Part IV. A Fulbright “Spring Break: London

Totally not planned: Getting acquainted with London the weekend of the Royal Wedding ! 

Prince William and Kate Middleton on their big day.
Thousands  of people camped out just to witness this "historical event"!

Goal: Avoid crowds at all costs. 

Meet Rory! A fine orator and aspirant Cardiologist!

My first day was nothing short of a blessing. Aside from the 1 hour delay in Amsterdam, everything and every one exceeded my expectations. My new friends were so pleasant, so helpful and generous (Thank you million fold, Molly and Luis, for introducing me to such angels!)

Meet Nadine! You've got a bright future ahead of you
in Forensics, chica bonita. Check Out The "Cucumber" in the Background.

I met up with Nadine and Rory the minute I arrived into London. Luis, you were not kidding. They are AMAZING. I finally met Amy, the beautiful and generous woman Molly has spoken of, at her presumably high caliber salon in central London http://www.rush.co.uk/. With out a second thought, Amy benevolently offered me a safe place to stay during my visit. I’m STILL taken aback by this extreme act of kindness.

Borough Market. GET FAMILIAR! BEST Mustard I've had yet.

I would spend the next 3 hours enjoying the (again, atypical of my host city) sunny, warm day with Nadine (The Smiley undergraduate of Forensic Science) and Rory (Future Cardiologist). We covered quite a bit of ground! 

Here it is, LONDON BRIDGE
Fergie, you've had it ALL wrong I think.

Later on, I met the INFAMOUS Funlola (Fun). Luis has described this powerhouse, actor, Mother Teresa reincarnate individual to a T. I swear, every one kept on getting better and better. 

Tower Bridge. The REAL Deal.

Can I stay here for just another few weeks? Fun and I went to a great café to set up for the weekly “Word” Bible study whilst listening to a lovely playlist. Made a few additional friends, ate delicious food and, I must say, participated in some of the most engaging discussion I’ve had in a bit.

My first experience riding in a British car! Took a little to getting used to, I must admit.

 I love Fun’s intermittent positive reinforcement for insightful comments (“Deep”, she says.) I couldn’t get enough of it. I can’t forget to mention several enlightening conversations with new crony, Wayne (lawyer and PhD student of Theology). What a guy! 

At last, I finally met Buckingham Palace!

St. Paul's Cathedral

By 2 PM the next day, I realized how badly I wanted to prolong my stay in London. I couldn’t ask for a more pleasant experience in a place where I literally hadn’t formally met any one before arriving. The weather was still stupendous. I’d explored a great deal more that I anticipated, thanks to Amy’s roommate (really sweet girl from Edinburg, Scotland). I landed at St. Paul’s Cathedral, where I started “The Rules of Life” (a surprisingly quick and memorable read) by international best seller, Richard Templar. I might have to pick up a copy for myself.

The London Eye

BBQ at Amy’s! Inconceivably executed meal by Amy and her equally amazing flatmates: Salmon, Steak, Salad, HUMMUS dip, Avocado, Veggie Skewers, Fruit Salad, chicken, sausages, the list goes on. As you must know by now, pretty much the only way to my heart is through my stomach. What was even more heartwarming for me was enjoying this time with genuinely sweet people, most of which currently working as professional hair stylists through out the city center.

Upstanding people right here! Beautiful and Wonderful!

Final Day in London: “Don’t worry.” Angels, Angels everywhere.

In a nutshell: “No need to thank me…please.”

My last day in London, the lovely city of English Breakfast tea (which I have actually grown quite fond of these past few days), I was invited to a church service. Great Service on 79 Endell Street, near Covent Garden Station.  WOW. Just wow. So uplifting and humbling. Thanks so much for making me feel welcome, every one!  This is a community I would seriously consider being a part of if I lived in London.

I'm telling you, 79 Endell Street on Sunday. This is where it's at, people. 

How do I get so lucky? I meet some of the kindest, most generous people. I can’t help but express my gratitude all of the time. I know it was overwhelming, Amy & girls! But I can think of a very small percentage of the human population who’d – without a second thought – welcome a complete stranger (Well, a friend of a family friend) into her/his safe, warm, cozy home for three days! Talk about pouring out copious amounts of hospitality. You may understand why it is hard to absorb it all.

While on the topic of generosity and perhaps even altruism, I mustn’t forget to introduce another work of heavenly art I’ve stumbled upon during a time of need. How about randomly meeting one of the sweetest men in the subway station? 

“This is how the people are in my country. Don’t be surprised.” Meet Alex. Tall, lanky, amicable 18 year old, who volunteered the entirety of his evening to ensure that I arrive at the airport on time for my flight. Within minutes of meeting, I had a feeling that Alex really genuinely “[likes] helping people”.

