December in Spain

Dear blog reader. You may be surprised by hearing this, or maybe not? There's an orange tree in the school yard! Kind of surreal. And cool. Looks beautiful, doesn't it? This picture was taken a week ago.

Holidays! Holidays! Holidays! Three weeks off work -- a mí me gusta:) Ended the term with a horrific weather this afternoon, it was (and still is) pouring down with rain. The pupils (or "kids" as my colleagues tend to call them) got their reports, Christmas cards (and presents) were exchanged between teachers and teachers, and pupils and pupils, and some of the pupils gave cards and presents to the teachers. I have got wine and chocolate and some unidentified presents that I will bring back home to Norway and open on the 24th. I had brought some "Swedish ginger snaps", aka pepperkaker, to my form group this morning. After all this, everyone was looking forward to three weeks off work!

I'm packing my stuff for Norway now; three weeks in Winter Wonderland. My friend Gina texted me this morning from Romedal, with -20 degrees celcius. Brrr..... Spoke to my niece Oda, and she reported -14 in Hokksund. So I guess I'll leave the summer clothes here in Spain. My suitcase is now full of Christmas presents.

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Here are some images that sum up the last weeks' experiences:

Mrs Mills, Ms Tong, Ms Raustøl, Mrs Wade. Four proud English teacher after the Poetry Party for Year 7. Our students have been working with poetry this term, and written some brilliant poems. We celebrated the poetry Friday 11 December with the 60 Year 7 students, in my class room. (Unfortunately I can't publish pictures of the students while they're reading their poems.)

The famous Christmas Bazaar at Aloha College! Ms Tong in charge of the raffle. Parents had donated around 1000 bottles to the bazaar.

The Christmas Bazaar! People enjoying food in the sun.

The Swedish stand offered además gløgg, pepperkaker, smoked salmon, lusekatter etc. Very nice! Very popular.

The Russian stall.

Elaine, me, Mariela; proud winners of wine.

Look, an orange tree in the school yard!

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The Senior School concert was held last night in the school hall. Karol, the music teacher, had managed to find lots of musical talent at school, and it was a great concert with christmas songs, a samba orchestra, a guitar group, and of course the famous school choir. (They even sang a Christmas carol in Norwegian!!)

The music teacher Mrs Willmer and her assistant Ms Raustøl after the concert. Happy and exhausted. Notice the beautiful flowers we got from Mrs Batchelor!!

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Some teachers went to a tapas bar in Marbella after the concert and enjoyed some nice patatas bravas etc. y un copa de vino tinto.

Ms Sinwell and Mr Escobar

Ms Noelia, Mrs Julieta, Ascención

My Head of Dept. Fiona, her husband, and me.

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What a long day! Elaine, Pedro and I went to Calahonda after the tapas meal. It was great to see Elaine and Julio's Christmas Tree one more time before Christmas. We watched Bridget Jones and had fun! :)

Mr and Mrs Tacky Christmas Tree:)

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So dear blog reader:

Thanks for reading my blog in 2009. I will return to Spain on 9 January 2010 and give you more updates from life in Spain in the new year.

The past four months have been fun, funny, interesting, challenging, hot, very hot, and I feel I've learned a lot here. I'm so glad I decided to move to Spain!

Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad! God jul!

Sunday on the BEACH

What a great day!! Sunny, nice, warm, fantastic! Lots of people were having lunch on the beach today. Just like these guys. And Stine Paparazzi Raustøl went for a long walk.

Had a great tapas night + bar night in Marbella last night, with Ruth, and stayed at her place. We had breakfast at her breakfast cafe in Marbella this morning, and after that I went home, put on some proper summer clothes, and walked down to the beach. Started walking in the direction of San Pedro, and before I knew it, I was there. In San Pedro. Had lunch at a great restaurant, and fully enjoyed the sun at the beach!! Lovely:)

Children having lunch at the beach.

No comment needed.

Lovely!

Nice boat.

This is not a playground, but machines that you would usually find in the gym.

Who needs to go to the gym inside, when you can use gym machines on the beach??

So to sum up, it's been a great Sunday. It's a Bank Holiday in Spain today, and we've got two more days off work. Feels great. I kind of wish I had been in Norway today to celebrate my nephew's birthday (Sivert is 2 years old on Tuesday!!) but this has still been a very good day. And I have spoken to Oda and Sivert on Skype this weekend. Lovely!

