I'm on my way!!!

The day has actually come, I'm on my way to Spain!!! I'll be flying into Granada at 6:00 pm tonight!
Katheryn and Kate have been lovely hostesses here in Slough, taking me on a whirlwind tour of England yesterday. I wish I had more time and I'm already thinking I'll have to come back soon. Well gotta go!

It's Bright in Brighton!

Ha, ha, terrible pun I know. But it's true the entire time I was in Manchester it was forebodingly gray and rainy, but as soon as I arrived in Brighton it's been sunny and beautiful; however, don't confuse sunny with warm, Brighton is on the coast and extremely chilly!
To recap Manchester, Helen and I had a spectacular time. On the way to the Wenslydale Cheese Factory I definitely give her gold start for driving!!! Turns out the "B" highways here are one lane, windy, hilly, death traps worsened by the pelting rain, at which, for some reason, the speed limit is 60 mph. A perfect recipe for car sickness, there sure was some beautiful scenery and the cheese was great! I was sad to leave Manchester; I really felt at home there and was having so much fun with Helen and her house mates and it just made me think about how much more difficult it is to cultivate friendships when there is a language barrier involved; that's definitely something I know will be challenging in Spain. With all the intricacies of language, and the subtleties of humor, I know I can pretty much kiss my sense of humor as I know it good bye- I think that's the most frustrating part but something I look forward to getting better at.
Back to Brighton; I'm here visiting my cousin Brianna at the university of Sussex. Staying in the dorm is taking me back and a part of me wishes I was still in college. Yesterday we walked all over the town and explored the beach and shops. As Brianna also enjoys photography we had a great time taking candid shots and capturing ridiculous British signs like, "Don't feed the birds they may become aggressive in search of food." We're going out again today after I put about five layers on, the wind is really blowing out there. Tomorrow I'm off to Slough to visit another friend, Katheryn. I figure by the time I actually get to Vera, I'll probably have moved about 10 times! Oh, according to the weather report, Vera has been in the 80's all week; I can't wait to live in a warm climate!!!
Cheers (that's what you say here)

The pitfalls of travel

In theory traveling for a month before going to Spain seemed like a fabulous idea: one-way tickets are so much cheaper, I get to visit family and friends, and I see a lot of neat places; all of which are true and I've been having a wonderful time; however, there is one major pitfall- luggage. It's hard enough packing for a year (or more) adding to that the laptop, books and teaching materials; yet schlepping it all around as been a lesson in endurance, strength and packing! Did I really need all those T-shirts? Was it absolutely necessary to bring my 4lbs dictionary? After the London underground and hoisting my 65lbs suitcase up and down stairs I've decided ENOUGH!!! Tomorrow I'll be sending off a few boxes to the school in Spain. Now some of you may be asking, "why didn't you just send it from the States where the dollar is cheaper and save your back?" Well, I've been asking myself the same question for quite a while now too. The answer is that I wanted to talk to the school and make sure they knew I existed before sending my entire life over in boxes, and it wasn't until recently that I was able to finally contact them.
So enough with my rant, here's what I know about the school so far. It's some what of a "bilingual" school, and the students have to pass this English test so my main job will be assisting the teachers in helping the students prepare by providing authentic speaking practice. The director also mentioned that I might be teaching the teachers and helping them out with their English as well. I still don't have a clue where I'll be living but apparently apartments are easy to come by in Vera. Supposedly, there is also another language assistant coming. I have no idea if this person is from the States, English speaking or what, but it'll be interesting to have someone else to share the experience with. That's about all the information I've got, and now back to our regular programing...

From New York to York

Sorry it's been a while since my last posting, this is the first time I've had internet in a while. Well, N.Y. was awesome, I was sad to go- I was just getting the subway system down (I only got on one going the wrong way once!). It was comforting to be around old friends. Robin and I got to go to Emily's school and talk to her students. Aside from telling loads of embarrassing stories (sorry Emily) I also came to the conclusion that maybe teaching teenagers won't be that bad. I also got to help Robin prepare for her party that the film company she works for was putting on. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend though since my flight to Europe was at the same time.
Now I am currently in Manchester staying with my friend Helen. She's gotten the week off as well as a car so we've been all over the place! The landscape is beautiful here; even greener (and wetter) than Washington. The hillsides and dotted with sheep, all of which still have their tails. I've ridden on my first double decker bus and I'm getting used to calling chips- crisps, and cookies- biscuits. We also went to see a musical called 'Blood Brothers'; a compelling story about twin brothers separated at birth with a tragic ending that emphasises the divide created be classism; both Helen and I were in tears by the end. Yesterday we went to York which is nothing like New York, although very pretty. Today we're resting and decided to make soup and biscuits (the American kind) which apparently they don't have over here. Well, my internet time is just about up.
Cheers!

Does the Squeaky Wheel Get the Grease?

