Kayaking Snapshots

Today was such a good day. It was eventful, fun, and worthwhile, which is not something I can usually say about my week days. Why was today so special? I went to work went kayaking! Which was such a better use of time, lets be honest. And then did an hour of spinning without sitting down once, which is a huge accomplishment for me. My legs usually give out a couple times throughout the hour, so tonight was the first time I could say that I successfully completed the entire class. It was a great feeling.

Here are some snapshots from the Bay of Gibraltar, where Jeff and I spent the afternoon:

Along the coastline. 

More coastline, complete with the picturesque ruins of a house.

Playa Getares, the prettiest beach in Algeciras. 

Completely unrelated hike from a few months ago. 

This is Eli and I gazing out across the Bay of Gibraltar.

Jeff and I were kayaking right below this cliff. 

[Photo credit to Christine]

So, if for some reason you are ever in Algeciras for a day, don't despair. I know the guide books make it seem like the worst place in the world, but it does it have its little pockets of sunshine! Take a bus out to Playa Getares and relax at the beach, before heading back to the grit and grime of the city at night.

The hike to Honey River

Yes, it really is called Honey River (el Río de la Miel) and yes, it was as lovely as it sounds.
Saturday was the day of my Grandpa's funeral back home, and so rather than being miserable all day wishing that I was home with my family, 2 friends and I set off on a hike to commemorate his life by living ours :)

Enjoy the pictures!

"If those fell on your head they would knock you out."

We found an old crumbling down grain mill by the river. So picturesque!

Orange trees hangin' out by the river. So Spanish.

They went exploring by the pond, while my lazy self stayed behind.

"A pretty view of Uglyciras??" Yup, it can look quite idyllic if you're far enough away.

Algeciras Christmas Light Show

Oh Spain, you never fail to amuse me.

Tonight I went to the city center to check out a light show at the city hall. I got there at 9:50, and it was supposed to start at 10. There were a couple handfuls of people there, and then right around 9:55, the rest of the town showed up. Which, is actually kind of impressive for Spaniards, to show up anywhere 5 minutes early.


Xabi and Christine came with high expectations of 3-D images displayed up on the building set to music. Or something like that. They said the videos they found online where awesome. I, however, came with absolutely zero expectations. Which was definitely for the best.

First off, right at 10pm a message was put up on the projector saying that due to technical difficulties the show would be delayed until 10:30. (We found out that the "technical difficulties" was actually that the guy in charge of the projector lived in Tarifa and was sleeping.) The 'technical difficulty' finally showed up around 10:35 and managed to get the show rolling. 

The show was in 3-D and was more of a haphazard arrangement of sound clips set to random 3-D designs and images portrayed on the building. They had a drawing of the building on the projection which they lined up with the building, and then when they hit play the projected image would do things like pop out from the original building or turn 360 or change colors. It was kind of cool.
And I can't forget to mention the fake snow aka bubbles that were being shot out of snow machines on the top of the building. Or the green smoke that was shot out twice on top of the projector. (The green smoke literally had nothing to do with any of the show.)

If my description of the night leaves you a little confused, then you know how I felt walking away from that show. It lasted 4 minutes, at which point they hit repeat. "Maybe if we're lucky they'll repeat it a 3rd time!" "Emma! Be careful what you say!"
And then repeated it a 3rd time.
"Oops."


All in all though, even with all its shortcomings and mistakes (the 45 minute late start probably would have gotten somebody fired in the U.S.) it was a great experience and a true representation of Spanish culture. I'm glad I went and got to experience it.

This is what Christine and Xabi saw, and then called me excitedly to say there was going to be a 3-D video projection at the Town Hall. 

My backyard is the ghetto

Let me preface this story with 3 acknowledgments.

1) I probably shouldn't have been wearing black/neon pink nike running shorts and a regular t-shirt while running. I should have given in to Spain and its uni-colored tracksuit ways long ago. Oops, my bad.

2) Once I realized I was in the Algeciras ghetto, I should have turned around and gone back. 

3) Once I realized that I was passing some unfriendly looking people and that I was now at the heart of the ghetto, I really should have turned back. Not just started running down the center of the sidewalk instead so it would be harder for creepy men to grab out at me as I ran past. (This thought actually did cross my mind. Which might give you some insight into just how sketch this place was.) 

Still. I don't think that makes this okay.

First, I passed a woman who muttered something to the effect of "are you lost?" in slightly more colorful language. Then, just as I was reaching the top of the hill, I passed a woman doing laundry and her ratty-probably-hadn't-showered-in-the-last-week looking daughter. The woman said something I didn't catch, but the 9 year old girl said, plain as day, "que te fóllate". Which, I think, translates to go fuck yourself. 

