The Dunning Family's Year in Spain

Let's start with the most important! April 30th...Marleigh's 11th birthday! At the moment, we're in the beautiful (although rainy) city of Oviedo, in the region of Asturias. We have yet another 'puente' (short holiday) and we decided to take advantage of the time and drive to northern Spain. Northern Spain (at least the part we're seeing) might as well be a different country than southern Spain, much like the difference in topography and people in Oregon.

We pulled the girls out of school for a day to create a 5-day holiday. We left Plasencia on Thursday, April 26th and headed north. We spent a night with our CouchSurf friends in the village of Duenas. This family was our first CouchSurf experience and every time we stay with them, it's like we've known them all our lives. How is it that one can meet someone, converse in another language (as best as we can) and become instant close friends? I don't reall know -- but it's happened and we feel blessed.

On Friday, we left Duenas and headed north to the region of Asturias. We climbed up the mountain pass (the Cantabrian mountain range, similar to the Alps) and the view was breathtaking...absolutely breathtaking.

And the villages, tucked into the mountainside were equally as enchanting..

From there we headed down the windy pass toward the city of Oviedo. First we had a meeting with the director of the Oviedo TEFL Centre to learn more about English teaching in the region (can you tell that we're falling in love with Spain???...sigh...sigh) and then we met up with another language auxiliar (from Maryland). We stayed with her for two days as we explored the amazing city of Oviedo. In spite of the continuous drizzle and rain (it's a lot like the Pacific Northwest), the city and historic monuments were enchanting.

We visited pre-Romanic monuments...

and stopped by the infamous statue of Woody Allen

Woody Allen has been called the Prince of Oviedo and rumor has it that he visits a couple of times a year. We're in agreement that Oviedo is like a fairy tale; an enchanted and enchanting city that smells of sidra. We rank it as one of our favorite cities and we'd love to spend more time there.

From Oviedo, we headed north to our next CouchSurfing host, who lives in a tiny village half-way between Oviedo and coast. Before heading to her village (near Pravia), we went to the coastal village of Cudillero. This is one of the most picturesque and interesting coastal villages. It's located in a protected cove and rather than build out the city goes up - and up - and up. There is an expression that goes something like this "La gente de Cudillera tiene piernas como piedras" (The people in Cudillero have legs like rocks). Why? Because of all the walking up and up and up and down and down and down makes sturdy and strong legs (and I suppose over time shaped like pillars/rocks).

From Cudillero, we drove to this tiny village of Santeseso. If you've ever had one of those experiences that causes you to ask "Are there really any coincidences in life?" you'll understand our experience in this tiny village. We're wondering how these things happen. We were to be the first Couchsurfers for Ascen and her three lovely boys. She then told us that at the last minute she accepted this group of five and two of the five were from Oregon (HUH?). When they showed up, one of them told us that he used to live in Bend (HUH? HUH??) Furthermore, he is the son of a well-known person, a well-known rabbi...okay -- the only rabbi, but who's counting...and of course we have mutual friends and spent time talking about Bend, Sparrow Bakery and all other things Bend. Really??? really! You have to understand that this village is literally in the middle of nowhere...I love the expression in Spanish: "El mundo es un panuelo" the world is a hankerchief...

(Psst - Joel from Bend is the one wearing the hat)

It was such a fantastic experience and ended on Marleigh's birthday. To close out the trip, we headed back to Duenas to spend another night, as it's the half-way point between the North and our home in Plasencia. Maria bought a beautiful birthday cake for Marleigh and bought her a fantastic book on Origami. Muchisimo gracias por todo!!

What a lovely trip we had...meeting wonderful people and seeing incredible sights. We hope to return to northern Spain when we begin our summer travel. But in the meantime, we still have about a month of teaching left, and the girls have about 6-weeks of school. We will have a short trip to Cordoba in the middle of May and then a trip to Sevilla the first week of June (Ansley will be taking her ACTs) before the end of the school year.

