When Was The Last Time You Wrote Something?

During a break between my classes the other day, my bilingual coordinator asked me to write a short story about a restaurant. I immediately said sure and got to work, but it didn't take long for me to start thinking about the last time I actually wrote something. When I was younger, during elementary and middle school, I used to love to read and write. My mom often tells people how I used to love to read when I was younger..."and then high school happened."  But, until the other day, I never realized, or even thought about why I stopped writing. 

Well, it's not much, 200 words about a restaurant, but it's the first story, or any type of writing (college essays don't count), that I've written in years, so I decided to share:

     "Last Saturday, the 19th of November, my best friend Sarah and I decided to go to a restaurant called "El Mago". I previously heard the food there was delicious, and the atmosphere was entertaining because "El Mago" is a magic- themed restaurant.

  Located in the middle of the downtown Málaga, "El Mago" is a small restaurant, tucked away on a quiet side street. The quaint dining room was dimly lit, with paintings of famous magicians, such as Houdini, lining the walls. I ordered a steak with rice pilaf, while Sarah ordered a seasonal, Mediterranean chicken dish.

     Everything seemed like a typical dinner when suddenly, a woman dressed in an elaborate costume appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and offered to read our fortunes. She was wearing a long, sunset orange dress, with an emerald green head-wrap, and the largest, most colorful earrings and necklaces I had ever seen. Yahira then settled in at our table ready to read our fortunes.

     Instead of the stereotypical crystal ball, or even tarot cards, Yahira wanted to "read" the lines in our hands to tell us our fortunes. After appearing out of nowhere, and not using the "typical fortune teller tools," I was more than a bit apprehensive to let Yahira read my palms. But, after telling Sarah that she would be a stay-at-home Mom with two adorable kids, I let Yahira tell me my fortune: I will be happily married and very successful in my career.

     In the end, I had a wonderful time at "El Mago." The food was great and the ambiance was even better. I would recommend this restaurant to everyone and advise you not be wary of the fortune teller because telling your dinner guests that you see negative experiences in their fortunes would be bad for business right?"

When was the last time you wrote something? 

School

As I reach the end of my second week of work, (tomorrow is a national holiday here in Spain, Fiesta Nacional--celebrating when Columbus arrived in North America), I wanted to share a few experiences from my first two weeks as a "teacher." I teach in a colegio, which is similar to an elementary school in that the school has children from ages 3-12. 

I requested to be in a colegio because I feel more comfortable around younger kids, and I haven't regretted that decision once. Every day when I walk into the younger classes, from the four year olds up to the second graders, the kids jump up and come running to give me a hug. On the first day, when I came to the school just to visit and introduce myself to the teachers, the kids reacted the same way. It reminded me of that talking dog in the movie "Up" that goes "I have just met you, and I love you." 

                                                                  Source

A couple of differences that I have noticed between the school I work in here, and the school's I've attended in the US are:

 In the US the students change classes every period, but here in Spain, the teachers change classrooms. The students stay in the same room, except for recreo or recess, and the different teachers, such as the English teacher, come to them.

Lunch is not served during the school day. The hours for the colegios here are from 9am-2pm, so instead of having lunch, the children bring a snack, like a small sandwich and drink, to eat while the whole school gets a period of recreo from 12-12:30. Lunch is served after school for those students who want it. 

First Day Of School! First Day Of School!

While I live in Malaga capital, I actually work in a school in Cartama, a pueblo outside of Malaga. By car, Cartama is about a 20-25 minute drive, but by bus it takes an hour, and the buses only leave once an hour to make the trips between the two cities. Even though I went to visit my school last week and caught the 8am bus, and made it there right when school was starting with no problems, of course on my first day of work I missed my bus.

 I was supposed to be there at 10am, so I gingerly walked to the bus station to catch the 9am bus. Well, I guess I didn't walk gingerly enough because the bus was pulling away as soon as I got there, and to my surprise the next bus didn't leave until 10:15! So for my first day of work I was an hour and fifteen minutes late, but I live in Spain, so the only response I got from my school was no pasa nada, it's ok.

I haven't taken any pictures of my actual school, but the views are amazing. Here are a few pics I snapped while doing what else...waiting for the bus :)

Anybody know what movie the title of this post came from???