La Huelga, aka La Huge Inconveneince

So yesterday, September 29th was the Huelga General, Spain's first national strike in 8 years!  The stirke occurred also throughout Europe, but was most noted in Spain, because that is where I am of course, and because Spain is currently suffering one of the deepest and longest recessions in Europe. Currently, Spain's unemployment rate is at 20% (double that of the European Union and America)
The Stirke was called back in June, but labor unions agreed to wait until all the Fulbrighters arrived and had to get to work, and so that the Strike could be put into effect across Europe.
So who exactly was on strike?
Just about everyone. Busses, taxi's, trains, the metro, planes, teachers, the post office, small business owners, industries like car production (ford) cement, marble, and construction (although, that may have been a plus) These strikers gathered in masses in the cities to picket and show their disapproval of the intended budget cuts and the governments new ability to easily fire employees.
Today when speaking with one of the teachers in my school who attended the pickets. She told me that the police were out in full force, and were very uptight. She says her friends who were just walking in the street had gotten beaten by some police officers, and that the police were not afraid to use force against the strikers.
According to the newspapers, between 25,000 and 30,000 people showed up to picket yesterday in Valencia City alone!  Strikes were larger and more dramatic in cities like Madrid where there were lots of riots and violence. Furthermore, a total of approximately 75% of government employees went on strike.
This then lead to everything being closed, including some schools! If there were not enough teachers, schools would just act as babysitters to the students, or close completely.
In my school alone, many students did not show up to school. I barely showed up to school!
Thankfully, public transportation was not completely halted. Labor unions agreed to run the MINIMUM amount of public transportation. For me and my need to take the metro, this means one train per hour on each line.
Here is how my morning went:
8:00 arrive at the metro stop, realized I forgot my phone
8:30 board metro
8:40 Transfer
8:43 realized it will be 45 minutes until the next train
9:00 school starts
9:30ish Train arrives a few minutes late
9:40ish, realized i got on the WRONG TRAIN
9:42, jump off the train and get on the other side of the track to wait to return to get on the right train
10:00 eat breakfast
10:20 Train arrives
10:25 Get off at a stop to get on the correct train
10:56 Correct train arrives
11:15 arrive at Moncada/Alfara where my school is
11:25 Arrive at school, 2.5 hours late

Thankfully after school I had a delicious lunch with my school's English teacher and her two daughters, and the oldest daughter drove me home after so I would not have to dare deal with public transportation again, and I successfully avoided it the rest of the evening

La Cucaracha… not as much fun as the song leads you to believe

Well, there seems to be an epidemic here, or so we are told. Yes, Las Cucarachas (cockroaches).

Paco, our dueño (landlord) says that it is normal to have cockroaches, everyone in Spain does! But you can minimize them by sweeping every night and spraying the doorway in the kitchen with roach killer every other day. We don’t know how much we believe this “everyone in Spain has cockroaches” thing…

Since arriving in our piso, we have had about 3 to 4 cockroach sightings, and 2…massacres

There was one massacre worth documenting, and it all started with something we call “Cookie time”. It is kind of our little break in the evening, when we decide we want these delicious digestive cookies that we usually keep in the house. They are Margaux’s favorite so we usually have the white chocolate box in the kitchen.

Well, Margaux goes to fetch the cookies, but because of an earlier cockroach sighting in our cabinet (and Margaux’s hatred and fear of bugs/cockroaches), Margaux first turns on the light to survey the scene. Low and behold, she scans, and finds one, half in the cabinet!

We summon for Larry. Larry is Marguax’s friend from home in Maryland who is staying on our couch until he leaves to teach English in a small pueblita (little town) in Castilla de La Mancha (1 hour train ride from here)… I need to also mention that Larry went to my rival college… ITHACA (he is the first person I’ve meet so far who knows where Cortland is!)

Anyway, so Larry come in, and confirms that yes, we have a cockroach half in our cabinet. We have an important decision to make: Do we kill it and end up with cockroach guts in the kitchen, a gruesome mess, or do we capture it, and set it free to let it reproduce so it and it’s babies can re-infest our lovely piso?

