wow its been two months!

so after much begging from friends and family, the greatest blog in the world has returned. haha i can't believe i have been that lazy that i have not cronicled our madrid adventures in so long! it seems this is how i begin all blog posts with awe at how long it has been since the previous one...so why break tradition!

well lets see, lets see. the most exciting things in the past two months were probably our trip to innsbruck, austria to visit my cousins and my birthday, of course. innsbruck was amazing and beautiful and thats why blair and i have decided to go back to austria for our spring break (semana santa)...i'm also contemplating the idea of working for a ski season to put off my eventual entrance into the real world. the thought of what i will actually be doing with my life when i leave madrid (if i lave madrid) in the summer is quite daunting, and all together very stressful! but back to innsbruck! the trip was filled with ups and downs, literally! skiing was the quite the adventure, especially for a certain Miss Gilbert. not that i am a pro or anything, but i would like to think i can handle myself quite well on the slopes. blair can too, but with more caution and less ease haha. while waiting at the bottom of the slope, my cousin and i could see her coming, swerving down the mountain like a little red blob (her ski ensemble included her red winter coat and oversized red ski pants). many times she took a tumble in the mogles of fresh powdery snow. but even though she may have fallen over a dozen times, she kept getting back on that horse! i'm proud to call her my friend!

besides the skiing, there was a tremendous amount of partying and traveling considering the short time we were actually in innsbruck. but while we were exhausted from trains, planes and automobiles, we couldn't but celebrate the day of my birth when we arrived friday February 13 in Innsbruck! it snowed considerably while we were there which made for an enjoyable hike up the mountain that friday night to eat in this little traditional restaurant. even though i almost died during the ascent, the expereince was worth it! from their we went to a house party, but only after stopping in a local bar where old men and ladies with black eyes and dogs could all enjoy a nice beer. hence we only stayed for one beer. the house party itself was also quite the expereince. i have never been to a country where i don't understand the language, so to walk into a house party filled with boisterous germans and austrians was as first intimidating. but then they offered us vodka and all our woes were out to rest. it was at that house party that my cousin colly also invented the infamous "irish lederhosen"...a shot of lime and jager (a deadly combination). but the party didn't end there. oh no, we moved on to one of maybe two nightclub/bars actually in innsbruck. and prepare yourselves for the name: Titty Twisters. yes that was the name, but you have to take it in stride because english is not their first language. at that bar, new friends were met, new enemies were made, but everyone had a jolly old time. so obviously the fun couldn't end there. the party moved on to the second of the two nightclub/bars in innsbruck. and there the night ended with dancing on bars and more irish lederhosen, to the regret of all involved.

that was only the friday night. while we thought we could not possibly go out on saturday, we did indeed make a valiant effort, which included a party at a mexican bar and then ending the night wrapping my other cousin niall in medical tape at an irish bar where he hoped to get employment...i would say he made agood impression!

all in all it was a great weekend! a little too much traveling (on the way home blair and i took 4 trains from innsbruck to milan and then had to catch our flight from milan to madrid...a total of 16 hours travleing that day!), but well worth it in the end.

our next big trip will be to salzburg, munich and prague for easter. so we are very excited for that!!!! i hope that i will have the ganas to write again before that trip, especially since we have a long weekend coming up and a very special visit from my cousin kate afer that. but if not, i apologize for my lack of frequent updates! but please please post some comments or feedback because i really have no idea who is reading this...if its just me then hell i might as well give up! but im not a quitter, so i won't.

until next time...HAPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

feliz año!!!

deary me it has been over a month since the last blog! i cannot believe that we are half way through january already! so much has happened since we last spoke. for christmas vacay, blair returned home to dallas, and i went to ireland to visit the fam. i had a wonderful time with all the cousins, nights out and lots of good food! blair missed me tremendously of course, so she is happy we are reunited! (and so am i, claro) but being with my aunts and uncles made me realize i miss my parents and brother a lot! i actually got homesick for the first time over new years and the feeling hasn't quite gone away...but i'm sure a few good nights out here will do the trick!

