The Grass is Always Greener...

After having recently visited Barcelona, its all I can think about.  I just wish that this family lived there instead of Malaga.  Malaga is nice in the warmer months because of its proximity to the sea, but the beaches here aren't particularly pretty.  The prettiest beaches are outside Malaga, like the one I went to in Nerja.  Plus, if we're being honest, Barcelona has a mighty fine beach itself.

At the time of choosing an au pair family, I was mostly concerned with the family and not the city.  I knew I wouldn't want to live in the suburbs (and Malaga is a fair sized city).  But after experiencing Spain through being in Barcelona, I wish so badly that I was experiencing my year in a city like that.  It really hit me when we were in a Starbucks in the gothic neighbourhood of Barcelona... I just thought to myself "how awesome would it be to come here after Spanish class and study, with all the people walking by, and drip coffee instead of espresso-based-tiny-cups-of-coffee, in a city where I wouldn't be treated like such a tourist and I could blend in to the city's mosaic".  I'm definitely a city person, and I love all the people and the hustle bustle of a city, as well as all the opportunities.  There are so many more interesting people, restaurants and bars in Barcelona than Malaga (obviously).  Plus there is a subway system! Ohhhh how I miss the subway.  On Saturdays in Barcelona it runs all night! Genius.  The tourists are different in Barcelona.  They are like the tourists in Toronto... the city is so big that it just sucks them all in, and they don't seem so visible and they don't seem to matter anymore.  There are so many different cultures its not easy to see who belongs and who doesn't. 

In Malaga, I sometimes feel like such an outsider.  People here treat tourists differently.  And here, in the south of Spain, it is really obvious if you aren't a local.  Everyone here is so Spanish.  This is like the Florida of Europe... all the old white people from England, Ireland, the Nordic countries and Germany retire here.  And all the major cruise ships dock here, so there is a constant stream of tourists coming into the city, and Malaga isn't big enough to absorb them, so they compartmentalize them.  You're either a local or a tourist here. And you are treated accordingly.

But, I realize the grass is always greener.  For one thing, if I lived in Barcelona I would be learning to speak Catalan... which is completely different than Spanish.  I could not understand any of the Catalan that was in Barcelona, and I can understand Spanish quite well.

**disclaimer: I am happy in Malaga.  It is very different than Canada, which is what I wanted to experience.  And big cities like Barcelona aren't that far away, if I get 'city-sick' and feel the need to recharge.  I just really have the itch to be in a city right now, and European cities are a thing of beauty.  I'm actually starting to consider coming back to Europe again after going back to Canada for a while.  That is, if I can get a job here...
But that's another post.  If I ever get around to writing it.

Recent Foodstuff.

I tried coquinas, because I was really hungry and it was the only appetizer ordered at the restaurant besides bread.  I have to say, they were pretty tasty.  I couldn't get past the consistency though... something about it was kind of grainy and slimy at the same time.  But like I said, the taste was spot on!

I have been eating calamari as well, usually because I am hungry.  I don't like how chewy it is, and it kind of reminds me of rubber.  But when it is battered and fried I guess it's alright.  Besides, it seems to be one of the few kinds of seafood that doesn't look very much like the animal or organism in its natural environment.

I finally found peanut butter here... I bought it at a German store in Nerja.  It's really good... it tastes like natural peanut butter but it is nice and smooth and the oil doesn't seem to separate as easily.  I am enjoying it on bread here for a snack :)

I am drinking more milk here than ever.  It fills me up, and it goes well with the abundance of chocolate and bread and nutella that this family stocks up on.  Plus I put it in my cereal and call it a meal.  The milk here is not found in the refridgerated section of the supermarket... and you don't put it in the fridge until after you open it.  Weird, huh?

Also, I had shrimp again for the first time in a long time.  I didn't like it again.  So I won't have it again for a while.  I was going to try snails, but I really wasn't into it, and I almost 100% knew I wouldn't like them.  I tried a stew that was made with pigs feet and stomach... and I really liked it! Mind you, I didn't know what meat was in it until after I finished!

