With two weeks now behind us, Jeanna and I are beginning to get the rhythm of things here in Jaen/Spain. Life is, without a doubt, different here than in the US of A. One of the major differences is the Siesta! I am sure that many of you have heard the word before and maybe used it to describe a little thing we like to call a “nap” or “little snoozer” in el idioma ingles! Siesta is more than a time to rest, however. It is a time to eat, a large break from work, and a time to visit with friends. Siesta lasts from 2 o’clock until 5 in the afternoon. Siesta is not a time to try to get things done (like we would in the US), rather it is a time where life almost literally stops! Siesta is great if you have friends and or family to share it with, but for Jeanna and I it is a time where we have absolutely nothing to do. We have started using this time to begin working out or to do our grocery shopping (the only store that is open during siesta). It is honestly amazing. You can be at the busiest intersection in all of Jaen at 1:30 pm and see thousands of people driving around like MANIACS! Wait a half an hour and safely go lay out in the middle of intersection! Slight exaggeration but it is honestly something to see. It’s a great time to ride your bike downtown!
Feria! Feria directly translated means fair. Feria en espana is nothing like “the fair” in the United States. Feria started last Friday and will continue through Sunday night. It goes from sun-up to… sometimes sun-up once again! Feria includes: carnival rides for the kids, fair like food for everyone, booths selling all kinds of junk and junk food, and casetas (tents) that are literally “pop-up” disco-techs! Loud music and LOTS of drinking/dancing the night away…Did I mention REALLY loud music? Each caseta has its own dj/music. There appears to be a competition between casetas to see who can play their music the loudest. This competition makes it very un-enjoyable to be in any of them! Needless to say, Feria is not really our idea of a good time but it was a cultural experience and both of us mentioned to one another that it would have been more fun if we had friends/family to pass the time with. We went to Feria with the faculty at my school. We all had lunch together and then spent the next couple of hours dancing and trying to visit (did I mention that the music was REALLY loud?). Jeanna was in heaven as she had finally found a place where she could bust out her funky white girl dance and everyone was too drunk to notice that she was in fact a… funky white girl! All joking aside, I looked more out of place than Jeanna as I do not really enjoy the bailando. I had several people ask me if she was born in Spain, as she appeared to enjoy dancing even more than the natives!
Everyday we are learning more about the culture and more of the language. We are both getting used to teaching in Spain and becoming more familiar with the city everyday. Eli has finally found some riding partners (who happen to be… we will save that for another blog) and Jeanna is finding more and more places to run. The mountain biking here seems to be rather incredible. We have also found tons of hiking/ Mt.Biking trails and have spotted some bolted rock climbing routes right below the castle. Rock climbing directly below an ancient castle???? (Whit and Mavis- this us telling you to come visit us ASAP!) We miss you all very much but it might be difficult for us to come home
From Jaen To all of You (Or ya’all in the vosotros form)
Eli and Miss Jeanna
Monday, October 20, 2008
Hills, Hills, Hills!
We have a home! We are the proud renters of a 40 meter-squared apartamento outside city limits en el campo. While most would think the location is in the middle of nowhere, it is approximately a half-mile walk to Jeanna’s school and just under a mile to Eli’s school. Thankfully, the walk in the morning is downhill.
Jaen has more to offer than we were originally expecting, and everything seems to be within walking distance. This may or may not be a good thing as we spent our first two days here walking over 20 miles combined while looking for an apartment. Eli asked for a city with hills, and HILLS WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN! The majority of the streets have an average grade of 3-6%, but it is not unusual to find those with 15% or greater (which by the way, Eli thought would be “fun” to run yesterday…we choose a flatter course today). To put things into perspective, Meacham has an average 6% grade. On the bright side of things, we should come back to Oregon with calves of steel.
The people here are VERY nice. Although it is a town of 115,000 people, it feels much smaller. We both feel very safe and comfortable. Grocery shopping without a car has been exciting for us. We essentially live at the top of the hill and the grocery store conveniently sits at the bottom. The walk is just under a mile, but is literally straight up hill. For the La Grandees- taking groceries home is much like hiking to the “L”. As a side note: Hiking packs make for great grocery-getters. In all honesty, we are very happy with the location of our apartment. It more than meets our needs and is much bigger than our first. Our only complaint is that our apartment is not furnished with an oven. No baking for eight months might limit meal options; we have already mourned the loss of our lasagna and turkey enchiladas.
