NYC workin', Jersey livin'

*This was supposed to be posted a week ago...ran into some technical difficulties*

So I've been in New Jersey for two weeks now, been interning in New York City for almost two weeks, and I can say one thing...it has been GREAT!

I could just be living off of the bliss of the city or the love of my extended family but who cares?! I'm in NYC, snitch!

Okay, for real, though. It hasn't been all rainbows and lollipops. I did leave my exclusive Spelman umbrella in the airport :-(, spent a few days getting lost, walked until I couldn't feel my feet anymore, battled with my hair (and my hair won), and some other minor issues.
But that's NADA compared to the good! My job is literally a block over from Broadway and a few blocks from Times Square, the people I work with are he-larry-us and nice, there are different opportunities for me at the company and within the city, already been to a couple cookouts and out in the city, met up with my Spelman sisters Liz and Rae in my hometown of New Brunswick, saw a play called Unnatural Acts (very cool and different) after going for drinks with my lovely Spelman/NYU sister, got my NYU ID (and found out I can't get into the library until my classes start...*wth face*), attended a meeting at the UN for students interested in the Fulbright Program, and met a couple new AUC folks.

But I still have a lot more I want to (and have to) do! Not sure who doesn't know this but my interest in sports (predominantly the NBA) has multiplied by an innumerable amount. I'm pretty obsessed actually but we'll leave that for another day. I, along with a couple other ladies, have started a website dedicated to the Atlanta Hawks (and we also cover a little about other players). It's a feel-good site :-). Here's the link (atlhawksfans.weebly.com), hope you enjoy! I had the pleasure of interviewing Damien Wilkins, and we also interviewed the wonderful Bob Rathbun.

Dating life is...nonexistent. It could exist but I'm still getting accustomed to my life here. My dating life is better labeled a "talking" life because that's the extent of that.

"Youtube" Me, Baby

I posted a video on the tube of you. It's not really a video, it's really just an audio file but I kept trying to just put it on here and it didn't want to work soooooo....heeeeeere it goes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogsC8eZwM80

It's my way of making my special announcement. A new installment of my blog is coming since I'm moving to (video info)! Please don't critique me on my singing skills, I know I'm the next Janet. I also take requests, my voice range is alto-tenor style so no Mariah Carey, por favor.

Seriously, y'all should already know by now that I'm silly.

I think you're truly something special

Why I like (Aaron) Jamal Crawford so much...

You know that excitement you get when watching someone play so amazingly well that it makes you wish you played even when you can barely dribble a ball? That's what kind of emotion JC incites from me. He is what captured me to the Hawks last season. After seeing him play I wondered, "Who is this guy?" and sought answers. My father, a lifelong Knicks fan (and if you know any of those, you already know how they can be *shudders*), proudly said, "Oh, that's the guy we gave to you." Of course he never brought up the fact of Jamal playing for Golden State before coming to the Hawks, but he just thinks "once a Knicks player, always a Knicks player." Silly rabbits.

I did not look at JC and think, "Oh yes, he's a cutie, I'm a fan!" What drew me to him was his presence on the court. This guy comes off bench and demands attention with his playing. This was crazy for me because, unfortunately, there is that cute-dar that attracts me to certain players who just happen to play well. Heads up, I'm just being honest with this blog. Back to JC...I researched the snot out of him, finding out how he is most known for his handles of the ball, breaking/injuring many ankles in the process, and even hitting threes like Palomalo hits offensive players. I soon found out that, although he scores like a starter, he doesn't mind coming off the bench if it benefits the team. A native of Seattle, Jamal has played for the Chicago Bulls, Knicks, Warriors, and finally Hawks. He'd love for Seattle to have a team and wouldn't mind playing for it either, as his heart lies with his hometown.

