Day Five

September 27, 2011

A day full of walking and Spanish history.

Woke up around 10:15 this morning and I immediately started on my chores for the day. Holy shit, sweeping, mopping and dusting an apartment in hot weather really kills ya. I didn't realize how much I was going to sweat doing that; thank God I waited until after to shower... Although I was still sweaty after my shower. Ugh.

One thing I really hate about taking showers here is the fact that there is no fan in my tiny bathroom so when I get out the bathroom is hot and muggy and I instantly get all sweaty. :( Then I go into my room and it's just how in general so the sweating doesn't stop for a while. Then I try to wipe the sweat off myself with my towel but these stupid towels leave little pieces of cotton behind so it turns into a battle with these stupid pieces of cotton all over my body PLUS sweat. It's absolutely killer.

Post shower and new schedule. Since Fernando got his finalized schedule at work today we discuss my finalized working schedule during the week.

Sundays & Saturdays: free.

Mondays: free, except 4-8 working/playing with Carmen.

Tuesdays & Fridays: Cleaning and 4-8 working/playing with Carmen.

Wednesdays & Thursdays: English lesson 10:30-11:30 with the parents and working/playing with Carmen 4-8.

Basically the same thing as before just one free morning during the week and the English lesson and chores got switched just a little. Still NOT complaing!

On to the rest of the day.

Went for a walk of the village with Carmela and Fernando. Learned a bit about Spanish history. Like how Isla Cristina used to actually be an island, given the name, but there was a huge earthquake and tsunami that actually caused the island to become connected to the rest of the country. I can't remember what you but I do remember that. Then I also learned that Isla Cristina suffered terrible damage during the Spanish civil war in the 30's. Lots of churches and such were destroyed (one area picture in my pictures on fb).

We wandered around until about 1:45PM when Carmela and I went back to the apartment while Fernando waited for Carmen to get out of school. Around 2:30 we ate lunch that consisted of spaghetti and fresh baguette. The spaghetti was amazing, go figure, but different. The sauce actually had pieces of fresh tuna in it. Delicious! Then we played games with Carmen to help her with her English and heck help the parents with their's! Carmen and I painted and played with her dolls before settling down and watching some educational shows on tv while Fernando put her new bike together so she could go ride it in the courtyard.

She rode for a little while before deciding she wanted to play hide n' seek for a couple of hours, which was fun. She's actually warming up to me a little! Then we all decided to take her new riding skills to the bike lanes out on the side of the streets. She didn't ride for long before getting bored and wanting to walk. Haha. So Fernando brought her bike back inside and we all just walked down to the central beach area. I, of course, checked out all the hot dudes I saw.. especially the ones in soccer gear!

I've noticed something... I see way more dudes here than women and WAY more attractive dudes than women. Now, I'm not into women but I do know when a woman is attractive or not and most of them here are not! I always thought Spanish women were tall, fit and beautiful but I've definitely been proven wrong. Haha. The men fit their stereotype though! Tall, dark and fucking handsome! Yummmmm. Hopefully I'll meet one to take me out soon. ;)

We stopped in a little store on our walk and bought Carmen some art supplies and new books before heading back home for dinner and bed.

Off to bed for me in about an hour or so. Got an 'English lesson' to teach to the parents tomorrow morning then going to wander town, shop and maybe hit the beach for a bit before getting home to play with Carmen!

Day Four

September 25, 2011

So today started off rather slow. I woke up around 9:45am and immediately got into the shower. After my shower I went onto my balcony and read for about an hour then got really tired so decided to take a nap until around one when Fernando came home. When he got home he, Carmela and I all sat at the table and discussed my duties over the next three months. Simple.

