Thanksgiving - First Holiday Away From Home

Year after year and basically up to this point, I've noticed that in the US we barely have time to visit family and loved ones during the year, except for holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. Many of us work long scheduled days, only having one day off during the week or even have two jobs. We usually use those days to recuperate from the work week. However, when a holiday comes up such as labor day or 4^th of July, some of us still work. Usually, Christmas is a guaranteed day off. Thanksgiving use to be as well but many people just see it as a day lumped in with black Friday and some people take advantage of the sales or work that evening in the madness. Up until last year, I didn't care about Thanksgiving as much. However, after eating a mock home cooked Thanksgiving meal made by my roommate, I realized that holidays and traditions such as this means a lot to people and that I somewhat lost a spiritual connection with family because of work/school and being in my own world.

During my time in grad school, I barely saw any family. With the little time that I had off, I saw them for a bit then head off same day, keeping a weekend to myself or something of that nature. I basically became introverted, until the holiday season comes up. Thats were I am with the fam, but still feeling out of place. On Thanksgiving, its usually held at my sister's place or my parent's house. Its a great vibe, yet I still feel uneasy for some reason. I couldn't value time with family. I would just gorge on food then go.

Now, yesterday was the first Thanksgiving away from any family. My roommate (travel veteran) has spent the holiday away before and wanted to keep Thanksgiving tradition going by cooking a meal. Everything was basically the same, except using chicken instead of turkey (no whole turkeys here). We had stuffing, mashed potatoes, broccoli, cranberry sauce and even pumpkin pie! At that point I realized that she had to have the meal. She had to have the spirit of the holiday even with the absence of family and friends. I can tell it meant something to her. Thats when I realized I kinda was missing out the past couple of years.

That evening, I Skyped my family and they were all happy to see me, all with smiles and weird expressions (^o^). Despite the fact of not being in Texas, I didn't feel out of place talking to them this time.

Peace

Salamanca: Favorite city (so far)

The perk of my job is that I always have a 3 day weekend, Friday thru Sunday. With that, and after a month or so teaching, I finally took my first weekend trip to Salamanca as a getaway from all the insanity of students yelling, all the 'hello, how are you' cycles and just to be by myself for a couple of days. With that, November 8-10 I went to Salamanca, home to the oldest university in the country and one of the oldest in the world.

Primero: Pasta

I took the early bus that Friday, about a 3 hour trip. Many of the locals told me that it really takes about an hour and a half but the bus ride was incredibly beautiful. I was passing through mountains and forests, making multiple stops to pick up other people heading to the same destination. I never knew that a bus could make perfect hairpin turns. The only bad thing was the rain in the morning. Once I got to Salamanca, the rain came and went, but luckily I had a umbrella with me. I walked to the Plaza Mayor and I have to say, rain or shine, it was incredibly beautiful. I hit up a cafe and had chocolate and churros for the first time. DAMN GOOD. I didn't have to check in until 1pm so I went walking around and ran into the San Esteban basilica. Usually when you see a cathedral, you've basically seen them all. However, this one was amazing. The architecture was amazing, with one of the altars completely gilded. I went to my pension afterwards, a small room near the plaza, checked in, grab some cash and went out to have some lunch (not settling for more than 10€). After the three course meal, I went back to the pension and passed out.

Cathedral lit up at night

Waking up, I saw it was basically nightfall and decided to go for a evening paseo (walk). It was one of the most beautiful things I've seen in a city. The streets and every old building was lit and looked like old gold/silver. Plaza Mayor, the new and old cathedrals and the university buildings were lit. It was a surreal walk. I sat in front of the new cathedral just staring at it lit up in the night, thinking to myself "I still can't believe I'm in f*ckin Europe." It hits me now and then that I'm not in the states anymore. I walked mostly throughout the evening, talking to people at the plaza and taking it easy.

