Bird Poop

Never have I ever been so scared of getting pooped on every time I walk outside.

Literally. Every. Time.

I don't really know why getting pooped on would happen so much more frequently here than MN. Maybe because in MN everything is spaced out. Houses are farther apart, buildings are much farther apart, birds live in the many, many trees we have. In Toledo, the buildings are so close together that there's almost no room for a street but somehow they manage having a street and a sidewalk between buildings. Also, there is not much greenery here in comparison to MN. Trees are not planted every 5 feet so the few trees here are old and tall. In each cluster of trees that stands are dozens of birds singing, jumping from branch to branch, and pooping. Many times you'll find chairs and tables from the local bar under these poop prone trees.

Now, you may think I'm just being paranoid. BUT, I have gotten minor poop bits on me while enjoying a tapa and beer. I also have seen friends get pooped on patios at restaurants.

I must tell you this story. My fear will make more sense.
The first week or two of being here I was in my art class. This particular day we had a sort of field-trip to a monastery to view the architecture there. We were getting ready to leave the building and walk outside, my professor led the way. Before anyone knew what was going on (we were still ooo-ing and ahhh-ing at the building) my professor screamed. We all looked and as she was the only person standing right outside the door, she had an outrageous amount of bird poop streaming down her face from her forehead, down her face, and on her shirt and pants. It was hilariously disgusting and I felt horrible for her. That was horrifying for me, imagine how mortifying it was for her. I lent her my water bottle to help clean the caca off. This day and event has haunted me since...

Never again will I take walking under birds or sitting under a tree lightly.

You know what they say about getting pooped on by a bird? It's good luck.

HA!

Well, there's good luck flying all around in Toledo. I'm going to be lucky for the rest of my life at this rate :P

Here's a doodle from while I was hand writing my blog in class today->

Note: I asked my friend Andrew what the verb
was for poop and he answered with poopar. lol

Beware friends. Birds are everywhere. Pooping wherever they want. 

Don't say I didn't warn you. . .

Makin' that Spanish money...€€€

A couple days ago I was offered this awesome job opportunity as an English tutor. I wasn't told many details, but that I would talk with these two kids for one hour once a week and get paid €10 each time. I was super excited to do this because I've always loved tutoring people especially with language, whether it be in Spanish or English. So I jumped at the opportunity!

If you know me at all, you probably know that I'm somewhat of a worrywart so I of course was nervous about meeting the mom, Amparo, and the two kids. I was also nervous about getting picked up in her car since I've never met her before (I could've gotten "taken") and she was a random stranger. I was also a bit nervous about speaking Spanish to her because there is nothing more frustrating to me than not being able to understand someone or worse, for them to not understand me when I speak Spanish. 

So I was a big ball of worry as I waited for her to pick me up for my first day which was yesterday. She arrived a bit late and we small talked until we got to her house. She introduced me to her sons Miguel and Roberto. Miguel is 11 years old and knows pretty decent English already. His brother, Roberto, is 8 years old and knows only some words in English. I started talking with them about school and sports and toys and Playstation and whatever I could think of. I realized however that I was only really talking with Miguel because he could converse with me, Roberto couldn't understand entirely what I was saying. He would scream the word in spanish that he could understand in English laughing and burrowing his head in the couch. He also kept nervously laughing and poking his brother asking him "¿Que ha dicho?" or "What did she say?" I tried speaking slower and using basic words to see if Roberto could understand me better then, but no luck. He was smiling and jumping around speaking to me and Miguel in Spanish. I could understand most of what he was saying but he was definitely having more fun flinging marbles with a sling shot at his brother than trying to learn with us. And hey, I can't blame him. Learning another language is hard especially when you have people speaking it to you and you can't understand a word their saying. 

I could tell he was getting frustrated and I was trying to use different techniques to help him understand what I was saying. Saying a sentence in English then in Spanish, using hand motions to illustrate the action of the verb, etc, etc. He so wasn't having it. He got up, walked to the computer and turned on Google Translator. 

He began typing...

I thought, 'Hey this is kind of cool. He will plug in some Spanish phrase and I can help him read it in English when the translation pops up.' 

So it definitely surprised me when he began typing "Mi hermano es tonto, gordo, gay y un elefante." Not only did he (and his brother) find this hilarious to begin with, but he hit the button to make the computer say the phrase in English, and the speakers were on full blast. So here, I have a boy constantly hitting the button making the computer say "My brother is stupid, fat, gay and an elephant" while laughing hysterically and loudly, and me trying to make him stop for fear that his mom would come in the room and ask me why I'm teaching him how to say that about his brother. Even though I wasn't sure what to do, I thought that this was pretty funny seeing that Miguel and Roberto were laughing too. Ah Google Translator, how you help youth learn new languages... hahaha

That honestly, was pretty much the entire hour of conversation. Getting to know these two mischievous boys and helping them (or trying to) with their English was priceless. It was an amazing help for my Spanish and teaching skills and that was only the first day. I can't wait for the next weeks to come! Hopefully they'll be a bit less crazy... ha

Cathedral in Granada

Ok, I'm terrible at keeping my blog up to date. I try to write in my journal that I carry with me everywhere and turn those notes/feelings/happenings/opinions/etc into blog posts when I get a chance later on. Apparently I haven't had many spare moments to post! I've been traveling almost every weekend and spending weekdays in class, homeworking, and living the Spanish life. I apologize friends and family for not keeping you updated! I'm working on getting everything posted since my first weekend trip in September so here goes! 

Friday September 23, 2011

First day in Granada, Spain:

As I sit in the Cathedral of Granada, Spain I feel obligated to write in my journal but have no words to truly describe its beauty. I am speechless, sitting on the front pew, marveling at each detail of this cathedral. A trend in European cathedrals, everything is made of gold. Paintings of saints mixed with gold statues fill the front of the church. You find new details that have stories and reasons behind them, that you didn't notice the first five times you looked at the same statue or painting. 

I have snapped about a hundred pictures of this Cathedral in a failed attempt to capture its beauty. The chipped paint that wore off over the past hundreds of years, the missing limbs of statues, the tarnished color of pure gold, the creaky sounds of each wooden pew as people sit in astonishment. It is frustrating because although I want to take pictures of everything to show what breathtaking beauty I find myself in front of, it still doesn't do justice.No photo or remake could ever resemble the actual beauty of these works. The scars of time obvious on each statue, painting and piece of gold. That only adds to the beauty of the art.

During my trip I'm taking pictures not only for myself so I can remember what I've done and where I've been, but to share with you, my friends and family. I feel as if I should apologize though. As you see the beauty in these pictures I post, just know that the real thing is a gazillion times more amazing. You will have to visit these places in person to experience what I am at this very moment. You have to be here for this to take you breath away, for it to stop you in your tracks, for it to make you so speechless that you have to actively search for words. You will marvel at each work and notice those details each time you look closer. This is real art, real history, real life.