Unpasteurized Milk

Hola! So much to share...

I had my first week at the new job this past week. I was nervous on the first day but it quickly went away as soon as I got there and started meeting the kids. I am teaching at a school called Colegio Infanta Catalina, a primary school with grades 1-5. Although I thought I would be with the tiny kids, I am actually working with 3rd and 4th graders in science and English classes. Right now we are studying the weather and I am helping them prepare for their end of year exams in English. The school is nervous about these exams because the children have to do well on them. So, it is my job to help them practice and prepare as much as possible! I have a presentation on Tuesday about the weather and talk about a current event. I was thinking about presenting on the hurricanes that rocked the east coast of the US last month.

To get around Madrid effectively, you have to utilize many forms of transportation: walking, subway, bus, train, and taxi. I made a little video of my commute home from school the other day. If you are curious, the song is from a friend's band called Bambara. They are from Athens and live in Brooklyn now (keep your ears open for their name Amy!). You hip youngsters should check them out, they might make your ears explode.

It was my birthday last Monday, the 3rd, the best day of all time, and I celebrated by having my first day of school and then going out for tapas with my roommates and some friends. We went to a place a few blocks from our flat and chowed down on tortilla española, jamón ibérico, calamari, patatas bravas and cerveza. I had a really nice time on my first Spanish birthday. Great success!

Birthday brewski

The crew minus Becca, our photographer.

This post is titled "unpasteurized milk" because I had my first serving of it a few nights ago and it did not go well for me. I was grocery shopping and decided to get cereal and milk. I am used to finding cold milk in the dairy section and not warm and on the shelf across from the cereals. I learned the milk here is unpasteurized (raw) and doesn't need to be refrigerated. I had a huge bowl of cereal when I got home and it was delicious. Then the worst stomach ache of all time set in. I couldn't sleep it was so bad. It finally passed the next day and I was quite relieved. You know how you realize how great it feels just to feel normal sometimes? Yeah. Since I am semi lactose intolerant, I need to be careful with the milk. Lesson learned.

This face sums up how the stomach ache felt. However, this photo is actually my reaction right after I ate an olive, one of my least favorite foods of all time. I just wanted to be sure I still hated them. I do.

This weekend was a great one. I had my first adventure to a European club and it was tons of fun. Good music, people, and dancing. Another highlight of the weekend was the Prado museum. I went on Saturday and it was a great experience. I have been to some nice art museums in the US but have never seen European classics in such large collections and quantities before. I got to see Picasso, El Greco, Velázquez, Goya, and Rembrandt. The coolest part was the sizes of the works. There were some paintings I had seen before in my college textbooks that I got to see at the museum. The textbooks made them seem tiny because they were so small on the pages. Much to my delight, however, most of them are gigantic in real life! There are two more art museums left to conquer in Madrid, and one of them holds my favorite painting, "Guernica," by Picasso.

El 2 de Mayo / Goya

Well, I am getting sleepy and am going to go do some reading and get some rest. I just finished my first John Grisham novel (thanks Stevenson family!) and it was a thriller. It was like reading an action movie. Now I know why all of his novels are best sellers and I am hooked.

I only work two days this week and am very excited! There are two holidays this week for Madrid and my school's area, Alcalá de Henares, so I get some time off. I hope everyone is doing well! I miss you guys! Until next time, 'talueggoooooo!

OH! It'd be nice if anyone who wants to could e-mail me their home addresses so I can send postcards. You can e-mail me at kcin282@gmail.com.

¡Hala Madrid!

HELLLLLOOOOOO! How are you? Hope you are doing great.

Since my last post, some things have happened and I will share them with you right NOW! My flat is full now, 5/5 bedrooms occupied by two Americans (including myself) and three Brits. We are having a good time exchanging stories and discussing the differences between our styles of English and the words we use. Here are some fun examples:

• America: wash cloth / England: linen
• America: right away / England: straight away
• America: router / England: router, pronounced "rooter"
• America: chips / England: crisps
• America: fries / England: chips
• America: trash can / England: bin

Needless to say, I am expanding my vocabulary in Spanish AND English. Speaking of the guys, we had a fun day at Retiro Park kicking around the soccer ball. It was all fun and good times until the ball exploded and we realized we had purchased a very cheap ball. Here are some photos of the tragedy:

Before ^

D'oh! ^

Despite being sad about the ball and it's short life, I quickly found another use for the outer shell's protective qualities. I think I am going to be a soccer ball for Halloween:

Scary?