Ugg.

It's too bad I went on the run in the first place to de-stress a bit. 

Winter Weather

Current weather here in Algeciras. Heeeeeeello December :)

            

                                     Current weather back home in La Crosse. Wow, I'm sorry guys! (Btw, when I tell my students what some of our december/january temperatures are, they're jaws literally drop.)

UPDATE/NOTE: If you know me well you know that I am very oblivious. Case in point. Thank you Kaley for pointing out that this is in Celcius and the others are in farhenheit! Oops. So here is the updated weather for La Crosse....

Still cold, but nowhere near what I thought it was...Which makes the rest of this post moot. But in the interest of conserving my previous excitement/stupidity/whatever you want to call it, I'll leave the rest of it up.
              

    

                       Current weather in Munich, Germany.

The point of this is not to brag, I promise. The point is that I've spent the last week looking up everything I could about winter weather in Germany, and agonizing over whether I should bring my warm winter jacket that I brought from Wisconsin, or whether I will be okay with just layering up and bringing a lighter jacket. And when I say agonizing, i mean agonizing. I hate packing. It's so stressful.

So then I decided to do this little comparison! And while I realize that the current temperatures for La Crosse are not exactly average, I also realized how much I do not need any sort of jacket that I would currently be using back home. Yay!

Amigos, Españoles y Americanas. Finalmente

I have friends, I have friends, I have friends! La de da de da!
Don't judge me, you try moving halfway around the world without knowing a soul and then try not to act excited when you finally realize you have people to talk to again.

That was my biggest fear moving here was that I would spend all my friday nights in my room watching tv shows on ch131.com.

But nope. Eli (the other auxiliar), Christine (the other american expat) and her novio Xabi (read: Shavi. diminutive of Xavier I believe?) and I went out for tapas and drinks.

Here's some of the highlights of the first of many great nights to come.

Me explaining to Eli that the Granada fútbol jerseys looked like Wally from Where's Wally.
Get it? Yeah, not so much.
Well, Xavi got it right away because apparently that's what he's called in Spain.
Christine reminded me that in America, it's called Where's Waldo.
Oops.

Xabi explaining his experiences at the Seattle Seahawks football game. "The game was starting and people were still outside drinking, not caring at all. We walked into the stadium and the Seahawks were winning 10-0....What?" He was also very excited that he got to wave the finger (the #1 foam hand thing) around like a crazy person.

Me-"So people have lived in this area for thousands of years but in the 17th century the whole city was demolished and then rebuilt."
Christine-"Well they should DEMOLISH it again. Cause they did a terrible job."
(Christine and Xabi are very adamant that Algeciras is an ugly city. Which it is. I told you so.)

Explaining what party foul means to Xabi -- "una falta de fiesta"

Telling Cris, my spanish roommate, that in the U.S., spanish time is a very popular and well-used phrase. She really thought that was awesome.

We had the most epic spanglish/spanish/english conversations going.

Listening to "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" in the most back alley bar I've ever been in, while drinking kalimotxo (half red wine/half coca cola), and having flashes of Bryant & mi novio breaking it down at house parties. (I miss you guys by the way, you'll have to do another rendition of that when I finally make it back in June!)

Ha! Take That Rick Steves!

Finally, someone who has something decent to say about Algeciras. This is literally the first website I've found that mentions anything worthwhile about staying here, besides this blogger who has been living here for the past two years.
So with that for an introduction, read away to find out all the reasons Algeciras is worth a visit!

So...I Guess I Actually Live Here Now...

So many good things have happened in the last 2 days!
Wednesday night I called a girl, Cris, at 7:30 about looking at an apartment. I met her at said apartment at 8. I gave her the 1st months rent + security deposit and then she gave me the keys at 8:30. Compare that to renting an apartment in the states!

DETAILS:

4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (only 1 shower though)
internet + tv (not sure if there's cable I haven't checked yet)
patio (overlooking the alley and the next door daycare center)
microwave in the kitchen (thank god!)

I only pay 120e/month for my room, + whatever utilities there are, which are divided by person.
In case you don't know the euro/dollar conversion off the top of your head, that equals about $160. Yup. I am paying $160/month to live in an apartment in a complex with an elevator (fairly rare), off a main street with a grocery store and lots of shopping, and only a 5 minute walk from the city center. Which so conveniently passes through the 'old' section of the city, aka the prettiest and most spanish. I think I can live with this!

