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Okay so I am having technical difficulties with uploading pictures from my camera onto my computer. I think there's a problem with my USB but I'm not sure. Fingers crossed it will work because I have sooo many more pictures to post of Cuenca!

Food from Week 1

I am getting better at taking pictures of everything I eat, patience please. So here is a mix of things from the first week. Everything so far is delicious, I can't complain.

Jamon and cheese fried with potato and olive salad.

(Clockwise) Dinner with the roommates:  cesaer salad, extra potato/olive salad, tuna rolls
with cheese and fried ham and cheese. 

Muffin with chocolate filling for breakfast.

Doritos (Tex Mex is the same as nacho cheese) dipped in cheese.

First meal I made for myself (and I have the burns from the olive oil to prove it)...pork, potatoes and salad. 

Chorizo and melon for dessert. 

Left over pizza, spiced pork and french fries.

all for now.

un beso,

jaclyn

Mall Adventures

Bea and I went to the mall last Thursday night. It's pretty small but it has some of my fav stores... Bershka and Stravivarius. I bought a pair of sneakers, zip up jacket and a smaller purse because everyone keeps commenting on how big mine is so I got one to blend in with the crowd.

    

My Spanish kicks and bag.

Bea on the carousel.

In front of one of my favs, Bershka. 

We thought about going to see a movie but the one we both wanted to see, Going the Distance, wasn't working of course. So the other movies playing were Lope, El Americano (The American), a children's cartoon, Step Up 3 and some alien movie. So we just ordered pizzas from Telepizza (a hawaiian and a carbonara, like the pasta like mushrooms, bacon and a cheese sauce) so delish I forgot to take pictures. 

xxoo,

jaclyn

My "sexy" new phone

I got a Spanish cell phone and when I showed it to Bea's boyfriend he called it "muy sexi." It's a pink slider, pretty high tech. But hey, it's a phone.

Day Two Adventures

Day Two in Spain.
I woke up at 8 and showered and got ready. I made eggs for breakfast with orange juice and Bea thought that was so weird...they don't eat eggs for breakfast. Then we drove to Motilla de Palancar, that's the town that Bea is from and the town where my high school is. She had to go back home for a funeral so she dropped me off at my high school while she went to the cemetery. I met a lot of teachers, most of them had heard of me and were excited to meet me. I went into the Bilingual Section that I am going to help teach to introduce myself. The class is 22 12 year olds. They all looked pretty lost, like they were concentrating really hard to understand my English. But I was only in there for a minute.

Then I went with the English teachers to a cafe during the break to have coffee (I had tea). All of the other teachers came too and I got to meet even more teachers, which means even more double kisses. After coffee, Bea came to pick me up and we went to her house in Motilla for la cena, their big meal (dinner) is at like 2-3 pm. She made me paella because Bea told her it was one of my favorites with chicken. It was delicious!! I wish I would have taken a picture. She gave me a tour of their house, so beautiful! And I met their dog, Flukey. Her sister is a student at my high school and she was so nervous to try speaking English but she's good!

After paella, we went to meet three of the English teachers for coffee. We drove a small town that was close by, Alarcon. It looked just like a painting, gorgeous.

The smaller castle.

Our group: Elena (Bea's sister, Bea (roommate), Elvira (English Teacher), Me, Rosa (Head of English Department)

Castle walls and countryside.

The view.

Other view. Incredible.

We walked around the town that has only like 50 residents and went inside the castle and had a drink. It was so nice out we sat on the patio and I was sweating in my jeans and shirt.

I could live here. 

These streets are worse to walk on than the bricks in Athens.

After I went with Sara, another English teacher (she was taking the above picture) to get a Spanish cell phone. Then we went back to her apartment to wait for Bea to come back and pick me up for dinner. I got to use her computer and we listened to her ipod with Spanish songs and some English artists like Gavin Degraw. Her apartment has a great view of Motilla de Palancar and I couldn't resist...

Sunset in Motilla.

Bea picked me up and we went to her Aunt's house and I met her grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins. Her one cousin, Ana, is going to be in my class. She was pretty shy but I would be too if I were meeting my teacher for the first time in my house...Then we went to dinner with Bea's boyfriend, his brother and his brother's girlfriend. Then we went out for a drink and back to Bea's house. Her mom and sister introduced me to my new favorite Spanish TV show, I can't remember the name exactly but it is seriously scandalous! haha. We stayed at her house and they gave me pajamas, a case to put my lenses in and water before bed. They were so sweet! It felt like I was staying the night at a friends house who I had known for years. I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Continued...Day One in Spain

After a quick siesta, I got ready to go up to the casco (old part of town) because that night they were celebrating La Fiesta de San Mateo. For the festival, a bull runs through the crowd.

Literally, as soon as we walked up to the town the bull came running. I was standing right behind the gate but a huge crowd came running towards us away from the bull. It only stayed a few minutes and then went back the other way down the street. So my roommates and I started walking toward the center of town, the same route as the bull. After a few minutes the crowd rushed towards us screaming and we darted into the doorway of a restaurant with two Spanish men and watched the bull pass.

Running through the street.

After the bull running was over, a man had a huge metal fireworks dispenser he wore on his shoulders and ran through the streets shooting off fireworks. We went further down the street and visited their friends. For the festival, friends make/buy the same t-shirt and camp out kind of like a tail gate and chip in for alcohol. I had beer and a drink kind of like sangria but sweeter (more sugar and fruit). It was delicious and didn't need much. We danced and drank between camps through the streets. I met so many people, had so many double kisses (a way of saying hello) and so much wine squirted into my mouth from wine pouches.

We went back home around 1 and had a pizza and finally went to bed. By 1 o'clock I could hardly keep my eyes open but couldn't have asked for a better first day.

Besos,
jaclyn

Travels.

Cleveland to JFK by Plane: 1:05 PM - 2:15 PM, 1 hour and 15 mins.

JFK to Madrid by Plane: 5:55 PM - 7:30 AM, 6 hours, +6 hours ahead.

Madrid Airport to Madrid Bus Station by Taxi: 8:00 AM - 8: 30 AM.

Madrid Bus Station to Cuenca Bus Station by Bus: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Cuenca Bus Station to Apartment in Cuenca by Car: 12:15-12:30 PM.

The front door and hallway entrance.

Dining Room/Living Room

Kitchen.

Washing machine at the end of the kitchen and door to the porch outside. 

Line for drying clothes outside on the porch.

*My Bedroom...more decor to come... probably need a chair too...

Bathroom I share with one roomie. 

I finally made it to Cuenca! The trip was so long but wasn't too bad minus the fact that I was in a man sandwich the entire flight to Spain. Trying to sleep in the middle of two large men was not the best situation. I wish I would have known them better or I would have used their arms as pillows, which I practically did anyway. But the traveling part was easy. The hard part was getting off the bus and awkwardly saying "Bea?" to the girl standing there. It wasn't Bea but it was my other roommate. Bea was coming with her car...

I have two roommates, Bea and Esme. I am seriously so lucky. They are amazing. When I first got there they were patient because I didn't say more than a ten words. I just took it all in and my Spanish was totally sub par. But they drove me to the store so I could buy hangers, towels and food. They cooked me one of my favorites for my first meals in Spain, tortilla espanola. I was too tired to think of taking a picture so I took a quick siesta after lunch. But more pics to come of my roomies and adventures thus far (all three days of Spain...but I swear it feels like with as much as I have done!) It's either that or the jet lag talking....

Un beso (a kiss),

jaclyn