Monday and Tuesday this week we had a puente, which is just means holiday/day-off. It was a national holiday, Dia de Hispanidad, celebrating Spanish pride. Instead of running amok, I decided to take these two days to rest. My friends who were visiting for the weekend left Monday morning. I was supposed to go to breakfast with them, but I could not fully wake myself up at 9am when they left. I went back to sleep until about 1pm, and spent the rest of the day lounging around the house. My roommate, Tatiana, and I had planed to go out that night after spending the whole day "como flojeras" (being bums). We decided to go to the same cave-like bar close to the house, El Chapandaz. One of Tatiana's friends, Maria, also from the Canary Islands (of Spain), joined us at the house around 11pm. My friend who met us later, and we ended up going back to her house around 11:45, after we realized that it was still very early in "spanish time." We shared a bottle of red wine, and then headed to the bar around 1am. My intercambio friend, Israel, who is becoming a regular, joined us as well. As usual, we radomly met people along the way. (Sidenote* I love how we can jus meet/talk to people so randomly here. Makes life more pleasant!) While walking toward the bar, two girls and a guy walked up to us and asked if we knew of a good bar in the area. I quickly answered, "sure, just come with us!" They were all from Portugal, and are here studying journalism and business. We wasted no time at the bar, and we got the famous Leche de Pantera, the drink that came from the ceiling. That night was much more chill that the last time there, as we spent most of the night talking to each other. We actually hung out with our new Portugese friends all night, and later exchanged numbers.
Tuesday, we woke up early to go to the parade for Dia de Hispanidad. Maria had spent the night at our house and came with us to the parade. After realizing we were going in the opposite direction of the parade on the metro, we turned around and finally reached the parade site around 11:30am. It was sooooo crowded! There were people everywhere attempting to find a good place to stand in order to get a good view. As short as I am, I was quite frustrated with my view. I wondered around by myself for a while, trying to find things to step on; I found the perfect spot. All of the branches of military and national police marched to a rigid rythm, with rifles in hand. Some rode white horses as miliary jets flew above, and dispersed the colors of the Spanish flag across the sky. We waited and waited, because the main attraction was supposed to be the royal court; the king, queen, etc. However, we were kind of disappointed when they drove by in a fleet of black cars with the windows tinted. All of the Spaniards screamed and applauded as if they had just seen Christ himself; but I was let down by the glimpse of royalty. I could not get home quick enough to sleep!
Going back to school on Wednesday was hard after a 5 day weekend. I did actually miss my kids a little though. On Wednesdays, I only have 2nd period, a teachers' meeting, and last period; so I have much free-time usually spent talkin with other teachers, planning lessons, or grading papers. I didn't get home until about 4:30 and I was starving. I cooked some pasta, rested for about 30 minutes, and eagerly took Chulo to the vet to FINALLY get his last shot! With this shot, I can finally put him on a leash and take him for walks, to the park, etc. I can't wait another second, and he is bored in my room! I felt so bad for my poor baby when they stuck the huge needle in his side. He shrieked so loudly, it hurt me as well. Then I got his nails cut, and they intserted the "chip" in his neck. This chip is what they use in Europe, instead of a tag/collar, in order to identify the dog. I think it's bizarre. Anyway, I left the vet and went home for a second, and they headed back out. Wednesday was my first "clases particular!" I am going to start tutoring one of the teacher's kid, Diego, who is 7 years old. She told me it would be great to bring Chulo along! We took the metro to her house, a few stops away. I met Diego for the first time, and he is a precious little boy. He would not stop talking! He wanted to tell me every single detail of his life, at home, at school, in sports; everything! It was soooo cute! He was enamored with Chulo. Later, Cristina, his mom, told me that he had bragged all day at school that he had his very own English teacher at his house. Diego will be fun!
After speaking English with Diego for an hour, I decided to wonder around the city as usual. I had planned on doing a few other things that evening, so I set forth. First, I went to J & J's Bookstore, which is a bookstore/bar where they have weekly intercambios. I found it quite comical that the spot was actually a full bar, with books in it. Only in Spain. I only stayed there for about 30 minutes to kill time, talking to an American guy, and two Spanish guys practicing English. It was about 9:30 and I really wanted to stop by the Toastmasters meeting (which was supposed to last until 10). I have been wanting to join Toastmasters here (the spanish club) for a while. They only meet twice a month, and it sounds like my kind of thing! As I walked toward the center of the city, looking for the Toastmaster's meeting, I was stopped in the street by a familiar face. I didn't remember him at first, but apparently he remembered Chulo. He explained to me that he saw me in the street the other day and stopped me to pet Chulo. He went on to say he was a "rapper," and his name was "SweetGee," short for Sweet Gentleman. Riiiiiiiiggghht. This was entertaining. I finally found the Toastmaster's meeting, and I met about 5 members at the door. I felt kind of overwhelmed as I talked to them all at the same time. They were all so friendly and welcoming, and curious about me. They told me I must join; I shall! I was only there for 15 minutes getting to know my future club members, but I met people from Mexico, Jordan, Brasil, and of course Spain.
I gave them my contact info for the next club meeting, which I was sure to attend. As tired as I was, I continued onward to meet the other Fulbrights at our Wednesday night spot, 100 Montaditos. I was starving, but exhausted. When I got there, I ordered and ate very quickly, chatted for a bit, let them play with Chulo, and then I said my goodbyes. I could barely keep my eyes open at the table! On the way home all I could think about was how I had to wake up at 6am on Thursday. O, Dio Mio!!
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