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I will get up at the same time as Fernando to help him with his English for an hour before he goes to work and to discuss the activities I have planned for Carmen in the afternoon, if necessary. Then after that hour I am free to do whatever I want until about 2 when Carmen gets home from school and we all have lunch. Then from 4pm-8pm I will be playing with Carmen and teaching her English. That is the only part that makes me nervous because she tends to not respond when I speak to her in English, though we all are positive she understands me. She's just shy. Hopefully over these three months she will begin to respond with no problem. Tuesdays and Thursdays I am free to wake up whenever I want. At some point during the day (which I will make immediately after I wake up) I am supposed to clean Carmen's room, sweep and dust the living room, Carmen's room and the hall. I am also supposed to clean my room and bathroom but that can be done whenever I want; I'll probably do it the same time as everything else cause it's just easier that way. And I am, again, free to do whatever I want until lunch time and after lunch it's the same routine as Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Saturday's they ask that I just play with Carmen for about 2-3 hours and then after that I have my Saturdays to do whatever I want (like go to Seville or the beach or whatever) and Sundays are all mine!

Weekends are usually really relaxed with the family and they often do things that I will most likely do with them like take weekend trips or go to the beach or whatever.

Anyways, on to the rest of my day!

After we discussed my tasks Fernando and I went to pick Carmen up froms school (which is only a five minute walk or less) while Carmela went to the market to get a fresh baguette for lunch. Then we all had lunch together which was a rice, chicken and beef mixture (super good!). After, Carmela, Carmen and I watched some educational Disney shows while Fernando went back to the high school for a bit to get his revised work schedule.

Half hour or so later and we were on the road! We went to this sporting goods store called Decathalon (I think) near Huelva (the capital of Andalucia) to get Carmen goggles. By the time we left Carmen had goggles, new tennis shoes, a new bike, a swimming cap and a new jacket. The joys of shopping! While Fernando made the purchase Carmela, Carmen and I went outside to play on this little playground and I watched some super hot Spanish men play soccer-- I wanted to jump in on the game so bad!

Then it was off to Punta Umbria, a little coastal fishing town, to meet Carmela's aunt and uncle for some coffee. While there I bought some post cards for some people that I will send out ASAP and three new scarves!

After a couple hours of catching up and enjoying the weather we decided to part ways. On the way home we drove along the coast, which was beautiful during sunset. Got home and Carmen went to bed while I made myself a PORK hamburger for dinner and then installed the internet on my computer.

Finally uploaded the pictures I've taken and started this blog for everyone!

Now that is is 1:40AM I am going to go to sleep so I can get up, do my chores and hopefully hit the beach for a bit before lunch time tomorrow!

