La Rubia y La Morena

The End

2009-05-25T02:49:00.000-07:00

With only a couple days left in Huelva it’s hard not to think about all the things I will soon miss about Spain and even Huelva….

1) Above all I will miss the relaxed, leisurely lifestyle I live over here, which consists of doing whatever and whoever (only kidding, of course) whenever I want. You can’t even begin to imagine how relaxed one becomes after a year free of stress, bills, any real work obligations or studying. On the contrary, this year has been full of all the siestas, sangria and sun one could ever ask for. Throw in some serious fiestas and unforgettable adventures and you have my life for the past nine months. Now if only attractive men actually existed in Huelva life would've been perfect

2) As much as I complain about my job, I'm going to miss my work schedule...a grand total of 12 hours a week (10-2 Tuesday-Thursday) I don't think it could get any better. My weekend is longer than my workweek…. just how it should be

3) The concept of Andalucía time, that is to say everything can wait until tomorrow. There is never a rush for anything.....emergencies? please.....it’s Andalucía.....people don’t even know how to run down here. Everything is done at a slower pace. I can't even begin to imagine going home to the hurried, rushed American mentality

4) Cost of living, you’re considered upper-class with a salary of 2,000 Euros a month.... enough said

5) Luxury of traveling.... from riding camels in Morocco to climbing the Eiffel tower in Paris and biking through Barcelona…I will miss hopping on a plane, train or ferry and exploring Europe whenever we feel like it

6) Spanish grannies...being a conscious narcissist I've appreciated the constant reinforcement of my already oversized ego from men routinely breaking their necks every time I walk down the street...for some reason being called beautiful never gets old

Siestas
1euro cafe con leches
Pan tostada
Beautiful backyard beaches
Plaza time
Going out for tapas

However the list of things I'm looking forward to coming home to the states is also quite lucrative

1) First and foremost.... of everything I have missed the most... hands down has been my BED! When my Mom came to visit in December she commented, “what is this? The anti-sex bed? At least I don’t have to worry about anything happening here” I don’t think a less comfortable bed exists…. and CANNOT wait to crawl into a little piece of heaven and finally have my bed back!

2) A shower where sex in the shower is actually a possibility because as it is now in Roque Barcia (our piso) you couldn't even fit two anorexic midgets in that pathetic watering hole that some architect called a shower

3) American men and fashion...I simply cannot appreciate Spanish men...how can you date a guy whose jeans are tighter than yours, has more gel in their hair than your bathroom and sports a bigger purse than you, all shamelessly…. simply unacceptable.

4) My houses...after living in a coat closet for nine months I cannot wait to walk around my house and actually fit comfortably in the kitchen without having to suck in

With only three weeks left in Europe it would be a tragedy to leave without visiting one of the most beautiful places on earth so we decided to take our last European adventure in Greece!! We will be setting sail from Bari, Italy and cruising over to Corfu, Greece. We’ll also visit Athens and Santorini. Fortunately for you, I will not have the time nor energy this summer to blog about that trip so no more making all of you jealous. I hope everyone has enjoyed the blog and we will be back in the states soon, too soon!

Besos
Ally

I am no longer a kid anymore.... so sad, so sad

2009-05-25T01:54:00.000-07:00

Hello all, this might be the last blog for this adventure from Huelva, and I am just going to warn everyone that this might be long, somewhat boring, and randomly written. So if you insist on reading I advise get some popcorn or gomitas (if my addiction has contaminated you) and see how I try to summarize my time here.

As my days are winding down here in Huelva, Spain I have really started to think how fast time flies. For me the first few months were horrible and I really questioned whether this was a good decision. Now that I look back on the cold days in our piso and the hard time getting the stupid thing called the NIE and all the hardships that we encountered our first few months it all seems as if it was some other time in my life.... some time years ago, not only months ago. Itś difficult to describe how much this city and this country has become a part of me. I honestly cannot remember what it is like to live in Seattle, although I was just there 3 months ago. I cannot imagine myself waking up and not walking down Roque Barcia hearing ¨buenos dias" o "que hay". For the last 8 months this country has become my home, and I must admit that although I have complained and said some bad things about this place, it has left a great impression on me, and I will really miss being here, and the life that I have here.
When I leave here and return to Seattle, I´m going to miss many things but to save you guys from falling asleep I´ll keep the list and explanations short: I will miss

1. the pace of life... Never in my life have I felt more free to do absolutely nothing. At first it was weird and I felt bad about it, but it is what Spanish life is about... relaxation. When I am stressed out with school and a hectic schedule I will probably slip back and daydream about my times on the pier and the plaza enjoying life.

2. the chance to practice the language... Although English will always be my first language, i will definitely miss having the opportunity to use Spanish and hearing it all around. i know it´s going to be very different when i hear the TV in English all the time. Being forced to speak Spanish has reminded me why I fell in love with this language in the first place, and how the language is what brought me to Spain.

3. living cheaply... no longer will i be able to buy things so cheaply... gone will be the cheap good fruit and the gomitas... I really don´t know if i´m going to survive... but luckily I have my mom to help me out with that.

4. padel... what a shame we discovered this game so late... although I´m not going to front and say that I´m good at it... but I guess trying counts for something when I´m playing with a person who grew up with a racket in her hand... I guess you can´t really play padel with just your hand right? If i ever come back to Spain i would definitely pick up padel and they should also bring it to the states, it is probably one of the greatest games out... so fun. I have to admit I must work on the whole finess thing.

5. getting into places for free... soccer games, basketball games, clubs (although we don´t go to them often), it´s so nice to not have to pay for entrance fees to these things, because it´s a small town or we have nice friends that get us in.

6. the people i have met along the way... although we have not mad a ton of friends, the ones we have made have been great friends who have helped us adapt to Spanish life, and I will miss them dearly.

-Juanjo and Manolo or intercambios turned padel playing partners. I will miss our times together talking about random topics but usually converging to one in particular (which I will not name..) I don´t think i´ve ever thought i´d be friends with librarians but I´m going to go ahead and give Juanjo and Manolo the "my favorite librarians" title.

-Concha and Family. This family has become my family away from home. Concha is the mom that feeds me, and makes sure that I´m ok. I´m going to miss our weekly conversations and coming over to her amazing house. i will miss Jose´s nice funny remarks and the way that he reminds me of my real father. It will be hard to say goodbye to Maria and our weekly classes. I feel as if she has truly learned something. She is so bright and i know that with time she will definitely be able to speak English, probably better than me. She has become like a sister to me, taking the place of my younger sister while I´m here.

- Nia, my great co-worker. I will never be able to go drink coffee with anyone but you. Who will listen to me as i complain about the kids and how they are going to be the end of me? I will miss our weekend adventures and our crazy conversations. But I guess you only live on the other side of the country. We´ll see each other soon right? Remember change your status if something happens. :)

As for the things I look forward to... the list goes on forever, however, mainly I'm looking forward to seeing my family and my friends. My mom's incredible food, sitting in my room and being surrounded by my own things, and feeling as if I'm not living out of a suitcase. I would really like to look forward to an American guy who has that swagger, that the Spanish men are missing, who's tall, and has a frame that doesn't look ridiculous, and of course who speaks my language. :)

My job this year has taught me many things, however the biggest is that I love children. There have been times they drove me to the brink however I am going to miss my students... especially Pablo, who's sooo cute, and the biggest Betis fan and who is going to be a mathematician when he grows up. I will miss them saying hi to me everyday and their energy. Their outlook on life reminds me to try to be optimistic and to live life without fear of falling from a swing or tripping when trying to play soccer and that a kiss makes all wounds go away.
My year here has given me a new found respect for teachers... I bow down to all teachers and all that they do... but all I really know is I am meant to be a student, not a teacher. I have enjoyed some of my days at work, because the children can be very sweet and adorable, but I will not lie and say there hasn't been any hard days. In the end, there will always be fond memories along with bad ones... and I'm going to try and delete my memories of my first class on Tuesday morning ASAP!

This year has given me a lot of time to think about myself and what I want to do with my life. I have truly missed school and being apart of a University atmosphere, I miss my backpack and my pencil pouch... I know that is nerdy, but I am looking forward to hopefully going back to that. Being so far away from home has taught me that I can make it on my own... I do have discpline when it comes to saying no to nice shoes, that might come as a shock for people, but I am very proud of the way I've grown as a person. I now cook, clean and do everything necessary to live on my own, and I think my mom would be proud of me. I guess since I'm turning 23 soon... I'm not a kid anymore, although I really just want to go to recess all the time and play some dodge ball.

With my year of exploration almost behind me... I'm ready to return to my life, and start a new chapter, getting started on the goal I've had all my life. Although I'm leaving Spain at the end of this week, this may not be the end of my stay in Spain, I can see myself settling down here, but that is way down the line, once I've completed my dreams and my education... that gives me enough time to find a Spanish man to marry, someone who is tall and doesn't think I'm from China.

Before I go, I'd like to say that this year would definitely have not been the same without Ally with me. We have gone through a lot this year and I don't know if I would have survived without her. Spain would never be the same if we hadn't experienced it together because the memories are endless. Although we may be going separate ways next year, that doesn't mean the adventures of "la rubia y la morena" are going to end, we have future travels in the works. We would definitely make a great team on Amazing Race... so look out for us there. There may be many things about this trip that i cannot express fully to you guys at home, but I will always have Ally to understand me. So... Chica, thanks for learning to do the laundry, cook and wash dishes.. it has made being stuck with you 24/7 less awkward, and no one had to get hurt. Now we're off to Greece, and taking a 3 months separation because we've spent too much time together the last 9 months, but don't forget we have Text Twist Fridays. :)

Thanks everyone for reading and wanting to know about us. I hope you've enjoyed our adventures and as always I wished you guys had been here to experience them with us. Hasta pronto!!!!

Con carino,
ngoc :)

Saying Adios to the Good Life

2009-05-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

Before coming to Spain I thought a blog would be a great way of updating friends and family back home of my life abroad.... however I didn't anticipate the Spanish culture sucking all the ganas (energy) out of me and have failed miserably at updating this thing. At least I can say I have successfully emerged myself into my surroundings and have become just as lazy as my native born next-door neighbors. As I read over past entries there are so many great tales that have gone untold. Then again, this is a PG blog so I guess the best stories are better left out of print...

There is no rhyme or reason this blog...just a random collection of recent events which I've been too lazy to blog about.... typical.

Ngoc and I started couch surfing in March and loved everything about it, from free housing to the trepidation that comes with showing up at a stranger’s house and sleeping on their couch. After all, what would Europe be like without near-death experiences to spice things up. To be honest, I have been quite disappointed this year with the lack of scary situations we have found ourselves in compared to our time in Granada. Unfortunately, living in Huelva, aka Booneville, we haven't received many requests from travelers wanting to crash on our couch. However, when I received a couch surfing request from an American cycling through Europe I was thrilled at the chance to finally play host after so many surfing experiences. We were only slightly concerned about the guy sleeping at our place because he had no information on his profile nor any recommendations or references. His photo didn't look like one of a serial killer though so we said yes. Little did we know, but he was far from a serial killer, he was actually a little celebrity! Well not quite, but you know I can't help but exaggerate; he was the art director for a famous Gatorade commercial starring Derek Jeter. Within 5 minutes of his arrival he pulled out a knife big enough to do some serious bodily harm and said "I guess I don't need this right now." While my heartbeat was skyrocketing into triple digits I tried to keep a calm face but apparently he saw the fear in my eyes before I could say anything and assured me he only planned on shanking someone if he was attacked while camping outside during his trip. I was still slightly skeptical and decided I would not be offering half of my bed to share...the couch it was for him! He turned out to be a really nice guy and we had a lot of fun over the weekend. Given there is all of nothing to see in Huelva, sightseeing was out of the question. We dragged him along to watch me play in a local tennis tournament in El Portil (beach town). I felt bad forcing him to watch woman sports, which are about as entertaining as watching paint dry. Afterwards, we took him to one of our favorite restaurants over looking the port and dined over great food and a beautiful sunset. There is a bowling alley in Huelva, which we had never gone to and figured this would be a great time to go. I don't talk about this, because quite frankly, it's just embarrassing for the obvious reasons, but I'm a pretty good bowler. I only had 2 open frames (the fact I even know bowling terminology is not something I am proud of) and bowled a 188 despite not touching a bowling ball since I was 16. Moving on, hosting proved to be just as much fun as surfing and I hope to have more hosting experiences in the future.

Ngoc already blogged about the communion we went to, but let me just say it was ridiculous, in every sense of the word. If you thought you had a nice and/or over the top wedding you need to see Spanish standards. The rich and fabulous do not joke when it comes to fiestas and celebrations over here. Apparently they have fully embraced the slogan “Go big or go home.” The party had to cost more than the average persons yearly salary for a girl who hasn't even entered the world of double digits. If only she had a brother. Only joking, of course.

We were invited to talk on a local radio station here in Huelva about our blog not to long ago. A DJ somehow came across our blog and found it very entertaining. I didn't even think about the language barrier of the blog given its written in English and he is Spanish but he reassured us he understood it. When I questioned him further and asked what his favorite entry was he admitted he really only enjoyed the photos...I got a good laugh out of that. Nonetheless, the radios interview was quite fun. It was actually our 2nd time being invited to talk on the radio in Huelva.

The past several weeks have been so relaxing and enjoyable making the thought of leaving in just 1 week very sad. I never thought I would come to like Huelva but after living here for eight months and forming friendships I refer to it as “my home” without hesitation. Despite not traveling as much as we normally do, spending the past few weekends in Huelva has actually been quite nice. I will miss: Sunday afternoons outside on friends’ patios enjoying five-hour lunches and conversations. Having the time to spend countless hours in the plaza playing cards while laughing about tonterias. Walking to the Pier and enjoying the beautiful view of the ocean. Walking along the beach and watching the sunset over a glass of sangria. Being able to go to the basketball and soccer games for free because the players are your friends. Going out for tapas and then staying out until 7 or 8 in the morning and sleeping until 4 the next day. I can’t believe I am going to say this but….I am going to miss Huelva! I guess the expression “home is where the heart is,” really is true.

Besos
Ally

Here is me playing in a tournament on red clay in Spain....match point...I won :)

What's the wedding going to be like?

2009-05-18T14:58:00.000-07:00

Hola everyone!!!! No I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth... I've just been lazy as usual or haven't been inspired to really write anything. However, this weekend, Ally and I went to Bollullos to attend a Comunion (I think it's called Confirmation in English) for Meme, one of my students. Let's say I was probably the least religious person there... but it was still cool to be invited. Apparently it's suppose to be super important in Spanish culture.
So we head to Bollullos and hang out with Nia. We go with Concha's family to the event... it was being held at Meme's uncle's vineyard thing. So we enter and everyone is dressed nicely... we knew to expect this and luckily we managed to comb our hair and put on a little makeup before showing up or that would have been incredibly embarassing, as we were the only Americans there. Let me try to explain what we saw... lots of wine barrels and tables set up for a wedding like thing. There were appetizers being passed out waiters. There were also waiters wearing really tight high-waisted pants asking if we wanted some beer. But it was crazy... this all for a 9 year old?????? Anyways, we were then introduced to the family members of Meme... there were tons of them. Try keeping remembering everyone's name and how they are related to each other, but thenames all seem to be the same. It was also besitos central... I don't remember how many cheeks I kissed.
We then sat down to eat, and lets say that the food kept coming, and coming and coming. We reach a point where we thought the zippers on our dresses were going to burst. I really don't understand how the Spanish manage to eat so much but still stay thin... whatever they are doing, I need to do more of... maybe I should step away from the Gomitas. They had a separate menu for the adults and the kids. It was out of control. The desserts were to die for... unfortunately no matter how hard I tried, I failed miserably and couldn't get them done...
Being with Concha was nice, she definitely made sure we didn't feel left out, introducing us to her family, and her family was very nice, and we managed to chat it up with them. I can't imagine what a family of 6 girls and 1 boy would be like... poor poor Miguel. One of the down sides, is that we weren't introduced to any of her available nephews... or any other eligible bachelors in the family... I think the most eligible ones we saw were around the ripe age of 12... we will have to wait on them a little. But I guess, we'll have to hold out for El Rocio and maybe her cute available nephews will decide to join the family festivities.
So after our first Spanish Comunion I've realized that Mercedes and Paco spent a ton of money on a party for their 9 year old daughter, who spent most of the time running around with her friends. I'm trying to remember the most money my parents spent on a party for me... This party probably cost as much as someone's wedding, but either way, when Meme get's married I hope I'm invited because if her comunion is any indication of the fiesta... I can't imagine what her wedding is going to be like.
Now we have gone to one of the most important fiestas in a Spaniards lif'e... we only have a Baptism and Wedding to go to... so if anyone is having one of those anytime in the next two weeks... let us know we are available.
Hope everyone is well and we'll see each other soon!

Besitos,
ngoc :)

2 weeks notice

2009-05-05T05:58:00.000-07:00

Where did the year go? Everyone always says the older you get the faster the time goes. This year was no exception. The time is flying. I thought senior year went by fast, then again that is expected when your only awake for a third of it, but this year went by in a blink. It seems like yesterday I was sitting in SeaTac airport and now we are ready to set sail on our cruise through the Greek isles before returning to the real world.

I have learned more about myself and other invaluable life lessons from my year abroad than I ever could have anticipated. I never could have imagined how much I would grow and mature just by working in a bilingual high school in Huelva, Spain. In all honestly, I thought this year would be nothing more than a time delayer full of fun and traveling. However, working as a teacher this year clearly illustrated, more than college ever did, just how important an education really is. Estuaria (name of my school) opened my mind to so many things I never realized or given thought to. Growing up on an Island where almost everyone’s fathers name is followed by MD, PhD, MBA, JD, or DDS I always thought everyone went to prestigious colleges and then onto professional schools and had high paying careers. And then I came to Huelva.

If you are a new reader and haven't read previous posts let me be the first to tell you that it is in fact possible to live below the poverty line. I receive a grand total of, brace yourself, 700 Euros a month to live off of. I didn't think it was possible either and then I gave up food and found out it was indeed doable to support yourself on a few pennies a month. Thankfully there is no charge for oxygen so I can scrape by every month and with any luck I find a few pennies on the streets and spring for a stick of gum. Despite my perception, people in Huelva repeatdly tell me that this is a great salary. Do the math, 700 times 12 is under 8,000 Euros a year after taxes. How can anyone say that is a good paying job? Well, when you don't have an education nor a good job than I guess any amount of money is a good salary. Of everyone I have met this year, I can count on one hand the number of doctors, lawyers, dentist, ect. I have met. On the other hand, I have met more factory workers than I ever knew existed.

I wasn't too eager to start Law School right after college. In fact, I looked into every possible post-graduate scholarship program to avoid the inevitable, more schooling, and luckily found this program, which allowed me to become fluent in Spanish and travel through Europe. It was like finding the last pair of jimmy choos at Nordstrom in your size and on sale! However, I wasn't expecting to get as much out of this year as I have. With every day I am in the classroom with my students and see their pathetic lack of effort I think of their bleak future that awaits them. That is, if you are in agreement with me that flipping burgers at McDonalds for 5.25/hour is bleak. The fact that they cannot speak a word of English, despite having eight years of English classes is miniscule in comparison to their apathetic mentality towards education. I often find myself very frusterated by their lack of compassion for learning. I continually ask them if they even care and they spout the same sad responde day after day "me da igual," which means "I don't care." How can you teach someone who doesn't even want to learn? Some of them don't even bother bringing school supplies with them to school unless you count cigarettes and/or marijuana as substitutes for pens and paper. It's truly tragic. I wonder when the value of education was lost on them. The sad reality is, I doubt the importance of having a college degree was even instilled in them. I look at my BA like a high school diploma.... how can you NOT have one?