Next day I woke up cold as f*ck. It was 3C degrees (40F degrees) with wind. It was so god damn cold. The shower was somewhat miserable because of it (Spaniards are cheap with heat). I went off to Río Tormes, and it was beautiful. A pedestrian path/bike path surrounds the river that lays outside of the main city. I am a sucker for parks and nature. I couldn't believe how beautiful everything looked. It was a prime time to walk around and people watch. Walkers and cyclists took advantage of the paths.

View of Salamanca from Río Tormes

I walked back up and checked finally went to the old University of Salamanca building.  It was a good and bad experience. As an academic, I would expect a little bit more from the building, especially after paying 10€ to enter. All the old lecture halls were cool to look at but it wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. The biggest let down was la antigua bibiloteca (old library). I did get to see the library...but from behind thick ass glass. Big let down. In anycase, it was an important thing that I still had to see. I swung back to the pension for a nap, then went out afterwards for another evening stroll. I walked so much I eventually stepped into dog sh*t!!! The only thing that the spanish piss me off about is that they don't pick up after their dogs. It is considered good luck to step in it....my ass its good luck. But anyway, it was still a good night (after cleaning my shoes off).

The next morning I packed up and left back to Coria. I believe that it was a good, well needed trip to get away from work and people. Being alone in Salamanca had its perks but I still wished my friends were with me to check out all the cool places that I've been to.

Peace

Phones: Status and Use in Spain

I brought a couple of electronics when I arrived in Spain i.e. MacBook, iPod, iPhone and the point-and-shoot camera. All of them have been helpful and none of them have crapped out on me (knock on wood). The iPod has been in my pocket since 2008 and has helped me combat homesickness with tunes. As far as cells (or mobiles said here) are concerned, I had the option of unlocking the iPhone and using it here or opting for a pay-as-you-go/cheapo mobile phone. After a month living abroad, el cheapo has been better for me than using the iPhone.

The use of El Cheapo

Before I left for Spain, I downloaded a ton of apps that would help me stay in contact with friends and family such as WhatsApp (used to text anyone internationally that has the app) and Skype. I didn't bother unlocking the phone before I left. When I arrived, I felt lost without the function of the phone since I obviously didn't have data nor phone service in general. However, on my final day in Madrid before leaving for orientation in Cáceres, I went to the store Phone House to get a phone. I bought EL CHEAPO for €40, with €20 of credit in my sim card. The next day on the bus to Cáceres, many people had their smartphones out, unlocked with a Spanish sim inside. Many of them were either iPhone 4's or 5's or Android phones. It was basically the same sort of attitude as in the states, looking down on the device as opposed to looking whats in front of you.

The setup with el Cheapo next to the iPod

In Coria, I use el Cheapo mainly for communication between parents, students and teachers and maintaining my private English class business. Aside from that, I don't have many friends (none in Coria) to call and chat or text to see whats up. Now, the iPhone I still do use but seldom, often to text on WhatsApp to friends and family back at home and as a camera.

Social Status

Even though Spain is first world country and well developed, American products/brands are pretty expensive here. As far as mobiles go, the majority of Spaniards use Android based smartphones such as Samsung Galaxy (still expensive but cheaper than an iPhone). Most teens and young adults use them, while, I suppose wealthier people, have the iPhones, iPads and MacBooks. An iPhone 4S (my phone) goes for I believe about €300 even with a contract. The look on some student's faces when I tell them my phone was $99 is priceless. Also, most of the parents of the students that I teach seem to have many Apple products (they make bread and then some).

Smartphone or el cheapo

After a month without the functions of a smartphone while walking on the street, my life is actually really more free. I get many calls from parents and students about lessons on el cheapo. If I did on my iPhone, I would hate the thing. Don't get me wrong, I still use it to text some people and look up info but life without it is real nice. I feel liberating not looking down at it all the time and most of all I feel great not paying for data (sometimes it killed my cellphone bill in the states). I am still paying for service because I am still under contract with AT&T (evil bastards) but it is at a reduction rate of $10 a month for six months. On top of that, they did give me A LOT of credit before I left, so my bank account is unaffected. With just el cheapo in my pocket, I finally get to look up to where I'm going instead of looking down.