And… scene.

(wrote this yesterday)

Oh boy, oh boy. So many “lasts” to report today.

First of all, the Puente in Lisboa was so much fun. My last excursion/adventure/insert-your-own-similar-word during my time in Spain. Ironic that it was in Portugal, pero bueno. Truthfully, we also had the option to go to both Salamanca and Oporto, and I would have preferred to finish of my three months in Spain, in Spain, but when you travel with a group of ten people, the people with cars usually have more power in the vote. So Portugal it was.

We stayed at a truthfully wonderful hostal in Lisboa, which has only been in business since last June. The very friendly and helpful receptionist Gustav totally fell in love with Nathalie and made it quite clear how much he fancied her, and I’m sure he cried into his pillow the night after we left. But he was a sweetheart and helped us find a lot of things to do. We took a day trip on Monday to a small town called Sintra about half an hour away by train. That town was one of the most beautiful, legendary places I’ve ever been to. It is where all the Portuguese Kings built their palaces, rather than in the city itself. It was absolutely precious. Hans Christian Anderson lived there for some years, and I see why! The forest and mountain terrain surrounding the town was straight out of a fairy tale. There was even a castle on top of the mountain for goodness sake!!

I wish I could say that the city was just as impressive, but the truth is that the city is obviously in crisis. The buildings are crumbling from neglect and the streets are broken up. There is a very apparent divide between rich and poor, and the majority of the people were in their twilight years or older. Nevertheless, the culture is still very rich. The language was another point of interest in our group. We decided the distinct dialect in comparison to Castillian sounds a bit like Sean Connery speaking Spanish.

Monday night the group went to a Prodigy concert. I quickly learned not to go to a concert if I’ve not heard the band before that day, and not to buy tickets without having heard them at all. I didn’t want to be the only person of the group who didn’t go, just to sit in the hostal by myself, but in all honesty I would have preferred to keep my forty euro. Concerts where I have to fight for my life to stay upright and un-bruised are just not my cup of tea. Lesson learned.

Moving on to more pleasant subject matter; yesterday was my last day at the Fundación. I had to go Jason-less because he has gone to spend some time with family before the holidays. He won’t be back before I leave, so I said goodbye at school earlier that morning.  I will really miss him. He’s become one of my dearest friends (I call him “Hermano” half in joke) and I’m so grateful to the Rotary Foundation for at the very least helping me make such a great friend. Anyway, the last day at the fundación was a little less emotional but bittersweet. Eladia, my reluctant English student, was excited to show me her notebook with English sentences that she had done at school that day. It was the first time I had seen much enthusiasm from her regarding English. I shared with her the book that inspired my idea for the project, which my grandmother had given to me, a story of monarch butterflies with both English and Spanish text, and Eladia ate it up. She’s very interested in natural science and very creative, so I know the book would appeal to her. I left knowing that, even if my project idea was not executed in full, the way I might have anticipated before coming to Spain, I made a significant impact, even if it was slight, on this little girl’s life. If that’s the most I can do, that’s fine with me. Patricia gave me a bracelet she made before I left.

On the way home, Carlos asked me if I had been speaking more English than Spanish lately, because he noted a drop in my fluency. I guess this means I have to find a way to keep up my practice of the language when I get home. All the more reason to keep in touch with my friends here.

Today, Friday, the last day of my Spanish classes at SHM. I got teary a bit at the end because the staff was so sweet. Alicia gave Laura and I a cd by La Caja de Pandora (Pandora’s Box) which has the song “Granada,” a beautiful song written about the city; a perfect momento of our time here. We got a flower and a signed letter from all the staff, and finished off our lessons with a discussion of typical Spanish holiday customs. I’ll certainly be sharing all of those with everyone when I come back. Now, there’s nothing left to do but pass the weekend collecting more photos of the city and then get on a plane Monday morning. I’m so anxious to come home.

This experience has been phenomenal, and I will miss my new friends so much. I know that my life will bring me back here one day, even if I have to demand it. My life from the time I return to the states will be so different from anything I’ve been used to before, but so was this experience, and I have a more developed perspective of the world, my place in it, and my responsibility to fellow man. I’m relieved to be coming home, but sad to leave my Spanish hometown. I can’t wait to share everything with all my devoted readers when I get home. See you all soon!!

P.s. = pictures soon

Winding down.

Hello to all. Happy December!!! =) I only have two weeks left here in Granada, and, as everyone told me it would, the time has flown. Two more sessions at the Fundación, a week and a half of school, trip to Lisboa, a few more x-mas presents, pack, and that’s all, folks. I can’t believe my time’s almost done. If it were not x-mas soon, and I did not have a certain future-husband and future-career waiting for me, I think I would want to stay longer, but such as it is, I’m so ready to be home with my family.

