Ok, so I´ve just gotten back from the big Berceo shopping center...armed with 15 euros worth of ingredients for making gingerbread men. Yes, you read write (sigh). When did baking become so expensive? And it´s certainly not like I bought the best-known brands for each item...
The reason for my baking expedition? Well, we are having a Christmas Party at work this Thursday, and every teacher is supposed to bake something that is very typical of his/her country. Well, at first I decided to make a very famous German cake, but then I thought of all the ingredients I would need and that thought flushed itself down the toilet. So, I thought of the next big thing: gingerbread men! Ginger is a very popular spice in Germany, and at Xmas time you can buy those little tasty men practically everywhere...
Now, you want to know the best part of all of this? I got EVERY ingredient...EXCEPT GINGER. I searched and searched, but it was nowhere to be found. In a few hours I will go to several other supermarkets to see if they have any. I hope that I will find it: can you imagine having bought all of these ingredients and then not being able to bake what you want after all? I hope that that nightmare won´t come true. If I can´t find that ingredient myself, I will ask my boss, she is already going to lend me a cookie sheet (don´t ask, I live with another boy, and we don´t own ANYTHING for baking).
I hope that the gingerbread men will turn out right. Besides scrambling to find every ingredient, I had to translate some spice names into Spanish by using the Alta Vista Babelfish. Well, at least that worked...:P Now, I´m just hoping to have every spice by Wednesday so that I can bake them on that night...hopefully they will turn out yummy!
Moving on to something different: last weekend I went to Madrid to see all of my TEFL friends again...and I had a lot of fun! I seriously didn´t get enough sleep (dancing every night until about 7 a.m.) but it was worth it. It was nice seeing everybody again, and just partying it up a-la-Madrid style :) I´m glad that I went...
In one week I shall be in Germany! Woohoooo I can´t wait to see everybody, I am going to email my relatives tonight to confirm my flight times and everything...(today, for the first time ever, I heard German spoken in the streets of Logroño...some very long, blond-haired tourists, lol...)
Today I also sent out Xmas cards....I´m sure that everybody will get them like a week after Christmas, but oh well....guys I´ve been super busy, gimme a break, lol. :P
Oh, I saw The Chronicles of Narnia in ENGLISH while I was in Madrid. It was nice seeing a movie in its original version...not that Harry Potter was bad in Spanish, I understood almost everything, but it´s just to hear the REAL voices, you know?
Tonight we are celebrating the birthdays of Caspar and Dearbhla, should be fun...we are all going to go out to a restaurant :) They are both Xmas babies, so we have to celebrate a bit in advance before everybody leaves for the holidays :)
I love Saturdays....ahhhh one more week and it´s Christmas...and we have a nice tree now at work and everything, I screamed with delight like a little girl when I saw the decorations, heheheeh.
Ok, well that´s it for now...I don´t know when I will get the chance to update again (maybe only in January, who knows? I´ll be gone in Germany for 2 weeks)...but: MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND HAPPY NEW YEAR 2006!!!!!! To all my friends and loved ones: I love you all, you are dearly missed, xoxooxoxo hugs and kisses
your Heidi
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Can every week be this short?
Well, it´s 3:05 p.m. right now and I still have another hour to kill until I have to go to the academy (that´s right ladies and gents, 2 classes got cancelled today). I will still have a long evening, but it is nice to be home during the middle of the day for a change.
Tomorrow I am leaving for Madrid in the early afternoon, how nice! :) I am really looking forward to that: hooray for Madrid discotecas! I am also going to take nice little strolls through the ginormous city with my friends...it will be so nice to see them again :) Too bad Jason is going to Rome tomorrow, but hopefully I will see him in early 2006 sometime since he is planning on coming to visit me:P
I am counting the days for my trip to Germany, it will be so awesome! I need to get away from it all again, and spending a nice xmas in Germany will be great :) The decorations are really special there and the food will be out-of-this-world.
Dammit. I always get a bit tired around this time...must be because I always finish eating at around this time.
On another note, it looks like we may be getting another new teacher in the new year...I saw an ad from my academy online, and it said that they were looking for another esl teacher. That should be interesting...I love meeting new peeps, and we have a great team where we work...hopefully the new addition will fit well with the rest of us.