Jamal Crawford came in as the 8th pick for the 2000 NBA Draft, making the 2010-11 season his 11th. He was picked by Cleveland but immediately traded to the Bulls. Taken by his playing history, I decided to look at some of his more personal facts. This man gives back like it's his job! He gives to Seattle on a regular and now the Atlanta Boys and Girls Clubs. For every three he made, he donated $25 to local clubs for heart defibrillators and Philips Arena ended up matching his donations! After creating a Twitter page for his fans (www.twitter.com/jamalcrawfans), I started looking up quotes to post and different unknown facts, let me tell you something! This man has some great quotes. He's a well spoken and humble person.

I had the pleasure of meeting Jamal Crawford recently and he was super duper nice. He's got a down-to-earth personality...as evidenced by his choice of Halloween costume...
(Photo courtesy of Zaza Pachulia's twitter page)
He is the best 6th man! Point.blank.period. Jamal Crawford scores better than some of these teams' starters in less time. This statement would probably be better supported by some type of evidence but I'll just post JC's stats...Career average 15.5 ppg, 4 apg, and 84.5 % from the line. He holds the NBA record for most 4 pt plays with 29...the next in line is Reggie Miller with 23 (arguably 24). The man is slept on like crazy.

This.right here.is my.new post

I've decided to make this my regular blog. I'll be talking about whatever interests me, mainly sports and helping people. Trust me, I'll make it as interesting as humanly possible...or not. Right now I write to you while sitting in my cousin's apartment in New Jersey, listening to "Morris Brown," a fantastically happy-sounding song if you have never heard it before. For those of you who really know me, you know that my interest in sports has skyrocketed over the past couple years, to the pleasure of my father and brother and the disinterest of my mother. My (girl) friends find my interest pretty funny/entertaining. What brought it about was my trip to Spain mainly. I returned appreciating my family and people in my life a lot more and wanted to spend more quality time with my brother and father. I found that, by sitting with them while many games were on, we could bond. What I didn't expect was to become curious as to what was going on, having that curiosity lead to full-blown fanship.

I started off by watching the Atlanta Hawks play (as I had watched them many times before since they are the hometeam). My father, a fan of all-things related to sports, used to hold season tickets to the games back in the day. I eventually decided I wanted to go to the games, so I would go with my brother, my father or even my mother or friend. Anyone who would go with me, I'd take them. I soon learned of the ins and outs of the team and gained an opinion of the owners based on my research. My brother and I had discussed it before but since I wasn't a full-blown fan, I didn't really care. I will leave out my opinion of the owners for now but will say that some things prevent certain people from buying/continuing to purchase season tickets...that is all. I would love to make the team a popular staple of Atlanta, harnessing fans from around the world, but sometimes I guess my suggestions/opinions fall on deaf ears. Annnnyway....

What are my teams? I know that's probably a question for many (if any) people reading this. I really like players more than teams but sometimes I like so many players that I end up liking the team by default. My teams are as follows; The New Jersey Nets, The Atlanta Hawks, and The Boston Celtics. I'm probably getting some WTFuss?! reactions right now but it is what is people. I am a big fan of Paul Pierce *gasp* and KG...also Shaq, though he's a recently acquired player for the team. I fell in love with Rajon Rondo's playing when he was just getting heated up last season. The Nets were my favorite from the jump, before I even paid attention to what an assist was to a FG. I'm originally from NJ, so they're technically the hometeam as well. I LOVE Vince Carter, he's one of my favorite players and why I kept watching when I'd rather my dad turn to The Simpsons. I've followed him from being a saxophonist in a marching band to being one of the best to dunk the ball in an entertaining and amazing fashion. Last but not least, the Hawks. The hometeam and the team I could consistently follow to learn the sport. They're akin to my first love. Introducing me to new feelings I never thought I could feel, knowing how to push my buttons but making me happy with a trip to the playoffs and turning it around for the near-breakup by being blown out by Orlando. Oh yeah, Jamal Crawford is another one of my faves and I credit the Hawks to introducing me to his awesomeness that I never heard about before then...shame for hardly any media coverage on that man! But I digress...

