Thanksgiving

Well, today is Thanksgiving in America, although you’d never know it in Huelva, it’s just another day out of the year over here. And to be honest, I never really thought much of Thanksgiving when I was in the States either, then again, I relied on food from 7-11 or whatever gas station was open for my Thanksgiving Dinners while playing in National tennis tournaments around America. While I wouldn’t consider Huelva one of Europe’s prettiest cities it beats the boonies in Missouri. I’m accustomed to being away from home for Holidays and it didn't phase me to spend another Thanksgiving separated from my family. A bunch of the other American Auxiliaries all got together tonight and we had a “Thanksgiving Dinner” which was quite fun. For most of the other auxiliaries this was their first Thanksgiving away from home, which prompted several “I miss home, traditional dinner, being with friends/family” type comments. I thought to myself “What are you complaining about? This is great! Try eating fast food, fearful of E. coli lingering in your food in the backseat of your car in the middle of a deserted parking lot in some god-awful part of the US that people refer to as the Midwest.” I felt as if I was eating like a King.







A highlight of the dinner was meeting our new friend, Alex from Los Angeles. All in all the dinner was a lot of fun and I’m glad we had a Thanksgiving with our friends in Huelva.




During dinner we all took some time to say what we were thankful for. These two months have allowed me the time to do a lot of self-reflecting and has opened my eyes to all the wonderful things I have in my life. I’m very thankful for being blessed with the two most wonderful parents any child could eve ask for. It’s very easy to take for granted all you have while in the States because you rarely have moments where you realize what you have. It is not until something is taken away from you or you no longer have that thing that the proper appreciation can be realized. Of everything I have in my life I’m most thankful for the wonderful and close relationship I share with my parents and am very thankful for all the great experiences and memories we have. I know most 22 year olds don’t like living with their parents or have that good of a relationship but that's because very few people are lucky enough to have the selfless, gracious and giving parents that I have been blessed with. After all, how couldn’t you love and be forever thankful to the people who produced a child as beautiful as me?☺ All joking aside I will always be grateful for everything they have provided for me and wouldn't trade anything in the world for the special relationship we have.

Besos
Allison

Midnight Reflection

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! Here it's officially Thanksgiving Day, and I have to say this blog will not be like the others. I'm going to leave my smart remarks for another time. This is my first Thanksgiving away from my family, friends and America, and I have to say... I wished I could teleport so I could go home just to eat some home cooked food.

However, in the spirit of the holiday, I'd like to reflect on the things I am thankful for. As always I'm thankful for my family, without them I would be less interesting and possibly a little more sane. I'm thankful for my friends who put up with all the crazy "Ngoc" antics, and find all the things I lose. I'm thankful for the opportunity to live in Spain and discover for myself what independence really means. But most importantly, I'm thankful for the people who actually read this blog, because it means I'm not just rambling to myself. :)

Although I am far away from home, I will take this experience to make new Thanksgiving memories with the new friends I've met here in Spain. I'm sure we'll post pictures and give you an update on our first ever Spanish Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!! Eat lots of turkey and pumpkin pie!!!!!

Love,
Ngoc :)

Great Expectations turned into Growing Pains

Before I came to Spain I was both excited yet nervous about how this experience would turn out. To be 100% honest it hasn’t been anything like I anticipated. I thought this year would be a nice, easy year off, full of fun and free of problems or stress. Not to say I’m not enjoying my time abroad but settling down in Huelva has not been without its fair share of obstacles and/or challenges. Now that I have been here a couple months and past the excitement of finally being in Spain I’m just now realizing how hard living in a foreign country with different customs and traditions can be. Moreover, as the holiday season shifts into full swing with Thanksgiving on Thursday it’s hard not to reminisce about the holiday season in the States and miss family and friends back home.

While studying abroad in Granada during undergrad I fell in love with everything Spanish, but looking back on that experience, it was a fairytale summer, which can never be repeated. Ngoc and I met in Spain that summer and shared some of the craziest adventures and spontaneous travel trips together that I have ever had. We enjoyed 10 weeks of paradise where nothing went wrong and I didn’t think life could get any better. Unfortunately, Huelva is in no way shape or form close to Granada and not even in the same category as a comparison. I’ve come to the sad realization that this year will not be a replica of my first time in Spain. Rather than sulk and throw a pity party, invitation 1, I’ve decided to embrace the challenges ahead of me and look forward to a year full of self-growth, exploration and independence.

