Dance! Dance! Dance! Dance! Part Deux

I am moving up in the world! I have officially matriculated for the intermediate level Latin dance class. I'm still taking the beginning one as well since there are a lot of basic things I still need to learn, and I want to keep dancing with Danial, but the intermediate level is a little more at my level. I wish I could go a little faster even, but I'll take what I can get. I want to be pushed more! But at least there were a couple of things that were a bit of a challenge in the intermediate class. For one thing, rapid chainé turns to the left in 4 inch heels are not as easy as they may appear. I can just do it, but they're not as clean as I would like. I keep thinking my shoe is going to pop off. Definitely something to work on. I have invested in a pair of Latin ballroom shoes though. They should be in by January. I can't wait! Maybe the turns will be a bit easier with proper shoes. I also need to work on my left triple pirouettes and pencil turns. My right triple pirouettes are back in jazz shoes, but wearing heels kind of throws off my center of balance for some reason. I can do a right double with heels now, but the triple is sloppy. More to work on! Yay!


Also, I started private Sevillanas lessons with a teacher who hails from Sevilla! Sevillanas is particular style of Flamenco dancing. It's done in pairs and is usually what you see at parties or when people break out into spontaneous Flamenco dancing. It is usually where you start when you start learning Flamenco dance. My teacher, Pepi, (who happens to be my friend's mom) thinks I can learn the basic Sevillanas combinations within a few lessons! I'm really excited. I can't wait to learn more! Once I get the basic Sevillanas down, I can move on to other Flamenco forms. She mentioned Rumba Flamenco, which is slower than the more traditional Bulerias, which is super fast, with very intricate footwork. I would love to get to that level, but I don't think 5 months will be enough for that one. My goal is simply to soak up as much as I possibly can and hopefully continue my education in NY. I really like private lessons so I can go at my own pace. And they're so cheap here! Only 9 euros an hour. I'm never going to get a deal like that in NY. I need to make the most of it while I'm here.

Botellón

By now, I'm sure you are all wondering, what is the night life like in a little town like Martos? Well, on a typical Saturday night, it all begins with a giant party in the park called a botellón.


Just dress to impress, BYOB, and mingle 'til you tingle! Everyone from age14 to 40 parties in the park every Saturday night from about 11:30PM to morning, all year long. It's pretty impressive. And once you know some people, it's actually quite fun. You walk through the crowds, pause to chat when you see someone you know, meet their friends...

Here's a picture with our friends, Tania (pink scarf) and Antonio (far right). I forgot their friend's name (black and white coat), but she is apparently a radio personality. She's very cool.


Also at botellónes sometimes people juggle fire:



After the botellón, you can go to a nearby bar or club if you feel like or just stay and mingle in the park. Lo que quieras. Here are some pictures from Dietrich's Birthday Celebration at BauHaus, a popular cafe/bar that Marteños often retreat to after a couple of hours in the park.

From left to right: María José, Dietrich, Me, Ana.


From left to right: Sandra, Antonio, Ian, and Danial.



The last time we went out botellón-ing, we decided to try out one of the 3 clubs in Martos. When I say, "we," I mean Dietrich and I. The others copped out. We went with Dietrich's friend from his school, Sandra, and all of her friends, to the discoteca in the industrial polygon. This club actually has their own car service that takes people from the park to the club for free! And after the club, they'll drop you off anywhere in the city FOR FREE! That part was pretty sweet, but the club itself left much to be desired. The lights were too bright, the music was badly mixed (they played a slow song, for heaven's sake!!), there were way too many guys, and - here's the kicker- NO ONE WAS DANCING!! At a club. No one was dancing at a club. I still can't get over it.

But Sandra and her friends were really sweet, and the night could have been a lot worse. We came home around 5 AM. I think that's the latest night I've had here so far. I'm such an old fogie.

Dance! Dance! Dance! Dance!

I finally started dance classes last week! I'm taking hip hop and Latin dancing. I've managed to drag Danial into the Latin dancing class with me, and apparently he can rock the Bachata. Who knew his white boy hips could move like that? I think he surprised himself. I also almost had Dietrich, but he has Spanish class the same night. And of course, Ian continues to deny his obvious love for dancing, but he's not fooling anyone. :)

Also, they invited me to perform with the studio in February! I don't know the details, but it's some big performance that the studio is actually taking care of the costs for, so it's free for the participants! WAHOO!! We started choreography today. IT WAS AMAZING!! It's a group salsa number, but it's not in pairs. There's just us four girls. It's also a really nice change to have the correct body type. As much as I adore ballet, let's face it- I'm not built to be a ballerina, in more ways than one. Salsa though, wow! It feels so natural! And the more you can stick out your boobs and butt to make that 's' shape, the better, which, well, works for me! I'm so excited.

