Sofia Somewhere

As the city has getting ready for Christmas, so has my school. We had a little belén  and a Christma tree set up by the main entrance. This December, the school also had a small Christmas card making contest. The cards could either be in Spanish, English or French (which is the other language taught in the school). There were a lot of really nice ones and several extra creative ones. Strangely, there was also one Valentine's day card and one Grandmother's day card.

As Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevadas, during winter time, it is cold . The temperature has been getting lower and lower, though some days we're blessed with relatively warm weather (but still cold), around 14º-16ºC. It's normal now for it to stay below 11ºC, and so far I've only encountered -1ºC for the negatives, and just the once. On particularly nice days the sun comes out, and it's strong so we get a little bit of warmth. But winter also means the start of Christmastime and it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas here in Granada. We had been seeing the Christmas lights being set up all over the city for about a month now, but they lit up for the first time around December 6. (And they'll light up each night until January 6, the Feast of the Three Kings). All the major roads and the bigger side streets have their own design of Christmas lights, and they really are very pretty. They make the city quite festive.

After exploring Sacromonte on Saturday morning, we headed back to the city center and had a hot chocolate break in a charming jazz café, Bohemia . I had to head home a little early unfortunately due to a stomach ache. But come evening  I was feeling much better and Lyle and I cooked some nilagang baka . We found pechay at the mercado and we were able to make the dish taste great. :)

On Saturday morning we headed out to explore Sacromonte , one of the barrios of the city, best known as the gitano or gypsy neighborhood. Sacromonte gets its name from Sacromonte Abbey , an abbey which stands at the top of Mount Valparaiso . Valparaiso was the old name of Sacromonte. The name was changed to Sacromonte ("holy mountain") because of the holy relics of San Cecilio which were allegedly found in the Santas Cuevas (Holy Caves) in Valparaiso. San Cecilio also happens to be Granada's first bishop and patron Saint, and on his feast day there are huge celebrations most especially in Sacromonte. It's quite easy to get to Sacromonte; the "entrance" is on the  Camino del Sacromonte , and the start of the road is marked by a statue of  Chorrohumo , who described himself as "King of the Gypsies." Chorrohumo was a gypsy patriarch who guided travelers around Sacromonte telling them stories of the gypsies and of the Alhambra. Chorrohum...

This past weekend was a long weekend or as they call it in Spain, un puente (literally, "a bridge"). Monday, the 8th, was a holiday - the Feast of the Immaculate Conception or la Inmaculada -  and it was an extra special puente for the Spaniards since Saturday, the 6th, was a holiday as well - Día de la Constitución Española  (Constitution Day) or la Constitución for short. As the name suggests, it's the day when Spain approved its new constitution marking the country's transition to a constitutional monarchy and democracy. Since the two holidays are celebrated each year, this special long weekend even has a name: Puente de la Inmaculada . If the 6th falls on a Monday and the 8th on a Wednesday (or a Wednesday and Friday respectively), they get a 5 day weekend. I'm not sure what happens though if the 6th falls on a Tuesday and the 8th on a Thursday! It's a pretty festive weekend; a lot of families go out of town (Granada in particular was packed with visitor...

So yesterday was Thanksgiving, and for one of my English classes I did the presentation on Philippine holidays and festivals since we don't celebrate Thanksgiving in the Philippines. To introduce what I was going to talk about, the teacher went on to ask the class what day it was. (Note that I alternate Week A & B so I see this class every other week, but I didn't see them 2 weeks ago since they had a conference to attend). Teacher: So what day is it today?  Student 1: November 27.  Teacher: Ok, yes, but it's the 4th Thursday of the month. What happens?  Student 2: Sofi comes! We all had a good laugh and it was a fun way to start the class. And after my presentation they all gave me a round of applause which was surprising, but nice. It felt good to be appreciated, especially by the older students. Although Spain doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, I do have an American flatmate. So a couple days back Elisa and her friend Katie planned to host a Thanksgivin...

I started off my birthday with Sunday morning mass at the Cathderal . Construction of the Cathedral was halted in 1728, and the Cathedral was never finished. It thus lacks the South Tower, and was given the nickname La Manquita -- the one-armed woman. The facade of the Cathedral

Our second day in Málaga was amazing (so be prepared for a picture heavy post). My co-teacher from Málaga told me that Málaga has a much warmer climate than Granada, and we were really looking forward to that. True enough, the temperature stayed in the low 20s the whole day, dropping only in the evening, and we had clear blue skies and a lot of sun. It was perfect weather for us (a much needed break from Granada's cold) and we enjoyed a good day sightseeing and eating. We started the day with a visit to the Mercado de Atarazanas , the central market of the city. It's located in an old iron-clad buildings which was originally a gate that connected the city with the port. It was recently restored and now boasts a beautiful stained-glass window at the entrance.