Days 1-3

Day One

September 23, 2011

So after an insane 25 hour long trip I have finally made it to my destination in Isla Cristina which is in the south of Spain about half an hour from the border of Portugal. My trip overall was good, just long and tiring.
The flight from Seattle to Chicago was delayed about 30-45 minutes so that caused me to miss my connection flight in Chicago to Newark by one minute. Luckily there was another flight going to Newark at four (my original flight was supposed to leave at three) and there was room for me on there. Sat next to this pretty decent looking Brazilian guy that was traveling to Portugal and then Russia (which I am so jealous of!). Got to Newark and had a 1.5 hour layover so I figured I would eat something. I chose ‘New York style pizza’. It was great, ate every last bite of that massive slice of pizza but later I don’t think my body liked it so much.
The flight to Madrid was straight hell. That pizza wasn’t agreeing with my stomach (and still isn’t) so I felt nauseous the entire 7 hour flight and my stomach was cramping too. Then to top it off my feet and hands swelled so much it was unbelievable (they never did on any of my other flights in my life). And wait, there is more. My shoulder was killing me and my nose was stuffed the entire trip (oh and still is too!). To make everything worse… the lady next to me had poop breath. Every time she opened her mouth it smelt like someone took a dump in the airplane. That really didn’t make my already pissed of stomach feel any better. Luckily I had some anti-nausea pills I was given for my migraines and some Tylenol/Advil so I was able to take a cocktail of those and pass out for a couple hours. Watched Bridesmaids and Kung Fu Panda 2, all complimentary, on my own personal tv! Then I landed in Madrid and there started my ‘omg im so confused and everyone here can kiss my ass fucking dicks’ attitude.
People didn’t bother to get out of the way when you said excuse me a million times (even in Spanish!) or they would just run into you as if you were a ghost and not even apologize. To top everything off I had no idea where I was going and the damn airport isn’t marked well for those that don’t frequent Madrid Barajas International. After getting lost a few times I found someone nice enough to respond to me when I said ‘excuse me, im lost’. They directed me to the right place! Got to terminal four (which holy shit was like on the other side of the city it felt) and I thought things would go smoothly. No, shit still was retarded. Not only did I look like I just crawled out of a cave after ten years of isolation I could barely walk because my stomach was STILL giving me issues and just the right movement and I felt like I was going to vomit and/or combust. I thought maybe if I ate something, I would feel better. Get my stomach to stop churning around that damn pizza.
I wandered off to this Mediterranean style food restaurant in the airport. All I wanted was a sandwich and a beer. So after standing there and watching people just cut in front of me and the employees not seem to care that there was no sense of order here I just stepped up to the register. When the lady finally came over to me (after about fifteen minutes) I said ‘hmm well im not sure’ and she cut me off with a scoff and a wave of her hand. Fuck you bitch! So then I had to stand there for another fifteen or so minutes, by this point ready to jump over the counter and kick some ass. The manager finally came over and I told him I wanted the ‘Iberian cured ham baguette’ he looked at me and said ‘no hamburgers!’ I was like ‘what?’ and I pointed to the little sign on the counter and he said ‘no, no hamburgers’ I still stood their bewildered and again repeated I wanted the damn baguette and then he looked at the sign and said ‘oh’ and sent an employee to get me my stupid baguette. Sat down like a loner at a table and enjoyed my baguette and water before wandering off to find out when I could check in for my flight because it was only 11am and my flight wasn’t supposed to leave until 3:50pm. Luckily I was able to check in at like 1pm… though that ended up not meaning anything. My flight still had an unknown gate so I had to sit by the monitor for two hours (which I ended up passing out for most of luckily) before I found out what gate I was at- J41. Everything there went smooth. Talked to this guy that was on my Newark to Madrid flight as well as this one from Madrid to Sevilla/Seville. Then got on the plane and just passed the fuck out, before we even took off and woke up as everyone was unbuckling their seatbelts to get off the plane. Baggage claim was easy and then it was off to see if I could figure out who the family was awaiting me on the other side of the airport doors.
That turned out easy. There was only one family (father, mother and young daughter) waiving at me so I knew it had to be them. Plus, I remembered the daughters face from pictures; no way I couldn’t, she’s absolutely adorable! They were so warm and welcoming it was amazing, totally helped settle my nerves. We got to the car and drove to Ikea (which they called I-kay-uh which I thought was totally funny). Bought Carmen, the daughter, a new little table and chairs for her and I to color at later (which we totally did and it was awesome even if we can’t understand each other). There were lots of cute Spanish men there to… ohhhh weeeee I was in heaven! Lol but of course couldn’t pull the swag out just yet, I just met the family! Another hour or so drive and we ended up in the little fishing village of Isla Cristina. And when I say little fishing town I totally mean it. The buildings are all super old (just like I pictured) and there are fishing boats at every small body of water.
Got to the family’s flat and had a nice little tour of the small, but cute place. Helped put Carmen’s new table and chairs together and then it was time for dinner at like 9pm which is totally crazy to me but totally normal here! We had a lovely dinner of pasta with tomato sauce and hamburger, a couple types of bread, asparagus (which isn’t green here by the way) and some tasty as fuck lamb cheese. I love goat cheese but I think this lamb cheese just took me to a whole new level that I don’t know if I’m going to want to come down from when I go home. Chatted with the family a little about their life and mine. Got on the topic of futbol (soccer) of course! Luckily the father and I both love Barca so he said I am allowed to stay, haha. Apparently they are having a match tomorrow and we are going to try to watch it.Well, that’s all for today. Time to lie down, read and let myself fall asleep so I can get up and hopefully go to the beach tomorrow!

