Spanish Pipedream: The Walrus Said

After FINALLY making it home, I didn't move for a day and a half.... unless it was for food.

Got up Monday and just like that, it was April. April 4th. Where did April come from? April is my last month here. April used to be so far away.

The good news about April though... I am not as sad as I thought I'd be to see it. If you had asked me a few weeks ago how I felt about April, I would've told you it was the worst idea ever. That I couldn't fathom leaving yet. That I might have to find a way to stay a little longer...that I need more than April.

But in Barcelona the little seed of home was planted and has only grown. First, I was just tired of hot hotels and crowded hostels. Then, I was tired of food...or rather, how I have to feed myself. Spanish food has run its course with me, but I'm also tired of going out to eat or getting take out. And cooking-in isn't a better idea here with the limited space and utensils. Next, I was tired of walking tourist-style (a.k.a. all day every day)...all of these tiny frustrations grew and grew after the airport in Amsterdam. I realized that... while yes, I wanted my bed in Valencia more than the airport floor... what I really wanted was my American bed. Our last night in Amsterdam (while walking and waiting places) Melissa and I played "I miss America because...."

And since then I've been ok with the fact that we only have weeks...and now days (10) left in Valencia. I will be sad to go but not in the way I thought I'd be. The time has come.

The week after Amsterdam was the week of our class's assembly. Each class at the school has to do some sort of skit/presentation for the rest of the elementary at some point during the year. Since it is almost Easter, we did two little Easter skits (Easter as in bunnies and eggs...not the religious part of it)
First skit: "The Easter Bunny is Missing"
Second skit: "The Easter Egg"
Both taken from books. And the big finale.... Rockin' Robin with the Jackson 5!
The song fit in with one of the stories somehow
(Easter --> Eggs --> A Robin's Egg --> Rockin' Robin --> Jackson 5......see it fits)

Doesn't matter how it fit...The kids LOVED it.

I wasn't able to see the actual performance on Friday (had one last adventure) but I got some video and pictures during our rehearsals.

Some of the Bunnies: Jose and his wooden egg, David Allen and his chocolate egg, Cecilia

Turtles: Valeria and Laura

I also helped Julie (my teacher) watch acts for the school talent show coming up in May. ALL the "talents" are dancing to some pop song. So we sat and sat through one awkward dance number after another. But the awkward part for me was the song choices. I believe they were:
1. Tik Tok by Kesha
Some of the lyrics: "Ain't got a care in the world but got plenty of beer"
And then there's referring to everybody gettin' crunk and drunk and boys touching her junk.

2. California Girls by Katy Perry this one wasn't as bad as the other two...but I got uncomfortable during the "Sex on the beach" line.

3. Rude Boy by Rihanna .... you can just look those lyrics up. It is not school aprop...especially for elementary kids.

Menos mal que (good thing that) these kids don't know English that well. But all songs in English on the radio aren't edited either. Bad words in other languages just don't feel that bad. I have to remind myself of that because some of the Spanish palabrotas (cuss words) are growing on me. To me, they don't feel like bad words...but they would to my students or a stranger.

Wednesday night was Top Shelf family dinner at Monteditos (You get a drink and a little sandwich for 2 euros). Sooooo ...Monteditos is family dinner for everyone else as well. It gets pretty crowded. I hadn't been since the first week I was here.

In order for Chris to pay with his card, he had to buy 10 euros worth of food and drink. Hence, his 4 course meal of Montedito's sandwiches, chips, fries, and drinks.