I remember senior year and being scared by my lack of a job but worse yet lack of a definite plan for my future. Sure, I knew I had options for the immediate future...Teach for America or my current job in Spain, but they were both just temporary options before I started working towards what I really wanted to do. I had always known myself as a tennis player. Since 4 years old that is who I was. I woke up every morning and played tennis. Rather than go home after school and open my book bag to study, I was at the country club opening my locker getting my rackets for a few hours of tennis practice. Every single vacation was to some Podunk town in the United States for national tournaments. Three out of the four weekends a month were spent driving up and down the west coast playing and winning, I might add, junior tournaments. Junior tennis was all I knew growing up. I occasionally went to school when the principal called and said I was in danger of being kicked out for truancy. No joke. Sad thing is, I still managed to graduate from Mercer Island with 3.9 GPA.... just goes to show what they call "one of the best high schools." Pretty sure Wilson would pass MIHS with flying colors, just as long as there weren't in Bulldogs to intimidate him. In college, things were no different. I was on full scholarship for tennis and identified myself as an athlete before a student. Ironic, huh? Of course I was in college to get a degree but my mindset was about improving my tennis game and winning matches. Fortunately for me, the program fell apart when there was a coaching change after my freshman year. With a team that couldn't beat a triple A high school team I finally gained some perspective on life after tennis. I thought about what most ex-tennis players do (teach tennis) and finally realized that you are nothing without an education. I knew once I graduated I a transcript with high grades would do a lot for me than memories of insignificant matches won. Because no one really cares who won, its the honest truth. Who won the Super Bowl in 2004? You don't remember do you? No one, besides you cares about the outcome of a sports game/match once the outcome is three days old. I didn't fancy being amongts one of the many an ex-athlete losers and shifted my focus from tennis strategies to political theories.

With only two weeks left of employment I have never thought about my future as much as I have these past couple of weeks. After looking into the vacant eyes of my students for a year where not a care was given to their education I couldn't help but wonder what their futures held for them after high school graduation. College certainly wasn't in the cards. I never thought they could teach me anything but they proved me wrong. When I ask my students what their favorite city in Spain in and I'm always shocked when I find out most of them haven't even left Huelva. How is that possible I ask? Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid are only an hour away on a plane. I have only been in Spain for a year and already seen the above plus Santander, San Sebastian, Santiago, Seville, Cadiz, Cordoba, Malaga, Granada, Bilbao,...etc. And then I'm reminded their parents don’t have an education nor job, which could provide for the luxury of traveling.

I never could have predicted that my students would serve as motivators for me given they are the least inspirational people you could imagine. Nonetheless, after imaging the painful monotony awaiting them in mind numbing boring jobs such as busing tables, folding clothes or packaging in a factory, I am more motivated then ever to pursue a graduate degree after working in a highschool where the gradution rate is less than 50%.

Besos
Ally

Oops, we did it again

2009-04-27T02:08:00.000-07:00

If you know me, you know my name is synonymous with stupidity or if you're one of those people who look at the glass half full maybe you’d say naiveté. It's really a miracle I haven't gotten myself killed in the year I've spent abroad. I certainly put myself in more than enough dangerous situations than was ever necessary when I studied abroad in 2006, from wandering down the tiny, windy alleyways of Tetuan, Morocco alone (not exactly Island Crest Way) to sleeping on the beach in Malaga (in theory this seemed like a great idea until I felt a mans hand in my purse trying to steal my passport). This year has been no different. Our travels never fail to create worthy lifelong stories.

This past weekend our friend and honoree third roommate, Nia, came over to go to the beach with us. Summer has arrived in Huelva and the thermostats read in the high 80's sometimes even into the 90s. Luckily we are only a quick bus ride away from the coast. After spending most my free time, that is, all week at Punta Umbria (nearby beach) we decided to try a different beach a little further away. The gods were clearly not in our favor because the wind blew constantly the entire time we were there. As beautiful as the beach was I just couldn't stand the sand shower the wind was creating. Whoever says sex on the beach is good is clearly lying and or has never done it. After spending a few hours at the local beachside bar we decided to take an earlier bus back home. After waiting for an hour or so we realized the bus wasn’t coming. Nia and Ngoc didn't have saldo (money) on their phones to call anyone and I refused to call any of the men who pester me with coffee date invitations and ask for a ride. It was either being stuck in Mazagon for who knows how long or hitchhike home.

I don't even think in the danger involved in most of the things I do now. I wish I could say I'm fearless but we all know that’s not the case. The way I look at it, we're all gonna die sometime, so might as well go down in an adventure. I sat shivering under the covered bus stop while Nia and Ngoc each took one side of the street with thumb in air. With every passing car our hope of getting a ride back to Huelva looked worse and worse. Finally, after thirty minutes of nothing but the standard rude, quizzical, Spanish stare we decided to just start walking. Ngoc thought making a sign would help whereas I was more of the mindset that taking off some layers of clothes might get a little more attention. Who knows what one worked but a handsome man driving an Audi pulled over and we screamed with joy that we wouldn't be stuck in Mazagon for the night. He was sporting none other than Ngoc's favorite outfit and was looking sharp in his suit. He told us he was late for a wedding in Seville. Please note, we needed to go to Huelva (the OPPOSITE direction). He said, "no pasa nada," and agreed to drive us home. As soon as he picked us up he did a U-turn and told us he needed to go back home to get something. The gun, I thought. Great. As he ran into his house Ngoc got out to snap a picture of me outside the car, I thought it would be a good idea to leave some clues for the police investigation that would follow as they were searching for our missing bodies in the Mediterranean. I remember seeing him come running down his front porch stairs with gym bag in tow. Too many movie scenes flashed in my head of killers with a gym bag slung over their shoulder with ropes, guns, knives, etc....as I wondered what his weapon of choice was I got a glimpse of his face for the first time and thought "you're good looking." Maybe death wouldn't be so bad, after all. I was quickly relieved of any stress because someone so good looking couldn't possibly be a bad guy. Right?

He turned out to be very nice and no harm was done. We arrived safely in Roque Barcia after his front door service and thanked him for his help. Hitchhiking might not be the safest thing around town but life’s too short to always be concerned about safety, just kidding Mom.... we will be taking the loser-cruiser (aka, the bus) from now on.

Besos,
Ally

Life's a Beach

2009-04-20T08:30:00.000-07:00

If you have the tendency to sport the little green monster on your shoulder and/or he easily appears after discovering someone else’s good fortune, I caution you now not to continue reading as your jealously will only heightened after hearing about my leisurely lifestyle with jet setting European weekend adventures sprinkled in every so often. Mind you, my weekend is a bit longer than most, as I only work 2 or 3 days a week. Tough first job. I like to ease myself into the real world. I'm thinking of taking a job next year, which requires me to work 20 hours a week. I gasped too when I saw how many hours it was. When I'm not teaching English, which is the majority of the time, I'm working on my tan under the Spanish sun. Some say I get paid to live in paradise. I call it my life. Anyway you look at it; there isn't much to complain about. That is if lack of mental stimulation isn't a problem for you. Max, this job is calling your name.

After spending many a days on some of the most beautiful beaches Mother Nature has to offer, I felt it necessary to share the beauty of my backyard with my faithful followers. Also, it's just a little fun to get back at all those annoying business majors in college who bragged about their jobs out of college with, won't name any names, but big financial firms that are now bankrupt and or firing faster than you can say crisis. So I guess my year abroad on a post-grad scholarship wasn't such a bad idea after all. How's unemployment and living at home with your parents working out for you? Because Rome, Paris and London were great! Also, there is no feeling I like more than walking barefoot along the beach and feeling the sand between your toes as the waves gently crash against your feet. I have never felt sand so soft in my life. I don't know what you're doing in Seattle still reading...see what you're missing out on!

As I've said many times, before coming to Huelva I had no idea what to expect. Rather than be rational or realistic and think of all the challenges and obstacles that would soon face me in a foreign country, I could only picture myself laying on the beach, soaking up the rays of the Costa Del Luz and enjoying a slight breeze from my Latin Lover fan boy with Margarita in hand (Virgin, of course, because such a sweet soul would never dip into the world of alcohol). Let's be more honest, my max limit for a drink is a euro so poolside margaritas are just slightly out of my schoolteacher stipend. If I had known that money stopped growing on trees when I left home I wouldn't have been nearly as anxious to move out. When I arrived to Huelva, there was no beach in sight, no tall, dark, handsome men and worse yet, people didn't even speak Spanish, they spoke Andaluz! What have I gotten myself into I thought? Such simple tasks as grocery shopping were like mini adventures as my rose tinted glasses started to slide down my nose. Let's just say that the naiveté of life abroad is long gone and I no longer have any stereotypes about life in Spain or Spanish culture. Before I just thought they were lazy now I know they're lazy. I'm no longer sporting those rose tinted sunglasses, reality has set in...work is no fun and while money might not buy happiness, poverty certainly doesn't buy it either! Despite the lack of 0's in my Spanish bank account I am truly enjoying this experience for what it is. Paradise. (can you hear me laughing from Huelva?)

While meeting guys didn't prove to be very hard, making true, genuine friendships with, can I say normal people?, proved to be a whole different story. I never could have imagined how lonely living in a foreign country can be at times while enjoying the comforts and comraderity of my friends and life back home in Seattle. I guess you never know what you have until it's gone. I have traveled extensively through the United States of America and seen more than enough Red States to be able to appreciate the beauty of Mercer Island, where I grew up. I already knew that life on Mercer Island was not normal. When the cofounder of Microsoft is your neighbor and million dollar homes line the street, they are just slight clues that maybe you grew up in a skewed version of reality that most the world never experiences. Despite my culture awareness that I thought I had, upon arrival of Huelva, I didn’t know just how much I should appreciate my fortunate upbringing. The world perspective I have gained from traveling through small Spanish pueblos to some of the biggest European cities has changed the way I look at things. Excuse the cliqueness but it's the truth. Things I use to think were life or death, I am going to save myself some embarrassment by not stating such petty issues, now seem like nothing, knowing there are more people on this earth than those that I think about on a daily basis in my little bubble. There have been so many times where I've been sitting in a plaza (so Spanish, I know) doing nothing but just enjoying the company of whomever I'm with and I think to myself "this is such a different world." No one sits in a plaza in America mainly because we don't have them, but that is beside the point because even if we did, people wouldn't "waste" the time to sit down and just enjoy some rest and relaxation time. After living in a small Spanish town I've just now realized how rushed, hurried and frantic most Americans are. I hope to bring the "Spanish stroll" as I call it back home and not be in such a rush.

At first, I didn’t like Huelva at all. No, that's not true. I hated Huelva and thought it had to win first prize for ugliest city in Spain (which it still might) although my impression has improved considerably since our arrival in the end of September. I would even go out on a limb, on a positive day, and say I have a favorable impression of my new home. Although, not so much can be said for my job, or lack there of. I am on a postgraduate scholarship as a cultural assistant in a bi-lingual high school. My only work requirements are to show up 3 days a week for a grand total of 12 hours....I work from 10-2 Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Strenuous schedule, right? While I can't complain from being a workhorse there are times I wish I had more mental stimulation in my day-to-day life. I kid you not, there have been times I have pulled out my GRE or LSAT book (because they're both just SO intriguing that I just can't seem to choose between one or the other) out at a beach side bar and started studying. Best part is, I'm not even going to grad school next year but I still study out of sheer boredom. For all the exaggeration I due this is the frightening truth about the state of my mental boredom. Despite my fortune to have Ms. Math Major Ngoc to help me brush up on my rusty math, its so basic that even she has forgot what y=mx means. Ok, only joking, although we did struggle to answer a question that ay given freshman math student could do in a matter of seconds.

This brings me to the point of this post. Sorry for the Spanish explanation beforehand. What can I say, after living here for 7 months and talking to Spaniards day in and day out I just can't get to the point before going off on every possible tangent beforehand. After having an excessive (too much if you ask me) amount of time with no responsibilities or obligations I have had plenty of time to think and reflect. I realized that I am, like most Americans, very guilty of valuing material possessions over memories. That is to say, in America, or on least Mercer Island, so much emphasis is put on what you look like, what you drive, whom you hang out, what you own, etc and so little on what really matters in your life. Your happiness. It’s all about appearances. After really emerging myself in this pueblo lifestyle where I haven't seen one person toting a ridiculously overpriced handbag or sporting jewelry that is only bought to show off wealth, and the latest designer clothes I really believe the expression is true that "Spaniards live better." Maybe my neighbors in Huelva aren't as rich in terms of money than my neighbors on Mercer Island but there is no doubt in my mind that their life is richer. For example, Spaniards spend hours rather than minutes at lunch enjoying conversation and laughs while American lawyers eat a sandwich on the go and stop for a business lunch wondering how many hours they can bill for it. In Andalucia, it's not abnormal for children to live with their parents into their 30's whereas in America teenagers count the days to their 18 birthday and "freedom." One cannote even compare the difference of value that is put upon family life between the two cultures. I'm embarassed to say I don't even know my nextdoor neighbors names. In Huelva, the neigborhood is like your neighbor. There have been times this year I have sat watching the sunset at Punta Umbria or have been up on the Pier overlooking the ocean without a care in the world and felt ridiculous for sucumbing to the materialistic mindset that is American culture. Their isn't a handbag out their that is worth the memories created on a trip. After living for a year with very little material possessions and no access to dinero to buy anything I’ve truly realized that things don't bring you happiness....it’s moments in life, that can't be bought, which really put a smile on my face. The intangible memories I have from traveling and living here are priceless.

I use to walk by plaza's and see people just sitting and I would think "what are those people doing?" What a waste of time. Plazas are always full of people in Huelva ranging from toddlers to grandparents. While I was always in a hurry to get to my next class or run an errand I never took the time to just sit down a bench and enjoy a conversation. Now that the weather is beautiful, let me repeat BEAUTIFUL, you can't help but spend all day out in the sun. I couldn't be more grateful for this year abroad and all it has taught me. Of course, I feel more independent and confident after fully supporting myself in a foreign country but I also feel like I've gained a different perspective, which will enrich my life. Because in the end, when you die, all you have to take to the grave is your memories. Don't get me wrong, despite my new appreciate for Huelva, I won't be returning, ever again, but I will look back on this year abroad with very, very fond memories.

Besos,
Ally

PS. These are some of my favorite photos from nearby beaches. It's where I spend the majority of my time. Your next thought should be....do I want to look for tickets on expedia or cheaptickets? We always love to have visitors! :)

Nothing to Complain About

2009-04-18T07:10:00.000-07:00

As I sit here in this tiny little plaza, that has now become my own park although there isn't much grass... and I think the age limit here is about 4, and everyone else here has brought a kid... maybe I should just borrow someone's kid to make it look like I'm not such a loser sitting here, using my computer (somehow there's internet). However, with the great weather lately, I had to get outside of the piso and so this is where I'm at. There isn't much going on except for children running around, I really hope I don't get pegged by any balls... either way, as I sit here on this BEAUTIFUL day, I thought I should blog about something unrelated to travels.
As we are heading into the homestretch of our Spanish stay, I'm starting to reflect on this experience, think a little of my future, and a lot about home. My life here in Huelva has become quite routine, and pretty much uneventful at times... but then is that any different than my life in Seattle? In college I spent all my time at the library or in E-504 of the Health Science Buildings... my weekends were spent watching movies with my sister or doing something at home. Here many of my weekends are spent traveling to different countries and cities. This is the life... however, obviously I'm missing my family and friends. I'm also missing all the comforts that I took for granted when I was in Seattle. But, it has given me the opportunity to live on my own, discover myself and realize that I am capable of feeding myself, even if my mom is no where in site. Although there have been difficult times, where i asked myself when is June going to come... I don't ever regret coming here. Spain is a great country... and being here has given me the opportunity to travel, surround myself in a language that I love and just be on my own. Who knows when I'll ever have this opportunity again???
Therefore, although we sometimes give Huelva a hard time and make it sound like the worst place in Spain, it's not. Now that the sun has come out, it is very pleasant. Don't get me wrong, I can't see myself turning into a Huelvian or anything like that, but there are nice things about being in this city... the muelle, the small size -- it's easier for me to get around without a car, it's sooo cheap to live here. Although there are many things that could be added to the city... I'm sure many of the people here wouldn't want it to change. They like their city the way it is sooo I guess... whatever floats your boat right???
I guess my point for this blog is to say that with only a few weeks left here in Huelva, I'm attempting to enjoy it although it might just mean going to the park and doing a whole lot of nothing, because once I return back to my real life... there won't be moments to hang out at a plaza and do nothing.... and I'll be begging for a moment like this.
Sending hugs and kisses and some of the sunshine home. Miss you guys!!!!!

Besitos,
Ngoc :)

Where's everyone going?

2009-04-17T07:28:00.000-07:00

As the last leg of our trip neared, I began to get tired of driving, and wished the car would just drive itself. From Leon to Santiago was about 4 hours, and that was 4 hours too long in the car. The drive was long a tedious and there the views were not as beautiful. There were no snowy mountains or green hills, and that made the drive seem longer than it really was.
However, as we were driver we noticed backpackers with walking sticks and they looked to be walking. When we saw the first group of walkers, I thought well it's not that bad of a day for a little hike, but then there were more of them down the road. It was a little confusing, I wasn't sure where they were going. The sign "Camino de Santiago" didn't give me any clues because I just assumed that's what the highway was called. So yeah, rather than seeing the beautiful mountains or nice ocean views that we were getting used to... our new views were of groups of travelers either on bikes or walking... to who knows where?
We arrived in Santiago, and lets say that parking was once again an issue... we drove around and around not really knowing where to go. I was forced into doing an illegal move, but that lead us to a nice parking spot. Tiago our host met us in the center and gave us a tour of the city. He is from Brazil (I guess we just have a thing for Brazilian couchsurfers) and studying tourism. He showed us the sites of the town... the beautiful cathedral, the main plaza area and another church. From the outside the cathedral is breathtaking and once again we were not able to capture it on photo. The inside was "regular" sorry to sound uncultured... but I've seen so many cathedrals and I'll tell it like it is... if it's spectacular I'll call it like I see it, but if it's "regular" it's regular, it doesn't take away from the work that was put into it... i guess I just need to stop going to see cathedrals, basilicas or churches.
The park that we walked around in was pretty interesting, it was very serene and green like a park should be unlike those found here in Huelva. It had a great view of the cathedral. However, my favorite part of the city was the plaza were 4 of the most important buildings are found, the cathedral, the government bldg, the university bldg and something else I forgot... sorry Tiago I really was listening. I was just distracted by the group of men in suits singing and playing instruments in the middle of the plaza. He told us they are alumnis and they normally gather around this time to play in the plaza. They were singing, dancing with the people it was really cool. Then we found out they are from a Portugese University and so it was very weird... they must have done the Camino de Santiago also.
Talking about that... Tiago finally enlightened us on why so many people were walking to Santiago. Once again, it showed how very little we knew of the cities in the north. It turns out that the city survives on the people that make pilgrimages to the city every year. I'll spare the history, only because I'm sure I'll get it wrong, however the amazing part is people WALK from other parts of Europe to arrive at this city... let me repeat WALK, and here I am complaining about driving from Leon. People come from all over the world to do this pilgrimage and he himself plans on doing the route from France to Santiago... that's 1 month of walking. That is just incredible. I myself can't imagine doing something like that... but I guess people had to walk before their were cars. Ally and I thought about how we like to just do things because they seem cool... and thought for a split sec maybe we could suck it up and get one of the routes done before we left for Seattle... does arriving by a motorized scooter count?????
Either way, Santiago is a very beautiful city, with lots of culture and history. Unfortunately we didn't have that much time to enjoy it, however, it was nice to be able to see it and learn something new. It was a great city to end our trip. Our last morning we drove to the airport, and it was a rollo to drop off the car, however we managed and went to take our flight back to Madrid and finally the long, LOOOOOONG bus ride back to home sweet Huelva.
All in all, this has been one of my favorite trips, because it was something we have never done before. i still don't see how we managed to not get killed, damage the car, get lost in France... it is truly a miracle. Enjoy the photos.
I promise to attempt to blog more... but don't hold it against me if I don't, my Spanish life is pretty exhausting :) Sending hugs and kisses to everyone back home.

