(Robert, Stacey and I pulling a late night in the classroom to finish our Learner Profile projects the day before they were due. A pain of a project but a great experience/resume builder!)
(Stacey and I letting the Learner Profile project know what we think of it.)
(Tada! We're done! Not the greatest picture because we are all so tired but check out that sweet Wooo Hooo in the back ground! The wooo hooo is an understatement of the excitement we feel.)
I am sorry it has been so long since I have posted anything new. One week ago I completed my TEFL course and officially became TEFL certified. This certification will open up so many doors for me in the realm of teaching English world-wide. Wahoo!!!! I spent the weekend following the end of my course catching up on sleep and preparing to move out of my flat. As of December Monday 15th my lease was up. Stacey and I leading up to that date went and looked at a couple of flats… geez talk about small spaces and expensive rates!! A couple places were in great locations but the rooms were depressing… I mean I would go crazy living in them for more than a couple weeks!! It was like bad dorm room meets motel 7 if there were such a place. In our final attempt to lease a flat we met with some girls who had completed our same course a few months prior. The flat consists of 4 bedrooms and overlooks the city quite beautifully. Stacey and I looked at our options and decided that as far as space and money were concerned we would find living with these girls to be our best option. Aside from the benefit of cost quality these girls seem pretty cool. I had met two of the girls the first Sunday I was in Barcelona and they seemed very kind and welcoming. Only after an hour of knowing them they invited me to their Thanksgiving celebration that was a couple of weeks away! Wahoo, there was real turkey at this celebration! These two Pennsylvania girls, Brigid and Alex, seem like very warm individuals and I’m pretty excited to live with them. The third roommate’s name is Jess, she is from Los Angeles, I’ve only met her twice but she seems like she will be a great person to get to know as well. Now you are probably wondering… 4 rooms, 5 girls… something is not lining up here… Stacey and I will be sharing a room. Let me tell you Barcelona is nooooo cheap cookie to bake. So we will be splitting our portion… sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.
So after I figured out all my living situation biz I got myself ready and packed up my room. Stacey had to be out of her place on the 13th so her and I double packed my room for a 24 hour period. To say the least my/our room was quite crowded. Four huge suitcases, clothes everywhere and two bodies in the small single-bed room created a space that was quite humorous but in the same sense could not be lived in for longer than a day or two. So the last night in my tiny flat Stacey and I had a problem… one single bed and two girls who had only known each other for a month… yea we didn’t see that being the most exciting option. Luckily I love staying up late and I had to catch the metro at 5am the next morning. So while Stacey slept I stayed up chatting with various friends who were online in the states. Five a.m. rolled around and I hustled off to catch the metro on time so that I could catch the train at 5:20. I reached the train station shortly after 5 a.m. and hopped on with the airport as my determined destination. Once at the airport I checked in and had 10 minutes to find my gate before the boarding to Seville began. I don’t remember anything about the plane ride because at this time I was so exhausted from running (literally) and very little sleep that staying awake was not an option.
(Sydney and I the day I arrived in El Puerto de Santa Maria)
After I arrived in Seville I followed my friend Sydney’s, a good friend from college, directions to take the bus to the Train Station, Santa Justa in Seville. I eager but tiredly searched out the bus pictures in the airport. I was so excited that I found the bus and the correct bus at that. I was the third (perfect number) person on the bus and selected what I found to be the perfect exit seat. Maybe if my seat wouldn’t have been so perfect to exit from I wouldn’t have exited prematurely. I knew I needed to exit on the first stop however, I didn’t not realize the bus would be letting people off randomly along the way to the first stop. Needless to say I found myself, bags and all walking down the streets of Seville, my initial thought was… “Crap, I seriously just followed these people off the bus, I look like a total stalker and I am f*ing not on the bus going to the train station anymore, grand!” Don’t worry though because my genius thinking quickly kicked in and I flagged down the nearest taxi. Had I known the train station was two blocks down I would have just walked but at this point 5 euros was definitely worth the trouble. At last I made it to my second train station for the day and the last leg of my trip to see Sydney. I fumbled around a bit looking to purchase a ticket but fortunately I did not fumble to long and boarded the train 10 minutes before departure. I am telling you, 10 minutes must have been key for me on this day. I took the train from Seville to El Puerto de Santa Maria, Southern Spain, where Sydney met me!! Wahoo!! We had to option of a bus or taxi… I chose taxi. At this point I had been awake for approximately 24 hours and was ready for a straight foolproof shot to the location where I would be able to set my bags down, Sydney's flat.
(Looking of the side of the peir in El Puerto... someone felt their art was worthy of over looking the sea... I thought it was worthy of taking a picture.)
I have been here in El Puerto since Monday and I have had such a relaxing time… all except attempting to book Christmas travel plans. We spent over 10 hours looking for cheap airfare to Germany before Sydney and I finally found a perfectly priced travel plan last night to Stuttgart Germany. I have a good friend who I have known for more than half of my life who is studying to earn his masters in Architecture in Stuttgart. We are going to head up that direction on the 29th of December and plan on staying… well we don’t know how long yet. We haven’t booked our ticket back home yet… I’m telling you procrastination is not the key to cheap and quick travel plans. We do know that we will end up in Barcelona where Sydney will get to experience my city for a few days, yey!! Amongst all that excitement Sydney and I think we would like to travel to Morocco for a day or two prior to Christmas. We still have great plans of traveling to Paris, Amsterdam, Prague and many many other places but as of right now the money says, “No, you only get two places!” Darn money. Well I will miss you all for Christmas and perhaps if time allows I will get to blog again before that day comes. However, if I do not get back to my blog before the 25th remember, Christmas is about the family and not the presents. Duh… you guys are smart rocking people and since we are family and/or friends I of course know that you know that! Love and miss you all! Continue to keep me in your prayers it is more helpful than you know.
Uno Beso
(The highest point in Cadiz)
(El Puerto de Santa Maria Beach)
(Cathedral/Highest point in Cadiz... Big bell)
(Inside the Cadiz Cathedral looking out)
(Looking down on the city of Cadiz... Look at the colorful roof tops... one in the distance is painted cow print... can you find it? It will be like our own little game of 'Where's Waldo?' Everyone loves Waldo!)
