Prom 2013

You get a lot of different answers when you ask people what is American (U.S.A). Kids in Spain talk about McDonald’s, Burger King, pizza…etc.etc. Okay so they get that we like to eat. Can’t deny it.

I am sure a lot of people think freedom, red white and blue, ice cream, Obama, corn, guns, New York, L.A, Walmart, binge drinking, country music, movies, flip flops, apple pie….

I think of those things, but when I had to think about lessons to engage teenagers beyond laughing at all the gun slinging fatties we call citizens I thought of the pinnacle high school event: Prom.

My mom scanned some photos for me, and I was able to scrounge a few off of Facebook (since there was a day in age when you had to have a college email address to get a Facebook…hem hem) and with google image searches I had a fantastic PowerPoint in my clutches.

As I am a sharing and caring teacher, I wanted my fellow cultural assistants to benefit from the love I poured into this presentation. What really came of it was the idea to have our own Logrono prom. We hardly needed an excuse to get dressed up and eat at a nice restaurant with the end of the year and goodbyes all around us, but prom is totally in the spirit of those sentiments and thus….

my jumpsuit from Santander!

my “date”

The only real dates 😉

Herventia

Ready to paint the town red

Classic

Herventia

Table “date”

This guapa

croquetas and white asparagus- always crowd pleasers

rabooooo. Ox tail

A yogurt mousse

 

We had the pre prom party of cheesy photos, the dinner, no actual dance ….but of course the post prom party where I allowed myself to be not lame for once in a blue moon and did as the cool Spaniards do and stayed out until 6am. Thank goodness for my low heels.

 

We also didn’t go away to anybody’s cabin and get murdered.

so….

Even though I just swore at my computer for 5 minutes straight because it shut down in the midst of this post, I still have the photos and memory of my final trip in Spain through Galicia. I should be able to post it before I pay off the rental car.

besos

Santander

 

 

 

 

 

Santander was on my “list” of places to visit in Spain last year. It’s not too far away, has a beach, and I wanted to put an image to the bank that denied me. Ibercaja all the way.

I have my cousin Caroline to thank for the small connection that made my trip possible. She had studied abroad and stayed with a family that I knew about in case of any kind of strange emergency. The emergency was that I wanted to visit Santander by myself and thought it would be convenient to not stay in a lonely hotel or be forced to make friends in a hostel when I just wanted a trip that was all mine.

In the end I did become fast friends with her two daughters that graciously showed me around the city and took me out to go “prom” shopping, eat rabas, and experience that on and off rain that this coastal city is known for.

 

 

 

 

I love seeing large groups of old people sitting.

Funicular, that says Animo!

View from the top of the animo ride.

A garbage can

A rock shaped like a camel 🙂

Casino

 

 

The first day I arrived was right around lunch time at 3 p.m and they had cooked a lovely meal for me. When asked what kind of food I liked to eat, I said the only thing I wasn’t a fan of were…anchovies, funnily enough in the city where anchovies are as popular as bread or water.  Otherwise for all those who care to know, I DO eat mushrooms now. It’s still not a conscious choice, but if they are on the plate I will eat them.

 

After some walking around and seeing the water, it was time to eat again. My favorite hobby for real. We went into a bar the girls often go to and they happened to be having a special  “theme.”

I’ll preface the revealing of the theme by explaining that I told the family just one thing about Logrono…

“it really only has one famous thing; “calle Laurel”  for famous pintxos and excellent Rioja wine.” 

I came from Logrono to try pintxos from…..Logrono.

 

Well we sat down and noticed these little postcards with the typical Calle del Laurel tile which I initially didn’t register as odd. So upon deciding what to eat I could choose between things that I could eat anytime I want and things I didn’t go crazy for after reading. I can’t even remember what pintxo I ate because really It was not as good as the Laurel pintxos.

I was holding out to try the famous “rabas” or calamari anyways. The form of rabas is different than calamares. They are longer stretched out pieces which I guess tells you they are fresh and more care was taken in preparing them.

With a squirt of lemon and  a cana  (a beer) or a rueda (white wine). Perfection.

Rabas!

In front of my new mansion!

 

Santander is not a huge city. It has a more stretched out form because of it’s coastal position, but In two days I was able to see the most important sites of the city.

I think one of the best parts of the trip was speaking exclusively in Spanish for the whole weekend, which in Logrono among my U.S friends and what with teaching English…. doesn’t always happen. I know that my Spanish level increased a lot in my second year but I still hope to go back to Spain one day and not teach English. I loved the teaching part, but I since never studied to be an English teacher I’m ready for the phase of my life where I teach Spanish.

Thus, I’m back home in Chicago embarking on a Masters of Ed journey while training to teach Spanish at a CPS school.

Class starts Monday and I am anxious in a good way about the workload coming towards me. It will feel nice to be the student again.

 

To keep my sane and happy I still have more overdue blogs to write about my journey through Galicia and my very USA homecoming.

 

 

besos