It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

It's officially the holiday season in Spain! I know this because:

On the train to El Escorial

- 1. It's cold! I mean, not actually cold, but colder than before. Whatever, I can safely say that at night and/or in the mountains, it's actually, officially, almost-Wisconsin cold. And speaking of mountains... on Saturday, two of my roommates and I went to El Escorial, a royal palace/museum/monastery/school (now there's a combo!) an hour from Madrid. It was fun to get out of the city and be a tourist for a few hours. 

Since we were already out that way, we visited el Valle de los Caídos, a giant basilica/monument built inside a mountain (we're talking on par with St. Peter's Basilica in Rome here). On top of the mountain is a GIGANTIC cross, I can't even explain (so see photo). The site honors the Spanish Civil War dead, which in theory sounds great. It's polemical, however, because the idea was dreamt up by Francisco Franco, who also happens to be buried in the sanctuary behind the main altar. And also because the complex was built in part by (often political) prisoners, some of whom died in the process of constructing it. Although impressive, we found the whole place incredibly unpleasant, not only because the interior designer/decorator, whoever s/he was, seems to have had a super sinister creative vision, but also because a dictator has been buried (and is, presumably still honored by some) in a functioning place of worship.

El Valle de los Caídos from behind (no I did not take
this impressive photo)

- 2. There are beautiful light displays up at Plaza Mayor and Sol and over Gran Via, etc. and stores everywhere are decked out in red, green, and gold. I say "everywhere" with authority because I have been inside of a lot of stores lately, oh man. Not because I've been blowing all of my grant money on Christmas presents (sorry, fam) but because I've been looking for ingredients to make all the Christmas cookie recipes my sister sent me from home. On the list: cocoa powder, powdered sugar, Crisco (don't be grossed out, it makes cookies delicious ok), check, check, check. The one ingredient nowhere to be found: cream of tartar dang it. I even asked this sweet lady who works at a bakery I (cough regularly cough) visit, and the store she suggested didn't have it either.* Grandma's chocolate yule log just won't be the same haha.

- 3. My students have gone crazy. They've been taking final exams all week because they're on a trimester system and the second trimester starts next week, i.e. two weeks before the Christmas holidays wat that doesn't make any sense. So by the time I get them, their brains are oatmeal. Either that, or they are so wound up that anything will get them riled up and nothing will get them calmed down. Which brings me to my first real "I've just made a fool of myself" teaching moment... 

I was talking about poetry analysis with my third-years, and one of the basic things to know is the difference between similes and metaphors. So I had some examples of both and they had to tell me which was which. As I was writing the presentation the night before, I thought, "Oh, this would be a good time to throw in a few well-known idioms! It'll tie in some new vocab, etc." 

So one of my similes was: "Melissa is as happy as a clam" (a phrase I use all the time, minus the Melissa part, anyway), and since I figured they might not know the word "clam," I had a photo of a clam zoom in next to the sentence. But in class, when we got to that slide, everyone burst out laughing and I couldn't get them back on track for like five minutes. Afterward, the teacher told me that in Spanish, the word for "clam" is used for something totally different... (cue facepalm).

- 4. I'm getting SUPER excited to be back in the U.S. of A. for Christmas! These are a few of the things I'm most excited for: packing snow, Packers games, TV in English, church services in English, my church in general, my home, my home's dryer, my hair dryer, my mom's cooking, anyone else's cooking, Christmas cookies, Christmas carols, seeing my Aunt Carol (and everyone else in my super cool family), etc. 18 more days, baby!

I probs won't post again til Jan., so wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas! 
(And a happy New Yearrrrrr.)

xoxo,
E.

*I still love her anyway, though, because not only is she patient and funny, but whenever I order a little pastry, she always gives me a second one for free! 

On Paros & Pavos

For me, this week revolved around two major events.

