Saturday, March 26, 2011

Mis Padres.

So I think it is safe to say that when I have visitors here in Spain, my blog gets neglected.
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While in Honduras last year Rachel’s parents made the crazy trip to our mountain to visit for a week. At this point I already knew that I was heading to Spain, and didn’t expect my parents to come visit me during the 6 months I was in Honduras. However, I had every expectation that they would come and visit me while I lived in Spain for 10 months, and this became an even higher expectation when I found out Jay would also be in Spain at the same time studying in Seville (higher expectation because between Jay and I, and then my uncle, aunt and cousin, there were a lot of people to visit). Thus, a week before I left last August, my parents bought tickets to come.

They have now come and gone, and it went quickly. They arrived last Thursday and I dropped them off at the airport this morning. It was an awesome week with them—I only went one day without seeing them, and the itinerary went as planned.

Their flight arrived on time and after a scare at the baggage claim (their baggage was sent to a different carrousel, but it took 30 minutes and the panic of lost baggage to figure that out) we were on our way to Algeciras. We arrived and spent the rest of the night just hanging out.




Friday we drove out to the lookout point you have seen before and snapped some pictures of Africa.


We then backtracked and picked up my cousin Christopher and went to a town (I believe it was Sabinillas) and had an awesome lunch right on the Mediterranean. I could tell that my parents were both giddy at the fact that they were in Spain, and that they were sitting on the Mediterranean. It was a lot of fun to observe.


Saturday morning we woke up early and headed towards Bolonia, the location of the Roman ruins my uncle took me to back in August and also went to with Jay in January. We walked around the ruins and then went and grabbed a bite to eat near the beach.




After enjoying another great meal we headed back towards Algeciras, but not before stopping off at the lookout again for a coffee and the clearest view of Africa I have seen yet from that spot.



My parents, Jay and I then packed up our things and headed up towards Seville. After dropping my parents off near their rented flat, and a crazy time trying to find a parking spot, we went out for dinner in Seville. Afterwards I took my parents for a night walk around the historical center of town, most notably the Cathedral and La Giralda, which both look incredible lit up at night.

Sunday morning we woke up, went out for breakfast, and started our long walking tour around Seville. This included El Museo de Bella Artes, Triana and Jay’s homestay, the Real Alcazar and Plaza de España. We grabbed some dinner at one of my favorite tapas bars and went out for ice cream. (Note: at this point I left my parents and Jay to go watch the Michigan vs. Duke basketball game at a Tex-Mex bar I had discovered when I lived there, and that Rachel and I had visited and watched the NFL at back in December. There was a Duke fan there, as well three current Michigan students. What a heart breaker of a game…)





Monday morning we woke up and went out to breakfast. We then headed towards the Cathedral and La Giralda. My parents, especially mom, were pretty overwhelmed at its’ size, but they really enjoyed the views from La Giralda.




After checking this out we began our adventure of trying to figure out how to get out of Seville, and on to the highway towards Malaga on our way to Nerja, where my parents had rented a flat for the rest of the week. This proved to be very difficult with the confusing roads, lack of street signs, and road construction. What should have probably only taken 20-25 minutes ended up taking us over an hour. Finally, after a couple of wrong turns, roundabouts, and finally asking someone where the highway was, we were on our way. However, we were soon slowed down again as we came upon a giant oversize truck carrying an enormous steel structure that was taking up both lanes of the highway and not letting anyone pass. We were stuck going between 30-60 km/hour for over an hour. Eventually it took an exit and we were on our way. We made it to Nerja, found the flat, and went grocery shopping.

Tuesday night after classes Michael Lynn, Emily and I hopped in the car and drove to Nerja to have dinner with my parents. My parents had walked down to the beach and spent the afternoon relaxing (I took all their pictures off my mom’s new camera before they left).




Wednesday ended up being the only day I didn’t see them, but Thursday night Emily and I went to Nerja after our classes and we all went out to dinner. We went to a local place that was owned by a British couple, which was a short walk from the flat. It was quite the interesting restaurant. The menu was only in English (they may have had a Spanish one), but no one in the restaurant was speaking Spanish, only English and Norwegian. It was pretty good food, though.

Friday morning (yesterday) we drove up to Granada. We again went on a walking tour of another culturally rich Spanish town that included seeing the Cathedral, walking through the Albaicin neighborhood, and the Alhambra.





After a long day in Granada we made a quick stop in Motril to show my parents my flat and grabbed a bite to eat. We then headed back to Nerja.

This morning we were up at 5:30 and were off to Malaga by 6:45.