I think the biggest disappointment has been the fact that not one single thing has turned out to be like what I dreamed of. For starters, work is anything but easy. While I only work a limited amount of hours I can assure you this job has tested every ounce of patients in my body. It's the hardest job I’ve ever had, but then again I’ve never worked a day in my life until Spain, so I guess there isn't a lot of room for comparsion. I really hope this isn't what people mean when they say, “welcome to the real world,” because work is hard. You cannot even begin to imagine how I feel every time I’m teaching a class full of rowdy; obnoxious, and quite frankly, down right rude and disrespectful teenage boys. To say my classroom is total chaos would pay to much respect towards the lack of order that fails to exist in my classes. While trying to teach very difficult English grammar to uninterested students and having spitballs pelted at me from sixteen-year boys, I often think, “What am I doing here?” I thought this was going to be the best year of my life and so far nothing great has happened. Secondly, meeting people that want to be your friend and nothing else has proven to almost be impossible. After two months, I would say I have a handful of Spanish friends who are genuinely nice and educated people that I like to spend my free time with. Meeting the locals, those who I would actually like to get to know, have also been harder than expected. Hopefully as I continue to meet more people I will start to enjoy my time here a little more. Thirdly, the world famous nightlife in Spain, partying until 8 am, has also been a huge disappointment. Due to the fact that we live in a tiny city, with no exaggeration whatsoever, the exact same people go out every single Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I’ve come to hate going out because it didn’t take me long to realize that the only people who go out are the sleazy, dirty, drunken men lacking degrees. Not attractive. Fourthly, there are times that are downright boring. I guess being American forces one into the mindset of placing productivity as the paramount concern in your life. On the contrary, in Spain, relaxation is valued, appreciated and practiced with abundance. The “no pasa nada” mindset far outweighs the mindset of getting things done and having a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. I'm trying my hardest to appreciate this as a year of rest and relaxation and realizing that some time without constant stress or rush is not such a bad thing.
Lastly, I live on a stipend of only 700 Euros a month, not exactly rolling in the dough or living in a nice house on Mercer Island with Mom and Dad. It’s the first time in my life where money has been a concern and the word budget has crossed my mind. It’s to the point where I pick fruit off of trees on the street because I’m interested in saving (a new vocabulary word I learned this year). I can no longer swipe my debit/credit card and know the bill will be paid. I guess financial independence is a lesson I never really looked forward to learning. It will be the one lesson I don’t appreciate learning either ☺

However, rather than dwell over all the disappointments I’ trying my hardest to get involved with community events/ activities and find new things to do and fill my time. On Friday we went to the gran teatre in Huelva to watch one of the movies in the film festival. The teatre was beautiful, and to be honest, I was surprised something so pretty existed in Huelva.

This past weekend we went t the beach and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset along the Costal Del Sol. I’m going to try and my hardest to enjoy the positives of Huelva and forget the negatives. I guess it's a lesson learned, you never know what the future holds so don’t count your chickens before they hatch. I had Spain so built up in my head as the most wonderful place and couldn’t possibly imagine this year being anything but wonderful. Now I know I can’t repeat the same experience twice, I have to try my hardest to find the good in Huelva and be grateful for this experience. After all, not everyone has the opportunity to be thrown outside of their comfort zone and forced to deal with the problems presented for them. I have already learned a lot about myself and become a domestic diva (cooking, cleaning, washing the dishes/clothes, you name it I can do it) it only took me 22 years to learn but hey, better late than never. I’m no longer wearing my rose tinted glasses in Spain and ready to embrace this experience as a year full of growth and have accepted that some painful times will accompany the good times.

To end on a positive note, I guess the expression holds true, “You never know what you have until its gone.” Being away from home has made me appreciate all the comforts of the United States and how blessed I am to have grown up in an affluent neighborhood where beauty surrounds me. Now that I’m paying my way, living in an apartment smaller than my bedroom I’ve come to realize I took my life back home for granted and the rest of the world doesn’t live like I do. I’m glad I have this opportunity to experience a different way of life and trying to adapt the mindset of a relaxed Spaniard rather than hurried American. I’m switching my thoughts from those of having bad luck to thoughts of being blessed with a year full of siestas, relaxation and sangrias along the beach. You can look forward to reading blogs about our new efforts and mindsets.

Besos
Allison

So close to not being lazy....