Our decision? Kill it.

Larry gets his shoe, and gets ready to stand on a stool for the massacre, while I fetch my camera and Margaux stands a good distance away, but close enough to watch and shriek in fear. All the while, Nora is in her bedroom practicing her violin.

Here is the documentation I like to call Death of a Cockroach, because words cannot describe the scene that occurred.

Horchata- The Yummiest (Non Alcoholic) Beverage in Valencia

  The day I was leaving Madrid, my friend Alberto sent me a message of well wishes for my travels to Valencia. He finished the message with “Be sure to try the Horchata!” (In Spanish, of course)

I thought, well, I have tried Horchata in Madrid; it was pretty good, what’s so special about Valencian Horchata?

Well, Valencia is the region where the Chufa is grown. Chufa is also called a tiger nut. Whenever you ask a Valenciano what is chufa? They give a variety of comparisons such as a nut, potato, root and even onion.

On my way to school in the morning, I pass Chufa fields, and what I am certain of is that it grows in the ground like potatoes and onions, and they are small and look like nuts.

So, what really is Chufa? 

according to wikipedia:

Cyperus esculentus (Chufa Sedge, Yellow Nutsedge, Tigernut Sedge, Earthalmond) is a species of sedge native to warm temperate to subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It is an annual or perennial plant, growing to 90 cm tall, with solitary stems growing from a tuber. The stems are triangular in section, and bear slender leaves 3-10 mm wide. The flowers of the plant are distinctive, with a cluster of flat oval seeds surrounded by four hanging leaf-like bracts positioned 90 degrees from each other. The plant foliage is very tough and fibrous, and is often mistaken for a grass.

In numerous touristy areas of the city, there are little carts, with people selling “ORXATA” (the Valencian spelling, the X in the middle of a word makes a ch sound). At these carts, you can sample some straight up Chufa. Like I said, they look like nuts, maybe kind of like walnuts, but they have a very interesting almost slightly sweet chalky flavor, that leaves you in desperate need of a beverage.

So the best way I can describe Horchata is that it is cold, frothy, and has the consistency somewhat like a Slurpee. It is slightly sweet, and slightly chalky. But it is DELICOUS and REFRESHING. The taste is one of a kind.

Traditionally, Horchata or Orxata is served with something called (brace yourself) FARTONS. These are described as “sticky buns” but they are not really sticky. To me they are more like zeppoles, but not fried. They are doughy, light and airy and covered in delicious powdered sugar. They are long and thin and perfect for dunking in your Horchata. (This combination sure does give Madrid’s Chocolate con Churros a run for their money, but c’mon, how can you compete with rich thick savory CHOCOLATE?)

We recently went into a very touristy part of town for our Horchata and Fartons (where you will pay almost 4 euro per person). However there are countless Horchaterias or cafés across the city that will serve them for about 2.30 euro.

Fartons pronounces far-tone-s

It gets slightly better, you can buy Horchata flavored ice pops (our favorite for a beach day) and you can also buy bottles of Horchata at your local Consum or Mercadona (supermarkets). We found what we thought was Horchata flavored ice cream at the supermarket, but turned out just to be frozen horchata (it was still a perfect desert/mid day snack!)

Sadly though, Horchata harvesting season ends soon, and I hear that Horchata will not be as abundant starting in October!!! I’m hoping that we can still find it bottled or frozen at our friendly neighborhood Consum (and I stress the neighbor- we live right above it)

Week Number two as an ETA

Well I did it! I completed a full week of school!  (By the way, I should stop calling it school and accept the reality that I am no longer a student and that this is a job)

This week at school was interesting. I am still not really doing much in English class, but before I get more into that, I would like to update you on my Physical Education teachings.

I am instructed to teach basketball. The phys ed teacher asks me  (in broken spanglish) to teach them how to dribble, chest pass, bounce pass, and overhead pass.

Now I never studied methodology of physical education, and the last time I played serious basketball, I was 14.  So here I am, dribbling a basketball (I think im doing a great job btw) and saying “DRIBBLE! Reapeat: Dribble!” and getting blank stares. Finally, they caught on and yelled dribble. So I go on to chest pass. I point to my chest and say “Chest”, then pass the ball and say “pass. Chest pass. Repeat: Chest pass!”

