Hello friends and family!
Here’s the story of how I got to where I am now…
Last April I applied to be a “Language and Culture Assistant” through the Spanish Ministry of Education. To my dismay, I was waitlisted and told I would be contacted if they found a placement for me. So passed May, June, July, August and half of September when I received an email from the program asking me if I was willing to up and move to Spain ASAP. So, sure, why not?! I accepted the position and would soon be living and working in Jaén, Spain. I arrived to Jaén the evening of Thursday October 15th after waaay too many hours of travel. It all started with my late check-in at the Minneapolis airport, which caused me to miss my first flight out. After some frustrated tears and phone calls with my dad, I successfully flew to Chicago, Atlanta and Madrid without any problems. After a good five hour layover in Madrid I took a four hour train ride to Jaén. There waiting for me my two fellow American English teachers, Holly and Amy. Holly and I will be teaching assistants at the same school is a small town outside of Jaén called Cambil. Amy arrived early October and is all settled in and is already teaching. We are staying with her until we find our own place.
Here’s the story of how I got to where I am now…
Last April I applied to be a “Language and Culture Assistant” through the Spanish Ministry of Education. To my dismay, I was waitlisted and told I would be contacted if they found a placement for me. So passed May, June, July, August and half of September when I received an email from the program asking me if I was willing to up and move to Spain ASAP. So, sure, why not?! I accepted the position and would soon be living and working in Jaén, Spain. I arrived to Jaén the evening of Thursday October 15th after waaay too many hours of travel. It all started with my late check-in at the Minneapolis airport, which caused me to miss my first flight out. After some frustrated tears and phone calls with my dad, I successfully flew to Chicago, Atlanta and Madrid without any problems. After a good five hour layover in Madrid I took a four hour train ride to Jaén. There waiting for me my two fellow American English teachers, Holly and Amy. Holly and I will be teaching assistants at the same school is a small town outside of Jaén called Cambil. Amy arrived early October and is all settled in and is already teaching. We are staying with her until we find our own place.
Center of Jaén
I was extremely motivated to get to Jaén by Thursday because of the “Feria San Lucas,” the biggest party and festival of the year. There is a carnival with rides and food, bull fighting, and lots and lots of partying. Before I continue this story, let’s begin with
VOCABULARY LESSON 1: Party Terms
Botellón- A street/park party. Groups of friends bring a bottle of booze, liters of pop, ice and plastic cups, and make "cubatas" in the streets. Deemed illegal a few years ago... doesn’t matter.
Caña- A “short” beer, ridiculously small, approximately one cup of beer. Literally one cup.
Caseta- Oversized white tents at the fair which house either discotecas, bars, or food stands.
Chupito- Shot
Cubata- Mixed drink
Discoteca- Dance club and bar
Feria- A city’s fair. Usually celebrates a city’s patron saint. Celebrated with carnival, parades, dancing, drinking.
Torero- Bullfighter
Tubo- A “tall” beer, still pretty small, approximately two cups of beer.
Friday night we went to botellón. We got a bottle of vodka, some heavily carbonated pop called “kas,” ice and cups and headed to the park at midnight with some Spanish people Amy previously met. Around 3am we went to the feria, where we proceeded to walk around to different casetas for food and dancing. We ended up home around 8am.
Saturday at 11am we awoke for grand apartment search number one. We zombied around town for a few hours and then slept the rest of the day away. What should have been night number two at the feria turned into watching “He’s Just Not That Into You” on my laptop instead. That’s OK, sleep was much needed.
Sunday was a very Spanish experience, as I attended my first bullfight with Holly. Every bullfight consists of six bulls, divided between three "toreros." The first kill was extremely difficult to watch-- I got a bit nauseous and upset, almost considered leaving after the first one. The Spaniards around us seemed almost more entertained by our reactions to the fight than to the fight itself. The man next to us knew all the rules and the techniques to bullfighting, and talked us through the remaining fights. By the end, instead of it appearing to be a ruthless bull killing- it started to look like a sport… which is kind of crazy considering I have always thought of bullfighting as a disgusting tradition that should be long over by now. We will see how much farther down generations the tradition will pass.
We have been apartment searching since. Because of this, every day of the week blurs between long spells of walking, eating, and debating apartment options with the aid of numerous napkin pro-con lists. We finally picked an apartment today. Holly and I will be living with a random Peruvian student in the center of Jaén, a pretty large apartment with a great location. The apartment faces winding pedestrian made of a burnt orange marble. Our lobby is lined with mosaics, the balcony overlooks the backstreets and the three bedrooms are accompanied by two bathrooms, a large living room, and a makeshift patio in the middle of the building.
And the adventure has just begun…
Balcony - SCORE! Hope you're settling in well.
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