So -- things are winding down and we're trying to slowly detach. We have a car to sell, pounds of papers to sort through and have to do some serious zen work prior to figuring out how to pack up our Spanish lives, put it all in our suitcases and take it all back to Oregon. The girls are more than ready to return to their schools and their friends and have been amazing troopers through this year.

In general, it's been very, very good -- but it's also been very, very difficult at the same time. I won't even try to put my words or sentiments in their mouths and bodies, but I think I can say that it's been stressful. Having the coursework in Spanish is not the root of the stress...the girls are well-versed in Spanish and while they don't think they're fluent, they're accomplished in Spanish. They can manage their way around and although they search for vocabulary words and mix up tenses (as we all do), it's an ongoing process and takes time and practice and mistakes are all part of it. But the system of education is very, very different than the United States. In general it's more difficult, more theoretical, more rote, more tests and a different/more difficult grading system. Still, through it all Ansley and Marleigh have wonderful attitudes and will have tons to share with their friends back home.

We do have our flights back to Oregon, by way of Frankfurt and will be back in Oregon on August 20th and back in Bend on August 21st.

Hasta entonces, un beso y un abrazo - Shari, Andy, Ansley and Marleigh

Shortly after we all went back to school (after the Christmas holidays), our house turned into the an infirmary. First Ansley got sick (again)…really sick. She didn’t move from her bed for one day and spent the next three days glued to the sofa. Then, just as she was starting to feel a little better, Marleigh got sick…and then as she was starting to recover Andy got sick. Me…I managed to escape that round of the ‘sickies’ but felt like I was in a really bad movie…not only was my family sick, but every other person on the street was hacking away. It felt like “last man (woman) standing” and sooner or later I was doomed to fall.

So far…so good..knock on something or other. Finally, things are more or less back to normal, whatever normalcy is in Spain. Sometimes normalcy is running out of butane in the middle of cooking or in the middle of taking a shower with a hair full of shampoo. Sometimes normalcy is forgetting that all the stores close at 2:00 pm and there’s little food in the house to eat (like bread or butter or eggs). Sometimes normalcy is remembering that we have to walk nearly 30-minutes one way to make photocopies and that opening at 10:00 am is really more of a suggestion. Sometimes normalcy is eating dinner at 10:00 pm and saying: “yeah...so?”

Still, our lives have taken on a new rhythm. Andy and I continue to compare notes about our classes each week. Sometimes everything clicks and feels really good – like we’re making a difference and the students are becoming more confident in speaking English…and sometimes…well…sometimes….it’s still just very hard to make everything sync together. We come home exhausted and feeling a bit defeated and wonder what we can do to ‘make a difference’.

We have English/Spanish intercambios with teachers both inside of and outside of our school schedule. To me, this is a real highlight of the day and week. A way to connect with folks here, to learn more about their lives and to have fun together struggling with our respective languages we’re acquiring. And – it feels like some days we’re communicating (more or less) in Spanish and some days it’s all we can do to pull out a handful of words.

As I mentioned before in my not-quite-so-famous book (you know the egg and cigarette thing)…learning to communicate in a foreign language is an amazing experience for the head (I suppose I didn’t say it quite like that) and we often end up at the end of the week with headaches and find that not only can we NOT speak Spanish, but that our English is deteriorating at the same time. Really – it’s true – sometimes we struggle to find the word we want to say...in... ENGLISH! We could chalk it up to our age…but when Ansley and Marleigh have the same experience, all we can say is “Major Brain Overload”. (OMG…MBO). They are having their share of MBO....and then on top of that...Marleigh has French...of course in Spanish....and art...in English...so her brain is switching languages multi-times each day.

While all you Americans were out celebrating President’s Day, here in Spain and in Latin America, CARNAVAL was the holiday. Carnaval in Spain is celebrated quite differently than Carnaval in South America, but it is equally as wild. We decided to take our four-day holiday and go to the Andalucian city of Córdoba. It was nice to head out of Plasencia and see some other parts of Spain. The weather was fantastic (I think Spring is on its way!) and we enjoyed ourselves. Imagine halloween with a major twist of debauchery and you've more or less got CARNAVAL.

