Napa is a good place to visit

Here's the situation: I'm teaching a 30 minute class today (to a real, live native Spanish speaker) on social networking - blogging. Her name is Patricia, she's in her mid-thirties, and she has a upper intermediate level of English. So today in class, I had her write a "mock blog post." She's planning on traveling to California later this year for work, so this was her prompt:

Summer 2012 keeps getting better and better!!

On a bit of whim, I applied for an English teaching/immersion session in the North of Spain. And low and behold, I got it!

Look at that VIEW

It's a week-long stay (June 29th to July 6th) at the Hotel Spa Villalba Lugo Attica in Galicia where I'll be working with native Spanish-speaking teachers on their English. As a native English-speaker myself, I'll get free accommodation, free, plentiful meals, and all I have to do is speak English the entire time.

ummm, yes please!

 And oh my word! I googled the venue I'll be staying at...it's a SPA!! And from the pictures, it's one of those super amazing, luxurious spas where people go to connect with their inner zen, total peace and relaxation. Here's the link to the spa: Villalba Lugo Attica

steamyyyy jacuzzi area

 I applied online earlier this week, and after a couple email exchanges, I'm set to arrive in Galicia the night of the 29th (after my final TEFL class). I've already booked a cheap flight out of Madrid, and I'm just going to grab a taxi from the airport in Galicia to the spa. It all happened so fast! But I'm so excited!!

i could sleep for daysss in here

So after an incredible week at a spa in Northern Spain, my dad's going to meet me in Galicia and from there we're planning a trip through Germany, focusing on Bavaria (and multiple beer tasting sessions), southern France (lavender fields and a possible outing to Monaco) and ITALY. We're gonna ride the canals in Venice, visit the Colosseum in Rome, stuff our faces with pasta and gelato, and sip bottle after bottle of wine in Tuscany. Ultimate father-daughter European vacation, here I come. WIsh me luck!!

A day in the life of a TEFL student

Andy's monster drawing

 We've now almost completed our 3rd week of the TEFL program, and this whole week was all about teaching children. That meant a lot of games, drawings, and general silliness on our parts. One of the first warm-up activities Francesca (our instructor) had us do this week was a "monster activity."

My monster drawing

 We, the students, took turns drawing 1 card each from 2 separate piles, one with numbers on the cards, and one with body parts. For example, I could draw both a "3" and then "eyes" and everyone in the class would add 3 eyes to their monster. We then named our monsters, gave them a home planet, and named 1 thing they eat and another thing they like.

Mine and Erienne's monster drawings side by side

 This is a great activity to do with small children who are reviewing numbers and/or parts of the body (and to be honest, we all enjoyed it far too much, and we're all 20+). Andy drew a particularly ugly monster that was from Kentucky and that eats cats. I was flattered, naturally.

Andy in the "hot seat"

 We also played a game (well, one of many) called the Hot Seat. One person sits in a chair facing away from the board and someone else draws a picture (or writes) on the board behind them. The class then has to give hints to the person in the hot seat so they can guess the answer. It's a really good game to get everyone in the class speaking English out loud and to teach adjectives and descriptive terms.

HILARIOUS face + John Bouse

 The best turn was when Andy had to guess "John Bouse." He asked the class if he was alive (to rule out inanimate objects) and Stuart's reply of "possibly" lead Andy straight to Bouse (and left us all in a fit of giggles - Francesca included.) *If you don't understand that joke, check out my previous post!

Charles and his thinking pose

This week has been pure entertainment; between games of 20 Questions, Duck Duck Goose, betting games, and nearly every other children's game you can think of, we also had to teach a class. Our classmates were the students (we set the age) and we taught a shirt, 30 min class. For mine, everyone was 5 years old, and it was pandemonium. Stuart wouldn't stop eating his m&m's for the activity (though I asked him to multiple times), he kept referring to me as "mummy", coloring got a little out of control, and "shit" was said quite a lot. We really are just a group of kids stuck in grown-up bodies.

TEFL Class Dinner

Drinks after Ganesh

 I fully believe last night was the beginning of the end. The night that everyone died. There are not enough words in the English language (or the Spanish language for that matter) to describe the insanity that was last night. But, here's my feeble attempt...

Manzanilla at the Flamenco Bar

 Prof. Bouse made a reservation for the class at Ganesh, an Indian/Andalusian cuisine restaurant near the Antón Martín metro stop. The dinner itself was EXQUISITE. I love all types of ethnic food: Indian, Thai, Japanese, what have you. They served us family style, where they just brought out platters and bowls of curries and Indian dishes and we served our own helpings.

manzanilla = spanish white sherry. BLEH.