People keep trying to make me taste prawns.  But I won't. Ever. Eww.

Oops!

Where do you begin when you haven't updated your travel blog in over a month? I can't say I've been busy, because my life over here isn't really a 'busy' life.  I guess I'm a temperamental blogger... sometimes I get urges to write about what I'm experiencing, but most of the time I couldn't be bothered with trying to put my experiences in paragraphs.  I realized something though - I consistently use photography as a way to document my experiences.  If I feel like I am going to experience a new and exciting thing (where taking pictures is allowed), I just have to bring my camera.  I am addicted to photographing my new experiences.  And my outlet for sharing those photos seems to be Facebook.  I like that all my friends can see my pictures there, and I like receiving feedback on the pictures.  Writing just isn't really my thing I guess, as much as I hoped I could be an avid travel blogger.  I will still keep this blog, and update occasionally, but I felt like I owed an explanation for why I haven't been using this medium to share my experiences.

Language Exchanges

Just because I am a native English speaker and I am living in a place where learning the English language is a hot commodity doesn't mean that I have any desire to do meet ups with people to help them improve their English. The catch is always "and I can help you improve your Spanish!" but I get enough of that already. Not every moment of my day has to be spent learning Spanish, that's not the reason I am here (but I think people think that I am here primarily to learn Spanish). I'm frusterated at how many people (relatives and friends of the family) ask me if I want to meet up to do a language exchange. If I said yes to all of them, I would be busy all day every day with helping people improve their English. The only way I would do it is if I were getting paid. My time is valuable. I want to choose how I spend my day, even if it means having a siesta and watching a movie. It's my experience and it doesn't have to revolve around learning a language. I feel guilty when I don't want to do language exchanges, like people perceive it as a positive thing and by saying no I am turning down an experience. Too bad, it's not the experience I want to have.

The only exchange I am doing now is an hour of English a week for free yoga classes in return. I think its a fair trade, especially since yoga tends to be expensive and I like doing it.

10 year old girl problems

Laura is currently "not speaking" to her mother and instead writing what she wants to say on a note pad she is carrying around.  She is upset because apparently she says "my mother loves my brother more than she loves me!".  This is obviously not the case, but it's quite amusing to see how much of a drama queen a little 10 year old can be!

BzzzzZZZZ.

The flies are out in full force here in Malaga, and as annoying as ever.  According to Rosa, they are frantic because they can tell winter is coming (whatever "winter" means here!).  They fly around erratically and relentlessly... One spend a few hours circling the coffee table.  I know because I watched it . Spending time sunbathing on ground level is a pain, because there are always flies landing on you and walking around on your skin, leaving you to shift position constantly to get them off.  I find that lying on the rooftop patio is the best bet, the flies don't seem to go up that high.  Today while I was waiting for the bus, a fly kept trying to fly up my sleeve.  Yesterday two flies who appeared to be mating flew on to my arm to do their dirty work.  They buzz around your hair, land all over your arms and legs... Eating outside is difficult because you have to spend half your meal swating them away.  I can't wait for them to leave me alone.

Although, I guess it is better than mosquitos or bees.

Travel Tunes "California by Joni Mitchell"

Ahhh, a song about traveling the world, experiencing new and exciting things, but appreciating and somewhat longing for your home base, wherever that might be.

Still a lot of lands to see
But I wouldn't want to stay here
It's too old and cold and settled in its ways here
Oh but California
California I'm coming home

A random Thursday mix of things...

I need to practice how to write upside down question marks.  They go at the beginning of a sentence asking a question in Spanish, but they are incredibly hard to make legible when you draw them out.  Mine look like weird squiggles.