Not so easy. So to try and reinforce the vocabulary, I go back to dribbling. I ask them what is this? They have no clue.  Back to chest pass, no clue. Let’s move on and get this over with.

In the end, they could not remember the names of the passes or the word dribble.  But I don’t expect them too. Since I was a learner of a foreign language, I know that in order to learn new vocabulary, you have to not only hear and say the word, but see it as well. Learning new vocabulary is visual for many people, especially older learners, and there is no chalkboard in physical education.

Another obstacle I have to overcome when “teaching” physical education, is that many times, all these kids want to do is play. I don’t blame them; I was the same way. I never listened to proper techniques and all that jib jab. Just let me play the game!  Spanish students are no different.

A third obstacle as huge as the Grand Canyon, is explaining to these kids what to do. They are not at a level where they can understand my directions (I will go further into their level momentarily). So I will explain something to them in English, and get a dozen or so blank stares.  Then they then ask me a question in Valencian, and they get a blank stare in reply. Then another student will answer their Valencian question in Valencian, then before I know it there is an outbreak of Valencian and me standing there shouting “SILENCIO POR FAVOR!”

However, physical education can be fun once I don’t have to teach and I can play the games with the kids. I don’t mind doing defense drills with some of older students, and I really like the hula hoop games I get to play with the little kids. It can be a fun way for us to bond in a non verbal way!

Now for the English room.  What every person in the school wants is for the children to start to SPEAK Spanish.  I personally know this is a huge hurdle; getting me to speak Spanish in the classroom used to be like chipping away at an ice block in the arctic! 

So to get a better understanding of the students’ speaking level, I take each 6^th grader aside one by one, and try to chat with them. Here is how a typical conversation went.

Chelsea: Hello!

Student: hello

C: How many people live in your house?

S: umm… Moncada (moncada is their city)

C: No, how many people? Mom, dad, you…

S: Oh! Um, cinco

C: In English?

S: Five

C: Who are they?  Mom, dad, you, brother?

S: Brother?...

C: Hermanos

S: Oh si, tengo hermano

C: In English

S: I have brother y 2 mascotas

C: You have a brother AND two PETS?

S: Si…. Yes

C: How old is your brother?

S: …….??

C: How old is your brother? How many years old is he?

S: Oh,  ummm siete, seven

C: Does your brother attend this school?

S: No

C: Where does your brother go to school?

S: …Colegio

C: Is your brother Older? (makes gesture like taller) Is your brother  17?

S: Si! Yes, seventeen

C: Great, thank you, have a seat.

Ouch. That was painful!  I could not believe students were unable to answer the “How old are you” question! That is so basic, right after “What is your name?”

Some questions went well. It seems students could tell me a little about their pets, or that their sibling had brown hair and brown eyes (what Spaniard doesn’t?)

I cannot blame the kids for this though. I blame their book, and I guess the teaching style used in the classroom (although I love the English teacher, she is so in love with languages and very enthusiastic!)

The book does a lot of racial profiling, and focuses on short 6 line skits about “students in Whales” or “Activities in Australia” and “Match the flag to the country”

The students need more conversation, peer interviews, writing, reading, and grammar! No wonder they cannot form sentences, they do not learn grammar!

I also asked the teacher when they learn about the family, because they did not recognize the word brother. She replied, “Oh 6^th level should know it! They learned it back in 2^nd level!” I asked if it has been touched upon again, and she says no.

So they learn this vocabulary that they never learn to use in sentences or “real life” situations, and then it is never touched upon again or combined with other topics to reinforce it!

I devised a plan of attack that I hope will start to help them out a little.

I emailed one of my faaaavorite teachers from the past who I still keep in touch with.  Mrs. Flynn was my 3^rd grade teacher who always lets me come in to her class to observe when I need to, and whose daughter goes to Cortland. I know that Mrs. Flynn now teaches 5^th grade, and knows about my award and my opportunity here in Spain. 