What happens when these teams play each other? That should be another question asked by the masses. In no way, shape or form do I cheer for two teams when a game is on. I don't care if that team I'm cheering for is losing by 60, I don't do that. Isn't it like an unspoken rule of sports? So I pick one before the game starts. The time when this was the hardest was the Hawks versus Orlando game. I'm not an Orlando fan, but I am a Vince-anity fan, and I cheer for my dude from time to time. I chose to cheer for Vince at that remarkable game where J-Smoove had the incredible putback dunk that won the game. My face looked like this O_O literally. Actually, my mouth was open as well but that was too hard to display using just text. In my mind I was thinking, "DANNNG! Yes!" but on the outside I said, "Wow. That was nice, gotta give it to him." Ah, the difficulties of liking more than one team/player.

Also, as a fan of the NBA and a previous not-so-interested viewer, I can definitely say that if I were as uninterested in NBA games as I were many years ago, I would be unable to watch them today. The League has changed entirely too much for me to even enjoy something I definitely don't like. I could tolerate it before, but now I would just be downright bored. This may come as a shock to many but it's how I feel. I remember watching games with Michael Jordan (GOAT) and being sooooo into it, although I wouldn't mind watching something else, I wouldn't press it as much. Now? Not-so-much. The new technical foul rule? Boo-hiss. The actual enactment of said rule? Two thumbs down plus Lebron-James-in-Cleveland boos. Yes, I dislike it that much. Not only does it make the referees have too much power, it gives them reason to call even dumber fouls.

I've attended the Hawks preseason events which include the Season Preview with Rick Sund and new coach Larry Drew, two Open Practices at Philips Arena and Milton High School, Paint the Town, and the Orlando *shudders* game. I have recorded what happened at these events and I plan on posting my reactions/observations of them. Till we meet again!

Pastime Paradise

Vaya! It has been soooooo long since I’ve written something. My profuse apologies everyone. I have been busy…well…living. I had the wonderful opportunity to host my parents all the way from GA! They came at the beginning of March. First, they stayed in my apartment and then we embarked on the tiring trip of traveling to the timeshare in Marbella, Malaga. One word: ballin’!
I kid. But after speaking to a few people (local and not so local), apparently Marbella is the more ritzy area of Costa del Sol (in Malaga). We sorta saw this when we walked around the shopping area that housed shops for Vera Wang, Gucci, Fendi, and all the rest of those stores that I couldn't really care less about. I’m more of a Kohl’s girl myself. Anyway, we had a great time seeing the beach(it was still really cold so there was no “bathing” -as they say here- going on). I did, however, get my Spring Break (Wooooo hooooooo) on by jumping into the freezing cold pool just so I could use my camera to take pictures underwater. See, I bought this camera right before moving out here and one of my main reasons for buying it was that it was water resistant…super water resistant…like you take it in the ocean to take pictures of fish and sharks swimming around water resistant. Cool, huh? I was able to get my mom to take a few shots of me suffering under the water. Fun stuff. Overall, my parents had a good time here. They were only here for a week so it really wasn’t much time to get everything in and they didn’t really get to see my great city of Seville because we were in Malaga but it was nice. One of the major highlights of the trip was when they visited my class. If I wasn’t before, I am definitely now one of the most popular “teachers” (I’ll just group myself with them) in the entire school. My dad took over the class as if he had been teaching for more years than I’ve been living. My mom was there to act as the sweet motherly type (giving everyone 2 kisses at the end of the class) and they both passed out candy. If I figure out how to put up a video of it, I will. It was absolutely too wonderful for words. Rafa, the Social Studies teacher, loved them as much as the children. He still asks about them to this day.

