How we pass the time here.

Hey guys, Ally and I are still alive and well. Huelva is slowly getting better, but we still run into the same problems everyday, especially with the sketchy men… but I guess those are everywhere in the world. We haven’t talked much about work, so I thought I’d say a little bit about how much I actually enjoy teaching, but at the same time how difficult it is. Although I’m in the classroom only three days out of the week, it feels as if I work a lot more than that. The children are incredibly cute and very eager to learn English, just sometimes their enthusiasm overwhelms me. They forget that I’m old and can’t play with them all the time at ever recess break, or that sometimes I’m just too tired. Each day they greet me with “teacher, teacher” and in the afternoon they say “hello” even though they really mean “good bye”. It’s nice to be around the kids because they are so energetic and it makes you want to be the same way. Although I’ve learned that there is no way I will ever be able to do this as a career. I have great respect for all teachers at any level and in any subject, because I do know the amount of work that goes into the job.

Slowly but surely the other teachers at my school are opening up. They are very friendly and do help me practice my Spanish a lot. Although sometimes I wished I could really tell them what I think about their system, because in my opinion it isn’t effective in teaching the students English… but I guess that’s not a part of the job description.

Of all the jobs I’ve ever had, this has been the most mentally exhausting and challenging, I believe I know English but to teach it at such a basic level is very difficult. You have to do something to keep the students interested, but at the same time, the lesson must have a purpose. So I’m going to give myself a point, every time a student asks me “what’s up?” because that’s all they seem to remember. J

Outside of school, my schedule has filled up with volleyball. It’s been such a long time since I’ve played, but it’s nice to be apart of a team again. Although I rarely understand what they’re saying because we weren’t taught volleyball vocabulary in school, it’s nice to be around the sport again. I was asked to run a practice last Thursday, and let’s say I spent most of it speaking in English, however, I guess sports is universal because after demonstrating everyone seemed to get it fine. Because I haven’t played in such a long time, my body has been ridiculously sore and there are a few bruises from diving without knee pads… however, I’m happy to say I have knee pads now, and hopefully the ugly bruises will go away soon.

Another nice thing about Spain right now is the weather, I know that in Seattle it’s probably gloomy and dark… but here in Spain, it’s hot and I have yet to really have to wear a jacket. It’s amazing that it’s almost Halloween and I can still wear dresses and shorts… only in Spain I guess. Although sometimes when it’s really hot, and I’m super lazy, I do miss the Seattle rain.

As always I miss everyone very much, and hopefully will be home soon in December. We are getting internet this week, and will be using our phone more often!!!! I hope life in Seattle is super.

 

Besos,

Ngoc J

Be careful what you wish for....

I can´t believe it has already been a month since Ngoc and I have been in Spain. There are days where time has seemed to fly by and other times where I feel like I have already lived here for a year. I´m convinced I have seen the entire population of Huelva, it´s so small you can´t walk outside and not see several people you know. I guess my signature long blonde hair doesn´t help me hide in any crowd either. Unfortunately, Ngoc and I are both quite disappointed with the lack of selection of men here. We always hold out hope some new people might make a mistake and move to Huelva. Trying to summarize our experience into a blog always proves to be difficult because everyday is so eventful and full of stories which words jus´t cant give justice in explaining the events.

Last week was my assigned date to get my NIE which I had been dreading doing all month after hearing about Ngoc´s all day experience. If anyone knows anything about Spain they know Spanairds don´t do anything in a hurry. Spain makes the post office seem like a fast place of business. I arrived at the office of extranjeros before they even opened to secure I wouldn´t have to wait all day. I was shocked to see a line already formed outside and around the building.
When I finally got inside the building the room was packed--standing room only. There was no number system or any type of order--to call it chaos would be an understatement. I was so annoyed with the Spanish government for their "no pasa nada" attitude and inefficient system of distributing these crucial numbers. As I scanned the room I saw an attractive, young man working and thougth to myself "If Im going to spend all day here I better at least have someone easy on the eyes help me.¨ Moreover, I thought he can´t possibly live in Huelva because I´ve been here a month and yet to see any tall, dark, handsome Spain men. To my surprise he immediately pointed to me and called me to his desk. I was worried I had done something wrong because I wasn´t sitting and there were signs all over saying waiters were not to stand. I nervously approached the desk just hoping I could get my NIE in under 6 hours and leave. He started by asking me questions about the nightlife and how I liked Huelva. I guess being a blonde has it perks sometimes, I got to cut about 200 hundred people and be served right away. When he took an extra passport photo and asked for my number I politely informed him the application only requiered 2. I started laughing when I realized what was hppening and just thought "yet another thing that would never happen in America, getting asked out in government building by an employee." I didn´t think I was going to get a date and my NIE but stranger things have already happened to me in Spain. Guess getting my NIE wasn´t as bad as I thought.