DISCLAIMER: SOMEWHAT LONG, SOMEWHAT POLITICAL DISCUSSION TO FOLLOW. If you are not interested in the current state of economic affairs in Spain, skip to EVENT 2. That being said, if you read about Event 1, you might learn something new! :)

An aerial view of the 11/14 protest in Madrid

EVENT 1, 11/14: A “huelga general,” or general strike, was the talk of the town for days leading up to Wednesday and continued to be a major point of discussion in the media and daily conversation afterward. Unlike other strikes this fall, which were carried out by just one public sector at a time, this was a major strike on a national level (or actually on a continental level, as there were similar strikes in Italy, Portugal, and Greece, and demonstrations in other European nations like France and Germany). Students, teachers, sanitation, transportation, and construction workers—basically any unionized sector—went on strike for 24 hours, causing major cities like Madrid to grind to a halt. In Madrid, there were many incidents of vandalism and there were some outbreaks of violence, all of which the media jumped on. But there were also hundreds of thousands of peaceful protesters, for the non-media record.

I talked to a number of teachers about whether they were planning to go on strike and why/why not. The responses were fairly split. Apparently last year, when similar austerity measures were being passed into law, there were several strikes organized during the fall semester. Many teachers felt frustrated that those strikes had not succeeded in changing anything, and for that reason, they decided not to strike this time.

Two protesters: "Se vende sanidad pública" & 
"Se vende educación pública"

Many other teachers recognized that this strike probably would not succeed in impeding further cuts. But, at the same time, they felt almost morally obligated to show the government that they do not agree with the measures being taken to “solve” the crisis. They are upset that the first cuts always hit education, healthcare, transportation, etc. instead of government employees, for example. And one theme came up so much that it seems to be a generally held belief: corruption at all levels of government in Spain is pervasive and is holding back the country’s forward movement. One teacher told me that a strike may not make the government change its plan, but not striking would allow it to confidently declare to the rest of the world, “See! We are doing the right thing, and the Spanish people are behind our decision!” So, in order to prevent that possibility, many teachers swallowed the one-day pay cut and went on strike. 

I think that in America we tend to scoff at Europe, especially southern Europe, when major strikes like this occur. “Ohh Europeans, they’re always on strike about something or other. Har har.” But I was actually really impressed with how seriously all the teachers at my school thought about the issue before deciding whether or not to participate. And I’m sure workers in other sectors (with the exception of high school students, maybe...) thought about it equally hard—especially in a time of crisis, losing one day’s wages is not taken lightly. But when you think your government is inefficient, corrupt, and/or failing to represent you and your fellow citizens, it seems natural that you would look for an extra-governmental way to make your voice heard.

I, for one, did not go on strike. The terms of my grant stipulate “no strikes.” Which makes sense because I get paid by the month, not by the day, so there are def some ethical issues with staying home on a strike day while still getting paid for it…

_________________________________________________________________

EVENT 2, 11/16: CENA DE THANKSGIVING A LA EMBAJADA. Yep, that’s right, I just ate a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner at the residency of the U.S. Ambassador to Spain. I don't even know how many turkeys were responsible for the successful execution of the event...  Thanksgiving is my favorite day of the whole entire year (seriously, my birthday and the 4th of July combined don’t even come close), and this will be the first time in my life that I don’t get to go home for it. I thought about trying to recreate a typical Thanksgiving dinner for my roommates, but there were some roadblocks to that plan, such as 1.) all the ingredients needed are SUPER EXPENSIVE here because things like canned pumpkin or Stove Top Stuffing are only sold in import stores that cater to Americans, and 2.) my apartment has an oven the size of a toaster. Literally I think it is safe to place it in the category of toaster ovens. 

Luckily for me, a number of Fulbrighters were invited to the Ambassador’s for a Thanksgiving dinner, and we each got to invite a teacher from our school as well. So my school’s English coordinator and I went and had a lovely time. I’ve never been so happy to see stuffing in my life!! It didn’t come anywhere close to my grandma’s, obviously, but it beat HUDS’ by a mile, so I’d say it was a success. It was fun to share such a special tradition with other Americans (and with the teachers, many of whom had never experienced a Thanksgiving dinner). 

