today was the first day of the christmas plays! 3A, 3B, 4A, and 4B gave their performances, and it was absolutely hilarious. i missed the third graders, but i caught both of the 4th grade plays. it was a little difficult for me to understand exactly what was going on, but 4A's was about pirates, but mary and joseph and jesus were there. then they sang the 12 days of christmas. and when i say sang, i mean screamed. 4B i couldn't hear anything but it was something about the nativity and they kept introducing animals and people who were there at the birth. then they sang rudolph the red nosed reindeer.
one huge cultural difference that i realized after watching the plays is the topic of race. in each play, one of the three kings had his face painted black. i'm pretty sure that's extremely offensive in the U.S. and that an elementary school would never do that. but here it's not an issue at all. one of the kid's lines was even "i'm balthasar, i'm the blackest of the kings!" huh?!?! i'm not sure if they're racist here or if they just don't find it a problem, but it was very interesting. but there is no diversity here in granada, so it makes me wonder if they just don't take it as seriously as we do in the united states.
anyway, tomorrow i'm going to watch the 5th and 6th graders perform! one 6th grade class is singing all i want for christmas is you, and if it's anything like it was today, it won't be too pretty. after an especially bad run-through, the teacher turned to me with an exasperated expression and said "i'm not a wizard!!!" we'll see how they do!
Monday, December 19, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
weekend in paris
it's confirmed... paris is officially my favorite city in the world. there is not an ugly building in sight. it is the only place where dreary weather makes the city even more beautiful. i love everything about it. the architecture, the history, the language, the art, the people, the cafes, the food, i could go on forever. although i love spanish and know that it may be the more practical language, going to paris makes me want to take french classes and do nothing for the rest of my life but speak french, eat crepes, and look at monet paintings.
so recap of the long weekend...
we arrived on thursday after a long day of traveling. bus to the granada train station, bus to malaga airport, plane to paris, bus into paris, metro to the hostel. yikes. we went out to grab some food and wound up at a pizzeria (so french right?), but it was absolutely delicious. since we were celebrating the first night in paris, we decided to explore and find a fun bar to go to. we stumbled upon a street that had a few irish pubs and this fun looking bar with flashing lights that was playing lady gaga, so obviously we chose that one. eve's first comment was "there aren't very many girls here." hint number 1. flyers featuring muscular men in their underwear. hint number 2. the french guy coming up to us and telling me (in french) that this was the hottest gay bar in paris. hint number 3. yes, we mistakenly went to a gay bar. but they did have 3.50 euro heinekens, which is a deal in paris, so it was worth it. and it makes for a hilarious story!
the next day we did not get an early start. and by we i mean i was ready in 15 minutes while the rest of our group couldn't make it out the door before 10:30. the only thing that can make me mad in paris is not taking advantage of the little amount of time you have. but eventually we made it out of the hostel and headed to pere lachaise cemetery. if there is a perfect time to go to a cemetery it's a day where it's drizzling and overcast and gloomy. the cemetery was amazing and huge and hard to navigate. we did find jim morrison and oscar wilde's graves, so that was pretty cool. i wish i had a whole day to walk through it though, it was incredible (pics below). it also made me want to sing wishing you were somehow here again from phantom of the opera (in the movie she walks through a cemetery singing that song).
next we headed toward the seine just to see everything and explore. took some pictures with notre dame in the background, then stopped at the shakespeare and company bookstore (wikipedia history here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare_and_Company_%28bookstore%29). i don't know where time goes in paris but we walked around for about 5 hours, stopping to take pics and in a cafe to recharge. i decided to order wine while eve ordered a café au lait and kelsey ordered water. guess who's was the cheapest and who felt better afterwards? yup. wine is cheaper than water in paris, as it should be! i wanted to do a little shopping on the champs d'elysées, so we headed there. we were distracted by the awesome christmas markets along the way, so we never actually made it to the stores. then we headed back to the louvre because after 6 it is a discounted price, but thanks to my spain residency card, i got in free (to everything!!!). we were dragging in the louvre. made it to the mona lisa, winged victory, venus de milo, some other things, etc.
