I Hope Someday You'll Join Us

Town Celebration

I hope you are ready for positive/world peace/ world citizen MacKenzie. If not, well, I don't have a witty remark right now.

My internal radio has been tuned to "Imagine" for the last week. John Lennon's voice has been ringing in my ears. I can't say it's the worst song to have stuck in my head. This is because our school celebrated Peace Day recently. The school halls are plastered with posters of famous peacemakers and uplifting and positive words. Not a bad atmosphere if you ask me. All of the words about love and peace are always more beautiful and poetic to me in Spanish. One of the posters was on Rigoberta Menchú Tum, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate I interviewed in May last year in Spanish. Seeing that poster in the hall made my Spanish life here come full circle for me. But that is beside the point of this blog. Moving on.




Each of the Spanish schools holds a peace assembly outside on their patio where the different classes perform songs and dances. All of the kids at my school dress in white and last year I was told that they even let a dove go. However, my new student teacher friend, Sergio, told me that last year the dove all of a sudden couldn't fly and fell down and the children were devastated...I laughed. Maybe I'm a bad person with weird humor but the thought of it is pretty funny. Substitution for the dove humor was yours truly on stage leading "Imagine" into a microphone for the whole school on the afternoon of Peace Day.

This is where "Imagine" comes in. As a bilingual school, obviously there is a need to have some sort of English repertoire. Therefore, my job the entire week was to teach the song to all of the kids from level 3 and up to sing as a school on Peace Day. I listened to the lyrics day after day and hour after hour as I sang them aloud to help the kids with their pronunciation.

Kids from different elementary schools singing at the town gathering

I realized that I have become one of the people that Mr. Lennon would like to join him. The lyrics aren't exactly the most complex composition of poetry, but they're dead on. Sometimes people need dead on and simple. No countries, no possessions, living today for today...I'm not going to break down every stanza. However, I will tell you that I really wanted the kids to understand the song and take something from it, even though I know that their English level and analytical comprehension isn't that complex yet. Maybe someday they'll remember their wacky English teacher who was passionate about this song and break it down on their own like I find myself doing with Spanish songs.

Anyways, on top of each school's celebration, in the town that I teach in, all of the elementary schools gathered together as well. Each of the grades from the different schools put together performances to share about peace with their fellow elementary school kids. There were annoying recorder performances (I'm sorry I hate the sound of a recorder) and even a dance with a parachute (remember the rainbow striped ones) that made me want to go back to elementary school gym class and play games.

Practice the week before

In preparation for the town celebration, I helped and watched our first graders to learn a dance 2 weeks before. There is nothing better than being paid to sit outside in the sun on an afternoon, teaching and watching little Spanish children dance to their own internal rhythm to a Spanish song.




I know that I may be biased, but their performance was by far the best at the entire gathering. No lies.


Just in case you forgot...

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

-- John Lennon

Yup,

Kenz

No Spelling Bees in Spain

I was in fifth grade in Mrs. Wegehaupt's class. It was the entire grade's spelling bee in the upstairs library, and the contest was down to myself and a fellow classmate, Desiree Dantona. The last two words were dealt out to us. I was first.

"Chasm" was my word. I was 11.

Chasm? You have to be kidding me. How is an 11-year-old supposed to know an adjective for an abyss or gorge? Desiree got off easily with "platypus". I mean seriously, everyone knows how to spell platypus, come on. It's an animal. Eeeeasssy.

I think we all can tell I'm still a little bit bitter about this loss.

I was recently reminded of this pivotal spelling moment in my life as I sat down with Maria, the 12-year-old that I privately tutor, and my cup of green tea on Wednesday afternoon. We were going over past simple verbs, or how to say "I went", "I ate", "I played"...etc. The list of verbs was in alphabetical order so we first learned to pronounce bought, and as we continued we came to taught, and then thought. As I sat there and watched Maria struggle to pronounce these three words that rhyme in English, I realized something that turned my whole world upside down. I'm a loser who gets really excited and interested in odd things -- we already know this.

They don't have spelling bees in Spain.

OK, back up. For those of you who don't speak Spanish, it's an easy language to listen to and then write because all of their vowels and consonants have one sound. The most important aspect is that each vowel has one sound. Even if there is a word with multiple vowels in a row, if you know the sound of the vowels, you can easily read the word and repeat it.

