week 1. I survived. somewhat

Hello friends and family,

I know you have all been anxiously awaiting to see how my fabulousness translates to Europe so I will get right to it. During the week I stay pretty busy with my program so I do not do much in the city except get on the met, go to school, usually have lunch in the park by our school and then take the met home and work on lesson plans. The course is pretty accelerated and intense but I am crazy about my teacher. He has over 20 years of experience teaching English and is so insightful, smart and funny. I am beginning to see just how hard the English language actually is and how it might be difficult for someone to learn it. Although it doesn't help that I haven't learned grammar in about 10 years and so when the teacher asks what a sentence tense i will say "past?" and every foreigner classmate in the room will say " 3rd person past progressive" and I am like, "right. That is what I meant."....not. But it's ok because every other American in the class is just as lost as I am. So now in my free time when I am not lesson planning I am getting my hands on every possible grammar explanation I can find and making myself a ridiculous amount of charts. I am also trying to brush up on my Spanish which I will admit is rusty at best. Yesterday I had to go and get a new phone and the man barely spoke english and I barely spoke spanish but somehow we muggled through emphatic gestures and miming in the middle of store. Although it doesnt help that all of the old farts of this country have quite a fondness for giving Americans the stink eye which I have found can be easily combatted by a smile. I also gave my first 2 lessons this week which were on thanksgiving and celebrities. They were very fun but situations became dicey when my students did not understand the differences between a pie and a cake and what the concept of "gossip" means. Hopefully as I teach more I will begin explaining myself a little better. Have I made friends? Well this is obvious. Of course! This is something that I was actually really worried about but have found that most of my classmates are just as clueless as I am and so therefore we bond. I am friends with all of the Americans in my class but really only hang out with 2 of them and then we hang out with a guy from England, a girl from Mexico and then all of us usually bring our roommates. While we are on the subject of roommates... 1) My roommate Carly has a dog teddy so therefore I love her. Her and I get along very well. She is from Philadelphia and speaks perfect English and Spanish and so therefore is very useful.  2) French Fry. A 19 year old from France who is subletting for the month (like me) and who thinks our apartment is Miami Beach... A couple of days ago she had her boyfriend and family stay with us and the way I found out was her whole family in our kitchen when I went to make breakfast. oh fun. so now I have learned to just eat in my room. Also they party every night (carly and i both work and go to school) and so we are waken up every night by giggling. slamming doors, and of course lady gaga. And another delightful surprise was the other day when I wanted to go in the bathroom to brush my teeth (we only have 1 bathroom) but could not because my roommate and her boyfriend were taking a shower. how lovely. and now my roommate has 4 of her friends staying for 4 days and they keep asking carly and i where the best place to dance is. I didnt know what to tell them and suggested that carly lead them in the direction of the biggest church or where the prostitutes frequent but instead she gave them legitimate places. anyways so that is fun. The other night I went out with my little group and had dinner and then went bar hopping. I then sprained my ankle and it is now swollen and purple. oops. oh well. anyways gotta go. I am going to go hit retiro park today (very famous park in madrid not far from my apt). It was good catching up and I will keep you informed as to the comings and goings of my obvious celebrity lifestyle. Love. HH

I'm here! I'm here!

Hello Friends and Family-

Here is the first of many blogs coming direct to you from, thats right, none other than, SPAIN!!!!  I have made it here safe and sound and am in my room in my apartment (pictures to follow soon). My phone is not working so as of right now I am pretty heavily dependent on skype so if you need to contact me the best way is through skype or email. Anyways though I have made it here and couldnt be happier! My first official business will be to put sheets on my bed as I am not accustomed to sleeping on bare mattresses. My room is really cute, a little small, but cute. I have 2 dressers, a bed, a desk, and a miniature closet thing and most importantly a balcony!! (we are on the 7th floor). All in all- nicer than all Texas State dorms. I am really excited to be here but slightly exhausted so this wont be the longest post you will ever read but just wanted to let you know I was safe and sound. But in the true spirit of Hannah it would be a blog without a little entertainment. Picture this... Saturday morning 10AM a blonde, pat rack is told that she must be pay to bump to first class or pay $250 for all her luggage so naturally she bumps to first class (duh- the world is starting to finally catch up on what I have long suspected... V.I.P.) Anyways, as this charming young gal is sipping champagne in first class she strikes up the conversation of an irish man she is sitting next to. They talk to entire flight and decided to have lunch she thinks the day is going good, first class, invitation to lunch what could be better? WRONG. As soon as she gets off the plane the fire department is waiting to break open the door in coach class because a girl has OD'd in the bathroom and is throwing up and refuses to come out and this was all missed because the world decided to be smart and treat me VIP. ugh. anyways didnt make lunch with the irish man but i did get a card and if I am ever in trouble in Ireland I will have someone to call! Second victory- the flight to madrid I had a window seat and no one sitting next to me so guess who downed to sleeping pills and slept the whole flight...me!! success. Anyways time to get my self organized and break out the jaws of life to get my suitcase opened. Love you all blog soon!

HH