School Lesson #1: Thanksgiving

Usually at school, I work as a language assistant in the English classes. However, part of my program involves teaching about American customs, etc. and last week I was assigned my first solo lesson = Thanksgiving. It was pretty interesting because I have a wide age range of students, so I had to think of Thanksgiving activities for 5 yr olds - 12 yr olds. Not to mention the fact that their English vocabulary is VERY limited...so words like "pilgrim" and "cornucopia"are almost impossible to teach. But, the students were very interested in the holiday, and I'm pretty sure they learned 4 things about Thanksgiving: pilgrims, indians, the Mayflower, and turkey. :) I can only wonder what they must be thinking about this holiday in their heads...

The school has designated a wall in the main entrance as the "bilingual wall" - so it is my responsibility to make sure that there are American/English decorations, projects, etc. hanging up at all times. Thanksgiving was my first bilingual display...check out the pictures below!

An American Thanksgiving in Spain

Today we had a party for Thanksgiving (or in Spanish, Dia de Accion de Gracias).  It was a collaborative effort amongst a group of us Americans who are here in Sevilla to teach English.  It turned out to be about 40 people, mostly Americans, but we did have some people from Spain and Greece as well.  In order to get a turkey here, my friend Maggie had to go to the butcher a few days ago and request that he kill a turkey for her.  Luckily, that went well and she was able to get a big turkey for feast.  The rest of us brought side dishes and wine...and I was honestly amazed at the turnout!  We had a complete Thanksgiving spread with all the necessary food: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, etc. We even had canned cranberry sauce, which you can't buy here, but one girl's mom sent some from the U.S. To be honest, I never thought I would be so glad to see canned cranberry sauce! We had a blast, and one of the Spaniards told me, with a full plate of food, that he didn't realize what he had been missing before his first Thanksgiving!  So of course we "come con los ojos" (the Spanish equivalent of having "eyes bigger than your plate"- but here, the say "eat with your eyes") - and enjoyed a truly American Thanksgiving in Spain!!

The girls making traditional hand-print turkeys for decoration.

Annie and Caitlyn carving the turkey.

Maggie and I in the kitchen.

Joselito's first Thanksgiving!

Sevilla by Night

For me, there is something magical about Sevilla at night. Here are a few photos that hopefully capture what I'm talking about...

La Catedral

La Giralda

Una calle cerca de la Alameda

Utrera

Unfortunately, my camera broke a couple of weeks ago, so I haven't been able to take pictures recently. Sad. And thus, I have no photos to accompany this blog post.  So for those of you who are purely visuals - my apologies. But I still want to document my adventures, so here is the latest:

After our volleyball game yesterday, I went with some friends to a birthday party for one of our amigas, Helena. Her family has what I would equate to the Spanish version of a cabin...except that here, instead of being in a forest, her "cottage" (as they call them here) is amongst mainly olive and orange trees. [As a side note, the region of Andalucia is a huge producer of olives, olive oil, and oranges.] So we drove out to Utrera, where Helena's cottage is, and had a barbacoa.  The sense of time here is something I still am adjusting to.  So it still feels a bit strange for me to be having dinner at midnight, and then having birthday cake at about 2:00 am.  But that's just how things are done!  After a busy day and 3 intense volleyball matches, I have to admit that by about 3:30 am I was the first one to go to bed. But have no fear - the rest of the girls, in true Spanish form, sang and danced and laughed until about 7:00 am.

Aceitunas

This is for my family: I am eating aceitunas (olives), and am actually enjoying them!!! Ah, will wonders never cease...

Nerja

Nerja is a beautiful little town on the coast. The picture above is of Nerja through the fog. We spent time on the beach, exploring coves, looking for sea glass...it was really relaxing. And of course, something funny was bound to happen. We found a private, little cove that was totally unoccupied, so we decided to chill on the beach and read our books.  All was quiet, and we were just enjoying the sun and the sound of the waves, when all of a sudden a man walked around the rocks into our cove...totally naked. He was shocked (as were we!), and you could tell that he clearly did not expect to run into anyone while on his skinny-dipping adventure. He froze for a second, and then promptly turned around and ran away. Annie and I burst into laughter...I think that was the last thing either of us expected to see come around the rocks!

My still-life of a much deserved snack of blanco joven vino and queso manchego after hiking to the caves.

Cheers!

Annie and an old boat on the beach.

I had to sneak a picture of this. It was a group of men, swimming and jumping off of the rock. It was like they were kids again...

Me on the Balcon de Europeo.

Las Cuevas de Nerja

Our next stop was the small beach town of Nerja, but I am devoting a whole blog post just to the Cuevas de Nerja (Nerja Caves) because they are that cool. Annie and I hiked up to the caves, which was neat because it was Halloween, and it was appropriately really foggy that day. Las Cuevas de Nerja were only discovered 50 years ago by a group of boys who were playing and stumbled upon them, but they trace back to 25,000 BC and have cave paintings from ancient civilizations, etc. Pictures won't do the caves justice, but they are INCREDIBLE. I think Annie put it perfectly when she said, "I'm an English major, and I'm at a loss for words to describe the beauty of the caves." They are immense, and the number of stalactites, stalagmites, and columns must be in the millions. I was just awe-struck by their natural beauty. God is truly an artist.

An old aqueduct amidst the fog on our hike to the caves.

Annie at the entrance to the caves. They are celebrating their 50th anniversary of discovery.

Me in the caves.

Just trying to give you an idea of the scale of the caves: that's me looking at the biggest known column in the world. The caves are immense - some places are around 250 feet high. In total, the caves are about 16,000 feet long.

Pictures were tough in the caves...we weren't allowed to use flash. But man, they were beautiful.

Malaga

This is Malaga - complete with its bullfighting ring off to the left.

Annie and I took a little trip down to the Costa del Sol. Our first stop: Malaga - which is the birthplace of Picasso. It's a great town - complete with beaches, a big port, the Picasso museum (which I highly recommend), a hilltop fortress, beautiful Cathedral...not too shabby, eh? We also found a great little cafe near our hotel, which was typically Spanish and delicious. Although I have to admit, one of the funniest things was when we were standing on a random street corner and happened to look inside the floor-to-ceiling windows of the sushi restaurant next to us.  Both of us did a double-take...and then burst out laughing.  They were doing a photo shoot, but the subjects were just a man and a women with tropical leaves and flowers "carefully" placed. It was very Adam and Eve reminiscent...and we couldn't figure out what that had to do with sushi.  But to everyone else, it was just another day...ah, I love it.

Just me, taking in the sights of the port and the Cathedral.

The Alcazaba de Malaga - an 11th century palace/fortress.

More of the Alcazaba - typical Moorish style. I love the little stream of running water that channels through the middle.

A cool shot of the Cathedral from the Alcazaba.

Enjoying a glass of Rioja and some queso viejo after a long day of sight-seeing!