Fulbrighters with Mrs. Susan Solomont. It's sort of like
Where's Waldo?, 10 points if you can find me haha.

After the meal, the ambassador’s wife, Mrs. Solomont, showed us around the main floor of the Residence. The U.S. Embassy in Spain takes part in the ART in Embassies Program, which reminded me a little bit of the rotating art in Harvard housemasters’ residences, but on a much larger scale. For example, the original of this photo is currently chilling there, along with this painting and this and tons of others. #CasualAndyWarhol #IwaslikeWAT.

I’m ashamed of myself, though, because as a self-proclaimed Thanksgiving worshipper/pro, I should NEVER have made the classic mistake of a Thanksgiving newb: my dinner party outfit included a belt. 

Love to all! /GO HARVARD, BEAT YALE!!!

E.

Life's getting real

In college, November was always when the rubber hit the road. In November, the weather would start to get cold and gray, schoolwork would start piling up, HUDS would run out of new meal ideas and start serving strikingly similar pasta and sausage entrees, etc. Luckily, Harvard-Yale & Thanksgiving were always two bright blips of fun on an otherwise black radar screen destined to durar hasta Christmastime.

I saw Bon Iver live in concert last weekend.
And that show would've shaken off even the
worst case of November blues. SO great. 

Now that I’ve painted such a bleak picture of November, I will confusingly say that it has always been one of my fave months, and this year is no different. Sure the weather here is cold and gray, but that gives me an excuse to wear mittens and scarves and feel very warm and European. (Anyone who thinks Spain is always warm and sunny is right, but only if they’re accidentally thinking of Tucson.) Lesson planning only becomes monotonous if you let it, or at least that’s what I tell myself. And the actual up-in-front-of-the-class teaching part is actually something I always look forward to.*

As for HUDS, well, this year I am my own HUDS, so if I’m bored with my options, it’s my own fault. I’ve been experimenting with different recipes lately (“recipes” is a loose term heh heh). For example, this past weekend, my friend Rachel and I made coconut curry with veggies and chicken for my sister and her friend who were visiting me yayyy, and it was flippin’ delicious. (Thanks for the recipe, Liz!) Fruits and veggies are super cheap here if you buy them at your local mercado (my local mercado paid me to say that), so I don’t even have to break the bank to eat healthily. But I am trying to avoid getting tooo attached to nutella, mangos, and avocados because those will be expensive addictions when I return to the States…

The roomies + our homemade Mexican meal,
which you can't really see, sorry about that.

Eating out is also relatively cheap, but my one complaint for a while was “where’s all the good Mexican food?” I went to one place that was delish but charged like 4€/tiny taco and I was like whaaat that is ABSURD, I went to another place that should not have even been labeled Mexican, and one night, my roommates and I even cooked a Mexican dinner from scratch out of desperation (including the corn tortillas, which were remarkably successful but also remarkably time-consuming to make for our inexperienced selves). Finally, my friend Pamina came to town/the rescue. She knew of this little place called Taquería Mi Ciudad, which serves cheap, tasty chips & guac, tacos, margaritas, and it is the BEST, and I plan to return every weekend. (But actually. I’m going again tomorrow with two of my fave Fulbrighters/mexicanas, both of whom could probs use a michelada fix haha…)

The only things I’m really missing right now (besides my friends and family obvi) are: the beautiful fall foliage in Cambridge and American football. So I will close with a very loud GO PACK, GO! :)

xoxo,

E. 

*In college, if a TF didn’t know his or her students’ names by the end of the semester, it bugged me. I now have more sympathy... I teach a total of 300 students. And there are a LOT of names that repeat. If I manage to learn them all by June, I will be proud of myself haha.

