hello, goodbye: Fútbol, Day Trips, and Bieber Fever

It's starting to feel like I live here. The two-week break in my blogs lately probably has something to do with that- which is a good thing, definitely. I only like to blog when I have a reason to share, so here it is!

Quick update: School has been going well. I've almost met all of my students by the 3rd week (there is still a class or two that I haven't met because of all the strikes). I'm definitely finding out who my favorite little kiddies are and who the more challenging classes will be. It's still hard to keep my hundreds of students straight in my mind but I'm human, so that's normal.

Working with adolescents has definitely been interesting. There are some great students and some not so great students in each age group from 12-18 but overall, I feel pretty well-received! They all think it's so funny to say "hello!" (imagine a slightly less dramatic version of the Borat accent) to me in the hallway and have me respond with a "Hey!" and a wave. What I also find adorable (and consistent) is that anytime a kid sneezes in class and I immediately say "G'blessyou!" as a finely tuned natural reaction from my 22 years of living in the United States, there is a 1 or 2-second moment of complete silence, and then the entire class bursts into laughter. I'm not completely sure, but I think they're laughing because they've never actually heard someone say the post-sneeze phrase like that in natural English and it took them a second to figure out what I had just uttered. When someone sneezes in Spain, most people ignore it, a few say "salud," and the rest say "Jesus!"

Also, every time I introduce myself to a new class, Justin Bieber comes up... and not in a good way. There are maybe 2 or 3 girls in each class who have been bitten by the Bieber bug, but other than that, there's a lot of hate for my man, J-Biebs. My name has become very confusing for them. It's like middle school all over again. Except to these kids, "Justin" and "Justine" simply have the same pronunciation [thanks to the limited supply of Spanish vowel sounds] giving a few kids in the back a perfect opportunity to bust out a few Baby, baby, baby, ohhhh's.

I have a similar problem with the word "beach," as you could imagine, which hesitantly comes up time and again while talking about my home state. Oh, maturity. It's going to be a long year without you.

Now for the photo blog! I have so many new pictures that I've decided to just make them the focal point to the rest of this entry. Enjoy!

Madrid, as of late

At La Vía Láctea, Funk night!

Giant used-book sale that we stumbled upon on National Day (no school!)
Not a safe place for my book-collecting obsession

I live here
and I thank my lucky stars everyday that I do.

Free Concert on National Day at a
modern art museum in Plaza de Cibeles

Out at Tribunal, the usual

We're dangerous.

Real Madrid vs. Real Betis Balompié

Santiago Bernabéu- Real Madrid Stadium on game day
Seeing Real Madrid play was incredible, I am so lucky I could go... ¡impresionante!

Fan car outside the stadium, signed by famous Spanish Athletes

View from inside the Real Madrid Stadium

After the game with Juan
Real Madrid Victory, 4-1!

Segovia

Andrea, Ester, and I decided on Friday to make an impromptu day trip to a city near Madrid on Saturday. I've been hearing about how lovely Segovia is for weeks now and thought it would be the perfect destination for our first out-of-Madrid adventure. We already have our first international trip planned for next weekend in Lisbon! ...I'll blog more about that after the trip. Here are the highlights from our day in Segovia:

Spanish Landscape [taken from the bus]
I must have looked like an idiot on the bus because I couldn't stop smiling and staring out the window

First stop: Lunch!

First paella of the year... and hopefully not the last.

First flan of the year... and DEFINITELY not the last.

[Next Stop] This is the Roman Aqueduct for which Segovia is famous... quite grandiose, no?

Here's a "to-scale" size comparison

Roommates

[Third Stop] Segovian Landscape from outside the Alcázar (fortress/castle)

We needed a little snooze and we thought "what better
place to nap than on the grass in front of the Segovian Castle?"

This mountain is famous because it looks like a sleeping woman... do you see her? Also, the theme song to
The Lion King starts every time I see these trees. NAAAAANTS INGONYAMA BAGITHI BABA
...yes. I just looked that up. no, I don't speak Swahili.

Not a bad view from the top of the Castle, eh?

Climbing the hundreds of steps to the top of el Torre! [tower]
The stairs were really steep; obviously made for giants....but we had to duck under the doorways.
Unsure about the size/shape of the people who once inhabited this castle