It finally came, I've got my passport and visa! I actually have it in my hand!!!! Was it all those faxes of complaint I sent or did they just get their act together in time? Does the squeaky wheel actually get the grease? I'd like to think so, but we may never know. This means I'm off to England and legally! Thanks for everybody's support and thoughts!
I've been having a great time in N.Y. Jenn and I went to see a show called 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,' (yes- I thought it was a good idea for me to see a play about spelling) it was so much fun! I walked all over Washington Heights and found an amazing park with cloisters (way better than Central Park in my mind). I also got to meet some of Jenn's nursing friends who were a fun group of gals; we went walking around the meat packing district and I had my first celebrity sighting- Heather Graham (she was the blond in the Austin Powers movies)- she was just getting a cup cake at the Magnolia Bakery like anybody else.
Now I'm at my friend Emily Persky's in Queens. My other close high school friend, Robin, is also visiting and last night we went out to a Greek restaurant and had an amazing dinner. Oh, yesterday we went to a show in Brooklyn to see a group called 'Harry and the Potters' a couple of brothers who have a punk rock band and sing songs about Harry Potter; among the titles are 'Voldermort Can't Stop the Rock' and 'S.P.E.W.' it was hilarious. Tomorrow we're getting up a the crack of dawn to go to Emily's school where she teaches to meet the kids and talk about our jobs- I don't know I'll be very convincing at that hour though! Well Emily and I are going to the supermarket to get some things for dinner- I'm craving vegetables; I'm missing all the fresh produce from home! I'm leaving for England on Tuesday- Wish me luck!!!

From Apple Country to the Big Apple

New York City- What a whirl wind! I arrived last Sunday exhausted from schlepping around my over weight suit case, laptop and carry on. I was mortified to realize I hadn't tipped my extremely friendly taxi driver but grateful to arrive at the hotel where my mother and aunts, Shauna and Sandra, were waiting for me. We spent three days walking, going to museums, sight seeing and just eating, eating, eating. I didn't know it was possible to gain weight in only three days, but I guess it is! French food, Italian food, Thai food, (good) American food... It was superb! It was lovely to see family members I'd never met before and to have an inside connection. My mother's cousin, Vincent, who is an art dealer, gave us passes to MOMA and the MET (where we had lunch in the trustee's diningroom). We got to see more art than we could handle. Vincent also showed us around his impressive gallery where many of the paintings were abstracts- something I just don't "get"; I guess one doesn't need to be great, just original (that's assuming you think something that looks like a kindergartner did it is "original"). Later, he and his wife, Gabrielle, took us to a jazz club which was a real treat- that I could "get". I also met my grandmother's cousin,Carol (not sure what that makes her to me) who lives near Central Park and has a fabulous view; then of course we all went out for an other grand meal. And time certainly does fly when you're having fun! Everyone else headed back to their respective coasts early this morning and I entered the next leg of my trip. I'm now at my friend Jenn's (the one I went to Nicaragua with) apartment in Washington Heights. In about a half hour we're going to head to Times Square to try to get cheap tickets to a show tonight- well better go.

P.S. still no word on the visa

The Saga Continues

As many of you may have heard, I'm in a bit of a fix concerning my visa for Spain. For those of you unaware, let me re-cap:
First I shall start by explaining that in order to get a visa for Spain one must apply in person at the nearest consulate; for us Washingtonians that just happens to be San Francisco. But before even going to the consulate you must have an assortment of documents (in a specific order and presentation) even to think about making an appointment. Among those being your passport, clean bill of health, absence of police record (with the official state seal called and Apostille of the Hague-what ever) and a letter from the school in Spain saying that they have accepted you for the position. Needless to say, by the time I had all these documents in place the soonest appointment I could get was for August 3rd.
The appointment itself seemed to go without a hitch. I had a lovely trip to San Fran and enjoyed myself tremendously. When I asked the guy doing the paperwork if my visa would be ready by Sep. 9th when I was leaving for N.Y. he assured me that he had the date on the application and gave me a number to call in case I hadn't gotten it a week before I was to leave- I should have figured it out then.
So a week before I was about to leave and still no visa (remember that they have my passport too). I call the number the guy had given me but oddly enough it just transferred me to a voice mail which was full- well that was no help. I then proceeded to call the various numbers for the consulate; yet experienced the same phenomenon- full voice mail boxes and no real people. On the off chance that I did get the one receptionist fielding calls for the entire northwest region, they were curt, uninformative and ended in being transferred to one of those black hole voice mails. I discovered how difficult it is to defend and assert one's self in another language, above all over the phone. After a few days of this it got pretty old to say the least. E-mailing was out of the question as well since their e-mail was suffering from the same gluttonous state as the voice-mail. I began taking to faxing but to no avail. In a desperate panic I called my state representative's office only to get, "wish we could help but the Spanish consulate isn't part of the US government so there's nothing we can do." I got similar responses when I tried to call the main consulate in WA DC, "Sorry, but you're out of our jurisdiction." Even the people in my program are unable to penetrate the web of Spanish consulate. Now I'm in N.Y. and am supposed to leave for England less than a week!!!! I have a few choice words I'd like to share with the consulate- if I could only get a hold of them!
Well, wish me luck; that's about the only thing I've got going for me at the moment.

Kitty still needs a home

Odes to Charlotte

There once was a Honda named Charlotte

Who was just a shade off of scarlet.

As her value decreased,

She got great gas mileage at least!

Now sold is that ‘92 starlet.

Charlotte is gone at last.

Not once was she to be outclassed.

She drove near and far,

Oh, what a faithful little car!

And how she could go so fast.