saturday was another late start. we made it to the eiffel tower by 11, where we were meeting up with sebastien! he is my french friend who i met through our french exchange in high school... he came and stayed with us for 10 days when i was in 10th grade, then i went to france with our school in 11th grade and stayed with his family. we've kept in touch over the years, and i actually saw him when i was in paris in 2008 and then last year when he was in new york city! so we met up with him and headed to versailles. there aren't really any words to describe versailles, it is the most beautiful place. so elaborate and over the top, but in the best way possible. every room is as breathtaking as the last. and you can't even see the end of the gardens. incroyable. after versailles we wanted to go up to montmartre and sacre coeur to see the sunset, but we missed the sunset. still one of the highlights of the trip though. we walked up the stairs of montmartre (not as many as the eiffel tower, but enough to make me realize how out of shape i am..), and headed into sacre coeur to look around. it's a really interesting looking church, with a lot of mosaics. it was built in 1919, so i guess compared to notre dame it's modern. after we grabbed some mulled wine and sat on the steps overlooking the city and listened to some guy sing coldplay and the police. i could have sat on those steps forever!
sunday was our last day. we woke up and headed to the musée d'orsay, which is an impressionist museum that used to be a train station. it is now my favorite museum in paris. their collection was outstanding. and i don't want to act like i know a lot about art, because i don't, but i loved it. monet, renoir, manet, degas, van gogh, seurat, cezanne, just to name a few of the artists... after orsay it was time to head back to granada. not the best night ever. our flight was delayed 2 hours so we finally got into malaga at 2 in the morning, then had to sleep in the airport and wait for our 7 am bus back to granada. then i had to go to school at 10! oh well, sleep is a small sacrifice for a weekend in paris!
so recap of the long weekend...
we arrived on thursday after a long day of traveling. bus to the granada train station, bus to malaga airport, plane to paris, bus into paris, metro to the hostel. yikes. we went out to grab some food and wound up at a pizzeria (so french right?), but it was absolutely delicious. since we were celebrating the first night in paris, we decided to explore and find a fun bar to go to. we stumbled upon a street that had a few irish pubs and this fun looking bar with flashing lights that was playing lady gaga, so obviously we chose that one. eve's first comment was "there aren't very many girls here." hint number 1. flyers featuring muscular men in their underwear. hint number 2. the french guy coming up to us and telling me (in french) that this was the hottest gay bar in paris. hint number 3. yes, we mistakenly went to a gay bar. but they did have 3.50 euro heinekens, which is a deal in paris, so it was worth it. and it makes for a hilarious story!
the next day we did not get an early start. and by we i mean i was ready in 15 minutes while the rest of our group couldn't make it out the door before 10:30. the only thing that can make me mad in paris is not taking advantage of the little amount of time you have. but eventually we made it out of the hostel and headed to pere lachaise cemetery. if there is a perfect time to go to a cemetery it's a day where it's drizzling and overcast and gloomy. the cemetery was amazing and huge and hard to navigate. we did find jim morrison and oscar wilde's graves, so that was pretty cool. i wish i had a whole day to walk through it though, it was incredible (pics below). it also made me want to sing wishing you were somehow here again from phantom of the opera (in the movie she walks through a cemetery singing that song).
next we headed toward the seine just to see everything and explore. took some pictures with notre dame in the background, then stopped at the shakespeare and company bookstore (wikipedia history here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare_and_Company_%28bookstore%29). i don't know where time goes in paris but we walked around for about 5 hours, stopping to take pics and in a cafe to recharge. i decided to order wine while eve ordered a café au lait and kelsey ordered water. guess who's was the cheapest and who felt better afterwards? yup. wine is cheaper than water in paris, as it should be! i wanted to do a little shopping on the champs d'elysées, so we headed there. we were distracted by the awesome christmas markets along the way, so we never actually made it to the stores. then we headed back to the louvre because after 6 it is a discounted price, but thanks to my spain residency card, i got in free (to everything!!!). we were dragging in the louvre. made it to the mona lisa, winged victory, venus de milo, some other things, etc.