Día de la Hispanidad

Heh heh

October 12 is a national holiday in Spain, known officially as “Fiesta nacional de España” but often called “Día de la Hispanidad.” It celebrates Columbus (October 12 was the day the famous explorer first laid eyes on America) and Spain’s contributions to the world, etc. Yes, I realize this holiday was now two weeks ago. Blogging without a computer is hard, ok.

In light of this holiday, I used my various English classes last week to talk about Hispanic identity (i.e., is there such a thing/how would one go about defining it/etc.) and Día de la Hispanidad’s sister holiday in the U.S., a.k.a. Columbus Day (in the greater context of Hispanic National Heritage Month in the U.S.). 

I always started the class by asking what the students already knew about Columbus. The first answer was usually the classic: “He discovered America!” which served as a great launching pad to talk about how Columbus didn’t really discover America—he only ever landed in the Bahamas and those islands were def already inhabited—and how maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t such a cool guy to celebrate... By the end, when I asked students if they thought the U.S. should still celebrate Columbus Day, most of them said “no.” (Well, many of them still said “yes," initially. But then I told them that they had to pretend that the holiday no longer included a vacation day from school or work. How about then? And only then was the answer “well, no.” Ohhhh, kids haha.)

Anyway, October 12 here in Spain does mean no school or work, yippy skippy hip hip hooray. My roommate was going to Sevilla and Córdoba for the long weekend with a big group of people, and they had one seat left in one of the rental cars. So she invited me to go along WOOT, road trips are my fave. There were nine of us total: 3 Italians, 2 Swedes, 1 Belgian, 2 Frenchwomen, and 1 American (me). It was basically the United Nations haha. And with the exception of one poor Swede, our common language was Spanish, but we all spoke it to varying degrees of intelligibility, making communicating hilarious. Now that two weeks have past, I'm having a hard time remembering specific instances, but I do remember that there were a lot of facial expressions, gesturing, and sometimes quality charades needed to get any given point across…

The whole crazy gang

Sevilla was amazing! So much history, holy cats. I think that’s what impresses me most about everywhere I visit in Spain: the buildings and the streets, etc. are just so. dang. old. And for that same reason, Córdoba was probably my favorite part of the trip. We were only there for an afternoon, but we got to visit this giant, 1200ish-year-old mosque. The architecture was absolutely incredible.

La Mezquita de Córdoba

It's technically not a mosque anymore, however, because during the Reconquista, the central part of the building was converted into a Catholic place of worship, and the building was renamed "La Catedral de la Asunción de Nuestra Señora." But the original mosque remains intact around the little central cathedral part. Now there are discussions about it reverting back into a mosque, which it is clearly more suited for, but only time and many more roundtable discussions will tell about that.

My sister arrives in a week yayyy! And she'll bring me all the American goodies I've requested, plus my NEW COMPUTER, DOUBLE YAYY!!! And then I'll blog once/week, dedos cruzados. :)

Love,
E.

Weekends FTW.

It's Wednesday, which means I'm more than half done with my work week (!!), classes are going well, the weather is beautiful, I'm loving life, etc. Nothing too interesting there haha. My weekend, however, proved to be very interesting, so if it's alright with you, I'd rather talk about that instead.

View of Toledo from the top
of la Iglesia de San Ildefonso

On Friday, I wanted to go to Toledo, which is just a short bus ride away from Madrid (50 minutes-ish, if you succeed in getting a direct bus, which I did). I was going to go with a friend and then she couldn't go, but I decided to go anyway. The man at the bus ticket window gave me a hard time about that. “One ticket? Are you going alone? No one should go to Toledo alone! Look, here is a nice gentleman; you should go with him!” etc. (at which point his co-worker, a.k.a. the “nice gentleman” in question, looked over with “WAT” written all over his face). And I was like mira, no pasa nada, en serio, could I just have my ticket now, pretty please?