Viewing the Mezquita was an amazing experience...but it also felt a little odd to me. It's now called a cathedral, when it fact it was built as a mosque. It's a true clash of religions and conquest...maybe not a 'clash' but it felt rather 'clashy' to me.

The cherry blossoms in the south were already starting to emerge and my ‘profesora particular’ (Marta) told me today that her pollen allergies are starting, so indeed – Primavera – Spring – is on its way to Spain. We managed to escape most of the hellaciously cold weather in Europe...thank goodness.

We are more than half-way through our time here and through all the crazy difficulties we have had, or continue to have – one starts to get used to it…like an old pair of shoes. The girls are such troopers…they miss their friends dearly…they realize how lucky they are with respect to their education…and the fact of the matter is that they are anxious to go home….but at the same time, they are having the time of their lives. Their Spanish comprehension and conversation skills are fantastic (they have surpassed us) and they are having a cultural experience that I am sure they will never forget.

As for Andy and me – of course we are looking forward to returning to the USA and Oregon and to our jobs and stability and sanity and family and friends….but I’m already thinking of the people we’ve gotten to know and how much we’ll miss them and how much we’ll miss all the walking we do. Somebody once told me that Spain ‘grows on you’ and indeed it does. I’m sure that once our lives resume normalcy (whatever that is!), we’ll look forward to when we can come here simply as tourists to see our friends and maintain some level of Spanish.

In the meantime….más intercambios, más clases, más viajes y ya está…vale…vale…venga.

Con abrazos y besos- Shari y familia

First, the Christmas Vacation – Noche Buena (Christmas Eve), Navidad (Christmas) – Noche vieja (New Year’s Eve), El Año Nuevo (New Years), La Cabalgata de Los Reyos Magos (the three kings parade), El Día de Los Reyes Magos (the three king’s day), y lo demás (the rest).

Our last day of school was Thursday, December 22nd. As all of the grades (notas) had to be submitted by Wednesday, December 21st, Thursday was a particularly odd day. Many students didn’t bother to show up. I left early for my classes and was told that nobody was showing up, so I should just ‘vete’ (go).

The girls received their grades for all their courses and incredible!!! – they both passed all of their subjects. Considering that all the subjects are taught in Spanish, there are tests given every week and the teachers tend to grade on a very stiff scale, we were amazed and incredibly proud of the girls. First year bachillerato is no ‘cake walk’; it more than rivals the USA International Bachelor (IB) program in rigor. I honestly can’t imagine taking physics, literature española, philosophy, biology, contemporary sciences in Spanish – and doing well. What a great way to ‘kick-off’ the Christmas holiday.

On Saturday, December 24th (Noche Buena) we went to the village of our neighbors and friends, Gema, Alberto, Gema y Victor. Gema’s parents live in the village of Valdastillas and they insisted that we not be alone on Christmas Eve. Gema’s mother, Agustina, prepared a vegetarian meal for us, consisting of at least five different courses. Not to mention, she had spent all day in her kitchen preparing the typical Spanish comida for all of her family, which consisted of her three grown children, their spouses and their children. Muy bien – muy bien – muy bien!

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On Sunday, December 25th, we had a quiet Christmas celebration in our home. We had cartas y regalos from family and friends in the USA, along with some small family presents. After opening presents and cleaning up, we finished packing our bags, gathered our belongings and headed off for our road trip – throughout portions of Andalusia!

Our first destination was the incredibly beautiful city of Sevilla, where we had a couchsurfing stay set up. We arrived in Sevilla about 6:00 pm, but quickly realized (for the umpteenth time!) that the google map directions to the location we needed to get to was L-O-U-S-Y! Everyone told us that we needed to get GPS in order to drive around Spain/Europe – and you know…I think they’re right! After three telephone calls, we finally found our way to the cobblestone, one-way street in the Triana neighborhood.

