A Week and a Half Feels Like a Month

It's Saturday today, and we've been in Spain since the previous weeks' Tuesday. We have done so much, we have been so busy that I cannot believe we haven't been here longer. Orientation was helpful in that it put us in contact with other people from the program. I met new friends from England, Italy, Germany, Ireland, California, New Mexico, Boston, and, of course, Spain.

There are about twelve assistants in the program teaching in Logrono. One Italian girl, one German girl, Abby and myself, and about eight other young people from the U.S., needless to say, I think we will be able to help each other out if we have any problems.

I don't have my photos uploaded yet that I took from orientation and from Madrid, but I did update my photos site with shots of our new apartment. We are actually meeting with the mother of the owner today (because the owner lives in England) to sign the contract for the next nine months. Yikes! She is also going to help us to buy everything that the apartment is lacking: iron, some pots pans dishes, bedding, pillows, and other small necessities. We will have to make a down payment, of course, for the first month as well as pay for the week we've already stayed there (they gave us a good deal). We're still looking into getting internet in the apartment. We figure we'll use it enough to make it worth the $30 - 40 a month. Other than that our utilities bills are limited to gas and electricity, which we're hoping will run about $50 - 100 at the most. We'll see how cold the Logrono winters are.

Again, our piso (apt) has two bedrooms, a large corner couch in the living room, a decent sized television with a DVD player, windows and balconies on both the street side and the inside patio side, a storage closet, large bedroom closets, a nice kitchen, a nice bathroom, hardwood floors, cool overhead lights, etc.

Look at the pictures on my Photos Link: http://http://picasaweb.google.com/b2kohler. This link is always on the bottom of my information list on the left of the webpage.

I need to go now. I start my classes on Monday. I've been told the first week is just another orientation and introduction. I'll let you know soon. Hasta pronto! (Until soon!)

Thanks to everyone who has written me! It's very reassuring to know you're out there!

Orientation

I am currently sitting in Madrid at a locutoria (internet lounge). I am here for orientation for my program. I don´t have much time to write now, I only have a few cents´ time remaining (you have to pay according to how much time you use the internet). It´s not that I´m running out of money, it´s just that I don´t have much in my pocket right now. Anyways, we only registered tonight and had supper. I took pictures which I will post soon, as well as pictures of the city, which is very large and beautiful. There are parks here the size of small towns and tall buildings hundreds of years old. It is a very surreal place, and very busy. As is our hotel. It is swarming with people from Ireland, England, United States, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, etc etc. I am rooming with a couple guys from Northern Ireland. We are meeting a lot of really cool people, and hopefully they will be connections for us during our time here in Spain.

I must go now, but I will complete this blog later. Bye for now.

Okay. I am trying to put a video on my blog for you to see. This is a couple minutes of a ¨vaquilla¨. A vaquilla is not a bull fight. A vaquilla is basically a smaller tamer version of the running with the bulls and the bull fights. The bulls you see are smaller, and you can also notice that their horns have been altered so that they cannot gore anyone. The participants are young males (whoever wants to participate, I guess) and they actually try to put rings around the horns of the bull. Basically though, they are just running around with the bulls. The bulls aren´t harmed at all during this video, so don´t worry, it´s not like a regular bull fight.

The vaquilla took place earlier this year in my town (Logroño) during the city´s big festival (Fiesta de San Mateo).

Hopefully, the video will work, I haven´t tried this before... you might have to click on it to start it.

Apartment Hunting

Sorry I haven´t written in the few days that I have been here. It´s been very crazy trying to find an apartment during the biggest fiesta of the year here in Logroño. It´s called La Fiesta de San Mateo (Saint Matthew), who happens to be the Patron Saint of the city. La Fiesta goes from about the 18th of September through the 23rd, so, needless to say, it has been nonstop crowds, music, events, and an effort through it all to find a place to stay for the next nine months. Unfortunately, the government program has not been much help at all for us. We are virtually on our own to find our way, language barrier or not. We are getting better though, if you´re wondering.

Thank heavens the people of Spain are so very nice and helpful. They will actually go out of their ways to help you find something. I´ve already come into contact with people who have helped us with directions, telephones, buses, apartments, language, etc. Before I left I was in contact with a teacher from one of the schools I will assistant teach at. Her name is Lola, and she helped us find an apartment (a piso, as they call it) with two bedrooms, a spatious living room, and a good-sized kitchen to boot. We accepted an invitation to stay there until the end of September to see if we like it. The first night we discovered that almost the entire street we would live on is filled with discotecas (dance clubs / bars). So, while the Spanierds partied late into the night during the climax of their national fiesta, we slept anxiously on the fourth floor above, terrified that this noise could be enough to drive us away. Abby and I are as of yet still undecided, though we are looking for options that will allow us to remain or to move into another more comfortable setting.

We´ve met several friends already in our program, and our three-day orientation in Madrid is coming up next week. I have no idea what we will do there. They are putting us up in a nice hotel in the middle of town, and we´re getting together with many of assistant teachers from the same program from all over the U.S. and Europe. I assume that they will divide us into groups depending on what provinces and cities we teach in. This would be beneficial to make contacts and form support groups. I also assume, since one of my two schools has yet to contact me, that they will be telling us where in the schools we have to go.