Alex is a genuinely helpful ESL student from the Ukraine, who has (rather than jump right into the University scene) opted for traveling to and living in English-speaking countries through out the world for 9 months before studying international tourism. He will have no problem in this field, I assure you.

So, I was rather lost. (Ah, the “tube” and its unanticipated cancellations of MY district lines.)  I met Alex at 7:30 PM and we were inseparable until my 1 AM schedule bus ride from Central London to the airport. Ah, memories: Studying subway maps, waiting for our metro 20 minutes at a time, Searching for nearly an hour for a bus stop, running into a local market for ingredients to make a quick dinner for my new friend and a few friends he happened to be holding up. After a quick meal, Alex even insisted walking me to the bus stop, despite the fact that he had a friend visiting.


Surreal! Who is this young man? (I should really ask, WHERE DID I FIND ALL OF THESE PEOPLE?) How does I get so lucky?

Part III. Fulbright “Spring Break”: XXX

You'll see XXX everywhere in Amsterdam. PERO PORQUE?

Surprisingly Comfortable,
I must say!

 



“Consider yourselves lucky! Today is (proportionally) unlikely. 220 days of Rain/Unfavorable weather a year. So enjoy!” 

~ Petra, our high energy, slightly eccentric Tour Guide

A nutritious breakfast is INDEED the most important meal of the day (energy and concentration levels sky rocket and likelihood of lethargy decreases). I couldn’t agree more and, apparently, neither can the Captain of our Boat-Hostel. 

Despite the fact that our room is approximately ¼ the size of my first dorm room at UConn (use your imagination), we slept like babies in the evening and ate like royalty in the morning. Mind you, (generally speaking) when the staff in a Hostel say that “Breakfast is included” it consists of toast, marmalade, coffee and tea. But the Friesland has exceeded my expectations with: It was unreal!

Oh and did we eat! I feel as if we ate enough to last us until Dinner.

Just look at this spread!

Limitless supplies of Peanut Butter
= a problem! Peanut Butter is
1.20 Euros for a GENEROUS JAR. The city
offers a much wider selection
than one would typically see in a Spanish
supermarket. You can’t imagine
how pleased this made me.

This scene reminded me of our AM dining experience (Five Star Continental Breakfast) in Pamplona for our Mid Year Conference. It was hard to part from The Friesland that morning, particularly for two ladies who very much live to eat. 

The rest of the day was just as lovely. Amsterdam weather was certainly not typical – it was sunny and breezy; perfect for our 22 km Bike Tour  (Thanks for the recommendation, Katie!), through the countryside. The 6 of us had a blast. We learned quite a bit about the history (only 800 years) of Amsterdam. Our high energy, slightly eccentric and suggestive tour guide was GREAT. We lucked out with this one! Thanks, Petra!

 

On our way to the Bike Tour, Chels and I stopped by the famous Floating Flower Market.

Red Light District

Met up with the girls a bit later on for a bitter sweet close to the evening. After an interesting walk through the Red Light District, we finally agreed on THE bar for the Barca v. Real Madrid game.

Our last day in Amsterdam was great!

The Anne Frank House/Museum  was definitely the highlight of my day. Every one seemed to genuinely enjoy it.

Few memorable quotes:

“I know what I want, I have a goal. I have opinion, a religion, and love.”
Anne Frank, 11 April 1944

“To build the future you have to know the past.”
Otto Frank, 1967

The New York Times Raves about The “Pancake” (Crepe) Bakery.

Lyla “Pancake” Duley insisted we enter!

Pancakes or Open Face Crepes?