Un abrazo fuerte!
Ngoc :)

convergence and divergence

2009-04-16T03:35:00.000-07:00

This year has been full of life lessons learned but none as important as those learned in our stop in Leon. It took two forty-year-old gay guys to tell us what I already knew all along. During a very interesting late night chat with Javier, our couch surfer host, he confirmed all my thoughts about men with his infamous quote...keep reading to find out this novel piece of advice.

Our drive from Santander to Leon was the prettiest stretch of land I've seen in Spain. We enjoyed breathtaking views while winding our way up the mountain-lined road. To our right was the beautiful Bay of Biscay and to our left were snow-capped mountains. Ngoc was embracing the Spanish culture and driving at a leisurely pace of 40 km an hour, this wasn't a problem for me, as I was enjoying taking in the magical surroundings, it only bothered every single person behind us. Lets just say a few fingers were given as Ngoc was tailgated for a continuous hour. I can't imagine why people were passing us, the speed limit was only 80 km/hour. Don't they know Andalucía’s no tienen prisa?? (Aren’t in a hurry)

It was in Leon I made my first fatal mistake in Spain, I trusted a Spaniard, and not just with anything, but also my long blonde hair, which is now a thing of the past. After polishing off a few boxes of Kleenex from the floor of tears I cried I have now accepted the fact I might be considered as a boy with my new short hair. (Ok, slight exaggeration but point is, homegirl cut way too much hair). I don't know what I was smoking (I almost wish I was on something so I would have an excuse for my stupidity) when I decided to walk into a random hairdresser and trust them to cut my hair. What part of a simple trim was not understood, clearly something was lost in translation? Apparently the woman understood, "please chop all my hair off," because that's what happened. But, no pasa nada...it will grow back, by 2015....no big deal. Ngoc wasn't as fortunate with her new style either. However, at least for her she got some new cute bangs. Lesson learned, you just can't trust a Spaniard. You think I would've learned by now but the naiveté prevails.

Apart from the disaster hair ordeal, Leon is another beautiful Spanish city. I don't know what you are still doing sitting in Seattle reading our blog because if you haven't already visited Spain, you are missing out on a country full of beauty. As always, we saw the usual Western European agenda, that is; the cathedral, palace and of course, old historical buildings with importance. However, we made it to Leon without one Mercadona stop, which is beyond impressive and we were determined to find our cheese sandwiches. After an endless search (I won't embarrass myself and say how long we spent walking) we finally found Mercadona hiding behind a gas station. After a weekend without our coke, the sandwiches tasted better than ever. What would a trip be without our 1-euro friends? If only our readers could appreciate the comedy behind this story, because we really do live off of these sandwiches. Try supporting yourself in Spain on 700 euro a month and let me know what your diet consists of. I wonder if living below the poverty line is a resume builder, something unique, no? We watched a nighttime procession in which the klu kluk clan, I mean, a secret brotherhood of Spaniards, marched in front of the church with their patron saint or virgin above them on a float. I'm not even going to attempt to explain this holiday because it's just.....not for me, lets put it that way to avoid the sacrilegious comments I'm itching to make. As Ngoc pointedly said "She wasn't even a virgin," if only she would make that comment to a Spaniard I think a mini war might start.

Now for the infamous Javier quote. After dinner we were having a nice chat with our hosts and apparently they were bored with the theme of the conversation. Chema piped up and said, "let's talk about sex," maybe he just liked Salt n Pepper. Who knows? Any who like every other person in Spain, they asked if we had boyfriends. Obviously not, I replied. I'm in Spain, who am I going to date? A Spaniard? Please! Celibacy sounds like more fun. I explained what all my readers already know, Spanish men just aren't my thing. Of course, this perked their curiosity. It's easy I said, every guy I've been on a date with this year (mind you, too many) has made no attempt to hide his desire to sleep with me right away. Whatever happened to playing hard to get? I said "every guy just wants to sleep with me," which immediately prompted them both to say, "obviously." Men. What can you do with them. Anywho, conversation continued and Ngoc asked for a male opinion about her MIA “boyfriend.” She needed the opinion of males to help with her confusion. Javier cleared up any doubts by stating, “it’s simple, the difference between men and women is, women want to converge and our content to be with just one man whereas men want to diverge and our happier with multiple women." Personally, I’m of a differing opinion. I blame male behavior, aka, repeated acts of stupidity on the y chromosome. Due to the PG-13 rating of this blog I'm unable to post some of the funnier parts of the conversation but trust me when I say it was an animated and informative conversation.

With our newly discovered knowledge we said good-bye to Leon and our hair and set off for our stop in Santiago.

Besos
Ally

Why Doesn't Huelva have one of these?

2009-04-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

After getting rested in San Sebastian we headed to our next stop Santander, however we just wanted to make one pit stop at a place called Bilbao. I don't remember much of the driving, all I know is that on the way Ally became sick... it wasn't good. One of the bad things about being together all the time is we pass back and forth the same germs. Two weeks ago I suffered from a bad sinus infection when we were headed to Las Fallas, I felt I was seriously going to die... I almost didn't make it to Valencia. However, we still needed to see Bilbao... because there was something there supposedly really famous called the Guggeheim Museum.
When I think of Guggeheim, I think of the building that is to the left as you're walking towards Drumheller fountain on the UW campus... the building where I spent an awful lot of time for organic chem with the boring professor who used colored pens... grrr the memories. As many people are aware, Ally and I are just not art people or museum people in fact... called us uncultured Americans... but we just don't get art. I guess I can see that something looks nice, but I wouldn't die if I didn't see every museum in a city. Either way we had to see the Guggeheim because supposedly it's sooooo cool... and after seeing it my theory still stands... Ally and I are just not museum people. It didn't change my life, I can't even really remember anything that was in it. The outside was okay, but it didn't make me fall in love or anything... in other words it was a little over rated... if that makes me uncultured... I guess I'll take that.
We didn't get to see any other part of Bilbao because sicky over there looked like she was about to die.. I was worried I'd have to get on the phone to call her mom and tell Marcia that I failed in the whole keeping Ally alive and safe in Spain task. So we quickly went back to the car and continued on our way to Santander. Normally Ally was forced to stay up with me so I didn't fall asleep, but because she wasn't feeling well I didn't hold it against her.
Finally we arrived in Santander, and once again, we knew nothing of this city... although our bank here has the same name... is there a correlation???? We met up with our hosts... a group of Brailizians, who were all really nice. We decided to take a little tour of the city, our hosts told us there were only three main things in Santander: the light house, the palace and the beach... unfortunately they were really far apart from each other. To make things worse, the weather was not the best. However, being the great sight seers that we are we sucked it up and went on our way. As we were walking along the beach we spotted some bikes... which turned out to be FREE to use, so we saw Santander by bike.
This was my favorite city because of the view that we had from the lighthouse... it was incredible... when I was there I felt as if I had no problems, I could sit there forever and just look over at the rocks and the water and I would be content.. it was unbelievable. By far the most serene and beautiful place I've seen in Spain. I wished that was my backyard, so I could always go up to it. Although getting up there was a pain in the neck, but once you were there, you couldn't help but smile and just sit and enjoy the view. Once again the photos can't describe the beautiful of the place, but trust me it was amazing. Of course in such places you will see many couples holding hands, kissing... you know the stuff that makes us gag. Chica and I go to all these beautiful places, and they are sooo romantic and when we turn to look at the person that's next to us... we're like "oh, it's you" as if el Duque or Enrique Iglesias would magically appear next to us... I guess a girl can dream right????
The lighthouse was amazing, we then started the descent to go over to the other side to see the palace... we made a pit stop to get some ice cream... a very necessary food item for us. After this I learned, that Chica isn't a multi-tasker... riding a bike and eating ice cream isn't her thing... we're going to have to work on that... but in that moment I thought to myself... I have no complaints about my life.. becuase how many people are traveling Spain and eating ice cream??? (Ignoring the thousands of other tourists around us).
We didn't spend that much time with our hosts because we were both really tired and they were busy with their own schedule, however they seemed very, very nice. But all in all I would recommend people to go see Santander if only to sit at the top of the hill and look at the lighthouse and for one moment be free of all life's problems... la vida es hermosa everyone!!!!

Besitos,
Ngoc :)

Pamplona...San Sebastian

2009-04-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

First off Ngoc, they don't teach you how to read a map in public school so don't hold it against me....and I resent that comment "thinking is hard for me," you know I only have problems with reading the time....get your insults right :) Plus, when you look this good who needs brains...you know you only get one or the other....guess beauty won, can't have it all....god, your gonna miss spending way too much time with me next year!

After Zaragoza we were off to the beautiful San Sebastian but not before stopping in world famous, Pamplona. Even if you don't know a lot about Spain I am sure you have heard of the event "Running with the Bulls," which takes place every July in Pamplona, Spain....but after visiting the city during Semana Santa I think that is the only thing going on in that city all year. The most eventful thing that happened was probably Ngoc's attempt at parallel parking the car in a space big enough for a couple of hummers. No exxaggeration. After a 15 point turn she managed to squeeze our tiny car into the spot. It was a tight squeeze with about six feet of space in the front and back. Despite the frusteration it caused her, I was enjoying the show, laughing on the sidewalk watching her back into the spot at a 90 degree angle. (Ngoc, this is all in good humor). We wondered through the city center for a little and quickly decided there is only one time to visit Pamplona and thats when bulls are running through the streets because not a lot was going on....off to San Sebastian, but not before a verbal lashing from a ninety year old fogie telling Ngoc off for wearing sunglasses....apparently he woke up on the wrong side of the bed...or maybe the wifey lost her mojo a few years back but anyhow he was a mean old man...I left Pamplona just like I entered....laughing out loud.

San Sebastian lived up to its reputation of beauty. Not only were there 2 beaches in the heart of the city center but it was also home to a big, beautiful cathedral. We saw our first Semana Santa procession and excuse the sacreligious comment but after seeing more processions than I ever cared to see, I'm a firm believer that once you have seen one procession you have seen them all. I actually got stuck in the middle of a church servive but after fifteen minutes of Spanish babble I decided to be "that American" and climb over the people for an exit. I loved San Sebastian for the obvious beauty of the city but I think Ngoc loved it because she found an Asian food store. Anyone who knows Ngoc knows how serious she takes her rice noodles so needless to stay that city was a huge success with her. On our first night we took a walk through the city and came across a nice park along the beach. Sitting under the stars with the beach to our right, a lighted palace infront and flower beds surrounding us we both commented on how we are currently "living the life." I never could of imagined I would spend my first year out of college working in Spain and traveling Europe every weekend, but it has turned out to be a great experience--a year of fun, adventure and spontanaety. We didn't know it at the time but our time in San Sebastian was some of our final days with our hair...if we only knew what Leon held in store for us...maybe we wouldn't have stopped there!

Besos
Ally

Oh... this is also a part of Spain??????

2009-04-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

So, let's just say that Ally and I didn't quite plan this trip out that well, and to be completely honest, we didn't know anything about the northern part of Spain. We've only heard about beautiful cities, and that it's a lot different from the south, but if asked to name a few cities I don't think we could have passed that test.
We left Barcelona very early in the morning with our car. After getting on the road, Ally and I began to see something we've never seen before in Spain... trees, but these trees had leaves and were GREEN, it was just breathtaking. Then I caught a sight of some mountain things and because we didn't have anything really planned we decided to pull over and it turned out what we had spotted was something quite famous, we knew this due to all the tour buses and people there. It was called Monserrat and a mountain range in Cataluna. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in Spain. These were just regular mountain formations, they were different. We spent a good 4 hours there, hiking and taking in the sights... I'm not going to attempt to describe what I saw because words can not do justice to what we saw... so maybe a photo... but I'm sure you can only enjoy this place if you go there yourself.
After visiting the park area, we headed off to our official first stop of the trip... a city called Zaragoza... have you heard of it???? Well it's only the 5th largest city in Spain and it's the capitol of the Aragon region and if that name sounds familiar... it's because there was some guy named Fernando of Aragon, that's just a little bit about the city. Either way, we arrived into the city... and had no clue what was in they city... attractions we should see...
After driving on the highway my confidence was up and I wasn't that scared to be driving in Spain, however, once I entered Zaragoza... I feared for my life. Let's just say driving in a Spanish city is ridiculous. First off... Zaragozans love their traffic lights, they are a little obsessed... I mean it is necesarry to have one every 5 feet... I mean if it's green, shouldn't it be green for atleast a car's length? Also what is up with Spain putting the street signs on the side of buildings???? Who's idea was that anyways? Some of us can't afford GPS okay, and so we have to rely on the poor's man GPS... a regular paper map. Of course, because I'm the luckiest person in the world... my partner in crime didn't ever have the chance to take a map reading course, so it's not one of her strong points...But Ally's lack of map reading skills aside, how the heck is a person suppose to find a street and turn when they have to take their eyes off the road to look for the road signs???? Spain it's time to move to putting the street signs in the street rather on buildings, it's for the sake of all drivers...
Either way, we managed to survive. We saw something really big and old, and we assumed that it was something of importance. One of the bad things about a car is... parking... yeah we had to find a place to park... and if you think its a pain to park at the UW, think again.... Spain it's almost impossible. But I do have to give props to the Spanish, they are parking machines... I bow down to them in that aspect. Anyways, we found a pretty nice spot in a park... the only problem... i had to parallel. I'm going to say, I'm allergic to parallel parking, after trying really hard, and having people honking at me... I gave up and let Ally take the wheel... she managed to get the car parked. Let's say Ally can't read a map and at times thinking may be a little hard for her, but she can park a car, so that's why i keep her around... (besitos guapa!!!!).
Oh about parking, this fancy car has this system for parking, with sensors and it tells you if your close to something... but it's sooooo annoying.... beep, beep, beep even when I wasn't even close to anything. I'm blaming that horrible display of parking skills on the stupid system because it was making me sooo nervous.
The city of Zaragoza is actually very pretty. The most famous thing there is el Pilar, which was a pretty cool place looked old, and inside it was pretty cool. We saw a Spanish wedding, which was also pretty cool. Their plaza was also a lot bigger than anything in Huelva, but I guess that's not a fair comparasion. Our host was Jorge, a nice and fluent in English Spaniard. He had traveled the world for a year... and let's say our traveling adventures were not on his level. He was very nice to introduce us to his friends, and in the morning we all went for a lighting speed tour of the city. We saw a little fortress thing that reminded me of the Alhambra in Granada... but of course it was definitely not on Alhambra level. We got to walk through their market, saw lots of churches, trees and beautiful flowers. Jorge filled us in on a lot of history about Zaragoza... but unfortunately I can't be asked to recite anything from memory... I was listening at the time.. just it didn't quite stick. However, it was very interesting!!!
All in all, the city was a great way to begin the trip because we actually saw some things and it showed us there are other things outside of Andalucia. We nexted headed off to our next destination San Sebastian.

Ngoc :)

Where's a Personal Driver When You Need One?

2009-04-13T10:06:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone... I know I've been MIA for the last month or so... my excuse is... I've been extremely busy with my Spanish life... you know waking up late, having movie marathons, taking 3 walks a day because there's no enough room to talk a walk in our piso. I'm sure you guys understand. However, I'd like to thank Ally for giving me the "honors" of recounting our adventures... maldita... but we all know she's just too lazy to write the blog. But, I will take one for the team, so here it goes.... the adventures of Chica and Ngoc Por el Norte!

To start off... for all those who know me, they know that I'm not a fan of driving, cars and I probably should be the last person to be driving a car. I remember my driver's ed teacher Mr. White telling me, "who the heck would give you a driver's license?" when i told him i passed my driving test... but guess what Mr. White... I have one, and the Spaniards let me rent a car and I drove it across the north of Spain, only managed to hit one garbage can, almost have a head on collision while trying to pass one time, and only did a few illegal manevuors. In my defense that was because Spanish street signs are in a foreign language... that's not my fault I can't read Spanish road signs, that was not in the curiculum at the UW.
Anyways, continuing on, let's start off with the car... let's just say it's not my Honda CRV. It was something called a Citroen Picasso... i should have known we wouldn't get along, I got yelled at in the Picasso museum in Malaga. When the lady said the color was blue.. i was like, cool one of my favorite colors... we walk out to the car and it's not blue... its GLITTERY BLUE, just to draw more attention because we don't do that well enough on our own. It was NOT a small car. Everyone knows I have a thing for bigger cars, with the CRV and everything, but they said that we would get a small car, and this thing was not what I was expecting, either way we get in and I have never been so confused in my life. Nothing was where it was supposed to be... it did not look good when I couldn't figure out how to start the car. Of course the Spanish have to make it difficult for me and make things soooooo fancy I can't comprehend... everyone knows I don't know anything about cars... I only can drive them... barely. Where was Coi when I needed him to walk me through the tough task of getting the car out of park and putting it into drive???? After trying really hard... and using my brain... i couldn't figure it out (cut the brain some slack, it's been on the DL list since I arrived in Spain) Ally called for help and the lady came out to help us. I could see in her eyes, second guessing whether we should have the car or not, but we managed to leave the lot before she could call us back.... and so we were off.
Anyone that has ever driven with me knows.... I'm not a fan of speed and I don't drive fast, and I kinda have a fear for changing lanes on the highway... don't ask me why, I just do... I'm still trying to figure out how to do it correctly... I've been working on it for 6 years, what can I say I'm a slow learner. Either way, when I'm driving in Seattle, on the freeway it's usually 70 mph... when I look at my dashboard and it says 100, I'm freaking out because that's going REALLY fast, I've never gone that fast in my life... there are people behind me tailgating me and looking kinda mad... and then it finally clicks that it's kmph...jaja... i'm not in Seattle, and they drive at 120 kmph on the freeway here... my bad, sorry all spanish drivers I may have flicked off because you were tailgating me... minor misunderstanding.
One good thing about the Spanish roads were that it was easy to understand and we didn't ever get lost... thank Buddha!!! however, I am not down with the roundabout thingies... why there are soooooo many and how they expect us to change our speed from 120 to 80 with only like 10 m between these two speed limits... that I don't understand and there were a few moments where I was not happen with the people that constructed those roads.
Lastly, I have NEVER gotten a speeding ticket in my life and I was sooo concerned about it while driving. I always see these signs that they are controling the area with radars. I spent the whole time trying to figure out where the heck the cameras where, it's usually easy to see in America, but the Spanish are sneaky with their radars... I finally learned where they are today, after my someone pointed it out. I thought maybe they were just scaring people, but yeah can you get a ticket for going to slow??? If so I hope they didn't get me.
Bueno people, this is the first entry of many recounting our trip to the north. The following ones will be more informative about the cities we've visited. Hasta pronto!

Besitos,
ngoc :)

Roadtrip....El Norte!

2009-04-11T02:18:00.000-07:00

If you thought we were crazy before, after hearing about our latest adventure your idea of us will not only be cemented but also verified. Ngoc and I have traveled extensively through the south of Spain and pretty much felt like Andalucía natives. We were ready for a change of scenery and had muchas ganas de (aka we really wanted to) see the north of Spain, or commonly referred to as that "other" country in the south. Luckily for us, Spain takes a week off for Easter and since we only work 3 days a week normally, we had a good chunk of time to travel up north. What better way to see it than to rent a car and drive from one side of the country to the other? Sounded like a great idea to us. Of course, we overlooked any problems with renting a car before buying a plane ticket to Barcelona. I would we possible take the time to think of any potential problems that might arise.... such as, how are we going to get access to a rental car? Almost all rental cars in Spain are stick and we don't know how to drive stick, despite the fact my father bought me an old beamer to learn on, I just never got around to it! As if that wasn't a big enough problem. I am sure it would've been easier for us to locate Osama than an automatic car. To make matters more difficult you have to be at least 23 years old. I look 23, right? We all know age is nothing but a number; unfortunately that expression doesn't exactly translate to the woman sitting behind the rental car counter. We decided to take our chances in the Barcelona airport, plead our case and hope they would rent us a car.... and believe it or not, someone was stupid enough to rent us a car. With falsified birthdates and other erroraneous information Ngoc and found ourselves sitting in the front of the car, staring at our rental contract, laughing at the fact that we were about to drive from Barcelona to Santiago (that’s the distance of the ENTIRE country) for those of you less than proficient in world geography. I was a little nervous, not because I doubted our driving skills, but rather those of crazy Spaniards driving. Although we paid a pretty penny for insurance, I don't know if that would’ve help as soon as the insurance company saw we were not of legal age to rent a car...and lied about our birthdates...again, only in Spain would this have worked!

