Holy Moly...Six Months

Guess what...it's February! This month means I've been in Spain for 6 months and in Caceres for 5 months! I actually cannot believe it. There have definitely been many ups and downs here and I often have mixed feeling about the last 5 months. Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful for every experience I've had here. Sometimes it's hard to forget how amazing life is. When I take a second to count the good experiences  verses the bad ones, I think there's slightly more better experiences! Within the last few months I've been able to visit great friends in Germany and gain a new family for a while. I had a wonderful (but short) visit to Portugal in which I literally fell in love with Lisbon in 3 days. I went hiking in the clouds with my most sincere friends and I got to go sledding in the mountains with all of the little kids! It's sometimes hard to see how many amazing things are around you when your mind is elsewhere. I'm determined to make the next 4 months unforgettable. I'm determined to make an effort to live presently and never forget how extremely grateful I am for this amazing opportunity!

Here's to living in the present!

CAZ

Halloween

I absolutely love Halloween. I might even go as far as to say it's my favorite holiday! I couldn't wait for the festivities to start here and spread my spooky cheer with Spain! However, I can't say the Spanish love the holiday as much as I'd hoped for! All week long I taught about the holiday in classes, dressing up a little everyday. The kids loved it! But when I would ask 'who's going trick-or-treating?' No one would raise their hands! I was shocked really because it's such a big thing for the little ones back home. I remember as a kid picking my costume out months in advance and dreaming about the one night I'd actually be allowed out in public looking like a crazy person! Plus the loads of candy made the anticipation that much more intensified! I definitely didn't see that same excitement here.
On Halloween day I decided to dress as a pineapple! I was so excited for my costume! I spent about a week making the top of my pineapple, as well as buying a few things to complete the outfit. I was sure I'd have the most clever (and most random) costume at school! When I came down from my room and went to my class, everyone looked at me so confused! When I explained what I dressed as they understood but they still didn't get why I was dressed up. What was even weirder was walking to a shop in my costume and getting the intense stares and the occasional 'what the hell are you wearing' (of course in Spanish) from people passing by! It wasn't the warm Halloween welcome I'd expected! No one at school was dressed up and no one in Caceres was really dressed up. I was kind of sad about the lack of excitement for my favorite holiday. But I made up for it by teaching a couple of the boarding girls how to make a Jack-O-Lantern! We spent the night painting our faces like cats, hanging out with the glowing face of our new pumpkin friend and watching detective shows. It may not have been the Halloween I'd expected, but it sure was an experience!

Happy belated Halloween,
CAZ

Into the Woods!

A few weeks ago one of my fellow teachers, Joelle, mentioned her love of hiking. We had a short conversation about the nature in Spain verses that of California and I mentioned that I sometimes went hiking back home. I never thought much about our conversation. Well this past week she invited me to go with her, her husband and a hiking club for a weekend hike! I could not pas up such an offer, so I agreed and come Saturday morning I was ready to go! Well let me tell you, this hiking club means serious business!  When I arrived at the bus and I saw everyone dressed to hiking perfection I was immediately intimidated. They all wore the best hiking boots, those really cool fast dry shirts and pants. Not to mention they carried very impressive backpacks and walking sticks. All I had was a small backpack, my running shoes and leggings. Nevertheless I got on the bus and said a little prayer that I'd make it in my running shoes!

From Caceres we drove for 2 hours before we arrived to the start of the trail. Once on the trail I felt a little better about my shoes seeing that the path was pretty well defined. The trail consisted of two parts, part one was going up the mountain and the second part was descending the mountain. On the way up there were not a lot of trees or shrubbery. That does not mean that the scenery wasn't gorgeous, it was amazing! I think the most beautiful part of it all were the colors which were a luminous green and red. As we ascended, Joelle and her husband told me that this path was used for transporting coal to and from the two valleys that lay on either side of the mountain. I tried to imagine horses with carts full of coal on the narrow trail and I could only imagine a dangerous journey for these people!

Right before we reached the top of the mountain we came upon a lot of water! Aaaand that's when my running shoes failed me...my feet became instantly soaked as we had to trudge through multiple creeks. It did not stop me though! Soon we had reached the top which felt like a great accomplishment! At the top there was a bell which is rung if you need luck finding a girlfriend or boyfriend! I gladly rang the bell, both for the luck and for the reward of making it to the top!

