Beginnings...

Well, here I am...
Me, a soon to be 23 year-old girl who has already been living for a little over 3 months in Spain. I mostly write in my private journal about all of my experiences, but I figured that this online blog would be an excellent way for my friends and loved ones to know what is happening to me in the land of sun and late night tapas...
A little recap on where I was in the last few months and what I did: well, I was living in Madrid, the huge, hustling, bustling capital city of Spain. It is a very beautiful city, with lots of breathtaking buildings (Palacio Real, Jardines de Sabatini, Prado Museo..etc) and the nightlife there is incredible! I remember how hard it was for me at first to dance from 2 until 8 a.m. nonstop...but it is something that I quickly got used to! The "discothecas" there are just nuts, people just dance and dance and dance! It´s really fun dancing to all that awesome house and dance music...I think that Canada has too many hip hop clubs and should start looking into the dance clubs more :) Just a thought...
I took a Spanish and TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) course there...and I can´t believe that both of them are already over! I made a lot of friends, most of them from California, Chicago and Boston...really friendly people who I got comfortable with really really quickly! Vince, Kelly, Katy, Jason, Randy, David, Kristine...u guys rock, thank you for making my Madrid experiences hilarious and fun :) I will be sure to come visit you guys when I go back to Madrid for little trips (waves).
Now if I had a digital camera I would have been able to post my TOMATINA pictures, but alas...that is something that I will need to purchase sometime soon! ;) Yeah, I know...get with the times Heidi :P. Ah yes, good times in Madrid...but I did miss bodies of water and lush green parks.
And now...here I am. In the north-east spanish province of La Rioja...living in the capital city of Logroño...and I love it here! For one thing, it is a much smaller city...which means friendlier people and a closer community. Also, the best thing is where I live! I have a river and park right next to my apartment building! Logroño is also surrounded by mountains...in short, I sure got my green! hahaha...there are also little rapids right by my building...I think that I will write in my private diary there sometimes...it´s kinda soothing listening to that falling water, it drowns out every other sound.
I feel really lucky to have gotten a job here...and I officially start my new teaching job on Monday! A couple of weeks ago, I was hoping and praying to get a job in the North...and here I am, wow. This past week I had my training and got to know all of my other coworkers, and so far we all really get along well with each other...they are all so nice! I find it amazing how we have 3 different kinds of English accents at the Inlingua school...there are Brits, Irishmen and me, the German/Canadian Hybrid with the Canadian accent yet not the pure Canadian accent (or so I have been told, hahaha!). Of course, Inlingua also has German, Italian, Spanish and French teachers...but just think of it...3 different English accents in one school..pretty amazing, don´t you think? I personnaly love the Irish accent, but I think that it is a bit harder for students to understand (that´s what some former students had told me). When people ask me what citizen I consider myself to be, I never really know what to answer...I feel Canadian, yet not fully Canadian, you know? And I don´t fully consider myself German either, so it´s actually a little complicated, hehe..
Last night was nice...we had a little party at Inlingua to celebrate the start of the new school year and then me and other coworkers went to get some tapas (spicy potatoes this time, hmmmm). We ended up chatting outside in the terrazas until about 2 a.m. It was great, I also made some new spanish friends, lol. One of them was a student from one of my coworkers...it´s great how you can just go out and have drinks with your students :) In the end, my coworkers left and it was just me, Mike (also another new teacher) and the other spaniards. They were so nice, they paid for all of our drinks! good times, good times...
My spanish has significantly improved, although of course it´s not 100% yet...I feel pretty confident speaking it, it´s just hard sometimes when people speak fast to you...I still need to tell some people to slow down! hehehe...
I love my new apartment. I now only have 1 roomate (unlike 3 others in Madrid...3 boys=lots and lots of dirt) and he is really nice and helpful. My kitty Lucy can also roam freely around the apartment, so she is a happy gipsy cat. Man, bringing her was a little pain in the butt, but I really am in love with this cat. It´s quite insane...we are practically married. I have been attached to pet before, but...we "understand" each other, it´s quite scary. Siamese are just really intelligent pets. I recommend them ;) She is such a lap cat...hehe.
Today I went to the academy (yes, I know...it´s Saturday...but hey, I got a set of keys for the school, woohoo) because I needed to prepare some things for Monday´s classes. I will be teaching lots of children and adults...this is all really going to start on Monday, unbelievable! I am a tad nervous, but also excited...it will be a lot of work and it will take some time getting used to, but this is something that I had been wanting to do for a long time...and everything has somehow fallen into place and here I am...able to live my dream. Cheesy, but true.
Tomorrow will mark one week that I have been living in Logroño...another new beginning in my life. I really like this city...and if I ever miss the hustle and bustle of Madrid, I can always take a weekend trip and crash at one of my friend´s place (2 way bus ride is only 36 euros! for a 4.5 hour bus ride, that´s cheap!).
Well, that´s it for now..the next time that I will write in here, I´ll post info on how my classes are going....hasta luego mis amigos! (p.s....yes, I did kinda steal ivanie´s blog name...I thought that it sounded appropriate :) There ya go, eve, I gave you credit for it! hehehe..)
P.S. Below are some pictures of Madrid that my friend Carsten took when he came to visit me in early September...I won´t post any more pictures for a little while because a certain someone is coming to visit me on Oct. 12th and I don´t want to spoil anything, hehehe...;)
H.