So Mrs. Flynn’s 5^th grade class will become “e-pals” with my 5^th and 6^th level Spanish students! (5^th level plus 6^th level classes totals 23 students) This will be a great opportunity for my English language learners to improve their writing and vocabulary, and it will be GREAT for these students to share cultural differences and experiences!

I think this may also be a double whammy in that I will make it my “side project” required by Fulbright.

Cross culture communication and diffusion among communities, along with improving upon language skills?  Sounds great!

I think I will have some guidelines to follow in each email, such as sharing a current event, an aspect of their day, and of course, facts about themselves and questions for their e-pal

The technology will also be a great aspect in that we can easily share media, links, maps, and not pay postage =)

Things to Avoid in Valencia

So far, I have learned 2 things to avoid in Valencia. The first is… washing your hair. The water here is insanely hard- harder than Cortland water (and my dear Red Dragons, we all know that was bad)

After washing your hair in Valencia, it feels like you just washed it with mouse, hair gel, or even that gooey palmade gunk that people use to spike their hair in crazy positions. I really miss being able to run my fingers through my soft locks washed with soft water!

But do not worry, because I am so innovative and always thinking, I have come up with a resolution: washing my hair with bottled water. I felt like a new woman after this discovery. I do realize this may get pricey. A bottle of water the size to wash my hair is about 60 centavos to a euro. That means if I wash my hair 4-5 times a week, I will pay an extra 5-euro a week, just for soft hair! It will do for now, and maybe when times are tough I will only use bottled water on the weekends. But if anyone knows of any product that may prevent or treat this damaging hard water hair, please LET ME KNOW!

The second thing to avoid in Valencia (or Spain in general) is…. Getting sick on a Sunday.

This is no fun, I know first hand because I have gotten sick 2 out of 3 Sundays in Spain. Why does this suck? Because pharmacies are closed on Sundays,,that’s why. And you can’t just mosey on over to your local 711, CVS, Pathmark, or Bodega for some cough drops or pepto bismal. These commodities are only sold in Pharmacies Monday through Saturday, 9am until 2pm, and 5pm until 8 pm or something of that nature.  

When you see one of these flashing on a sunday, you're in luck!

Well, this isn’t entirely true. As it was explained to me, there is one pharmacy in every area that is the designated Sunday Pharmacy and those poor souls still have to stay open for those whose bodies decide to stop functioning on Sundays. However, these pharmacies are generally hidden, and a far walk.  It is quite a pain in the butt, especially if you’re sick!  In my opinion they should just deliver medication to sick people’s pisos on Sundays!  So if you can avoid it, don’t get sick on a Sunday in Spain.

Alicante

So this weekend the girls and I decided to take a mini vacation; because we have all had a hectic first few weeks here, especially in the classroom!

So Saturday morning we woke up a non-Spaniard Saturday hour of 7 am, and got ourselves to the bus station and on the 915am bus to Alicante.

Alicante is a city, still part of the Comunitat Valenciana, and is 2.5 hours south (by bus). The city is smaller than Valencia, still pretty big, but very walk able.  There is an airport that may be bigger than Valencia’s, and there is also a very high population of Erasmus students (Erasmus students are students who come from other European Universities as a type of exchange- a high Erasmus population usually means high levels of partying and lots of bars)

When we arrived to the city after a nice relaxing bus ride at 1145(and of course a pre-siesta) we booked it for la playa (the beach). We opted to go via taxi, to get onto the beach ASAP.

When we arrived at the beach, we settled down and asked ourselves “where are the young people?” Everywhere we looked, there were senior citizens! We thought this was a jovenes (young people) city! We contemplated this for a few minutes, then remembered that young kids party by day/early morning, and don’t wake up until after 1pm.

Low and behold, by about 2pm, all the old folk packed up their umbrellas, chairs and newspapers, and headed on out. Instantaneously, all of the young kids must have rolled out of bed hungover, and hungry and plopped themselves on the beach with their bocadillos (hero/sandwich, but 10 times better).