On the descend, we walked through an oak alley! It was a surprising and welcomed change of scenery from that of the other side of the mountain. All throughout this area I saw hundreds of red mushrooms! They were so beautiful, almost fairytale like! Apparently they are very poisonous, so much so that people have died from eating them! I stayed away from them! A little further down the path we stoped for lunch at a gorgeous little stone bridge. Joelle told me that it was built in medieval times and has survived all these years. It felt like a privilege to be able to eat my lunch on it! From that point we only walked for 2 more hours. The trail ended in a small village. The village looked as if it hadn't changed for centuries! One building I passed had the date 1729 on the outside! It was so cool to see such old buildings in pretty good condition. After stopoing in the town for a few minutes we got back  on the bus and made the long treck back to Caceres! And that is the conclusion of my hiking adventure! I thoroughly enjoyed this surprise adventure and have already made plans to go again!

You never know what adventures this world will present, so pack your hiking boots ;)

Yours,
CAZ

A Lot to Tell...

Since I last posted, I've seen and done a lot! I simultaneously have become quite lazy about keeping my blog up to date....I greatly apologize! So, I hope through this recap I can give you a small taste of the places I have seen in the past weeks!

#1:Madrid

Madrid became the city of walking. Most of the time I looked at a map and would decide on a general direction in which in could possibly find a monument or place of interest. One day I walked toward the Botanical Gardens. What I found was a massive park with a crystal palace! In the park I also came upon some wonderful musicians who played joyous tunes near a large pond. People sauntered past them, some throwing coins in their cases as a thank you. It was wonderful!

Another day I walked through the many halls of the museum Reina Sofia. I saw works by Picasso and Dali. It was a well spent afternoon.

One of my favorite walks was with new friends. One walk included meeting a bunch of people for dinner and drinks. Most of these new friends are also teaching English for the year with the same program. I enjoyed meeting people from Florida, England, and Ireland. Another walk I took was with a friend named Tom. We wandered the streets of Madrid for 3 hours just seeing what we could find! And what did we find? An Egyptian Temple. Yes, you read that correctly....an Egyptian Temple! A totally unexpected monument that neither of us intended to find. I don't think I would have seen as much as I did without this lovely walk with Tom. I thoroughly enjoyed my many walks in Madrid. I hope to do it again soon!

#2: The Basque Country

After my time in Madrid I made my way to Bilbo to visit my friend Melissa and her new host family. Melissa and her new family were such gracious hosts as they picked me up, included me in family outings and generally made me feel like one of the family! Not to mention they have two of the cutest kids I've ever met! It was fun to hear little munchkins speak Spanish (and Basque)! It was even cuter trying to teach them words in English! One of my favorite thing I did with the family was visit a Fire Station. The host father is a firefighter and he invited us to come see his station. There we got a full tour of the place and then.....we got to slide down the exit pole! It was so much fun! It was very cool to see the commonalities and the differences in the work these men do compared to what I know of firefighting from home. I am excited to see Melissa and her family again soon!

After a few days of hanging with the wonderful family I made my way to San Sebastian. There I met up with one of my brother's friends, Sonia. Sonia picked me up and greeted me as if I'd been an old friend! My brother had told me how wonderful She was but I had no idea how incredibly welcoming she would be! When we finally arrived to her town (Zarautz) we met up with a few of her friends for breakfast. At breakfast the girls said they wanted to go to France for the day for some shopping.....I almost fell out of my chair in excitement! We were going to France for shopping, so casually!!! We hopped in the car and drove about an hour. We enjoyed a wonderfully sunny day on the coast of southern France! The next day I said good bye to my new friends, still in awe of the amazing day we had! I promised to visit again soon and I will most definitely keep my promise!

#3: Caceres

And now I am in Caceres, where I will be living for the rest of the year. I have conquered one week of teaching kids ages 0-11, I have moved into my room at the school and I have befriended the students who are also living here. I am excited to explore more and meet more people! I will keep you all updated on more of these adventures!

XOXO,
CAZ

Valencia!

Well I don't have any photos to share with you all! As many of you now know my phone was stolen in a moment of "not paying attention". I was pretty disappointed in myself for not being on guard at all times. However this unfortunate event did not stop me from enjoying Valencia! The city was beyond gorgeous as it was almost entirely made up of old buildings and majestic churches, AND A RIVER THAT HAD DRIED UP! That was crazy to see! The city turned it into a lovely park that is full of greenery.

I also met a group of lovely people: The woman who shared my bunk bed, her name is Magdalena, invited me to go out with her and her friends for dinner one night. Turns out she and all of her friends were super smart....were studying something about satellites at the Univeristy of Valencia (yahoo they tried to explain it to me but it was way over my head!). Magdalena told me that there was a course for all Europeans in this field of study bein held at the university and that's how they all met. So at dinner I ended up meeting Italians, Portuguese, Greek and German people! It was so great hearing about what they were doing! The people I met truly made me enjoy my time in Valencia even if it started off on the wrong foot!

Life is full of lessons and very enjoyable people!

CAZ

My Spanish Adventure Part One: Barcelona

Lessons from a Flower Shop