Toledo is beautiful. It is jam-packed with history and a crazy mix of art and architectural styles that stem from said history. Not going to lie, I ate so much marzipan that I felt a little ill, but other than that, it was a stellar day. For more information about Toledo, see the picture on the left or go visit for yourself.

Saturday, my laptop (who, as many of you know, was brought through a grave illness this May thanks to a super tech-savvy co-worker of mine) finally and forever died, may he rest in peace. I will never forget how the lil' guy froze every single day at 4:48PM on the dot, without fail, or how he stuck it out with me through the entirety of an exhausting college career, including through weeks of non-stop use leading up to my senior thesis deadline. What a trooper! He will be missed. I thought about writing him an ode, but I don't really know how to write odes.

I now know that this place is within walking
distance of my house. Oh no., please help.

Saturday night, I took part in the time-honored Spanish tradition of staying out with friends until the wee hours of the morning and then stopping at Chocolatería San Ginés for some dangerously delicious hot chocolate (literally just melted chocolate—think Burdick's) and churros before heading home to bed. According to my Spanish roommate, however, a true madrileño/a would have stayed out til the sun rose (which takes place around 8:00AM here), stopped by a café for breakfast (and/or chocolate con churros), and only then gone home to bed. So I guess I´m not a true madrileña yet. But it´s good to have something to aspire to haha. ;) 

Much love,

E.

Time flies, OH MAN.

I can't believe I've been in Spain for a month, WAT. I also can't believe I've so rapidly become a blogging delinquent haha, oops. It's hard to sum up the last two weeks because there were just so many new things every day, so I'll stick to one subject: SCHOOL!

I've been on a temporary schedule at my school for the last two weeks, which was frustrating because they knew which day we were starting but had nothing ready for us to do and no classes ready for us to help in (BUT I DID MY BEST TO BE PATIENT, OKAY). We—the other auxiliar de conversación and I—ended up asking if, instead of sitting in the teacher's lounge cutting out labels, we could sit in on classes to see how they were run, get to know some students and teachers, etc. So they split us up and sent us 'round, and I was a much happier camper.

Strikin' timez on my first day of work.
There were two or three more rows of
people waiting behind me!

First three questions out of students' mouths, without fail: 
1. Where are you from? 
2. How old are you? 
3. Do you have a boyfriend? 

Las respuestas: 
1. The United States, specifically the great state of Wisconsin!! GO AND VISIT, EAT SOME CHEESE, DRINK SOME BEER. (But only if you are 21, obvi.) 
2. Never ask a woman how old she is, but I'm still young, so I'll tell you I'm 22. 
3. None of your business.

Thankfully, as of yesterday, I finally have a set schedule! And it is the best schedule EVER. I will be helping in various English, music, and natural science classes, all of which are being taught in English this year as part of my school's bilingual initiative. (Yes, I said science... contrary to popular belief, I actually loved science classes pre-Harvard and am stoked to help teach them!) The best part is, I have progressively fewer classes as the week goes on. By Thursday, I'm down to just two classes, and on Friday, I have zero, zilch, not a one, I LOVE MY LIFE, WHY DID THAT NEVER HAPPEN TO ME AT HARVARD, SHE WHINES. This means I can start planning some weekend getaways to other parts of Spain, whee!

Getting to work has actually been tricky some days because there have been public transport strikes in response to the government's plan to privatize Renfe and their failure to negotiate with unions, as far as I understand. There have been three already, and at least four more are scheduled for October. I actually don't mind, though, because I'm learning a lot about Spanish politics and culture through the different strikes and protests/I'm beginning to discover why Spaniards are so disgruntled with the current state of affairs. And when it comes to the crazy-crowded Metro in the morning, well, it provides a good opportunity to teach my students the English idiom "packed like sardines"... :)

Un abrazo a todos,
E.

Fulbright Orientation. It happened.

