Less Gluttony, More Thanks

Today, I return to write with a more perhaps, positive outlook on life, the future ahead, as well as satisfaction with the past. To those of you who are unaware, such as my non-American friends, today is Thanksgiving. Normally, at this hour, I would be helping in order to prepare the most succulent, delicious feast one would ever taste in their life. Instead, I am currently in a café, having a café con leche, and a tortilla con atun, pimientos y pan (omelet with tuna, peppers and bread). Needless to say, I have not forgotten about my American roots and have chosen to observe this holiday regardless of where I happen to be living at the moment.
This year is the first year I have been away from such celebrated traditions and I feel I have had an epiphany. Has anyone really ever taken the time to understand the Thanksgiving holiday from a foreigner's point of view? Well, today I finally have. In order to sustain myself here, I give conversational English classes where I just talk to my "student" in English for one hour and get paid anywhere between 10-20 euros an hour. Today, I was giving a class and I told the person that today was Thanksgiving. Of course she has heard about it before, but she didn't really understand the concept of it all.
"Don't you just eat a lot?" Well, yes. But then I found myself trying to defend this ridiculous concept: "There's football on TV, and a parade, and they normally play the first Christmas movies...". Of course maybe once in a blue moon, family members go around the table and name a couple things they are "thankful" for as they savagely devour their fifth helping of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pie, bread, gravy, etc, etc. Does anyone else spot the irony here? Of course, I am not bashing the delicious spread of heart attack helper, because I, for one, love to eat and thus love this sanctioned-for-eating holiday.
However, looking from the outside in, today I will not be having immense amounts of food shoved down my throat, and instead am forced to observe the holiday for what it's worth-- giving thanks. I have realized that a lot has happened in my life, more specifically the last 5 months of it, that I am incredibly thankful for. And for that, I would just like to properly name the things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving.

THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR...

1. The opportunity to travel and live in Spain.
2. The undeniable support from my family.
3. The friends back home who check up on me, send me their love, and so forth. I love you guys!
4. Florida weather. Believe it or not, I miss the warmer, humid weather.
5. This coffee shop for putting up with me for at least two hours every day.
6. The unfortunate situations I have been in since I have been in Spain. They have helped me grow.
7. My new family, support system, soul mates, circle of friends, whatever you want to be called, that I have made while being in Spain. You guys have kept me sane, have kept me laughing and have been there for me during the most pertinent times. I don't know what I would have done without you guys.
8. Whoever created the first heater.... I'm VERY thankful for you.
9. Cats.
10. The iPhone/skype/modern technology for allowing me to keep in contact with my family and friends while abroad.
11. I know I said my family, but I would like to specifically address my Mom and Dad. I was seriously born with the greatest set of parents ever. I'm really missing you guys today.
12. The bickering, the giggling, the singing and so forth that occurs throughout the day during Thanksgiving. My day is going to be mighty quiet today.
13. Socks.
14. The snowcapped mountains in Vitoria.
15. Home.

I could probably keep writing about things that I am thankful for, but I'm sure you will read more than enough Facebook posts today addressing what everyone is thankful for. At least you can have the satisfaction of knowing that I'm not social media-ing from my iPhone with greasy turkey fingers as I'm reclining on a couch miserably.
In all seriousness, I do miss my family a lot today, and I whole-heartedly respect what this holiday is trying to accomplish in theory. In fact, my friends and I are hosting our own rendition of Thanksgiving tomorrow. It will be on a smaller scale of course. However, today, I am glad that I can for once give my thanks instead of devouring it.

XX

Good Things Must Come To An End

It's been a little bit since I have written for my blog. Times have been stressful to say the least. The whole "I'm going to find conversational English classes" thing hasn't been particularly successful either. I have a roommate now, which is a good thing. But at the moment, I'm just not really doing a whole lot which is a problem. Even though I'm trying to remain optimistic about the whole situation, it looks that I will most likely be returning home in January. No one really knows how much it pains me to say that. I'm starting to come to terms with it more and more, but at the same time, I just want to run away and never leave. Except they would deport me which also wouldn't be a good thing.
In my spare time, I have been watching a lot of Breaking Bad, I'm not going to lie. I've become very involved with the show and have developed the biggest crush on Jesse Pinkman. As you can see, my life has been extremely riveting lately.