On to the next, I traveled to Barcelona the weekend after my parents left. Meaning my apartment saw very little of me in that first month. Being the goof that I am, I couldn’t find my passport and for Ryan Air (which really sucks besides this fact) requires only a passport from foreigners traveling within Spain. Luckily my tickets with them were fairly cheap. I arrived in Barcelona on Friday and the what-was-supposed-to-be Spelhouse Spring Break began. Then we headed to the beach side to see about the nightlife. Well, it was almost impossible to get into those places for free or even cheap (the going door charge was 20 euros!) so we took a taxi back to the center where we ended up running into a promoter that turned us to the hottest hip hop club in Barcelona! Maybe I exaggerate but the music was the best I’ve heard in all of Spain AND it was not a fluke because we went both nights. The next day we walked around and went to Gaudi’s park and saw some other tourist-type things. One of the greatest highlights…I went to Subway and got my fave tuna sub on honey wheat with honey mustard! Yes, I am such an American. WHATEVER. That sub was so delicious I wanted to save it for the entire time I’m here.

My next travel spot was Cadiz during our Holy Week. Holy Week is called Semana Santa and there is no school during that time. My school had activities on the Wednesday before then where there were classes for belly dancing, break dancing, a pseudo hip hop aerobics, and some field trips. I have video of some of my students participating. Too great! I was cracking up at them attempting to break dance everywhere. I headed to Cadiz (the southern-most part of Spain) so I could go to the beach with some friends from Madrid. Our place was in El Puerto de Santa Maria, which is not exactly the center of Cadiz but it was cool with me. The first day we went to the beach where it was slightly chilly. A friend and I still braved the cold and jumped into the water. Well, we actually slowly walked into the sand and let the waves come to us but we felt the water nonetheless. The next day we headed to the city of Cadiz so we could do some sightseeing like real tourists. We saw the Roman Theater, the Cathedral (it looks so different when it's not Carnaval-time), the wall that protected Cadiz in some historical period, and something else. Needless to say, it was HOT out there so we decided to hit up the beach. Only problem was that we forgot (intentionally) our towels. So what did we do? We made towels out of our clothing. Yes, that desperate for the beach. After our intense sunbathing (which I have obviously benefitted from seeing as how I’m about 3 shades darker-maybe not that much but noticeably), we went for food. We traveled back to El Puerto by ferry, that’s how we arrived in Cadiz by the way, very cheap (1.90 euros). We ended up at some random restaurant close to our resort that had really delicious fried fish. That’s what Cadiz is known for, the beaches and the pescado frito (fried fish). The other two nights we ended up at a restaurant in the center of El Puerto with the cutest little waiter! The food was great. It was across from a place called Kapote. Great potatoes, great tuna in pepper with cheese melted over the top, and great wine. We went to a Bodega or Wine Vineyard on Tuesday…Osbourne. Little did we know, Osbourne has ham, orange juice, and water on top of their sherry products. Great times there. After Cadiz, we traveled back to my neighborhood of Seville to see procesiones for Holy Week. The Holy Week in Seville is one of the most popular in the world. Everyday from Sunday to Sunday there is a procession where men and women partake in displaying floats to represent Jesus, the saints, and the Resurrection. I really enjoyed watching them at night, with the candles acting as the only light and the somber music. There are some figures that many teachers warned me about because…well…they look like the Klu Klux Klan. The KKK apparently adapted their dress from the men partaking in the processions here. So there were people wearing robes with hoods in white, maroon, blue, black and probably other colors. I have to admit that the ones in white did make my heart skip a beat slightly. It’s hard to detach the feeling one gets when they are faced with images that are meant to invoke fear for so many years only to turn around and have that image be something really positive. But I kept reminding myself that these were not members of the KKK and this has a completely different meaning. But seeing some of them at night was a little scary still.