Hello all, I thought I´d share a little story to maybe inspire you guys or simply just make you laugh at my stupidity. Well, many people know I work in Bollullos, but live in Huelva. Each day I commute to work, which isn´t bad since I usually get a ride. If not I take the train to La Palma which is a smaller pueblo 5 km north of Bollullos and then I get a ride from La Palma to Bollullos. Sounds like a fool-proof plan, since there are so many options... however, knowing my luck things never work out so easily. Sunday night, I get a text message from my carpool buddy saying she´s sick and won´t be going to school, this came in at about 10:30 pm btw. I was supposed to call the other girl I carpool with and we could work something out... but I call, and call and call, and no response. Then, I think I guess I´ll take the train to La Palma and get a ride from Miguel Angel... but wait a minute I don´t have his phone number anymore cuz´ I lost my cellphone last week and therefore lost all my numbers. So what is my last option.....???? Because I´m so dedicated to my job and slightly crazy I decided I could walk the 5 km(3.1 miles) to La Palma.

I wake up the next day at 6am, get ready to head out. I pack myself the regular muffins and waterbottle. I make sure I have a smaller purse, because from google maps it said my trip would take about 1.5 hrs and I didn´t want to be carrying my backpack or a big purse. I layer on the clothes because I knew it was going to be cold. I get on the train and go to La Palma as usual. After arriving at the train station, I set out for my trek to Bollullos. Of course as I walked out of the train station, the cold air had to greet me... it was literally freezing and I thought to myself... yeah I´m not going to make it. But it kinda sucks when you don´t have any other option. I thought about how my mom use to say she walked all the time in Vietnam or how my grandma walked from Hue to Nha Trang or even Saigon... so I guess I shouldn´t be such a pansy about it being cold. Sucking it up as much as I could, I put the hood on and plugged the headphones in and started to walk. After 15 minutes of walking I say a sign that said "Sevilla, Huelva", but no Bollullos. I looked around and see that the arrow for Bollullos were pointing in the direction that I came from... and so I slowly turned around... telling myself "slight detour, slight detour". Once I was able to get back on the right track, it started to get warmer, which made things easier. However for some reason I started to get tired, even though I had only walked for 30 minutes. Not willing to risk anything, I decided to sit down on a bench in a park and ate my muffins, and took a small break before continuing.

After my break I started walking again. For those that can´t quite imagine the picture... it´s like walking on the freeway by yourself... everyone looks at you crazy, but they don´t stop to offer you a ride. There really is no walkway, so you hope that you can suck it in and a car doesn´t try to take off your arm. I tried to remember which side of the street to walk on just to be a little safer, but in the end I knew that there was no part in this little excursion that was safe at all. As was walking I noticed how beautiful it was. There was no big street lights, the sun was coming up, and there were no clouds in the sky. It was just grass and trees sprinkled with a few old houses. It was a very serene image, unfortunately i didn´t have enough room to pack my camera or else you could see real pictures. In a way it reminded me of Forrest Gump when he was running, however I wasn´t running, and I actually had a reason.

After walking 4/5 km, I see this black car with the white daisy flower on the back and thought to myself, "Man that care looks familiar." It turned out to be Concha, my Spanish mother. She is the mother of Maria, a girl I tutor, she is soooooo nice to me, and would do anything to help me out. She was on her way to work in La Palma and saw me walking, and she had to turn around. So, sadly I didn´t get to complete the 5 km walk, because she gave me a ride the rest of the way. I guess I should have insisted that I finish because I was sooooo close, but she looked like she was going to have a heart attack when she saw me.

In end, I made it to Bollullos, earlier than ever, I´m not even that tired, and I feel great. Maybe one day in the spring, I will get a bike and attempt the ride over, but it was a nice trip because the whole time I was thinking, "I would never do this in Seattle,¨or "Ngoc, people think you´re crazy.¨ Either way, it was a fun way to start the week, and I´m glad that I´m still alive to tell the story. Now Coi can never call me lazy again.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, and that you´re enjoying the luxury of having a car.

