Mom and Bob's Trip to Spain

I had a wonderful visit with Mom and Bob last weekend!  The arrived on Thursday afternoon and stayed until Tuesday morning.  It was quick, but sweet!  Thursday we didn't do too much because they were tired from the flight, but we went out and walked around the city, we bought our Carnaval costumes and we had cañas and tapas.  Friday we spent visiting the village I work in--Torrejoncillo.  That was a lot of fun!  We went to the school and they met everyone I work with, including quite a few of my students as well.  One of my friends at work (Yolanda, who is also my landlord) was able to take some time off work and show us around the village.  We went to the pottery factory and then to a jewelry store.  Bob was even able to make his own pottery!

Saturday, we spent in Cáceres.  We did some shopping, had lunch at Zeppelin (one of the really good tapas restaurants) and then we walked around the Old City (the Roman part).  Our favorite thing to do is to find the windows where the cloistered nuns sell their pastries.  It's like a lazy susan type of window, where you ask for what you want, they spin it around to you, and then you send the money back to them.  It's a really cool experience!  We went to two different windows because they're so much fun.

Sunday was our travel day.  First we went to Mérida to see the Roman theater, amphitheater and the bridge.  We took tons of pictures!!!  Then we drove over to Badajoz because that is where the biggest celebration of Carnaval is in Extremadura.  When we got there, we put on our hippie costumes and were ready for the parade!

Monday was another day in Cáceres.  We drove up the mountain to get a wonderful view of the city.  We had lunch out again, and then we walked around the Old City again for a while, stopping by some of the shops and taking pictures.

I hope everyone back home is doing great.  Miss you all and can't wait to see you guys in June!

Love,

Kate

Valentine's Day Story

Hi Everyone! 


So I know in my last e-mail I said that I would fill everyone in on my "not-so-secret admirer" in my class named Carlos.  It all started about a month or so ago when I was passing out a worksheet for them to do.  I passed by his desk and he says under his breath, "madre mía, qué bien hueles..." which means, "my goodness, you smell so good."  Since this was only the first time he said something, I tried to play the "dumb American" who doesn't understand when he speaks quickly in Spanish.  


The following week, the Celes (the teacher I work with) came over to me and put her arm around me while asking the class, "Have you seen how well Kate and I get along?" And Carlos said in pretty choppy english, "IS MINE NOT YOU!"  Celes said, "First of all, that is not correct English" and she wrote on the board "She is mine, not yours."  And then she said, "and that's not even true!  Have YOU eaten a meal with Kate?"  We were all dying of laughter!

The week after that, Celes was telling them that they needed to bring colored paper and markers for the next class because they were going to make Valentine's Day cards.  She told them that it could be for anyone they wanted... their mother, father, brother, sister, lover... or even a teacher.  At that moment, Carlos looked straight at me and said, "That is the best option!"  Anyways, I am going to post images of the final card because I am pretty sure you will all get a good laugh at the final product.

(In case you can't read it very well, it says: When I look I think you're the only woman in the world.  I always thought that you are the flower of the desert.  Love, this is the word of my life.  Every morning I wake up seeing your face in a cloud.)

I hope things are going well back in the States.  I miss you all!  

Love always,

Kate

Navidades (Christmas Time)

So sorry I have been so bad at keeping up with my blog.  I literally JUST got internet set up in my new apartment (yesterday) so it has been quite difficult to stay in touch with the outside world!  I don't even remember where the last entry left off--however I know that it was a long, long time ago!


School has been going pretty well.  Yesterday was our first day back after the holiday vacation, and it was brutal but also nice getting back into the swing of things.  I went home to surprise my family for Christmas, which was very fun.  I was only there for six days, though, so it was a really quick trip.  And for New Year's Eve I was back in Cáceres with one of my good friends, Sarita!  We had New Year's Eve dinner with my dear friends (a Spanish/American family who lives here in Cáceres and have been absolutely wonderful to me!)  Here in Spain, there is something called Cotillón that most of the young people go to.  Sarita and I went with two of my other friends from Cáceres to a cotillón.  This means that we paid an entry fee to a club/bar for the evening.  We all got really dressed up (similar to prom in the U.S.) and after eating the 12 grapes to every ding of the bell at midnight, we went to the party.  There were between 40 and 50 people there, which made it really nice because normally the bars are insanely crowded.  We partied and danced until about 6:30AM, when they opened the rest of the other bars to the rest of the public.  We stayed out until 9AM!!!  (I give some of the credit to the jetlag and change of time, because otherwise I'm not so sure I would have been able to stay out that late!)

January 6th is Día de los Reyes (Three Kings Day) here, and it's the big holiday for the Spaniards.  Most of the people go out to celebrate at night on the 5th, so I went out with my host sisters from when I was here on study abroad.  We had a blast!  We went to one of their friends houses for dinner and then we went to a couple of bars.  It was a really fun night!

Overall, it has been quite a nice holiday vacation.  Things at school are going pretty well. I enjoy the younger kids more than I do the older kids, however they both have their good and bad days.  For next week, I am planning on making American Christmas cookies with them.  I have shown a presentation on my Christmas in Michigan, and all of the kids are very excited about Christmas cookies.  So this weekend, my plan is to bake a whole bunch of the sugar cookies and freeze them until school on Tuesday.  And in class, each student will frost and decorate their own American Christmas cookie. It sounds like a lot of work on my end, however it will be incredibly rewarding.  I just might have to make some extras for safe-keeping! :)


I hope everyone is healthy and happy back home.  I miss you all a lot and can't believe that I am starting my fourth month in Spain for the second time.  Hugs and kisses to all.


XOXO,
Kate