speaking of nights out, cora, my red-headed cousin, is in town visiting and so we commence our vida loca tonight!! she's on the prowl for some spanish men, and i'm sure there will be no shortage of suitors for the ginger! blair and i instead have settled into our old married couple ways. we watched the holiday on tv a few nights ago, pining for a jude law-like english man, which doesn't really work considering we are living in spain, and jude law goes for cameron diaz, with whom i wouldn't exactly classify myself as i am not a tall, blonde bombshell. as i have said before, i should really just committ to the celibate lifestyle, a.k.a the convent. hmmm i wonder what name i would take? sister aloysius? sister bridget? sister bridget aloysius...has a certain ring to it, no? well these are all things to consider. things i may just consider over a glass of wine, which has become common practice for me and some of my colleagues here at school, where taking a glass of wine or beer está bien...no pasa nada!

hopefully after our weekend with the crazy cora, we will have more interesting anecdotes to tell you. hasta luego!

it´s been too long since last we met

well well well. so much has happened since the last post. the two biggies of course are thanksgiving and the puente. lets start with el día de la acción de gracias. thanksgiving was simply wonderful, a crapload of work, but well worth it! we had thirteen people at our piso: five americans, three brits, and five spaniards. quite the mixture, i know. luckily everyone got along really well and there was plenty, i mean plenty, of food to go around! i got up at 530 on the saturday morning (we decided to celebrate the saturday instead of the thursday due to work) to stuff and cook the 9 kilo turkey which we bought at el corte ingles. a valiant attempt was made at gravy but alas, it tasted like tire grease, which ana our spanish roomie actually loved. blair made a tasty goat cheese salad and a spicy corn side dish. our friends brought mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumkin pie and lots of other goodies. we still have three bottles of wine left over and i only just threw away what was left of the turkey. during dinner we all said what we were thankful for, in spanish and english...claro. it was quite touching actually, and i realized how happy and grateful i was for all the friends, old and new, with whom i was able to share that special meal (corny and sentimental factor: high). everyone had a great time, especially the spanish girls because suprisingly it was the first time most of them had seen a turkey. it was like a movie for them which i thought was so funny!

moving on... el puente. in english this means a long weekend. it was constitution day on saturday and the immaculate conception on monday, and so we had a long weekend...and by long i mean longer than our normal three day weekend since we had monday off too. we went to the sierra nevada for two nights and granada for one night. the sierra nevadas are a mountain range in the south of spain where you can actually ski. we went skiing all day saturday and spent friday night and saturday night in a small village in between the mountains and granada city. this village was so small that i think we saw a total of 7 people including a group of rowdy jovenes hanging out by the playground waiting to start some trouble. skiing was so much fun, that is after the hour it took to get equipment and clothing, during which time i was told i needed the largest size possible in ski pants because clearly im obese, and of course also after another hour of waiting to get on the gondola to actually get to the ski lifts. i chose to rent blades because that is what i am used to now, but poor, frail blair rented skiis and they were so heavy she had trouble turning on the mountain. but i have to say, for not having skied for 8 years, she was pretty damn good. she managed to avoid all the gillipollas snowboarders that i think were pretty much on the mountain to form obstacles for skiiers. at lunch time, we enjoyed what were called "hamburgers" on the menu. they obvioulsy use this term lightly as we are still not sure what kind of meat was used. blair, audrey and i devoured our lunch while waiting for our friend angel who, we later found out, got lost on the top of the mountain and ran over a small child...it was his first time skiing. all in all it was an enjoyable day. blair and i made sure to get our money's worth of skiing and so we skied the entire day until the last ski lift when of course there was mayhem to get to the bottom of the mountain. all levels were funneled into one pista (slope) and i'm quite surprised no fatalities were reported. when we got back to our jamón-smelling hostel, we all passed out and slept until 11 when we awoke with hunger, ate some burger king and returned to sleep.