Siesta

Spain is a country where they have siestas. I recently read an article in Aftenposten about how siestas make Spanish workers ineffective. You can read the article here. Since I live in what sometimes feel like "little Britain" and not the real Spain, I haven't really experienced proper siestas yet, and the results on society. Until this afternoon....

I stayed up too late last night writing reports (deadline this afternoon). And when I got back from work after a LOVELY choir rehearsal with the senior school choir this afternoon, I felt exhausted, and didn't even want to think about having to make food. I plucked up the courage to walk all the way down to the Chinese restaurant close to Puerto Banus, and the sun was still shining, so I kind of enjoyed the walk:) Not only would I get food, but also some sunshine and vitamin D!!

However, Spanish people don't go to restaurants at 5.30 in the afternoon. The Chinese restaurant was closed, SIESTA, and I had to walk all the way back home. Hungry. Exhausted. I even popped by a Thai restaurant and an Indian one, but they had siestas as well... Of course. I love siestas!! So now I'm waiting for my delicious Mercadona pizza in the oven. Not exactly what I had expected.

And the moral of this lesson is....? Try to integrate asap. Follow the local customs and traditions. Have dinner no earlier than 9pm in the evening. Don't get confused by living in a touristy places. That's just on the surface. After all, they're all Spanish in their way of thinking here. Hæ??

Music

I've been listening to a lot of music lately. Here are two favourites from this week, Ingrid Olava's "Warrior Song" (live version from NRK here) and John Surman's "Edges of Illusion". I heard John Surman and Karin Krog live in Calahonda a week ago. Cool music! Different. I love the energy in the Warrior Song!

Tanker om KULTUR

Hvorfor ser alle britene her nede på britisk TV? Hvorfor er det sånn at britiske folk kun er sammen med britiske folk? Hvorfor lærer ikke briter å snakke spansk?

Hvorfor selger de både Aftenposten, VG, Hjemmet, Norsk Ukeblad og Se og Hør på kiosken oppe på Centro de Comercíal? Hvorfor hører jeg på norsk nettradio? Hvorfor ser jeg av og til på Nytt på Nytt på nett-tv? Hvorfor unner jeg meg Aftenposten til 4,50 Euro kanskje annenhver/tredjehver uke? Hvorfor bryr det meg at noen tror SV er ute av regjeringen innen to år?

Hvorfor lo de av meg da jeg kom inn til frisøren for å booke time og spurte på spansk om de snakket engelsk - og svarte på skikkelig cockney-engelsk at det gjorde de jo SELVFØLGELIG! Hvorfor finnes det lærere på Aloha som snakker mindre spansk enn meg?

Er vi mennesker lite adaptable? Vil vi bare bo et varmere sted, men allikevel fortsette livet vårt som om vi bodde i "the old country"? Synes vi det er fascinerende å gå på spansk restaurant og finne menyen oversatt til engelsk OG SVENSK??

Kanskje jeg er naiv. Men til mitt forsvar må jeg si at jeg jobber hardt med å lære meg spansk nå, selv om det egentlig ikke trengs her nede. Og jeg har spanske og argentinske venner, ikke bare britiske. Tenker på innvandrere i Norge. De henger sammen med folk fra sitt eget land. Skaper ghettoer. Akkurat som folk gjør her nede.

Hasta luego og lørdagstanker fra Stine Stereotyp Raustøl som gleder seg til å snakke norsk i morgen (skal på konsert i sjømannskjerka)!

Christmas is all around us....

I guess most of you recognise this man from one of my favourite films, "Love Actually". And it is safe to say that Christmas definitely is all around us now!


(Thank you, google pictures.)

This afternoon, twelve lovely voices (and the Karol, the English music teacher) sang "Jul, jul, strålende jul".... IN NORWEGIAN!! The senior school choir will perform at the Christmas Bazaar arranged by the PTA, and one of the songs they will sing is actually this beautiful song!! It was a great challenge for them to sing in Norwegian, but they managed!!

Listen to the song here. Beautiful, isn't it?