It’s FINALLY, legitimately winter!! I’m so grateful Tom brought me my winter coat. It rained last weekend, and snowed in the Sierra Nevadas. Ski resorts have now opened, but unfortunately I won’t have the chance to try my hand at that before returning to the US. Luckily, the bad weather hit on Sunday; our excursion to the Alpujarras was on Saturday, and, while cold, it was a beautiful day. The Alpujarras are a chain of cities tucked into the hills of the Sierra Nevadas. They are all completely white, painted with lime to act as an insect repellent. Electircity is minimal, and the individual towns are mostly supported economically with tourism. For this reason, they are maintained more or less in their original condition, if that is the right phrase, and operate almost independently from present-day luxuries. We went to four different villages. The first was a town whose name I can’t quite recall, the second Calpiliera, where we sampled the local wine and cheese, and Trebelez, the highest village in Spain, where most of the region’s jamón is cured and dried. And finally Pampineira, which I think was the most picturesque.

The jamón factory we visited was… impressive?… Don’t get me wrong, the ham here is delicious, and I’m interested to know the process by which it is made and the differences among the types, but I’d rather not be surrounded on all sides by walls of drying pig-legs. Too harsh? You might get an idea of the extent  of it by the pictures. All momentary unpleasantness aside, the excursion was very interesting.

Our tour guide, Juan, explained a bit about the history of the Alpujarras; they were the last living-place of the Muslim people who occupied Andalucía, specifically Granada, after being ousted from the city by the Christians.  To live in the city, one had to convert to Christianity, and while some did officially, but continued practicing their religion in private, others relocated to the Alpujarras. This was in 1492.

My reaction to the jamon factory

Showing off my favorite aspect of CA

My councelor, Mariano Cuenca Lopez

I did a bit more x-mas shopping there, but was a little sad I couldn’t find an affordable jarapa, a woven wool and linen blanket/rug/tapestry, what have you. (I think “jarapa” is the origin of the Mexican version, a sarape) It’s also surprising to see how many words in the Spanish language are of Musilm or Arab origin. English, especially American English, is certainly a hodge-podge mix of just about every European language, but it is so interesting to me that you can almost trace the footsteps of a culture around the world by discovering the origin of certain words within a dialect.

Just-for-fun example: The word for potato in Spain, in contrast to what you learn in CA high school Spanish, is patata, not papa. Papa is actually the original word, taken from the Indian language of Central and South America, but when the product was brought to Europe, the Spanish didn’t want to have the same word mean both “potato” and the “pope.” (Pope is also “papa”) So they switched it. Like you do…

That was Saturday. Sunday, was the Clasico. The first game between Barcelona and Real Madrid. There will be one more tomorrow, I believe, but it’s not as important. The Clasico is pretty much Spanish Superbowl, but it’s not the end of the season, or even the two top teams of the league; it’s just Spain’s two top teams versus one another. The winner of that game doesn’t necessarily have a higher ranking in the league for winning the Clasico specifically than they would for winning any other game; it’s just the significance of the teams. I am enjoying the fútbol culture almost as much as football, and I think I have more respect for the players, just for the physical shape they must maintain to play well.

My councelor, Mariano Cuenca Lopez

I don’t have much personal connection to the teams other than the fact that I’ve traveled to both cities during my time in Spain, so that’s how I made my selection. I loved Barcelona, and thought Madrid was okay, so my heart was with Barce. Unless you are in either of those two cities, you are more or less in neutral territory, however, Granada is more prone to root for Madrid. The Barce fans were the minority in the bar where we watched the game. It was assumed that they would win, because this year they are a better team, and they did, but it was not the lashing some people expected. They won 1-0. Yay!!!

Yesterday, Monday, the team and I (minus Sitou, as he has left already and is touring Europe with his dad) gave our final presentations to a very sparse gathering of the Granada Rotarians. I almost wonder if the attendance is not mandatory here, because of the 14 official members, there are rarely more than 6 in attendance. In any case, the presentations went very well. My nerves got to me a bit once I was in front of everyone, and I more or less read what I had prepared. Lastima. But I was still able to keep a conversational and interesting vibe going. After explaining a few interesting facts about CA, the terrain, the Spanish influence, donning my Minnie Mouse ears to demonstrate the Disneyland pride, etc… a few of the members chimed in that I had forgotten to mention that CA had really great wine. That was the best part of my presentation. That, and bringing pistachios and raisins to earn some points by keeping the members fed and entertained.