As for my roommates, they are 2 spanish girls about 26 or 27. I'm not really sure. But Victoria is a french professor at a nearby school, so I'm assuming that makes her at least a few years older than me. Cris is also a teacher, I believe. They are both super friendly, and Victoria is happy because know she has someone to speak English with. Who knows, maybe I'll start learning french!
As for the 3rd roommate, Carlos, he is moving out on Saturday to move to northern Spain to look for a job. I think I heard Cris say a British guy was coming to look at the apartment. How cool would that be? 2 spaniards, an american and a Brit. Sweet.

So Thursday morning was spent packing up my stuff, saying goodbye to José and Rosa from the hostel, and rolling/carrying my 70lb. suitcase up la montaña pequeña that is in between my flat and the hostel. It was pure hell.
And sure, I made it worse for myself by picking the ONE STREET that had stairs. All I can say is that I got a pretty decent upper body workout that day. My shoulders are still sore.

Holy s*** that was the worst experience ever.

Then I unsuccessfully tried to buy sheets and a pillow case at the nearby mattress store. The guy was positive that when I asked for las sábanas, I didn't really mean that I wanted sheets. What would I want sheets for?? I must be talking about a pillow instead.
Whatever.
Just because spanish isn't my native language doesn't mean I don't know what I'm asking for. So I walked out of there a few minutes later carrying a ridiculously overpriced, bright red pillow.
I'm not going to complain though because sleeping on this pillow feels like a little piece of heaven. Totally worth the 28 bucks I paid for it.

So after a hard days work, my little slice of home in Algeciras, aka the eyesore of Southern Spain, is starting to take shape.

Note the $30 red pillow on my bed. Worth it, cause it's a splash of color.

PLUS, *cue excitement*, I have also met Elizabeth, the other auxiliar at my school, and Christine, the only other American I'm aware of living in Algeciras. C wasn't all that reassuring about erasing my initial thoughts on the city, but meeting another American and friend definitely helped ease my fears about creating a life here.

Stay tuned for details of my trip to Cadiz and Jerez this weekend!

Algeciras.

Ever since I got to Algeciras (a whole day and a half ago), I've been starting and deleting blog entries. I just don't want to post a sad, rambling, whiny post about how my life sucks since I (by choice) uprooted myself from everything and everyone I know, and moved to a foreign country to work for a year, just because I could. How bratty would that sound?

But come on.

I still sort of have a right to vent since I didn't get to pick the city that I would be calling home for a year. Algeciras. Oh joy. It took me about 10 minutes into my exploration of the city today to realize I wasn't exactly in love with it.

Here's the explanation I came up with during my walk:

I went to Fiji for a week in 2008, a country known for it's poverty. What I noticed while my group was in Nadi, the capital, were all the gorgeous exotic flowers that were spilling over ugly cement walls, and growing up the sides of houses to hide the fact they were falling apart. It seemed like they tried to counteract the dustiness and grittiness of the city with beautiful flowers. And it almost worked.

And that's how I feel about Algeciras.

The city is dirty, grimy, very sketchy in certain places, and not typically anywhere I'd want to be.

But the amounts of flowers sprouting up from every corner is pretty impressive. Pink, orange, blue, purple, white, more pink, it's so pretty. And then they paint some of their buildings different colors to try and make it nicer looking.

And it almost works.

But not quite.

It's still dirty looking.

Soo...

I'm bored, and procrastinating getting ready for work. Mornings like this make me so excited for the 12 hours/week max I'll be working for the next year. Ug. I am so not a morning person.

Anyway, here are some random facts about the city I will be calling home in a few weeks:

Algeciras does not serve free tapas........ :( 

--Granada, the city I studied abroad in last year, is one of the only (is it the only?) cities in Spain that serves free tapas. I believe there is a bar in Madrid that serves them as well, but if you have to ask where it is it then you're probably not supposed to be there.)--


Algeciras is considered mainly a jump off point to other locations, like Morocco, the Canary Islands, Tarifa, etc.  I have yet to read a blog entry of someone who visited Algeciras for the sake of visiting Algeciras.

The average temperature during the summer is 75 - 83 degrees, and during the winter it stays in the 50's. Now that is a winter I can deal with!!

--Sidenote. 2 years ago I arrived in Spain in January and it snowed in Madrid while we were there for orientation, and then when we took a group trip to Rome for Valentine's day, it decided to snow for the first time in 20 years. So although it says that Algeciras has mild winters, I won't believe it till I see it.
Especially given the freak temperatures we've been seeing around here lately.

There is a college located nearby the school were I'll be teaching, so *cross your fingers* that this means I'll be able to find students or international travelers to live with.

Aaaand gotta go to work.

Ciao!