 The night started to get a little out of hand post-dinner. Bouse led us down the street to a bar owned by the same people and they offered us all a shot (of caramel vodka - who even drinks that??) on the house. We were all mingling and drinking cerveza after cerveza when Bouse decided he had one more place to show us.

cutting a rug with Stuart

 It turned out to be a flamenco bar just a few streets away, total local-hangout. They served us all glasses of Manzanilla, which is a Spanish white-sherry type drink, that I have to say is not on my list of go-to drinks. BLEH. So tart and bitter, but half of our group was downing glass after glass.

the boys = FOLDED.

 Stuart tried to give me dance lessons, but I can honestly say I don't thing either of us knew what type of dancing we were trying to do. The place filled up rather quickly and we were all dancing, and drinking, and having a grand ol' time. We finally headed out a little after 4 a.m. (and when I say we, I mean myself, Brittany, Gemma, Bre, and Kasey - the boys and Bouse were still going strong). It was pizza and a cab home for the rest of us.

outdoor book store on the way to churros

 This morning, Brittany, Gemma, and I made plans to visit the Filmoteca and catch an old black and white film; today's was the 1933 version of King Kong. The movie itself was at 5:30, so Brittany and I decided to meet before for a late lunch (I didn't roll out of bed til about 1:30) and then head over to the theater together. We met in Sol, as per usual, and were walking to a well-known churros place, when who do we see???

Boating in Parque Retiro

 Bouse! Slumped in a chair outside of a cafe with Megan and Tall Tom from the TEFL camp program. Turns out they never went to sleep; they stayed at the flamenco bar til it closed down at 6 a.m. and from there they bounced from cafe to cafe drinking beer and taking shots til about 3 p.m. How they were still coherent was beyond me - but the same can't be said for Bouse. Poor thing couldn't even hold his head up! I was honestly worried, since it was sweltering outside and he was still wearing his button up and suit jacket from last night and he couldn't even form clear sentences. We think Megan and Tom finally managed to get his address out of him and get him in a taxi, but I'm still shocked! Seeing Bouse with Megan and Tall Tom (who were supposed to be on a bus to camp this morning) was so hilarious/insane/worrisome/mind-boggling I can't even wrap my head around it.

EL Palacio de Cristal

But Brittany and I managed to meet up with Gemma, catch our movie, and then we wandered around Parque Retiro til about 9:3o p.m. Strangely, it's still light out til about 10:15/10:30ish here in Madrid and time just seems to slip away from us. We sat in the park and grabbed ice creams as we walked around the boating area and the Crystal Palace. It was a pretty chill day after a crazy night. But hey, no complaints here.

Spain takes Ireland, 4-0!!

just a little pre-gamin'

 So it was back to the Bernabéu Stadium Thursday night for the Spain/Ireland game! And this time, we came prepared. After our course ended at 6 on Thursday, Brittany, Erienne, and I headed straight to my apartment with our arsenal of adult beverages and snacks, since I'm in walking distance of the stadium. 

ACCESSORIZE.

 Even with just the three of us, it was an EPIC pregame. We power-houred to a throwbacks playlist and tried on all of our accessories til about 8:20, when we headed over towards Bernabéu. The game started at 8:45, and literally within the first 5 minutes of the game, Spain scored. The response at Bernabéu was ASTOUNDING. After last week's tie with Italy, every goal scored was met with insane enthusiasm on our end. The crowd was even larger and more chaotic than the first game.

pretty much sums up the night.

 After the game, we grabbed Mexican at Si Señor (it was delicious and the Mariachi band was obsessed with us) and then headed to a teeny bar called Maloney's - one of Brittany friends owns it and they play American music and host games of beer pong and flip cup ALL NIGHT LONG.

reppin' ERRWHERE

 Also, since Brittany and David go way back (like 2 years ago, on her first study abroad in Spain) he treated us all to free Dragon Shots. I'm not exactly sure what was in it, but it's a mixture of alcohols that you swish around your mouth and then lean your head back as if to gargle. David then leans in and lights the alcohol in your mouth on fire with a lighter. You let it burn for a few second and then close your mouth and the flames go out as you swallow. TERRIFYING, but AWESOME!

Brittany, pre-light.

Erienne, mid-light.

clearly someone drunk had the camera; me, mid-light.

 After getting our butts whipped in nearly every game of flip-cup, we took a taxi back to Sol and ran into our TEFL amigos at Dubliner's (the Irish pub where everyone tends to end up). Everyone was celebrating Spain's win to the fullest and all-in-all, I can say it was a very good night.

Sunshine and other Tom, reppin' España!