In terms of my personal life here, it has been wonderful. I met up with a Spelman student and she took me to a Cuban spot called Azucar, where everyone thought I was Cuban. They should’ve known better after seeing my poor attempt at salsa dancing. Just kidding, I know not all Cubans can dance salsa. It was fun there because the guys were willing to help us out since we didn’t know what we were doing. And for an hour they have drinks for really cheap (always a plus). I have been slacking on my Sevillanas classes, horrible, I know. I actually didn’t go to any for about a month. Oh well! We’ll see if I’m prepared to dance when Feria comes around. My friend told me they are trying to break a Guinness Book of World Records by having people dance Sevillanas on Sunday. I will be going only to watch because we all know my dancing is horrible since I have gone to all of four classes more or less. I have been practicing my Spanish and I see that I am able to understand it more. I could speak better if I spoke more but soy una persona de pocas palabras (I’m a person of few words) to begin with so you know how that works out. Oh yea! I found out there’s a vegetarian restaurant in my neighborhood…and by neighborhood I mean it takes me less than 5 minutes to walk there. I will be checking that place out in T-minus-5-4-3-2…well, tonight. Right now, I’m sitting on my roof and it is a little bit windy and sunny. Que pena L I also think I smell popcorn and subsequently am tempted to go buy some. Luckily my laziness and cheapness prevents this from occurring. The smell is most likely coming from the movie theater by my place *sigh* Oh well!

Happier Than The Morning Sun

I swear I just updated like two days ago! Okay, well obviously I didn't. But it sure does feel like I did. Anyway, I've still been pretty boring in my free time. Over the weekend I went to El Corte Ingles Supermarket to buy the usual palitos de pipas (bread sticks), cheddar cheese, and Haribo Ositos de Oro (which literally means Little Bears of Gold, but they're gummy bears). I applied to some jobs thanks to the realization that I will be returning to the U.S.A. in about 4 months and I need to be employed. The Ministro here has cut the number of auxiliars in half (to about 700 I believe, don't quote me on that) so there will only be one at each school. As you all may or may not remember, my school now has two. Not only is that an issue but they are favoring new applicants over applicants that have already experienced teaching as an auxiliar. So, I need to be on that serious job search grind! If all else fails, I can always apply for grad school and maybe begin in the Spring. But we know how I would have no clue why I would go :)

As for the week, Tuesday was another one of those days. I woke up not wanting to physically get up out of my bed. I arrived at school only to be placed in front of the 4th year students with a paragraph about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the instructions that I could "do whatever" I wanted and talk about MLK, Jr. and Obama. For that first hour, I struggled and we ended up making it through with some pretty good discourse. Next, I went to Music class and we reviewed all of the units and terms. We're trying to prepare the students for the Jeopardy game and an eventual exam. Let me just say that we all need a little review...the teacher and myself included in that. As they say here, no pasa nada! We'll get on it! Then I headed to my conversation hour where Emilio and I talked about Obama and America and Americans' view of him. For those of you all that don't know me too well, I'm not one to offer my opinion on a topic if I don't know too much about it. That being said, Emilio likes to bring up things he has seen in the news and whatnot. I usually don't know the entire story and I'm left with the "I really can't say" mindset. It doesn't help that I'm SUPER indecisive as well. Whatever! Next, I went to the other 4th year class where we tried to do the same thing but they breezed through all of the activities, leaving me to come up with another discussion topic on the spot. It worked though. For the next class, I will try to have an activity already planned. It doesn't help that I never remember the students I meet with every week and sometimes I get the same ones twice in a row.

I had another wonderful after-hours conversation hour! I met with seven students (I'm pretty sure the other guy isn't going to come). I decided to have a listening session since I was not able to get in contact with everyone about bringing photos for "show and tell." I printed out four song lyrics and had them listen to two. 6pm rolls around and the students actually said they wanted to stay to do another song. Really??!! I had to make sure they knew what they were talking about. So we did another song. Overall, a very funny and interactive class. Lovin' it!

Wednesday was a regular day. Conversation hours with Maria Jesus, Jose Ramon, and Ruben. Ruben told me about Granada (since I'm going this weekend!) and let me know where I should visit. Then we talked about snow (and the lack of). Then I headed to Rafa's 1st year class. He had the students read over some paragraphs and he asked them some questions. Then we went to use the computer to complete an exercise. When I tell you there were so many issues, 2-3 computers weren't working, one student spent the whole time trying to fix the wires in a mouse, one pair had a yellow screen, etc. It was funny though. I love that class, for real, for real.

