This past week Carlos and I took a vacation to the French Basque country. Tickets on the train were only 20euros round trip. Much better than taking a plane. You can bring anything you want! Even though it does take longer...
We were stationed out of Biarritz for the week which is a pretty fancy resort town that was created so by a Russian Czar who went and loved it and by some Californian beach boys who went and loved the surf. If you don't have a car it takes a little while to get to Biarritz. We trained from Madrid to Hendaye, which is in France, and then there is a train to Biarritz, or you can take two buses to St. Jean de Luz and then from there to Biarritz center. The train lets you off at the train station and from there you have to catch a city bus to take you into the center of town. We became pros by the end of the trip after a shaky start on the day we arrived. And once we arrived in Biarritz we were struck by two things. The gloriousness of being by the sea and the crazy expensiveness of being in France. Apparently they don't do a lot of chicken products so eggs and chicken were crazy expensive. The cheapest eggs were 1.45 a dozen (1.05 here in spain or .99) and the chicken was between 11 and 14 euros the kilo (hmm between 2 and 7 euros a kilo here...). Produce was also off the charts with bananas being a whopping 2.40 a kilo, more than a euro more than in Spain and fruit generally being anywhere from 50 cents to a euro more expensive. No wonder the french eat so much bread and cheese. Those are the cheap bits!
And then there was being by the sea. There was the smell of the sea and the sound of the waves and the crispness of the air (when the wind blew), and the seagulls and just being able to see the sea and walk next to it was amazing. Biarrtiz is also located on a very hilly area which I had no idea and a lot of the coast is sheer cliffs down to the water with amazing beaches scattered in between. We were about 5 min walking from the Grande Plage, the Big Beach and from one of the windows in our little studio we could see the light house. Walking along the coast and running along it as the week progressed was lots of fun. There are all there little paths and stairs that go up and down the hill that take you up or down the beach or up to a vista or just around in general. Pretty much everywhere you went you had a great view of the sea and the water was really clear. you could se down to the bottom pretty far out if there wasn't a lot of wind kicking up the sand.
We made two day trips from Biarritz. One day we went to San Sebastian. I wanted Carlos to see the city because I think its beautiful and we also went because we decided to go grocery shopping there because the prices are so much cheaper. This was our lucky day. All of our transport connections worked out just right and we managed to catch the last train from Hendaye to Biarrtiz and then a night bus back into the city. We were worried for about a half hour that we would miss the train and have to spend the night in another city or pay a crazy amount of money for a taxi. Our other day trip was to Bayonne the Capital of French Basque country. That was a quick and easy bus ride from the center of town and well worth the visit. Its situated right at the fork of two rivers and is really pretty. It also has come hills and some really cool green spaces and lots of cute old houses and buildings that look like they came from post cards. We hit up the botanical garden, the Cathedral, and the Basque Museum and we wandered the streets. Apparently Bayonne is famous for its chocolate, but since we were there in the afternoon, everything was closing and we didn't get to try any. The prices are a little cheaper than in Biarritz and it has more of a lived in feel that Biarritz does. You can actually imagine people and you see people who live here instead of as in Biarritz where it seems like everyone there is a transient presence. I got a really good feeling from Bayonne and I'm glad we took the time to head over there.
It was sad to leave the French Basque country. No more ocean to play in, or to smell or to see. The water was nice at all times of the day and the tide rose and fell around 50 meters or more. The beach you were at in the morning would be completely gone in the afternoon only to reappear later. No more ice cream and pastry everyday or going for a run along the water. No more friendly funny French people who sound exactly like your stereotypical happy Frenchmen. On the other hand, it is nice to come back to normal priced food and the Menu of the day that is under 15euros with 3 courses and a drink and the familiarity of being in Madrid and the level of comfort it gives me to be home. Vacations are great, but sometimes coming home is the best part. Besides, Ill get to see the ocean at X-mas time:)
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Work for a month!