Amsterdam and the Netherlands, Did You Know? Amsterdam has over 1 million bikes but only 700.000 Amsterdammers When you land at Schiphol Airport, you are actually four meters below sea level. The Netherlands has more than 4,000 km of navigable rivers, lakes and canals. Amsterdam has over 300 coffee shops which can legally sell up to 5 grams of soft drugs to each person. Only 10% of the local population actually smoke marijuana. The name Amsterdam comes from the combination of the river Amstel and the Dam that was built on it in order to found the original village known today as Amsterdam. You might know the name Amstel as the name of a beer which was also named after the river because it was brews locally. Amsterdam boasts more museums of any city in the world, measured per square meters.  With over 70 major well know museums in Netherlands of which over 40 are in Amsterdam. They cover every sort of weird and wonderful topic, from famous painters to museums on the history of  sex and marijuana. The Dutch people are the tallest in all Europe and second tallest inthe world.(and the best looking) Amsterdam has 70 glass-topped canal boats. The Dutch are the world experts on keeping back the water / sea from over running their country and turning it into another Atlantis. During the hurricane Katrina disaster it was the Dutch the USA government turned to for help on how to repair the levies in New Orleans. If global warming causes the sea levels to rise even a little it could be bye bye Amsterdam as it will be one of the first cities to get flooded, because it’s actually well below sea level and most of the country has been reclaimed from the sea so it is almost entirely flat and is 6.7 meters below sea level at its lowest point. The Van Gogh collections in the Van Gogh Museum and the Kröller-Müller Museum are the largest in the world. Visiting the Amsterdam parliament building could prove difficult as there isn't one. Even thought  Amsterdam is the largest city in the Netherlands and is officially the capital it does not hold the parliament as all of the government functions take place at the Hague. Amsterdam has a house boat known as the Poezenboot which acts as a house for stray cats. A woman who had been re-housing stray cats had the idea of getting them a houseboat – after all, if people can live in them, why not cats?  Now gone, the idea lives on as volunteers now look after a boat full of cats. 75% of the entire worlds flower bulb production comes from Netherlands Over 70% of the worlds bacon (poor pigs) comes from the Netherlands The International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court are both in The Hague. Holland has around a thousand original still working windmills. Netherlands is the third largest exporter of agricultural products in the world even though just three percent of the Dutch population are employed in this sector. (Tulips I guess) Holland has over 15,000 km of bicycle lanes. Amsterdam is built entirely on piles, huge stakes driven into the ground. Central station has 6000 of them keeping it up. Holland always has a coalition government, so it's a country of compromise and tolerance. Every Dutch person has at least one bike and there are twice as many bikes as cars. Holland was one of the six founding members of the European Union. Holland's highest point is 323 meters above sea level which makes it their highest mountain. Most Dutch people speak at least one foreign language as well as Dutch and English. Holland and the Netherlands are the same country. A quarter of the Netherlands is below sea level.

What’s the story behind XXX in Amsterdam (no, its origins have absolutely nothing to do with the XXX film industry). Why can tourists see buildings sporting this logo through out Amsterdam? What is its connection to the film industry in America?

Part II. A Fulbright “Spring Break”: Andalusia la Maravilla - Sevilla, Granada y Malaga

After a completely voluntary (no estoy quejando/I’m not complaining) 8.5 hour train ride from Valencia, I felt surprisingly refreshed, revived even upon my arrival to Sevilla. It was so nice to see the girls’ faces! Norita had just returned from a day trip to Cadiz and Chelsea was raving about yesterday’s trip to Cordoba.

Just in case I haven’t made it clear, lovely comrades, I absolutely love “hostel culture” (a term I’ve literally just coined). Despite my initial apprehension (attributed to fear of uncharted territory), I’ve had quite favorable experiences, particularly with fellow ‘backpackers’. 

We made some friends on my first night, including 7 young men from Barcelona with a wide range of academic (scholarly, vamos) interests (Hotel Management, AKA phenomenal chef; future physicists, economists and entrepreneurs. Interesting fellows, I must say.

Check it out! Talk about feeling welcome!

Our lovely hostel, The Garden Backpacker was strategically located near the city center. Top rated. Excellent Staff! Kudos to Ms. Dixon.

Dario is knowledgeable AND funny, apparently. 

PANCHO TOURS. Represent! In front of La Catedral

Easter Sunday in Sevilla was memorable! The Free walking tour I decided to participate in last minute was a great decision. Our tour guides, Pepe and Dario, were sweet and had loads of energy and interesting historical information. 

Pepe and I in Plaza Espana!

From what I gathered, the weather cleared up beautifully and just in the knick of time for my opportunity to witness Easter procession in Sevilla – quite a big deal in Spain. According to one of our tour guides, Sevilla is ‘the most religious city in Spain’. I felt this was quite a subjective ‘fact’, but wasn’t particularly in the mood for debating its validity. ‘You know what I mean, jelly bean?’ as Mom always says. In any case, a highly recommend Pancho Tours to anyone visiting Sevilla. They also offer tours in Cadiz, Malaga and Lisbon, Portugal! Another participant (Carys from the UK) and I were in a bit of a rush, but were really looking forward to seeing Plaza Espana, which was scheduled for the end of the tour.  Pepe, the sweet Sevillano that he is, offered to leave the rest of the group with Dario, (a human sparkplug, I tell you) so that he could lead us to our destination. We had but 20 minutes to get there, snap a few shots of the breathtaking scene (REALLY wish we could have stayed longer) and head back to the hostel to collect our things. Carys and I started out at a brisk pace on the walk back, which soon evolved into to full out sprint.