Ngoc and I always found ourselves in the most romantic situations in Europe 2 years ago be it sitting infront of the Eifel Tower at night with all the lights flashing, strolling on the boardwalk in Barcelona or watching the sunset on the beaches in Lagos. We would always joke all we needed was a Spanish boyfriend. Aftering being in Spain for a month Ngoc and I have more than a boyfriend...more like a fanclub. Unfortunately, we are yet to meet any normal people. Rather, we seem to attract the wierdest people in Spain. I would consider myself a pretty good liar, actually one of the best--I always come up with excuses on the spot. But in Spain its difficult to tell someone you´re busy when you only work 12 hours a week and see them everyday on the street because you live in a tiny city. Imgaine telling a guy you couldn´t go out because you had a work meeting at 2 on Monday and then seeing him on the street at 2:30. The other night someone asked Ngoc "don´´t you remember me? I honked at you guys on the street" I looked at the guy and thought "you have no idea...that happens about 100 times when we walk down the street" I will be out at night and someone will say "I saw you at the grocery store today"...creepy. We also have to deal with the guys who feel it neccessary to embrace us at discotecas and try and kiss us. Since when was grabbing me and holding my face socially acceptable? If only we had a viedo recorder to record some of our nights out. Pretty sure there has been an influz in the local hospital of neck strains for all the boys who break their neck staring. My favorites are the ones who stop walking to get a longer look. Guess they´ve never seen an American before.

The past month has been fun but very difficult. For all the funny things that have happened or good times there have been more than enough challening situations where I´m forced to deal with uncomfortable situations on my own. I knew this year would be a great oppurtunity for self growth and exploration but I couldn´t have possibly imagined immersing myself in a foreign culture would be like this. Guess the old expression be careful what you wish for is true!

I´m playing my first round match Friday on Haloween at 9. The men at the country club informed me I was going to win but I can´t wear a skirt because its too distracting. Both Carlos Moya and Nadal have played at this country club. It should be a really fun. It would be great to have some fans so if anyone wants an excuse to come to Spain and the beach feel free to visit!

Besos
Allison

"Too pretty to kill"

Ngoc and I have been in Spain for about a month and it’s about time I had a classic Allison moment and put myself in danger. We were out and about posting signs for English classes when 2 men started cat calling…nothing new. I kept walking but Ngoc went over to the car and started talking to them. She gave them her number and to my surprise they actually called and wanted to get together. Now, of course the normal thing would’ve been to ignore these people and kept walking. However, we agreed to go for a coffee later, harmless, I thought to myself. We will be meeting in a public place with lots of people around, nothing could happen to us. Later that day they come with a car and we were a little skeptical about why we need to drive to coffee when the streets are littered with cafes. As we started driving further and further away from the city I start to feel a little nervous in the backseat of a car with 2 complete strangers who were catcalling earlier. After 15 minutes of driving I noticed we were going over a bridge and far away from anything familiar to us. My fears heightened as I realized how stupid this adventure was. I pictured my face on CNN as the next Natalie Hallwoay, I could just picture the headline….”Naïve American goes missing in Atlantic ocean.” Finally we arrive in a deserted parking lot with nothing but water around. We were officially in the boonies with campo (farmland) surrounding us. Terrified, I opened the door and got out and thought at least the water was a pretty setting to be left. We walked for a little bit and entered a building with security guards and steel bars separating the entrance. The boys gave the guards some money, “great, I thought, they paying them to keep quiet after they dump us in the ocean?” As soon as I walked outside I was pleasantly surprised to see Christopher Columbus’s replica boats which he sailed to America in. It was a beautiful evening with the sun setting in the background right on the ocean. He set sail from a port near Huelva on his adventure to America. How creative I thought, not quite a coffee date but a very fun Sunday afternoon. I proceeded to tell Rafael I was nervous in the car and he responded “How could we kill you? You’re too pretty to kill.” How sweet! Now I can rest assured I’ll be safe in Spain when Ngoc and I walk home alone at 6 or 7 in the morning from a night out. Life in Huelva is getting better and Ngoc and I are making friends and keeping busy with work, English classes, sports and shopping!
Besos
Allison

Attention Spanish men!!!!

What a time we are having here... before I left for Spain, I knew I would get into some type of argument before I left Spain... and last Friday, (10/17/08) was the incident I was anticipating. However, I'll start out with the fun things we did before. For the weekend, Nia, my co-worker came to visit us from Bollullos and I also joined a volleyball team. It has been such a long time since I've really played, my arms are all bruised, and I don't have my knee pads, and we all know what happens when I don't have my knee pads.... But I am very excited to be able to play on this team... i even got my own jersey thing... sooooo exciting. 

