Thursday, November 10, 2011

a normal week

This week was a "normal week," meaning that I actually had to go to school all 4 days and there were no random assemblies about buddhism or boogers.  However, a normal week is never boring! In one of my classes of 4 year olds, we worked on Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.  Since I'm such a fantastic and experienced teacher, they're really starting to master it and I've graduated them to fast-paced rendition of Ankles, Elbows, Feet, and Seat (whatever, it rhymes and they don't know the difference).  As you can imagine, the choreography to this version is quite something.  There's booty-smacking and hip shaking and all kinds of awesome straight from a Sisqo video.  In this particular class there is a boy who is half the size of all the other kids, which by my calculations makes him 11 inches tall.  He may or may not be a "little person" (is this still the PC way to say it?), but seeing as I'm not sure we'll just call him tiny, awkward, and adorable.  After the song was finished I went to stop the CD and saw the teacher laughing so hard that tears were rolling down her face.  Loudly, in Spanish, she says, "OH MY GOD, did you see Hector dancing?! It's HILARIOUS! You HAVE to play the song again!"  So, not wanting to disobey the seño, I of course played track number 4 again.  Although cruel, she was right, it was awesome.  Not 100% sure on this one, but I'm pretty sure it's not okay to repeat an activity for the sake of laughing at a child?  Thoughts?

Another normal part of my normal week was an uncomfortable British English conversation.  While practicing "Do you like...?" and "Yes, I like..." in a private lesson, my bright pupil asked, "Do you like rubbers?" while smiling and pointing at her eraser.  Kids say the darndest things.  

Off to Granada in the morning, if anyone wants a "my friend went to the Alhambra and I all got was this lousy t-shirt" shirt, let me know.

Monday, November 7, 2011

"old"

Quiz time:
1. Is your house old?
2. Are your clothes old?
3. Is your cat old? (Hang in there, Kasey!)
4. Are you old?

Answers: No.

Last weekend I realized that I've been using the word "old" wrong my whole life.  "Old" isn't a house built in 1940, a coat from 2 years ago, a horrible fat cat that won't seem to die, or wrinkles on your face.

OLD is something built in a year that doesn't start with 1:

Banos Arabes, Ronda, functional around the year 800

OLD is naming something Puente Nuevo, or "New Bridge"...even though it was built long before your great great great great grandparents decided to get married (or maybe they didn't, scandalous):
Puente Nuevo, Ronda, construction started 1751

OLD is a country that had its shit together early enough to send someone to go explore the Americas:
Iglesia Santa Maria, Ronda, commissioned by Isabel y Fernando in 1485 (for those of you who missed your Spanish History class, they were the ones who sent good ol' Columbus on his way.  They were also the OGs of the Inquisition...as in they liked to kill people who weren't Christian enough.  What a fun couple.  For more on the Inquisition: click here).  Built on top of the town's original mosque.

Just about everything in Ronda made me reconsider my perception of what is old.  It's a beautiful town with a ton of history and some of the most amazing views I've ever seen.  The only thing that was actually new was our hostal, which has only been open for a few weeks.  And by hostal, I mean 3 bedroom apartment that some broke Spanish party boys bought and now rent rooms to help them make their payments.  That's my theory, anyway.  Great view, strange crowd...oh well, what do you want for 16 euro?

Here's a few other things I consider to be old: dinosaurs, the earth, and the man himself.

Oh! That reminds me.  Today, my previously hateful neighbor smiled a big toothless smile at me and said hola.  I WIN!  He also qualifies for the "old" category.  Next goal: conversation.  Stay tuned...