I know it has been a long time since I wrote. So much has happened this summer, with DC, and Ravi, that I have completely forgotten that A) I'm moving to Spain in a month, and B) that people want to know what's going on!
I will be leaving Sept 23. I am moving to a small city called Ciudad Real (which means Royal City) which is about an hour south of Madrid and a little bit west. It is within the province of Castilla la Mancha, in the heart of Spain. According to Wiki, "It is mostly in this region where the story of the famous Spanish novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes is situated - due to which La Mancha is internationally well-known. Although La Mancha is a windswept, battered plateau, it remains a symbol of the Spanish culture with its sunflowers, mushrooms, oliveyards, windmills, Manchego cheese, and Don Quixote."
They are known for their great "embutido," meaning sausages and hams. CR is a stop on the AVE high speed train as of a couple years ago (thank goodness!) with easy access to Madrid and Sevilla. I don't feel like writing all about it so I might copy and paste some of the info I have from Wikipedia about Ciudad Real.
"After the unification of the Iberian kingdoms under the Catholic Monarchs, Ciudad Real became the capital of the province of La Mancha in the 17th century (1691). This fact favoured its economic development which was spilled into important buildings. The city was founded by Alfonso X in the 13th century (1255) to fight with the Military Order of Calatrava.
The city was surrounded by walls. Nowadays, there are only two parts of the wall left."
The city is also home of the Universidad de Castilla la Mancha. I can't wait to get to know it. Right now the temp there is 95 so pretty close to Missouri. They are known for harsh summers and harsh winters. it seems to stay hotter for longer than Missouri but have a longer, harsh winter in December-March. We'll have to see!
I will be teaching at a secondary school...not sure if it is the post-secondary school type or not. They have one secondary school that goes from age 12-16 and then 2 years of non-compulsory college prep. My school is called IES Hernán Pérez del Pulgar. Hernan Perez del Pulgar is a famous captain of the Spanish army in the 1400-1500s from Ciudad Real.