This week was CRAZYTOWN. I opened a Spanish bank account. I moved into an apartment. I developed a smoker's cough even though I don't smoke because the rest of Madrid does. But I spent the majority of this week in a hotel/conference center, meeting members of the Fulbright Commission in Spain, getting to know my fellow grantees, and attending various sessions about:

- how to become a legal resident in Spain (Empadronamiento and Residency Cards, led by a staff member from the Association of American Programs in Spain)
... An alternative title for this session could've been "You told me I could enter Spain before my visa's start date, now you're saying I have to go to Portugal and come back, whaaaat??" Luckily, I entered Spain after my visa's start date because I'm a hedge-my-bets kind of girl, but a lot of people didn't. And because of a very recent change in the law, a lot of people will, in fact, have to leave the country and come back in order for their visas to be valid. OOPS.

I took this photo at Madrid Fashion Night Out! Has
nothing to do with this post, but it's much cooler
than any photo I could've taken at Orientation, so.

- living [it up] in Spain (How to Adjust to Life in Spain, led by former Fulbright grantees)

- living (literally living, as in not dying) in Spain (Briefing on Security, led by a staff member at the US Embassy; Health Care/ASPE Insurance, led by members of the Fulbright Commission)

And there were a million more. It was exhausting, actually, to be focused on sessions from 9 a.m. to 6 or 7 p.m. and to be meeting all sorts of new people before, after, and in between. But the other grantees seem great, and a ton of them are living in Madrid this year. That is exciting for many reasons, one of which is that I now have more contacts in my mobile than just every emergency number imaginable. (Seriously, you name it, I've probs got it. Ambulancias? Check. Bomberos? Check. US Embassy? Yep, that too.)

And now, before I go, I will share with you my most defining moment at Orientation...

An hour and a half was set aside for icebreakers the first night. AN HOUR AND A HALF. After the first hour, the ice was sooo broken, blown-to-smithereens broken, and people were way past ready to be done. The last game was a round of "Would You Rather" led by former grantees; you had to move to a certain side of the room based on your response. After they asked a few (i.e. "Would you rather have no mouth or no ears?"), anyone who thought of one could take the mic, introduce him/herself, and ask the group a question.

It went ON and ON. Finally, a girl next to me muttered the perfect Would You Rather and I told her she should go up and say it, but she didn't want to. So I raised my hand instead, like a total eager beaver, and went up to the mic all chipper and stuff. I could actually see people rolling their eyes, "great, not another one," you get the picture. I said, "Hey, I'm Elle, and I just wanna know: would y'all rather eat dinner NOW?... Or just keep playing this endless game?" People died. The group literally cheered, the former grantees were like, "Right-i-o, dinner it is!" and for the rest of the conference I was that girl, a.k.a the girl who got the hungry fed. And let me tell you, that's not a bad rep to have haha. ;)

xoxo!
E.

An excerpt from The Spanish Hunger Games

EATING ALONE IS NO FUN. That's what I thought after lunch today, anyway. So the solution is to just not eat very much, obviously. (Just kidding, Mom!!!)

My first morning was a lil rough – went to an ATM to withdraw most of the money I had left in my American account, and the machine kindly spit out a receipt but failed to spit out any of what I really wanted, i.e. cash, HELLO. And apparently that's an issue that can only be dealt with right when the bank opens because when I went inside to complain I mean explain, the teller told me he couldn't do anything about it but that I should keep my receipt and come back tomorrow at 8:30 a.m when someone else could. I was like whaaat. (But I didn't cry cuz I remembered I had a credit card + a few U.S. buck-a-roos, HUZZAH.) -->

At that point, I realized I hadn't eaten since the plane ride oops. So I ate lunch in a little café, where I permitted myself a moment of holy cow loneliness. I thought: "These waiters probably think I have no friends..." And then I thought: "Wait, I actually don't have any friends here yet, OH MAN." 