I would kill for a bagel and cream cheese, both of which (especially the bagel) is impossible to find here.  My fav breakfast, and it's nowhere to be found :(

Why is there no peanut butter here?! It makes the perfect snack on a piece of toast! I am tired of jam or nutella or butter... I want some all natural peanut butter.

There is no such thing as "to go" here in cafes.  I am used to breakfast on the go when it is early in the morning, and I am forced to sit and enjoy my coffee in a cafe instead of saving time and having it on the bus or in class.  Crazy European culture of taking it easy and enjoying every minute.

And the sidewalks! In the rain! It's like a death trap.  They are all made of some marble substance, and they are incredibly slippery in the rain.  Although no one else seems to be struggling, it is very difficult for me.  It takes me twice as long to get where I am going because of the possibility of slipping.

It is very difficult to get food delivered to your house.  I wanted a pizza delivered last night, and I gave up because it was too hard to find a place that delivers.  Crazy European culture of no fast food and of fostering home cooked fresh meals, sometimes a girl just wants a burger or a pizza.

New friends, good friends, weird friends.

The thing I was the most worried about before coming to Malaga was making friends.  I wanted to make friends around my own age (not too young, I can't keep up- not too old, I want an active nightlife).  I also wanted to find friends that spoke English, because I can't possibly spend all my time around Spanish speakers all week, I would go insane.  Some people think I should have Spanish friends to learn the language with, but I definitely get more than enough practice here with school, the family, and navigating the streets, stores, and restaurants.  Other than being roughly my age, and speaking English, I didn't really have any other criteria.

The friends I have met here so far have been through facebook, couchsurfing, my language course, and friends of friends I have met through those outlets.  I don't think I need to worry about not having people to hang out with while I am here anymore... actually, it's getting difficult to manage my weekend schedule because many of these groups of friends don't know each other, so I tend to hang out with each of them separately.  I plan on merging some people together soon to see if they hit it off, and we can have a larger group.  Some of the friends I have met I have really, really hit it off with.  Others, I don't think I'm too compatible with... they are a little strange (sometimes different cultures are a little hard to get along with, and don't really foster the qualities that I like in my close friends).

The first people I met are ironically the ones that I don't get along with the most.  I mean, we get along, but I didn't find talking with them particularly enriching, or hanging out with them particularly entertaining.  We didn't seem to have similar interests, similar conversation styles, or similar ways of thinking.  Nice people to meet, but not to necessarily hang out with on a regular basis.  Unfortunately, some of these people have been contacting me to hang out again and again, and what little social time I do have allotted to me, I would rather spend with the people I get along with better.

I am a little hesitant to meet guys online here in Spain, they come off very flirty.  I don't want any of them to think that I want to meet up to hook up, so I have to be very careful with the ones I make contact with.  I recently met one who was a PhD student (which to me is, for some reason, a safe trait).  He was really nice, knew a lot about Malaga, and was able to carry an interesting and intelligent conversation for a few hours which was nice.  He had a bit of "european oddness", just something different about the guys here than back in North America or northern Europe.  He is an avid couchsurfer, and has a good social network here in Malaga.  But he likes to travel on weekends and has a car, so this friendship may come in handy for weekend day trips!

One of the few au pairs I met here is really great too.  She is young, fun, and chatty, so we don't get bored together.  She is always up for going out and having fun, so we like to hit up bars and tapas places on the weekends together.  We also talk a lot about our au pair experiences, and I cannot believe all the similar things we are experiencing and can relate to! She'll be telling a story about something, and I will be freaked out at how similar her experience is to mine.  It's great to have someone to talk to about the joys and troubles of au pairing... you always need someone to vent to, and we definitely do a lot of that over sangria at night (although, to be fair, she has a lot more the handle than I do and her family isn't as great as mine).  She's from Germany, and I hope to be able to visit her once this contract is up!