The week went by fast, but it was a treat to have my parents come all the way to Spain to visit. I am super fortunate that they were able to come and my expectations were met!

Thanks mom and dad!


Monday, March 14, 2011

Who's that? Mom, dad?

After a few fun weekend trips (Guadix/Castillo de la Calahorra, Skiing the Sierra Nevadas, and Gibraltar) I spent this past weekend relaxing before life picks up again. On Thursday I have some visitors arriving here to Spain...


Yes, my parents are boarding a jet plane and leaving the United States to come visit me, my brother, and my uncle, aunt and cousin. They arrive in Malaga on Thursday afternoon. I will pick them up and we will head straight to Algeciras for a few days, and then on Saturday we will eventually make our way to Sevilla for a few days. On Monday, we will head to Nerja, where my parents have rented a house. They will relax there, visit me in Motril, and we will also take a trip up to Granada and the Alhambra, and maybe even a trip to Castillo de la Calahorra (my mom really loved the pictures and asked if we could go see it).

It is going to be exciting and I am really looking forward to it!

Other than that, this past weekend was pretty low key. We went to Granada on Saturday for several hours and did some shopping and tapas. I actually bought something for the first time since Christmas, a new shirt and scarf. Here I am with Javier and Paco Saturday night:


Anyway, like I said, low key two weeks here before things get crazy with vistors. I am super excited for my parents, but life continues to get better when I get to take another one of these pictures:


Yes, my parents leave and a week later Rachel arrives for her SECOND visit. In a three week period I will have my parents and girlfriend visiting--talk about a lucky guy.

Anyway, that is all for now. Look for some good entries about my parents visit sometime next week. I will try and get them up as soon as possible, but as I learned over Christmas break when Rachel was here, it might not happen right away.

Good night from Spain!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Teaching at its finest.

Today I taught a lesson to my 1st Eso (6th graders) in Art class. I was going to show students paitings of four different artists and they were going to have to describe the paintings using vocabulary words we have been working on in class (hot colors, cold colors, expressionism, etc).

I began with Vincent Van Gogh, and told the class that he is probably my favorite painter. This picture was on the screen when I said it:


One of my students sitting near the front of the class, after I said this, quickly replied, "Tad, you like him because he uses blue and yellow colors!"

I have taught them well.

...and with a comment like that I must also post this video of my students in Honduras last year...



Go Blue!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Vent

I don't consider myself an expert. I don't know all of the behind the scene details (shouldn't government be transparent, it is created for the people, right?), but I am going to be honest, as a teacher and someone who cares deeply for the future of America, I am appaled at what is being done throughout the country right now.

Everyone is talking about it, especially the politicians, about how American students consistently fall behind the students of other countries in test scores, how many of our schools are failing, how there is an achievement gap between students of different races and socio-economic backgrounds. So what is the answer? These politicians think it is to cut millions in funding to schools, which is being done in several states right now.

I am not naive. I know there are people in the education system who are milking it, and taking much of that money that government gives the educational system for their benefits. I know there are teachers who show up to work, do what they have been doing for the last 30 years, and go home collecting their bi-weekly paychecks. They are worn out, burnt out, and ready to retire, yet are still in the system because they lost a couple of grand in retirement (can you say ironic? teachers losing part of their pension, as is the case in Wisconsin, could cause these types of teacher to stay around even longer) the last few years, and want to make sure they can retire comfortably. This might be harsh, but many would agree it is an unfortunate truth. But in that same school, and throughout campuses around the United States, you have young people who are passionate about teaching, who are ready to take on the challenges that face our broken educational system, and ensure that the United States will continue to be an important player in the world. Why handcuff these teachers by cutting the budget, which then translates to schools cutting their budgets, which then translates to schools holding on to older teachers and laying off younger non-tenured teachers (yeah, tenured), which then leads to schools not hiring new and passionate graduates who are eager to work with youth. It seems so backwards, and it infuriates me.
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I saw a clip the other day that was taken from the Fox News Business channel. Some bald man was commenting on the current state of affairs in Wisconsin, and made a comment that made me scream "Screw You!" at the computer. He said teaching is a part time job, and that his mother was a teacher and she was always home by 2:30 in the afternoon. My guess is his mother was one of those teachers who should have had retired years ago. John Stewart addressed this 'pinhead' in the following Daily Show clip.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Crisis in Dairyland - Angry Curds
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full EpisodesPolitical Humor & Satire BlogThe Daily Show on Facebook

