It was peculiar in its ease

Every week (OK, I like to generalize it hasn't been very many weeks yet) I don't want to go to work on Monday. My ridiculous four day weekends lull me into a level of relaxation that is difficult to shake off. But then once I start work, it's fun! It's like bath time when you're a little kid, you don't want to get in and then you don't want to get out.

This week I've ben talking about Halloween with my students. Actually, I've been giving them lame Halloween themed jokes and then we try to figure out what they mean. The biggest hit so far? "What do you get when there's a witch in the desert? A sandwich!" Yup. I think that it's popularity is due to its breath-taking simplicity...or something. The students are pretty cute. They actually get excited when they understand a joke. Today I heard some of them talking about the "sandwich joke" in the hall. Oh , yeah. Also, I've been giving them candy, which can't hurt. Though the portion of my budget spent on candy is getting a little ridiculous.

The week in review (OK, yeah, the last 2 days):

Best Moment:
Me: What did you do this weekend?
Student: I looked up Seattle on google earth and saw the Space Needle.

Worst Moment:
Student (in Spanish): I don't understand anything that you're saying.
Me: OK. Sorry. I can say it again more slowly...
Student (in an annoyed voice): I just don't understand any English.

Weirdest Moment:
Student: Have you ever been to the Playboy Mansion?
Me: No. Um....no.

I other, non-teaching related news, I am becoming a master soup-maker. Last week was lentil and this week is mushroom. It's really all about chicken stock and garlic. Delicious.

I wanted you nearer

Sometimes it just sneaks up on me. Things are going along just fine, I had pie for breakfast (this should insure long term happiness, no?), took my new (free) bike to be fixed, went out to lunch with a friend but the next thing I know: I'm feeling kind of sad. Kind of lonely. And then I'm on the internet (which can be lonely, too) and somehow I'm listening to Elton John (who knows how that happened). Yes, things have gone from bad to worse.

I just want coming here to have been worth it. I want any growing pains that I experience here to teach me things, worthwhile things. And sometimes I think that that is happening. Other times I think that I have just sent myself far away from everyone I love for no reason. I have friends here now. They are nice. But I've only known them for a month and...it's not the same.

I want to be the kind of person who can make herself feel better. I do have strategies for this (mostly involving food and music) but sometimes they don't work. I want to be the kind of person who doesn't need other people to make her feel better. But maybe I shouldn't want that. Maybe that kind of person doesn't exist.

I'm going to go run errands and try to feel like a part of this place again. Yup. Oh, but tomorrow I'm going on a day trip to France and that's pretty cool. A day trip. To france.

Little Mac o'mine

Things my computer can't do:
-Join most wireless networks
-Burn CDs
-Download Skype
-Walk

Things my computer can do:
-Impress Spanish teenagers with it's color (white) and size (small)
-Allow me to use the vast possibilities which the internet offers (through an ethernet cord, mind you)
-Process words
-Be my little friend

All and all I'd say I'm still happy with it...but you know....yeah.

El cinteron de seguridad salva vidas

Seriously, without the shrinking power of the dryer my pants were falling off. Falling off! But now thanks to H&M all is well.

Maybe someday I'll actually write about, oh, you know, my job. Suffice it to say that I like my kids...mostly because they laugh at my jokes. I think that might be the main reason that I ever like anyone.

I want to take out the trash...

but I can´t because the Basque nationalists knocked over our dumpster.

I´m an ennumeration fiend

New Lists Today!

Interesting things about my living situation:
-I am the only girl out of four people and the only non-spaniard. So far I´ve only met two of them and they´re both nice and willing to explain the lame jokes in the spanish television shows that we watch.
-My apartment is on the fourth floor and there´s no elevator. Calves of steel, baby.
-The washer is still broken. I haven´t done laundry in two weeks. Yesterday, I bought 4 new pairs of underwear (at "Women´s Secret") and now I should be OK for a little bit longer. One pair is bright orange. I´m not sure how this happened...in the store they looked coral, I swear.
-It´s near a mall called "fnac." I´m sure this stands for something but I have no idea what. As a result I go around singing a song (well, sort of a song) that goes something like "fnac-a-nac-a-nac, fnac-a-nac-a-nac-a-nac."