Thursday started off on a wonderful note. I got to sleep in! The 1st year class had a play to go to during the second hour so that meant we could sleep later and arrive at school for the 10:25am class. Niiiiiiiice. I had Math class where we learned (well, they learned, I refreshed) about angles and such. Then I had conversation classes with Carmen and then Rafa. Carmen told me some more places to visit in Granada and she also said she might devote a Sunday to showing me around Sevilla. Cool with me! Rafa and I went over what we would do next for class and I got to learn about the Franco-Cantabrian and Levantine caves. Very interesting stuff. (And I didn't have to look at my book to write that! I actually remembered on my own!) Your girl is learning :) Afterwards, I went to the San Sebastian Bus Station to buy tickets to Granada where I coincidentally ran into my former roommate. He was very kind. I'm off to get some rest and maybe do some shopping for tomorrow (but probably not until tomorrow). Until I get back from Grana!

Gonna Keep On Tryin', Till I Reach the Highest Ground

Sorry about that unnecessarily long break. You'd think I was accomplishing some stuff...nope! Kidding, kidding. I have been on my official grind, per se. Since we last "spoke," not much has happened except WE HAVE A NEW PRESIDENT! Congratulations to President Obama and his lovely, First Lady Michelle! When Tuesday rolled around, I awaited it like a young child awaits Christmas Day or a birthday. *Beware, this is a long post*

I awakened that glorious morning to only wish to hit the snooze “button” (I use my laptop to wake me up, there’s no button for snooze) and skip that day of work so I could prepare myself for the inauguration. I knew that wouldn’t be right so I got up and got ready for school. I was starting my volunteer venture (one of them) that day so I also had to mentally prepare myself to meet the students during break. Needless to say, I was nervous…and excited, but mainly nervous. I met with the 4th year students to have a discussion using the book (I was feeling a little blah and didn’t want to endure more blank what-in-the-world-is-she-talking-about stares, so not too much conversation that day) and we talked about modern technology and the effects of it. Then I proceeded to music class, only for it to be canceled. While I was standing in the hall, young Raul came up to me and said, “Jameelah! What is today?” to what I responded, “Huh? It’s Tuesday?” and he replied, “No, no. It is the 20th. OBAMA!” and then I responded with, “Oh YEAH!!!!” with my classic thumbs up. Javi came over and mentioned something to me (I can’t remember) and I said “High five!” and held up my hand. He looked at it for a few seconds, put his hand up, and moved it towards mine (all so horribly in slow I-don’t-quite-understand motion that I just went the rest of the 90%). Then he laughed and ran and told one of his friends that I gave him a high-five. Those kids, I tell ya. After that, I met with Emilio where he wanted to discuss the death penalty and other subjects I am more or less confused about. Finally, my last class of 4th year brought me full circle as we did just what the other class that morning had to do. But in the middle of that day, I met with the students that were interested in my conversation class. Let me just say, that was awkward. Only because I wasn’t quite sure why I had to have a meeting. I planned on getting to know them in our class, but the meeting started to go down that direction (which worried me as my plans for the class would have to change). There were seven students, 5 girls and 2 boys. All of them are 17 except one girl who just turned 18 (on that day). We did introductions and decided on meeting every Tuesday from 5pm-6pm. Only 5 would be in attendance that day (they informed me then and there). I told them I wanted the classes to be more about conversation rather than a formal class and they were just fine with that. Great!