Speaking of soccer, I went to my first professional soccer game last night. Madrid's best team, Real Madrid, played against a Dutch team called Ajax in a UEFA Champion's League game. Real Madrid has some great players and I couldn't believe I got to see them in person because I am used to seeing them on TV from far, far away. I got to see Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka score goals too! I had a really great time. It was exhilarating when Ronaldo scored the first goal of the game.. I had never felt anything so exciting! We were sitting near the supporters of Ajax and they were some pretty rowdy soccer hooligans. At one point, all of the men took their shirts off and began chanting something and whipping their tees around in the air. I went with my roommates Themis, Matt, and my friend Mitch. Here is a little video from the match:

In other news, I had some friends over the other night and we cooked up a feast. We combined Spanish and American food and created a meal that didn't make much sense but ended up being delicious. We started by making gambas al ajillo (a Spanish shrimp with garlic) and fried up some potatoes after that, which we seasoned in the same skillet we had made the shrimp in so we got all of those flavors in the potatoes. We made chicken, porkchops, and tortilla española (like an omelet with potatoes, red peppers, and onions inside). I was so full afterwards!

tortilla española

Tonight I am going to bed early because I am getting up in the morning to visit my school for the first time. The kids are already there but I don't start work until Monday, which happens to be my birthday. I think it will be cool to celebrate my birthday with a first day of work with little kids! I'm excited for the job and will keep you posted as much as I can.

Time to go make dinner! I am going to attempt making mussels tonight in a tomato garlic sauce. I really hope it works out because I have no idea what I'm doing.

Nick

Pulpo

This entry is titled "pulpo" because it's what I had for dinner a few nights ago and I am pretty psyched about having eaten a purple deep sea monster. I know octopus is not uncommon in many places, but it definitely is where I come from. I went out for my first real Spanish dinner on Saturday night with some madrileños (Madrid people) and they showed me how to eat. So, you know tapas? They are little appetizer-sized dishes and you order different things and share. It's kind of like a traditional Chinese dinner if you are familiar. Being overwhelmed and confused by the menu, I put the ordering in my friends' hands. They chose well. We ate octopus, mussels, shrimp, potatoes, bread, fish, chorizo (Spanish sausage), tortilla española (like an omelet with potatoes inside), and drank beer and sangria. Needless to say, dinner was a great success. Afterwards, we went out to some bars and one was actually showing the Florida and Tennessee football game (lol wut). I ordered a mojito, skeptical of the bar's ability to accurately concoct the drink, and it was less than great. Oh well, still good fun.

Hey, I found an apartment! It is located in the barrio of Salamanca in Madrid, which is the safe and nice neighborhood. It's fantastic here. It's too bad I don't own a Macbook or a Mercedes because I live next to a Mac store and a luxury car repair shop. There are 5 bedrooms in my place, 3 of which are currently occupied by an Iowan, a Greek/French/English/Swiss guy, and myself. They are great fun. We have been watching a lot of soccer, including the 8-0 Barca thrashing of Osasuna and the 3-1 Chelsea failure, led by my boy Torres. The real loser here is Real Madrid who couldn't beat Levante. C'mon guys, really? OH! I found some potential tickets online to go see Real Madrid play Ajax next Tuesday! Approximately 2 of my friends will understand the importance of this. All I'm trying to say is I'm trying my hardest to go see Real Madrid, Madrid's best soccer team, play an awesome game.