So, I sat at my flat's dinner table looking out at the Mediterranean and coached Maria through the idea that the "gh" is silent and that "augh" and "ough" have the same sound. I also had to have her make a chart of the "ed" past simple verbs as I read each one aloud because we make three sounds even though they are all spelled the same. For example; played ends in a "d" sound, parted ends in an "ed" sound, and stopped ends in a "t" sound. I know, each day I realize how strange and difficult English can be.

As I watched Maria write down "taut" in her notebook, the lightbulb in my head went off that these Spaniards don't have problems spelling in their own language. Forget about the weekly spelling tests and words to memorize. Students don't have to sit and memorize how to spell "apartheid" or "hemorrhage" at home before their spelling test the next day. Maria doesn't ever have to worry about staring a Spanish word like "chasm" in the face in front of her entire grade. Why is that "h" silent anyways?

Most importantly though, there is no yearly National Spelling Bee! Spain has no televised national program on a station like ESPN where the country waits for awkward, nerdy kids to get so nervous they pass out.

Maria was lucky because after I laughed to myself and then spouted off a long-winded story in Spanish to her about these contests we have in the United States, I instantly grabbed my laptop. We usually spend the last 15 minutes translating Justin Bieber lyrics (she says he is her boyfriend and it motivates her to get through the lesson), but on Wednesday we watched YouTube videos of the National Spelling Bee. She thought I was absolutely nuts as she watched these Americans stand in front of a microphone with numbers around their necks and spell in English, with of course, her crazy English tutor next to her looking at the videos and cracking up.

So, if you are as easily entertained as me, enjoy in our weird custom of spelling words in front of audiences:

1)The classic kid fainting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06JUfkiMOVc

2) Boy is giving the word "numnah"... sounds like...:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc1jSQkIyIo

3)My favorite, little boy can't stop laughing at funny word he is given:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfMNtRHtA5E

In case you are wondering, I actually confirmed that they don't have spelling tests or spelling contests like we do with my teachers today. I promise.

I have to add that I am fairly certain that is exactly how the fifth grade spelling be went down, but maybe not.

Until the next random thing happens and I feel like writing,

Kenz

Great Expectations...

Nothing like some Charles Dickens to make you think.

"I loved her simply because I found her irresistible. Once for all; I knew to my sorrow, often and often, if not always, that I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be. Once for all; I love her none the less because I knew it, and it had no more influence in restraining me, than if I had devoutly believed her to be human perfection."

- Pip, Great Expectations
Charles Dickens

This isn't a picture or story about my day and experience in Spain, just a reminder of passion and the power beyond reason of it. Always important.

The 12 Grapes: Spanish New Years Eve

"12 Lucky Grapes"
You can buy cans of 12 grapes in the grocery store. Liz and Courtney bought this one.

I'm not sure what you were doing when the clock struck midnight and we dove into 2011, but I was stuffing 12 grapes into my mouth while attempting to say "¡¡Feliz año nuevo!!" and kissing each cheek of a group of Spaniards in a Spanish couple's apartment in Almería, Spain.

I was lucky enough to be placed in a school with a handful of younger teachers. Now, by younger teachers this means 30 and above, but they tell me that I seem to be around their age from a combination of who I am added onto the fact that the majority of Americans leave the coddling of their parents home at the age of 18. Spaniards normally leave this protective environment at much older ages which can span into their 30's and therefore makes a large difference between myself and Spaniards my age. It's just a different culture-- and before you judge -- it works for them.

Anyways, my luck has given me some pretty amazing Spanish friends outside of the workplace. Only one of them speaks English with me, so it's even better!

One of these teachers, José Ramon, is from Almería, another Andalucian city up the coast 3 hours from Málaga. His family still lives there, and he always tells me that his "heart" is there (I figured this was a girl but this wasn't actually confirmed until this weekend). Next to Almería is a National Park which has been the obsession of my GoogleImage searches for sometime now. José just happens to also have a bungalow there as well and has been trying to get me to come and visit him in his city. I decided I had to take advantage of the situation and so Marilo (another teacher from my school) picked me up in her car last Thursday and we drove to Almería. I knew it would be a weekend to remember full of more Spanish than I could imagine, and I couldn't have been more correct.