Just so you don't get lost, let me start with a little road map of our travels.... the route was as follows: Barcelona, Zaragoza, National Park, Pamplona, San Sebastian, Bilbao, Santander, Leon, Santiago.... that’s over 1,500 km of driving...surprised Ngoc didn't try and kill me in a car crash after being stuck in the car with me for the that long...she won't admit it but I know she loved every minute of it.... I think I even saw some teardrops when she knew separation was coming on the last leg of our trip. Not before an eight hour bus ride home from Madrid...never again!

Barcelona was just as beautiful this time as our trip there in 2006. We walked up and down "La Rambla" and reminisced about our amazing summer in Spain. Time is flying. Only yesterday I was a sophomore studying abroad and now I'm a college graduate. Still working on that high school diploma. (That’s another story for another time, I was just that good at tennis, still working on that thing people call modesty). I loved wondering through their open-air market, which put Huelva's market to shame...along with everything else in the city. It was a feast for the eyes.... I wanted to buy everything, but then again, I have that sensation every time I walk into any store...guess it comes with the territory of being a shopaholic, blame it on my mom.... wasn’t even six hours old and she had me in out of the hospital bed and in the shopping cart, "buyer in training," sign waving above my little head. Not even joking. Couldn't decide between the name Zipora or Samantha because she was too concerned about if red or pink matched my skin tone better. Now I know why it took them 6 months to come up with a name, my wardrobe clearly had priority. Maybe that’s when my great sense of style was born. (If you're not laughing, clearly you don't know me). While walking down La Rambla it was hard to believe that I was still in Spain. I was reminded that big, cosmopolitan cities do exists in Spain, they just lie outside the borders of pueblo filled Andalucía. Barcelona is such a metropolitan city, kind of like Huelva, the streets are alive with people, shops are full of bustling shoppers and businessman can be seen rushing through downtown. Again, if you failed to see the sarcasm this is a red flag that you have been missing out and not reading our blog, because you would know I live in a city the size of a shoebox with about as much city life as Pullman, Washington. I frequently wonder, what happened to Huelva? It’s like the ugly stepsister that no one wants to claim as his or her own. I swear even the crosswalks our better in Barcelona. Barcelona was our only night we slept in a hostel, thank goodness, because I really didn't fancy sleeping in the car, we weren't about to waste our money on beds every night. Have I ever blogged about how much I love traveling on a budget? Nothing tastes better than bread and cheese for 1 euro, breakfast, lunch and dinner for under 5 euro. If we are in the splurging mood maybe we can buy bottled water for 37 cents rather than searching desperately for a water fountain. Once in a blue moon, maybe stop by a frutereira and pick up some fresh fruit, this of course, only happens when I can't reach the oranges from the trees...let me tell you...5 star hotels and fancy restaurants have nothing on the adventures of Ally and Ngoc. We didn't want to spend too much time in Barcelona since we had already seen the city so we rented our car and off we went....

Have you ever traveled on a whim? By whim, I mean, one day you decide, "Hey, I wana see the North of Spain...lets rent a car and couchsuf..." and that’s the extent of your plan? Well, that’s exactly what Ngoc and I just did. I was literally searching for couches less than 24 hours before the car was calling our name to sleep in. We had no idea how to navigate between cities, much less what there was to see or do, but we had a great time and I spent my best spring break driving along the Spanish coast, admiring the beauty of the ocean and mountains that lined our drive from one end of the country to the other.

Due to the fact that I'm incapable of telling the truth which correlates into gross exaggerations during storytelling, I'm going to give the honors to Ngoc of recounting our travels...you know how our plan came to be and after this latest trip I'm pretty sure we will get hired soon to start writing travel books...Rick Steve’s you better watch out! I have sprinkled some of my favorite photos throughout the blog.

Besos
Ally

Bigger and Better....Las Fallas

2009-03-23T04:55:00.000-07:00

First off, my apologies to my faithful followers who have complained about lack of updates..I've been so busy traveling I haven't had the time to blog....actually, I've just been too lazy but to each its own...so here it is, a little delayed, but better later than never...although, as always, words cannot come close to explaining our adventures, clearly you just need to come over and visit us....you only have a few weeks left!

Ngoc and I just returned home from our most recent adventure to Valencia and Alicante. This trip was a little different from previous travels because for the first time we decided to "couchsurf." This decision was, of course, due to the "crisis" that is our 700 euro a month paycheck. When your traveling as much we are on such a limited income you just don't have the type of money to be throwing away on 13 euro a night hostels with complimentary cockroaches as cuddle buddies. Besides the wasted money, cockroaches just don't do it for me in bed, so staying with strangers it is! We were both very hesitant and skeptical about this idea, for the obvious reasons--showing up at some random persons house you found on the internet and crashing on their couch? But it's free, so we thought "vamos!" Lets be honest here, grocery shopping that should take 20 minutes, max, takes Ngoc and I an hour as we ponder what is cheaper, a 1000 ml bottle of milk for 2,99 or buying a pack of five small cartons of 125 ml for 0,67 cents each. If only I were joking. Needless to say, the appeal of the money we could save triumphed over our safety or security. It sounded like a great idea for the poor and adventurous travelers like your truly :)

Let me explain what couchsurfing is for those unfamiliar with the popular website for travelers throughout the world. There is a website in which people list their couches online and travelers can search for people in any given city looking for a couch to crash on for a night or two while traveling aka "surfing couches." Only slightly sketchy and or potentially dangerous....now you know why I saw the appeal of this great idea. I frequently find myself in scary and/or stupid situations while abroad and think "this is gonna make for a great story, if I only make it out alive!" I justified the idea of couchsurfing by thinking, "sleeping with one stranger seems safer than a dorm full of strangers in a hostal," and plus I thought if something bad happens at least I won't have wasted any money. However, God and Buddha were on our sides and we were lucky enough to have 2 very nice places to stay for our first couchsurfing experience! Aw, the advantages of having 2 people up top helping you out. Actually, the two places were like 5 star hotles in comparsion to our lovely closet on Roque Barcia that we call home.

Valencia, the third largest city in Spain, is beautifully situation along the eastern coast on the Mediterranean Sea. Every March the population swells to over 3 million as people from around the world flock to the city to celebrate one of Spain's largest festivals, Las Fallas. In a word, it's chulisimo (super cool). During the day time everyone is out and about checking all the Fallas and setting off fireworks like its there full time job. The noise is incredible....its a testament to my eardrums that I'm not deaf after subjecting myself to that. The city is full of paper mache monuments that are inspired by political satire and are usually commentary on peoples view of the government. On the closing night of Las Fallas all of these monuments (called Fallas) are burned. From up above the city looks like it is being set to flames and the streets are packed with drunken observers. Only in Spain. I had heard about Las Fallas long before I even studied abroad in Spain (2006) and have always wanted to experience this festival after hearing all the hype. Rather than try and explain the atmosphere and sound...just watch the video of the fireworks, flames and crowd and you will have a little better idea of what you're missing out on. You cannot apprecaite what its like to be in Valencia for closing festivals of Las Fallas from pictures but take my word this festival put carnaval in Cadiz to shame. Can't wait to see what Sevilla is like during Semana Santa, Spaniards say its even bigger!

On Friday, once the city returned to normal, we walked around and did some sightseeing. Valencia is home to a world famous science center, housing an IMAX, science museum and aquarium. It always fun to see something that isn't a cathedral, although beautiful, you can only see so many churches before they all start to look the same. Moreover, after going to the Vatican in Rome no cathedral can compare. Nonetheless, Valencia had a beautiful cathedral along with several other buildings which have been standing for quite some time.

After Las Fallas ended we headed down south to Alicante. Another beautiful city in Spain. For a country smaller than Texas its packed with beauty. Alicante is also right on the Mediterranean and has a beach in the heart of the city center. We had a relaxing day of sightseeing and enjoyed a lesuirely stroll along the main road lined with palmtrees. We were pretty tired from Las Fallas and weren't up for any more sightseeing by nighttime. As we were sitting on some benches enjoying the view of the ocean we decided to go see Slumbag Millionaire. It was our first movie we have seen in a theather and I understood it perfectly which was so exciting. When I arrived I couldn't understand TV or movies but now I can watch the TV and movies in Spanish and actually laugh when I should (aka, I understand) might not sound exciting but its a milestone in my quest for fluency.

For all of you who are already planning Spring break 2010 forget about Cabo, Cancun or Maui....Valencia is where the worlds biggest party is for March!

Besos

Ally

Fit for a Princess.....

2009-03-10T04:09:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I went to Germany to visit my father who was vacationing in Regensburg, Germany. It is a beautiful medieval city situated in the southeast corner of Germany along the famous Danube River. Regensburg was fortunate enough to avoid destruction during the bombings of World War II and many of the buildings and monuments standing today are the same as they were hundreds of years ago. While I’ve seen quite a few cities in Western Europe (i.e. Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Rome, Paris, London...etc) this was my first trip to Eastern Europe. In a nutshell, it’s very different. Not for better or worse. I just couldn't help but notice all the differences between Germany in Spain from the people, food, architecture and most notably the weather...it was snowing and its 80 in Huelva! As I looked out the window from my Dads hotel room I did not see a small pueblo composed a white little houses like any given Andalusia town rather I was looking out at much larger, multi colored buildings and a skyline full of gothic inspired architecture. We went to an old German Beer house and enjoyed a traditional dinner and some great German beer. Regensburg is home to the famous cathedral, the Dom, which is known as one of the main work of Gothic architecture in the Bavaria area. We also walked across the "Stone Bridge" (which was built in an astonishingly quick 10 years) in 1135 and is still standing today, incredible. The knights of the 2nd and 3rd crusade used it to cross the Danube on their way to the Holy Land. It is believed that the dent in the bridge is the fault of the devil...gee, talk about not wanting to take responsibility for ones actions. Architects make a mistake and decide to blame it on the devil, what an excuse. We also went to what is known as the Town Hall where political meetings took place. It also houses the torture chambers where torture procedures took place to force confessions from citizens. It was hard not to get the chills just hearing the stories and descriptions of torture procedures. Apparently the idea that confessions obtained through torture are not valid had not been realized. All in all, it was a beautiful city and fun to walk around and admire all the gothic inspired buildings.

Germany is so rich in history, although mostly tragic; there is no shortage of sights to see or history to hear. We took a train over to Munich for some day trips. Being so close to Austria we decided we should go over to Salzburg, Austria. You may have heard of Salzburg before, as it is famous for being both the birthplace of Mozart and also home to the filming of "The Sound of Music." Needless to say, it is another charming city. It the fourth largest city in Austria and known for its world famous baroque architecture, as it is one of the best-preserved city centre’s north of the Alps. With its picture perfect Alpine setting its no wonder why Salzburg is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Salzburg is a tourists dream city given all the much beauty to be seen. My favorite thing we saw the King Arch Bishops’ Residence...its hard to believe someone could call that place "home." Not only was the place enormous with impeccable decorations but also the extreme detail throughout, be it engraving or paintings were incredible. Why can't I meet a Spaniard with a place like that? Oh yeah, that’s right, they all live with their parents until 35.

We spent some time walking around Munich and enjoying all the great sights. Whenever I am in a big city, regardless of the country, I always come to appreciate the size of Huelva more. I never feel lost or like a number in Huelva. Rather I feel like the only tall blonde American that stands out and everyone stares at wondering why I would possibly be in Huelva of all cities in Spain. If only I was joking. Seriously though, as much as a big city can offer, living in a small city gives one the opportunity to really get a feel for the culture and lifestyle. In Huelva you cant live in a "mini America," you are forced to speak Spanish, eat Spanish food, watch Spanish TV and pass the time with Spaniards. That being said, nine months in Huelva is plenty! We went to the cathedral in Munich and saw where the devil stamped his foot. Man, Germany kept the devil busy! In America it’s usually the dog, "dog ate my homework" excuse but not in Germany.

We also took a dat trip to the world famous Neuschwanstein Castles in southern Germany. Of all the famous sites I have seen (Eifel Tower, The Vatican, La Sagrada Familiar, etc) the castles hands down were my favorite thing I have seen in Europe. Before so many of my trips I had great expectations and was so excited to go to Paris, for example. However, after finally seeing the city, I wasn't nearly as impressed as I thought. Of course, everything I have seen has been beautiful

but a lot of times it’s not as great as you think it will be. Its like anything in life, when you build it up in your head, you often end up disappointed. However, with the castles, I had no expectations and quite frankly wasn't super excited to go. After walking up a steep hill for forty-five minutes and looking up at these real life castles I found myself in awe for the first time. I had a moment were I was lost in the beauty of this picturesque setting. Jealously immediately came over me as I imagined living here. It had everything a princess could want, winding staircases, beautiful balconies and a drawbridge to keep the unwanted away. There are really no words to describe the beauty of the setting. The castles sit

around 2,000 meters above sea level and are situated in the foothills of the Mountains. It looks over a small town below and has a rich blue-green colored lake perfect for a summer swim nearby. The inside of the house was equally as amazing as the outside. You can't imagine the intricate details that composed these "homes." King Ludwig, the builder, of the Castles is just the type of guy who I would call "husband material," if only he wasn't gay. If you're ever in Germany this site is a must see!

All in all this trip ranked above my top trips I have taken in Europe. I don’t know if it was because after six months in Spain I was a little ¨cathedral out¨" or because it was the first time in six months I have traveled and not been on a budget a homeless person would consider stingy or maybe it was just enjoying the company of my father, but regardless it was a great trip.

I cannot believe we are in mid March! My year of teaching English is starting to come to an end but not before we squeeze in several more trips. Our calendar for the remaining weeks is full of scheduled trips to Valencia, Barcelona, San Sebastian, Santander, Toledo, Salamanca, Merida, Albufiera, and who knows what else! The weather is absolutely beautiful and when I’m not traveling I will be enjoying la Costa de Luz where sangria flows freely and sun shines for 12 hours a day!

Besos
Ally

With the sun comes ganas...

2009-03-08T08:27:00.000-07:00

Hello strangers... it has been forever since I've written... Ally has been dominating me on the whole writing thing... but I'm back. I guess I haven't written because nothing has really happened or nothing that I had enough "ganas" to write about. However, since the sun has finally appeared in Huelva, I thought I'd take the opportunity to fill everyone in on the happenings of my Spanish life lately.

I just got back from Seattle... it never occurred to me how far away Seattle is from Spain. I KNOW it's on the other side of the United States, but you can't really grasp how far away that is until you've made the trip. I began my trip in Huelva and a 7 hour bus ride to Madrid. From there I hung out with Julio for a bit and then took the flight to Philly which was about 8 hours and then i had to wait 4 hours in the Philly airport and then another 5 hours to get from Philly to Seattle. For those who don't feel like adding up those numbers that is 24 hours of traveling!!!!! That's a day of my life... I arrived in Sea-Tac a little earlier than expected... however without any American money or cell phone I couldn't call my parents. I attempted to use my bank of america card to make a call... but guess what those payphones in Sea -Tac don't take VISA.... who would have guessed that? Either way, after 20 minutes of wondering, trying to figure out how i could get 50 cents to make a call I got up the nerve to ask the this guy to use his cell phone... luckily he was nice and it all worked out. Walking out of Sea-Tac was a shock... it was cold!!!! I know I haven't been gone for that long... but come on i couldn't have gotten a little bit of nice weather. There was also a little bit of snow on the ground and yeah... i'm going to say it's not like being in the 20C in Madrid.

Arriving home it seemed surreal... although I've only been gone about 6 months... it just felt so different... when i'm in Huelva, I can't really remember what my life was like in Seattle. Walking into my house nothing had really changed... Ngu happened to be home the same weekend, and it was the first time we had seen each other in a long time... so it was nice to chat it up with my sisters again. My room was how I left it... although I thought I cleaned it better... but obviously not. It was just so weird to be in my room, with all my photos and my books... it was nice, but at the same time it didn't feel like it was mine... although the walls of photos definitely had my name written all over it.

Over the weekend, I hung out with my family, Nhan came home from Western and it was a Nguyen family reunion. I didn't really realize how much I missed my family until we were all there, laughing, joking, and being loud (our specialty). It felt nice to be myself again... here I feel so grown up living my life, making my own decisions, at home I'm just another kid... I don't need to cook, clean or do anything... life is GREAT! We went to play lazer tag with Ni (my cousin) and our new friend, Dung. He's a foreign exchange student from Japan, but get this he's Vietnamese!!!! He's the son of my mom's friend, but yeah, he's cool. We definitely introduced him to our family and how it functions... if you don't grab what you want to eat, it's going to be gone. If you don't make your intentions known, no one will wait for you!!! Apparently there is no lazer tag in Japan, and he loved it. But I have to say lazer tag is the favorite hobby in the Nguyen household. I will never get tired of the game... chasing people in the dark shooting lazers at them. It seemed that everyone and their mom was at Family Fun Center, and so we had to play with other people... when i say other people I mean little 8-9 years-old kids... and there were tons of them. However, as a Nguyen we don't take the age in consideration when playing lazer tag... we show no mercy for anyone. So imagine us... Ni (17), Bi (16), Ti (19), Dung and me (22) and Ngu (25) running around, chasing the little kids, it's very funny. I think it came to the point where we scared a few of them... but no one cried so i guess we didn't bring our A-game that night! :)

Apart from spending quality time with my family I got to do things that I couldn't do here... like eat food that i really, really like.. for example Thai food... going to Thai Tom's was amazing... and i should have eaten more because i will definitely not be having any good Thai food anytime soon. On the subject of food... I'm going to say that I all the weight that I lost in my time in Spain was quickly gained back from all the food I ate at home... It's a little sad, someone should have said, "Ngoc, step away from the food". It was sooo hard to say no, although my stomach was about to explode... I kept thinking, I could be like a bear and eat tons of food and then when I'm in Spain go into hibernation mode... yeah that doesn't quite work... but in the end, when I think back on my one week trip to Seattle... i was in a complete stage of food coma.

Besides food I got to indulge in my other favorite past time... shopping... I have missed Nordstorms so much... they need to bring it to Spain. As always I had no self control, but I felt that I had been doing a good job since being in Spain, so I deserved to treat myself. Besides, what was I going to do when the whole world was busy with work, or school... and I had absolutely NOTHING to do...????

Driving my car was also a nice thing, it felt so liberating, to be able to go where ever i wanted without having to look up the Damas schedule or walking miles and miles. I don't mind walking in huelva, but imagine walking in Seattle... yeah you can't! I didn't realized how much I missed the Honda CRV until I got in there... I thought I wouldn't be able to drive... but i was fine, no one was harmed while I was on the road... unfortunately I still suck at parking, but i guess that will never change.

All in all my trip was a great, however, without anytime to do during most of the day, and being unable to hang out with my friends during the day because they worked was kinda boring. After a week i was ready to get back to Spain and go to my current "home". It was weird when I said I'm going "home" and I was referring to Huelva.