Like the beach in Valencia, the water was gorgeous, warm, and left a salty residue on your skin. But the weather that day was perfect: not too hot, the sun left your skin feeling warm, and there was a slight breeze to keep you from getting too uncomfortable.

Once the sun had set behind the city, we packed up our stuff and headed on foot to our hostel that thankfully, was very easy to find.  Our other stroke of luck: we booked a 6-person room for 4 people, and ended up with no other roommates!  The hostel was gorgeous and everyone was very nice. Our room was equipped with 3 sets of bunk beds (which may or may not have slightly resembled a jail), a shower, and a separate toilet (kind of unsanitary, but convenient when sharing with numerous girls)

The hostel was about 5 or 6 floors, and there was also a nice common room, a bar, and a beautiful roof top terrace for a nice botellón (bring your own bottle and sit around and drink it)

After showers and relaxation, Nora, Margaux and I headed out on a Vino Mission for our botellón. We walked quite a distance, but found a Mercadona (one of the major supermarkets) and purchased 2 bottles of wine, and a LARGE bar of Nestles chocolate for a total of 2.90 euros.  (every girls’ dream come true)

We happily trekked back to our hostel to join some Italian boys and Canadian girl for some wine, chocolate, grapes, and broken conversation which included lots of me mispronouncing Italian words on purpose, like mozzarella and ricotta. But I did impress them with my word “Attraversiamo!” which I learned in my bible, Eat Pray Love. 

By the time we were just about done with our wine and our chocolate was long gone, 10 pm had hit… It was time to meet up with another Fulbrighter!

Lauren was placed in a school near Alicante, and she chose to live in the city (good choice, Lauren!)

We met Lauren and her Irish/English friends for Tapas, and had an excellent time. Lauren is adapting well to the city and making lots of friends. The city seems like it is small enough to start recognizing others as regulars and making friends (a luxury we may not have in a city like Valencia)

Day two in Alicante, we woke up early, checked out of our hostel, and started to subir (to climb) the huge hill to get to the Castle of Santa Barbara. This castle is amazing and catches your eye from anywhere in the city. It is the highest point, and quite a hike up. An elevator ride is also an option, but I always try to maintain some sort of activity (I have to stay in shape to teach gym now, ya know!)

The climb was pretty difficult, and it is still quite hot out, but it was very rewarding. I was also quite nervous I might break one of my favorite Target sandals, but then I remembered this castle is pretty old, and back in the old days, people walked up this hill with worse footgear than some Target sandals. So my trek continues with one less worry.

At the top the views were absolutely amazing. I could have hung out up here all day. We did spend a good hour or two just admiring the views of the city and the Mediterranean (and maybe doing some people watching as well)

 All in all, the weekend was great and very worthwhile! (We even managed to spend about 100euro or less each! And bus rates are not as cheap as people believe….)

First Day on the Job

Let me start by explaining the duties explained to us by the Fulbright commission. Fulbright told us that we are expected to work 16 hours a week, 4 days a week. So in my mind, that would be about 9am to 1 pm (because siesta is generally from 2-4), Monday through Thursday, or Tuesday through Friday.

The Fulbright commission explained to us that they want us to have the opportunity to travel, this is why they only expect we work 4 days a week, giving us 3 day weekends.

What are our duties? We are there to be an assistant to the English teacher; a model for the English Language. We can help plan and implement activities as well. Great, sounds perfect!

Well, as they say, it’s a lot easier said than done!

When I arrive at my school, they hand me my schedule. The first thing I noticed was: Thursday’s off.  Hmm, well that won’t work. Now since I’m pretty tired and cranky and still not adjusted to the time zone issue, I have no problem speaking up. Although they are disappointed and slightly annoyed, they work with me and change it. Now I have Thursdays as a half day, and Monday’s off. (Which isn’t so horrible considering travel and lodging is cheaper Sunday/Monday rather than Thursday/Friday)

Fine, then I am looking at it more thoroughly, and I see I will be assisting with not 1, not 2… but 5 gym classes a week, sorry phys ed majors… I mean “la educación fisica”.  And the teacher tells me to wear gym clothes to work everyday. What about all the clothes I just bought for this gig??? And all my gym clothes I left behind along with my athleticism?