On a lighter note, I discovered the strangest thing that still baffles me and goes to show just how small this world is. When I walk to the city center from my flat every day, I pass this sign with a basketball player on it. In Vitoria, they have this pretty good team here that's in the European League. Actually, Magui and I ran in to a player (of course we had no idea who he was) and made Magui take a picture with him because she's so short and he was so tall. It ended up he played in the NBA for a little bit and is a key player for the team here. That's beside the point. This sign I pass every day has this person on it that looked very familiar to me and above him the name said Hodge. I thought to myself "Ha. That's strange. He kind of looks like Walter Hodge from the Gators." I didn't really think that it was him because why on earth would he be in Vitoria. Come on. But one day, I decided to stop and actually look at the sign, and right to the left of the name "Hodge" it said "Walter" on it. Walter Hodge plays basketball in Vitoria. Walter Hodge from The University of Florida. It's seriously the strangest thing. Of all the places in Europe, this is where he ends up. So fingers crossed I get to see him walking in the street so I can throw some "Go Gators" at him. Then naturally we would become best friends and he would eventually introduce me to Chandler Parsons and we would get married.

Another update is that it snowed for the first time on Friday. Snow. In November. I didn't even know how to handle it. Mainly because I walk everywhere. Of course I have been in snow before, but normally if I'm traveling somewhere, I get into a car and it's not a big deal. However, in Vitoria, my only mode of transportation is my feet. So I put on several layers of clothing and didn't know if bringing an umbrella was acceptable or not. It just seems weird to use an umbrella for snow. I used it nonetheless and apparently that's what you do. I just, again, didn't know how to handle myself. Tomorrow we are supposed to get more snow. At least, that's what my phone said. 

The cold is great. The only downside is that it makes me want to stay inside all day long underneath my blankets. And side note: I still haven't turned on my heat. How's that for energy efficiency?

I wish I was able to supply you all with more exciting news. But really, nothing that exciting has happened. Maybe it's kind of sad that the only really cool thing (to me anyway) that I reported was about Walter Hodge.

I guess being here is a little depressing at times because I just think about the future and how soon I'm going to go home. Of course I want to see my friends and family, but I just feel like I'm giving up leaving so soon. Yeah, six months is quite a while to live abroad, make no mistake. It's just I planned to stay here for a year. Furthermore, the friendships I have made here, all the people I have met, it's just weird to think that maybe I won't see them again. It's weird to think that they might only be a memory in a six-month period of my life. Granted, they will be awesome memories, but still. These friends are completely different than the ones back home, and I really don't want to lose them. I guess that's part of life though. Of course then, I start having these fantasies about reuniting with all of them at one point (I'm looking at you, Melanie and Sophie) ten years down the road, in La Virgen Blanca. On top of that, I start thinking about how small the world is, and then hope is kind of restored in my head for a little bit. If we're meant to meet again, we will. So, I'm done being a little depressing. Maybe next time I will have a bit more to write about.

XX

Back in Business

Hello all!
I recently realized that my last entry was rather depressing to say the least. Luckily, I'm returning to blog on a much happier note and bearing good news. However, I will start with the part where I stayed at a friends flat for a week.
After my dramatic "step down" from being an au pair, I have to admit, I hadn't really done much thinking about the "what next" part of my adventure. Luckily, I have a really great and secure circle of friends here who have really helped me so much throughout this less than awesome situation. Throughout this week, I searched for flats high and low and finally landed one. It's on a street called Calle Reyes Catolicós and it's a super cute two bed, one bath flat. Furthermore, it's only a five or so minute walk from Casco Viejo which is the old town.

My living room area/part of the kitchen

The kitchen!

I am very, very excited to be here. For a while, I was pretty depressed about the situation because obviously, this is not where I thought I was going to be four months into my gap year. I thought I was going to be in Barcelona, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Instead, I'm in Vitoria, sitting at a café with three layers of clothes on, one including my coat, jeans and boots, as it rains and blows cold wind in my face. I had no idea that I was going to be living on my own in a foreign country, just barely scraping by. But instead of looking at the negative side of it, I'm in Spain, living on my own, making my own luck. And that's pretty cool. I guess it's just funny how things never work out the way one thinks they will. One small move and it changes everything. Of course I assumed that taking a gap year  would change me here and there. However, I really never thought this is the hand I would be dealt and how fast I would have to really grow up. You college kids have it easy.