Sending all my love,

Ngoc :)

Lessons We've Learned in Huelva

After getting my "diploma" I thought this year would be a year of teaching and I wouldn't learn as much as I've done in the past... however, after about 2 months of Spanish (but mainly Huelvan) life, I've realized that I've learned sooo much from this experience already. Let me just list a few things that I've learned, that the UW never prepared me for... (i kinda want my money back) :)
1. Don't bring more than 12 pairs of shoes and the rest of your closet, because no matter how cute you look, no Spanish guy is going to offer to carry your bags up flights of stairs or from Madrid to Huelva.
2. Just because you got a degree in Spanish doesn't mean you speak Spanish... if you don't use joder, cono or hombre in every other sentence then you aren't really speaking Spanish.
3. From the pictures beautiful beaches and sun makes you think you don't need a jacket... but think again, because even if there's sun... it doesn't mean it's not going to feel like an icebox.
4. Spanish men don't understand the art of being slick. They will call you 5-6 times a day, even after you've told them you don't want to ever see them again... then maybe they'll send you a text just in case you didn't really ignore their previous calls.
5. If you ever want to get anything in Spain, make sure you have an NIE but most of all you can skip all the line waiting... if you just marry a Spaniard.
The list could go on and on, but the point of this blog is to say that although Ally and I came to Spain with enormous expectations, this week we have been feeling a little down. Things have not turned out the way we thought they would... but I guess with good reason. Our first experience with Spain was AMAZING and I doubt we will ever experience anything like that again. However, it's not to say that this experience will not be life changing. I guess for me it was really hard to accept that Huelva is not Granada and never will be. I just wanted to repeat my Granadian experience, and I forgot to really look at where I am and the opportunity I've been given. After a long period of sulking and feeling bad about how we've had such a hard time settling down, Ally and I have decided to suck it up and be grateful that we're here in Spain, and we have each other.
I know that living here for so long will be difficult because we're so far away from home but it is an experience that I know will change me for the better. I hope to emerge from this experience more patient, appreciative of my friends, family and everything that I have in America, but mostly I want to be able to say that I stepped out of my comfort zone and enjoyed it.
So... as Ally and I try to reorganize our thinking, and turn a more positive leaf... you guys can look forward to more stories of our adventures around Huelva as we really put in effort to get to know the city, rather than comparing it to our first love Granada. These stories will be full of pictures because I have vowed to take more pictures because I can't let the camera from my family go to waste.
Por fin, as you guys read this we are both content, motivated and excited for our real adventure to begin. We're sending besos mixed with hi-5's and hope everyone is surviving without us.

Un abrazo fuerte,
Ngoc :)

Duque... donde estas?

So as everyone knows, Ally and I have developed a new addiction... the Spanish TV drama "Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso". Every Thursday we faithfully watch it, because it stars the best looking man... besides Enrique Iglesias... in the world. Although his voice annoys me, he's nice to look at. Anyways, that's the Duque, and all I have to say is how come I have yet to see anyone else like him in Spain...

Either way that's not what the post is about. Today I had a very relaxed and lazy day. I woke up really late, didn't have any classes, and when I finally decided to leave the piso, I walked around a little bit, went to the library and then back to the piso. All of a sudden I decided that I'd take my little walk to the pier and take pictures, because it is my favorite place in Huelva. When I see it, and I'm walking on it I just feel very relaxed and as if I'm on vacation. The only problem is that it takes about 30 minutes to walk there, and the rest of the city is not worth taking pictures of. However, I managed to make it to the pier, and the sun had gone down already, but it's in moments like these that I'm like you're all by yourself, walking on the pier and everything around you screams romance... but I guess esa es la vida.

I've decided this will be my haven. When I find myself bored with nothing to do, I'm going to take the 30 minute walk and sit on the pier with my book, and relax... something I don't do often enough.

Sorry it was an uneventful post, however, enjoy the beautiful pictures and I wished you guys were here with me.

Besitos,

Ngoc :)

La Luz??? More like out of control coldness...