I finally got a picture with my councelor, Mariano, and we traded banners with Pabs, I was a bit disappointed that there were not more members in attendance, as this is the last meeting we’ll attend, but there is the possibility for me to go to the Cena de Navidad on the 11^th before I leave. I would probably be the only one of the team left to go, but it sounds like a good way to wrap up my experience here.

Also in my near future, is a dinner/ flamenco spectacular. My first and possibly last experience to really see the traditional dance of the region. I’ve not learned to dance flamenco, I’m sorry to report, but I do have some great music to bring home with me if it counts for anything. I’m looking forward to pictures of that event. Until then, take care all. Stay healthy. See everyone soon.

-Barb

Some added info.

Hi, all. I seem to be making up for my slackidasicalness. I wanted to comment on a recent political event here in Spain, and also to give you a chance to see the Fundacion a little closer. I apologize, I should have done this at the beginning. Here’s a link to their website: http://www.escueladesolidaridad.blogspot.com/

Anyway, yesterday, the Spanish government passed a law making it legal for a girl 16 years old to get an abortion without telling her parents. Abortion has always always been a very touchy subject to say the least. I can’t say that I think it should be illegal, but I do not support it. But all, my opinions aside, this law seems very strangely placed. Considering that a teenage girl can’t get a piercing without an id card and parental consent, under the law, it does not make sence that the government was able to pass a law allowing abortion. To me, it seems to encourage secrecy and distrust within a relationship between parent and child.

We got a rough outline of the governmental structure in Spain last week with Alicia, and I know that the democratic government is very young. Only a little older than 40 years. Like England, Spain is a Parliamentary Monarchy. It’s very interesting to me to see how the the two systems work together. Like the US, no one political party ever has total power, but right now, Spains liberal political party is more in power than the conservative side at the moment.

I understand what they are trying to accomplish with this law, I think, but it does not seem to coincinde at all with the social profile the previous laws have created for the country. It makes me reconsider the laws in place in America that do not seem to make sense when considered at the same time. For example the CA prop 8 vs. prop 2. Give animals more rights than you give people. Doesn’t really seem to make sense.

Anyway, some food for thought when it comes to my mission of learning about my country through the context of others.

Until monday! Or wednesday!

Futuro Sra. Haake. jaja!

And now, the update I know quite a few of you frequent, and more privy readers have been waiting for, especially my future mother-in-law, I am thrilled and proud to announce that I’m engaged to the man of dreams, Thomas John Haake.

I’ve gotten requests for a detailed account of the whole thing so brace yourself; here goes:

Tom, my wonderful boyfriend of a little more than two years now, was fortunately able to come visit me in Spain before I come home in a couple weeks. We had been apart for more than two months. Now it doesn’t sound like much, but it was the most frustrating and trying time of our relationship, not between the two of us, because we’ve definitely grown stronger during this trip, but being without each other was very hard.

For weeks before he arrived, we both were increasingly anxious and excited. I started to pick up on some very subtle signals that something was up. He has an endearing tendency to surprise the hell out of me, and when I started pick up a suspicious vibe, I had to force myself not to think that it might be something really big, namely a proposal. Ready as I might have been, and hopeful as I have been for a few months, we’ve had conversations in the past in which we agreed that the more practical and safe way to go about this is to wait until we’ve lived closer together for a while. A part of me was in total agreement with a practical method, another was painfully anxious for us to make that step.

I should say that, even though we are young and have not been together a terribly long time, there is no one in the world who knows me better than this man, and no one who makes me happier. We are inexplicably complimentary with just enough contrast to keep things interesting. He’s my best friend and I like to say that if we were not soul-mates, we’d be twins. But we’re not. So that’s better.

Moving on. Tom arrived on Friday the 20th, our two-year-and one-month-iversary, if you will forgive our sappiness for keeping track. The airport was pretty emotional for both of us. I managed to be there for ridiculously early, and to add insult to injury, his plane was delayed. Just half an hour, but it was a rather long half hour in my perspective. It was both exhilarating and absolute relief to be back in his arms. We took the bus back to the city and shamelessly kissed the whole way back. After getting settled at the hostel, we had reservations for a very romantic dinner at one of Granada’s best restaurants. I figured that if anything was going to happen, it would have been that night. Tom had said before that he wanted to make sure he did it “the way he was supposed to” on a romantic evening that was special for both of us. We had a wonderful dinner and went to a club afterwards. It was a beautiful evening, and when nothing big happened at dinner, I tried not to be too crestfallen, but was happy just to be laughing with my guy again.