After a beautiful 3 hour car ride on the Mediterranean Highway (no seriously, that's its name) filled with Spanish conversation about Chinese immigrants and Spanish dating rituals, we arrived at the Almería Bus Station where José met us with his moped. He led us to his family's old apartment which they still own in the city. I'm always excited by a free place to stay and at this point in my traveling experiences after sleeping on trains and my luggage in airports, I consider a bed a luxury.

I had an amazing weekend aside from the New Year's Eve celebration (blog coming), but I have never felt so immersed in the language and culture as I did the night of December 31st.

Before the New Year's Eve festivities, they had asked me if I wanted to make any food to bring along. I had been prompted in the car on the way to the supermarket with them, so I started racking my brain for ideas. The recipe I described to them that follows is something that they bring up all the time and make fun of me for. They now call them "MacKenzie's Special New Year's Crackers". Well, the title is in Spanish, but you get the picture.

In my mind I decided it would be easy to get some crackers, spread cream cheese on top and then jelly/jam. For Spaniards, this would be a very rich food, which is something that I wanted to share with them because a majority of the foods that they have are not extremely flavorful. So I described that I needed crackers, cream cheese and preservatives in Spanish to them. The problem is that the Spanish word "preservativo" means condom. I already knew this, but in my whirlwind of telling them this recipe I had just thought of in the car and the obvious fact that I forgot that the word "marmalada" would have been correct, I told my friends that I was going to make crackers with cream cheese spread on top, topped with condoms. You should have seen the look on their faces. Priceless. Right after I said it I started laughing because I realized what I had said but it was too late. They will never let me live that one down.

Marilo, José Ramon, his girlfriend and I all went over to one of José Ramon's friend's house where I met three Spanish couples. I found out later that one of the men was José Ramon's cousin. They had prepared a grand spread including chorizo, jamón ibérico (a special ham unique to Spain), a Spanish form of quiche, a weird Spanish version of an empanada, and of course, a heaping mound of shrimp. I have found that shrimp (with eyes intact and all) are served at all formal meals. I don't even notice the eyes anymore because the shrimp is so amazing. They keep on insisting I eat the weird mush of the brain because it is the "best" part, but I'm going to be honest and tell you I'm still working myself up to that. We all ate and drank until we couldn't move. I was then presented with a party bag they had purchased with party hats and such to use for the countdown. In Spain the whole country tunes their TV's to watch the countdown featuring la Plaza del Sol in Madrid, Spain, where a Spanish party the equivalent to Time Square in New York City occurs.

The customs for New Year's Eve are quite different here. I love the name that they have for New Years Eve, which is called the "Old Night" in Spanish. A joke in true Spanish form, like everything here. After all, the oldest night of the year is December 31st, right? Anyways, Spaniards have told me that it is customary to eat dinner with your family (remember dinner is at about 9 p.m. here) and then go out to a club/bar or sing Christmas carols with your family until the wee hours of the morning.

I should mention that here, they don't refer to Christmas as the two days most Americans use to refer to it. Spaniards start the celebration Christmas Eve and it goes until January 6, which is the "Dia de los Reyes". This literally means the day of the kings (the Three Wisemen). In Spain, Santa brings the kids a small present for Christmas morning, but they wait eagerly for the morning of January 6th when the the Three Wisemen bring them all of their gifts. This is celebrated in conjunction to when the Three Wisemen gave gifts to Jesus. While this blog is about New Year's Eve, it's important to understand that New Year's Eve is in the middle of the week and a half span they refer to as Christmas. Because of this, everyday you tell people merry Christmas, and on New Year's Eve many families are still singing Christmas carols.

The 12 Grapes

Before the clock struck 12, all of the Spaniards were hastily separating 12 grapes into different cups before the countdown began. Some were even taking the seeds out (cheating, mine had the seeds and all). Here, everyone counts down to the new year from 12 seconds, and every second you put another grape into your mouth. The goal is to have eaten all of them when the clock strikes midnight. This sounds easier than it is. Eating 12 plump grapes in 12 seconds is quite a feat. At midnight, there isn't the usual yelling and instant kissing on the lips between people in relationships, or, well, haha, those who just want a friend for the night. Instead, everyone gives the classic "dos besos". In Spain, every time you haven't seen someone, meet someone new, or I swear enter a room you greet people by kissing each cheek.

