Long Overdue

Big news!

I am finally updating my blog! Yay!! A lot has been going on, and adding that to my faulty internet and not having a powercord to plug my computer in to use the wonky internet has really made things difficult.

Here are some of the big things as of late:

Kansas Day! This is always one of my favorite holidays, I'm pretty sure it's because I always liked the frosting on graham crackers but now that I'm not in Kansas it's some fun Kansas pride day. Last year we did it pretty big in Ourense, free shots for the Kansan!, and this year we moved the party to Santiago. Last year I was the only Kansan (plus Manu, honorable mention). This year it was insane. There were like 8 or 9 Kansans! That is a crazy number of Kansans in Galicia. So we started the party with the other teachers from Vigo, then the night diverged to Kansans then Americans. Mega fun.

Then a few weeks later, I went to Salamanca. The plan was to go with both the other teachers who went to Kansas day, but it ended up being just me and Luc the French-Canadian. We were there for like 3ish days, the logistics were very poorly planned. We thought we would be able to maximize our time there by 'leaving on the midnight train to' Salamanca, but really we just got there really tired - we were stuck in Zamora for awhile waiting for the bus to Salamanca - and when we got to the hostel just crashed for a few hours. The rest of the day we wandered around aimlessly, trying to get a feel for the place without trying to look too out of place. The next day we met up with Manu's friend from Pontevedra and he gave us a quick tour and pointed out all the quirky things there, so it was really cool. We went out-ish with his friends then the next day we finished up going to the museums and stuff (let me just say, the Flour Musuem is just as fascinating as it sounds xD) and then tried to kill time until the bus to Vigo leaves at midnight. This was definitely one of those needing a vacation after the vacation vacations with all the crazy transport schedules.

Then the next weekend Manu and I went to London! It was totally awesome! We were there for like four days and saw all the big things: the aquarium, we all know how much of a fan I am (shout out to KC and their new future aquarium!), the non-art museums, the big building things (btw, Big Ben was seriously shorter than I thought) and walking around a lot. We did not go to Madame Tussauds, totally kind of freaks me out. The weather was much nicer than I had feared, hurray!, so it only rained one evening but kind of drizzled a little some afternoons. The hostel we stayed at was really central, so we were able to walk to all te big places and not have to take the subway - it is like 4 GBP each ride! All in all it was a very pleasant and enjoyable trip.

In fun and exciting news, the other teachers and I have been going to trivia nights and being totally awesome. We won the first time and were runners up the second time by one point (I am blissfully skimming over the part where my correct answer was changed haha). I also joined a gym because I have been feeling lazy and Vigo is not really conducive to running - it is super hilly, there is a lot of traffic on the streets and sidewalks, and that makes it kind of polluted stinky and not so safe.

This week is Carnaval. I went to Pontevedra to watch the parade, it was kind of cute with all the people wearing miniature Rio outfits and the marching bands and stuff, and they are still all about Spain winning the World Cup. This is totally Halloween. Except EVERYONE dresses up. We went out on the town and I was able to see my ex-roommate from Ourense! The rest of the days there are things in the small villages (although they are frustratingly not as easy to get to relying on trains and buses) and here in Vigo there will be something about burning 'the king and queen' of Carnaval and then they will be burying a sardine. I know. You can't make things like that up. Awesomely, this is vacation for me! I have some private classes but classes at the school are out until Thursday. Yay! I feel like I can catch up on sleeping in since I have been missing out on it the last week or so.

Ok, I think that about sums it up. I hope that one of these days I can link to a photo album so everyone can visual my not-so-hot descriptions of recent events. Hope everything is fabo wherever you are!

xoxo