Eight Years Later

Eight years ago, I left the country for the first time as an "adult." After four years of Spanish at QND, I was on my way to Spain during Semana Santa.  We did a typical, guided tour through a few cities over 10 days.  If memory serves correctly we visited: Madrid, Toledo, Cordoba, Granada, Sevilla, and Malaga.  It was on this trip that my love of all things Spanish, and Sevilla in particular, was solidified.

Sevilla - the first time around. Can you find me?

So what have I been doing here? Well I took the train with an Australian girl I met in Granada on Monday (July 16th).  I arrived to my hostel around 3pm and just took it easy until the two of us met up with another girl we met.  We went to the oldest tapas restaurant, El Rinconcillo.  It was unbelievably delicious and cheap! However, this was not to be the high of the evening...

El Rinconcillo - seriously, the best tapas ever.

No the best part is not next.  Keep waiting. However, running into a procession (practice?) definitely ranks up there.  Remember I said I was here for Semana Santa.  Well if you aren't familiar, go Google it. Or come to my class right before Easter.  I nerd out and teach it for at least a week or two.

A typical "paso." Mary is up there.
No, I didn't zoom in. I could have touched it if I wanted.

I teared up at this sight.  The woman of this parish were following
behind the paso praying as they touched it. Such faith.

After the procession and the tapas, we mozied (go away red squiggle, that is too a word!) on over to La Carbonería. We heard there was free flamenco there. And there was, but that's not the point. I HAD BEEN HERE BEFORE! Yes, Corey, I am shouting and need all capital letters. I cannot believe it still. Out of all the bars in Sevilla, I end up in one we went to on our high school trip.  Un. Freaking. Real.

Hasn't changed a bit.

The view.

The flamenco.

It's one of my most vivid memories from the trip.  I was wearing a yellow shirt and jeans and I was the only one who didn't drink. We sat at the middle table and took pictures and a classmate who has since passed away kept shoving cigarettes into pictures of me because he knew I would freak out. Ahhh high school.  Too bad I don't have those photos on my computer, but that was back when we printed pictures!

Who knew returning to a bar could give a person a lump in her throat. Has it really been eight years? Here are the stats out of 15 - 6 are married, 4 are engaged, and one has passed away.

If only I had known then what I know now!

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Salvador Dalí

I kicked off this crazy summer by taking a group of 18 students to the Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg. Another teacher and I loaded the bus at 6:15am in a torrential downpour and began the 3+ hour trip. I could not have asked for a better group of kids! They were excited, respectful, and fully engaged the entire day. The museum was incredible. The paintings took my breath away and the building itself is so impressive. One of the neatest things about this field trip was that I was able to arrange the whole thing for free! The museum is beyond welcoming to school groups.  So much so that they offer free admission and guided tours at specific times during the school year. Two a day and for every 10 students an adult gets in free plus they give you a private, docent-led tour.  We had an amazing docent, Jamie, who kept 18 teenagers totally engaged for almost an hour and a half. I can barely do that for 45 minutes. This tour would have cost us almost $500, but it pays to do some research for specials, especially at museums!  If you aren't familiar with Dalí by name, google him.  He was a surrealist painter and was quite the character. This is on my favorite quotes of his. I think it sums up his personality pretty well:

"The two most fortunate things that could happen to a person are, first, to be Spanish, and second, to be named Salvador Dalí. These two things have happened to me." 

I'm going to try to get to Figueres when I am Spain to see the Dalí Museum there as well. If not, I will definitely be visiting the one in St. Pete again. If you live nearby or are ever in the area, I highly suggest a trip here! Thursday nights after 5 are the cheapest.

Gypsy Daughter

My mom calls me her gypsy daughter, never in one place for too long and always planning the next adventure. Granted after My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding came out the nickname became slightly less capricious and whimsical and more...well gaudier. Nonetheless, I still have a wandering soul.

I am embarking on the beginning of my gypsy adventure in just a few short days and thought I would start sharing a little about each of the stops along the way so that you have an idea of why I’m going to such a strange mix of locations.

This week I will be headed to St. Pete (only 3 hours away) to take a group of 20 students to the Salvador Dalí Museum and to lunch.  The museum holds the largest collection of the artist’s work outside of Europe and I have been dying to go!

Friday I’ll be flying to the Bahamas to set up and help chaperone a local Youth on Mission trip. We will be working with an organization called Every Child Counts. I started doing various mission trips as a freshman in high school and just never stopped :) 

The third stop is Notre Dame.  I received a grant to go back to my alma mater for a unit planning conference. I received my M.Ed. there through an amazing program called ACE. Check it out if you're curious. You'll probably hear me refer to at at least a dozen more times. This month.

Then I get to come back to Florida for a whole week before driving 8 different high schoolers to a youth conference. Ever heard of Steubenville? 

Three days later and it's off to Spain!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And France!!!!!!!!!!

Since this post is getting quite wordy, I'll save those two for another day. 

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Fun Fact - In the past 4 years, I have lived in 4 states, moved 6 times, and STILL have a Missouri license. Oops.