Just as I was losing all hope at having any more work in Madrid I received an email from an old acquaintance. She was a teacher that I worked with in the fall of 2008 at my school. She wanted to know if I was available to work a summer program at the American school the entire month of July. It was 4/5 year olds. In Aravaca. 9-2pm and the pay was excellent. Seeing as how I was desperate, and the pay was excellent I decided to give it a go despite all the other worries I had such as not actually being a teacher, teaching infantil etc. They were lenient with me and because we didn't come back from vacation until the 2 of July, I missed the first two days of school.
The first day of school was horribly daunting and nerve wracking. The other teacher who had the same age group as me has around 25 years of teaching experience and it seemed that everyone was a certified or experienced teacher and despite the fact that she told me that it was really just playing games and doing crafts in English with the kids, I felt totally out of place and overwhelmed. Part of it probably had to due with the fact that my class room didn't have anything in it besides chairs, tables, crayons, scissors, and glue sticks. And the fact that I had an assistant. That made two people I had to plan things for. There were no books to read, no toys to play with, nothing to do other than sing some songs, and fill in worksheets. After the first horrible day, things got gradually better. I planned my lessons out all the way until the end of class-sometimes I didn't actually use my plans, and I got to find ways around not having anything to do with them. Usually in the form of playing with little tiles or watching a movie in English. Some of my kids spoke really well and understood everything and some of them had no idea what I was saying and some of them were absolute disasters. The whole experience was without a doubt the most challenging thing I've had to do since writing thesis and after two years of kinda coasting by challenge wise, this was HUGE. But I survived, not with great outcomes, but I didn't fail either and I think the kids had an o.k time.
One of the aspects that struck me most about being at the American school was that everyone speaks English. And not the usual Spanish person speaking English that I'm used to. They spoke really well! The kids that went and graduated from the American school hardly have an accent. If you listen carefully you can tell they are non native speakers, but generally not. My faith has been restored in the Spaniard learning English. It can be done!
The first day of school was horribly daunting and nerve wracking. The other teacher who had the same age group as me has around 25 years of teaching experience and it seemed that everyone was a certified or experienced teacher and despite the fact that she told me that it was really just playing games and doing crafts in English with the kids, I felt totally out of place and overwhelmed. Part of it probably had to due with the fact that my class room didn't have anything in it besides chairs, tables, crayons, scissors, and glue sticks. And the fact that I had an assistant. That made two people I had to plan things for. There were no books to read, no toys to play with, nothing to do other than sing some songs, and fill in worksheets. After the first horrible day, things got gradually better. I planned my lessons out all the way until the end of class-sometimes I didn't actually use my plans, and I got to find ways around not having anything to do with them. Usually in the form of playing with little tiles or watching a movie in English. Some of my kids spoke really well and understood everything and some of them had no idea what I was saying and some of them were absolute disasters. The whole experience was without a doubt the most challenging thing I've had to do since writing thesis and after two years of kinda coasting by challenge wise, this was HUGE. But I survived, not with great outcomes, but I didn't fail either and I think the kids had an o.k time.
One of the aspects that struck me most about being at the American school was that everyone speaks English. And not the usual Spanish person speaking English that I'm used to. They spoke really well! The kids that went and graduated from the American school hardly have an accent. If you listen carefully you can tell they are non native speakers, but generally not. My faith has been restored in the Spaniard learning English. It can be done!
Monday, August 16, 2010
The Algarve
As soon as school ended the Morocco group went to Portugal and became the Algarve group. We flew into Faro, spent the night, walked around in the morning and then caught the train to Lagos. It was about a 2.5 hour train ride. In Faro the most interesting thing that I saw were the funny lagoon, lake, river things. The coast is not normal coasty. It has lots of little inlets and things that I dont even know what they are called. you can rent boats to go out and through the rivers to the actual coast or to a fancy restaurant....We also saw people clamming. That was cool.