Hello family and friends. I´m sorry about not being better at this. You know how these things go. In the beginning you are all happy and excited so you blog about everything even things like getting your library card, but with time you lose the excitement and you forget you even have a blog... and I´m going to say that it only took me 6 weeks or so to reach that feeling. However, I´m determined to make another attempt, only because I have two hours of "planning" for my classes and no real plannning to do. That´s how good I am at this job.
How goes life in Huelva you ask? Well let´s see... cold, and even colder at night. Everyone who said this is the sunniest place in Spain, and we wouldn´t need a jacket, if only I can remember who you are because you lied to me. I am freezing my toes, fingers, face, and every other part of my body off. This cold is even worse when we´re in our piso. Although I love our home dearly, I must say, it is like an icebox, and if we don´t turn into popsicles during the winter, that will be a miracle. I´m convinced that it´s much warmer outside than inside our piso. Ally and I have taken to sleeping in the same bed in order to stay warm... you ask if that´s necessary, but you come here and live in this freezer of a piso. Our only heater is about the size of my Bio 180 book, and really only works if I place my body directly in front of it, but we all know that I´m slightly bigger than the size of a textbook... solo un poquito and thus one part gets warm while the rest stays cold. Chica and I might have to invest in exercise tapes as our only form of staying warm.
Besides the out of control coldness, we are still struggling with internet, and actually getting it... it continues to frustrate me. The rate at which the internet people here in Spain work is quite amazing, I hope to one day be just like them... slow, and inresponsive. I´m trying to remain calm, while hoping that our dear friends who are helping us get connected won´t change their minds in the near future.
We are not traveling much, due to the coldness, but also because we can´t find the ganas to really get on a bus. It would be so nice if I had my white Honda CRV. Mommy and Daddy if you are reading this, that would be a nice care package.

As for the rest of our lives here in Huelva, I have fallen into a schedule with work, volleyball and work. I find myself not dedicating myself to learning Spanish as much as I should, and as of today I am making more of an effort. No more slacking off... I will be Spanish, speak Spanish, think Spanish, and eat Spanish (well maybe I won´t go that far).

So as my post comes to an end, we don´t have many pictures, because they all end up the same... Ally and I with our beautiful faces in the same poses, the same smiles, however different outfits. Let´s all hope that we find something to do and more ganas to take pictures, because I think we left our snap happy tendencies in Granada two years ago.
Here´s sending all our love to everyone back home, as always we miss you and we´re jealous you guys have access to Thai food, pho and heating in your homes. Hasta pronto!

Un abrazo fuerte!
Ngoc :)

After 6 weeks without internet, Ngoc and I finally have internet in our piso! This wouldn't be such an exciting day if getting internet in Spain was easy, but clearly Ono didn't want us to have internet. I'm more than aware that the Spanish dictionary doesn't have the words "fast," "hurry" "quick" or anything related to efficiency, but when you have customers willing to pay you'd think getting service wouldn’t be impossible. After 6 failed attempts at getting internet we are successfully "borrowing" our neighbors internet. Using the internet is even better when it's free :)

As always, so much has happened since my last post. First, it's official, I have a Spanish stalker, actually a few. After telling the infamous Jose Jaime, who calls at least 5 times a day, sends texts and leaves voicemail, I didn't want to talk to him, his persistence and determination is continuous. At least his English attempts provide humor with lines such as "I need you see tonight please talking to me." They get far more pathetic which provide some good laughs for Ngoc and I. While many of the date offers I get sound great, they unfortunately come along with a Spanish guy which just aren't my thing. One guy said "I'm always available for you Allison" to which Ngoc responded "thats pathetic, don't you have a life?" Thank goodness he doesn’t understand English. We now just joke and say "take a number" when we meet someone who’s interested. It would be nice to meet more Spaniards to practice and work on my Spanish with, however, I’m pretty sure I have different motives for spending time together than they do. If anyone is interested in meeting a Spaniard just send me your height, weight and facial preferences and I can forward several on to you! No joke.

I thought teaching tennis was tough this summer....NOTHING could have prepared me for teaching high school boys. While I only work 12 hours a week, I earn every euro I make for the things I put up with. You can only imagine some of the things I hear in the classroom with the high schoolers. To keep this blog PG, all I will say is they make less than appropriate comments and are totally naive to the fact that I understand everything they say. If any of my students read my blog here are some answers to questions you constantly ask 1) No, I don't have a boyfriend 2) No, I'm not interested in you. 3) No you cannot smoke weed in class. I also teach at a private school in the afternoon for young children, proves to test my patient everyday. Although they are very cute, it’s exhausting being in a classroom of 20 6 or 7 year olds yelling in Spanish for hours on end. There are times I ask myself "what did I sign up for" then I remember I'm in Spain and enjoying the experience of a new culture, different lifestyle and being abroad.

We're blessed with beautiful weather, sunny skies and long, sun-lit filled days. All in all, Huelva is turning out to be a nice place to call home. It’s big enough that you have a city feel but small enough you can walk anywhere you want.
Everyone in Spain was very happy Obama won, then again, anyone with 1/2 a brain would be happy. Hopefully positive change for both the U.S. and the world is coming soon! Speaking of coming soon we hope our friends cross the ocean to see us soon!

Besitos
Allison