We spent three wonderful days with Alfonso and his family and we were absolutely enchanted with Sevilla. We visited many of the ‘must see’ places, but what impressed me more than anything, including the cathedral, the tomb of Christopher Columbus or the Plaza de España, was the ‘ambiente’, the atmosphere of Sevilla…I don’t know…I just fell in love with Sevilla and the way it felt… and I could easily fantasize about living there…really. We left a piece of our hearts in Sevilla, but also made plans to return in June, when Ansley takes her College preparatory ACT exams (oh joy!).

From Sevilla, we headed off to a small, typical white-washed village named ‘Vejer de la Frontera’. My good friend, Nancy, and her family had spent about a month there some years ago, studying Spanish, and suggested we visit. We were only there for one night, but easily fell into the feel and rhythm of the village.

“Squeezed between the sierras and the sea, Vejer de la Frontera is a labyrinth of white washed houses & winding cobbled streets.”

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From Vejer, we had another couchsurfing stay, and headed to Puerto de Santa Maria (near Cádiz). When we left Vejer, we unfortunately parked on a very steep hill (well, that’s not hard to do as Vejer is nothing but hills!) and somehow gasoline leaked out from the gas pipe and vapors came into the car. So – everything in the trunk, including our clothing – smelled like gasoline. Ugh!! When we arrived to our couchsurfing host, we emptied the car, took all our clothes out and threw as many as we could into her washing machine. Everything else went outside to air out.

We stayed with an American family; the mom taught science at the high school on the base in Rota and her two daughters (age 14 and 9) also went to school on the base. They purchased almost everything from the base and therefore, we felt like we had suddenly been whisked back to the USA. Marleigh LOVED it!! She made instant friends and was so excited to be understood (both in language and culture). I thoroughly enjoyed myself, but it felt a bit odd to be in Spain, but to feel like I wasn’t in Spain. My bigger problem was, between the gasoline vapors and the onset of getting sick, it was difficult for me to enjoy myself. Nonetheless, the beaches at Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz and Rota were absolutely beautiful. The air was warm and so was the water – so the girls found themselves, on December 30th with their pants rolled up, bare-feet, frolicking in the Atlantic Ocean.

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From Puerto de Santa María we headed east to Ronda. When we left, the gasoline odors had dissipated, but Ansley and I were feeling sicker. She started feeling ill when we left Sevilla, and I started feeling sick the second day at Puerto de Santa María. When we arrived in Ronda, we settled into our hotel and briefly thought about looking for New Year’s Eve festivities. But, as the evening wore on, I felt worse and worse and we all ended up spending New Year’s eve in the hotel, watching TV and resting…woo-hoo – Happy New Year!! In Spain, there are some very interesting New Year’s traditions:

NEW YEAR’S TRADITIONS OF SPAIN:
Spanish New Year's Eve (Nochevieja or Fin de Año in Spanish) celebrations usually begin with a family dinner, traditionally including prawns and lamb. The actual countdown is primarily followed from the clock on top of the Casa de Correos building in Puerta del Sol in Madrid. It is traditional to eat twelve grapes, one on each chime of the clock.
Nowadays, the tradition is followed by almost every Spaniard, and the twelve grapes have become synonymous with the New Year. After the clock has finished striking twelve, people greet each other and toast with sparkling wine such as cava or champagne, or alternatively with cider.
After the family dinner and the grapes, many young people attend New Year parties at pubs or discothèques (these parties are called cotillones de nochevieja). Parties usually last until the next morning. Early next morning, party attendees usually gather to have the traditional winter breakfast of chocolate con churros, hot chocolate and fried pastry.

The next morning, when the streets were either empty, or filled with the borrochos, we went looking for the farmacias and for something to eat (and something to soothe my throat). We walked around the historic part of Ronda and were once again in awe.

