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Happy Three Kings Day! A Day for family, presents, and Spaniards in blackface.

Although people in Spain also celebrate Christmas, the more traditional Holiday and the day the majority of people exchange gifts is January 6th. It actually makes a little more sense than Christmas seeing as how it was the Three Kings (or the Three Wise Men) and not Santa Claus who came to bring baby Jesus gifts.

a girl floating from a balloon at the parade

In Madrid it is celebrated with a huge parade the night before ending in a firework show in Plaza de Cibeles. Also, everyone eats a fruit cake called a Roscón that tastes exactly like Fruit Loops. Like every Spanish holiday, everything in the entire city is closed (hence me writing this instead of doing something fun haha).

The thing I’ve yet to figure out is why instead of finding a black guy to play the black king in the parade, they paint a spanish dude black. If anyone knows the answer, please enlighten me.

10th December 2011

Photoset with 1 note

I’d like to be able to tell everyone all the fun and crazy adventures I’ve been getting into in Madrid, but the truth is I haven’t actually done much yet. So here are some pictures of the flat I spend countless hours on the internet and watching TV in!

I live in a neighborhood called La Elipa with two friends I know from the town I was teaching in last year. I’m loving the school I work for, the teachers are all great and the students are well behaved. The only downside is it takes me about an hour in public transport to get there.

Last year I shared my time between an elementary school and a high school. I’m definitely enjoying being in only one school this year. High school kids are pretty apathetic about your presence in the classroom. In the elementary school on the other hand, the kids seem to think anything you do or say is the coolest thing ever.

Kid: “Gleeeeen, what is your favorite fruit??”

Me: “I like apples!”

Kid: (wide eyed and jumping out of his seat) “ANDAAAA!!!! I LIKE APPLES TOOOOO!!!”

They also say really strange things…

Me (reading from the book): Mollusks have smooth muscular bodies

3rd grader: ooooh, como una mujer latina?? (like a latina girl??)

I’m probably going to the Netherlands and Belgium for Christmas break so hopefully I’ll have better stories soon.

sooo spanish

Spain so far

I’ve been here a few days now and am settled into my apartment. I’ll take some pictures later, it’s small but comfortable and super cheap (which is all I really wanted). The down side is that I’m right next to an elementary school and hear little kids yelling in the playground for about five hours a day…

First day: Arrived in Madrid after like 20 hours in planes and airports. I made the mistake of falling asleep on my four hour flight to Chicago so sat awake uncomfortably crammed between two large Italians after being tricked into switching my aisle seat for one in the middle on the eight hour flight to Zurich. My roommate Juan Luis met me at the airport and showed me the way back to the flat. He gave me a tour of the neighborhood, which is pretty nice and only about a 15 minute metro ride from Puerta del Sol (kind of like the times square of Madrid I guess.) My friend AJ happened to be in town that day so I got to catch up with him.

This is where they do the bull fights in Madrid, it's about a 15 min walk from my place

This is the Madrid’s bull fighting stadium Las Ventas, about a 10 minute walk from my flat

Day two: Unbeknownst to me I missed the first day of orientation to the program but instead got an orientation to Spain by drinking cañas (cañas = casual afternoon beers, aka the best thing ever,) eating jamón and taking a nap.

Spanish cured ham = delicious

Spanish cured ham, the best thing ever

Day 3: Went to the second day of orientation, asked if it was a big deal if I missed the first day, in typical Spanish fashion no one seemed to know or care. I met a bunch of the other English teachers and got some more cañas. Later I took another siesta. Spain is a nice place to be jet-lagged because it is socially acceptable to nap every day. I went out downtown with one of my roommates and a couple people that were teaching in Extremadura with me last year, and figured out there are night buses. This bit of information would have saved me a lot of money on taxis last year.

That’s it so far, I start work on the third. I’m looking forward to doing something other than watching copious amounts of TV (the story of my summer).