So I hurried home and turned on my live stream of the great Inauguration. Too bad I left before the good part (5pm here=12pm there). I would just have to catch it on video unfortunately. Let me first say that the conversation class was AWESOME. I arrived at the school around 4:40 (can’t shake that darn “early is on time” American idea) and the security guard was completely confused as to why I was there. When my students came, she understood better. Three out of the five were there and saw two of their friends. They all started chatting and the lone guy came and I told them we could go. The girls invited their two friends so I ended up having six students (not bad at all). We went to a classroom (I totally didn’t want to use a classroom, I don’t want to be viewed as the “teacher”) but the security guard said space-wise it would be a better idea to do so. I had them play the name game so I could (hopefully) remember their names. Here is what they came up with: Gorgeous Gabriel (he was proud of that one…), Intelligent Irene (I offered that one to her and she confidently shook her head as if it were the truest thing said all year), Amazing Anabel (she wasn’t so sure about that one), Romantic Rocio (she brushed her shoulders off on that choice), Noelia (can’t remember hers, at least I remember her name though, right?), and Ana (another “A” name so I forgot it as well, oops). Then we played the “two truths, one lie” game where someone says two things about them that are true and one thing that is a lie (Captain Obvious here to save the day! I.e. explain the simple game). They had fun with that but it was difficult for them to think of the three things at first. I found out that Noelia has a boyfriend, Anabel doesn’t like chocolate but loves math, Gabriel has a girlfriend and has done gymnastics, Rocio had a boyfriend but just let him go a month ago, Irene hates math, and for the life of me I can’t remember what Ana said…but that’s pretty good considering how horrible my memory often is. Our last activity was to have everybody come up with seven questions to ask the entire class, including me. Now I was thinking they would ask about favorite colors or favorite cities, NOPE. These kids (I use that loosely since they are 4-5 years younger) were asking some DEEP questions while subsequently giving DEEP answers. WhOa. I forgot I wasn’t dealing with the 12 year olds here. Here’s an example of a DEEP question: "When you love a person, what is it about that person that you love the most?" Um…er? My favorite food is mac’ ‘n’ cheese, was that what you were looking for? And here is an example of a DEEP question/answer: "If you could be anyone in the world, who would you be and why?" Answer: "I would be myself because I know everyone has their fair share of problems. Everyone has their own ups and downs and I would rather go through my problems because no one has a perfect life." GOODNESS GRACIOUS. They made me not want to answer. I asked my infamous: "If you could have/do anything in the world, what would you have/do?" And I received answers such as these: “I know this is rather corny (she used that word too, first time I heard someone use it here) but I would ask for world peace,” “I would have my grandparents living again so I could talk to them more,” “I would have my parents get back together so we could be a family again,” etc. Can we please say tearjerker? (I had to teach them that term, seeing as how I was on the verge of tears myself). But we also had some lighthearted questions/answers like my question, “What do you think of when you think of the United States?” and the one-word answer of “Traffic.” Oh yes! And how I miss that traffic because it meant that I was in my CAR! Or when I was asked about meeting celebrities and I said I met some music artists (thanks to my stint in radio) and Gabriel joked and said, “Oh yea, they had you playing your saxophone for them, right?” SO funny. I’m glad we have a comedian on our hands. (I did chuckle at it though). Overall, that hour went by SO fast.

I rushed home (not really, I mean, I already missed the Inauguration ceremony so I knew I’d have to get the video anyway). I can honestly say this, I didn’t cry…at first. Wednesday, all of the teachers were coming up to me asking if I had watched the Inauguration. Then one of the teachers asked me if I cried. I told him I didn’t and started to feel a little bad about it. But I realized why I didn’t cry, it still wasn’t as real to me. I don’t know if it’s because I caught it on video instead of live stream or because I'm out of the country. I met for my three conversation hours (one of which we talked about food in Spain-very interesting topic-like the origination of the term tapas and whatnot) and one teacher took me on a “tea” (bka coffee) break where I was more than happy to get my infamous toasted bread with butter and peach marmalade (mmm…mm…GREAT!). Then I had my class with the 1st year students and Rafa. We talked about pre-history some more and then I fumbled all over the pronunciation of “Australopithecus” out of which the students (and Rafa…and I) got a nice laugh.