I. Can't. Get. Enough. of Plaza Espana

We made it! After quickly collecting my belongings, the girls and I were headed to Granada!

Our first full day in Granada was wonderful! The weather, my friends, was GLORIOUS! I could not BELIEVE the number of photos I’d taken in a single day (want actual numbers, people? 192). The sweet young man I met on my way to Florence was by no means exaggerating when he described Granada to me: “By far, BEST of Andalucia; Granada is better than Sevilla, Cadiz, Cordoba and Malaga combined.” He went on to say that I mustn’t leave Spain with out experiencing it.”

Indeed, it did.

La Alhambra from a afar. Next time!
La Mirador de San Nicolas

Check out the Ground we walked on.
Beautiful.

To our dismay, the girls and I were unable to book a tour for La Alhambra (It was unsurprisingly full when we attempted to make an online reservation one week before departure for El Sur/The South).

 While it was a bit of a bummer, we opted for the next best thing: Los Jardines de la Alhambra. They were captivating!

 The Arabic influence (from the Moorish Occupation) in Granada was striking and lovely.

The girls and I had a blast. I really appreciated the elaborate presentation of flowers and the miles of vegetation across the way! I was so proud of the Nora, a trooper, for walking the entire time with out a single complaint about her injured knee!

After the gardens, the girls and I (full of our latest memories of paradise in Southern Spain), we roamed into a Moroccan Teteria, where Chelsea persuaded me to reserve a spot to see real Andalucian Flamenco!

My new friends! Typical music of Andalusía is
Flamenco Puro (Traditional Flamenco)
and Flamenco Fusion (El Bicho is very popular at the moment)

“Addie, you can not leave Andalucia without seeing a Flamenco Show. This is where it was born!” La Rubia could not be more right. The Show (offered at the Lachien, which we mistakenly referred to as “La Leche”) was fantastic! La cueva, the cave, was cram packed! What a treat. And for 6 Euro, no less! No drink included, of course. “Hey, Addie. This is perfect for you! Now a free drink won’t go to waste.” It was our friend, Pepe’s 77th Birthday the night of the show. Pepe was el cantante, or main singer, which made the event all the more enjoyable. The guitarist and dancer equally talented and amiable! They made such a great team.

My Very First Time Tapeando

My goodness, I did not want to leave. Granada was just so easy to navigate and it gives off such a lovely city-town feeling (a nice combination: not too busy, not too quiet). Bars are constantly filled with (international and Spanish) university goers, most of which a local I met identified as “hippies”. Speaking of bars, I have great news! In Granada was my first experience tapeando (more or less, bar hopping; trying a different tapa and alcoholic beverage at every bar one visits. One can spend 20 minutes, an hour or more at each bar. It’s quite fun!) It was interesting.

Before departing for Malaga to catch our direct flight to Amsterdam, I chose to go hunting for a famous tea shop in the city center. Surprise, Surprise. Guess what, friends? I found it and became slightly infatuated with the place (See Medievo). I stayed for about one hour marveling at, inhaling the aroma of and learning about over 50 types of loose leaf teas. I even sampled hearty raw almonds (my favorite!). It was wonderful and kind of rejuvenating. Note: Gran Via Calle Colon is lovely!

After preparing a scrumptious low budget lunch with the girls, we prepared for departure. (Note: Pink Lady Apples are a WINNER. I’d never tried one.)

We made it! The Beautiful Sacromente

The walk down to Sacremonte: Albaycin 
(Barrio de Granada, Arabe y Judeo)

LUNCH TIME in the hostel. Low cost AND a laugh inducer, for sure.


Warning: Irrelevant comment.

Meanwhile, I’ve decided to take up a free American Sign Language Course online! I met a woman at the Flamenco Show the night before he really got me thinking about how beneficial it would be to teach my Pre-K’ers to sign during phonemic instruction. Any one interested?

Semana Santa in Valencia

Choices. Choices. Choices. I was very satisfied with my last minute decision to stay in Valencia for a few extra days during Semana Santa (Holy Week). I was scheduled to leave for Sevilla the day we finished classes, but rather impulsively decided to leave on Saturday morning instead! It was an excellent decision: I caught up on quite a bit of work, sleep*, and became acquainted with the local happenings during Holy Week. I was thrilled when one of my ESL students proposed to walk down to Cabanyal/Marvarosa Beach to check out the procession on Good Friday! Yes, this week’s conversation class with Juanvi constituted 2.5 hours of sauntering through the crowded streets near our lovely beach. 

I couldn’t believe that Juanvi has lived in Valencia his entire life and has never seen a Procession. It actually made me feel good that it was our first time witnessing this tradition together.