Let’s get on with my day. My “teaching” kind of begins with gym, 6^th graders. There are 7 in the class. So the gym teacher earlier had explained to me (in Spanish) the game she wanted to play… I didn’t understand. First off, its Baloncesto (basketball) which I am rusty at, second, its explained to me in Spanish, third, its not Spasketball, Knock-Out or real basketball and those are the only two games which I’m familiar with that include a basketball.

Oh wait, gym gets better!!! Then a kid jams his finger. He's kind of upset, not really too worried. But this "game" or whatever just stops, and the teacher calls me over. I ask if she needs ice? No, no ice. She tells me in español, to go put cream on it and do this that and the other thing and signals to wrap it. Great, ive jammed lots of fingers, but never put a cream on it. So I take this poor Valenciano speaking child with me, the English speaker, and tell him in Castillan, "don't worry, my mom's a nurse, I know what I'm doing" when clearly I dont because I cant find the first aid kit.

Then it occurs to me: do I need gloves? Oh goodness, if I do something wrong will I get sued and held responsible??? Then I see 3 different creams. Great. So the kid yells to the teacher and she points at which cream goes on jammed fingers and I apply it glove free, in fear of looking like a complete blond headed goon. Then I gauze that kid up just like mom taught me, and attempt to wrap this tape around his fingers, which is more like a cement wrap than medical tape. Then the kid runs gleefully away and continues playing this game I still can't figure out. Continues dribbling, passing, blocking, everything. Guess I fixed him up good?   

After gym, I look more closely at my schedule, and realize, wait, Im not leaving this place until 4:30 three days a week???? 9 am until 4:30 I am required to be there. The catch is that I am only teaching for 16.5 of those hours. The siesta is 2.5 hours long! What am I supposed to do in those hours! I did not even begin to explain the lack of WiFi issue in this country, but laptop is NOT an option right now.

But wait, THERE’S MORE! Then some guy comes in, and in Valenciano (oh, the language the whole school speaks- the whole school except me!!!) anyway, explains in Valenciano that the school is in trouble because there is not enough English learning going on, or English teachers, and so on and so forth. So what is their solution? Oh since I’m there for “dinner” already (which is as big as a dinner, just at lunch time), I will spend dinner time once a week as kind of their tutor, helping all the teachers with their English.  As a reward, I will get a certificate for my time. Great. Can’t I Just not work past siesta one or two days?

So as you can see, this is going to b quite an interesting year here. Maybe it will get better, and hopefully it will not get worse (I think the lowest low was when a 5^th grader asked if I was Pregnant, thank you olive oil and bread)

Oh some plusses for today:

1) I was welcomed with a Tuna Empanada, croissants, and some Majorcan rolls

2) One woman did offer to drive me to and from work those 3 days a week. Which means I have a free, 20-minute commute rather than a pricey 45-minute one.

3) I learned how to use the coffee machine (which costs 50 centavos for a teensy coffee, but coffee is coffee none the less, and it’s necessary)

El Arte de no Hacer Nada

One of my favorite books that is very inspiring to me is Eat, Pray, Love. Mainly, because I want to do what Liz Gilbert did (oh wait, I kind of am!...) Well, one of my favorite concepts she discusses in the book, is "the art of doing nothing", an Italian way of life. This certainly applies to Spain as well, and it is a way of life I finally had the chance to practice recently. The beach here was absolutely gorgeous. The water was clear, warm, and there were no rip currents! We just laid around all day, enjoying the sun and horchata flavored ice pops (explanations to follow). A perfect way to recuperate after the past few stressful days, and to prepare for one more move to our new apartment!  
Because the last two days consisted of doing nothing, I regret to inform you that I do not have much more to report about!

