I promised that if I had a bit of time I would be sure to submit one more short post before my long absence from my blog. So here I am, on the eve of my departure to Rome, Venice, Zagreb, and Madrid for a whirlwind Christmas vacation and what promises to be an exciting trip for Russ and I.
But before I depart, here is a little about my last week and Christmas in Baeza. First off, for everyone that is wondering, we do have a Christmas tree in our apartment. Ellen went out and bought one and thanks to Julie’s friends back home we have decorations for it as well. It hasn’t really seemed exactly like Christmas here, so this has been a nice touch to put all of us in the holiday spirit. I also received a nice stocking with some Merry Christmas notes from my parents and my family back home. And along with a few other nice cards from family and friends, it has been a different but memorable holiday season already.
On Monday, the teachers and staff at my school had their annual Christmas dinner. Well let me tell you, it was everything I expected and more. The dinner started immediately after school on Monday at 3:00. The restaurant was a really nice place by the cathedral. We had our own private room and more food and drinks than we could handle. We talked, ate, drank, gave toasts (yes I even had to give one too!), and simply had a great time together. The more and more I’m here, the more they are including me in the things they do and although at times it requires great patience by them, I am continually improving my Spanish because of this. When they all get in a group and start talking it can be almost impossible to follow the conversation! That day I also had my afternoon class at 4:30. However, when the time approached and I began to regretfully explain that I had to leave, one of teachers simply said, “Oh no no no. You don’t have to work anymore today. No one does!” And with that, she called the school and instructed them to inform my students that class was cancelled for the day. An hour and a half later when I was supposed to go teach my tutor student, I called and said that I would not be able to come then and would call later when I was able to make it. However, as we left the restaurant a little while later and I started to say my good byes, I was stopped and asked, “Where are you going? The party is not done yet.” We then made our way to a local bar and had a few more drinks and more fun. Well, almost six hours later, our Christmas dinner had finished. I regretfully called my tutor student and told his mom that I would not be able to make it that day, but she more than understood. Things sure are different here.
On Thursday I went out to lunch after school again with a smaller group of my teachers, which was great, and today, Friday, we had churros y chocolate for breakfast during our recreo (breakfast break). They sure know how to do Christmas here!
Wednesday night, myself, Ellen, Julie, Caroline, Justi, and Miguel Angel all had a small Christmas dinner as well. One last time to get together before everyone parts ways for the next couple of weeks. It is hard to believe that some of these friends of mine are already home or are going soon, when I will not step on American soil for somewhere around another seven months!
To finish off this final blog post for 2008, here are some night and day shots of the beautiful Christmas decorations in Baeza for the holiday season. We walked around a bit tonight. Today was almost 60 degrees and as hard as that makes it to believe its Christmas time, the decorations are wonderful here.
Merry Christmas to all and I hope that you find joy in being with the ones you love during the holidays!
No comments:
Post a Comment