Anyways, after my volleyball practice, we all got ready to go see Enrique our friend we had met two years ago in Granada perform in a concert. He's a rapper here, and was doing a show for his new CD. It's funny how small of a world it is because who would have thought he'd be in Huelva, performing a concert when we were there. It was just too perfect. He was VERY surprised to see us there. It turns out not that many people like rap music in Huelva, because the crowd was very small, however, I have to say that is the best music I've heard in Huelva since I've been here. That concert did not do Quilate any justice. 

After the concert, we decided to go Buddha because Ally really likes it and to show Nia what she's not really missing about the Huelvan night life. It was raining, and we managed to get a ride and once we entered we met the men's basketball team, which was exciting. As I was talking to this guy comes up behind me and yells into my ear "Where are you from?" I say America and he says, "why are you here?" I say, "I live here". He says, "why?", and I say "i can't live here?". He says, "yes". Well obviously that made me mad, and I said, "I speak Spanish, if you want to speak Spanish." But he continued talking, actually yelling, and was super close. I couldn't stand it anymore, and told him to back up. He didn't understand why I was mad, besides being told that I couldn't be there, he was invading my personal bubble. So I told him to back out of my bubble, and walked away. He follows me and grabs my elbow to get my attention, and that finally really got me mad, and you know those black rages... when words just come out and you don't know what you're saying... well that's what happened, and the security guy told me to calm down, and Nia had to separate me and the guy. But yeah, luckily Nia was there, or else things could have gotten bad. 

The moral of the story for any Spanish men reading this is... if you want to talk to me... all you have to do is talk. Don't assume I don't speak English... give me some space to actually breath so I can talk, and whatever you do don't yell at me, because I can hear just fine. Lastly... I'm a really nice person just don't grab me, then I won't be very nice. 

Besides that incident, I have managed to stay very calm and collected in Huelva even when people stare at me, as if they've never seen an Asian person before. I don't get made when everything keeps calling me "china, china".  I guess it's a good guess, although I do not look Chinese at all. 

That was our eventful weekend!!!! Hope everyone is well. 

Love, 

Ngoc :)

I should have just married a Spaniard

One thing I knew for sure about Spain was that they like to take their time and getting the NIE (number of identification) was no exception. This number is the most important thing and the process to get it was HORRIFIC. I would have had better luck getting married. Imagine going to the Office of Foreigners and waiting for 3 hours before getting your turn. There are tons of people around you, and everyone gets mad when you finally get your turn. The directions that they gave us were crap... it didn't tell us anything about what we needed in order to get the number. To put things in prospective, we need this number to open a bank account, get internet, even to get a discount card at the local supermarket. But I can finally say I have my NIE and I'm one step closer to finally really getting settled. Chica still has a long ways to go, but hopefully by then we would have found some good looking spaniard to marry her. :)

Besitos,
Ngoc :)

What are you a "Firecracker"?

After reading Ngoc´s previous post I suggest she go into politics for the amount of spin she put on her thoughts. Let me be the honest one and tell you how settling in Huelva has really been like. Apparently Ngoc and I left all our luck 15,000 miles away in Seattle and our yet to be blessed with any sort of good fortune. Lets start with getting from Madrid to Huelva. Please take into account Ngoc and I were hauling well over 100 pounds of luggage between the 2 of us. We thought our adventure would get easier after rolling our luggage through downtown Madrid, through the subway and over to the bus station. Little did we know we had an 8 hour bus ride ahead of us on a small, cramped, hot bus. Ngoc and I were both very anxious to see our apartment in Huelva and the city we would call home for the next year. Our luck didn't get any better as we opened the door to our new piso (apartment) and found a 1 star piso awaiting us. Motel 8 offers better accomdations. I'm pretty sure the homeless are use to better conditions. The shower didn't have hot water, the sinks didn work, there was only enough gas for a tiny flame on the stove-not enough to even cook with, my bed was broken and barely big enough for a midget and my room was so small I felt like I had to suck in to fit in the room. Needless to say the closet was a disgrace to my wardrode. Worst of all the internet was only good for a maximum of 4 minutes which caused much frustration on the phone. Imagine calling Bank of America 18 times to tell them you are in Spain and need your credit card after already alerting them before leaving the country. Needless to say we were both very disappointed with our new home. The next day I went into Ngocś room and without saying anything we looked at one another and just started laughing. I guess its better to laugh than cry. We both agreed this piso was not livable for 8 months and immediately started searching for new places and our now heappily settled in a much nicer apartment. Unfortunately we are without internet so were stealing internet from a plaza. Imagine sitting on hard, cold cement steps surrounded by flies and unfriendly passerbyers.