I wanted to spend my birthday someplace new (and nearby), so I decided to visit Málaga. I had always wanted to visit, and missed out on it when I visited Andalucía on my last Spain trip. At just 1.5 hrs from Granada, it was a nice and stress-free weekend trip. Lyle and I took a Blablacar for just €6, and Julie met us there after taking the bus from Madrid. Upon arriving in Málaga, we dropped our stuff off at our hostel and then set out to explore. Located in Andalucía and in the Málaga Province, Málaga  is the sixth largest city in Spain, and heart of the Costa del Sol which is comprised of the towns along the coastline of the Málaga Province. Although it's a pretty big city, most of the touristic sites are located near each other (in the historic city center), and it's quite easy to walk everywhere. From the bus station to our hostel it's about 10 minutes, and then another 10 minutes to the city center. Signs at the city center

So November's rolled around and the city is beginning to show it's Fall colors. Such a pretty season it is, with the leaves changing colors and falling to the ground. Unfortunately, Fall also means the days are getting colder. This is what my weather app showed a few mornings ago. 0°? No thank you very much.

From Sevilla we arrived in Ciampino, a town 45 minutes from Rome (life of a budget airline traveler), but easily took a bus to the center of Rome. We found our hotel, checked in (our receptionists were Filipino!), and then headed out for Lyle's birthday dinner. An Italian feast. We forgot to take a picture of the pizza. Most everything was closed by then, but we explored the city anyway visiting the fountains and plazas. Fontana del Tritone in Piazza Barberini Stopped for gelato even though it was cold because we're in Italy!

Last Friday was Lyle's birthday and to celebrate we spent the weekend in Sevilla and Rome. Flights out of Granada were expensive (mostly connecting flights in Madrid), so we decided to take the bus to Sevilla and fly out of there (did end up significantly cheaper). We took the 3am bus to Sevilla -- we went out the night before and just ended up sleeping on the bus -- and arrived at 7am giving us a few hours to explore the city before our 2pm flight to Rome.

Because Thanksgiving is approaching (and most of the previous auxiliares have been American), the English teacher at school for the b achillerato class asked me if we celebrated Thanksgiving in the Philippines and if I could prepare a presentation on it. I told her we didn't celebrate it back home, and instead we decided that I'd talk about holidays and festivals in the Philippines. For holidays I chose Independence Day and the EDSA Revolution , and for festivals I stuck to the bigger ones like Ati-Atihan, MassKara, Santacruzan , etc. I actually bought a deck of "Philippine Festivals" flash cards from National Bookstore before I left so I used the information on those cards, googled a bit more additional information, and downloaded some pictures to go on the powerpoint. I had a good time researching some of the festivals, and was particularly trying to find some relation between Spain and the festivals, or the influence the Spanish had on these festivals when they...

The night before Halloween, Elisa invited us to go to one of her friend Kati'e's Halloween party/event (some students in her tourism school were raising money for a trip). I didn't dress up, but went anyway. At the party, there were quite a few people dressed up. Random Halloween cookies made by Katie's baking students During Halloween (as well as the day before and the day after), I saw a lot of kids dressed up in costumes. I didn't realize that Halloween was quite big in Spain, since I remember not celebrating it at all the last time I lived here. While talking with one of my co-teachers yesterday, he told me that Halloween started getting popular over the last 4-5 years. In my school, we didn't really celebrate Halloween (Elisa dressed up at her school and Lyle's school had a Halloween program). The classrooms of the lower levels had some Halloween decorations up (that they presumably worked on in art class), but that was pretty much the extent o...

My classes so far in school have been so-so. I've had a few pretty great classes, and a few not so great ones. As I mentioned in this post , as an auxiliar we technically are not supposed to teach a class, just assist. In the Philosophy, Science, Geography, and P.E. classes I assist in, the class mainly consists a worksheet with texts and activities and/or questions to answer at the end. We usually read the text as a class - one volunteer per paragraph, and I correct the students' pronunciation - and then we go over the vocabulary they don't understand. Sometimes the teachers ask the students to translate the text to Spanish, to see if they understand. After, they usually answer the questions individually, calling on me if they need any help with vocabulary. For History and English Project, the students are tasked with doing a report/presentation on a selected topic. They work in pairs or in a group. In these classes I just go around the classroom and help those who ca...