"Ronda retains much of its historic charm, particularly its old town. It is famous worldwide for its dramatic escarpments and views, and for the deep El Tajo gorge that carries the rio Guadalevín through its center. Ronda is also famous as the birthplace of modern bullfighting. Held at the beginning of September, here fighters and some of the audience dress in the manner of Goya. Across the bridge, where an elegant cloistered 16th century convent is now an art museum, old Ronda, La Ciudad, sidewinds off into cobbled streets hemmed by handsome town mansions, some still occupied by Ronda's titled families."

From Ronda, we headed to another couchsurfing family very near Granada (Huetor Vega). Once again, this family, who we had never met (but had had some email and telephone correspondence) opened up their home and heart to us. They fed us, fretted over our being sick and told us places to visit in Granada. Of course La Alhambra was high on the list and we had every intention of visiting it the next day. We took a bus to the city center of Granada and went to the Caixa to try to get tickets…but no go…we didn’t realize that we needed to buy our ‘entradas’ the day before. Just as well, I wasn’t really up for an excursion and well…we really did need another excuse to return to Granada and the nearby Sierra Nevada mountains. Therefore, we walked around La Alhamba grounds, had a lot of tea and decided to look forward to our return trip.

Granada is situated at the foot of the Sierra Nevada between two hills, separated by the Darro Valley. Its panoramic views which include the white tipped Sierra Nevada mountain range, rolling green hills and numerous monuments with their rich history, make Granada magical. From 1238 to 1492, Granada acquired all its splendor both artistically as well as economically. It was in 1492 when the Catholic King, Fernando and the Queen, Isabel made King Boabdil surrender, but the city did not start to decline until 1609 when the Moorish people finally left. The Alhambra or Red Palace is without a doubt the most well-known monument in Granada, in Spain, and practically all over the world.

We left Granada the morning of January 4, 2012 and drove all day to get back to Plasencia. We arrived late and tired, and it felt really good to get ‘home’. Yes, I say home in that Plasencia does feel like home to us now and our rental house feels like our home also.

On January 5th, throughout Spain, a very special parade is held. The parade is called the ‘Calbalgata de Los Reyes’ and what it is is more or less the idea of our Christmas parade with Santa Claus…but instead with the three wise men throwing candy to all the boys and girls in the street. The calbalgata ends up in the main square where the boys and girls can tell the reyes magos want gifts they want to receive on ‘El día de los reyes magos’.

On January 6, Spain celebrates El Dia De Reyes, the Epiphany, remembering the day when the Three Wise Men following the star to Bethlehem, arrived bearing their treasured gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh for the Baby Jesus. the children write their letters to the Wise Men, or to their favorite Rey Mago: Melchor, Gaspar, or Baltasar, asking for the presents they would like to receive. Children (and many adults) polish and leave their shoes ready for the Kings' presents before they go to bed on the eve of January 6. The next morning presents will appear under their shoes.

Well…for us, January 6th was just another day for us to rest and recuperate and start preparing for our return to school. But the following day(s) were the start of the major ‘rebajas’ or sales of all the stores. Ansley was clearly in her element on January 7th, when she went from store to store, in excitement over the 30%, 40%, 50% and more discounts.

School started on Monday, January 9th and YES, it was very hard to go back. I was still feeling ill and took a couple of days to recuperate. The first weeks back for me were all about “What did you do over your Christmas vacation?” a bit about Martin Luther King and New Year’s Resolutions.
The struggle to find relevant, interesting and easy-to-understand topics in English still eludes us. I’ve been relying on short videos to both present ideas and for the students to hear more ‘typical American accents’. It is…a continuing work in progress.

And so – some reflections. We’ve been here for five months and have settled into our routines. Andy and I are finding more and more language intercambios and so our Spanish language skills are slowly coming together. We thoroughly enjoy these conversations, whatever the topic. It is more about connecting with people and the sharing of ideas and information than anything else.