We’re both quite pleased with our school assignments and after only one week have repeatedly been stopped on the street with the greetings of children saying, “Hello, teacher”. The teachers here have an incredibly rough, back-breaking schedule of 9:00-2:00. Thank God that siesta is from 2:00-5:00 or they might not make it through the week. It’s a good thing that because of Feria of San Lucas they only have a 3-day work week coming up or undoubtedly we’d be seeing early retirement. We’ll save Feria and tapas for another day.
Jaen has more to offer than we were originally expecting, and everything seems to be within walking distance. This may or may not be a good thing as we spent our first two days here walking over 20 miles combined while looking for an apartment. Eli asked for a city with hills, and HILLS WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN! The majority of the streets have an average grade of 3-6%, but it is not unusual to find those with 15% or greater (which by the way, Eli thought would be “fun” to run yesterday…we choose a flatter course today). To put things into perspective, Meacham has an average 6% grade. On the bright side of things, we should come back to Oregon with calves of steel.
The people here are VERY nice. Although it is a town of 115,000 people, it feels much smaller. We both feel very safe and comfortable. Grocery shopping without a car has been exciting for us. We essentially live at the top of the hill and the grocery store conveniently sits at the bottom. The walk is just under a mile, but is literally straight up hill. For the La Grandees- taking groceries home is much like hiking to the “L”. As a side note: Hiking packs make for great grocery-getters. In all honesty, we are very happy with the location of our apartment. It more than meets our needs and is much bigger than our first. Our only complaint is that our apartment is not furnished with an oven. No baking for eight months might limit meal options; we have already mourned the loss of our lasagna and turkey enchiladas.
We’re both quite pleased with our school assignments and after only one week have repeatedly been stopped on the street with the greetings of children saying, “Hello, teacher”. The teachers here have an incredibly rough, back-breaking schedule of 9:00-2:00. Thank God that siesta is from 2:00-5:00 or they might not make it through the week. It’s a good thing that because of Feria of San Lucas they only have a 3-day work week coming up or undoubtedly we’d be seeing early retirement. We’ll save Feria and tapas for another day.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Alcazar and Flamenco
The days here have been gorgeous! It is true...there is a lot of sun in Andalucia. Funny thing though, Spaniards love to have bottled water. In fact, that is about the only water they drink, and they look at you all crazy-like if you ask for it from the facet. This could prove to be difficult for us, because we could end up using our entire stipend to simply fill our bottles!
Yesterday was a really nice day. In the afternoon we went and walked over to Alcazar. It is near the cathedral, which we unfortunately weren't able to really see. But it was SOOO impressive. The tile work, and designs, and gardens, and architecture....WOW! It is truly breathtaking. We were fortunate enough to have a girl who helps our organization act as a tour-guide which was really informative. It was so beautiful and we were so happy to see it. Later that evening we went to a Flamenco show. It was so intense. It was definitely an experience, and kind of neat because the dancers actually ended up at the same bar as us afterwards. After some "vino tinto" and a good plate of paella we decided to call it a night. Tomorrow we head out for Jaen where we have a few days to find a place to live. Unfortunately, one of those days is on a Sunday, which in case you didn't know...is the Sabbath! Which means...nothing happens. School starts on Monday. Wish us luck!
Eli and Jeanna
Yesterday was a really nice day. In the afternoon we went and walked over to Alcazar. It is near the cathedral, which we unfortunately weren't able to really see. But it was SOOO impressive. The tile work, and designs, and gardens, and architecture....WOW! It is truly breathtaking. We were fortunate enough to have a girl who helps our organization act as a tour-guide which was really informative. It was so beautiful and we were so happy to see it. Later that evening we went to a Flamenco show. It was so intense. It was definitely an experience, and kind of neat because the dancers actually ended up at the same bar as us afterwards. After some "vino tinto" and a good plate of paella we decided to call it a night. Tomorrow we head out for Jaen where we have a few days to find a place to live. Unfortunately, one of those days is on a Sunday, which in case you didn't know...is the Sabbath! Which means...nothing happens. School starts on Monday. Wish us luck!
Eli and Jeanna
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