on sunday, we left for granada. we walked around the city but as it was a sunday, clearly most shops were closed. our hostel, el clandestino, was quaint...lots of graffiti, winding skecthy hill to reach it, and a mangy, sad looking dog that sat outside the door. however, appearances can be deceiving. it wasn't as crappy as it appeared from the front, and actually it turned out to be a perfect little place to stay for one night...i emphasize one night. we had a private room and bathroom and access to the kitchen. and so we prepared a feast of spaghetti and hotdogs for comida that we bought at the frutos secos, the only store that was open. we also splurged on a 3 euro bottle of tinto. when we finished eating, we all relaxed on the rooftop terrace and listened to what else but cuarenta principales, the saving grace of our road trip since no one had been able to burn cds. we decided to go for another stroll that evening before going out for the night. we walked around the arab quarter of granada and had some lovely tea at one of the many tea houses. we returned from our walk refreshed and ready to salir. calimocho (a mixture of cheap red wine and coke) was in order, claro. we drank our concoction and got ready to the sounds of french rap coming from the music of the guy that worked at the hostel. i think blair, audrey and i all had a little crush on him as he was quite good-looking, although clearly lacking in the motivation department since he was working in two hostels and tried to sell us weed. don't think you need a college education for that. we left the hostel and walked to calle elvira which is known for its tapas bars. we enjoyed the various tapas that came with our cañas. our favorite bar was la bella y la bestia where the tapas got better after each round of cañas you ordered. (we only ever made it to segundas). by two we were exhausted, and since audrey and angel were getting up early to go to the alhambra, we thought it best to head back to the hostel.

it rained all day monday but we were still able to fit in a last stroll through the arab markets where we picked up some presents and tea. we also enjoyed our last meal in granada with some chicken schwarma. exhausted and wet, we headed home in the car. blair had to take over driving for angel because he was exhausted and she did a great job with stick (that's what she said)! we arrived home after the almost 5 hour drive safe and sound!! over all it was an amazing weekend and everyone had a great time. now of course i must detox my body from the amount of crap that i ate and drank!

back at work now, trying to get into a regular schedule but its so hard when christmas is so soon, and there are so many things to think about! hopefully blair or i will be able to blog before christmas break. if not, well, too bad! besos

vuelta a salamanca!

well it certainly has been a very long time since our last post. we really are terrible at this blogging thing. but we shall persevere and try to remember to tell you all about our exciting lives here in madrid!

in most recent news, we returned to salamanca friday night to relive our youth. when we arrived we were shocked to realize just how small salamanca is in comparison to everywhere else haha. how we lived there for 5 months and weren´t completely bored is kind of amazing. not that i´m badmouthing or disrespecting the wonderful salamanca, but en serio, its tiny. anyway, we managed to tour the city in an hour after a long comida in patio chico and a little shopping in H&M. while we were still full from comida, blair, audrey and i gorged ourselves on chocolate covered gofres, which are warm greasy waffles that you eat off a piece of paper. yum!

we arrived back at the hostel, which was actually a colegio mayor, or a residence hall, and siesta-ed until 930 pm when we decided to get our drink on. of course this is too early for spaniards so we decided to go to jacko´s for some litros first, the foreigner bar. then we thought doner kebab sounded like a great idea. and in fact it was!

after our little feast, we moved on to ubilinda, a pijo bar which has become the new tintin. oh tintin, what fond memories we have of you. thankfully, all of the bartenders moved over to ubilinda when tintin closed. the love of my life still works there and looks better than ever, and i wonder if he recognized me at all. i´m going to be painfully realistic and say, "no, eimear, you silly girl, of course he doesn´t recognize you. especially since you don´t have the cajones to actually speak to the guy." oh, how true you are, eimear.

well back to reality and away from that interesting inner monologue i just had. the dude didn´t recognize me at all, but that didn´t stop the fun. audrey and cristina were pooped since we had all gone out the night before leaving for salamanca. but blair and i could not forgo the opportunity to fiesta salamantino style. so we went to kandavia después and had a mighty fine time with some random group of 11 chicos...that sounds dirty and sketchy when really it wasn´t at all. they were a group of 11 friends who meet every year in a different part of spain to catch up, and this time they chose salamanca. go figure! the guy i hung out with most was very nice and sweet, i called him toothy(not to his face, claro, but with blair) because well, he had teeth issues. normally that would bother me, but when in spain! blair´s dude was well, he was interesting. he confessed his love to her while holding a soggy wet towel to his eye where his friend had just accidentally punched him. by the end of the night his eye was a lovely shade of blueish green. he also had a tattoo on his inner lip that said his name, just in case he forgot obvi.

so all in all it was a great, entertaining night. and its kinda nice to know that salamanca will always be there, and that not too much will change!

Fotos!

Let´s start with the fun stuff. After many hours of botellón-ing (pre-gaming, for you American types), we finally made it out to the streets. Audrey´s using her extra-long arms to get a group shot, though, God forbid, we slow down our quick pace to the bar. She and I are celebrating our 180s on the LSATs, and Eimear doesn´t need a reason to celebrate.