Continued:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Crisis in Dairyland - Message for Teachers
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full EpisodesPolitical Humor & Satire BlogThe Daily Show on Facebook

Sure, teachers might recieve lots of benefits to go along with their slightly above average national salary (this is only the case in some states, other states' average teacher salaries are right on with the national average). But think about the educational policies and requirements for teachers across many of those states. For example, to obtain a teaching certificate in Michigan it takes most students 5 years at the university. I was fortunate to do in in 4, but this was only because I knew I wanted to be a teacher when I started college. There is 4-5 years of education. Now, many states, like Michigan, require teachers to "continue their education" and obtain x amount of credits over x amount of years (and do this throughout their career). This costs money, and time, and leads to teachers being highly educated, often obtaining second or third certifications or higher degrees such as masters, or in some cases, even doctorates. This leads to teachers being some of the most highly educated people in the United States, and you are going to complain that they are making too much money? Many business majors leave their undergraduate studies and jump right into jobs with a four year degree making more annually than I ever will as a teacher. The same is true in other fields such as engineering and nursing. Not to mention, it is much easier to obtain jobs in these fields because they are continually growing and the government is doing things to make sure there are jobs for people in these professions. So, why pick a fight with teachers? A professional group that makes less, and where it is more difficult to find a job now, and with further cuts in funding, will be more difficult to find a job in the coming years.

I don't have an answer to the budget problems facing our states and federal government. I just have a request. If you aren't going to think about the teachers and what they do, at least think about the students and who they are--the future of our country. Don't we have a right to make sure they are recieving the best possible education? Can that be done when schools are losing millions, and when businesses are gaining millions?

I am not anti-business, but I think America needs to look in the mirror and begin to reprioritize what is important.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The Rock


Not that one…


Yeah, that one.
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Last spring break I went to the town of Copan Ruinas, near the border of Guatemala in the northwest part of Honduras. There is a bird sanctuary there famous for taking in macaws and other tropical birds that is open for walking tours. Near the end of the tour you can have one of the staff place some of the birds on you, and of course get your picture taken. Consider it a must if you visit:

(Don't mind the ridiculous hat...)

However, one of the downfalls of it may be a hole or two in your shirt. If you notice, that blue macaw is in the process of biting my Under Armor shirt—he left a pretty good size hole. Then again, to tell people that the hole was caused by a parrot, is a pretty cool story.
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Here in Spain we had an extended weekend—no school on Monday (providence holiday) or today (teacher holiday). With that said, Emily and I (Michael Lynn actually went to Cork, Ireland) decided to travel to Algeciras on Friday, and then Saturday spend all afternoon exploring Gibraltar, the British territory that makes up the Rock of Gibraltar.



After arriving Friday afternoon, spending some time with my family in Algeciras, and getting a set itinerary planned with my uncle (i.e. best time to enter Gibraltar to avoid long lines of cars trying to get in) we went to bed and woke up the next morning ready to explore. We got to the passport checkpoint at the border of Spain and Gibraltar shortly after 9 am. We went straight to the cable car lift that takes you to the top of the rock and parked. We were there before it opened (9:30am) so we walked around a nearby botanical garden.




We eventually made it back to the cable car, bought the tickets, and went up. It was a decently clear view, so check out some of the pictures.






Not bad.

We were excited to not only hear English and see the Rock close up, but also excited to see the famous monkeys that are found throughout Gibraltar (only on top of the Rock, not in town). Emily and I spent probably a combined 2-3 hours watching and interacting with the monkeys. We took several videos and pictures that I put into a movie. Enjoy (NOTE: Monkeys biting my shirt. Luckily they weren’t as successful as those parrots in Copan. No holes).


Instead of taking the cable car down, Emily and I decided to walk back into town. Along the way we saw many of the monkeys you saw in the above video, along with several spectacular views. We even explored some remains of old military complexes. I couldn’t resist reenacting.



After several hours of walking in the hot, February sun we made it back into town where we began looking for a pub for lunch. The Angry Friar looked acceptable and this was what I got:


And this is what was left when I finished:


We then headed back to the car and drove around the backside of the Rock, which is less populated. We drove out to the farthest southern point where there is a lighthouse, and took in the view of Africa and the Mediterranean.





We then stopped at the only beach we found, which proved to be pretty disappointing, and then feeling content with our visit, returned to my uncles.



Overall, a pretty spectacular and successful weekend.

Oh, did I mention that we spent 4 hours sunbathing yesterday afternoon in Almuñécar (sun screen was applied...)? That is right, skiing last week, taking in the sun on the beach this weekend. Spain.