Thank you Rotary

Taking in the view from the 10th story terrace of the Hotel San Anton, Misae and I spotted this Rotary sculpture in a nearby garden. So of course we ran over to snag some photos.

I gave my presentation to the Rotary Club of Granada, in Spanish of course. A little about my scholarship, about my work, my life and future plans. I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be, and was very pleased that I could speak in the language that I have been studying for the last three months. I only have six days left in this wonderful city.

What I've learned here in Spain

1. Going back to school is hard, learning how to not spend hundreds on phone bills....harder

2. It's not always sunny and warm here, in fact it's about 40 degrees right now...in the daylight

3. Regardless of culture, food, family and friends are VERY important

4. I really don't like ham:)

5. Rotary truly is international, and connects you with friends you never knew you could have

6. Many words that sound exactly the same mean two totally different things....the Plaza de Los Lobos-Plaza of the Wolves is definitely not the Plaza de Los Lomos...Plaza of the Pork Loin?

My mistake:)

7. Everybody has their own talents, and I need to learn to appreciate my own

8. You always want what you can't have

9. Language is power...

10. I'm extremely lucky to have been granted this scholarship

Thank you to everyone who has been reading...I'm sure I will post a couple more times before I jet...but, it's been a fun time hasn't it?

Up in the mountains of Monachil

When I was told to wear tennis shoes, I knew this would be quite the hike. After catching the wrong bus, snagging a taxi to get me to the right place, and then waiting an hour for another bus to take me to Sierra Elvira….I was finally on my way for an outdoor excursion with the Fundacion.

Everyone from the safe home was going, and the founders Ignacio and Carlos invited the Rotary Girls along, and told us to wear our tennis shoes. And that we were lucky we didn’t smoke like everybody else.

We arrived in Monachil just 20 minutes after leaving Granada, but the landscape was immediately different. We were so close to the craggy, grey mountains, usually something that is just in the distance for me. As we began walking a well-worn path, I thought, This isn’t so bad…but then Carlos began walking straight up a hill that looked nearly impossible to climb. As I went for it, little rocks slid under my tennis shoes, and with nothing to hold on to, I thought…oh boy…here I go. The best bet was to get some momentum going and run up the steep incline, hoping the dirt would hold and you wouldn’t crush the children behind you. What a thought. Carlos must have seen my face because he shouted from the top, "Er-ee-ca! This is a walk you will never forget!"

Our three hour trek included some crawling, a very scary suspension bridge over the river, and hanging on for dear life to mountain climbers’ hand rails. Now I can see why this place is so popular with climbers…every step is precarious. It was definitely a fun hike, because you never knew what the next step would be like….I laughed when I had to slither on my belly to make it under a rock formation, looking down at the river below. Yipes!

After an hour and a half, we stopped in a clearing to enjoy some oranges. The Moroccan boys climbed so high up a nearby cliff, they merely looked like specks. Off we went again for the second leg of the journey, into Los Cahorros Gorge. Our group numbered about 45, and we were the only people in this beautiful, silent country. The sky was clear of clouds, and a striking blue-it was hard to watch where you were walking when all you wanted to do was look up, up and up.

Just when I thought I really couldn’t walk anymore, Carmen told us her house was just 30 minutes away. Yeah, uphill!! I just kept thinking how this was good for my “cintura,” or waistline. As if from nowhere, a little stone home with red clay tiles appeared, and we were there. The home of Mike, a Brit who came to Spain 15 years ago, and Carmen, a flamenco instructor, was absolutely beautiful in its simplicity. Not five minutes after we arrived, Mike began pouring rice into a huge pan on the ground. I guess the pan has to be large if you are feeding 45 people. Garbanzo beans and potatoes with curry paired with saffron rice with dried fruit was such a treat, and easily the most savory meal I’ve had in Spain.

We ate on a huge blanket spread between citrus trees and watched as the children from the Fundacion played soccer and the adults smoked and enjoyed the breathtaking view of Granada in the distance. The Rotary girls earned our keep, we washed all the dishes in the freezing water in an outdoor sink until our fingers were pink and frozen. It’s cold up in the mountains! I had on two sweaters and still felt the chill.

Of course our descent was easier and thankfully a different route, and took about an hour. Little farms perched on the hills were so beautiful, and at around 5p.m., the farmers were out tilling the land and hand-casting seed. One man was even accompanied by a little black pig, tail a-swishing as the oinker followed behind.

Back in the car on the way back to Granada-and after I had pet a donkey that was in the parking lot…I guess it was someone’s ride… the sunset over the snow-covered mountains was orange and pink. My first thought, sadly, was “Thank goodness we didn’t hike up those mountains in the snow and ice!” But there’s still time for that. I do have two more weeks here.

In the Hospital Ferdinand and Isabelle built

The photographers’ flashes snapped around us as we shook hands with the Rector of the University of Granada. Very weird to be on the other side of a photo-opp.