There is a big part of me that would like to stay here for a second year. As it has taken these five months to get adjusted, find the rhythm and feel more comfortable communicating in Spanish, I know that a second year would be ‘easier’. But given the circumstances of very low pay, not being able to pay our way through to sustain ourselves, not being EU citizens and therefore not being able to find legal work, our home and connections back in Oregon, my job, the girls desire to return to their friends, their schools and education, and the very real need to get back to financial stability – I/we just can’t do it. Perhaps, sometime in the distant future, perhaps after our daughters finish schooling, perhaps with (early) retirement options….perhaps there would be a way to return.

In the meantime, I cannot begin to express the gratitude I feel for being able to have this opportunity (thank you to mis jefas, mis compañeros, el departamento de medio ambiente de Oregón, nuestros familia y amigos) and for all of the wonderful friends we have been making here in Spain, especially to Gema and your family for adopting us as your own.

I don’t know whether this is a saying or not (but it ought to be if it isn’t): It is better to be culturally rich and financially poor, than culturally poor and financially rich. Es decir: Es mejor ser rico por la cultura y tener poco dinero mas bien que tener mucho dinero y tener poco cultura.

Remember: There are cheap flights in winter to Europe and we have a spare room in our house. We would be more than honored to show you around Plasencia, Extremadura and wherever our little car can go.

Hasta la próxima vez,
Shari y familia

We all appreciate having a bit of time off from school and work – and so we very much enjoyed ourselves during the puentes. Tuesday, December 6th, was ‘Constitution Day’ and here in Plasencia, Monday was also a day off – a ‘puente’ or bridge day. Then, on Thursday, December 8th was another holiday – ‘Immaculate Conception’ day. The girls had school on Wednesday and Friday, but we opted to take Friday off.

For the first ‘puente’ holiday (Saturday, December 3rd until Monday, December 5th) we decided to visit Segovia. We came back to Plasencia on Monday, as the girls had school on Wednesday and had to study all day on Tuesday for the Wednesday exams (Let's have a holiday and make sure that the students have exams to study before between the two puentes, just so that they have something to do to keep themselves busy).

About Segovia: "Segovia is Spain and Castile at its best - twisting alleyways, the highest concentration of Romanesque churches in all of Europe, pedestrian streets where no cars are allowed, the aroma of roast suckling pig around every corner - all surrounded by the city's medieval wall which itself is bordered by two rivers. On the north-west extreme of the wall is the famous Alcazár castle, source of inspiration to Walt Disney, and where Queen Isabel promised Columbus the financial backing he needed to discover America. On the south-east extreme is the world renowned Roman Aqueduct, the largest and best preserved of its kind anywhere. The tallest building in Segovia is the 16th-century Cathedral, a prominent landmark as one approaches from any direction."

We stayed in a lovely hostal called Hostal Fornos in the Plaza Mayor. Everyone warned us that it was ‘muy frio’ en Segovia and boy was it cold!
The air was damp and hovered around freezing, and was filled with the smell of Cochinillo Asado, or roast suckling pig. Yes, there were 'little piggies' in every window, and not very happy 'little piggies' either.

In just about every restaurant window, this is what we saw. To us, it was difficult to look at; one because we're vegetarians and two, because we're just not used to looking at our food looking back at us. But to the Spaniards, this is like looking at heaven -- el cielo.

After two+ days back in Plasencia (Monday night, Tuesday and Wednesday), we opted for another excursion, this time to the west and south – to Lisbon, Portugal!! The drive to Lisbon, from Plasencia, was about four hours long. But -- then trying to navigate our way through the city to get to our destination, without a city map (not that it would have mattered as the names of the streets are so tiny, so black and up so high that one has to be a special detective!

We stayed in the neighborhood of Estefania, in two different hotels. The hotels were amazingly cheap (60 euros/night including a breakfast for us all!). We found this little Portuguese restaurant, very non-touristy (no English spoken), with inexpensive and wonderful food. The best was the local, no-name vino tinto, 375 ml for 1.40 euros. Lisbon is huge and vibrant. Unfortunately it was foggy, misty and then rainy, which made it difficult to walk and enjoy the city. We had hoped to make it to the district of Belem…well – perhaps there’ll be another time.