It was nice to see my family, and my friends. It was nice to be back in my city, but I feel that for right now my life is here in Spain. I only have 3 more months before I'm back in the states and I'm just trying to make the most of it... improving my Spanish, enjoying this opportunity (who knows when I'll be back to Spain) and enjoying my freedom from real responsibilities and life. With the sun finally out... I'm looking forward to going to the beach... getting tanner than Ally (sorry Chica, I just had to put that in there), seeing more of Spain and finishing off this experience with fond memories.

I promise to write more, but if not there's always Ally's amazing blogs to entertain the masses. As always, I'm sending hugs and kisses to everyone at home... I miss you guys, although I just saw you. I always wished you were here enjoying this experience with me... and hope all is well.

Besitos,
Ngoc :)

Life....

2009-02-24T14:11:00.000-08:00

So I only ever update this blog after travels or big events (i.e. fiestas and holidays) but there are so many more stories and tales to blog about that take place in this amazingly beautiful city known as Huelva. Excuse the boringness of this blog, as it is just an accumulation of random thoughts and observations I felt like sharing. If you find yourself bored while reading due to the lack of normal humor and/or sarcasm present and of course my entertaining exaggerations in my blogs there is a x in the upper right hand corner, feel free to click on it at any time, I won’t be offended...mostly because I will never know.

I'll start with my change of heart for Huelva. In all honesty I couldn't have been more disappointed with my placement when I first received my acceptance letter to this program. I knew I would be teaching in Andalucía and was very excited about the prospect of living in Granada, Seville, Malaga, Cadiz...etc (pretty much ANY city in Andalucía BUT Huelva). After dreaming about living in Granada for a year and receiving Huelva it was like dreaming of getting a Mercedes Benz decked out with flat screen TVs, voice activated texting devices, a cappuccino maker and personal driver for your 16 birthday but instead receiving a 1992 used Toyota Camry with broken windows, one functional door and tape to keep the headlight in place. My worst fears were realized when I arrived to Huelva in September. Unfortunately, my negative preconceived notions of my new home were true. If had to use three adjectives to describe Huelva I would say small, ugly and poor. Nine out of Ten Huelva’s will be the first person to tell you "Huelva es fea, verdad" (Huelva's ugly, isn’t it?) So I am not offending anyone with my statements, simply speaking the truth. Haven't you ever heard the expression, "the truth hurts." However, despite the lack of beauty in Huelva I have come to appreciate the advantages of a small city and happily call it my "home¨now, for these nine months at least.

My first couple months here were not as carefree and fun as I had hoped. Quite frankly, they were a huge disappointment. I was welcomed by rude Spaniards, even crazier men, the coldest winter in 50 years and the near impossible to understand Andalucía accent. However, my attitude has done a 360 and now the thought of coming home in just 12 short weeks is a little sad. Ironic how life works. Just when you feel settled, find you niche, friends and a set schedule, its time to leave. Well I still have three months left but time is starting to fly. Now that the sun is shining (yes, Seattlelites the sun does shine in other parts of the world) and doesn't set until 8, the atmosphere of Huelva has greatly changed. The streets are coming alive, buzzing with people and Huelva is starting to feel like the Spain I know and love from Granada. I am a regular at Punta Umbria (beautiful beach nearby) and determined to come home with a tan and stop the "eres blancita" (you're so white) comments. Who says that anyway? I frequently walk past people and think "how ugly!" but I certainly don't express these thoughts out loud and to the persons face. Oh the bluntness of Spaniards...if you can't beat them...join them. And believe me, I do. Now when people stare I stare back and say "boo" right as the walk past...my favorite is when people jump. Didn't their mom teach them not to stare?

People from southern Spain always claim to be so friendly and open but they must be confused as to what friendly and open really means, because welcoming they are not. Despite being as outgoing as possible I am still yet to meet a Spaniard which I would call a really good friend. Sure I have a ton of people who I hang out with, go for tapas or a drink, but they aren’t like friends from back home. I know many other auxiliaries in Huelva can relate to this....our experience here is NOT like a typical American studying abroad. There are NO I mean NO, yes that’s right, 0 Americans in this city besides the English teachers. Not to say the other auxiliaries aren't nice, but I didn't come to Spain to hangout with Americans. There are 350 million of them in the US so I am trying my hardest to meet locals and form friendships with Spaniards. This is proving to be a little harder than expected as there aren't many students because the University here is very small and many of the students don't even live in Huelva capital. Sure there is a bunch (maybe a hundred or so) or Erasmus students (EU study abroad students) here but peoples who main goal is getting drunk and laid seven nights out of the week aren't exactly the type of people I want to call friends. I guess I took the idea of friendship for granted and anticipated the act of making real genuine friendships much easier than it has proven to be. Any type of close relationship takes time, compromise and sacrifice and I've come to appreciate the friends I have back home. Their is a world of a difference between having ten friends who call you to go out for drinks versus having one good friend you can call at 4 am with a problem and know will always be there for you. None the less, I am definitely not lacking in people wanting to take me out in Huelva, so I guess it could be a lot worse ;)

I know one reason I am really starting to enjoy my lifestyle here is because I have completely changed my mentality. I arrived in Spain with the standard American mindset of the rushed, productive driven, city girl, where rest time is wasted time. While Americans value money and profits, Spanish value leisure and relaxation. What a concept. Can you imagine Wall Street shutting down from 2-6 for lunch and siesta? Please! You can stop laughing now. While the first month or so I found myself mind numbingly bored with my little work responsibilities I am now searching for beach time or a day where I can squeeze a siesta in. I guess that’s what happens to your social calendar when you actually have phone numbers in your cell, something I lacked when I first arrived. Whether its classes particulars, preparing for work, playing tennis, aerobics class, going to the gym, or just running errands, I am far from bored now, quite the contrary!

For the longest time I never understood when Spanish people would tell me they busy....busy with what I thought?? You don't work, you're not in school and you live at home--what could you possibly be busy with? After living here for five months and truly immersing myself into the culture I finally realized what "busy meant....translation--I'm meeting people for coffee--its just they do this with four different people in any given afternoon...you can't walk down a block and not pass at least three cafes. And to think I thought I lived in the coffee capital of the world-Starbuck faithfuls' have nothing on Spaniards. Cafe con leche y Espana are synonomous.

After not touching a tennis racket for 3 months (I cannot believe I am about to say this but...) I kinda started to miss tennis, just a little. Huelva is home to the oldest tennis club in all of Spain. The club has hosted tournaments in which Nadal and Moya have both won. It is your typical country club, complete with a nice lounge, restaurant and patio to enjoy drinks while watching players play. The setting is very nice with four sunken red clay courts in a stadium set-up. Clearly I couldn’t afford the members dues nor starting fee but several members kept inviting me to play and soon enough the President allowed me to be a member for only 30 euro a month! Oh the advantages of being a pretty blonde :) If you disagree with this statement please take your time to delete this address from your toolbar and don’t feel the need to return to read any further blogs, I prefer readers with good taste (I am joking, of course!) Joining the club has been great! Not only am I meeting lots of people but for the first time in my life I am playing tennis just to play, for fun. Rather than trudge down the steps of the athletic department dreding the next four hours of my life at tennis practice, now I have a bounce in my step when I walk to the club and look forward to playing. Tennis is so much more fun and enjoyable when it’s for pleasure. Moreover, I love walking into the club and being greeted by smiling faces and men eager to play with me. Not to mention, the tennis club has been the first place I have met people I wouldn't be embarrassed to talk to in the states. In this I mean the members of the clubs are composed of educated, cultured and professional working people. A far cry from the rest of the population of Huelva I have met in discotecas. Also, everyone I have met in the club has been so friendly, another stark contrast from my previous encounters with the locals.

I have less than three months left in Huelva and plan on enjoying my time abroad as much as possible! For all my Seattle readers the weather is beautiful and our doors are always open for you! :)

Besos,
Ally

CARNAVAL

2009-02-24T10:50:00.000-08:00

First let me start this post by saying no words can justify or explain the experience I am about to write about. Even with gifted story telling abilities, exaggerations and flat out lies, there are simply no words capable of bringing the feeling of of celebrating Carnaval in Cadiz, Spain to life for my readers. That being said, I will do my best to recount and do some justice to the craziness that is Carnaval. Bare with me as the night is a little hard to remember as memories are easily blurred after a bottle of tequilla...thank goodness for photos and videos, I am only joking, of course ;) How could someone with a face as angelic as this would ever partake anything but good deeds such as: studying, helping the elderly, and volunteering. I mean, I don't even know how to party.

I don't know what was better, Carnaval itself or being able to say that this night was technically "work." The night started out in Sevilla. Ngoc and I are now working for a travel agency of sorts, "We Love Spain," which offers vacations within Spain and to Morocco for foreigners. Above is a photo with the owner and our boss, David, best boss ever! We are the sales representatives for Huelva and promote vacations to the erasmus, American, and Spanish student population here. The company had several party buses from Seville to Cadiz and I was one of the "coordinators," for the buses. In other words I facilitated partying, dispersed shots and what have you--use your imagination, if you're an older reader, you were young once and I'm sure you remember what its like to have a good time. The party bus was a lot of fun and we arrived in Cadiz around midnight. Cadiz, which lies on the Mediterranean Sea, plays home to the third largest carnaval in the world. If you didn't already know, no one knows how to party like a Spaniard, especially the Andaluz's...where else do they call it a night at 9 AM? Of all fiestas and holidays in Spain, Carnaval in Cadiz has to be one of, if not the biggest, party of the year. I don't even know how to explain it. Millions of people drinking on the street? In short, it's a good time. Then again, what isn't a good time when in that state of mind. I am of course just imagining how everyone was feeling.

After arriving in Cadiz we spent the next five hours wandering the streets, admiring the amazing and creative costumes and meeting just about everyone and their uncle, plus aunt, grandparents, newphews, second cousins, sisters friends boyfriends 2nd brother....please remember I'm living in Spain where people live with their extended family until age 35 so if you didn't laugh at the above joke you can now take the time to realize the humor :) Every two feet we encountered a group of men just bubbling with happiness and eager to chat. Only in Spain do random people ask to take a photo with you and then decide to give you besos...if only Ngoc and I could charge men for this, we wouldn't need to teach English for money!

You can't imagine the sheer amount of people that filled the streets of Cadiz. If you were to look down, you couldn't even see the street, just millions of feet. It wasn't even like you were walking, more like hovering above the ground, being pushed and shoved by the masses of people trying to make their way through the narrow alleys to the nearest plaza. Fortunately we found a bench to sit down for a bit because the main plazas were just too much. It has to one the greatest displays of drunken debauchery. At times it was just uncomfortable and almost scary. With so many people mob mentality can break out at any given second. We heard far too many ambulances and saw a man crack his head open--the oozing blood from his head was an alert that caution needed to be taken!

I knew that people got dressed up for Carnaval but I had no idea to what extent the Spanish meant when they said people wore costumes. They do not joke or play when it comes to Carnaval. In American girls are just sl*ts for Halloween and wear as little clothing as possible, well this is standard going out attire for any night in America, oh the class so many woman lack, but here people wore truly creative and thoughtful costumes. You couldn't help but laugh sometimes or just admire the work that went into many of the hand made costumes. I had so many favorites....but especially enjoyed those which gave no thought to political correctness, an idea that rarely crosses the mind of many Spaniards...although funny at times also very sad. I am always amazed at the lack of cultural awareness I have encountered over here....for example "what language do Americans speak," "where is America?" I won't even begin to discuss more serious issues such as ignorance and naivete to issues relating to racial equality in such a light hearted post...but lets just say their were some humurous costumes.

After seeing all these creative costumes I almost slightly embarassed to admit that Ngoc and I weak sauced it up on the costumes aka we were a) too lazy and b) too cheap to come up with a great idea...she went as a Hawaiian and I was a plus size version of Anna Kournikova (I'm sorry Anna, I know I do you NO justice....I really only had the braid part down). I did run into quite a few tennis players and some very good Nadals and I have to say their costumes put me to shame : (Nonetheless, everyone was far too drunk to take notice of our pathetic costumes. I know now for next year!

After five long hours of partying with the worlds best partyers we headed back home. We didn't arrive in Huelva until noon the next day and sleep was in order. For a country famous for siestas I never feel like I get a lot of sleep. Don't ask me what I do, because I only work 12 hours a week, but I'm not wasting my limited time in Spain on sleep. Ngoc is off to the United States and I am off to visit my father in Munich Germany. I will do my best to update more often but the weather is now in the 70s and beautiful beaches are only minutes away so why don't you come over for a visit instead?! Vamos! If you need a little encouragment or help, this is what I call my "backyard."

You are always welcome at Roque Barcia!

Besos
Ally

I knew I forgot something....

2009-02-05T08:24:00.000-08:00

Back in September, when I arrived in Spain, with everything I own and the kitchen sink, I was complaining about lugging over one hundred pounds of luggage through Madrid. Not only did I bring enough tank tops for the entire city but also enough for surrounding pueblos. In addition to an absurd amount of clothes I also felt the need to bring enough cosmetics, accessories, lotions, jewelry, you name it--I packed it, for years on end. However, despite over packing by say, fifty pounds, I did manage to forget to pack one very crucial item...my helmet.

This past weekend we went to Trigueros, a nearby pueblo, for a local festival honoring a Saint. Get this, they celebrate by throwing bread and ham from windows, no joke. I wanted to go just to see this event because I couldn't believe that people would really throw food from their windows in order to honor a Saint. We arrived in Trigueros around noon and it didn't look like any type of festival was going on. Rather, it appeared like your typical Sunday afternoon in Spain...people dressed to the nines, standing around in a plaza and going to cafes for a coffee. Life doesn't get any more exciting than an afternoon in a Spanish pueblo. However, locals assured us that the festival would take place on the main road shortly. We started to see people gathering around one house and figured it was about to start. I couldn't understand why grown men were on platforms nor why they had five or six friends around them with large bags. Ngoc and I made our way down the street and quickly found ourselves surounded by thousands of people. This tiny cobblestone street had room for all of about 3 people width wise but the people were determined to pack it full in order to catch some bread. After some fireworks the festival began....that is....Trigueros was raining bread. I would have preferred some better looking men but beggars can't be choosers. People were jumping up and down, elbows were flailing around in the air just waiting to cause some black eyes and caution and reason were thrown out the window. I could only laugh at the fact that people were going nuts to catch some bread when mind you, bread costs all of 18 cents at the grocery store and there is NO shortage of bread here. You can't walk down any given street and not find a few bread shops. You would've thought that people had never seen nor eaten bread in their life. This is not to say that Ngoc and I didn't join in the tradition and go nuts to catch as many loaves as we could. We were very disappointed after all the bread had been thrown out and we were still empty haded. However, our spirits quickly brightened when we learned there were ten more houses which would be participating.

I was enjoying the festival very much until the injury occurred. From the very beginning I thought this was dangerous due to the sheer number of people in such a small place and the potential of being hit by the flying objects. Moreover, the people are up high, chucking bread down and by the time it reaches you the bread has gained momentum and is traveling pretty fast. Haven't they ever heard of the word, "loft," a simple toss would've have been apprecaited. While jumping up to grab a loaf of bread I got nailed in the right cheek, right underneath my eye. I immediately felt a sharp pain on my right cheek and could feel blood start to trickle down my cheek. Now, I have to say this is a first for me, being hit in the face by a loaf a bread, much less, having it break the skin. I turned to Ngoc with teary eyes and quivering lips but all she said was "suck it up" in a tone that would have made the toughest drill sergeant proud. I decided to turn to someone else, hoping for sympathy, and justifying some tears, because my cheek really hurt. A man next to me took pity and started handing us everything he was catching...although nice, it didn't make my poor cheek feel any better. Ngoc was also hit in the head by bread and sustained a substantial sized raspberry. I guess it was for the best though, we wouldn't have wanted to go and not been able to truly experience the real feel of the Trigueros festival.

I proudly wore my battle wound to work the following Tuesday to which all the other teachers asked how I managed to have cuts under my eye. I proudly told the story of Trigueros, with embellishments, like always, and assured them I was not in an abusive relationship....although they should have known because who am I going to be in a relation with....I'm in Spain afterall.

Besos

Ally :)

Not quite the NBA.....futbol anyone??

2009-02-03T09:00:00.000-08:00

I have always failed to understand the Souths obsession with Nascar racing, middle America's football fanatics or East coast crazed hockey fans....that is until I moved to Spain and experienced die hard futbol fans. Coming from Seattle, a fairly large city with plenty to do, I never understood how some people could be so involved and/interested in the outcome of a game in which they had no connection. It has always bothered me when people say "we won or we lost." No. You didn't win or lose, in fact, you did nothing, you didn't spend countless hours training for the game, attend six am practices, sweat out blood and tears or endure long days with a coach who made the devil seem nice. The team you support might have won or lost but "we" implies you had something to do with the outcome and simply put, you had nothing to do with the result of the game. Now that I´m living in Huelva, population 10, with all of nothing to do, I understand how people develop an attachment for their sports team. When there is nothing going on that means that anything going on is something going on. I´m at the point where going to exhibits on the digestive system of an Earthworm seem interesting. For crying out loud I have already read over 15 books...more than I read in 4 years of college.

Luckily for us Huelva does have a basketball and soccer team which we can support and go to their games. We met the basketball team out one night only due to the fact that you can´t miss them. Given the average height of Spanish men is 5'5'', 5'6'' if there hair is jelled, anyone above 6 foot much less 6´7´´ stands out in a bar...kinda like a blonde american in huelva. We were excited to be able to watch some sports so we are now regulars at their games on Friday nights. In fact, Ngoc is their number one fan and most definitely the loudest. She has already established herself in the crowd and amongst the other regulars...while she might not tower over other fans while standing and screaming at the ref...her voice most definitley carries throughout the stadium. Thank goodness the refs don't understad English because we would most defnitely not be allowed back after Ngoc gives the ref a piece of her mind. The only person crazier than Ngoc at the game is the coach. I've experience some intense coaches in my day but no one like this guy. He isn't afraid to scream, get in your face, or throw temper tantrums. However, my all time favorite move is his the leath release of the clipboard in the direction of the bench for some innocent sub sitting aimlessy to take in the head.Only slightly dangerous.

The last couple of futbol games we have gone to we sat in the front row and heckled the other teams subs during their warms up. Well, let me rephrase that, Ngoc heckled the subs, and I admired the hotties running up and down the sideline yelling our address so they could stop by after the game.....must not have spoken English, or maybe my directions weren't clear, what a shame because they are some of the best looking people in Huelva. The highlight of the game is admiring the futbol players themselves, obviously. I do miss American football and Husky football games. While the futbol stadium here doesn't have the capacity to hold nearly as many people as Husky stadium....their is no comparsion in terms of level of craziness/dedication among fans. People live for futbol here. You cannot walk past a bar on the weekend and not see a room full of men yelling at TV (because the players can really hear you). At the games to say people "go nuts" is an understatement, you have to go to a game to appreciate the atmosphere, it's something else. I'm looking forward to many more Sunday afternoons admiring Huelva's finest selection of men, I mean, cheering on Recre!

Besos
Ally

Which is your team?