In other news, I went to the doctor who confirmed that I had in fact injured my sciatic nerve back in July. It's still healing, apparently, which is a bummer because I still can't do the splits. My right leg has been really achy the last few weeks, but it's not debilitating. I'm being very careful not to overstretch, but it definitely feels good to push it a little further every day. I can tell it's getting better. With any luck, I'll have my splits back by the New Year.

A quick note about going to the doctor's office here: IT IS AWESOME! First of all, I got an appointment almost right away. None of that "the next available appointment is 2 weeks from now" crap you get in the states. Granted, Martos is a pretty small city, so a bigger city might possibly have a longer wait, but STILL. Then, the doctor was fabulous, definitely knew his stuff. Then, last, but not least, IT WAS FREE!! Absolutely, 100% FREE. I kept expecting some kind of fee, however nominal, but no! It was really free! They just swiped my health card and sent me on my way. I couldn't believe it. I mean, I knew that was supposed to happen, but it just didn't seem possible. So many years of paying co-pays... it's a tough habit to break, but damn it feels good. I can't wait until the US gets on board. I can't believe we have such an absurd, backwards system still. It's really rather embarrassing.

But anyway, all in all it was a pretty good week last week, and I'm hoping for the same this week.

Before I leave, here is a video of one of my favorite 4 year old classes, singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Aren't they adorable?



XOXOXO
Poonam

The Martos Funk

Martos is definitely a cute, little city, with nice people and great tapas... but for some reason I can't seem to adjust. This has never really happened before. I've always adapted very well to my environment. But there's just something about being here... some days you just wake up and feel like crying. Everything just feels so wrong. I'm trying to get involved in things and meet people, but it's not going away. I'll have a couple of good days and then- boom! I'll be hit with the stupid Martos funk again. I don't know what to do. And then I feel even more awful because I'm bringing Danial down. *sigh*

I don't regret coming here per se, but I wish I would stop falling into the funk. I know we will look back on this experience more fondly than we are now... I just genuinely hope I can learn to be truly happy here. It's less than seven months now anyway. But I guess home is where your heart is, and mine is split between New York and my family. Maybe my family should move to Martos, too... HINT HINT.

Deep Fried Snickers Bars!

So, Becky's apartment came with a deep fryer... It was only a matter of time.


Besides, it can be pretty lonely and boring here, so when you come across an opportunity like this, you can't pass it up!

First we made a pancake batter... but we forgot the salt. Of course, right?


Then, we dipped the Snickers bars in the batter. So far it looks pretty good... sort of...


Finally, we put the well-battered Snickers bars into the deep frier.


SIZZLE...


But then, as we tried to remove the deep fried candy bars from the grate, trouble ensued. The batter stuck more to the grate than to the candy bars!


Not bad for a first attempt though, right? RIGHT??? Come on. Ok fine, they look disgusting.


But, being the crazy kooks that we are...


...we ate them all anyway!


Next time though, I think we'll just stick to fish and chips.

We made it to España!!!

So, I’m in Spain! I am teaching English at an enormous preschool called E.I. San Fernando in a little town called Martos in the province of Jaén in the south of Spain. So far, I’ve mainly been working with the four and five year olds, but soon I will be making my rounds with the three year olds as well. Working at the school is by far the best part of being here. The kids are adorable! And I get to sing and dance and do the hokey pokey for twelve hours a week. Yes, teaching preschool is way more exciting than I realized. Even with the slimy noses.

In fact, sometimes I feel like it's just not enough time. I'm the only auxilar de conversación in my entire school, and I only work 12 hours a week. I get about an hour a week with each class, but time flies when you're singing about 5 little monkeys sitting in a tree teasing Mr. Alligator...

In other news, I've joined a women's gym with my new friend, Becky. Becky is from Yuma, AZ and is also working as an auxiliar de conversación. As much as I love Ian, Dietrich, and Danial, I have to say Becky is a God-send. 2 words: CHICK FLICKS. SWEEEEEEET!

But, back to the gym, I am absolutely loving it! First of all, it feels great to have somewhere to go and something to do. Having absurd amounts of free time can be a little intimidating... and oddly stressful. Especially when you're in unfamiliar territory, speaking in a foreign language, with limited phone and internet access. Yeah, the first few weeks were pretty rough, to say the least. I didn't adjust as well as I had hoped I would have, but joining the gym was a great idea! The classes are fun, the women are nice, and I'm getting into shape! I - uh, sort of binged on ice cream while I was homesick and ballooned a little bit. Just a little. Don't tell my mom.

What else? Yikes, so much has happened... Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, right, so let me shut up a bit and show you some pictures.

Here's us in Jaén:

Dietrich is consulting his handy-dandy Andalucia guide.





Ian is snapping photos as always.



Danial looks like he is having a political discussion... or maybe he's talking about wine... It's the same intensity each time.



Why don't men ever stop to ask direcions? ;)


Sometimes at night Martos looks more like a movie set than a city. It's very cool and a little creepy at the same time.









More pics and posts coming up soon! Miss everyone at home so much. Muah!