Monday, October 11, 2010

Well, we went to Ciudad Real today and it was pretty much a bust. Will and I arrived right about nine. We actually were let off at a bus stop (not the bus station) a lot closer to the police station than we thought. I wasn’t thinking we would get off there, but many people started disembarking, so we did too. It worked out well…instead of a 20 minute walk, it was about 5. We arrived at the police station and discovered there was a nice long line outside, so we got in the line and Ansel joined us a few minutes later. We were a little confused about what the line was for, so we asked one of the officers and he basically said we needed an appointment to do anything. Ansel wasn’t exactly sure if that was the place where we needed to be anyway, so he whipped out his laptop (smart guy for bringing it!) and the website actually showed a different address for where we needed to go. So…after standing outside the police station for about half an hour, we left.

We walked for probably another half an hour (which included getting lost once or twice!) before we found the office where we needed to be and even then, we weren’t really sure it was the right place (our instructions in our manual aren’t the clearest, unfortunately). There are seven floors to the building we were in and the title “ministerio de educacion” appeared on two different floors. We first inquired about it (on the first floor) and we were told we needed to take a number to talk with anyone. We really didn’t think this was where we needed to be though, as all the signage dealt with foreigner work permits…not what we needed. We then ascended to the seventh floor. (I know, it had to be the seventh, right? The top floor…) We thought we would be able to get answers here (which we did…just not the one we were hoping for) because we found out that the man who heads the Ciudad Real region has an office there. So we go up there, ask around for him (his name is Juán Ignacio, by the way) and one of his coworkers said he wasn’t there that day; he just didn’t come in…which apparently you can do if you’re the jefe. His coworker took pity on us though and said he would call him for us. He did and it turns out that we need an appointment to apply for our NIEs. And in case you’re wondering…that little fact was NOT shared at our orientation, I asked both Ansel and Will. What’s more is that Juán Ignacio said he would be making appointments for everyone and then he’ll contact us and be like “Be there on ________day.” I guess it’s helpful that he’s setting everything up for us, the only thing is we’ll have to take off on whatever day he tells us, not that it should be a problem though, as I’m sure our schools are expecting that.

It was only about 11:30 by the time we figured this out, so we walked around and took in the sites…not that many. I was surprised it wasn’t as cool as I thought it was going to be. I’ll probably post some pictures this weekend though, when I have more time. We stopped for a bocadillo lunch (I had lamb con tomate) around 1:30. Will and I walked with Ansel to the train station (his train left at three) and then we walked to the bus station and waited for about an hour (not that either of minded though, we had walked so much that both of us were ready for a nice long sit-down…so yes, I did enjoy the bus ride back to Socu). We got back home at 7:15. Gunita and Will went out, but I was so tired, I crashed.

Tuesday, October 13, 2010

I woke up to discover that sickness wasn’t done plaguing me yet. I was a little congested yesterday and a hint of (what is affectionately known as) sexy-man-voice was traceable. (SMV hit me full force today, [Wednesday], as I am SUPER congested!) Even though I felt a little like caca, I still went with Will to the bar at two (for tapas…Gunita was still sleeping) to meet Jesús and his possy. I’m really glad that I went though, because Javi was there (I hadn’t seen him since my first night here in Socu) and we started talking and we are going to have a conversational hour (half in English, half in Spanish) this Friday! I’ve been wanting to find a conversational partner, and I even mentioned that to Will on the way to bar, so I’m psyched!

We got back around four, Jesús came over at six because we had planned to go see the windmills in nearby Campo de Criptana, but it started to rain and we didn’t want to do anything outdoorsy. We decided to go see a movie instead. Why we had to go to the theater in Alcázar de San Juan, which is 30 minutes away, I don’t know. We decided on Letras a Julieta aka Letters to Juliet. There were parts of it I didn’t understand, but I love romantic movies, so I liked it. I didn’t like the fact that “we” chose the 10:15 showing and that we didn’t get home until 12:45. So, between getting home late and being congested it wasn’t one of my greatest nights’ sleep.

Today

I usually set my alarm for seven, but since my quality of sleep last night was so sub-par (that’s a phrase, right…is that how you write it?) I didn’t get up until 7:30. I’m supposed to be there at nine, but since I so lacked energy and was moving at a snail’s pace this morning, I didn’t get to school until about ten. I sat in the kitchen for a while and slowly drank some OJ. Before Will left, he came and asked how I was feeling and I said “I feel about as good as I sound” and he was like “Oh, I don’t think you sound that bad” (By the way…Really?) I next called Aurora and said that I was going to be late, but I wasn’t sure how late exactly and she said “What’s wrong? You sound terrible!” (Dang it, Will lied, I thought. I talked with him this afternoon and he was like “I didn’t really lie; I didn’t think you sounded that bad this morning.” Which, reading between the lines, means that now he thinks I do sound bad. Sweet life!) She didn’t mind I was going to be late, she even asked if I wanted to stay home.

As previously stated, I made it to school by ten and went to go hang my coat up in the office and one of the teacher’s was like “Are you okay? You look so pale!” Do you ever wonder why when it’s painfully obvious that you are sick some people will still ask you “Are you sick?” And you’re just like “Really? Did you really just have to ask me that?” I should be nicer though, because I love this teacher, she’s a sweetheart!

I was supposed to go to 5^th grade at nine, but since I didn’t show up until ten, I decided to still go there anyway. I got to learn about the parts of a flower in Spanish and I missed out on one of two hours in the four-year-old classroom…darn! Sandra doesn’t know my schedule anyway, so I knew she would never know the difference. At eleven, I did go visit the four-year-olds and they were coloring the exact same page as when I was there last week. The concept was very basic: alternate between coloring circles blue and red. I don’t mean to be all complainy today, but you wouldn’t believe how difficult that concept is for some four-year-olds. I literally spent ten minutes trying to explain it to this one kid and he just looked at me and was like “¿Qué?” At 12:20, I went to sixth grade and we played hangman with opposite words like old/young ugly/pretty. At 1:10, I went to 4^th grade and they were coloring a sheet about Nebraska! It had on there the state flag, bird and flower, etc. Rocío asked if I could explain them to the class (I know nothing about those things!) and so I made a bunch of stuff up and made it sound good!

At two, I came home, grabbed my backpack and went to the store…it’s really nice for putting the heavier things in! I made a bocadillo (jamón y queso) and now I’m taking it easy; I don’t have a lot of energy, surprise, surprise! I’m debating whether or not to go to bed early. If I have a repeat of last night, going to bed early is basically pointless. Thank goodness I just have tomorrow and then it’s the weekend again! I’m so tired already just after one day…that’s pitiful, isn’t it?

Xoxo,

Court

Today