In fact, several people showed up in Friday's class still wearing their clothes from the night before. Oh yeah, and one of those people was the professor.

Centro Cultural de Cibeles

Centro Cultural de Cibeles

 If anyone gets the chance to go to the very stop of the Centro Cultural de Cibeles (named for the Cibeles (Sybil) fountain out front) I highly recommend it! It's completely free to wander around inside and look at the free-hanging art or lounge in the brightly colored, cushy couch areas and you just get a specific time to go to the top and take pictures.

Panoramic view from the top!

 You have about 10-15 to walk around the top and take pictures of the entire city of Madrid. It's absolutely breathtaking and gorgeous!

view from la terraza

 Also, stop on your way back down at the Terraza (terrace bar) and order the signature Cibeles Colección. It's a mixture of Watermelon vodka (sandia), strawberries (fresas), orange (naranja) and I think lemon. Citrus-y, but sweet!

Cibeles colecciónes!

Perfect way to wind down after a long work or school day!

Campeones, campeones, oé, oé, oé!

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium

 So after the life-altering event that was the Naked Bike Ride, I met up with my friend from TEFL Brittany and together we toured the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium where Spain's soccer team plays. None of the World Cup games are taking place there this year, so the tours were going all day. For just €20, we got to wander from the top of the stadium, down to the presidential box, the trophy room, the locker rooms, and even the players' seats on the field. So worth it!

Panoramic view from the top boxes

walking down to ground level

 There were some small teams practicing while we were there, but obviously Spain's team was on the road for the Spain-Italy game that was today.

 We wandered through for about an hour and half (it sounds long, but the stadium is huge and there are TONS of steps!) Then we wandered down to the Plaza de Chamartín area and found out that Saturday's must be days for street fairs! Tapas time turned into Daiquiris/Mojitos time.

Posing in front of the practicing teams.

Daiquiris!

España's opening!!

 And since the game wasn't on their home field, Madrid set up a HUGE screen outside of the stadium to broadcast the game live. We went back today (me in a yellow cardi and red jeans - Spain colors!) and watched the game with hundreds of die-hard Spain fans. There was even a small group of about 20 Italy fans, and I honestly don't know what they were thinking! They had bottles and random things thrown at them when Italy scored the first goal, and middle fingers were flying high.

The final score ended up being Spain - 1, Italy - 1, and while no one likes a tie, it's not a loss. We'll take it :)

NSFW - A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Real Stadium...

DISCLAIMER: these photos are NSFW and/or children! Nothing too extreme, but be warned!

Excursión: Toledo

I can happily say that my first solo excursion outside of Madrid was a success!!

aboard el tren to Toledo!

I woke up early on Saturday morning and took the Renfe train from Madrid to Toledo, about a 30 minute train ride (high-speed AVE train.) Arriving in Toledo around 11:30 (by myself, mind you), it was still too early for lunch (and I had a cafe con leche and a postre at the station!) so I decided the first order of business was strolling the streets and getting a feel for Toledo.

la ciudad vieja de Toledo

Apparently I can't read a map, so instead of ending up in la ciudad vieja, where all the old buildings and museums are, I found myself in the center of the city. It was still incredibly beautiful though, with huge stone churches and  great view of Toledo from above.

future home. NBD.

After an hour and half or 2, I wandered back to the bus station, where I hailed a taxi to take me into la ciudad vieja. There were signs all over Toledo for the Exposición Permanente de Los Antiguos Instrumentos de Tortura, and I went straight there. The Museum was actually a teeny, tiny exhibit, but there were TONS of creepy, fascinating torture instruments from the olden days. Things like the pear of anguish, shame masks, and a guillotine.

inside la exposicion de los Antiguos Instrumentos de Tortura

tapas - un Heineken, pan y carne. Delicioso!

For lunch, I stopped at a small cafe with a terraza (terrace, or outside seating) and ordered Tapa del día, which turned out to be a Heineken and some sort of stew-like dish with beef and peas. Very yummy!

I want a balcony like this at my future home.

Cervantes!

                 After lunch, I spent the next few hours just wandering the streets of la ciudad vieja and taking pictures of practically EVERYTHING. I found this statue of Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote de la Mancha, just chillin' in the middle of the sidewalk on a smaller back street!

beautiful craftsmanship

Mi ESPADA!

Also, since Toledo is the metal capital of all of Spain, I had to buy something to commemorate my trip before I left! Most people leave Toledo with a sword, so I decided to go that route. But instead of one of the huge, 3 foot spades, I bought this adorable, 1 foot blade! I can keep it to use as a letter opener or just as decoration, but either way, I now own a sword from Spain! Too cool!