2009-02-01T10:20:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows that outside of the US, football means something totally different. There's no pads, no really big guys slamming each other, and definitely no "un necessary roughness" calls. I miss football, (here it's known as futbol americano). However Ally and I might have found something to fill the void on Sundays... our new team.. Recre. Thanks to our friend, Fernando, we have been able to go and see a few games. Like many people know, I'm a volleyball player, and futbol isn't really my thing... However, to my credit I did play one season of futbol in the 8th grade... that was about 10 quality games playing defense and running the least amount as possible. I have also watched my fair share of world cups, and attended a few high school futbol games. Either way, I don't like soccer as much... BUT I do like futbol players, and I think that's enough motivation to go to the games. Of course there's Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal, David Beckham (who doesn't find him attractive?). Then of course to show my support of my current country of residence, Fernando Torres and David Villa.
When you're in Spain, the question is never "what's your sign?", my students always ask me "which is your team?" At first the only teams that came to mind were Real Madrid or Barcelona, because they are pretty famous, but when a little kid dressed in a green and white sweat suit asks you this question... he's expecting you to say "Betis". Either way, my time here in Spain has taught me a lot about soccer... it's not a sport it's more of a religion. They live, eat, sleep and breath soccer.
Today, Ally and I went to see Recre play Betis. For those who aren't up on the latest rivals in Spanish soccer, it's a big deal, because Betis is from Sevilla, and Huelva doesn't really like Sevilla. I don't really remember the reason for the animosity between the two cities, but all I gotta say is increase the peace. But either way, the stadium was packed. It felt like all the men in Huelva showed up to the game and I guess that's better for us. In the stadium is the only time I don't feel like an outsider, usually as a sports fan people find me loud and some even say scary. I often get lots of crazy looks and many people are surprised that my voice is as loud as it is coming from my 5'0'' body. Amongst the crazy Spanish people, I come across as tame. These people chant, do the "wave", jump up and down the whole game, wave their little scarves around. They say more bad words than I do, and there are little tiny kids around. The kids are also saying these words, but I guess if you can't beat them join them...??? I've picked up a few expressions that I would never ever say in front of my mother (luckily she doesn't speak Spanish).
The game was a great game. The atmosphere was intense, everyone had on their colors. The Betis crowd was small but loud. Their green and white was noticeable amongst the sea of blue and white. There were many opportunities and in the end Recre came out on top 1-0 with an amazing goal by someone, I don't remember who... and it was a header... (I always wanted to score a goal like that, but i couldn't risk messing up this beautiful face, so we'll just leave that type of stuff to the professionals. :) When the goal was scored, the stadium went bananas... I went bananas, jumping, yelling, hi-5ing everyone around us... I think I might have scared a few people, but that's all in a days work. It was a great game and it made it even better because our friend Fernando from Granada is a Betis fan and all we have to say to him is "TOMA!!!!"
The soccer games are a way for us to get involved and something to do on our lazy Sundays. But I guess spending 3 hours or so looking at nicely built men, running around after a ball isn't a bad way to pass the time. Heck, I think we have space for a few of them in our piso. So for future reference, if anyone wants to know what my team is... the answer is the one with all the good looking men.
Hope everyone is healthy, happy and not missing us too much.

Besitos,
Ngoc :)

What type of person are you???

2009-01-29T23:24:00.000-08:00

I have learned more life lessons in the past four months in Spain than during my four years at college. Now this might be do the fact that my attendance record wasn't what one might call stellar or more honestly I missed more classes than I attended, but none the less my serve paid for my college so no loss there :) Living and working abroad has taught me more about myself and the real world than any textbook could ever come close to explaining. Not that I really ever read many of my textbooks, sometimes forgot to even open them up, but that's besides the point. However, I'm more than making up for lost time in regards to reading. Due to the fact that Spanish television is mierda and everything is closed from 2-6 for Siesta I've become quite the advid reader, yes, I do know how to read Ngoc :) Traveling is one of the best teachers in my opinion. It provides one the opportunity to see and experience things, people, cultures, customs, traditions, etc. that are truly eye-opening and at times mind boggling. I often find myself in situations that are uncomfortable and/or challenging and have to face my own. Every time I hear people tell me how jealous they are of my year in Spain, I wish they could experience a day in a foreign country with no friends or family and be forced to deal with the trials and tribulations of life in a different language. While traveling through Europe is fun its not always paradise in the world of sun and sangria. I'm constantly reminded I'm not in the United States when I'm forced to deal with inefficient Spanish beaucracy or walk past eighty-five year old men breaking their neck (literally) to get a longer stare. Among the plethora of things I've learned, most importantly I've come to the sad realization that 1) money doesn't grow on trees 2) work is no fun and at times hard 3) Spanish men are not tall, dark and handsome. Women, please do not continue to believe nor perpetuate this lie about Spanish men. It is nothing but a terribly exaggerated, unrepresentative falsehood. Whoever is responsible for inventing this sterotype should be punished and reprimanded because people have believed in this myth for far too long 4) when unsure of a question "si" is not always the best choice. For example, when a man asks if you want a "rollo," he is asking if you want to engage in casual no strings attaches sex, NOT a chocolate covered caramel candy! Who knew?

There is no substitute for experience. In order to truly learn about another culture one must immerse him/herself in the culture and experience the traditions, norms and lifestyle firsthand. However, after learning about the cultural norms and traditions related to dating and sex in Spain, American men can sleep soundly back home knowing I will be coming home free of any Spanish boyfriends or STDs. I’m sure many male readers just breathed a great sigh of relief, no need to continue worrying! My first couple months here I went on quite a few dates--only because I saw it as a great opportunity to 1) practice my Spanish 2) interact with the locals while learning about the city and its surroundings 3) lets be more honest, its a free meal at a nicer restaurant than I would normally go to. However, after I quickly noticed the pattern of all my dates I had to put an end to Spanish dating. What can I say; Spanish men are just not my things. Not only were all the men only interested in one thing but also none of them even cared to be the least bit discrete about their intentions. And no, there intentions were NOT to help me improve my Spanish. I recently went on a date, only because the guy was the exception to the rule tall, dark and handsome, that is.... he couldn't have been from Spain! You may be familiar with this gentlemen (if you are a faithful reader) he works at the Office of Foreigners and asked for my number when I was applying for my identification card (no shame...what government employee picks girls up at work? Only in Spain). Anywho, this date proved to be the catalyst for my investigation about the Spanish mentality towards dating and sex. The date itself went fine, he was sweet and we had a great conversation over drinks with many laughs. After telling me about how nice his place was and inviting me back, I naively thought, "sure, why not," mistake #1 of the night. As soon as I opened the door and walked into what has to be the most quintessential bachelor pad I couldn't help but wonder how many different girls had graced his couches. . . Pool table, big flat screen TV (plus one in the bedroom), view of the swimming pool, big fluffily oversized couches and of course a little mini bar....the only other thing he needed was me on the couch and the place would've been ready for a photo shoot to appear in a men’s magazine "best bachelor pad of the year." My innocence quickly faded and to my horror I realized why he wanted to take my back home, and it wasn't to show me how nice his place was nor watch a Disney move or practice my Spanish. Apparently he thought it was perfectly normal to sleep with someone after knowing them for a grand total of sixty minutes. Come on now, at least wait a couple hours before sleeping with someone I thought! (please note the sarcasm). Needless to say this was the icing on the cake, I'm forever turned off by Spanish men. (exception, el Duque, of course, he is ALWAYS welcome in Roque Barcia 5 4A)

Ngoc and I have both had very back luck with men abroad. In other words, with the men we have met, celibacy seems like a better option than dating. Guess I'll just have to pick my gym routine up a little. After having discussed the issue with a broad spectrum of Spaniards ranging from highschol drop outs to people with professional degrees, men and women, factory workers to lawyers and prudes and to those holding a more liberal mindset towards sex we have come to the conclusion that there are 2 type of people in Spain

1) those who are in a relationship

2) Those who DON'T want to be in a relationship

Yes, that's right, we single handling simplified a country of over 45 million people into 2 very simple categories. It didn't take a lot of work nor thinking to classify the millions of people over here. Now you might ask yourself, what about those people who want to be in a relationship but can't find anyone? Now this is a question only a rookie would ask, someone who hasn't lived in Spain, because those people simply don't exists. You can't walk down the street, go to the mall, park, library, grocery store, disco, a party, or ANYWHERE and not see absorb amounts of PDA. These people who feel the need to display their love and affection for their partner 24/7 in any given place fall under type 1 (those who are in a relationship). While they are quite annoying they are nothing compared to the scumbags who we classify as type 2. You know you've met a type 2 person when you are on your FIRST date the guy says "I'm not looking for a relationship." Meanwhile, you are still trying to remember his name and wondering who on earth says this on a first date? Don't be fooled by this line, which all Spanish men say, because this does NOT mean they are not interested in sleeping with you, quite the contrary actually. What "I´m not looking for a relationship" really means is "I want to sleep with you couple times a week, but I don't want to be tied down, sacrifice anything for you, and quite frankly you're not worth giving up the opportunity to sleep with another willing girl..." What a line, really! It should be the number #1 pick-up line of all time "Hey honey, you're looking good, I don't like you enough to commit to anything but you wana sleep with me?" Only the smoothest of smooth talkers could've come up with that good. It has to have a 100% success rate, what girl doesn't wana sleep with a guy after hearing "I don't want a relationship" why not just say "well, you're available tonight and I want to get laid so you willing to put out or what?" This is what they are really thinking.

In conclusion, I will be staying far, far away from Spanish men for my remaining four months abroad. If you're ever in Spain, talking to a Spanish man and he slyly drops the line "I'm not looking for a relationship" you now know what he is really asking...

Besos
Ally

Hi, I'm Ngoc... Hi, I'm Ally... and we're addicted to STNHP

2009-01-28T16:53:00.000-08:00

The first step of getting over any addiction is admitting it, but I don't really know if I ever want to get over this addiction... what would my life be without "Sin Tetas no hay Paraiso"? (for those great fans, it's better known as STNHP).
When Ally and I first came across this show, we noticed that it looked better made, like it could be something we see on American TV. It just looked more attractive than regular Spanish TV. Little did we know what would happen as we got sucked into this world. In the beginning, it was hard to understand due to the language barrier, and not knowing how to turn the subtitles on the TV didn't help either. With time we became faithful watchers, tuning in every Thursday night at the random time of 10:41 p.m. We got to know the characters a little better, remembering their names and kinda understanding the plot line. But mainly we watched it because of the gorgeous creation that is "El Duque". I guess I'm going to change my statement and say I'm Ngoc, and I'm addicted to looking at "El Duque", and his 5-o'clock shadow amongst his other great qualities. His incredibly toned shoulders and back, as well as those arms...

Sorry, got a little distracted into my "El Duque" world, but this blog isn't about him, it's about how this show has become a part of ally and my life. When the series ended, we so sad because we couldn't see the finale because we were in Italy, luckily we were able to see it online. Now that they are not showing new episodes, we couldn't get our weekly fix of STNHP, so we thought it's be cool to watch the series from the beginning... great idea right?????

So we began with chapter 1, after a long day at work. Both of us seated in front of my tiny mac watching this show online, and you can't even open it on full screen btw. Each episode is about 1.5 hrs more or less, but watching it from the beginning has made things make more sense. Some how we seem to be able to understand all the characters when they speak Spanish but the other people in the street, the people that we interact with everyday are a lot more difficult to understand... I have no clue why. So for about a week we watched one episode a night sometimes staying up to the wee hours of the night, thinking this is a little ridiculous but like true addicts we couldn't say no.

There would be moments when we would have to pause the episode to discuss what was happening, such as how the editing wasn't very good in one section, or how some of the story line was not drawn out enough... we were as serious as a heart attack when discussing such topics. I think we both had at least one moment we were truly angry at editors, or people in charge because they didn't do a good job of explaining something or editing, or styling or whatever. I don't think we've ever been so focused in our lives on anything, but this show. We watch these people on TV and it feels like they are our next door neighbors although they live in some fictional world and they are definitely not the type of people we roll with. We discuss t heir lives as if we've known them forever, and it's slightly sad, but that's what happens when you're addicted to some fictional show.. But if the Duke just by chance wants to stop by for some sugar, Roque Barcia 5, 4A, you are always welcome.

Our nightly STNHP showings were a great way to practice Spanish, but mostly so

see what would happen next in the next episode. It reached a point where it really bothered me that el Duque prefers Cata over Jessi. Yes, Jessi is a prostitute, and she uses men for money, and what you would call "bitchy", but it's like come one she has super long legs, she can hold her own, she's using what she's got. Who doesn't like that? What's so cool about Cata anyways? She can't defend herself, she's selfish, and a little skinny for my taste. I pondered this question for the longest time... wondering why in the world El Duque would pick Cata over Jessi....I was seriously mad at him for choosing Cata over Jessi until I realized... it's a freakin fictional story... this is how it's meant to happen, but the believer in me still thinks there is hope that one day he'll wake up (from the dead) and see that Jessi is the right girl and he needs to drop that Cata girl because she is not good enough for her. He needs a Bonnie to his Clyde not some skinny girl who wants some breast implants. So just in case anyone wanted to know my opinion on this important issue, I'm "Team Jessi"all the way.(btw, she's the red-head, the blonde is the other girl... the one I definitely don't like).

Another problem I have with the show is that sometimes they decide to show El Duque en black briefs... come on man... that is not SEXY.. I repeat not SEXY. Now my list of things that turn me off from him has increaded to 4.. they are as follows:

1. He smokes (A LOT) and this probably leads to the next point.

2. His voice-- like many men I've met, it'd be better if he never talked at all, then it wouldn't ruin the whole mystic. In his case, I would believe that he isn't suffering from a life-threatening condition of emphysema.

3. His satin shirts, that look really cheap and make me think of some pimp but not in a good way. All I really want to say, is take that off, you look better without the shirt anyways.

4. the black briefs... what was the stylist thinking, that person has to be let go, because if you can make a man that good looking look unattractive... then you definitely don't know what you're doing.

As of right now, we have seen all the first season episodes, we have the second season, but we've seen almost half of the episodes... things are getting good. I'm sure we're not the only females in Spain addicted to this show, but we will be the first to admit it. We still have many nights to staring at the screen, and screaming at it for the stupid things that the editors/writers do... or the stupid things that each character does.. thinking somehow it would change the outcome.

On a little side note, I've started reading the book that this series is based off of... and i'm just going to leave it at that. Ciao, Ciao as I go off and dream of the most gorgeous man alive...

Un besito,

Ngoc :)

Tour of Italy

2009-01-16T11:45:00.000-08:00

First and foremost I would like to state I resent Ngoc's statement in a previous post that I have a slight tendency to exaggerate. At least call a spade a spade--a compulsive liar would've been more accurate but none of our readers will know truth from fiction so I just try and write a good blog :)

There isn't much left to say about Italy--it was amazing and I reccommend you go if you haven't been. All I want to write about is my unfortunate ability to attract the craziest people...NO EXAGGERATION (Ngoc) we rarely go to a city where I don't attract the unwanted attention of some creepy person....while in Florence I was riding the bus, just sitting, staring at the window when some homeless guy felt the need to serenade me....needless to say I was uncomfortable...anyone who knows me knows I'm not one to fight so I just sat there half crying half laughing and what does my fiesty five foot bodyguard do to help me?? takes the camera out to get a video...enjoy!

Better late than never

2009-01-15T09:50:00.000-08:00

So its already half way through January and I haven't written in this blog for god knows how long mostly because in all honestly "no tengo ganas de escribir" (I just don´t have the energy/want to). Call me lazy or call me Spanish--what's the difference? Lets be honest anyway, I tell a pretty good story, actually I can´t think of anyone mind you except my brother or dad who can tell a better story than me. Guess it runs in the family, kinda like the good looks ☺ This is mainly due to the fact that I never let the truth get in the way of a good story. Any good storyteller knows the truth is of minor importance when recounting an event to someone. My justification for lack of updates is sheer laziness and not wanting to have to spend time thinking of how to write a comically clever or whitty and funny and somewhat accurate account of my crazy adventures overseas when it's so much easier to just tell over the phone....but for our overwhelming audience and faithful followers (2..my parents and Wilson when he can see the screen, given he has had a haircut in the past 6 months) I will attempt to recapture the last few weeks of life abroad into print....which never do any my experiences justice. I suggest you just come over for a visit instead and experience the Spanish lifestyle, my Mom did and loved it!

I'll start with the arrival of my mother. For the sake of Jesus (fellow co-worker) I'll forgo the horror story of getting to the airport—but I learned my lesson—never rely on a Spaniard for anything—when your country's motto is "no pasa nada" it's a red flag that promises mean nothing and being able to rely on someone for a favor is near impossible.....afterall who doesn't respond "no pasa nada" when 2 hours before your supposed to be at the Sevilla airport your ride tells you he can't take you....when he knew ALL day he couldn't take you! For my Mom's first night in Spain we decided to throw a Christmas cocktail party to introduce her to all our friends and more truthfully it was a great excuse to throw a party. I mean who doesn't wana host a party when they live in a 9 square foot mansion...our piso is just begging us to show it off and be play party hosts. Especially with our fine china and all (compliments of the Chinese bizaar....5 plates for a euro...what a steal! If you're lucky they will last at least four washes). We could invite all of 20 people (given they all had a BMI of under 25) to our party which made making the invite list very difficult. Now I know you're thinking, yes, having a party with only 20 people must've been hard to pare the list down however since we could only think of 6 friends, including the doorman and milkman it was quite a chore trying to think of enough people to invite. After scrolling through our phones six or seven times, hoping some new numbers belonging to some guapo hombres would miracusly appeared, we somehow manged to fit quite the crowd into our piso. As you can see from the photos, we only have male friends, the reason being obvious--Spanish women are mean and jealous. If you want to argue that this is a gross generalization than 1) prove me wrong and introduce to be a nice Spanish women because I'm yet to meet one in my 6 months in Spain 2) I just lost my best tennis partner because his girlfriend was jealous of me...point proven. Back to the point, it was basically a man party and quite entertaining. The Brazilian crew were our honeary bartenders and free entertainment for the night. Mixing drinks strong enough for even the most advanced alcoholic to enjoy---inhibitions were loosened and fun times followed. Henrique left his shy side behind the door, Angelos showed off his dance moves and Alexandro put the mistletoe to good use. Unfortunatly, Elvis decided to wear a shirt, the first time I've seen him clothed, and it really was such a shame with a body like his. I know PDA and Spain are pretty much synonymous but I was hoping people would at least take into consideration my mom was at the party and restrain from the standard Spanish behavior of getting it on infront of everyone. Not for our English guest and her Bralizian babe. No, they didn't believe in the art of decscrition and wanted everyone to see their foreplay fun, in fact, they made quite the dramatic exit, no one had any doubt about what they were going to do later, or who they were going to do. Blame it on the bartenders, I guess.

My mom and I went on a day trip to Ayamonte which is a small town an hour or so away from Huelva. It's unbelievable how easy and affordable it is to travel over here rather than the States. You hop on a bus, train or plane for a couple euros (sometimes a few hundred....but who's counting) and your in a whole new city or country. We had a really fun day exploring Ayamonte and even took a ferry ride over to Portugal. The highlight was probably a zoo we accidentally ran into while walking through a park. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed sun filled skies while riding the ferry. We enjoyed a delicious dinner along the Atlantic sea and of course the company of one another.

One of my English students, Juan, was gracious enough to play tour guide to us for a day and took us all over Huelva. We went to Aracena, a small village up in the Sierras (mountains). On our way we stopped to admire Rio Tinto where NASA is currently doing research on the water. We took a tour of these amazing caves in Aracena which words simply cannot describe. Absolutely unbeliebably beautiful. I also worked my charm and scored us a nochebuena (Christmas Eve) invite, which I would like to recive props for because this was harder than you think. Ngoc and spent several days debating over who we could possibly talk into inviting us over for nochebuena which is the biggest dinner and most important night of the year, because we really didn't fancy sitting in our piso when the rest of the country was celebrating and eating their best meal of the year. We were fortunate enough to have dined on some of the best ham in the world and the dinner was probably the best dinner I've ever had. I can only imagine how many hours were spent in the kitchen going into this elaborate meal, there was enough food for the Red Army and its enemies!! My favorite part of the night was when the guests came over at, drumroll please.....2 AM.....only in Spain does company come over to say hi at 2 am.