If you can't fit all of the grapes into your mouth, you will have bad luck for the next year. Luckily, I was successful my first attempt at this custom, so let's hope I really do have good luck.

Afterwards we sat around and José Ramon, his cousin and his other friend played the guitar and a variety of cultural drums from until 2 in the morning. Then, of course, as usual with most outings, we had a change of venue. I was told we were going to walk to his cousin's home where their whole family was.

I was greeted by a group of about 20 people from the age of 35 to 65. They were all dancing and singing. A man sat at the piano playing song after song with a boat captain's hat on. It was miraculous because in true Spanish form, he was smoking a cigarette at the same time. However, it needed to be ashed about 5 minutes before so I was just amazed that the ash hadn't fallen into his lap from the cigarette that was no more. They sang song after song. Spanish Christmas carol after Spanish Christmas carol. All of these 55 year-olds dancing, singing, getting high, topping off wine glass after wine glass. I of course was forced to eat every type of food they had eaten and tried to out of politeness. No seriously, I had no space in my stomach but they all wanted me to try "Spanish" food. It was amazing. Everyone was truly enjoying themselves and the night with each other. Women broke out in live flamenco, men added crazy instruments, people traded positions on the Spanish flamenco box drum, and everyone clapped in true flamenco form.

I have never seen people of that age party harder than me until 6 a.m. Then, they broke out the Beatles. "Hey Jude" was up next on the piano and I was of course beckoned over to teach the correct lyrics to the song. Luckily it's one of my all time favorites. I listen to broken English all of the time and I don't ask questions or correct unless I am teaching in fear of coming off harshly, but "Hey Jude" is one thing I need to hear correctly.

I went to bed at about 9 a.m. that night. I don't think I'll ever forget it. Once again, people took me in as one of their own. I can't be more thankful. Other people's kindness here has inspired me to always make a true effort in the future to make people feel as welcome as these people have.

In order to say thank you for all of their generosity for the long weekend I made a huge American breakfast the next afternoon when we finally woke up. They are so amazed we eat so much in the morning. I don't think they'll ever understand it. I can't imagine bringing them out for an all you can eat brunch.

Miss you all.

Kenzie Shea

OK, I admit it, I miss America.

I know that most of my blogs center around my love for Spain. I love this country, but I definitely miss America. I consider myself lucky to buy a pepper for 40 cents in January, bumble through a market for all of the fresh produce my heart desires, and eat the most amazing cheeses and meats for next to nothing from living in the South of Spain. However, aside from the fact that Americans know how to form a line and walk down a sidewalk, I'm going to be honest; I miss America sometimes, and especially the food. So, in honor of this, here comes my list:

Top 1o Foods I Miss from America
1) Freezies
2) Gedney Pickles
3) Buffalo Wings
4) Chicken Fajita Burrito from Chipotle
5) Tex-Mex Breakfast Burrito from the Uptown Diner with an amazing cup of coffee
6) Dove brownie ice cream
7) Goldfish!
8) Gatorade -- they only have Powerade here.
9) Steak. They have bistec here...a very thin filet of beef...just not the same.
10) Water. OK I obviously have water here. But the look I receive when I ask for a glass of water at a restaurant is weird. I miss drinking large, multiple glasses of water when out to eat at restaurants. Simple but true.

Yup that's it today. Very introspective : )

P.S. I lied. This is 11 things I miss. I miss milkshakes! No one has milkshakes. Yes. Definitely would like a real milkshake.

January 14, 2011

I'm going to try and do some short blogs of photos from my day. Sometimes describing things doesn't do them justice. On that note, sometimes photos don't either, but I'll try my best...

Today was absolutely perfect in Málaga. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was 70 degrees with a light breeze. Luckily, Fridays are my day off. After a rough morning and early afternoon laying on the beach, Courtney and I decided to walk from our town into the center of Málaga, which is about a 10 mile trek after my GoogleMaps research...






Yup. Officially in love with a region of Spain.

Kenz

Passing or Spending Time?

Where did you spend the holidays? Do you spend a lot of time with your friends? I'm not sure what either answer to these questions is for you, but I passed the holidays here in Spain in my amazing beach apartment and I definitely pass a lot of time with my friends.

Hm.