I met a girl on couchsurfing who brought her girlfriend to our first meet-up, and we hit it off right away.  We spent the night laughing our butts off, and talking about all sorts of things.  One girl is from England, and is a teacher here at an English school, and her girlfriend is from Spain (but speaks English) and she is in the University here.  These two are so cute together, and I love hanging out with them.  We do night things (like a birthday party coming up!) and day things (motorcycling and shopping and lunch) and they know other people here in Spain (English teachers at the school) that I will meet soon.  We already have plans to go skiing in the winter, and to go to Barcelona for a weekend to visit the one girl's sister who lives there.  Fun and funny girls :)

And thankfully there is a girl in my Spanish class who speaks English and who is my age.  Ironically, she is from Ireland and her boyfriend lives in Malaga (ironic because my beau is in Ireland and I'm in Malaga).  She is really chatty and friendly (and so nice to everyone in our class! not that I'm not... I just don't really try to become friends with anyone else in that class).  She is an English teacher at a school near my place, and she is very excited to have someone else to speak English to and go out with (all her boyfriends friends are Spanish and don't speak English!).

Now I just need to get all these wonderful people together and have one great beach day or night on the town...

Escuela Oficial de Idiomas de Malaga

Ahhh, being in a language school and being surrounded by foreigners.  I used to work at a Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada program, and I always knew what it was like on the teacher side of the relationship.  Being a student is a whole different ballgame.  These are my interpretations on the whole experience so far.

First of all, this school handled the registration process very poorly.  Everything was so disorganized! I felt like I was at a third world country or something... people all clamoring at the gate of the school to try and get in, lines around the block, no one speaking english or making any sense.  The line up was around the block just to get a registration form! I went on two separate occasions to try and aquire one of these ellusive forms.  The first time was the day that people wanted to register for English school, and it was crazy.  Luckily, I had my host mother with me and she was able to undestand what was going on.  Apparently they were only giving forms to people who knew what level they were going to register in (like individuals who had attended the school before or are transferring from another school).  I knew I would be registering in the most basic level, but they still said I needed to take a placement test a week later to be sure.  The second time I went to the school to try and register, I went alone.  I went the next day (when Spanish school and other language school registration was), and the line up was still around the block.  I just went home after that and figured I would have to write this silly placement test which I essentially won't understand and will hand back in after I put my name on the top.

The day of the placement test was another day of chaos.  All the instructions (and the test itself) was written in Spanish, so I obviously did not understand anything.  After I "wrote" the exam (put my name on the top and wrote BASIC LEVEL 1 across it), I tried to hand it in but they told me to just wait.  People started walking out of the room with their finished exams, and I was getting antsy, so I just decided to follow them.  Turns out I made the right call.  But then we ended up in a crowded hallway of classrooms with no instruction of where to go or what to do.  So I just waited in line for something to happen.  Finally someone announced the room to go in for all level one students (right before I entered another room for an oral exam of Spanish).  We were then handed forms to fill out and return to the school before our first day of class.  When I asked what we were supposed to do with our completed placement tests, I was told not to worry about them, since we were in level one.  Frusterating, as I was trying to get these forms a week ago and was told I HAD to write this test.

So with these forms in tow, I headed over to the bank to try and make my payment for the tuition.  Four banks later, I was finally able to make the payment.  The first bank was requesting a card for the identity number the school told me to put down, the second bank told me that my passport was invalid, and the third bank told me I had the wrong payment paper from the school.  Thank god for Unicaja, which didn't give me any problems and let me make the payment...

The first week of Spanish school is coming to an end, and so far it's been good.  The teacher only speaks Spanish, but I feel like I can understand what she is saying.  Right now, the hardest part is to memorize the exceptions to pronunciations of letters and assigning masculine and feminine words.  I met a girl in my class from Ireland, and we sit together.  Most of our class is Chinese and Eastern European... and they are all a little weird.  They all laugh at the stupidest things in the class, and all yell out the answers to every question (even when the question is directed to one person).  And I still can't get the hang of writing an upsidedown question mark... they always end up looking like squiggles!