We left for Granada early on Christmas day and saw the entire town of Huelva coming home from the night before at 8 am....again, ONLY in Spain to people party on Christmas Eve and until 8 am the next morning. I didn't mind being away from home on Christmas given I've spent the last 15 years of my life on the road playing tennis tournaments, eating three week old bounceable hotdogs, if lucky, and rarely spent Christmas with my family in front of the tree so I have no sympathy for people complaining about missing home. I wouldn't exactly say I'm the most financially independent person around town, I fully enjoy the luxury of being blessed with generous parents, but after hearing about how much people complain about missing home I've realized I'm far more independent than I gave myself credit for. Anywho, we arrived in Granada to a B&B that the owner should be embarassed to call a Bread & Breakfast. I think "The Dump" would be a more fittig name. I guess you get what you pay for...needless to say, the poor life is not for me. Better I learn that young though. I prefer a hotel in which cockroaches do not roam free, breakfast is served free of moldy bread and hot water is a commodity included in the price of the room. Ok, so slight exaggeration but the place wasn't one of our best hostel experienes. Nonetheless, it was fun to visit Granada, where I studied abroad in undergrad, and show my Mom all the places we we went out (because really no one goes to Spain to study). Too bad there isn´t a major for nightlife expertise. We went to the Science Park, Alahambra, Sierra Nevadas and walked all of Granada (let me repeat ALL) of Granada during our time there.

We came home from Granada, exhausted, and enjoyed our last day in Huelva at Parque Moret which is up a on hill overlooking the city. We rented some rowboats and spent the afternoon picnicing in the park, rowing a boat through the lake and enjoying the warm December weather. It was a wonderful 2 weeks.

Besos
Allison

Signs that it's time to go home...

2009-01-14T08:44:00.000-08:00

We're back in Spain, and it feels great. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see Spain, or see Spanish in my life. Maybe I am becoming more spanish with each day. However, our last leg of our Italian adventure was sure full of great memories... and stories. Most of the time, Ally and I must ask ourselves... what have we done to deserve such luck... weird things always happen to us... why? It's the blonde and brunette combination I think.
Anyways, after leaving Rome behind, we took the train to Florence. Normally we don't have problems with the train, however, we got on the wrong one and instead of arriving there in 1.5 hrs it took us 3.5 hrs and we paid for the fast train... so we should have known it was all going downhill from there. We arrive in Florence, and it's raining... go figure. We arrive at our hostel, which was bad, except for the fact that they made us pay more than we were suppose to because we had to change the reservation. I was too exhausted to argue, but it still makes me angry.
Florence wasn't what I thought it'd be. I guess, it's meant for people who like art and museums and the Renaissance... and we don't really like any of those things. The greatest things we manage to see in Florence was "David". That is an amazing piece of work. We sat there looking at it amazed at how big the sculpture is. We couldn't take a photo of it, but a photo wouldn't do this piece any justice, it must be see in person. It was really breath taking, and I have to say "David" has an incredible body... if only he were real...I guess I can imagine.
Besides David our adventures in Florence involved paying way tooo much for gelato. Once again, we had a Barcelona moment, and paid 10 euros each for ice cream... it was a little ridiculous, and that's how we spent the last of our money. We're just going to blame it on the fact that we couldn't speak the language, but it's a little ridiculous that we spent 20 euros all together on ice cream... when we didn't really have any money to spend.
Also on our way up to Michelangleo's Square, Ally was harassed by a homeless man, that thought that I could understand what he was saying. It's hilarious the things that Ally and I get into.. we were sitting normally on a bus, and a weird guy with a guitar comes on and starts singing, and then pulls out a harmonica. He talks and talks about how his mom is Peruvian and his dad is from Florence, and is making Ally very uncomfortable. I just like how Ally sits there and looks at me to come to her rescue... come on I'm like what 5'0'' on a good day, and I'm going to scare away someone that's harrassing her? I've decided for 2009, ally is going to have to take a self defense class, because i don't get paid enough to be her bodyguard, stylist, and everything else I do. :)
All in all let's just say that I wasn't amazed by Florence, but I think I was more ready to go home to Spain.

Pisa was interesting in that we didn't have a hostel cuz' we flew out at 6:45 the next day, we thought we'd spend the night at the airport. I have never felt so homeless in my life. We walked around Pisa and tried to find something to do... but the only thing to see in Pisa is the tower, and we saw that. We had so much time on our hands, we played cards in a bench in a park, we got attacked by birds as we were trying to eat our favorite meal of bread and cheese... it was great. As the time neared to go to the bus station to get our backpacks, we thought.... um I don't think the airport is open all night, and we tried to figure out what we would do. But first we spent a couple hours in the McDonald's playing cards, and when the police officers came to kick out the homeless guys, I was like, "please don't come over here, and kick us out... we don't have anywhere else to go, and it's cold outside." Luckily they didn't come over to us. We took a 5 minute train to the airport, and when we got there, we found out it does indeed close from 1-4 am, so we had to get out of there, and go who knows where.

However, in the airport we met Trisha, another auxilary who works in Bollullos as well. We met a guy named "Pumpkin". He has a Chinese name, but it was impossible to say, so he said the translation is Pumpkin so that's what we called him. We played cards and hung out until they kicked us out of the airport. Then we all grabbed our stuff and walked back to the center of the city, which was like 15 minutes away from the airport... so we wasted 1.10 on a ticket, which we didn't even need to do. When you're poor 1.10 is a lot of money... In the end, we spent the 3 hrs or so in ttrain station, cold, bored, and unable to sleep. It was a group of Ally, Trisha, and I. Plus our two new friends, Miguel from Cadiz, and Pumpkin from China, but currenlty living in Pisa. Pumpkin and I had lots of time to talk, he is one funny guy, he didn't speak Spanish and it was a little difficult to communicate but when I did manage to communicate he was hilarious. It's one of those things you had to be there for.
When we finally made it back to the airport, and checked in, we had a man down moment, because Pumpkin's visa was expired and he could only travel in italy, he couldn't go to Spain... that was such a sad moment. We all felt really bad, because Pumpkin had went through the whole spending the night at a train station, and everything... for nothing. I thought he was seriously going to cry, I was going to cry for him. We came up with some alternative plans, such as walking, training or even possbily biking, but I guess that wasn't really an appropriate time for jokes.
When we finally got on the flight, Ally and I went straight to work figuring out how we were going to get comfortable cuz' we were going to definitely sleep it out... I did manage to sleep most of the time and when we ended up in Sevilla it was great to finally be back home. We still had a little adventure to try and catch the bus to Huelva, luckily we caught it on time... and then we were finally back at Calle Roque Barcia 5, 4A. I'm never going to say this again, but it was nice to be home.
Although the trip was amazing, I've realized that traveling for long periods of time is not my thing... or maybe I just need better hotels and a remote control luggage thing. I don't know whatever it is, it felt great to be home. From our italian vacation, Ally and I learned, that we're never going to travel in the winter unless we're going to somewhere warm. In the end, it was worth all the almost frost bite moments, but I don't think I'll be doing that again anytime soon.

Un abrazo,
ngoc :)

Roaming Rome with Romans

2009-01-07T06:58:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!!!! After leaving Venice, Ally and I made our way to Rome. The ride was incredibly boring because neither of us had anything to do... I couldn't read because I'd get sick, and also we didn't bring our iPods because we didn't have anyway of charging it without bring my computer. Hence we had no way of entertaining ourselves. To make things worse, we ended up sitting in different areas, because we didn't buy two tickets together... after multiple attempts to try to sit together, I just had to go sit all by myself and looked out the window.
However, a really funny thing happened to me when I sitting alone, and bored out of my mind. The guy next to me happened to be watching a Woody Allen movie, and I didn't want to be rude and be all up in his grill, so i tried to watch it out of the corner of my eyes... then he caught me and offered to share and I said, no it's not a big deal. But then eventually he put on the English subtitles for me. But yeah, like Tram would say, I was being super American and all in his space, but in my defense... I was bored... nothing to do, and I'm sure most people would have looked, and I couldn't help laughing because there were funny moments. Anyone, in the end my new friend, is Angelo and he happened to be coming from Venice also and going to Rome. He offered to give us a tour of the city, so I made a friend on the train... weird, but it really made Rome a very interesting trip.
After getting off the train, we went to our hostel, which was close to the train station, but that was probably the only good thing about it. Unlike Ally I don't exaggerate as much, but this by far was the worst place we've ever stayed in, and we both decided we can't ever do this again. We definitely didn't spend much time in the hostel. Our first night we walked around Rome. Although it was my second time to Rome, I never got to see Rome at night, and it was really beautiful, although I was scared for my life because Romans don't seem to be very good drivers.
For our first official day in Rome, we went to the Colesseo, Roman Forum, and a whole bunch of other stuff. The Colesseo was cool, but the inside to me was not as interesting, I liked the outside better. I think Ally and I have watched way too many Hollywood movies with the Colesso and we had a different image in mind. The Forum was like it was 2 years ago. Ally really liked the Tomb of the Fallen Soliders which was in the Venice Square, but I personally perfer "Valle de los caidos" in Madrid better. But either way, it is still an amazing building. Later in the day we met up with Angelo and he gave us the official tour. I prefer having a tour guide, because that means I don't have to read the map and figure out where we're going, I just follow.
However, a funny thing about having a tour guide, is that Ally and I usually don't listen, we just like looking at the building and momuents, and rarely question about the history. Of course Angelo, had to know every single thing about Rome and we felt a little uncultured next to him. We walked all of Rome basically with Angelo that afternoon, night him telling us everything and us partically listening. However, give us a credit because now we can distinguish between St. Peter and St. Paul. Near the end we went on a search for food, and it seemed that everything was closed, and it was really funny when we were all tired, and our legs were sore, but finally we managed to find pizza... and all was right in the world again.
The following day, we went to the Vatican and it seemed that everyone else decided to do that too. Although it was my second time to St. Peter's Basilica, it's still one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in my life. Angelo says that St. Mark's is better than St. Peter's but I'm going to say... I don't think so. It's hard to capture the essence of the basilica, it's incredibily incredible. Like Ally said, you can't look at any other churches in the same way after seeing this one. Since I did not climb the domb last time I was in Rome, Ally and I decided to do so, but we decided to be cheap and save a few euros and walk all the way up. Let me just say... we were the only people not to take the elevator up. We walked over 500 steps up the dome. There were red stairs, white stairs, narrow, wide... all types of stairs, you name it, we climbed it. I thought I was going to die because it was a lot of stairs... I'm weak and lazy. However, we made it. The view was incredible although there were lots of people around. Because nothing can be higher than the Basilica, being at the top gave us a beautiful view of Rome. It was worth the ridiculous climb to see the view. The Vatican museum was also a wonderful sight. To be honest, Ally and I are probably not the most "museumy" people, but the Sistine Chapel is amazing, and the Raphael things aren't shabby either. After seeing what Michelangelo has done by the time he's like 23, 24, I'm like what have I done with my life? Where are my sculptures and paintings? i should stop sitting in my piso and watching "sin Tetas no hay paraiso" and start painting or something.
After our trip to the Vatican we took a short break and met up with Angelo for our second day of seeing Rome. We went to dinner at this restaurant that was really famous, but right now I don't remember why... don't tell him I said that though. The food in Italy was okay, I didn't find it to be spectacular, but it's better than the options in Spain (sorry...). Either way after dinner we went over to Angelo's sister, Alessandra's apartment. We met her friends and we all went out for this fiesta, which I'm still not quite sure what it was. There were tons of people in the streets, and it was crowded everywhere. It was nice to have friends and people to hang out with on our travels. We usually just have each other, so it was a nice change.
All in all, when I think about Rome, I think of all the history and all the cool things they have there. You could be walking and see some modern buildings and out of no where pops the Trevi fountain or something ridiculous like that. You just don't see things like that in Seattle. Also the buses here are out of control, if you don't like being touched by random people, don't ride the bus in Rome. Although I like Rome, I think after two visits, I'm pretty Romed out.
Although I enjoy traveling, and seeing new places, after my time in Rome, I really started missing being in Huelva, not because huelva is better, but because now I see Spain as my home. Even if it's not "home, home", it's still a place where I have my own place to put my things, I'm not living out of a suitcase or in our case a backpack. I started to really miss Spain... but we still have two more cities to go before we get back. I guess it's the cold that makes me think of crazy stuff as missing Huelva.
Okay, that was Rome, hope everyone enjoys the pictures, we have more, but it's impossible to post them all.

Besitos,
Ngoc :)

Our New Year's Resolution: Not to turn into snowmen

2009-01-04T07:36:00.000-08:00

Greetings everyone. I hope this post finds everyone warm, safe and enjoying a wonderful new 2009! I myself am currently freezing in my piso, but trying my hardest to finish with the updates of our Italian Vacation.

Because we had so much time off, Ally and I decided to go to Italy for 10 days. The plan was to fly into Milan, then go to Venice, Rome, Florence, then home from Pisa. We thought it was going to be ridiculously fun and awesome, which it was... but we forgot one minor detail, it's winter time here, and it's FREEZING!!!! So our lesson for this trip was don't travel from a cold place to an even colder place... or better yet, don't travel at all during winter vacation and stay in Spain, where the whether is cold, but not 1 degree celsius or even zero.

Anyways, back to the recap. We left Huelva the night of the 30th and spent the night in Huelva with another Seattlite, Maria. She was kind enough to let us stay at her place since we flew out so early the next morning for Milan. When we arrived in Milan the weather was cold. We went to our hostal and it turned out to be a really nice hotel, it's probably one of the best places we've stayed in... if only they were all like that. You can see the video below. The breakfast was also amazing. But besides the hotel the only thing in Milan was the cathedral, while it's cool... eh I was super impressed. However, for new year's eve Ally and I thought to walk around and go to the big plaza and maybe there'd be a countdown or something... but it was snowing... and we were freezing, and after toughing it out for a few hours, we couldn't bear to stand outside after they kicked us out of the metro, so we headed back to our hotel and watched some TV. All in all, it was an uneventful way to ring in 2009, but it was better than turning into a snowwoman.

After Milan we took the train to Venice. Upon arrival we walked out of the train station and the city was amazing. Although once again... COLD and cloudy. We followed the instructions to find our hostal, but it turned out that they weren't very accurate due to the day being Jan 1st, and nothing runs properly on that day. But in the end we managed to find our hostal and it wasn't in Venice, Venice it was a 10 minute bus ride from Venice, which was a little annoying. After settling into our room, we decided to go in search of some food. Because of the holiday there wasn't anything really open, we saw a few bars but there really wasn't much to eat. We were both so cold and hungry while we walked, but everything seemed to not be what we were looking for. Finally I noticed some lights and we go over there.. it turned out to be a Pizzeria & Restaurant. So in the end we found food, and no one was frozen.

The following day we went into Venice, Venice and started to see the city. We almost got a ticket because we didn't have enough bus fare. We only had one ticket, but two bodies. I just assumed that no one would check, but of course, because we are the luckiest people in the world, there had to be people checking, and they caught us. I was trying to play dumb, like we didn't know we had to verify it. The officers didn't really speak English, and we don't speak Italian, so let's say it was a scary situation, and when he began to write down something that looked like a ticket in my mind I was like, "Mierda, joder, joder, joder, joder!!!!" Ally looked at the paper and it said 180... and panic set in and we both looked at each other trying to figure out what to say. After asking whether we could just buy a ticket on board, the officer tells us that we just pay him, and I say how much, he said 1.80. He was actually writing us a receipt for our ticket on board, and it wasn't a fine... thank BUDDHA!!!! That was a close call, but we made it out.

Now, how was Venice you ask? It's hard to explain the beauty of the city, but it's also hard to appreciate it when you're worried about not feeling your toes or fingers. There is something about Venice that is very alluring, probably because it's a city that uses boats instead of cars. I don't know, whateverthe reason I loved it and it's my favorite city in Italy as of now. We walked all day, everywhere around Venice, we went to see St. Mark's Square which was nice... but not spectacularly fascinating. We decided it'd be an awesome idea to take a water taxi... unfortunately it was foggy, we couldn't see anything, and did i mention it was VERY COLD. We were freezing, and Ally seriously thought she had frost bite on her toes, because she couldn't move or feel them. It was quite uncomfortable.

Our last day in Venice was relaxed, we walked around some more, tried to get some better pictures, because the sun decided to show up, of course right as we were about to leave, but I guess that's how the cookie crumbles.

That's the first part of our adventures and now we're off to Rome, Florence and then Pisa.

Besos,

Ngoc :)

Granada... my future home?

2008-12-30T01:26:00.000-08:00

After Christmas Ally, Marcia and I made the trip to Granada. It had been 2 years since I´ve been back to Granada, and in these two years I´ve thought about what it would be like to be back to this city. When we arrived, I was hit with the feeling that I never wanted to leave. I don´t know what it is about this city that just makes me want to stay here. It´s not incredibly big, there is nothing super spectacular, but it´s atmosphere is attractive, and it makes me want to stay.

However, it was FREEZING, it made Huelva seem hot. Our hostal was more or less in Plaza Nueva which made it easy for us to get around, walking around the city made it feel like we never left. Granada, is just sooo much prettier than Huelva. I was able to see all of my Granadian friends besides Jose who happened to be in the States. Ally, Marcia and I went to the Alhambra, it was my 3rd time there, and although it is a beautiful place, it´s safe to say that I´m Alhambra´d out. If I don´t see it again for the next 5-10 years, I think I´ll survive. Also the lion fountain wasn´t there... and that was really disappointing since we waited all day for it. I took soooo many pictures... and I don´t even know why. Things like this are impossible to capture in photos, and I don´t know what I´m going to do with them later.

After walking all day looking at the alhambra, we took a walking tour of Granada, guided by Luis and his brother JoseMa. It was really nice to learn about all the buildings and some of the history of the city. Now I feel like I´ve walked most of Granada... and my legs were sore enough to prove it.

My favorite thing about the trip was being able to see my friends. For some reason I feel that i made better friends in Granada than I have in Huelva. Going out with them was so much more fun... and of course free tapas doesn´t. Also there just seems to be more to do, and the music is definitely better. All the time I was there I didn´t want to leave, and thought about much different my experience would be if I was in Granada instead of Huelva. I know that´s not a good attitude, but that was how I felt.

Our last full day in Granada, we went to the Sierra Nevadas... it was cold. It was a nice little skiing/snowboarding place.. and we didn´t have any gear, but next time we´ll be ready. It was a little hazy which sucked, but it was beautiful. It was like I was in Seattle, because there was soooo much snow. I thought I´d never see snow in Spain, but there is snow.

When it was time to leave Granada... I was sad, and Ally and I fantasized what it´d be like to move back to Granada and live in our old piso in Calle Molinos... with the HUGE shower, and the air conditioning/heating... that would be the life. Now we just have to figure out how to get there...

wishing everyone a happy holidays and a wonderful new year!

Con mucho carino,
Ngoc :)

Perks of being Travel Size

2008-12-23T17:32:00.000-08:00

Because Ally's mom is here, we have made a better effort towards doing things besides hanging around our freezing cold piso. One of our outings took us on a trip to Aracena in the Sierras in Huelva. One of Ally's student, Juan, offered to take us on a day trip with his wife. We thought we'd be going on a little hike thing, so Ally, Marica and I got all ready for hiking. Shoes, sweatshirt, everything...

We woke up and were rushing to get ready, we kept thinking that Juan is Spanish, he's going to come late so we don't have to be in a hurry.... of course, Juan turns out to be the only Spanish person that arrives early or even on time. We get into the car, and begin our almost 2 hours drive to this place. We´ve just heard that it´s an amazing location, but nothing else. Sometimes I forget what it´s like to be in a car for long periods of time, because I rarely am in a car, besides commuting to work.

Being in a car here, is not like sitting in my large Honda CRV, the cars here appear to be smaller, and coming from a person of my size, that´s hard to say. Either way, I experienced a lot of car sickness... but we did make it there. It was a beautiful day, and being able to see all the trees, and hills and rivers, reminded me of driving on I-5 towards California or something. For a split second I thought I was back in WA.