Day Two

September 24, 2011

Well today is my second day here in the land of palm trees, beaches, sun and hot weather aka southern Spain. Things are getting to feel a bit more like home now that I’ve got all of my things unpacked in my room and now that I’ve spent the night here. I slept really well actually and slept for about ten hours which is amazing. Now I feel refreshed and ready to go! Jet lag hasn’t gotten to me too much.
Started the day off with a nice swim in the pool that is for tenants of the flats (apartments) only. Nice little pool although they must not have many short people in Spain (or at least in these flats) because the pool has a very small shallow section and that still isn’t very shallow… I had to stand on my toes practically to reach the bottom haha. Then we came inside and had a nice lunch. Holy crap I am in love with Toritallas Espana. They are called ‘spanish omelettes’ in English. They are fried potatoes and onions mixed with eggs. They don’t look like what we consider omelettes but more like a one layer cake. Absolutely delicious though! I know what I’ll be eating/making for breakfast at home now. Then we had dessert of ice cream and this really tasty melon. Not sure what kind of melon because they just called it melon but it was delicious. Looked like a watermelon on the outside but a pale cantaloupe on the inside. Yummy! Played with Carmen for a little bit but it’s hard to play with her because she doesn’t speak English and I don’t speak Spanish. Oh the joys of au pairing in a foreign country! Now it’s siesta time. The family is sleeping while I am sitting in my room writing this listening to a soccer game outside and someone playing Linkin Park. Once the siesta is over we are going to go to Portugal to walk around. J I will update this more when we get back from Portugal for now I am going to sit on my balcony and read while enjoying the wonderful sun that has already gotten me a tan in the 1.5 hours we were swimming!
Well, today was fun! After siesta time we went to Portugal for a few hours to walk around and shop a little. I fell in love immediately. It’s so gorgeous there and I decided I am moving there at some point in my life. Haha. I’m not sure the name of the little town we went to but I do know it’s about 20-30 minutes away from Isla Cristina by car and right on the ocean. In fact, you can see Spain from the little town if you just look across the river. And no, it’s not a really wide river. It’s insane to think that you can see a whole different country just about 3-5 miles from where you are. The people there were actually really nice and spoke English well. Fernando (the father of the family I am living with/working for) told me that Portuguese people speak English much better than Spanish people and he said he thinks it’s because in theaters they don’t dub the movies to Portuguese instead they just leave them in English with Portuguese subtitles; the Spanish, however, do dub the movies and leave out any subtitles.
I can’t wait until I get my first bit of money so I can actually shop. Things are actually pretty damn cheap and seem to be good quality. I bought some new shades today with a case and some batteries for my camera and it was all about 8 euro. I’m excited to go back, since I was told we would be going a lot, and shop. I already found gifts for some people and it’s only my second day here! I know a few of you are going to be a bit harder to shop for but oh well; I have three months to shop. Haha. We also sat at this small café and drank coffee and ate this delicious pastry that kind of reminded me of crème brulee. It looks just like the movies. These really old buildings, cobblestone streets/walkways and tables outside these cute little cafes. Ahhhhh I am definitely in love with the place! I’m excited to explore more of Spain and Portugal.
In a couple of weeks I guess we are going to O Grove which is in Galicia, up in the northwest of Spain. The family I work for is actually from there and they have a house up there. I guess when we go up there is a huge seafood festival since the village is all about seafood, it’s a huge part of daily life there. We are going for a week. It should be really exciting! All of their family lives up there so I’ll get to meet everyone. Funny story actually. Tonight at dinner we were talking about dancing and such and Carmela (the mother) asked if I liked to dance and I of course told her yes but I’m not very good at it. We all laughed and she said ‘it doesn’t matter, as long as you enjoy yourself’ which I totally agree with. So we got to talking more about it and she told me she has a nephew that is 17 or 18 that I can go out with at nights there and go dancing with a huge grin on her face. Haha. Getting set up by the darn family… Oh well not going to complain, hopefully he is attractive! ;) Well that is it for now. Time to lay down, read my Spain information book a little, read my normal book a little and then get to bed.