Now, here’s where I go back to the whole I-didn’t-cry topic. I will address the “at first.” I am oftentimes a weird type of emotional, meaning, I won’t cry because of a certain situation but if something like…music is added to the mix, then I’ll cry. Or if it’s a movie, I’ll cry. But often, I won’t cry at real life situations. So, when I first saw the Inauguration and President Obama speak, I was just in awe. I was holding onto every word, letting it all marinate and sink into my mind. I watched it a few times (so I could be clear on what he was saying and also because the loading of the video was taking FOREVER…no thanks to my entirely-too-slow internet connection). I think if I maybe watched it straight through as well, it would have affected me differently. I was just proud at the end, but it still wasn’t stuck in there that we have a new President…a new African American President. Wow. But, here’s where my weirdness comes in, when I watched the first dance of the President and First Lady, I felt that sensation in my eyes and tears started to glide down my cheeks (I luckily caught them right before they hit my laptop and caused a potential crash). I wondered if I had been crying only because I felt like I should have, because I had heard of so many other people crying, or simply because that was what I felt at the moment. Or maybe it was a combination of all of the above. Either way, with Beyonce doing that rendition of “At Last” (and as her eyes were watering up), I cried for a President I could see myself identifying with, a President to whom I felt connected. *sigh* I’m just a big ol’ baby, I guess. Nope, I’m just a big ol’ proud American. As President Obama’s face was plastered on the front of every newspaper that Wednesday, all I could do was be proud of how well received he was (still is) as the 44th President of the United States of America. I rode the bus (which is my main form of transportation, besides my nice old faithful…feet) and watched the monitors as I usually do to pass the time and catch up on the latest Spanish news. The monitors often feature little guessing games where they have the picture of some well-known (more often than not) Spanish person covered up and start showing only bits and parts of that person. They sometimes have other famous people (like American or British) but the person is usually Spanish (and hardly, emphasis on HARDLY, ever black). Well, this great day (Thursday), they started showing little glimpses of the person and I started to smile because I automatically knew who it was…First Lady Michelle Obama! I probably looked like a big goofball but I couldn’t help but have the largest smile on my face. Then, they showed photos from the Inauguration Ball of the Presidential couple dancing and then the celebrities singing. What a great time to be an American, right?

Thursday was a nice day, I had another student come up to me talking about Obama is now the President to which I responded “That’s right! And I’m VERY happy!” I had the 1st year students and we worked on the Phonetics worksheet. When I say we, I mean we. I had no clue what was going on with that worksheet so I had to use a little brain power my darn self. Then I went to the math class with the 2nd students. We had a good time laughing at the teacher…kidding. I had a good time laughing at the students laughing at the teacher. That sounds better, right? Then there was my conversation with Carmen, who, for the first 20 minutes, could not find her keys. Then she insisted on us going to get coffee/tea since it was so chilly. By now, the lady who works in the Cafeteria knows that I like tea, and I’m pretty sure she knows I like it with warm milk (sooooooo good). I’ve been to that Cafeteria so much lately. I’m not complaining though, gotta love it! Carmen is trying to get me to set up some interchange with one of her friends so she said we can meet each other on Monday. The lazy side of me says, “Please, PLEASE, don’t do it!” but the logical side says, “Dummy! You’re here to improve your Spanish. Stop ‘chillin’’ in the house and get out there and practice!” So I will be there on Monday. Ugh… After that, I got to meet with Rafa. I love meeting with him because he teaches me so much. I know we should be preparing for class but since we often just use the book, there’s not much of a point to spend ALL of our time on it. He tells me the pages, I say “ok,” and that’s that. So we started talking about art (which was related to the lesson so we weren’t completely off). And he was showing me some Spanish art and I told him it looked a lot like some African art I had seen. He told me why and said that many of the Spanish explorers that ventured over to Africa saw the art there and liked it so much that they adopted it into their own culture. One more thing Africa can be thanked for! He also told me about an exhibition that was here in the early 90s that featured art from around the world and also booths where duplicates could be purchased. That’d be nice if that came back while I was here (hopeful, I know). Sorry about how long it is, I warned ya!

By the way...I loved all of Stevie Wonder's performances! That man still has it!