We arrived to Aracena, and found out that we were going to see this thing called La Gruta de Maravilla, it turned out to be this underground cave thing with crazy rock formations. It was one of the prettiest things I´ve seen in a while. It was super duper humid inside... 100%. It reminded me of the Vinh Ha Long caves I went to 4 years ago. We couldn´t take pictures inside, but it was still a beautiful site. One of the downsides of the cave was that

it was a little dangerous, a lot of the paths you had to duck or else risk getting your head taken out... however, if you´re like me, and travel-size you just walk normally, and there are no problems. :)

After our little trip we went went home to Huelva, but before returning back to our piso, we stopped by a beautiful site, where there was a statue dedicated to Chrisopher Columbus. The name now escapes me, but it was beautiful, the sun was setting, and it was a beautiful site.

All in all the day was great. I realized that there are beautiful things in the Province of Huelva, although you have to drive 2 hours to get there.... It was a great thing to do while Ally´s mom was here.

Sending all my love!!!

Besitos,

ngoc :)

Welcome Marcia to a real small Spanish village

2008-12-22T17:39:00.000-08:00

Seasons greetings everyone. I hope everyone is safe, happy and enjoying the holiday season. I know it is snowing like no other in Seattle.. and I hope this finds everyone somewhat warm... hopefully. I won't tell you about how nice the weather has been here...

Okay, Since Marcia has been here, Ally has been doing a great job showing her what there is to to do around this small province. However, on Monday we decided to head to Bollullos... I don't know why... probably to visit Concha and her family, and also give myself a chance to really see Bollullos. We took the train to La Palma, where Concha picked us up. I had specifically been told by people that Bollullos is known for wine... so obviously we all thought it'd be cool to go to a vineyard to taste wine. Although I'm not a wine drinker, I've seen my share of movies, and wine tasting seems so cool. You go to a place where there's lots of grapes and lots of land. I also imagined lots of round barrels of wine, and possibly being able to smash some grapes with your toes or something like that. I should have know that Bollullos wine tasting was nothing like that. Concha dropped us off on a street where she said there are lots of places to taste wine and eat food... let's just say there was not one grape in sight, it was a whole bunch of restaurants with lots of wines... we were quite disappointed. But we did end up going into a real winery, and trying 3 different types of wine... I'm just going to say... I still don't get all the fuss about Bollullos wine, but I'm open to trying others... maybe we just got unlucky.

Switching to plan B, which was walking around Bollullos and seeing what it had to offer. Before doing this we had to make a quick pit stop to one of the most famous things in Bollullos... Mercadona... there we loaded up on our snacks and sat down in a really nice park. For being such a small village, I have to admit the park was pretty nice... it reminded me of many parks i've visited such as the one in Cadiz, and Sevilla it was a little mix of many parks. There were some plants, mazes, water fountains... everything you needed for a nice park. We sat in the park ate some sandwiches and did a mini photo shoot.

After that we wandered the streets of Bollullos, and arrived at Nia's house. I've told Ally how nice it is and she wanted to see. Luckily Nate was home and he gave us a tour, and made Ally and I both jealous that our piso is the size of their terrace, but we do have one up on them... we live in Huelva and they live in Bollullos. :) After that we continued our walk around the village, which I'm going to say is not very big. It is however very "movie-set" like, the buildings are mainly white, the streets are small, and there is a calmness about the city which I do like. We happened to see this girl riding her horse down the street... i guess that saves on gas right? As much as I joke about Bollullos, it is a very peaceful place, the people are very nice, and it does have its own charm.

Our tour continued on towards the main street, where we saw some of the stores that sold the best "Bollullos" style... I'm sad to announce that Ally, Marcia and I, the best shopping trio ever assembled, made it out of Bollullos without buying ANYTHING! We ended our tour with a trip to the culture center, where an exhibition was on display of old doll houses, dolls, toys, and film things. It was kinda random, but interesting. There was also a Belen which was beautiful... but i don't understand why we couldn't see it from a 360 degree view.... it was really nice... and there was like a light limit too, because after ten minutes the lights got dark and you couldn't see anything.

After the cultural center we made our way to Concha's house. Unfortunately my camera was low on battery and Ally had forgotten her camera in the piso, so I don't have any pictures to show you of the marvel that is Concha's house. It is incredibly big, and super Spanish, but I love it. It has terraces, offices, high ceilings, beautiful tiles... everything that makes one person jealous. They should just adopt me. As Ally and Marcia got the grand tour of the house, I set to work on making spring rolls with Maria. She is incredibly cute and loves to help out. Cooking was fun and once again, I had brought tooooooo much food... I get that from my mom. We sat down to eat with Concha, her husband (Jose), her son (Ignacio), and Maria. It was a nice dinner, with lots of food, laughs and conversation. It was also the first time I really heard Concha speak english, and her english is AMAZING. It's probably the best english from a spanish english teacher I've heard in Spain. Her accent is so cute... it's so proper.

After the meal, Maria thought it'd be a good idea to show us all the toys she has... let's just say her and Barbie are good friends, and she probably has every Barbie ever created. She even has a pregnant Barbie that comes with a detachable belly... things these people come up with. At the end of the night, Jose and Ignacio drove us back to Huelva.

All in all it was a great dinner, and a great day in Bollullos. Although small and quiet, it houses some of the nicest Spanish people I've ever met, and definitely the most beautiful Spanish house I've been in. Ally and I look forward to seeing more of Concha and her family, they have already offered to be our friends... so it's okay if we bother them now. :)

As this comes to an end... I wish everyone a very happy holidays. I miss you guys terribly but am happy and safe.

Hugs and kisses,
Ngoc :)

Lovely Lisboa

2008-12-17T06:48:00.000-08:00

Ngoc and I took our first trip outside of Spain to Lisbon, Portugal. Not only was it was first big trip in Europe, but it was also our first roadtrip of the year. Luckily, Alex was also going to Lisbon the same weekend as us and we all drove together. All the positive things we had heard and read about Lisbon held true, it was a lovely city to visit. Not only is the city rich in history and culture but also home to decadent desserts. Street after street was littered with pastelerias full of sweets. The skies above were adorned with beautiful architecture and breathtaking statues/monuments. All the beauty absent in Huelva is more than abundant in Lisbon. We spent our four days walking like it was our jobs, I just wish I had of known the city was built on hills so I could have trained for the marathon that became our eight hour walking days, up and down incredibly steep hills. Nonetheless, it was fun to see a different city and do lots of sightseeing.

After spending a summer in Europe in 2006 and several thousand dollars poorer, we have smartened up when it comes to traveling and saving money. Rather than spending lavishly as if money grows on trees we now are taking the cost of things into consideration, just a little. Thus we decided to stay in a dorm style room rather than a private room. Being my first dorm experience in a hostel I was a little nervous but fortunately enough we enjoyed a fun four days of meeting new people from around the world. On my first night as I was falling asleep on the top bunk I turned to Ngoc and asked, “you think this bed is clean? I mean, people don’t have sex in these beds do they?” to which Ngoc comforted me and immediately responded, “of course not!” Later that night, I was awoken to which I thought was an earthquake, unfortunately for me, it was just two strangers in the room getting to know one another a little better. On a positive note, we managed to pick up some new slang from a group of Mexicans who provided much entertainment and eye candy—if only they weren’t tan joven. Although the hostel was by no means a 5 star hotel it did provide free warmth, a stark contrast from our freezing piso, which was much appreciated. All in all, minus the mini earthquake scare, it was a fun hostel. After routinely dropping 50 Euros a night on dinners in famous cities throughout Europe, we’ve learned that shopping at grocery stores is the way to go. We both ate lunch for a combined grand total of 2.89 Euros. When you only make 700 euro a month every penny matters. Oh the joys of being poor, why would anyone want to leave home?

In terms of sightseeing, pretty sure we managed to conquer Lisbon and see every castle, monument, statue, tower, church, monastery and any other sight to see. I couldn’t help but remember our times in Granada and many visits to the Alhambra while walking through Lisbon and seeing the castle. It is up high on of the hills and has a view of all of Lisbon from above. You can see the castle from pretty much anywhere in Lisbon, just like the Alhambra. Of everything we saw my favorite thing was the monastery in Belen. It was truly breathtaking. I always love moments when I look up and see an enormous building towering over me, which has been standing for hundreds of centuries and am pleasantly reminded I’m in Europe. We just don’t have that history or anything comparable to see in America. Sure, there is the Space Needle in Seattle or the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Statue of Liberty in New York, but there is no comparison to European skylines. The National Palace and Torre were also memorable for their beauty.

Without doubt we enjoyed our best dinner in the past 3 months while in Lisbon. Up in the famous Bario Alto we found a nice little Thai restaurant tucked behind a corner on a tiny little cobblestone street. Although expensive at over 45 euro, being able to have a decent dinner was worth the money and I enjoyed every little noodle. If only Huelva had food other than jamon o gambas. Portugal is also home to the Porta Agua (Portuguese Waterdog) and I felt as if I saw Wilson about ten times, just not as cute, of course.

As lovely as Lisbon is, I have to be honest and say I was glad to come home to Huelva. After visiting a big city I now appreciate the smallness of Huelva and being able to go wherever I desire by foot. Moreover, its nice walking into the bread shop and having the owner know you. Huelva affords me the opportunity to create a new home and feel as if I’m part of the community rather than just being another tourist abroad. I don’t think I could have that same feeling in a major city with millions of people. I like being one of the few Americans in Huelva and knowing I will see a familiar face while walking around town. For all the complaining I do about Huelva it does have a certain charm to it, just don’t ask me what it is, because I don’t know. I guess Huelva’s not so bad after all!

Besos
Allison

How Christmas Blew Up in Piso 4A

2008-12-13T09:58:00.000-08:00

Season's greetings everyone! It has been a long time, the reason being we've been out and about, we've been a little lazy, but mostly we've been consumed with holiday spirit. After Thanksgiving, Ally and I were both feeling a little homesick and missing our families during. Hence, we came up with the greatest idea ever!!!! Piso decorations, thinking it would be the greatest thing ever. The funny thing about christmas decorations is that I'm buddhist, and Ally is not religious, and hence we have two people who really don't celebrate christmas for religious reasons decorating the piso. However, I love the holiday spirit, and Christmas carols, they put me in a good mood, and remind me of being home with my family. Hence, we decided this would be the best way to make us feel more at home. Little did we know it would become a big obsession and consume about two weeks of our lives. But I guess when you're in Huelva, where the extracurricular activities are limited, holiday decorations are a great way to pass the time.

Ally and I started simple with snowflakes and hand made signs. She worked on the "Happy Holiday" sign that you see as you walk into the piso, and together we spent 8 hours cutting out over 60 snowflakes. Then we hung them off the ceiling, which also was a little dangerous, but worth the effort. Once you step into the piso, the ceiling is quite amazing. Snowflakes and "Happy Holidays" made up Phase 1 of Operation decoration.

Phase 2 of our operation was putting up the tree and the fireplace. Putting the tree up with the star, and Ally strung the lights onto the tree. It was almost life-like. I was in charge of the fireplace, and it was something we needed desperately, because our piso is ridiculously cold. Although it looks like it didn't take a long time it did. I spent the most time on the fireplace, with 3 stockings, one for me (Merchi), one for Ally (Carmen), and one for Ally's mom (Marcia) -- she's visiting us soon. Doing the garland at the top of the fireplace was time consuming because it is actually single pieces of leaves cut out of green wrapping paper. However, in the end it was worth the 2-3 days i spent on it.

Phase 3 was "Noel", "Santa Claus", the wreath for the door, and mistletoe. Cutting the candles, out of red wrapping paper and making the holly for it was also time consuming, but very easy, and that was quickly finished. Ally contributed with her skillful lettering skills and we're very pleased with the results. The wreath on the door was made quickly because we had green wrapping paper. Although the mistletoe is not real, and the chances of us finding anyone to stand under it with are very slim... we are holding out for el Duque, Enrique Iglesias or any other tall dark and handsome Spanish man to enter our piso. Lastly, Santa Claus was a tough task because I had to draw him out of paper and put him together. It took aat least 5 hours, however there were some breaks for "Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso".

After a weekend break from decorating to go to Lisbon, we returned to do Phase 4 of our operation. By this time we are a little decorationed out because I personally had spent at least 8 hours a day on decorating for 4 days in a row. Either way we had to carry on, because we could not leave it unfinished. Phase 4 consisted of creating the north pole. I made the sign, the sled and also the snowflakes that covered the walls. Ally make the life-size Frosty the Snowman which I think turned out incredible.

Phase 5 was just finishing up the final touches. We spent the last few days making presents to put under the tree, putting up snow underneath various things to make it look like snow in the north pole. Ally put up the "Merry Christmas" sign. I wrapped one of our poles in gold and silver wrapping and topped it off with big bows. Our last day we worked on ornaments for the tree. Ally made the color balls on the edges and I made some ornaments that reminded us of all the places we've traveled together ie.: Barcelona, Paris, Granada, Lagos, Lisbon... Everytime we look at the tree, it will remind us of the great friendship we have, and the many fond memories we have built, but we look forward to building more for the rest of this adventure.

As I bring this informative post to an end, I hope everyone is going super duper well. I wished everyone could be here to see our piso and how great it turned out, but most of all, I wished everyone was here to just celebrate the holiday spirit with us.

Hugs and Kisses,
Ngoc :)

P.S. You can look at the entire process here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2353854&l=feced&id=10703715

Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T21:00:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-26T15:53:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-24T11:58:00.000-08:00

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....

2008-11-24T00:06:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-21T15:50:00.000-08:00

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?

2008-11-20T13:35:00.000-08:00

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...

2008-11-17T00:10:00.001-08:00

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 :)

2008-11-09T12:00:00.000-08:00

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

How we pass the time here.

2008-10-30T07:23:00.000-07:00

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....

2008-10-24T02:01:00.000-07:00

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"

2008-10-20T11:08:00.001-07:00

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!!!!

2008-10-20T05:38:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

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"?

2008-10-13T10:34:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-10-10T09:23:00.000-07:00

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 :)

What NOT to bring

2008-09-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

You always hear or see "what to bring" guides when traveling. Well, let me suggest a few things you don't need to bring...for starters, everything you own, including simple cosmetics, toiletries and accessories that weigh down your luggage and our readily available in developed countries like Spain. We could barely eve walk in our room with all our stuff. Ngoc and I finally arrived in Huelva after hauling our luggage all over Madrid. I can not even imagine to begin what the trek would've been like without help from friends. We endured a city bus ride with our luggage rolling around and trying not to take out standing passengers, hauled our luggage to the metro and through the metro station than walked to Julio's piso in Madrid. Unfortunately, that trip had to be replicated on our way to Huelva. I was sadly informed we had a 7 hour bus ride to Huelva. I met a boy from Huelva on the bus, Valentine, who wanted to practice his English with me, I wonder where he got the impression I even spoke English? He later told me I looked as American as they come....so much for fitting in with the locals :( He was very cute and told me the Huelvan high school boys are “malos, malos, malos!” I'm nervous about working in a high school because everyone has told me the boys will be tough and difficult. After teaching tennis all summer all day to little kids I think I'm prepared for rambunctious boys. Our piso is nice and close to the downtown which is very convenient. We're off to explore and familiarize ourselves with our new home.
Un beso,
Allison :)

Don't know what to put here

2008-09-29T02:02:00.000-07:00

It's 11:04 am here on Monday, in Huelva, Spain. We arrived yesterday after a LONG bus ride from Madrid, but we are here, safe and sound. After our Madrid trip I felt as if we've been here in Spain for a long time but it hasn't even been a week yet. I'm excited to get to work and actually work on my Spanish. Being around people that speak English, has made it incredibly hard to speak Spanish. Huelva seems to be a really small place which will be nice since we don't need a car... good thing since I have yet to learn to drive a manual, and I didn't have any room to pack my Honda-CRV. Today we have just a day of getting things done, and I hope we can do them all. I have yet to set up the phone, but I'm looking to do that today, so hopefully you guys can call me soon!!!!

Other than that, life continues here in Spain as everyone is getting ready to go to work or back to school. Life here is a lot slower than it is in Seattle, but I think it is something I need... my last 4 years have been go, go, go and hopefully this year of slowing things down will help me appreciate there is much more to life besides work and school. I miss everyone and always wished you guys were here and hope you haven't replaced me. Hasta pronto!

Besos,

Ngoc :)

Madrid

2008-09-26T01:18:00.000-07:00

Ngoc and I arrived safely in Madrid on Wednesday to beautiful Spanish skies and warm weather. I was treated to champagne and "1st class" pastries on the flight for my birthday which was very fitting as I am a champagne baby afterall. Our friend picked us up at the airport in which the challenge began to try and fit Ngoc's and mine 6 big bags of heavy luggage and 2 overstuffed backpacks into a small European car. One might say we overpacked by about 100 pounds or so....maybe 1 tanktop too many. My dad informed me Spaniards do in fact have washing machines and that it wasn't necessary to take enough clothes for 9 months. Despite the tremendous amount of luggage Ngoc and I brought we have both lamented over several items we were forced to leave at home. We spent Thursday sightseeing and went to El Escordial which was King Felipe's II house. It was quite beautiful and full of breathtaking artwork and architecture throughout the palace. Later we saw La Valle de los Caidos where Franco is buried which was also quite a site. We're now visiting with Julio also in Madrid who lives right downtown. We're fully embracing the Spanish lifestyle of laziness, daily siestas and dinner after 10. Tomorrow we'll walk through the downtown and see the city. Then its time for a little birthday fiesta with some of Julio's friends. We're greatly enjoying Spain so far and excited to get to our Home, Huelva, soon.
Un beso,
Ngoc y Ally

I can't believe it's here

2008-09-23T00:21:00.000-07:00

... tomorrow we'll be on our way to Spain, and right now I can't really find the words to express how I feel... excited to be returning to Spain, but sad to be leaving behind friends and family. I guess my whole year has been full of excitement, and the sadness didn't set in until now. I've thought about everything I'm going to miss... my sister's gymnastics season, sunday football games, hot dogs, my mom's food, my dad's craziness, the list goes on... but I know it will be an adventure and I'll feel better once I'm there.

For now, I'll just take in these last moments and tell myself one year isn't that long of a time, and I know everyone will come visit... right?

Un abrazo fuerte,

Ngoc :)

Night Before Christmas

2008-09-09T13:16:00.000-07:00

After talking about living in Spain all senior year I can't believe it's now the night before our departure. People always ask me if I'm excited when I tell them I'll be living in Spain for the next year. It would be a gross understatement to say I'm just "excited." I also feel grateful and appreciatve I have this fortunate oppurtunity to live abroad and travel. I feel like a kid the night before Christmas except instead of looking forward to Santa's presents I'm looking forward to a year full of spontaneous travel, eye-opening adventures and new friendships. While studying abroad in Granada, Spain I absolutely fell in love with everything Spanish from the relaxed lifestyle, daily siestas, everyone's friendliness, and of course the best part of Spain... the nightlife!! I don't think anyone knows how to have a better time than a Spaniard. I learned a lot while studying abroad but most importantly I learned that a flight to Paris at 5:55 means 5:55 AM not 5:55 pm. All joking aside, I'm looking forward to meeting people from all around the world and having the oppurtunity to learn about new cultures. Most of all I'm excited to have an opportunity to learn about myself. I don't think any type of education or classroom setting can teach one as much as forcing yourself to leave what is familiar and comfortable and to immerse yourself in a foreign culture where you will face obstacles to overcome. I can't wait to travel the world, dance the nights away and enjoy beautiful beaches from Lagos Portugal to Athens Greece....it's going to be a great year! We hope all our friends make it over for a visit.

un beso,

Allison

Almost two weeks and counting

2008-09-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's almost here, we've been talking about this for most of the year, and in a little over two weeks, we're going to be in SPAIN!!!!!! At this moment, I'm extremely excited, but at the same time nervous, because 9 months is a lot longer than the 3 months we spent there last time. You always worry about what's going to happen at home when you're gone, and hope you don't miss out on anything... Either way, I'm ready for a change of scenary and having the chance to live in a place that I'm totally in love with... Now the next challenge is packing....

~Ngoc :)