I'm sure that something read incorrectly for you when I started to talk about my own personal answers to these questions. That would be the way that I used the verb "pass". I am oddly fascinated by the way that Spaniards use "pass" to speak about time in the future, present and past. When I ask them where they spent their last birthday they always tell me they passed it at so-and-so location. In my private lessons my Spanish students always try to tell about where and with whom they passed important moments in their life. When you tell someone to have a wonderful rest of their day you tell them that you hope their day passes well. I like this. No. I love this.

Now, to explain to someone that uses this manner to describe time that they must exchange the English verb "spend", the same verb that they have learned to use with money, the look on their face is quite comical. I understand why.

In fact, I now believe that one of the strongest cultural differences that specifically points out the differences between Mediterranean life here and life in the U.S. is blatantly tied up right in our distinct uses of how we refer to time.

I don't wish to deeply delve into the philosophical idea of time that can turn a conversation into a spider web of thoughts that then ends up in a circle (exactly). There are so many quotes, adages and stories pertaining to the idea of time and how people should think of it or "spend/pass" it. However, I think that these crazy Spaniards just might be onto something, so I will just add my two cents.

Mediterranean life is slower. People walk slower, things happen slower. It's just how it is. Time passes and people sit back and enjoy every moment and the ride for what life actually is. I'm not going to even include how many studies have been released on how much lower their stress levels are here, but the ambiance of daily life and the impalpable feeling of people seizing every single day to enjoy is obvious around every corner. Even when I traveled to Hungary and the Czech Republic after spending 2 months here I laughed at people as they seemed to be running through the streets, trying to make the inevitable and perpetual "next meeting". No I seriously laughed, it was actually funny to watch.

When I studied in Barcelona about a year and a half ago I had a photography internship with a Barcelona magazine which required me to take a conjoining course on the Spanish work environment. While everyone who took that class would agree that the teacher was absolutely off of her rocker, some of the articles I read regarding how Spaniards regard time in a much more nonchalant manner came in useful. My first meeting I showed up to I was 20 minutes late, which for Spaniards was still about a half hour early. Obviously this is not always a norm as is true with most generalizations. However, I have had Spanish friends call me before they pick me up to tell me they will be a half hour late and are preoccupied that I understand that they are not Americans and it is normal.When I got back to the U.S. my boss frequently added reminders onto E-mails for me to remember that the meeting was at ____ American time, cleverly adding the word in, as my tardiness became regular after my time abroad. I'm not saying I'm proud I've become a late person, but I know that I haven't gotten the sick feeling I used to know from being late and worried that I was showing some form of disrespect. At least it's good for my blood pressure.

This new view on time is interesting to me because there are no clocks in the classrooms of the elementary school I work in now. It's crazy. However, people aren't obsessed with time here. It's refreshing.

Here, time is not money. Time is worth much more than any amount of money. I think that if you really believe that you can put a dollar amount on times like one of the best dates of your life when you feel so alive and can't stop smiling the next day, or the half hour after an amazing run when you have a runner's high full of endorphins, or even the moments you find yourself in a downpour without an umbrella and choose to enjoy it, you have some serious life evaluating to do.

You most definitely have not specifically allocated your time to things like this. There is no menu every morning where you choose your day. Life is unpredictable. Life comes at you and you react. The idea that time is "ours" to spend is just a strange idea in itself. I'm not sure, maybe I'm being radical, or maybe this sea air is really just getting to me.

This is all funny because I just realized that in English we have a phrase, "Don't let time pass you by". Well, I am in deep trouble because that is exactly what I am doing, and I am enjoying life so much more because of it. Letting life pass by and accepting it for what it is doesn't have be a negative idea though. Sometimes it can let you truly enjoy what you have been given or truly accept the cards that you have been dealt.

I am not suggesting that you sit back and not actively accomplish anything or pursue any dreams that you have. I just think that not getting an ulcer over being late to a meeting and having a boss realize that maybe you forgot to do something like turn off the coffee pot so you turned around and were 10 minutes late because of it would be nice. Not everyone's boss is like this, but I can say that I have had my fair share of mine already at the age of 22.

Well, I said that I wouldn't let myself talk in a spider web and then end in a circle with no conclusion but I guess I am just a liar because it appears that is exactly what I just did. Sorry.

I hope that your day passes well : )

Kenz