The Christmas holidays are quickly gaining on us. We are down to days of school left, followed by nearly a three week holiday break. For the last two weeks of school, as the students are slammed with end of term exams, I’ve decided to bring in a little holiday cheer into the classroom. I made a ‘Christmas Time’ powerpoint, replete with Christmas songs and videos embedded into the show. It’s by no means a masterpiece, but each time I’ve showed it to teachers and students, they applaud at the end….really. And the huge highlight of the presentation is when I hand out a piece of holiday candy to each student. I’m pretty sure that otherwise they’re not only NOT allowed to eat candy in the classroom. It has been interesting and a pleasure to learn about Christmas/New Year’s customs in Spain…Los Reyes Magos, eating 12 grapes on New Year’s Eve, and lots of other traditions.

On alternate Tuesdays I start work late. When I can, I go to the ‘mercado de ropa’ (clothing market) down the street from us. Lots and lots and lots of very cheap clothing, accessories and general household items – all from China. Nonetheless, it’s always very interesting. I put together a short video of the market. Later on in the day it gets quite busy, but hopefully you can get a sense of the atmosphere there.

Ropa Mercado de Plasencia

We had big, BIG plans to drive all around Spain during the long break – but very recently decided that we just can’t pull it off. While we received our 700 euros each for our work in October, we’ve not received payment for November nor December. The 1400 euros only goes so far and our Spanish bank account, along with everyone else in this program (well…practically everyone else in Spain for that matter!), is nearly empty. We are very fortunate that we have some financial resources to pull from back in the USA, but those resources are earmarked for our USA domestic expenses. Now they’re also being earmarked for our daily expenses here in Spain and most likely for our return flights home. Most folks here are not as fortunate as us and are having to beg and borrow their way through, as they wait for their money to come from the local Spanish government. We realize that Spain is in dire financial straits, as is much of the rest of Europe. But, to offer up grants to foreigners, to promise them money (but a promise is not a contract and we don’t have contracts….lesson learned) and then to hold out payment is very difficult.

Nonetheless, we’re determined to make the best of whatever situation we’re in. We’ll make our way to Sevilla, Granada and probably spend the majority of time, during the Christmas holiday break in Andalucia. We’re looking for other couchsurfing opportunities and folks to show us their part of Spain.

We really enjoy Plasencia, our neighbors, the people we’re meeting, and the overall customs. We’re approaching the four month mark of being/living in Spain and are nicely settled into Plasencia. We love being able to walk everywhere and love the little tiendas on every street corner. The school experience for us all is fascinating. We can't help but compare schools here (in every which way) to schools back where we live. Andy took some photos of his high school (IES Gabriel y Galan) -- and in particular with his ESO #1 (roughly 6th grade equivalent).

Even four months into our stay, we all miss our family and friends and our animals and we’ll be looking forward to seeing everyone next summer. When we’re not travelling, we’d love to have some more courageous folks come and visit us. Come February, come March, May or June, or come and travel Europe with us in July. Come and we’ll take you to our tiendas favoritas, los parques, monumentos, ruinas y mas.

And we want to end this blog with a special Holiday cheer........ Feliz Navidad a todos!

“Have you got any brothers or sisters?” “Yes, I have got one brother and one sister.” In the US, we replace the word ‘got’ with the helping word ‘do’, to form the question: “Do you have any brothers or sisters?” and with the answer, we simply don’t use ‘got’ and say: “Yes, I have one brother and one sister.” What’s the big deal? - you may ask. Well, if a student is used to being asked a question with: “Have you got….” and we come along and ask “Do you have…” this is enough confusion to have the students scrunch up their eyebrows with a : “No entiendo….” As well, our poor daughters are having to use this “Have you got…” and “I have got…” sentence structure in their English classes…much to the chagrin of their English teachers in the United States.

