Happy Heart

So there have been some things in the last few weeks that have really made me smile and I'd like to share them with you.

1. After a slow winter (business was not so great), Emily's gym is back and full of people eager to work out. I have gone running the past couple of days and at two different times (once in the evening and once in the morning) and both times I have seen many people out walking, running, biking, etc. It has always been said that Spain is a healthier country than the US and now I am starting to believe that. Granted, I have seen my fair share of older men and women who have clearly been hitting up the pastry/bread shops WAY too often but for the most part, I'd say Spain is a pretty fit country. Even those people that are overweight are out walking. I will say that the climate here, especially in Motril, is much more conducive to outside exercise all year round whereas the weather in Michigan keeps us cooped up indoors for the greater part of November-April. It doesn't help when a person may not have a gym membership (for various reasons - they do cost a lot) and then can't take advantage of the great outdoors. Also, Spain has much more foot traffic on a daily basis. People walk to work, to the store, mostly anywhere. We all walk here to get our groceries yet at home I live closer to a grocery store than I do here and I never walk there. It's just funny to see the difference between a culture that is accustomed to walking everywhere and one that is accustomed to hopping in the car to get to every place. It doesn't help that gas here is about 1.4 euro/liter which calculates to somewhere between $7/8 per gallon. And you all thought $4 was bad, right?

2. I have a class at my academy where I teach in the afternoons that is absolutely terrible. For the hour that I am with them on Mondays and Wednesdays, I can think of nothing more than how I wish the clock would strike 4:30 and I can be done with them. Well, on Wednesday, a certain trouble maker was absent and I actually had a relatively pleasant class with them. We were covering "do you like" and responding with "yes I do" or "no I don't" and also revisiting some of the foods they had learned earlier in the year. I asked them individually if they liked each thing (ie. ice cream, milk, oranges, sandwiches etc) and I was amazed at how little some of them liked. It reminded me of my good ol' days when I was picky (ok that's me poking fun at myself because I'm still very picky but am getting better little by little). I rewarded them with candy every time they said something correctly. I was so happy to be able to leave class with a smile on my face. I gave them all high five's as they left class. Hopefully this behavior will continue for the next few weeks!

3. I also give private English lessons and two of my students are sisters (one is 13 and the other is 18). They are such nice girls but seem to be very reserved and quiet. The other day, I was giving class to the 13 year old and we were trying to get the CD player to work so we could do a listening activity. I flipped the CD player and all of the batteries came out of the bottom. I know it doesn't really seem funny but Isa was dying laughing and so was I. She had tears in her eyes. It made me so happy to see her enjoying herself and laughing so much. I usually try to crack jokes with them whenever I can and they laugh, even if they aren't so funny.

4. I know it's probably hard to believe but I only have 34 days left here in Spain! I have mixed emotions about this but I will include it in the list of things that make me smile for this reason: I can't WAIT to run into my parents arms and give them the biggest hugs on June 15th when I get home. It turns out that 9 months feels like a really long time to be away from family and friends. I have made friends here and cherish the relationships that I have with them but I can't wait to get back to everything I know and love about home (including but not limited to: my family, friends, my bed, El Chaps, baby carrots, the lake, driving, and the list could go on and on.....)

That's all for now - I'll try to keep you updated as best I can in this last month here. Much love to all!

A little weekend getaway

What does everyone need after 10 days off for Holy Week and Easter? A 5-day weekend. Well, at least that's how Spaniards see it. So this past weekend was another festival here in Spain called "las cruces" or "the crosses" and so we had Monday and Tuesday (the 2nd and 3rd of May) off of school. We spent part of the weekend in Motril and then headed to Cordoba on Sunday to visit a friend of Tad's who is also teaching English there. I had been to Cordoba when I studied abroad but was eager to see more of the city.
During "Cruces," people build elaborate altars with crosses to celebrate Jesus and his sacrifice to the world. Some of the crosses are really beautiful and have flowers all around them - here are a couple of examples.


It's funny because this is supposedly a "religious" holiday but like most other Spanish festivals, it would not be complete without alcohol. There were many different tents set up with hundreds of people swarming them. A popular tradition is to dress up in Flamenco dresses (for the women) and dance Sevillana. It's really a cool thing. Unfortunately, we were a big group of Americans and so we didn't really experience the authentic "cruces" holiday but there's always another year!
We did some touring around the Jewish quarters of the city and took a walk down this famous street called "calle de las flores" or "flower street."

Sunday night we went out to dinner and then went to a really cool Jazz Cafe for some drinks.
Here I am with our awesome host, Joey.

Joey is a guy with a great sense of humor and shares with me a love of singing, theater and the arts in general. We ended up swing dancing in the middle of the bar (no, no one else was dancing but we didn't care) and it was a blast.
Monday morning was off to do the touristy things. We paid the mosque a visit - it's an impressive Moorish masterpiece with a strategically placed Catholic chapel in the middle (added when the Christians conquered the Moors in Spain). It's famous for it's red and white striped arches throughout.
Here are a few pictures from the mosque.




After that it was off to the palace and gardens. I have an obnoxious amount of pictures of flowers (because I love to take pictures of flowers) but I definitely am not going to post them all.
Joey and I just taking in the gardens

I masterfully placed my camera to self-time a picture of us in this little "cave"

Beautiful flowers and ponds



A view looking out over Cordoba

Tad and I were using each other as back rests....that's what friends are for, right?

Cordoba is known for it's beautiful flowers (as I think you can gather from the many pictures of flowers) but I absolutely loved the balcony on this house!

And last but not least - another one of my self-timed masterpieces :-)

I am down to less than 40 days here in Spain - I can't believe it - but that's all I am going to say about that for now!