Superstition

When I ask my students if they can please leave their bags on the floor (instead of keeping them on their desks) they tell me they can't. It is common knowledge in Spain, apparently, that if you leave your bag on the floor, you will lose money. Superstition! The same people also say "Jesus" when they sneeze. :)

Cambridge

I've got a new title now. Not only can I call myself "profesora de ingles", I'm also "Cambridge Officer" at Aloha College now! Cambridge? Officer? Am I going to England? Have I joined the police force? No. Let me explain!

Well, there is a world of Cambridge exams out there, and I will be responsible for arranging all the Cambridge exams in ENGLISH at Aloha. Usually the kids take the KET; PET; FCE; CAE and possibly also the CPE in the spring term. Clare, Angela and me at Marbella Study Centre two weeks ago.

Angela is Team Leader for the Cambridge officers and examiners. She runs Marbella Study Centre with her husband Mike. They are lovely people! Soooo nice and friendly and generous

I attended a training session for YLE oral examiners last week. After a few more training sessions I will (hopefully) be qualified as an YLE oral examiner in March next year. Brilliant!
Marking exercises at the training session on Friday. Hard-working teachers! :) Thanks to Mike and Angela for being hospitable!

Girl Power

Have had five absolutely fantastic, gorgeous, funny, lovely days with my darling niece Oda, my sister Trude and my mum. What a great way of spending my half term break! It was awsome having them here, experiencing everything here in Spain with them.
Saturday morning at the market was Oda's favourite moment; she could finally buy a señorita dress at the local market! I love that girl!
My mum in La Maestranza. Hurra!
Mamma, Oda and me in Puerto Banus. Thank you for wonderful days with you!! :)

Al-Andalus (aka Andalucia)

I'd like this blog to be more than just a resume of my life in Spain. So I thought I'd tell my blog readers that I've started reading an interesting book today about the Arabic invasion of Spain. The book is called "Kulturmøter i spansk historie - fra berbere til bergensere" (Knut Aukrust og Dorte Skulstad) and it mainly deals with Spanish history from 711 - 1614. The Arabic influence in Andalucia (the county I live in), or Al-Andalus as it was called before, is quite interesting. Architecture, people, food etc. Along the big roads you will also see lots of signs in Spanish and Arabic. Fascinating!

Here is a copy of the picture on the book's cover:
(Thank you, google pictures)

Do you know what the term Las Tres Culturas refers to in Spanish history?
It refers to the co-existence (sameksistens, Convivencia) that obviously existed between the Jewish, Muslim and Christian people living in what we today know as Spain in the 12th and 13th centuries.

Enough about that!
I have to tell you two other interesting things I've done today:
1.) Had lunch with Souwie at a local Spanish restaurant today. No hablan Español alli. The place was full of Spanish workers, so you can only guess the size of the portions.
2.) Pedro is now clean! I sent him through the lavado, the automatic cleaning thingie at the Shell station down the road. How fun! It made me think of Shell in Brumunddal (where I grew up) and how scared I was of the lavado, and how much fun it was when I grew a bit older... That's life:)

Going to play tennis tonight!
Life is good, and the sun is shining, and I'm throughouly enjoying half term!

Granada

What a wonderful city! It was love at first sight! Kari, Cathrine and I enjoyed the great (kind of Spanish) atmosphere in the city, and spent several hours at the impressive Alhambra palace. A fascinating place that truly showed the Arabic influence and history...

In the Alhambra gardens!

The view from one of the (Alhambra?) castles! Me gusta Granada!
Back in the city centre, trying to find a tapas restaurant (not easy!), we passed a Catholic celebration of some kind. There was a big marching band playing really annoying instruments, and someone were holding this big Maria statue. Forgive my lack of knowledge of Catholic saints and celebration. If a reader of the blog knows what this is; please let me know! (Somehow it made me think of the opening scenes of the film "East is East"...)

It has been a great week with Kari and Cathrine. This morning Pedro and I drove them all the way to Marbella Bus Station. Below are some images from their week here in Nueva Andalucia.

Visiting Aloha College.

In Marbella:
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It is half term now, which means a week off work. Great! Can't wait to see Oda, my sister and my mum again on Thursday. They're staying five days, and I hope the weather will remain as fantastic as it has been the past three days. Lovely sunshine! :)

Visitors from Norway!