I am planning on going to Gijon, Asturias on the 17th of Dec....probably just for a day and a half or something...it´s a long bus ride, but it is supposed to be really beautiful there...it´s in the north-west of Spain...I am actually pretty excited about it. If I wasn´t going to see my friends this weekend I would have gone to Gijon...but that place can wait another week or so ;) I remember that Shane and I had seen some ads about Asturias when we were in Barcelona...and it made us think of Ireland (probably because, along with all of the green hills and rocky cliffs, they were playing Irish music and an Irish setter was running all over the place, LOL). So yeah, that will probably be the next big trip on my list. :)
Man, like I have said to myself a trillion times before, I better enjoy this month because I will have no holidays for about 3 months after this...so yeah, party it up to the max and enjoy the time spent with family and friends!
On yet another note, the temperatures here are still awesome. I can still enjoy 8 degree temperatures, that´s about the normal highs for December here. Man, for me, this sure doesn´t feel like the month of December...I really wonder how January and February will feel (ugh, those are the worst months ever in my opinion).
I saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire last night...and it was pretty good. The only thing is that they are getting old and the bath scene was just a bit too pre-pubescent for me. What´s in the 5th installment, Harry having a mud fight with his teen-queen? And then going skinny dipping in the river to wash off? I don´t know...I felt kinda uncomfortable for some reason, watching that part...weird. It was a great entertaining movie overall, yet the ending was drawn out and too long. They should have also given Alan Rickman more screen time:P. What an awesome actor. Nevertheless, a good movie to watch on a brainless evening...
Oh man. I love Christmas. I can´t wait to just get into a plane, ANY plane, and just go somewhere...I can´t wait to land in Dusseldorf and see my loved ones. I hope to have a great Xmas with them :) The last time I was there for Xmas was in 95...yikes. I was 13. A wee teenager...man.
Well, the next time I shall write will be probably sometime late next week...:) see you all soon enough...time flies quicker than we think.
Love H oxoxoxoxo
Tomorrow I am leaving for Madrid in the early afternoon, how nice! :) I am really looking forward to that: hooray for Madrid discotecas! I am also going to take nice little strolls through the ginormous city with my friends...it will be so nice to see them again :) Too bad Jason is going to Rome tomorrow, but hopefully I will see him in early 2006 sometime since he is planning on coming to visit me:P
I am counting the days for my trip to Germany, it will be so awesome! I need to get away from it all again, and spending a nice xmas in Germany will be great :) The decorations are really special there and the food will be out-of-this-world.
Dammit. I always get a bit tired around this time...must be because I always finish eating at around this time.
On another note, it looks like we may be getting another new teacher in the new year...I saw an ad from my academy online, and it said that they were looking for another esl teacher. That should be interesting...I love meeting new peeps, and we have a great team where we work...hopefully the new addition will fit well with the rest of us.
I am planning on going to Gijon, Asturias on the 17th of Dec....probably just for a day and a half or something...it´s a long bus ride, but it is supposed to be really beautiful there...it´s in the north-west of Spain...I am actually pretty excited about it. If I wasn´t going to see my friends this weekend I would have gone to Gijon...but that place can wait another week or so ;) I remember that Shane and I had seen some ads about Asturias when we were in Barcelona...and it made us think of Ireland (probably because, along with all of the green hills and rocky cliffs, they were playing Irish music and an Irish setter was running all over the place, LOL). So yeah, that will probably be the next big trip on my list. :)
Man, like I have said to myself a trillion times before, I better enjoy this month because I will have no holidays for about 3 months after this...so yeah, party it up to the max and enjoy the time spent with family and friends!
On yet another note, the temperatures here are still awesome. I can still enjoy 8 degree temperatures, that´s about the normal highs for December here. Man, for me, this sure doesn´t feel like the month of December...I really wonder how January and February will feel (ugh, those are the worst months ever in my opinion).
I saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire last night...and it was pretty good. The only thing is that they are getting old and the bath scene was just a bit too pre-pubescent for me. What´s in the 5th installment, Harry having a mud fight with his teen-queen? And then going skinny dipping in the river to wash off? I don´t know...I felt kinda uncomfortable for some reason, watching that part...weird. It was a great entertaining movie overall, yet the ending was drawn out and too long. They should have also given Alan Rickman more screen time:P. What an awesome actor. Nevertheless, a good movie to watch on a brainless evening...
Oh man. I love Christmas. I can´t wait to just get into a plane, ANY plane, and just go somewhere...I can´t wait to land in Dusseldorf and see my loved ones. I hope to have a great Xmas with them :) The last time I was there for Xmas was in 95...yikes. I was 13. A wee teenager...man.
