Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.
I went this morning to get my NIE number (for foreigners card, that you can't do ANYTHING without) and I FORGOT MY PASSPORT. You have to get there 30 min before it opens and stand in line and you get a number and you only maybe get in if someone who has an appt. doesn't show up. So I came home, because by the time I realized I didn't have it, after sitting there waiting, they were already giving out the numbers.

On a lighter note, all 33 Chilean miners are safe and the rescue workers as well!

On an even better/more exciting note....I'm going to Alicante tomorrrowwwwwwww!

Wednesday.

Today I finally went back to work. Man, those days off put you in the mood to do nothing! It was a good day though. We started out with the bilingual teachers meetings, like every Wednesday, where all the teachers that teach their classes in English go to coordinate and talk about difficulties with the teachers that can actually speak English. Today it was funny, because after a while of speaking in Spanish, finally the coordinator said, "We need to start speaking in English!" Then, all the yelling and discussing stopped. For once, a room full of Spaniards had nothing to say! Ha! So I started talking, haha, because obviously I have no trouble with English! We ended the meeting with clarifying a lot of doubts they had about commonly used words in the classroom, like "Sit down." "Put the blinds down." "Open your books." "Put your books away." "Did you understand?" We argued awhile over what the Persianas were called...they are blinds that close over the whole window so when you put them all the way down no light enters at all. And of course I said there was no perfect translation because Persianas don't exist in America. And it was funny because they were saying, "Close the shutters." I told them "blinds" were much better although even that is not a perfect translation. I would like to know how rich the person is that invented Persianas.


Then, I was in two classes. After that, I came home, ate a bocadillo with chorizo and tomato and olive oil, then went running for the first time in over a week. All I have to say is, I don't know what I'm going to do when I can't run on the trails I run on now, because its too cold, or when I become to old/overworked to run, if there ever is a day. I think I will just die, maybe. I love it so much, especially here. The trails I find just by exploring make me so happy. Sometimes I will just be running and I'll have to stop--and just stare---because I can't believe I'm there and that I'm running someplace so beautiful. The mountains in the distance are so pretty...if it were drier and desert-y I would say the mountains look like the mountains in Tucson.


I've been a little bit down today because it is hard to escape from the news of the 33 Chilean miners anytime you turn on the TV. So many have been rescued already, by this time. Every time I see the footage though, I can't help but cry. It hits so close to home, and it is such a miracle that today, when they brought the first miners up, I couldn't help but cry and get goosebumps. Part of me is so jealous--and I hate feeling jealous--of the families, because after a mining accident, they still get to be with their families. It blows my mind that not one of the miners died in the accident, out of 33 people, they are all still healthy. It also gives me a lot of happiness to see the rescue though, because I know Ravi is there helping each and every one get out alright. Their families must be overjoyed, but I can't help wondering why them, and why not Ravi? I know these are probably not thoughts that I should be having, but it is impossible not to be reminded that in each surfacing miner's happiness, there is in me a gaping hole left by losing another on a similar way. I have such mixed feelings, it is overwhelming.

I also had my first clase particular today (tutoring!) for the son of one of the teachers at my school, Carmen. His name is Abel and he is studying English at the University in his second year, and he's 18. He speaks very well but they have these really tough exams in December, and he has to speak perfectly on it. He lives, like many of the students here, in a flat by himself, but then he commutes home on the weekends to where his parents live, in a little pueblecito.

Tonight we have Germans making us dinner again.. Wish me luck. The last time this happened, I got super sick. But I don't think it was the food.

New trail I discovered today, looking more beautiful than ever!

I was on the news in Castilla-La Mancha Tuesday! Then this video was played at the parents meeting at my school, on Wednesday. So even though I wasn't there, they got to see me.

http://www.departamentos.ieshernanperezdelpulgar.eu/

I also had some interesting experiences happen today...one of the kids passed out outside the school (one of the Bachillerato students, so a bit older) and was throwing up and the ambulance came. They thought he might have taken drugs. Welp. As the ambulance people were treating him, they had him trying to walk around the school building, and the woman that was holding him up walking, was smoking. The medic. Was smoking while being a paramedic.