Piso hunting, rounds one, two, and three

Piso hunting might possibly be the most frustrating thing, EVER. Also, a piso is the spanish word for apartment or flat. Many usually have 2-5 rooms, and 1 or two bathrooms, a common room or living room, and a kitchen. They are generally pretty small, oh and one more thing, hard to find.  We are currently in quest of a piso amueblado (furnished) with 4 habitaciones (bedrooms), and one or two bathrooms.  It is imperative that our piso be amueblado, because we only came bearing the clothes on our backs (and suitcases) We need EVERYTHING from couches, beds and mattresses, to forks, sheets, and tupperware.  Also, finding a decently nice one that fits  4 different personalities, preferences, and standards. This is almost as frustrating as trying to nail jell-o to a tree.

 After 2 days, we were feeling defeated. But today we may have finally struck some luck. The propieterio (landlord) seems easy to work with, and very helpful.  It is in the area of Benimaclet, an area slightly out side of the city center, but filled with younger college-ish students. It is very cultural and pretty safe. It kind of reminds me of my love, Astoria Queens.
  However, I came to Spain to improve upon my Spanish to further my career. I am fearful that living with Americans will hinder my experience. I am feeling slightly torn.  By the end of the day, I found myself sitting at a locutorio (internet cafe) fighting back tears while I searched for pisos compartidos (shared apartments).
  Then I had en epiphany. I need to do something for me, something I enjoy. That meant going to the grocery store and making some Tortilla Española.  Cooking made me feel a lot more relaxed and I thought (as I've been told a thousand times so far this trip) ¡No pasa nada! (Do not worry!) This is now my phrase i find myself repeating over and over in my head.
So here is the finished product of my therapy... i mean tortilla...

Another great commodity... 97 cent Valencian white wine: 

But Valencia isn't all that bad, I mean it IS a gorgeous city!

Returning to Madrid

Me in Puerta del Sol, with the famous Madrid Statue

Well, I finally made it back to my love, Madrid! I arrived there on friday with an extreme case of homesickness. But thats nothing a Tapas Tour can't fix. Tapas are like small appetizers folks eat at Spain between the hours of 4 and 8, BEFORE dinner!! These tapas consist of bread topped with meat, fish, cheese, or things like chicken wings, croquettes, and my all time favorite.... Tortilla Española! This tortilla is amazing, it is just a mixture of the Spanish diet staples, eggs, onions, potatoes, and of course, Olive Oil. This dish may be the reason I love Spain so much!

 I met a lot of cool people at the hostel i stayed at in the center of the city called Sol. (I must also add that Puerta del Sol, is the center of Spain! There is a piece of the sidewalk there that says Km 0, all distances in Spain are measured from this point!) So anyway, I met many people from Australia, Germany, Poland, Romania, etc. It always amazes me now that English has become the Universal language. When giving tours, they are all given in English because it seems that EVERYONE studies and comprehends English, even in Spain!

  The next day we made our way to the the residence, and to my surprise, it was right next to my residence last summer!!! I love the feeling of having that 'home away from home'. This new residence, however, was in an all boys dorm, filled with little 18 year old boys. Awkward.  Trip to the residence: not so fun. We took two trips to get there on the metro with all of our bags, and i also lost a pair of flip flops! =( 

  I also had the pleasure of returning to my favorite bar from last summer, and everyone remembered me! (good or bad thing?)  I got to see some of my good friends too. It was so nice to see everyone and get treated like a queen! (with a complementary tortilla española)

Here is the recipe for a tortilla (this will make about two)

3-4 large russet potatoes

1/2 spanish/yellow onion

salt

lots of extra virgin olive oil

2-3 eggs

First wash, peel and cut the potatoes into 1/4 inch slices and place into a bowl. Dice the onion and mix with potatoes, add a generous amount of salt. Next in a pan of hot EVOO, add the mixture until the potatoes break easily when poked. (You may want to mix the mixture to prevent it sticking)

With a slotted spoon, remove the mixture from the olive oil, into the bowl. Add eggs and mix well. Meanwhile, heat another pan with EVOO (a few tbsp) Pour the mixture in and let sit for a few minutes, until bottom becomes brown. Heres the fun part.... using a large enough plate bigger than the pan, cover the pan, hold tightly, flip and pray for the best! Once safely on the plate, slide into the pan and cook other side until brown. Serve immediately or at room temperature, and most important, savor and enjoy!!!