Day Three

September 25, 2011

White sand beaches. Crystal clear green waters. Extremely tan people. Portugal, once again you have made me fall in love with you. Two days in a row. I don’t know what to make of this other than I need to move to the southern coast of Portugal at some point in my life.
There isn’t much to write today as I did mostly one thing all day and that was lay on Playa Verde (Green Beach) on the southern coast of Portugal today. I woke up around 10:30 this morning, took a shower and as I was walking back to my room I was happily greeted with a ‘good morning’ and a ‘we’re going to the beach today’. Of course I couldn’t be anything but happy. It was a beautiful sunny, warm but not insanely hot day today and the beach sounded absolutely wonderful. And these beaches are actual beaches not that crap we call a beach, Alki. Haha. We left the house around 11:30 and got to the beach around 12:15/12:30 in Portugal. It was absolutely breath taking. I never knew what white sand beaches actually looked like until today. It’s gorgeous! If you think the beaches of California with their golden sand are beautiful you don’t know what beautiful is until you see a white sand beach lining the edges of crystal clear green waters.
I took lots of pictures of course! I immediately changed into my bikini and ran out to the water. It was cold at first but ahhh it felt so amazing after a little while. You could even see a little school of fish swimming around which was really cool but kind of freaked me out at first because I’m totally not used to that. We swam and sun bathed for a couple of hours until we went up the hill a little to this awesome restaurant that over looked the beach. We had all kinds of food, mostly seafood given our location. Our first course was crab with this awesome dipping sauce and a dish made of cod, eggs and potatoes. Both were absolutely delicious and I wish I had a bigger stomach so I could enjoy more of it! I took pictures of course for everyone! Then our second course was this giant skewer with pork and giant shrimp. Now, those that know me know I do NOT like pork for some reason but OH MY GOD this shit was delicious. If I could eat pork like that then I would eat it more often. Haha. The shrimp were delicious too although once I noticed the eyes were still on the shrimp I got a little freaked out since I felt like the poor thing was staring at me begging me not to eat him. I got over that of course, as soon as I tasted how good the ‘meat’ inside was. Now by this time I was beyond full because I have a stomach the size of a fucking golf ball but we weren’t done. Nope. Time for dessert. I had this cute little chocolate sundae that was good. Then it was back to the beach.
We swam and laid out in the sun for a few more hours and finally decided to head back to the house around 7. Six and a half hours in the sun and I am totally not complaining. Working on my tan and enjoying one of the most relaxing places on earth! When we got back to the house we went for a dip in the apartment pool for about 15 minutes before deciding to go inside since we were all pretty tired from being in the sun all day. We came inside, cleaned up a little and then all relaxed. I watched a bunch of episodes of Little Einsteins with Carmen while Fernando (the dad) worked on some work since he has work tomorrow and Carmela (the mom) did a bunch of random things, like laundry and such.
Around 9:30 we had dinner, as usual in Spain… late dinners. We had salami, Spanish salami (I don’t remember the special name for it), queso (cheese) and cured ham (again, don’t remember the special name for it) with some bread. Now, I love ham but man cured ham is even better than cooked ham! I wish I could get my hands on some in the US but Fernando said he is pretty sure Spain is the only country that cures ham… Looks like I’ll be having it shipped to me. Haha. We also had this super delicious pizza that I don’t even know what was on it but it was good!
One thing I have noticed that is totally different from the US is the choice of drink with dinner (er almost every meal except breakfast). Most Americans drink milk with their dinner or soda or juice with their dinner or lunch. In Spain water is a really common drink at dinner time, at least within this family. I am not complaining though, water is delicious and it keeps me away from drinking soda!Now it’s time for bed! I still haven’t been told exactly what tasks I’ll be expected to do other than help the parents with their English and teach Carmen some English; although we all are pretty sure she understands a lot of English but likes to pretend she doesn’t. Tomorrow starts the work week so we will see how things go.