The next day we did a bit of sightseeing and in the late afternoon made our way up to the Albaicin, which you might call old-town-Granada. It’s the area that has the most Arab influence of the city and is very very hilly. Tommy said the streets were pretty much spaghetti, no real plan at all, just jumbled together. Tom had expressed interest in going to the Mirador (look-out-point) in the plaza of San Nicholas at sunset, (all too clear now why) and we got there around 5:30 along with a crowd of people. There were several street vendors, some gypsies playing some pretty great flamenco music, and we nudged our way to a spot on the farthest wall for a little while.

After the best colors of the sunset had started to fade and the crowd hinted that it was going to start to disperse, Tome suggested we move to a spot not quite so congested. He wouldn’t stop kissing me and I laughed at him when he said, “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” the third time that hour and told him my lips were starting to get chapped.  We just stood hugging for a moment and then he told me that he was happy to be with me again. He had missed me very much. He knew it was hard to be patient when we were so far away, and he thanked me for waiting for him to be ready, then he kissed me and said, “but you don’t have to wait anymore.” I froze. I had been trying not to think that it was happening as he spoke to me, but then he was on his knee in front of me, and there was a gorgeous ring in his hand. My mouth dropped and I’m sure the look on my face was quintessential shock. I can’t remember what he said before, “Will you marry me?” but I remember his face and his eyes, happy and nervous and half-confident. I told him, “Say it again,” because that is a childish game we play when we’re being particularly lovey-dovey, so he asked me five or six times before I finally said yes.

He stood up and grabbed me and we got a small round of applause. I felt Tom do a victory punch into the air and then I said, “Now would you put that ring on me, please?” I looked at it, and it is truly the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen, and jumped into his arms again, legs and everything. (If you’d like a look at the ring and the process of making it, seeing as it is custom, go to this site: http://picasaweb.google.com/tomamafone/TheRing#) Then we got another applause from a different group of people. A young man came up and congratulated us, and told us that that was the perfect place to propose. He asked where we were from and if we had traveled from the states just for that. Tom said he had. The boy congratulated us again and Tom and I moved on to cafe stand where we sat and talked about everything leading up to that moment. From asking my dad for his blessing to working on the ring design to collaborating with Jason to make plans for that night.

The rest of the weekend was a blur and the most exhausting fun I’ve had in a long time. We walked our legs silly and filled up almost every hour with something, and of course would interject conversations with “Hey, you want to get married?” Time truly flies when we’re together. We are still making very preliminary plans and solid decicions will have to wait until I get home. But I’m thrilled, and I could not be happier. I’m still walking on a cloud. I love Tommy more than I know how to say, but now I have the whole rest of my life to say it.

For pics of the whole weekend, check out Tom’s picasa, http://picasaweb.google.com/tomamafone/SpainTrip#

or my facebook, http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/album.php?aid=128338&id=623507247&ref=mf

Thanks to all for your kinds congratulations so far. I’m sure wedding plans will get posted on my main blog as they become more solid. Love to all!

Love,

Future Mrs. Thomas Haake.

 

Work continues.

Let me begin by saying that I’ll be saving a lot of the pictures of my experience at the Fundación for my presentations when I get home. I’ve been asked by the director and by Juan Carlos, the main teacher, to use my discretion with what pictures I post and how many, for the benefit and well-being of the students and the community. That being said, now that I’ve been working at the Fundación for over a month, I’ve really found my nitch there. On a regular basis, I work with Eladia, about 11 years old, Nico, 13, Iván, around 25?, Hamsa, 18, and occasionally Patricia.

Eladia is my main focus most days because the others are much more self sufficient. Usually, I begin with the group by helping with homework. If there is no homework, I employ my method with the English and Spanish books. I’ve done this with Eladia several times, and although she always says English is boring and she doesn’t like it, she has improved a little bit. She’s definitely not reading fluently or speaking confidently, but it’s at least now in a context that she enjoys. It’s almost like a game. Since she’s very inclined to drawing and crafts, we’ve also employed drawing a picture of the word and labeling it with both the English and Spanish version. She’s also learning how to think of me as a teacher and not a babysitter. (The word for that here is “canguro” which means kangaroo, which I think is hilarious!) Yesterday she showed me how to make a paper crane.

Nico is my other main student. He’s learning English in school and is quite clever, but he gets a bit mixed up with word order and the pronunciation is hard for him, so the best way for us to practice is to talk. That’s nice for me because it means I get a break from Spanish.