On Sunday, I made new friends. Two are from the states (California and Texas) and the other two are from England and France. They are all English teachers and teach at academies in Vitoria (except the French one teaches French I believe). Their names are Erika, Laura, Jess and Adele. It's funny how I met them actually. Sunday I was very depressed seeing as everything was fresh-- I had just quit, I didn't know what I was going to do with my life and I was on the phone with my mom telling her just how conflicted I was. There was a girl sitting at a cafe in front of me and I remember looking at her and thinking how much she reminded me of my aunt. When I got up to leave, a group of friends had joined her and I heard them all speaking English. So of course, when I hear English in Vitoria, my attention perks up much like this:

Yup. That's basically me. I then turned around and asked them "….English?" and they were all "Yeah! You?" and that's where our friendship began. I told them my sob story about my confused life and they ended up inviting me to go see this short film at a bar where we had drinks. The film was made in a city about 45 minutes north of Vitoria called Bilboa and it was a thriller. It was interesting. It was filled with people you typically see stereotyped in movies that go to these small short films and act all proud and intellectual. But it was actually really awesome to attend. 

Tuesday came around, and as most of you know, or don't know maybe, Tuesday was my birthday. I'm not going to lie, Tuesday was not a very awesome day. It didn't feel like my birthday at all. I searched for flats basically all day with Erika which was extremely exhausting. However, before that, I met with Sofie and Melanie who surprised me with a cute cake, coffee and party hat. I couldn't meet with them for very long unfortunately. But, it felt very special to know at least two girls who cared enough and put effort into making my birthday noticed. That night, I was invited to eat dinner with Erika, Jess and Jess' flatmates, who happen to be a couple with a very, very cute dog. Stephanie is one of their names and the other one…. I don't remember. Don't kill me if you read this. I'm sorry!! Anyway, Stephanie is also from the United States and is from Rome, Georgia. COME ON! That's like a hop, skip and jump away from Gadsden where I used to live. So that was crazy to hear. 

The food ended up being absolutely delicious thanks to Jess' amazing cooking skills. I was very grateful to have been invited to dinner, and now I have some nice friends due to it.

On Wednesday, I attended an event at a bar called the Pub Quiz. It's basically a trivia game where you create teams and answer trivia questions. The winner gets a bottle of wine. I went with Erika and Jess and coincidentally, bumped into some couchsurfing friends. We didn't win, unfortunately. But it was still very fun. 

Thursday, I attended Pintxo Pote (pronounced peen-cho po-tay) which takes place every Thursday. Bars supply pintxos which are basically tapas, and specialize in one for the night. You go with a group of friends and everyone puts money into a "pot" let's say. About five euros. Then you just go from bar to bar eating pintxos and the alcoholic beverage (or non-alcoholic beverage) of your choosing. Thursday is also the night that most of the University students around here go out, much like back home. So I made my way to the popular street Kutxi (pronounced cu-chee). There is where I met up with Melanie. 

Ah! I forgot to mention, Thursday was also Halloween. Being born only three days before Halloween, I have taken a strong liking toward the celebration. In Vitoria, not so many people celebrate it. Some kids do, but it is very rare to catch an adult dressed up. That didn't stop me. I painted my face like a cat and hit the streets. Granted I did get a lot of funny looks for wearing tiger ears and a cat face, but it was self-satisfying to know that my Halloween spirit follows me everywhere. 

Some other fellow Halloweenies

Me and Melanie dressed up as kitty cats. MEOW.

Those are the only updates I have to report as of now. Hopefully I will find some conversational English lessons to help pay for the rest of my time here. If not, maybe all of you will be seeing me a lot sooner than planned. Who knows? But at this moment, it's very cold outside and I feel as if my hands and nose are going to freeze off if I stay out here a minute longer. So I guess it's time to say hasta luego. 

Cheers my fellow readers. 

XX