There are lots of things I am trying to take care of here before school begins on October 3rd (my 24th birthday, woo!). I think I will now describe what I am doing in Madrid for those of you who don't understand why I am here. I got a job through the Spanish Ministry of Education teaching English in a school to 1st-4th graders. I am known as a "language and cultural assistant," which means I will be teaching all things American to small Spanish children. I am very excited about the job! My school has contacted me and told me I could even be teaching music, art, and technology classes, which are right up my alley. I'm going to teach those little Spaniards how to shred a guitar if possible. My contract is through June 30th and I'll be returning then.

Today I went to one of Madrid's big ole' parks, Parque del Retiro. It's gigante and easy to get lost. It's also easy to have fun in. I explored, saw some sights, snapped some shots, stared at some birds, and found a shady spot to read for a few hours. I am currently hooked on John Grisham's The Confession, courtesy of Ryan Gary Stevenson's delightful parents, Kay and Pastor Steve. The book is nothing but suspense and I feel like I'm part of the story. Good thing I have 400 pages to go. Seriously, it's really long.

Time to keep reading and get some sleep. Tomorrow: IKEA and groceries.

Here are some pictoral and video diversions, enjoy!


This is a tour of my new place


This is a funny street performer clown baby man

Cool little stream in the park

Bedroom window view

Path

Happy dewd

More pictures at my Flickr.

Love,
your favorite son/grandson/nephew/brother/friend/person Nick

13/9/2011

Funny looking date, right? I have to get used to the flip-flopping of the month and day too... And then there is the time! if it's 3 PM, it is 15:00. It's like military time, and I'm not very good at it yet.

It has only been 6 days and there is so much to talk about, so I'll try to control myself and keep this brief and entertaining. The hostel is nice, it's called Hostal Zamora. I have my own room, bathroom, and tv. Spanish television is interesting so far. There is a lot of American programming with Spanish dubbed over it. I stumbled upon a channel showing Sex in the City in Spanish and it was just as bad as it is in English (sorry James, I know you enjoy this show). There are late night game shows where people at home call in trying to guess the answer to something and then they win money. I think the shows are rigged because I didn't see anyone win.

My first day here, I got my Spanish cell phone through a carrier called HappyMovil. I chose them because they were cheap and their name made me chuckle. I needed the cell phone ASAP because my iPhone won't work here (well, it will work here but I don't want to surprise my parents with a huge phone bill). Don't worry though, I can still play Words with Friends! Challenge accepted? With my new phone, I had to call advertisements for apartments. Unlike us Americans, the Spanish will accept a call from an unknown number every time! I think that's crazy! Not really. But seriously, who does that?

Apartment hunting here is tiring and I'm kinda sick of it already. I have looked at 10 places and some have been great. Others have been sketchy, dirty, small, or expensive. I saw one place that was inhabited by 5 hippies and their apartment's theme, if it had one, was dirt. It was actually a lot like some peoples' places in Athens. You guys know what I'm talking about. They were Madrid townies. So many bikes and dreadlocks.

The apartment I chose is in a neighborhood called Salamanca and it is supposed to be the nicest in Madrid. From what I have seen, it is true. I will be moving in Thursday and sharing the apartment with 4 others. Apartments here tend to be full of people from all over the world, and I think that is the case with mine. So far, I know there is a guy from Greece and another from Iowa. I didn't get to meet the others yet. There was one apartment that had a person from England, Belgium, Italy, and France. It would've been a mini United Nations. Unfortunately, it didn't work out.

I have had some tasty food so far and my stomach is excited for more. I paid 8 euros for bread with olive oil and tomato, a large chorizo link, a piece of steak, salad, and strawberry ice cream (Nom!). Oh, and 2 beers came with it. At a restaurant here, beer is cheaper than water and comes with most meals. That is pretty cool. Don't worry Mom and Dad, the beers are smaller than our pints at home. I'm not going crazy. YET!

I was able to find a stream online of the UGA USC game Saturday night. I was so excited! But then we lost. Ugh. I could write an entire post on that game, but that isn't the point of this blog and it would only make me mad to think about.

Here are some pictures of some things I've seen so far:

street

i think this is a bank

plaza del sol

a fancy hotel at sol

parque del retiro

you can see more of my pictures at my flickr if you are interested.

More to come later. Adios!