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? 

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???

Spanish Word Of The Day

"Medicina"

Medicina (meh-dee-scene-ah): Medicine

Today's SWOD is pretty straight forward. Medicina is only one letter different from it's English cognate, medicine.

I went to the dentist today to get a filling, and even though it was a quick and painless process, I literally couldn't feel OR move the right side of my mouth for a couple of hours after my appointment. This made for a very interesting afternoon at work trying to speak Spanish only having the ability to move one side of my mouth. Needless to say, there were plenty of laughs all around :)

Spanish Word Of The Day (SWOD)

"Falta"

From wordreference.com:

Falta (fall-tah):

1. (carencia, ausencia) ~ de algo ‹de interés/dinero› lack of sth;
   por ~ de fondos owing to a lack of funds;
   ~ de personal staff shortage;
   es por la ~ de costumbre it's because I'm/you're not used to it;
   no es por ~ de ganas it's not that I don't want to;
   siente mucho la ~ de su hijo she misses her son terribly;
   a ~ de un nombre mejor for want of a better name;
   a ~ de más información in the absence of more information;

Essentially una falta is a lack of something. In my post below where I stated "The only problem is una falta de motivation to run," I meant that I have a lack of motivation to run. 

If there are any words or phrases that you'd like to know how to say in Spanish, or any Spanish words that you'd like to know how to say in English, feel free to leave them in the comments and they can be the next Spanish Word Of The Day!

Primero

This is my first post! Hi everybody! My name is Kenya and I am just beginning my blog. I am moving to Spain in September to begin a new job as an English teacher. I will be living in Malaga, a port city in the South of Spain on the Mediterranean Sea, but teaching in a small town called Cartama. I hope my readers (hopefully more than just my family) will enjoy reading about my adventures in Spain :)