Saturday, April 7, 2012
10:27am
Málaga, sitting on the terrace at the hostel, back in the shade because I can´t see in the sun. John is sitting at a table with some other travelers swapping stories. They seem to know where WVU is. Besides some random popping in the private bathroom while I was showering this morning, the trip has gone well so far.
We flew out of Valladolid with Ryan Air yesterday at 6pm, and arrived in Málaga at 7:10. The flight into this city was the most beautiful I´d ever been on. We went from snow capped mountains, to much more rugged mountains with lakes and windmills within minutes. The intense green was reminiscent of the Amazon, and I even saw a rainbow as we descended.
At the airport we took Cercanías (short distance trains throughout Spain) to the city center. From there, we were supposed to take a bus to the hostel. That didn´t exactly work out... we spent a lot of time looking for this mythical bus stop, and finally gave in to the temptations of Double Whoppers and a taxi. Got here, got settled in... the staff was very welcoming, giving us a full tour of the hostel and inviting us to a complementary drink at the bar, where John and I had a beer and a mojito, respectively, and the sweet wine given to us by the owner.
We enjoyed the drinks on the terrace under a full moon (the moon from the taxi ride was enormous) until we got cold, then we warmed up for a bit and later walked to the beach where we sat on a rocky jetty, watching the waves crash against rocks as the moon pulled the tide in. Loved it. Oh- and I found a sea shell already! (a good one, too, not just one of those crushed up dinky mussel shells you can find any day) Sleep didn´t come immediately in a 10-person dorm style bedroom, but eventually, we did get some rest.
Breakfast was decent for a hostel. Coffee, although it had to be rewarmed, did readily exist. Cornflakes and oranges were also provided, so I was satisfied.
Now we are just waiting on the walking tour to begin so that we can see a bit of what´s around us, and I imagine we´ll spend a few hours today on the beach as well.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
John and Casie Do Spain Day 2
Thursday, April 5, 2012
John made it safely to Valladolid yesterday, despite a delay in New York when the wheel rolled of the plane of his Delta flight while taxiing around. I left my apartment a little before 1pm to catch the bus to the airport to meet him. However, on my way to the bus stop (which is, in itself, a 40-minute walk), my left calf, which has been in spasm off an on the last couple days, seized up completely. I was feeling distraught, as the nearest taxi stop was still a considerable distance away. Fortunately, just about that time, an empty taxi was driving past, I hobbled out into the road, and got in. He dropped me at my bus stop, not just the plaza, because I was clear that I didn´t think I could walk across the plaza at that point. Caught the bus, went to the airport, hung out in the cafetería for over an hour (the bus to the airport only runs every 90 minutes so it was either be early or late), had a café con leche and bocadillo de tortilla while planning my conversation class for the evening, and finally met John. I was so nervous that something would go wrong in Barcelona, mostly due to my forgetting to give him a piece of vital information, but he made it. Not only that, but he made it just minutes before the bus that would save us about 15€ worth of taxi fees left for town. So it was a quick kiss and hello, and no time to pee, and we were already on the bus. It was a bit disorienting to have him here at first.
Came back here to the apartments, got him checked in (because Big Brother is always watching and called my apartment immediately when we walked in without checking in first... his papers were up here IN the apartment... relax, guy.), I emailed myself some stuff for class, and then he came with me to my conversation class.
The first thing my students had to do was a listening exam, which always just... blows their minds. Then we did a sort of class wrap up of all the topics we´ve discussed so far in class, recapping important things that they ¨may or may not¨ see on their final exam. They got in a debate/fight, which is always good and entertaining for me, but also serves its pedagogical purpose in that they are more willing to communicate in English when they are pissed off at each other. So I like to keep them mad... Then John played show and tell pet for about an hour. I didn´t think they would be quite that interested in talking to him, but it was good, both for them and for him, I think. So, he´s already talked to some locals.
I felt bad for this next bit, John making us dinner after 24 hours of traveling, but I had a Skype interview at 10pm for a potential summer job helping school children keep up their literacy over summer. I really hope I get the job... I think the interview went well, but it´s never easy to tell whether you will get something or not. So I´m just keeping my fingers crossed at this point and hoping.
Savannah and her mom got home about the time I finished the interview, so we chatted with them while having our dinner. I did the dishes, and we went to bed. John was snoring almost immediately.
Savannah and her mother just left for Alicante- they are doing a bus/train tour of the northeastern part of Spain here over Semana Santa. John and I are headed to Malaga tomorrow afternoon, and I think today we´ll just walk around Valladolid a bit and maybe try to make it to a Semana Santa procession tonight about 8:30pm. I would like to see one. Anyway, out for now to grab some money-saving lunch at home and then get walking (hopefully my leg cooperates today).
John made it safely to Valladolid yesterday, despite a delay in New York when the wheel rolled of the plane of his Delta flight while taxiing around. I left my apartment a little before 1pm to catch the bus to the airport to meet him. However, on my way to the bus stop (which is, in itself, a 40-minute walk), my left calf, which has been in spasm off an on the last couple days, seized up completely. I was feeling distraught, as the nearest taxi stop was still a considerable distance away. Fortunately, just about that time, an empty taxi was driving past, I hobbled out into the road, and got in. He dropped me at my bus stop, not just the plaza, because I was clear that I didn´t think I could walk across the plaza at that point. Caught the bus, went to the airport, hung out in the cafetería for over an hour (the bus to the airport only runs every 90 minutes so it was either be early or late), had a café con leche and bocadillo de tortilla while planning my conversation class for the evening, and finally met John. I was so nervous that something would go wrong in Barcelona, mostly due to my forgetting to give him a piece of vital information, but he made it. Not only that, but he made it just minutes before the bus that would save us about 15€ worth of taxi fees left for town. So it was a quick kiss and hello, and no time to pee, and we were already on the bus. It was a bit disorienting to have him here at first.
Came back here to the apartments, got him checked in (because Big Brother is always watching and called my apartment immediately when we walked in without checking in first... his papers were up here IN the apartment... relax, guy.), I emailed myself some stuff for class, and then he came with me to my conversation class.
The first thing my students had to do was a listening exam, which always just... blows their minds. Then we did a sort of class wrap up of all the topics we´ve discussed so far in class, recapping important things that they ¨may or may not¨ see on their final exam. They got in a debate/fight, which is always good and entertaining for me, but also serves its pedagogical purpose in that they are more willing to communicate in English when they are pissed off at each other. So I like to keep them mad... Then John played show and tell pet for about an hour. I didn´t think they would be quite that interested in talking to him, but it was good, both for them and for him, I think. So, he´s already talked to some locals.
I felt bad for this next bit, John making us dinner after 24 hours of traveling, but I had a Skype interview at 10pm for a potential summer job helping school children keep up their literacy over summer. I really hope I get the job... I think the interview went well, but it´s never easy to tell whether you will get something or not. So I´m just keeping my fingers crossed at this point and hoping.
Savannah and her mom got home about the time I finished the interview, so we chatted with them while having our dinner. I did the dishes, and we went to bed. John was snoring almost immediately.
Savannah and her mother just left for Alicante- they are doing a bus/train tour of the northeastern part of Spain here over Semana Santa. John and I are headed to Malaga tomorrow afternoon, and I think today we´ll just walk around Valladolid a bit and maybe try to make it to a Semana Santa procession tonight about 8:30pm. I would like to see one. Anyway, out for now to grab some money-saving lunch at home and then get walking (hopefully my leg cooperates today).
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