saturday was another late start. we made it to the eiffel tower by 11, where we were meeting up with sebastien! he is my french friend who i met through our french exchange in high school... he came and stayed with us for 10 days when i was in 10th grade, then i went to france with our school in 11th grade and stayed with his family. we've kept in touch over the years, and i actually saw him when i was in paris in 2008 and then last year when he was in new york city! so we met up with him and headed to versailles. there aren't really any words to describe versailles, it is the most beautiful place. so elaborate and over the top, but in the best way possible. every room is as breathtaking as the last. and you can't even see the end of the gardens. incroyable. after versailles we wanted to go up to montmartre and sacre coeur to see the sunset, but we missed the sunset. still one of the highlights of the trip though. we walked up the stairs of montmartre (not as many as the eiffel tower, but enough to make me realize how out of shape i am..), and headed into sacre coeur to look around. it's a really interesting looking church, with a lot of mosaics. it was built in 1919, so i guess compared to notre dame it's modern. after we grabbed some mulled wine and sat on the steps overlooking the city and listened to some guy sing coldplay and the police. i could have sat on those steps forever!
sunday was our last day. we woke up and headed to the musée d'orsay, which is an impressionist museum that used to be a train station. it is now my favorite museum in paris. their collection was outstanding. and i don't want to act like i know a lot about art, because i don't, but i loved it. monet, renoir, manet, degas, van gogh, seurat, cezanne, just to name a few of the artists... after orsay it was time to head back to granada. not the best night ever. our flight was delayed 2 hours so we finally got into malaga at 2 in the morning, then had to sleep in the airport and wait for our 7 am bus back to granada. then i had to go to school at 10! oh well, sleep is a small sacrifice for a weekend in paris!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
una mezcla de pensamientos
not too much going on this week! i've been pretty busy with private classes... i now have four a week so i'm keeping busy! on tuesdays i tutor two different kids from 4:30-5:30 then 6-7:30, wednesday two boys from 4:45-5:45, then thursdays from 4:30-5:30 and then very young kids from 6 to whenever we actually accomplish something. so unfortunately, during the week i don't have much time for a siesta anymore, since i get home at 2:30 and then make lunch.
in school, the kids have been learning christmas songs. the other day i walked into school to hear the younger kids screaming "joy to the world!" then in one of my fourth grade classes they're learning rudolph, and the 12 days of christmas in the other. i was pretty impressed with the 12 days of christmas since i usually can't remember past 8 maids-a-milking... (i think its... 9 ladies dancing... 10 lords-a-leaping....11 pipers piping.... 12 drummers drumming. but i'm never sure). also this week i got a little note from a 4th grader that said "Maria Elisabeth. My name is Eva. You are fantastic. Happy Chistmas." it made my whole week!!! that's one of the things i love about teaching... the kids are so friendly and always say hi to me, and the younger ones usually cheer when i come in the room. it makes you feel so good!
last night my two friends and i went to a our spanish friends' house for a party! they're really awesome and even though it was a little intimidating at first, their friends were all really nice and actually talked to us so we didn't have to stand awkwardly in the corner. we were so tired when we left though, and decided that speaking spanish for that long is really exhausting.
this week i only have two days of class, monday and wednesday. for some reason, their holidays this week are on tuesday and thursday. basically the kids are going to be absolutely insane. but then on thursday i'm jetting off to paris! i can't wait!!!
in school, the kids have been learning christmas songs. the other day i walked into school to hear the younger kids screaming "joy to the world!" then in one of my fourth grade classes they're learning rudolph, and the 12 days of christmas in the other. i was pretty impressed with the 12 days of christmas since i usually can't remember past 8 maids-a-milking... (i think its... 9 ladies dancing... 10 lords-a-leaping....11 pipers piping.... 12 drummers drumming. but i'm never sure). also this week i got a little note from a 4th grader that said "Maria Elisabeth. My name is Eva. You are fantastic. Happy Chistmas." it made my whole week!!! that's one of the things i love about teaching... the kids are so friendly and always say hi to me, and the younger ones usually cheer when i come in the room. it makes you feel so good!
last night my two friends and i went to a our spanish friends' house for a party! they're really awesome and even though it was a little intimidating at first, their friends were all really nice and actually talked to us so we didn't have to stand awkwardly in the corner. we were so tired when we left though, and decided that speaking spanish for that long is really exhausting.
this week i only have two days of class, monday and wednesday. for some reason, their holidays this week are on tuesday and thursday. basically the kids are going to be absolutely insane. but then on thursday i'm jetting off to paris! i can't wait!!!
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