(PS, if you think we 180s on the LSAT, just go ahead thinking that.)




Oh, hey apartment! Of all the pisos we saw, this was one of the few not entirely decorated by Ikea. But it´s super big too! If the walls weren´t as thin as newspaper, we could totally have a rockin´ dance party. Instead, we can hear, in the apartment above us, the dog´s toenails as he walks, and the clock chiming every fifteen minutes in the apartment next to us. Genial!

the other one.

Ok, this is my post in response to Eimear´s post about her school etc etc etc. Now, she threw in a bit about her situation with boys ¨if you know her at all.¨ Well, for me, on the subject of children, if you know me, you know my feelings on children. What´s a nice way to put it? They´re not my fave. But for kids, the bigger the better. That said, what age group do I teach in four classes a week? Oh, three-year-olds. No pasa nada.

I´ll be in charge of a group of 12 or so kiddos for 15 minutes entertaining them with a book in English. Yes, I´m supposed to keep the attention of three-year-olds with a book in a language they don´t understand and five pictures of barnyard animals. That´s like going into battle wearing armor made of tin foil.

My other classes are with seven-year-olds. They´re another story. I teach English and science classes (in English) with them. A few days ago we were studying parts of the body, specifically the organs. The teacher asked, ¨What are these things in your body that help you breathe? What are they called?¨ A kid raised his hand and said, in Spanish, ¨Boobs?¨ Hmm, good try, but no. It was all I could do not to laugh.

Even so, sacrifices of their sass and craziness is all made up for by the fact that we work 16 hours a week. Can´t complain. (Much.)

one month down, eight to go!

so as it turns out, we are kinda crap at this whole blog thing, mainly because well we don´t write anything. but we would like to think that the two previous posts were brilliant to say the least. this is an important post because it marks our fifth week here in madrid. we have survived a whole month filled with ups and downs, laughter and tears. therefore this post will be a summary of month one and the shenanigans we have gotten up to.

first off, lets discuss our piso. in simple english, its fuckin awesome! we really lucked out both in the greatness of our apartment itself and of the spanish girls we live with, mainly one of them because we don´t really know the other. but that´s not important. what is important is that we are very happy living together as the old couple we have become. yes, we truly have become an old couple: we eat our meals in silence(not an angry silence, just a comfortable silence), we take long strolls, and blair takes the rest of my sugar that i don´t use in my cafe. so really we have nothing to complain about in regards to our living sitch.

now on to the meat of this sandwich...the teaching. we both work about 45 minutes from our house so communting is a bitch, but you just get used to it and the metro is super fácil to use. my school is west of the city while blair´s is in the northeast. i am teaching 5 and 6 year olds mostly, with a few classes of 9 and 10 year olds. i have to be honest, i love it! i really love teaching, too bad it pays mierda. but i can live like this for year. i think i am very luck with the school i got because the location is good, the teachers and staff are friendly and helpful, the kids are great and don´t have any major behavioral issues, and the other auxiliars are wonderful! plus i get a free meal everyday. and let me tell you, spanish school lunch is nothing like the crap you get in the states. it is a hot, three course meal, which, for the teachers, is buffet style, but the kiddies get served by their lunch ladies. pretty sweet deal if you ask me! so that´s a little summary about my school. blair has a slightly different experience due to the different location and student body, and of course the people she works with. she will let you know all about that!

so now that we have covered home and work we can move on to social life. we have a small core group of american friends with some spaniards interspersed. hopefully this can expand as we came to spain to speak spanish and meet spaniards! the girls we hang out with are a great group and we are so happy to have met them! it has become a little ritual that we go out thursday nights, maybe rest on friday but not usually, and then go out pretty hard core on saturdays...because that´s what you do in spain! its pretty much impossible to return before 6am even when you try to because there is always anther bar to go to! speaking of going out, meeting guys here has been quite the adventure. if you know me at all, you know i like the boys. but these spanish boys are a whole different story. i have had my fair share of ridiculousness which i am too embarrassed to write about and i have only been here one month. i cant even imagine what the rest of the year will be like jajaja!

pero bueno, no pasa nada! better get back to some good ol´ spanish tv on the 6 channels we have.

taluego!un beso!!