Skills that I´m improving unexpectedly:
-My jay-walking abilitiy. Everyone does it here and I think I´ve finally recovered from the incident several years ago when I got yelled at by a Seattle cop for this same action ("THE FLASHING HAND MEANS STOP"). Also, I spend a lot of time walking around with a fellow auxiliar de conversación who is from New York. What doesn´t kill you makes you stronger (yesterday I had a near miss with a bus, hmmm).
-My text-messaging ability. It´s way cheaper than calling. So I´m finally joining whatever century it is that we´re currently enjoying. My hatred for abreviations means that I´ve got to compensate with mad speediness. Or that´s the plan anyway.
-Stair climbing (see above).

Interesting things about San Sebastian:
-It´s on the beach. The beach is the center of all well-being, so that´s nice.
-It rains a lot here! I know, I know, I´m from Seattle, blablabla. But, guess what? In Seattle it only drizzles. Here it rains hard. For hours. I need to cough up the euros to buy some boots.
-I already recognize all the homeless people. And then there´s the guy (I don´t think he´s homeless, he seems awfully well-kempt) who reads "poetry" with a microphone on the street, accompanied by some warm 106.9 style elevator music.

Books that I´m currently reading:
-Goldbug Variations (Richard Powers, I love you, but you´re bringing me down.)
-El Asesinato de Roger Ackroyd (Agatha Christie in Spanish! Thanks, San Sebastian public library!)
-Poetry in Spanish (Slooow-going. I aspire to translate some of it. So far, I´ve translated a total of: one poem. And very poorly at that.)

Wonders of the Spanish Grocery Store:
-It´s super hard to find baking-powder (some on, guys, I just want to make pancakes).
-The milk is...unrefridgerated!
-There are a zillion kinds of "breakfast cookies."
-Goat cheese is cheaper than all other cheese, excepting processed-sliced.

All and all, things are pretty great these days. Maybe, at some point I´ll actually start working or somthing. Yeah, that might be good.

Invincible (oh-oh-oh)

In case you weren´t aware: I have secured a place to live. It is a place where I can leave all of my stuff! I place that I can settle into! And if I had a window, I´d totally have a view of the ocean!

So, far I´ve only met one of my housemates. His name is Carlos and he has dreadlocks. He also has a car and he took me shopping at this semi-distant mall place. So now I have sheets, which is pretty great.

Aside from having a place to live and having sheets, I am also comforted by how much people from home have been reaching out to me. I am an addict to social interaction these days, and when it comes from people who I know well (instead from the mildly creepy guy talking to me just now in the internet cafe, for example) it is all the more inspiring.

And lately, all I listen to is OK Go, MIA and reggeaton. That´s because I need to feel powerful. If you´re walking down the street with some semi-ridiculous reggeaton beat pounding in your ears, nobody can mess with you. That´s right.

When you read my blog are the header´s in Spanish or is that just for me?

Well, being in a foriegn country where you don´t know anyone well is really lonely. Shocking, huh?

I reached a bit of a low last night when I started crying while sitting alone on a bench by the river. I´d taken my book (Goldbug Variations) there to escape the annoying backpackers at my hostel and as I leaned awkwardly into the pool of light cast by a nearby street light, I was struck by my complete aloneness. If it sounds melodramatic, that´s because it was. Seriously, my emotions are way closer to the surface then usual and they seem to be adopting an annoying habbit of announcing themselves in a smi-public manner. After a successful interaction ending in a cup of coffee, groceries or a cell phone I am ecstatic. On the other hand, when people treat me like a crazy incomprehensible foriegner (this means you, lady at the ice cream place) it´s hard to keep the tears down.

Luckily, all of this has me thinking about neuroscience. What is going on in my brain? What neural-chemical form does all this interaction between my environment and my brain cells take? I´ve also fallen back on music as mood-regulating device and then I really wonder how that works. So these sounds go into my ear (cochlea, bla bla, I don´t remember) and then suddenly I feel way happier and much readier to take on the world?

In other news, I went to my little town and I really like it. It´s way less overwhelming then San Sebastian and, omg, most of the signs were in Basque. I totally heard people speaking it, too. Now, if the school there would just call me back then maybe I could start figuring out what I´m doing.