The afternoon shaped up to be much better, however:
- I bought my very first smartphone! I-i-i-i love technology.
- I took a nap (this is key, considering mad jetlag) and procured snacks to stash in my purse, pockets, hotel room, etc.
- I wandered about and saw a lot of the beautiful city that is Madrid. Hey, is there a word that implies aimlessness like "wandered" but includes an added element of swiftness? Because whatever that word is, that's what I actually did. (J-Man, help me out here.)
 

Pan y jamón ibérico nom

And then, somehow, it was already 7:30, a.k.a. TAPAS TIME. But I kept walking past places where no one, I mean no one, was eating alone. I almost chickened out and ate a bowl of cereal for dinner. But then I gave myself a pep talk ("Girl, you GOT this") and went into a chill/slow restaurant and took a seat at a table near the bar. By that time it was quarter to 9 – I had both literally and figuratively been dragging my feet (hehe, sorryyy). The result? Not only were the food & drink DELISH, but the waiter was also super nice and chatted with me from behind the bar for most of the time I was there.*

Un rollito de salmón con gulas
(salmon-wrapped imitation eel)

And the best part is: as a result of manning up and just walking into a restaurant already, I found a solution to the hunger problem!! Until I am settled in an apartment, I will just eat tapas AS MY DINNER, why did I not think of that before duhhh. A few tapas make the PERFECT-sized meal for me, plus they are super economical, and they are served starting at like 7 or 8 p.m. That is what I call a WIN, WIN, WIN, my friends.

May your dinners be as tasty as mine!

❤ ,
E.

*I forgot to take photos of the food! (Sorry, Soph!) But the photos in this post are Google images that look exactly like what I ate tonight. And the beer, well, beer just looks like beer, so. :)

In the words of John Denver: I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

Hi, everybody! 

I've decided that a blog will be the easiest way to keep in touch during my year-long fellowship in Spain (I leave on Saturday, WOOT) because it allows people to read or not read as they so choose. You can access it because you've been given the link-- it's just not public because I don't exactly relish the idea of writing for the world to read. I hope to update it somewhat regularly, although if my blogging record is anything like my college calling-home record, I can't promise too much heh heh, sorryy...

The blog title comes from a free association exercise á la What About Bob. ("Some free associations from my infancy: A beach ball... a dog... a log... a poodle... a noodle... a doodle...") Anyway, when I considered titles & Spain, the following took place in my head:

"Title, Spain, Spanish title... I know, King of Spain!" Now there's a fun song, but making it the name of this blog seemed just a little narcissistic. And also imperialist. Not to mention unrealistic because I'm a girl and all. King of Spain.

Some sweet street art in Madrid. Also

how I looked while pondering a blog title.

"Boots of Spanish Leather!" which is a line from "King of Spain" and is also one of my fave Bob Dylan songs ever. But I already associate that song with a different travel experience, plus it's much too sad to be the title of this blog. (Just listen to it for yourself. Geez, rip my heart out already. The poor guy.) Boots of Spanish Leather.

"Counting Crows' Holiday in Spain! Perfect." And that would've been the title had it not already been taken by some other loser, oops I mean blogger. So "Holiday en España" it is, which means the same thing plus I like it better anyway. So there.

Now technically, I'm not going to be on holiday in Spain since I'll be working part-time at a public high school in Madrid, supporting the work of English instructors as a teaching assistant. But I am traveling on a student visa, which means my part-time employment is capped at 20 hours/week. So let's be real, basically I'm on holiday. And I couldn't be more pumped about it because, in my free time, I plan to join a choir/volunteer/explore ALL OF THE THINGS. :)

Alright, that's all for a while. Check back in the future for important updates, including, but not limited to:

- Will She or Won't She? (Find an Apartment)

- Kids Say the Darndest Things: Spanish Edition

- "Seven More Hours 'Til Dinner?? SRSLY?!" (an excerpt from The Spanish Hunger Games)

xo,
E.