Around Europe in One Day

It was pointed out to me by a certain somebody that I haven’t written here since Halloween/Córdoba, and that my mom is probably checking everyday to see if I’ve updated yet…so here it goes...

I haven’t gone on any huge trips or done anything extraordinary in the past few weeks, but I’ve been loving life. Work is…well…work. Some days it’s fine, other days it’s pretty rough. But it could be a lot worse, so I’m not complaining. My favorite moment in school recently was when a girl came into class with a shopping bag and handed it to me, saying, “I have a present for you.”  In a few seconds, I thought about all the possibilities of what it could be…a bottle of wine? A new scarf? A sparkly necklace? ...It was a pomegranate the size of my head. A strange gift, yes, but a delicious one. That girl gets an extra sticker next class.

The weekend after Halloween/Córdoba, I went into Madrid to visit a friend of mine who had been an auxiliar in a town south of me last year, and is now teaching in Madrid. It was really great catching up with her as we ate some delicious tapas in one of Madrid’s cheapest tapas bars, El Tigre.  I also got to see a huge mall in Madrid, La Isla Azul.  There was a pet store.  I seriously thought about buying one of the puppies there…but I don’t think my landlord would like that very much.

The next day, I went with Juan to Parque Europa…a park filled with smaller replicas of some of Europe’s most recognizable monuments.  In one afternoon, we visited the Trevi Fountain, Eiffel Tower, and London Bridge. How many people can say they’ve done that?

Torre de Belém, Lisbon

The Little Mermaid, Copenhagen and London Tower Bridge

David, Florence

This past weekend was spent going out hard, until 8am on Thursday night. Struggling through work on Friday. Eating Chinese food Friday night. Spending Saturday in bed watching movies and eating M&Ms mixed with popcorn.  Sunday, I actually left my apartment.

Whitney and I went with a family to a town a little over a half an hour from ours to spend the day walking around and to eat lunch.  The fall colors on the trees were gorgeous and we had a really nice day, just hanging out.

Fresh mountain drinking water.

One of many super narrow streets.

This week, we'll celebrate Fakesgiving. I definitely learned by trial and error doing it last year, so hopefully this year’s feast goes well.  Tomorrow I have to go to the butcher to order the turkey breast. Last year, by this point I still didn’t really speak Spanish and I accidently ordered a FULL turkey from this guy and when he tried to charge me 50some euros for it, I politely informed him I had wanted just the turkey breast…he was not very happy with me. I doubt there’s much of a demand for whole turkeys in Navalmoral. We’ll see if he still remembers and hates me tomorrow…