We have witnessed many things at the Fiesta, including amazing fireworks, customary food of all kinds, mucho vino (wine), a mini-running-of-the-bulls (not quite the same as Pamplona, but, having never seen it before, I was impressed), parades, music, Spain, Spain, Spain... It´s everything Spain times two. Or three. There are so many people in our city that it will not look the same after they are all gone. We are hoping beyond hoping that after they do leave it quiets down a little around our apartment.

Until we decide where we are staying, there will be no internet connection at our apartment. I am currently using the internet at a local call center for one Euro an hour. If only everything in Spain was that cheap. Pero bueno, we are surviving.

Weather is good. Cloudy at times; it rained lightly today; temperatures from about 70 to 85 F during the days and 50 to 60 at night. It is fall here. We will be on the same schedule as the United States with the seasons. I´ve heard that it snows about a handful of times here during winter, much to the delight of citizens and photographers. There are beautiful old buildings here. Cathedrals, churches, and the like. The old part of town is called Casco Antiguo, which basically means ´old part of town´. I didn´t mention that our apartment is situated right smack dab in the middle of this area. Cathedrals out our back balconies, churches out our front door, and a centuries-old building that has been nearly completely refurbished. Aye yi yi. What will we do?...

I will add photos to my photo site very soon, and maybe some videos too. Until the next time, hasta luego (until later).

Leaving Tomorrow

I'm staying in a motel tonight in Bloomington, MN, and we're heading out for a full day's worth of traveling tomorrow. I fly out of Minneapolis at 12:00 PM and arrive in Atlanta at about 3:45. I'll leave Atlanta at 6:00 and arrive in Madrid, Spain, about nine hours later at 9:00 AM Spain time. From there we will catch a 3:00 PM northbound bus from Madrid to Logrono, which should take another three hours or so. We'll be staying the first couple nights at a hostel in Logrono called La Pension Rey Pastor. It's going to be a full two days worth of traveling, so I'm going to need my sleep; and I'm definitely going to need my sleep on the plane.

I have packed everything I will need for the next eight months in a 26" suitcase, a big blue duffel bag, and two black backpacks. I put my hanging clothes, sweaters, tennis racquet, and other supplies in my suitcase. I also packed a teamaker and tea-jar, a brand new frisbee, and an unlocked international cellphone. My duffel bag is carrying the rest of my clothes and shoes along with extra toiletries and other niceties. I also have several electrical adapters, an electrical converter, and a satellite alarm clock. I put some space-saver bags that my grandparents gave me to good use with my clothing. They're like giant ziploc bags that pressure lock my clothing together for easy storage and removal. My bags look so organized with them too. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa B! I hope to use them again on my way back.

My two black backpacks will be my carry-ons. They contain my lap-top, my camera, some books, a deck of cards, and an inflatable neck pillow for the flight. I also have copies and original of all my pertinent information about the reservations and the application I still need to fill out for a Spanish identification card.

So, I better get to bed. Big day tomorrow. I am planning on making a post my first night in Spain to say how the flight went. Wish us luck!

One Week Away

Una semana. That's Spanish for 'a week'. And that's all the time I have left to prepare myself for the longest trip from home I will have taken. Today is Sunday, and I am relaxing from a busy weekend. I picked up my Student Visa at the Spanish Consulate in Chicago on Friday. Abby and I and our friends Kristin and Sarah (who are also with the program and coming to Spain with us, though they will be in Madrid) spent the entire day riding the L over and under the crowded streets of Chicago, chatting about our impending journeys to Spain, eating the local cuisine (too much local cuisine), comforting each other, and making each other nervous at the same time. We have a lot to do.

My mom hosted a going away party for Abby and I at our home in Fargo yesterday. We drove in from Minneapolis and met with friends and relatives for the better part of the afternoon and evening. Thanks very much to everyone who came; it was great to see you all, and the well wishes were very much appreciated. I also want to say a special thanks to my mom, who put everything together, as usual. She's a very good hostess; I should probably convince her to have more parties.

And so I sit with my computer in my lap on this Sunday afternoon, watching television (the US Open Tennis Final, Federer vs. Djokovic), feeling tired, and happy, and relaxed. I'm going to start to pack my bags tonight. Abby's brother supplied me with the great idea to write and photograph a list of everything I'm bringing with me. Maybe it will be interesting for you all to read what exactly someone packs when they know they will be gone for nearly a year. I still need to pick up a few more things, so I'll probably make my way to Target sometime this evening.

I've scheduled myself to work Monday through Wednesday of this week. This means that I will have to make good use of my time. I need to figure out exactly how I will pack my bags (two suitcases, two carry-ons) and plan out the first couple weeks after our departure. Abby and I are working hard to coordiante our efforts, and I think that we make a good team. I think we both know that we'll be tested many times on this adventure, but we're both confident, exuberant, and resilient. We have big plans and bigger dreams. And we can't wait to get started.

Thanks for reading! I hope to have some informative stuff for you soon. I guess I'm just releasing a little bit of my emotions at this point. There will be much more of that to come, I imagine. So I'll get back to writing again soon! Bye for now.

Ben