I've started work and have officially completed my first week of my 1st job ever. It's only 12 hours a week, 3 days a week...its nice to ease myself into the real world. The job is less than stressful and very different from US schools. Im working in a highschool and the boys are less than appropriate, you can only imagine some of the things they say, little do they know I speak Spanish and understand them. Ngoc and I are hoping to get more private tutoring so we don't feel like we're living in poverty. If only I got a penny for every person who stared at me I'd be a trillionaire. The other night I was out with a friend who hadn´t been to a discoteca with me before. After about 10 minutes to turned to me and said "What are you a freaking FIRECRACKER?!!!" They all stare at you as if they´re waiting for something to happen. Thankfully, Ngoc politely informed her to get use to it it happens everywhere we go.


Let me give you a little background on Huelva. When I found out I would be living here for the next year I cried. A very mature first reaction, I know. I later went on google and saw phrases such as "the neglected city of andalucia" or the "the ugly step sister of Spain" which only provoked more tears. My own previous experience with Huelva is being stuck here on my way to Lagos Portugal. Huelva isn't exactly the most happening place of Spain. There are all of 20 Americans here--all of which our fellow Auxillaries. I'm yet to see another blonde American. Ngoc and I walk down the street and its like they have never seen a blonde in their life, no exaggeration people stop walking and almost break their neck staring. There are NO tourists in Huelva, its not as if they see a lot of foreigners. I don´t understand why they think I´m American in the picture above doesn´t it look like I can fit in with the locals?? Just to give you an idea of how little they know about Americans my students 1) didn know what the U.S was 2) Didn know where America was 3) Didn know what language Americans spoke. Going out at night is even worse because guys feel its neccessary to grab my face which has gotten quite old, actually disgusting. Luckily I have Ngoc as my personal security guard to keep me safe. We're hoping Huelvan's warm up to us and start talking to us rather than staring at us.
Now for good news!! I played tennis today at the local club on red clay which has been the most fun I've had in Spain since my arrival. The men were all very nice and said I could play with the men--"obviosuly, I thought!" haha. before I played one boy said he was going "to give me a lesson" afterwards he ate his words and said I was the best player at the club. Who knew. I'm playing in the tournament at the end of the month and Juan assured me I'd win! Ngoc and I are most excited about the cocktail party afterwards!
Hopefully things continue to get better and we start feeling more at home. I miss everyone back in the states and we'll post more once we have internet and aren't forced to sit amidst flies and stares in a nearby plaza.
Besos
Allison

Huelva is no Granada... but what can you do?

Sorry it's been so long since we've last blogged. Getting settled in Huelva has taken longer than anticipated, and our spirits have been a little down about it, but they are slowly picking up. As always I miss everyone and the comforts of home, but we are doing well, and enjoying this experience. I had my first week of official classes and lets say that Spanish kids have a LOT of energy. Every moment of the day is "maestra, maestra" or "teacher, teacher." They are incredibly cute, but at times they do test my patience. Being in the class has been really fun, because the education system in Huelva is nothing like that in the US. Out of everything so far, I've enjoyed work the most, because it has been very productive, and has given me the chance to really use my Spanish. Although I am teaching English, many of my students don't know any English and I have to teach English with Spanish.

Besides work, life has been... uneventful, however things are picking up. We are nearing the end of our second week in Huelva, and although it doesn't seem like that long, we feel as if we've been here forever. Our piso is incredibly cute and it's just Ally and I as always. We have yet to really meet any Spanish friends, however, we hope that will change soon. We will put in more effort. It's been hard to meet people when we were busy trying to settle in. We find the people here a little less open to meeting us than in Granada, but we're going to be hopeful that it will change. On a good note, many people have told me they thought I was from South America, even after hearing me speak Spanish, so I guess that's a compliment about my Spanish. It still needs a lot of work, but I have a long time left.

There's sooooo much to say about what has happened in the last two weeks, but it's all so much and might be too overwhelming. Right now we are in the process of setting up our private tutoring work. We have a total of three students (almost 4) and hope to get more by the end of this month. We're also excited about going to see our Granada friend perform in a concert here in Huelva, as well as supporting the Huelva basketball and soccer team. We will be posting ridiculous pictures of us as soccer fanatics... that's all there is here. :)

I miss dearly my mom's food, and the options in the US, but when I get home that's all I'm bringing back. Also I miss football a lot.

I hope everyone is doing well and soon our internet will be set up at our house again, and the phone option will be possible.

Un abrazo fuerte,

Ngoc :)