I could write an entire blog on the humorous differences between British English and American English, but suffice it to say…”We have got our money” and just in time to celebrate the good old tradition of Black Friday, which is NOT celebrated in Spain. Nonetheless, the streets are filled with shoppers, shoppers mostly buying fresh fruit and veg - but in spite of the terrible European economy there is a sense of holiday spirit in the air, with the traditional Spanish products on the shelves.

Black Friday isn’t celebrated in Spain, and of course neither is Thanksgiving. Just as it felt odd to not really go out in the full spirit of Halloweening – it felt really, really odd to not have the usual Thanksgiving gathering and even odder to not have the Thanksgiving holiday off. We all talked turkey in our English classes all week and some of the Americanos here in Plasencia decided to put together a bit of a friendship gathering.

We have been living in Spain for three months now. We are settled into our new routines and rhythms. Teaching and schooling has become a bit more comfortable for us all. Our ears are tuning into and out of Spanish on a daily basis – I know the girls are improving their Spanish at lightning speed. Our improvement is more like mud flowing. We have several language intercambios and a handful (a growing handful) of English lessons. With the continued downturn of the European economy, and Spain in the number three position of worst western economies, everyone is scrambling to improve their English conversation skills, so they will become more eligible for better work opportunities. I never realized how advantaged we are in the United States to have English as our mother tongue. Neither did I realize how much of a demand there is in the world to learn English. And – just because one can speak English, doesn’t mean one can teach English. This language of ours is immensely complicated and cumbersome to teach.

A few weeks ago, Andy and I (and other Assistants from the US and around the English speaking world) were invited to participate in "English Day" in the lovely village of Hervas. The students consisted of adults that were/had been studying at the 'Escuela de Idiomas' here in Plasencia and who are at a conversant level. It was a very interesting experience for us all, and we really enjoyed working with adult 'students'.

We are always thinking of interesting and creative ways to present information to the students we help. What may seem simple and ordinary to us is nothing of the sort. Why do we say: does (as in duz) and goes (as in goze)? Why do we say of (as in uv) and off (as in awf)? Why are ‘one’ and ‘won’ pronounced the same? Why is ‘laugh’ pronounced like ‘laff’? Why do we say ‘walk’t’ and ‘talk’t’, but rested, nested – but there’s no bested? Beats the heck out of me!

With all that complication going on, plus the fact that the students don’t have much – don’t have hardly any opportunities to converse in English, it’s understandable why they are so reticent to speak. I am experimenting with using songs and short videos to introduce vocabulary and create a more relaxed atmosphere. I still need to work more on the timing and the use of the lyrics and all of that, but needless to say, the idea of bringing in music, or short English speaking videos into the classroom is very successful. So – name your favorite songs for me and I’ll see what I can about using them in the classes!

Next week is a bit of a breather for us all…there are a couple of holidays and so we’ll be heading out and exploring a bit. The first part of the holiday we plan to travel to Segovia and for the second, we are working on putting together a trip to Lisbon, Portugal. Our little used car is serving us very well and we are very happy to have it. It is quite economical, which is super important, considering gasoline/diesel costs about 1.40 euro/liter…that works out to about 5.60 euros/imperial gallon. Last weekend we explored the ruins of an ancient Roman city called Cáparra. The ruins of the ancient city and tower were incredible, but the girls were much more fascinated by a ‘stray’ pup that followed us everywhere. We decided to name him ‘Buddy, the olive eater’, as he picked ripe olives off the nearby trees and ate them (whole!)

So – this blog post is ‘short and sweet’ as we say in the USA – before you know it, it will be Christmas holiday break. We’re planning to take an extensive driving tour of Spain, starting in the South. We’ll have close to 3-weeks and have plans to first head south to Sevilla, then Grenada, then up the coast and to Barcelona. From there…who knows…everyone keeps telling us about the country of Andorra and how wonderful the skiing is…there will be so much to see and so much to write about and so much fun to be had. We look forward to have a nice break from the teaching and studying.

Con abrazos a todos - La Familia Dunning