Once we arrived in Lagos and made our way to the apartment, which was situated on top of a hill, but nice and new and clean we wandered around and checked out the beach. the closest beach to us was the Meia Praia and its 7km of sandy beach with clear blue water. It was amazing. And its pretty flat and some afternoons the tide comes up and in the middle of the beach you get salt water pools that are deep enough for kids to swim in them. Over the three days that we were there we realized that the tide moved a good 10-15 meters each time it went in or out. Day two was spent entirely at the beach and in the evening we geared up to watch the quarter final of the world cup with Spain versus Portugal. Everyone was all dressed up in their Portugal colors, but the best people I saw were two old folks. One was this old woman dressed head to foot in green and maroon. Hat, flags hanging off the hat, flag skirt, jersey, ribbons, mini scarves tucked into her shoes, fanny pack. The whole nine yards. She was amazing. The other one we saw was an old man, pretty much dressed the same. The little downtown of Lagos was packed with people and it was fun to be in such a charged atmosphere for the game. And even better when Spain won.
Day two was spent by going on a grotto tour. We split the girls and boys into boats and started off on the amazingly blue/torquoise waters of the ocean. Our boat man was awesome. He was a little sun browned and wind weathered old man who kept poking me to point to different rock formations. I think all the boat men come up with their own personal names for the rocks. We saw Dracula, an elephant, neptune and some old actress, the titanic to name but a few. The boys boat didnt see nearly as many cool faces in the rocks. We got dropped off a a beach called Paia Camilo which was a little cove. Carlos and I went tide pooling and saw some really cool animals including a strawberry looking sea critter and lots of crabs and neon algae. After exploring and enjoying the beach we walked back into town due to the distinct lack of taxis and ran into the old cathderal and some cute little streets. Dinner was a bbq and cobbler.
Our last day in the sun, carlos and i rented kayaks and went kayaking. Its such fun to do activities outdoors. Much more exciting than the norm. We spent time on the beach and before we knew it it was time to go. We ate dinner in town and in the morning we hopped the train back to Faro to catch our flight. It was so glorious to be at the beach and be able to relax and run on the beach and swim and kayak. A perfect post work vacation. That and we got there before all the tourists did so we had a little bit of peace and quiet. But all of Lagos looks like its built for tourists and they only make money during that time.
Once we arrived in Lagos and made our way to the apartment, which was situated on top of a hill, but nice and new and clean we wandered around and checked out the beach. the closest beach to us was the Meia Praia and its 7km of sandy beach with clear blue water. It was amazing. And its pretty flat and some afternoons the tide comes up and in the middle of the beach you get salt water pools that are deep enough for kids to swim in them. Over the three days that we were there we realized that the tide moved a good 10-15 meters each time it went in or out. Day two was spent entirely at the beach and in the evening we geared up to watch the quarter final of the world cup with Spain versus Portugal. Everyone was all dressed up in their Portugal colors, but the best people I saw were two old folks. One was this old woman dressed head to foot in green and maroon. Hat, flags hanging off the hat, flag skirt, jersey, ribbons, mini scarves tucked into her shoes, fanny pack. The whole nine yards. She was amazing. The other one we saw was an old man, pretty much dressed the same. The little downtown of Lagos was packed with people and it was fun to be in such a charged atmosphere for the game. And even better when Spain won.
Day two was spent by going on a grotto tour. We split the girls and boys into boats and started off on the amazingly blue/torquoise waters of the ocean. Our boat man was awesome. He was a little sun browned and wind weathered old man who kept poking me to point to different rock formations. I think all the boat men come up with their own personal names for the rocks. We saw Dracula, an elephant, neptune and some old actress, the titanic to name but a few. The boys boat didnt see nearly as many cool faces in the rocks. We got dropped off a a beach called Paia Camilo which was a little cove. Carlos and I went tide pooling and saw some really cool animals including a strawberry looking sea critter and lots of crabs and neon algae. After exploring and enjoying the beach we walked back into town due to the distinct lack of taxis and ran into the old cathderal and some cute little streets. Dinner was a bbq and cobbler.
Our last day in the sun, carlos and i rented kayaks and went kayaking. Its such fun to do activities outdoors. Much more exciting than the norm. We spent time on the beach and before we knew it it was time to go. We ate dinner in town and in the morning we hopped the train back to Faro to catch our flight. It was so glorious to be at the beach and be able to relax and run on the beach and swim and kayak. A perfect post work vacation. That and we got there before all the tourists did so we had a little bit of peace and quiet. But all of Lagos looks like its built for tourists and they only make money during that time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)