I figured out yesterday that I only have 5 regular days there before I fly home. I feel like I just started! I forget if I’ve expressed this before, or not, but, I almost regret that I can’t be here longer. It seems to me that a lot of well-meaning volunteers come and go from the Fundacion, and then take the benefits of the experience with them; I just hope that I can have half as much of a good affect on the people I’ve met as they have on me.

Now’s a good time to point out my new camera. Cannon 10mgpx. Super cute little turquoise number. Merry Christmas to me! But the pictures I bring back will be great, and I’m much more motivated to get everything I can on film. This  weekend I’ll be going with the school to the Alpujarras, a chain of mountain villages outside Granada. It’s supposed to be beautiful in the snow and a great chance to soak up some more Andalucian culture. Watch for pictures!! =) Also this weekend is the Barcelona/Madrid futbol game. Pretty much the superbowl of Spain. I’m torn on who to root for, but it should be a blast!!!!

Presentation de-briefing.

Wow! I must apologize for this latest lapse in updatage. The last two weeks have been busy to say the very least. Let me see if I can adequately catch everyone up on my antics- I mean activities here. Considering the tradition of siesta happens at about the half-way point of the day, we’ll just consider that brief absence as my blogging siesta.

Let’s take it a bit at a time as there is so much to catch up on. I’ll split this update up into categories and post them as individual entries to make it a bit easier to swallow. When we left off, the team and I were preparing for a week full of presentations. All of them went very well.

The first was a presentation to the community at the Fundación. These were the people who live at the complex with the aid of organizations like Rotary, but there were more than just the people we already knew and had been working with. There were a notable amount of unfamiliar faces, which was nice to see, and at the end, there was a surprising amount of interest and questions for us regarding the club and our scholarship. We spoke a little about the history of Rotary and its purpose of community outreach and international goodwill, how we contribute to this cause through our scholarship, and about ourselves as individuals and what we hope to gain from this experience.  I was very pleased that it turned out to be an occasion where we didn’t feel as though we were wasting people’s time and attention on an obligatory aspect of our scholarship that did not have much relevance to them. We had all prepared something to say regarding the different slides of our power-point presentation, but we all agreed later that we spoke better at the question/answer part of the evening, which was encouraging. Unfortunately, all four of us seemed to be of the opinion that surely one of the other three would bring a camera and that someone could get pictures for us, but that fell through right quick, so we don’t have pictures.

The second presentation of the week we were lucky enough to do in English. As I may have mentioned, the school offers English classes to kids of different ages in the evenings after those of us there in the mornings have all gone for the day. The team and I gave an English version of our presentation from the previous evening. This audience was not quite so captivated. They were interested enough, and the professors were very courteous to give us their time. Not many questions at the end, but, that was to be expected as we were speaking fluently in a language that they were learning, which as it turns out is quite different from presenting in a language you are learning to an audience who speaks it fluently.

Finally, on Friday, we presented our Spanish version to the staff at the school. Our teacher, Alicia, who is turning out to be an outstanding ally, and who helped us make all the preparations and corrections to our work, was kind enough to video tape it for us. That presentation went also went very well. The director of the school asked us to sum up in one phrase what non-material thing we’d be taking back to the states with us. It was a toughy, but I really feel like I’ll be taking back the lessons from “Si tuviera la vida” and the slogan for the Fundación, which ends with the phrase, “I only have what I give.”

So officially, the three presentations have been made. Jason and I were hoping to travel to Malaga to do one more, but it appears finding a time during the week to go would be hard. As we understand it, though, the club there is going to be sending us a couple of banners to take home with us, and our president is going to help us send ours to them as well.

This coming Monday, we’ll be making our final presentation to the members of our host club. I’m working on finishing mine up the last few days and have made a point to take a lot of pictures of the city itself to use in my presentations when I get back. That’s all on that subject… moving on to the work at the Fundación.

Rotary is proud to present:

Hi all. Just a quick update to let you know that the team and I are gearing up for the next couple weeks jam packed with presentations. We are presenting at the Fundacion tomorrow, to the English classes offered in the evenings at SHM on Thursday, and Jason and I could be traveling to the coast this weekend to present in Marbella. After that I’ll be working on my final report and presentation for December. We attended a Rotary dinner last Friday which was lovely and we met many of the members wives. My councelors wife was delightful and warmly told me that if I needed anything, not to hesitate to ask them. The district governor has also asked that the four of us write something about our experiences in Granada to contribute to the monthly press, and we’ll be helping Sitou to set up a web-page for his final project before he leaves in a few weeks. I’m glad that we’re able to do this all together. It’s been fun to have the support of the other scholars here and we’ve been far more efficient as a team than as I could have been on my own.

Until next week.

Solo tengo lo que doy.

I only have what I give.