Rock Bands and Other Mostly Random Happenings

This entry is going to be short because I can easily sum up the highlights of this week in a paragraph or two. (Just kidding somehow this became a lot longer than originally anticipated) Classes went well for the most part. Two of the teachers are having me work one-on-one with the kids and I think that is my preferred method. It helps me better get to know the students, and is good for them since they have to make more of an effort to speak English when they are by themselves. The other teacher I work with has me just sort of assist on occasion in the classroom, mainly by helping with pronunciation or writing things on the board. I feel like I get to accomplish more using the other method and am glad that two out of the three teachers have me doing it that way. Who knows maybe the other teacher will change things up soon and I can work on an individual basis in every class. Keeping my fingers crossed. 

On a side note, it is always interesting to hear the things the kids come up with in class. The other day, one student was absent due to illness and then the kids started joking that they were all coming down with ebola. Leave it to eight-year-olds to find that funny. 

I felt like having soup on Thursday, so I went shopping and then assembled the easiest possible version of corn chowder that I could find on the internet. It actually was pretty good if I do say so myself and with some crackers to thicken it up it was positively enjoyable. Thank goodness for easy recipes that even someone as inept at all things cooking-related as yours truly can manage to do with some measure of success. I was partially motivated to cook after some conversations I’ve had with colleagues at school where they were shocked to think I would go home after school and eat a sandwich and consider that satisfactory. I should clarify that in Spain, lunch, which happens between two and three, is the biggest meal of the day. Thus the surprise of my colleagues that I was eating merely a sandwich for the most important meal. Now I consider my sandwiches to be relatively substantial; however, I like variety as much as the next person so I’ve been trying to put a little more effort into meals at least a couple times a week. 

Corn Chowder!

Friday I went to a concert with my flatmate, Cecilia. It was interesting to say the least. We thought we were actually gonna be arriving a little late, but in typical Spanish fashion, the concert began later than anticipated and when we arrived we were so early that we had our choice of seats. By the way, the concert took place in the plaza de toros, or in English the bullring. Only in Spain. Nothing like the juxtaposition of listening to modern rock music while chilling in a place inundated with cultural and historical significance (also quite controversial nowadays). The first band to perform after the deejay set was rather horrible. They were known as The Crime and it felt sort of like a crime to permit them to go on singing. The next band to perform, Izal, was a big improvement and their voices were quite good. We left around eleven to check out a bar and meet up with some people before going back around midnight to catch the last act of the concert which consisted of a Swedish rock band known as Mando Diao. The band was a little strange. Among other things, the white scarf/cloths they waved about and the unusual lyrics to most of their songs, definitely gave the impression of drugs being involved. Thankfully I only paid five euros, because it probably wasn’t worth more than that. 

Mando Diao

As we headed back to our flat we couldn’t resist the tantalizing aroma of churros. Nothing like a late-night, or actually early-morning, snack of yummy, sugar-coated, unhealthy goodness. As if the concert didn’t have its fair share of strange occurrences, we had a weird encounter with a group of musicians dressed in medieval-looking garb hanging out on a street corner on our way back. As we were passing, they started questioning us and I think they were probably drunk, because if they were speaking in Spanish I couldn’t make it out. However, when we didn’t respond one dude started asking us if we spoke English and where we were from (in English) and when we didn’t acknowledge him he was like “Are you from Denmark?” Seriously, Denmark?! What?! Needless to say, it was a strange ending to the night. 

This weekend I didn’t do much, which was nice after traveling the last two weekends. However, the lack of beautiful photos to display is rather sad. I did go shopping and bought some cute boots that I may never wear because they have heels and those who know me, know that heels and me aren’t the best of friends. I just couldn’t resist them though. They were only fifteen euros which is pretty cheap for boots, so it won’t be too much money gone to waste if I don’t get a lot of use out of them. 

My impractical boots

This entry has, in typical fashion, carried on for an unnecessary length of time. So without further ado, I bid everyone adieu until next week.