“Don’t worry, Adaliss. I know this looks like the KKK in America, yes? These are hermanidades/brotherhoods. Think of Fraternities in America. This is kind of like that. They are Religious Fraternities determined by the zone you live in. All who are affiliated must wear these hats as a tradition dating back to the Medieval Ages. Again, no worries.”
-nThanks, Juanvi!

Easter in Valencia is bursting of processions featuring floats portraying the Passion with statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary.

 “Don’t worry, Adaliss. I know this 

looks like the 

KKK in 

America, yes? 

In Valencia the processions take place in the barrios of Cabanyal, Cabanyemelar and Grau (adjacent the beach). Here is where the locals and visitors enjoy the “romerias”, or (processions, through out Semana Santa.

The first day of Semana Santa (Holy Week) is el Domingo de Ramos, or Palm Sunday, which is the day processions begin. Then, Procesión del Silencio, or The Procession of Silence, is held on Jueves Santo (Holy Thursday). Lastly, Santo Entierro, or Holy Burial, is held on Viernes Santo (Holy Friday).

Some men are barefoot, wearing chains,
which signifies the suffering of Christ.

That floats are typically carried by men sporting hoods and long robes. These are followed by penitents dressed in pointed hoods and capes.

I love working with Juanvi. It’s such a great opportunity to reflect on the past week at work! I’m not ashamed to say that I love talking about the kids. Naturally, this takes up most of my ‘sharing’ time.

A little Give and Take at El Barranquet: Sharing a bit of Culture at el Cole

Preparing class materials and activities for the weeks was quite entertaining and time consuming, the former applying more to the girls (Norita, Marg and Chelsea) who were forced to witness my attempts at formulating an appealing Easter Song for my first graders. Hey, why not? Rationale: All for the kids, right?

Making "La Mona" with Pre-K and Kindergarden!

On Easter day in Spain, the locals have a traditional Easter cake, “La mona de Pascua”, which dates back to the 15th century.

Originally it was a small round pastry or cake, which was topped with hard boiled eggs (which is what we did at your school, more or less!) but today they are more sophisticated and there are quite a few variations of the pastry.

Making Easter Bunnies with
my 1st and 2nd  graders!
You got your multicolored bunnies, your
collage-ified bunnies

Look at them go!

Organizing the (5th and 6th grade) kids’ first Easter Egg Hunt was a two week process and very much worth it! Of course, I would have tweaked (quite) a few things*, but overall it went well, thanks in great part to 5th and 6th grade teachers, Patro and Josep.

Explicit academic instruction's never a bad thing, especially on a warm and sunny April day!

*Academic instruction: communicating clearer instructions and expectations, all that good stuff that comes with practice.

Teresa, the Pirate, reading to Kindergarten

Meanwhile (well through out the year, really), I’ve been learning quite a bit from the head of the ESL department (mi jefa, Teresa) both indirectly and directly. Despite our marked differences in preferred teaching styles– “Teachers-knows-all”/formal authority/“sage on the stage” versus (what I believe to be a more) more student-centered learning (sometimes referred to as the “Facilitator” teaching style) with a bit of “Demonstrator/Personal Model” approach– I very much respect Teresa. I appreciate how Teresa takes the time (instructional time, that is) to teach her classes about really interesting historical facts, the origins of specific words and myths, misconceptions, what have you.

Outside of class, Teresa (who will be retiring at the end of the year after over 30 years in education) indulges in every opportunity to share with me what she perceives to be profound life lessons that educators learn only from experience. I've translated and paraphrased a few that come to mind.

 - [Every second of class time, you have X number of TVs watching you, observing and internalizing every single thing you do. However, you must recognize that whilst they watch you (your TV program) you are also watching each individual TV program (TV programs that give a CLEAR PICTURE of what home is like, what they do in their spare time, their self efficacy, their beliefs, etc.)] 

What I’ve gathered here: We really need to take the time to develop and maintain relationships (CONNECT) with our students to understand where each are coming from. This is the only way to really maximize students’ learning potential (given your curriculum and instructional delivery is on point]  

- [You really have to expect the unexpected in education. You may think you have constructed one of the most beautiful lessons for your class and last minute something comes up/something goes horribly wrong. ALWAYS have a back up plan and constantly surmise possible problems and solutions to those problems. You must always be prepared. You’ll find that you decrease your stress levels and maximize student learning this way]  

- [Don’t EVER forget that as educators we are constantly learning] which reminds me of Mom’s belief in the importance of being a lifelong learner

Next stop: Finishing Semana Santa in Andalucia la Maravilla!