Kari and Cathrine arrived this afternoon! :) Lovely with friends visiting from Oslo!! We headed for the local tapas bar in the afternoon sun, after a nice swim in the pool. Unfortunately the really nice tapas bar was closed because of the fiesta today (San Pedro's Day). So we ended up at a restaurant I've never been to before. Nice food, and a very nice chat! Looking forward to a great week with the girls. Look at the luuuuvly things they brought from Norway:
Operamint, Melkesjokolade, Brunost, Firkløver, Lakrisbåter osv - perfect!! A taste of Norway:)

And to top it up: A few editions of A-magasinet. Lovely! I'm happy. And I can speak Norwegain an entire week, with two of my most intelligent and nerdy friends when it comes to language and literature. Great!! Pedro will definitely join us on our adventures this week:)

Bilen min!

Mi coche funciona! My car is working! Can't believe it. Mr Towing Service picked up the car (and me) this morning and took us down to workshop in El Corte Inglés (in Puerto Banus). While the mechanics changed Pedro's battery, I enjoyed un cafe con leche y mucho sol y una periodico con dos fotograficas perfectas de Señor George Clooney.

So now all the practical issues have been sorted:
- Spanish mobile phone: ok
- Internet access in my apt: ok
- Car: ok
- Hot water tank: ok
- Bank account and online banking: ok

.... and I have no excuses for not learning Spanish! :)


Here's Lisa, Amy and me last night in San Pedro, at the Feria San Pedro. It was fun! And I really enjoyed the bump cars ("radiobil")... (Photo: Lisa Burrows)

My first date with Pedro

Finally! The day had come! I was going to meet Pedro for the very first time! I really couldn't believe it! I was so excited! The preparations had involved plenty of paper work and phone calls and money. We had to make sure everything was perfect for our first date, and after living here in Spain almost two months, I finally had an appointment with the people who could introduce me to Pedro. Wow!

I knew I would need some moral support with this first meeting, so I had allied with Karol, Mariela and Paula. Jonathan had provided us with some technical equipment. (Just in case...) My first date with Pedro had to be perfect! :)

First we went to Silvia's office to sort out the final paper work. Silvia and I also popped by the insurance company to pick up some papers. And then .... we were ready... and I could feel my heart beating very fast. I was so excited!!! And nervous! Here is a picture of my three assistants outside the Norwegian school in Benalmádena.
There was a Spanish cultural evening on at the Norwegian school in Benalmádena this evening. So while the headmaster went looking for the keys, we enjoyed some proper Spanish culture presented by Norwegian kids. But I couldn't focus. The only thing on my mind was Pedro.

And then, finally, we entered what had been Pedro's house this summer. The garage! And there he was, all blue and nice. Wow! My own car! My own Pedro! Fantastic!! He's a Fiat Punto!

His battery was flat, but Mr. Headmaster managed to bump start the car for us, and Karol drove the car all the way back to Aloha College. I should have been driving, yes, I know that, but ... it was very likely that I would have stalled the motor ("kvæla motoren, på godt norsk), and then we would have been #%&¤#&/&, basically ---- since the battery would need to charge at least half an hour. Pedro behaved very well on the road from Benalmádena to Aloha College, where Karol had parked her car. He's basically just soooo nice, and I really like him!

At the college I was just going to drive him an extra round on the car park, and (luckily!) Karol waited for me. Here is a picture of me in my car, Miss Raustøl, the proud owner of her very first car ever.

And what happened?!?! I stalled the motor, and we couldn't start the car. Pedro's battery was flat! I couldn't believe it!! We were stuck, in the middle of the car park!! Unbeliavable!

LUCKILY Silvia had sorted out all my insurance papers, so I rang the towing service, spoke to someone who spoke English, and after 20 minutes a very nice man came over to help us. Well, he didn't find us at first, so I had to give directions in Spanis, something I quite enjoyed! :) He jumpstarted the car again (for free because of my insurance!), and followed me back to La Maestranza, just in case I would get problems, or stall the car. Again....

I managed to drive back to my apartment with only one minor error: No lights on! Well well, seeing as this was my first date with Pedro, I feel we did get on fairly well. So now I've left Pedro in the garage, and this weekend I will have to get a new battery for him. That's the charming aspect of being a car owner, right?!?!


Pedro in the La Maestranza garage. Lovely car, isn't it? He needs to be cleaned, of course, but I'm sure we'll have much fun together! :)