! These are some of the fourth year ones. If you haven't picked up on this, I like them best. But shh. HA I remember the days when I actually believed teachers when they said they didn't have favorites.

Some of the hooligans at recess. They have to be fenced in. Yet they still stand by the door. It's like the hamsters I had when I was little. They can't figure out that, as much as they scratch at the door, they're stuck in there.

Some of the teachers. The tall guy is Francisco, my bossman. And Andy in his Halloween getup.

The church in Aznalcollar (accent on the o but I'm too lazy to make that happen):

One of the main streets of Aznalcollar:

La farola (lampost...self explanatory):

Sooo this is where I work:

Wheeee off to shower and go to this bar downstairs with the roomiesss! Digo. Companeros de piso. EDIT Chani and friends. That's right. I update my posts. What now?