Clinic visit

If you have a weak stomach, stop reading here!!!

So I went to the clinic today because I was puking and under, well, a LOT of distress, a lá the big D.

Clinic trip = most efficient thing i have ever done in Spain.
1) I suddenly had a bad bout of the D right when i was walking into the doctor's room. went to the one-er bathroom. a FAMILY walked in on me. A FAMILY. All I could do was laugh (2 hours after)/
2) By the time i got over my embarrassment and exited the bathroom, after them seeing my ENTIRE bottom and hearing me spout things, I went into the office where my roommate Kylah (god bless her soul) had already told the young doc what was going on. i laid on the thing for a total of 1 minute and he asked me...ehhmm...2 questions, whether my appendix hurt and whether i had eaten anything weird.
3) then he wrote me a prescripton. for 3 medicines, which i proceeeded to purchase at the farmacia for a whopping 5.50 euros.
4) no medical history, no co-pay, in and out in less than 20.
And then I proceeded to hit my head on my headboard. Again. When I tried to scoot up.
This day just makes me laugh.

VIVA ESPAÑA! And I really hope to feel better soon.

In Plaza Mayor in Ciudad Real there is a huge clock, and every hour on the hour three men come outside playing instruments and play a tune for about 3 minutes. It wouldn't let me insert a video but if you type in "Ciudad Real Clock" on youtube.com, you can see it.

Today I saw my first plastic-covered stroller, to my dismay, fall is here and soon the babies here will be wrapped in sleeping bags and underneath plastic to protect them from wind, rain, and I guess, breathing in the same air as everyone else.

I just returned from a delightful 2 and a half hour walk with two of my flatmates, Noemi and Madeleine. We went out south of the city in the area called La Vía Verde (the green path, more or less). My legs are sore form walking so much.

Last night we went out to a botellon, which is more or less a parking lot filled with 500 young people drinking. It was fun. Like nothing you could EVER see in the States. Think tailgate, but at night, and no cars, and no food. Later we went to a place called Momause about 10 min from the university and one of the guys we were with was from Kurdistan (I think) and 8 of us--4 american girls, one american guy, 2 german guys, and one kurdish guy, held hands in a circle and did a traditional Kurdish dance that he taught us in the middle of a crowded club on Saturday night in Ciudad Real. So funny.

My new job(s)!

So I will be teaching in a secondary school, mostly kids from age 12-16, for the school year, and there's the possibility to renew my contract if I really want to (gah my mom would kill me). I will be in the math, science, and English classes acting as a TA, basically. These three subjects are taught in English. So far, my schedule is looking pretty great. I do a full day on Monday and Tuesday and Wed/Thursday a half day and I don't have to work on Fridays! I havent set up any tutoring appointments yet. I have, however, started in the classroom. Today I went into a math class of 7th graders with a teacher named Victoria, and an English class with the coordinator of the English program, Teresa. I feel very comfortable there and I like everyone I have met so far. They are much less formal here, with the teacher/student relationship. You can yell at kids and grab them if you really need them to be quiet. And the students kind of yell back. I think thats more just Spanish culture. Everybody tries to talk over everybody else, haha! The kids call the teachers by their first names, all the time. The teachers wear polos and jeans or a sweater and jeans, nothing formal. I brought stuff I know I'm never going to wear. :/

The kids had fun asking me questions in English about Missouri..."Is there a beach" "If you go to New York, how do you go?" "Do you know any famous people?" " "In Missouri, does you eat hamburgers all the time?" but it sounds like "Een Meesoori, duhss yu eht hambehrgehrs aw de tiiiime?" "Ehh, what food do you dehtest? (detest! what a word to know in English) Their accents are very very thick but the more they speak in English, the more they learn. So far, I like it a lot.

Did I mention I loved how cheap it is in this city? My stipend will suffice! Plus tapas are free if you order a drink. They just GIVE THEM TO YOU. Amazing.