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.