In an ornate salon inside the Hospital Real, or the Royal Hospital built by the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabelle, we watched the Rector and the President of the Granada Rotary Club sign what seemed to be a very important document.

From what I could gather, it was a gesture of future collaborations between the school and Rotary, a promise for more community service and scholarship opportunities.

The “becarias” or scholarship girls, as we are called, were on hand to wave to the camera, and of course meet the Rector. After the “grip and grin,” we had a lovely tour of the library, which is really a museum where books older than the United States are safely displayed. What a place to study! And documents from the 1500s are all scanned and at your finger tips on a database-very cool.

So here’s a photo of me, Shelley from Ohio, Katie from Arkansas, Paola from Peru and Misae from Japan. Very international, very Rotary.

Spanglish speakers-Meet Maria Jose

I'm fluent in Spanglish

So….I’m in my room with my door open, and I just heard Simon and Garfunkel’s Mrs. Robinson on the radio. And from the window I hear the church bells saying it’s 8p.m. I love it. I just had the best experience with my "intercambio" or interchange.

This is the second time Maria Jose and I have met to practice Spanish for me, and English for her. But I waited to blog about my new amiga because I wanted a photo. The first time we met, it started out a little shaky, but that was my fault.

It was Daylight savings time change…and I forgot to fix my clock. So I made sure to arrive “on time” and waited. And waited. I asked two different solitary looking girls if their names were Maria Jose, and I’m surprised they didn’t say yes, since that name is so common here. So I went shopping, bought some scarves and had a tiramisu ice cream. While I was standing by the fountain, two different people asked me for directions. I was so happy!! What is the name of this plaza? Bib Rambla. Where is the church of Fray Leopoldo? Ooo, that’s a little far, but the Cathedral is two blocks away. I have arrived. Either I looked Spanish, friendly, or they were just desperate.

So after 45 minutes of waiting, I realized, DUH! Time change. I am so glad I didn’t leave, because just then, I saw Maria Jose, and knew it was her. She looked so nice and approachable! We hugged right away, and I complimented her scarf, which she had made by hand-so beautiful. By the end of our three hours, she said she would make me one in green. Jesus, her friend that works for the tourism office, arrived shortly after, and we tried two bars before finally finding one with a free table at El Tren.

I found out that Maria is a U of Granada student studying farmacia, and she takes care of her grandmother who has Alzheimer’s. We talked about everything, in Spanglish really. Not one hour for English, one for Spanish, but a real mixture. I absolutely loved it! It helped that Jesus told me I was charming and spoke Spanish very well. I couldn’t believe it. I am still on Cloud 9 and floated all the way home to bound in the door and tell Sara all about it-but with her I feel like my Spanish is horrific.

Back to the intercambio, we talked about Ponte Vedra, tourism here, good restaurants in Granada, pueblos, golf, our school and more.

I really felt amazing, holding the attention of two Spainards in their native tongue. And their English was really excellent.

So today, I met Maria Jose for the second time, and I brought Misae with me, she wants to improve both her Spanish and English. I swear she's smarter than all of us. We met in the Plaza de Los Lobos, and headed to our coffee bar. After an hour of chatting, Maria Jose insisted we sit in her car and listen to lovelorn Spanish songs from the '50s. I loved it!! And she knew all the words and taught us how to twirl our wrists like the flamenco dancers....

She says she's going to take us to a tablao-or a bar just for flamenco-so we can see the real Spain. I'm looking forward to it....especially after my dance class last week.

Hello, my name is.....

How would you explain the reason behind the different pronunciations between “I read books” in the present tense and “I have read lots of books" in the past tense?

It’s just plain hard.

Every Tuesday, I give an English class to students from 49-years-old to 14. Quite an experience. They are so excited to learn, they are jumping out of their seats, tugging at my sleeves, tapping me politely on the shoulder when I’m looking the other way. What I like to call "inspirational chaos." Everyone is taking notes, and shouting English words in thick Spanish accents, and all I can do at this point is translate phrases for them. Like Jesus’ request for “I like your face.” Hmm. And Carlos, the director, wants to know how to say “Please don’t eat so fast” for the little ones.

I had a great time! We did the basics of course, My name is….I am so many years old….I am from….and then some verbs in present tense. Wow. I brought some futbol and Formula 1 magazines for the boys and stickers for the little girls to get conversations started. That certainly did the trick. The cookies I brought were gobbled up in seconds, so next week it’s going to be onions, lentils, garbanzos, bread and other things for dinner.

I also brought Sheridan-my friend from Britain who has come to Granada to live as an artist-and he kept the kids busy by drawing with them. That still didn’t stop them from grabbing the marker out of my hand when I wasn’t looking, or drawing directly on the tiny white board I was using. It was quite a scene. But I couldn’t stop smiling….

I’m already looking forward to next Tuesday…..and who knows who will pull up a chair around the table for a quick English lesson.