Well, the next time I shall write will be probably sometime late next week...:) see you all soon enough...time flies quicker than we think.
Love H oxoxoxoxo
Friday, December 02, 2005
December will be AMAZING
Well, well...here I am again! The intensives are over! I must honestly say that both of my intensives groups were awesome, the guys were just really nice and a blast to teach. Last night, to celebrate the end of the 2nd intensive group, we all went out together (all students and teachers) and went "bar hopping" a-la-Español, LOL. It was really fun, the military guys paid for all of our drinks and tapas. Logroño has such great food! It was a great night overall, we went to about 4 different bars and then went dancing at this great little club here called "Graf". We ended up staying until 4 a.m. :P I got to practice my Spanish a lot with the guys; we actually practiced all together (us teachers) since we would speak Spanish with them and they would respond in English back to us. Fun times, fun times...great music as well! When Madonna´s song "Hung Up" came on, I really let loose, lol. They also played a lot of great Spanish music as well.
Tonight was a great night as well. I just got back from a nice dinner with my friends Gavin, Dearbhla and Maria-Jose. We went to this great little restaurant called "La Gotta de Vino" (I am sure that you can all translate that :P). For 21 euros (that was the TOTAL FOR ALL 3 OF US) we ate like royalty. People, I swear to God, come to Spain...the people are friendly, life is relaxing and the food is incredible (vegetarians stay away though).
I am going to a concert this Monday night with everybody...should be fun; it´s only 2 Euros and it will be held at the new Plaza de Toros (bullfighting ring) which is really close to my apartment building! I don´t really know who the singer is, but to be honest I couldn´t care less...I just want to do something different this Monday night with the gang...and since next week is a super short work week (I am going to Madrid next Thursday morning to see my old buddies again since it´s a holiday week...I am only working 2 days next week! yay!) what better way to kick off the celebrations than with a nice Spanish concert?
I feel really blesssed working with such great people. I can count on them for anything, really sweet people in every sense of the word. :)
Just by looking at the calendar for the month of December, I can tell that it will be spectacular....I am also super excited about the fact that I will be going to Madrid again soon...I can´t wait to see Randy, Vince and Kitty again (plus some other peeps as well). And then, on the 23rd: Germany! Yoohooo! Man, this month will be GRAND, as Dearbhla would say.
There are more Xmas decorations now...it´s funny. Dearbhla was saying how there are more decorations this year than the last...and I just looked at her and said: It´s because I´m here now, of course :P My spirit of Xmas is quite strong, lol...maybe it has an effect on the people here, hehehehehhe who knows.
In short: Long Live Decembers and Xmas.
One last thing: wooohooo!
love H xoxoxo
Tonight was a great night as well. I just got back from a nice dinner with my friends Gavin, Dearbhla and Maria-Jose. We went to this great little restaurant called "La Gotta de Vino" (I am sure that you can all translate that :P). For 21 euros (that was the TOTAL FOR ALL 3 OF US) we ate like royalty. People, I swear to God, come to Spain...the people are friendly, life is relaxing and the food is incredible (vegetarians stay away though).
I am going to a concert this Monday night with everybody...should be fun; it´s only 2 Euros and it will be held at the new Plaza de Toros (bullfighting ring) which is really close to my apartment building! I don´t really know who the singer is, but to be honest I couldn´t care less...I just want to do something different this Monday night with the gang...and since next week is a super short work week (I am going to Madrid next Thursday morning to see my old buddies again since it´s a holiday week...I am only working 2 days next week! yay!) what better way to kick off the celebrations than with a nice Spanish concert?
I feel really blesssed working with such great people. I can count on them for anything, really sweet people in every sense of the word. :)
Just by looking at the calendar for the month of December, I can tell that it will be spectacular....I am also super excited about the fact that I will be going to Madrid again soon...I can´t wait to see Randy, Vince and Kitty again (plus some other peeps as well). And then, on the 23rd: Germany! Yoohooo! Man, this month will be GRAND, as Dearbhla would say.
There are more Xmas decorations now...it´s funny. Dearbhla was saying how there are more decorations this year than the last...and I just looked at her and said: It´s because I´m here now, of course :P My spirit of Xmas is quite strong, lol...maybe it has an effect on the people here, hehehehehhe who knows.
In short: Long Live Decembers and Xmas.
One last thing: wooohooo!
love H xoxoxo
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)