Just this weekend, Lyle and I headed to Madrid to visit our friend Julie who's also doing the same program there, and because I had to pick up a few stuff. When we got to Madrid, the first thing on our agenda was to hit up the Pinoy store. We were only really looking for some soy sauce, but we couldn't help ourselves and bought more stuff. (I really wanted some corned beef, but it was so expensive. Maybe next time.) Our Pinoy stash Lyle and I actually missed our bus to Madrid (by 10 minutes! The bus to the bus station was going really slow). But we were able to change our bus ticket for just €5, which wasn't too bad. So we arrived in Madrid at almost 6pm already. After visiting the Filipino store we had some dinner, then met up with Pablo, one of my sister Angela's really good friends from London, who's currently doing an internship in Madrid. 

While walking around Granada, I notice graffiti every now and then. This for example, is down the street from where I live. So I decided to do some Googling, and was surprised to learn that Granada had such a big street art scene. And since I do love street art, I decided to do some research on where most of the street art is concentrated, and walk around. It was such a beautiful day out. We headed past the park and walked up to the  Realejo  quarter (we live just at the bottom of Realejo, near the Center), which was once the Jewish neighborhood. At the time of the Nasrids rule, there was a huge Jewish population in Granada. Realejo is on the hill/mountainside, and is full of steep, narrow cobblestone streets. Its whitewashed walls were perfect canvases for street art. It was such a beautiful day The city actually has a famous street artist, Raúl Ruiz, nicknamed "El Niño de las Pinturas." Most of the graffiti in Granada is done by him; they're quite co...

Last Monday, the Philosophy teacher at school, Fulgencio, warned me that we might not have class today since the students were at strike. True enough, none of the students showed up today. I still had classes yesterday because I taught in 1º and 2º de ESO. Today, none of the kids in my bachillerato class showed up. In my 3ºA class, I had 3 students, and in my 3ºB class I had 4. I asked the students why they weren't on strike and they told me that they didn't receive permission from their parents. (Those under 16 years old need permission to strike.) The 1º and 2º are too young, and none of them are on strike. Most of the 3º were able to go on strike, and all of the 4º and bachillerato students were absent. Though the teachers have been telling me that most of the students are absent not because they're actually protesting but because they want the 3 day vacation (kids will be kids). The 4 students in my 3ºB class

Last Sunday, Elisa, Paula, Orla and I decided to take advantage of the good weather and go for a hike. (Speaking of, the weather in Granada is so strange! The week before it was cold every day for a week (it would dip to 12º in the mornings and 14-15º in the afternoons), while last week it was hot (26-28º in the afternoons). The mother of the two boys I tutor joked that it's either really cold or really hot, never in between.) It was pretty hot out that day, maybe 28-30º, but the heat wasn't unbearable. We originally wanted to go up to Beas de Granada, a small village in the north-east of Granada and trek down the 16km. (We found a trekking website that gives a detailed explanation of the route to take). Unfortunately it was a Sunday, and there were no buses running on a Sunday (much like how half the city shuts down, because, well that's Spain for you). Instead we decided to trek up (do the reverse of the detailed route) maybe halfway and then come back down again. The...

When we first moved into our apartment, we didn't have much food. Our fridge looked like this - that's my bottle of taba ng talangka from back home. We went grocery shopping that afternoon, and for our first dinner at home I bought a bottle of wine and cooked some lentejas . Blurry pic of our first dinner at home

Last Saturday we decided to head to the beach while we still could - that is while the weather was still nice and it's not too cold. We took a day trip to Nerja , a small town on the Costa del Sol . It's actually part of Málaga province, but is just 2 hours from Granada by bus. Lyle and I actually missed the morning bus, so we got there in the afternoon, but with still enough time to enjoy the city. The forecast said that the sun would be out, but it actually rained on and off the whole time we were there. Despite that, we still managed to enjoy. It was raining when we arrived in the city, but we were able to find Elisa (our roommate) and two other Irish girls we met the day before, Paula and Orla. We ducked into a café to get away from the rain, and Lyle and I had a late lunch. Paula and Orla had to leave a bit after (they had been there since the morning), but Elisa, Lyle and I went about the city. The light wasn't great because of the grey skies, but it's prett...

Now that we're finally settled down in our apartment, we've gone out a few times to explore the city. On one afternoon we walked to Plaza Nueva , which is one the main (touristy) squares near Albayzín . The Albayzín is one of the districts in the city, and is actually a World Heritage Site since it still maintains its Moorish influences. Popular in this area are narrow winding streets, and along these streets you'll find many tourist shops as well as teterías (tea places). We visited this one tetería that Lyle had already gone to before. It had such chill vibes and was decorated really prettily. We enjoyed relaxing here and trying some of their tea. Pretty interiors I tried the "tunecino" tea which was black tea with a hint of vanilla

Aside from an apartment, the three other important things I'd be needing for life here was a phone number, a bank account, and my NIE and TIE. Luckily our apartment came with wifi already set up (and included in the rent!), so we didn't have to worry about that. 1. Getting a phone number Getting a sim card and phone number was easy and took all but five minutes (all you need is your passport number). After researching a bit on the different phone carriers and plans, I went with Orange . I'm on a prepaid plan and for €10 a month I get 1gb of data. Most people here in Spain use WhatsApp, so you don't really need load/credit for texting. I had unlocked my iPhone back home, but unfortunately it didn't work here in Spain with the Orange sim. So as of now, I'm currently not using my Spanish number, and still waiting for a friend's mom to bring me a phone when she visits Madrid at the end of the month. (Smartphones here are crazy expensive, even the secondha...

The days leading up to my departure for Spain were crazy. I was running last minute errands (buying things I'd need for Spain, activating my cards, emailing my coordinator, etc.), meeting up with friends, and packing (and unpacking and repacking). I finally left Manila on the evening of the 28th, and after a change of plans in Taiwan and another stopover in Amsterdam, I landed in Madrid noon of the 29th. I took the cercanías train to the Estación Sur de Autobuses and met up with Julie, who's doing the same program but in Madrid. We had lunch together while waiting for my bus, then I was finally off to Granada. Five hours later, I arrived! Lyle was already in Granada (had been for a few days) so she picked me up at the bus station and we headed to the hostel. We had some delicious sangría and tapas and then called it a night, ready for the next day. Since Lyle had already been in Granada for a few days, she had already messaged a few people and visited a few apartments. ...

I'm back in Spain, settling down slowly in Granada. I just finished my first week of work and now that things are a little less hectic, I thought I'd take the time to write my first entry to restart this blog. I'm here in Spain for 8 months under the Auxiliares de Conversación program. Back in March, I (and my other coursemates in U.P.) received an email from one of my professors inviting us to apply to the program. I took this description from the info sheet they gave us when we were applying. The language and culture assistants programme is an initiative of the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, devoted to providing scholarships for university students (majoring in any subject, but preferably in Languages and Education) and graduates with proficiency in Spanish. The Assistants will have the opportunity to teach English in Spain in primary and secondary education and in Official Schools of Languages for a full academic year, from October to May/June...

My ticket is booked, my visa is in my passport, and all my bags are packed. Tomorrow marks the start of a new adventure: Spain for 8 months!

I've been back home for a few days, but busy getting my documents ready for my Spanish visa application (more on that later!). Just a few more pictures of the last stretch of my trip. Monday was our shopping day! We started out with lunch (Japanese for my forever craving)... Then drove to two shopping centers. Since it was Labor Day (September 1) a lot of stores still had their Labor Day weekend sale going on. We ended the night at The Cheesecake Factory where we shared the huge servings of food and a delicious Oreo chocolate cheesecake.

From L.A. it was off to San Francisco! We had an early 8am flight, though we had to leave at around 5:30 since we were coming from Anaheim. Our flight ended up being delayed, but we made it okay to San Francisco (and took a nap the rest of the morning). We had a late lunch at In-N-Out Burgers ! And then spent the rest of the afternoon shopping at Target. :) The next day we drove to Tracy which was quite far (a little over an hour without traffic) to surprise Tisha for her birthday.

The morning before I left for Los Angeles, Tita Susan took me out to breakfast for some really good eggs benedict . Then she dropped me off at the airport and I was off to L.A. In L.A., Ange and our friend Tasha picked me up at the airport. From the airport we drove to Downtown and chilled there for a while. For dinner, I met up with Tita Louele who was my adult leader when I went to CISV in 2001! It was so nice to see her, catch up, and make kwento. We ate at a really good hand roll sushi bar, KazuNori .

Spent the next two days touring Downtown Chicago. On Monday afternoon Tita Isa dropped me off at the Art Institute of Chicago  (General admission $23, Students $17) since she had to go see patients. Art Institute of Chicago One of the two famous lions that guard the entrance